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Suzanne Suzanne

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SSPhoto by Kari Hendler

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S Suzanne SuzanneW hen you watch the magic of Suzanne, you are experiencing a one-of-a-kind magician who conjures an artful and personal performance with a unique brand of close-up magic. Suzannes irresistible charm, impish smile, and openness with her audience gives you the feeling that youve known her your entire life. Her magic connects with people on an emotional and personal level, and thats what distinguishes her act and sets her apart.Mark Felicetti, Executive Director of the Academy of Magical Arts at The Magic Castle, describes Suzannes relationship with her audience as equal parts friendship and romance. Wowed by Suzannes charms, magician and actor Jonathan Levit admits that she makes him smile just thinking about her. Shes instantly likeable. She fakes you out and takes you down, but shes never intimidating. The audience doesnt suspect that behind that smile is a ferocious magician, ready to pull you into

her web and knock your legs out from under you. In

fact, Suzannes magic has never been about the trick.

She explains, For me, magic is more about using the

trick as a vehicle for play. Im inspired by the idea of

bringing a sense of wonder to my audience.

by Anna Hays

The Magical Journey of

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SSShe was hooked, but never imagined that she could actually make a career out of such an awe-inspiring art form. And it was a series of encounters with professional magicians along the way including Al Schneider, Eugene Burger, Dai Vernon, and Luna Shimada that led her to discover her unique place in the magic world, where as she puts it, I get to play for a living.Suzannes magical journey began in Battle Creek, Michigan. She was a shy kid, who spent most afternoons up in a tree watching small town life go by around her. She was an observer who liked math, puzzles, and optical illusions, always trying to figure out how things worked, from M.C. Escher drawings to complicated brainteasers. I thought it was interesting that if you looked at something for a long time, you could still see it when you closed your eyes. And I loved how objects would move depending on which eye you looked through. If you changed your focus, you could make something look clear or blurry. It sounds sort of dorky now, but I spent a lot of time staring at an object and then changing my focus from clear to blurry and really being fascinated by that for hours. If the Magic Eye photos were out when I was a kid, I would have been in heaven!Suzannes first introduction to magic was through a son of a family friend when she was 10 years old. It was a simple version of the Ambitious Card routine. I really wanted to learn how he did that routine, so he taught it to me and a few other simple tricks too. I had a fun time playing with them for a while, but I didnt consider them magic. They were more like puzzles. But even so, I somehow knew intuitively that I wasnt supposed to reveal how they worked. I was also thinking about optical illu-sions around that time. I noticed things like leaves floating in the air, knowing that they were really on spider webs. Thinking about that, I figured out that if I taped a piece of my hair to the wall (I had long hair at the time) and held on to the other end, I could levitate a tissue or a dollar bill. I didnt consider that magic, though. Then, finally without thinking about it, I figured out how to make a pull. I broke a rubber band, pinned one end to the inside of my jean jacket, and tied the other end to a paper clip so I could make the paper clip disappear. That trick changed my perception. Finally, I had discovered magic.Suzannes mother cant remember a time when her daughter wasnt interested in magic. Even when she was helping her in the kitchen, Suzanne was up to some sort of magic. Kitchen magic. Mixing concoctions together and watching the reactions, like making eggs bounce by soaking them in vinegar. It seemed that as a young girl, Suzanne was experimenting with illusions and making a show out of her magical discoveries with anything she could find in front of her. Strands of hair, a rubber band, and even a bowl of eggs!At the time, the thought of becoming a professional magician never entered Suzannes mind. Instead she was happy enough performing for her family and friends. While in high school, she visited the renowned Michigan-based magic store Abbotts, and while she was Suzannes path to becom-ing a professional magician whos performed around the world, igniting the imagination and touching the hearts of her audiences, started when she was a little girl and saw her first card trick.

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Sintrigued by what she saw, Suzanne didnt see how she could actually survive as a magician, so put it out of her head. She went to college and pursued her interest in math and computer science, and placed her fascination for magic in the back shelf behind her engineering textbooks.

In 1982, she met her husband, musician and composer, Louis Sinclair. She came to him to learn how to play acoustic guitar. Louis recalls, We had a mutual friend and slowly we got to know each other. After a while, we discovered we shared an interest in computers, games ... and magic. Throughout their marriage, Louis and Suzanne have shared an active interest in each others passions and work. Suzanne works extremely hard and has very high standards. When shes working on a new trick, shell practice it for hours, videotaping herself and running it back over and over again. Shes a perfectionist and is so flawless technically that when shes performing, she can focus on the fun of magic instead. Louis has been an important anchor of support in Suzannes magic career. Its pretty simple. I make sure to stay out of her way.

