I respect magicians in a way. I don’t in most other ways, but I do in a way. They’re people who followed their passion.

They heard the world say “that’s an awful idea,” “you’ll never impress a woman” or “rent is due” and decided it wasn’t important. It really makes me wonder: What drives a person to become a magician?

Personally, I don’t understand how our nation supports more than 15 magicians outside Las Vegas. If you want to make a living as a magician, I imagine you have to be willing to tour a pretty broad area. I think they could tour a few states, leaving out a couple.

Nothing magical happens in Iowa. For those who’d say “nothing magical happens in North Dakota either” we do have a river that essentially runs backward, which is neat I guess. I imagine they aren’t really needed in places like Hawaii for the opposite reason: it’s too magical already.

So where is the demand?

NDSU had a magician recently, but I can’t say I went. You may be able to find one at a child’s party, but they are the essentially the strippers of kids’ parties. Think about it, there are two responses to a magician at a party. The first is to go “Oh my God, it’s a magician. This is gonna be a night to remember.” The other is to think “Oh man … that’s somebody’s child. Nobody wants that for their kid …”

What I’m trying to get at is why someone would put up with all this. Trying your damnedest to find a gig where you can impress an audience too drunk to care about your existence or so young they just beat a piñata like it was hiding the cure for cancer. Not to mention the fact you likely have a second job. Yet you keep on keeping on because that’s your passion.

That is the only way I respect magicians: their heart is on the stage and they’ll follow it. Even if that stage was less of a stage and more of a suburban family’s backyard.