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Today we’d like to introduce you to Matthew Morgan.
Matthew, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
After learning a coin trick from my grandfather—who had worked at a carnival at one time—I began performing and hosted my first show, charging neighborhood kids 25 cents. After that, I began learning tricks and studying magic.
As the only Deaf person in my family, I attended the Wisconsin School for the Deaf in Delavan. Every weekend, I would go home and visit the House of Illusion magic shop. When I was 11, I got paid $150 to perform at a church, making this my first official, paid performance. I, of course, used this money to buy more magic supplies.
At 14 years old, I wrote to renowned magician, author, and community leader Simon J. Carmel, who was then the secretary-general of the Society of World Deaf Magicians. In this letter, I included a video of himself performing. Simon responded with feedback and became a mentor.
I attended community college for a while but decided to pursue my passion for magic. I worked to establish myself as a full-time magician, carefully crafting an onstage persona that connected with people of all ages. I quickly became known, in part thanks to my years at school, as a comedic magician who made people marvel at the apparent impossibility of my tricks. My first out-of-state performance was in New Orleans, LA, in 1993 at the South Deaf Bowling tournament. Since then, I have performed in all 50 states and 45 countries and have won awards everywhere I have performed.
My love of magic also led me to the love of my life. During the 2002 World Deaf Magicians Festival in Moscow, Russia, I met and eventually married Liliana, an award-winning magician and dancer herself who now performs with me.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
Of course, it hasn’t been a smooth road. There are always obstacles even for the most successful venture, and my story is no different. The biggest challenge of late was, of course, the pandemic. When everything shut down, so did my primary source of income — my magic business. My schedule was completely filled with bookings, and suddenly everything was canceled — all my workshops and performances. It was a huge setback. It wasn’t like I could easily convert everything to an online format, especially for the illusions and audience interaction. We also had a magic theater in downtown Lake Geneva, WI, that we had to shut down.
After some re-strategizing, we developed a virtual version of our performance and began hosting performances, social events, and children’s activities on Zoom. This was hugely successful, but we still struggled to bring in income, so we had to find part-time jobs.
Other obstacles have mainly been equipment acquisition and navigating communication misconceptions with hearing vendors, but we have worked hard to resolve these.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
I am a full-time comedian-magician and entertainer who performs often with my wife, Liliana. We have performed in all 50 states and in 45 countries. As my website says, “Prepare for eye-popping illusions, dazzling balloon twister, stunts with live animals along with seemingly impossible tricks in an unusual and incredible display of magic when award-winning magicians Magic Morgan and Liliana take the stage. Try solving some of their magical mysteries as they bring a smile to your face with their mind-boggling performance.
Magic Morgan & Liliana will amaze and astound you, make you laugh, and make you wonder. Their show is a theatrical event for the entire family, full of moments that take your breath away. Objects seem to appear from nowhere and defy gravity. The broken appear to be made whole. Magical objects defy gravity.
People of all ages can enjoy Magic Morgan & Liliana’s Grand illusions, live animals, comedy and audience participation. Join them for a unique, magical journey with a powerful message that creates memories for a lifetime.”
What sets us apart from others is that we are Deaf, and we provide shows with almost no words. This makes it even more exciting for people who do not know sign language.
I also serve as the president of the World Society of Deaf Magicians and the U.S. Society of Deaf Magicians.
How do you define success?
First, defining success is an individual thing. We all define it differently. I would prefer to look at how to be successful, and that’s through hard work and persistence. For people who are Deaf like me, we often have to work doubly hard to break through barriers because of the misconceptions and lack of understanding about us. This is true for any minority, and so it becomes out responsibility to constantly educate others and make the arts accessible to all, including our arts to people who have never seen deaf people before.
For me, success would be the accomplishment of breaking through barriers and ensuring people see us as people, not just people with disabilities.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.magicmorgan.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/matthewmagicmorgan/
- Facebook: www.facebook.com/mlmagicshow
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/user/MLESmorgan
Image Credits
Matthew Morgan & Liliana Morgan