It was not long after meeting Louis when Suzanne encountered her first working magician, who happened to be living in her apartment complex. When she found out he was a professional magician, she asked him if he would teach her something, but he refused unless she promised that she was going to become a professional magician. That was still far from her mind. She was

suzanne performing strolling magic at a private party in 1989

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SSstudying computers and on her way to becoming a programmer. But it was her first exposure to a real magician, and slowly she started pocketing clues about ways a magician could actually make a living.After I moved to Minneapolis in 1984, I started playing with magic more seriously. I had a personal epiphany, too. When I lived in Battle Creek, I was a certain person who my family knew. Every time I would get together with them, it seemed they expected me to be that person, like we were all playing a role. I knew that I wasnt able to be my authentic self in that environ-ment. So I moved to Minneapolis and there I was able to have a fresh start. I could pretend to be whoever I wanted to be. Playing with magic helped me be that other person who was always inside of me. After a while, I didnt have to pretend anymore. Magic helped me become me!Louis was in a band in Minnesota at the time, playing a lot of night gigs. Suzanne was working as a computer programmer in a new town and found herself alone one night playing backgam-mon with a guy in Boston on an online gaming network. We were chatting online about what we did for a living. I told him I was a computer programmer and he told me he was a profes-sional magician. That really sparked my interest! I mentioned that I played around with magic. He told me that he was the president of the magic club in Boston and suggested I check out the local magic club in my region. He offered to get me the name of the president of the club in Minneapolis. Within a few minutes, I had a name and number. I called the guy and he told me the next meeting was going to be the following night and invited me to attend. Suzanne had no idea that this random online chat would play a major part in her destiny of becoming a professional magician.What happened next was life-changing for Suzanne. What had seemed impossible suddenly appeared before her eyes. She describes it as if the universe put things in place for me to become a magician. I just needed to see the road signs that were already there. And the road signs along her path were all in the form of people who appeared in her life at just the right moment, presenting her with just the right opportunity. First it was her neighbor who showed her, without knowing it, that you could make a living as a magician, and this time it was the legendary magician, Al Schneider, who happened to show up at the magic club meeting on a cold Minnesota night.Suzanne explains, All that evening, I heard people talking about this guy named Al who might be coming to the meeting. They talked about him as if he was really something special, like someone to be revered. Later when Al Schneider showed up, I remember sitting on the floor with him watching him do magic. He picked up a coin with one hand, put it in his other hand, squeezed it, and it was gone. Vanished. He showed me both his hands and they were both empty. At that moment, I actually heard something in my head click, like something had been dislodged. I felt tilted, as if my whole reality had shifted. He pointed to the floor and the coin appeared again. Now this was real magic to me! Not the silly card tricks I was doing. On the spot, I asked him to be my teacher and that was that. I found out later that Al rarely ever went to the magic club meetings. He said he just felt like he should go that evening. If he hadnt showed up that night, Im certain that I never would have become a professional magician.

Suzanne immediately started studying with Schneider who remembers those early days when he was mentoring her. Suzanne accepted what I taught, which isnt always the case with

eugene Burger and suzanne

suzanne strolling on new Years eve, 2009suzanne performing in 1995 and 1996 (left)at a tradeshow representing Bankone.

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Sstudents. Louis remembers what seemed like hours watching Suzanne and Al practice at the kitchen table. It was intense to the level where most people would have quit, but Suzanne relished it. Al remembers years later Suzanne called him to ask how to tie a knot in a rope with one hand. I told her we could go over that sometime in the future when we were face to face. But she wanted to hear it over the phone. So I agreed and asked if she had a rope in her hand. She acquired one. We went over the method. At the end of that, she said she got it. I expressed my disbelief and asked if she really got it. She told me that my instruc-tions were so accurate and she was accustomed to understanding how I spoke that she knew exactly what to do and learned how to tie a knot while getting instruction over the phone. I thought that was extraordinary.

