Back when I was seriously considering becoming a magician in the early 90s, an apprenticeship (particularly someone skilled in sleight of hand) was almost a necessity. The alternative was grainy VHS tapes and books.

Though I’m grateful to have mastered them, I don’t exactly have especially fond memories of learning to properly perform shifts and back palms from a series of dense text descriptions and poorly drawn hand diagrams in books by S.W. Erdnase and Henry Hay.

As a kid, I spent a lot of time at Eddie’s Trick Shop, a local magic store that doubled as a hangout for many great magicians. Once you proved your devotion to the craft, they were more than happy to help newcomers learn.

I love this. It's is an interesting take on 'Surround yourself with the people you want to become'. It is amazing when you meet someone who is so good at what they do, they are clearly in another league. Whether they're magicians, geniuses, 'out of the box' thinkers, or whatever label they are given, they are amazing people to surround yourself with.