 Danny Hill is a 15-year-old magician originally from FL but has recently relocated to the Las Vegas area. His interest in magic began at the age of 6 and by the time he was 10, he was performing professionally. He began at the Clearwater Beach Sunset Festival and worked there for 3 years. From that great exposure, he booked shows at private parties, corporate events, community affairs and dinner cruises. By the time he left Florida this past November he was performing 2 or 3 shows per week and booking up to 12 months in advance. With the prodding of other magicians, he began competing at magic conventions at the age of 11 and had won 10 awards by the time he was 13, 8 of which were 1st place. At the age of 13 he performed for 6 weeks at the Tampa Bay Area Renaissance Festival and was voted as the best new act by the other RenFest performers from around the country. His biggest honor that year was winning 1st place in the Jr. Close up contest at the I.B.M. Convention in Little Rock. One of his proudest moments as a magician he says was being hired by Bev Bergeron to perform at the Florida State Convention in 2000 for the close-up show with performers like Paul Cummins and Alain Nu.
Danny gives much of the credit for his success to the people who have helped him, both in Tampa and at Master Class with Jeff and Eugene. He attended his first master class for his 13th birthday and has recently completed his 3rd class. Danny says the close up routine he has won many awards with was brought to that 1st master class with the purpose of making it a winner. With the help of Jeff, Eugene, Johnny Thompson and Dan Harlan, he was able to put a cup and ball routine into a production of sleights and surprises. He tells the story of a boy meeting an old man showing magic where Danny changes characters between himself and the old man telling the story in rhyme. He believes this routine is now much stronger than the routine which won 2 years ago and still works with Jeff to improve it. At the last master class he attended, he performed his routine for the class, Jeff, Eugene, Johnny and Lance Burton and describes that experience as an adrenaline rush hard to match. "Master Class has enabled me to continue to grow and learn as both a magician and a performer. The feedback received from the pros and other students has been invaluable. Jeff always has fantastic and helpful input and Eugene is great to spend time with to learn about audience and presentation. Now that I am here in Las Vegas, I plan on attending as often as I can."
The past year, Danny has spent performing and working on new material, character development and presentation. One of the pieces he created at his 2nd master class for his "passion piece" has become a crowd pleaser in his performances. He enjoys taking old magic and changing it to fit his personality and style. He is currently working with Jeff and others on a stage competition act that he hopes to turn into another award winning act. Master's class is a great place to bring what you feel is a finished product and then go home and build on all the things that really aren't so finished, has become Danny's philosophy regarding his routines. He hopes to be competing again with his new routine this year.
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