While studying with Schneider, Suzanne perfected her skills performing magic at her husbands music gigs in small local clubs. Her magic immediately caught the attention of the bar crowd and she found herself going around table to table performing tricks. She didnt realize at the time that this was a dress rehearsal for the strolling magic she has perfected and performed at restaurants for over 20 years. I had no idea it could work that way. From that night on, I started preparing more before I went out to watch Louiss band. Soon I was getting tips and suddenly it was feeling like a real gig. But I still wasnt thinking about doing magic for a

living. I do remember one night I made close to $150 in tips and it was just at a dive bar. I thought, if I could make money like that at a dive bar, what if I was working at a better place?

After a few months of working with Schneider, Suzanne had perfected a few tricks and started gigging at three different Ground Rounds, a local restaurant chain in Minnesota. The doors were opening for her to perform magic and get paid for it. Suzanne was moving closer and closer to becoming a full-time magician.

After a few months of restaurant work and the occasional childs birthday party, Suzanne went to a lecture by master magi-cian, Eugene Burger. She recalls, I was very intrigued by him. He was doing a lot of restaurant magic at the time, which led him to corporate gigs. I wanted to move into corporate work and private

Performing at giannis steakhouse in 2009

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SSparties for adults. After his lecture, I somehow had the guts to ask his advice on booking better gigs. He gave me simple and sage advice, You just have to know someone. Then he wrote a name on a business card and handed it to me. Turns out the person whose name was on the card was Tobie Nidetz, the head chef at one of the hottest restaurant and nightclubs in the area. Suzanne called him the next day and shes been working at restaurants that Nidetz has been involved in creating ever since. The most recent is Giannis Steakhouse, where she has been working as a magician since they first opened in 1996. Suzanne has become part of the concept of the restaurant, says Tom Webster of Giannis. On a professional level, shes phenomenal. On a personal level, shes just a beautiful human being.

Burgers wisdom and generosity led to another turning point in Suzannes career. Soon she started earning enough money as a restaurant magician to quit her day job as a computer program-mer and dedicate herself entirely to magic. It was a huge step for

her. She had followed her bliss and was now making money at it, something she had never dreamed was possible as that young girl perched high on her front yard tree watching the world go by.

Her career built momentum when in 1988 Suzanne landed a gig at The Magic Castlea rite of passage for any professional magician.. Before this, she had seen other magicians who had performed at The Castle and knew she was ready for the oppor-tunity, but didnt know how to break through and perform there. On her honeymoon a few years earlier, she had made sure to visit The Castle. At the time, it seemed out of reach and unattainable. When I walked into The Castle for the first time, I thought if I could work here just one time in my life, everything would be perfect! So she asked Al Schneider how she could get a gig there. He responded, Oh, I didnt know you wanted to work there. He called Bill Larsen right then and said, One of my students is ready. Bill responded, Send him out! Suzanne had exactly one month to prepare for the gig of a lifetime. Schneider remembers,

I made a call and got her scheduled. This is my point of glee. I brought someone up magically and planted her in The Castle. I was proud of this, and of Suzanne.

Suzanne recalls, It was October 31, 1988. Halloween night. I was terrified! I was really happy to be there, but I was so scared that I couldnt sleep the night before. When I got to The Castle to perform, I met Ron Wilson, who was the early performer in the Close-Up Gallery. He looked at me and said, So youre the late guy! Ha! I watched his show and afterward told him how frightened I was. He reassured me that most of the people coming to the shows are just regular people, not magi-cians. And he explained that theyre coming to The Castle to be entertained, so its not as hard to win them over as it would be approaching a table at a restaurant, which is something I had been doing for the past three years by now.

The first night was a bit shaky, but I did all right. My nervousness diminished as the week went on and my shows got progressively better and better. Thats the way it is when you do three shows back-to-back everyday for a week straight. By my last night, I felt very much at home. People who had come to see me earlier in the week came back again for my last show. I felt so great after that run! It was a new beginning for me.

Backstage at The Castle, 2007

On a professional level, shes phenomenal. On a personal level, shes just a beautiful human being.

