Liam Ying
Congratulations to Liam Ying for winning this months magic competition at the Merchant of Magic shop. On Saturday 26th September, magicians from around the UK visited the shop to show the magic shop team a specific performance routine. This month it was ‘ The Ambitious Card’.
It was great to see so many magicians traveling down to take part. Judging the winning routine was a difficult task, but Liam did a fantastic job and we are delighted to present him with this award.
We asked Liam to share a little about his journey into magic:
How long have you been studying magic?
I’ve been teaching myself magic for nearly 3 years now.
What lead you to discover it, and decide to begin your practice?
It started shortly after my daughter was born, I was suffering from anxiety and I needed something to keep my mind occupied during parental night vigils, and this was perfect to immerse myself in.
I’ve always had a fascination with magic, even from a young age but only until recently did I want to try it myself!
How did you begin to learn?
I started watching some tutorials on YouTube from magicians like Daniel Madison, Alex Pandrea, Xavior Spade, Chris Ramsay and started buying decks of cards in the bucket loads! I love collecting cards, and I’ve amassed quite a collection now!
It’s quite common for magicians to stumble into magic from Youtube, and many of the channels do a great job of introducing new magicians, but often the content can lack depth or structure… How did you progress your study?
I started reading a lot more books and The Royal Road to Card Magic has been essential for me.
Since then I’ve started performing as a side little trope when I stream on Twitch (under the name Synyster Graves) and I’ve really started to enjoy performing in front of the camera!
So you mainly perform on camera, rather than live in person?
The walk-in at Merchant of Magic shop in Bishop’s Waltham was the first time I’ve performed something in person to someone who wasn’t on twitch, or family! My wife has been very encouraging, helping me learn and critiquing how I do things when I feel I’m ready to perform on stream too!
What advice would you give to someone thinking of beginning to learn magic?
I really believe it’s never too late to begin learning, and it’s turned into a fantastic and fulfilling subject to get really into! I’ve tried to document my journey into it on the YouTube channel Synyster Graves so I can always look back and see how I’ve progressed! But as a tool to help contain my anxiety, it has given back to me more than I ever could have hoped for!
Liam, congratulations once again for winning Magician of the Month. You should definitely look to start performing at live venues and events in the future, and we wish you every success with your magic!.
Want to enter the competition for Magician of the Month – November 2021?
All ages and levels of ability are welcome to enter. Visit the magic shop on Saturday 30th October from 11am-4pm and show us your favourite Halloween themed trick. It can be anything you like, as long as it’s spooky. Everyone that performs their trick will receive a surprise magic gift for taking part, and we’ll pick one magician to win Magician of the Month. Good luck!
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