Student Excells as an Inventor of New Tricks and Best Selling Products for Magicians
For some people, magic only happens around holidays like Christmas or when they go to places like Disney World for the first time. For sophomore John Stessel, magic is apart of his everyday life.
Magic has always been a passion of Stessel’s; not only has it helped him in his social and professional life, it has helped him grow into the person he is today.
“When I was eight my sister Jen, who also goes to Monmouth, bought me my first magic set. It had a couple of corny things and one card trick. Once I learned the card trick, I was hooked, it became an addiction. And once I learned sleight of hand with a pack of cards the rest was history,” said Stessel.
Stessel explained that his friends have always been very supportive and are the reason why he can perform the way he does today. “Growing up I played ice hockey for various teams and as one could imagine, young hockey players are the worst audience ever. Yet through the struggle of performing for them it made me who I am today.” He said that he gives huge credit to his friends and his peers for the assistance in building his skills.
While Stessel continued to practice magic, the tricks he wanted to accomplish became harder and harder. “My desire to do more impossible tricks grew, and this desire was never met by anything I could purchase, so at the age of 13 I began inventing and developing my own tricks,” he said. “Originally, nothing was very worthwhile but as my creativity grew so did my talent at creating. At the age of 15, I was able to partner with two companies, Vanishing Inc. and The Blue Crown, to put out my acclaimed first effect flush linking rubber bands. It became a worldwide best seller!” Flush linking rubber bands are bands that link together seamlessly without breaking the elastic.
“From there I have produced several other inventions which now totals five professional products, two of which are best sellers! I am very proud and am very lucky to be able to invent my own magic tricks, and it has taken me to a lot of places and has made me the man I am today,” Stessel added.
Junior Gino Lombardi, Stessel’s fraternity brother, said, “I think it’s incredible how he uses his creativity to enhance his talent and how successful he has been in the creation and distribution of his original tricks.”
Stessel explained that as his love for magic grows, he becomes more interested in creating tricks rather than performing them. As a college student, he tries to steer clear of performing to “keep away from the stereotypical ideology of a magician.”
“I try to keep magic more to myself, but last semester I did a performance to aid the Haiti and Guatemala trip. The show was my first stage show and I had a great time doing it, but I will probably never do another stage show again. It was very stressful.”
Stessel added, “Last semester I also continued to make magic products and have five or so that are almost ready to be released. But while at school, academics are my first priority and last semester I achieved my true goal while being here, which was receiving a 4.0. So as for magic at Monmouth, it’s more of an afterthought than a priority.”
On his final thoughts about his passion Stessel said, “Mundus vult decipi, ergo decipiature. Translation from Latin, meaning, ‘The world invited deception, so let it be deceived.’”
IMAGE TAKEN from youtube.com