Tom Webster of Giannis Steakhouse

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SDuring Suzannes auspicious week at The Castle, she encoun-tered the legendary Dai Vernon. I had heard that The Professor rarely went to shows. The rumor was that there was one show he did go to once and he thought the guy was horrible so he stood up in the middle of the act and declared, This is crap! and walked out! How could anyone finish a show after that? How could anyone finish the week? I also heard he told someone else he should give up being a magician altogether! I didnt think I wanted him to see my show. What if that happened to me?Fate took a different turn for Suzanne when midway through her run, on a quiet night, there he was, Dai Vernon sitting front and center in her audience. She thought, Holy crap! What am I going to do? I took a deep breath and just went out there and did my best. I tried not to look at him. It was a pretty good show if I recall. After the show, everyone filed out, everyone except The Professor. He just sat there, leaning on his cane, star-ing at me with no emotion on his face. I thought I was going to be fired right there on the spot. I thought he was going to make me promise never to perform magic ever again. How was I going to be able to show my face at the magic club back home in Minnesota? How could I ever talk to Al or Eugene again? When I was finally able to find my voice, I said something like, Okay, so lets have it. He slowly stood up, looked me right in the eyes, smiled, and made the okay sign with his fingers and walked out.

Vernon came to see a few more of Suzannes shows that week. She recounts, What an honor and on the last night, we were sitting at the bar together just chatting and

he said he thought I was the best female close-up magician hed ever seen. Wow! Then I asked him what he thought I could do to make my show better. He thought for a second and then said, Well, Suzanne, you could wear a dress!

That was 20 years ago. Now every time Suzanne returns to The Castle, its like going back home. Im not terrified anymore. Im excited. I get to hang out with my magician friends and talk shop and life together. When Suzanne and Jonathan Levit perform during the same week, they often play off each others

suzanne with Losander, ezell, shimada, and Luna shimada

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Sshows. Levit explains, We make a point of laughing with each other. We are out there. We are a bit crazy. We are outlandish. This playfulness is infectious. It bleeds over to the audience. If I am laughing with Suzannes moments before walking on stage, and vice-versa, the audience feels that energy. It becomes part of the show. And Mark Felicetti adds, I always look forward to Suzannes visits. Early on, she and I started playing with the audi-ence. It happened by accident that she had just stepped out of the room by one door as I entered from another. People laughed. So we milked it for all it was worth and have used that same gag for over a decade now.In 1996, while vacationing in England with her family, Suzanne saw a trick performed by a street magician and wanted to buy it. After searching around, she finally found it when she was in London at Ron MacMillans International Magic Shop. When I requested the trick at the shop, I had a hard time convincing the guy at the counter I was a professional magician. He hesitated selling me the trick even though I told him Id been doing magic professionally since 1985. But it wasnt until I showed him my card to pocket and Matrix that he was convinced I was for real. I must have impressed him because he immediately called Ron MacMillan over to do the tricks again for him too.MacMillan liked what he saw and invited Suzanne to the pres-tigious International Magic Convention, known as Rons Day. The one stipulation though was she had to compete as well as perform, something she hadnt done before. I was scared out of my mind. Performers like R. Paul Wilson and Guy Hollingworth were there. I saw these guys doing magic and thought Im totally out of my league. On the first night when I was back in my hotel room, I called Louis and told him I couldnt do it. He talked sense into me and I performed and competed the next day and did okay. By the end of the convention, I had made friends with these guys, and we had a ball hanging out together. It turned out to be a great experience for me and helped bring my name across the Atlantic, too.Soon after, in 1997, Suzanne attended Mystery School taught

by Eugene Burger and Jeff McBride. Her experience there changed the way she looked at the world, and influenced her act in a profound way. I wanted to learn more about presentation and I heard that Mystery School was the place to do it. I also wanted to work with Eugene. I was already beginning a more spiritual path in my life, one that involved ritual and meditation. I guess I was having sort of a personal awakening at the time. Mystery School opened up that path even more for me. Jeff McBride was way into ritual and I really resonated with that.

Mystery School also got my creative juices flowing and allowed me to see my performance style from a new perspective. I wanted my magic to be about something more than look what I can do! I met a lot of other very like-minded entertainers there. Not just magicians went to Mystery School. There were dancers and story-tellers. Very creative people.

After Mystery School, Suzannes act started to evolve. I was doing the physical and skillful things to make magic happen, but that was only one layer of my performance. My magic changed after 1997 from trick trick to something that really means some-thing to me and hopefully to my audience. It was more story magic with emotion and a message to share.

Around this time, Suzanne met the dynamic magician and illusionist, Luna Shimada, who became an inspiration and a good friend to her. Suzanne explains, At the time, I was meeting people who became influential in my development as a magician. Luna was one of them. I met her at a Women In Magic conven-tion in Los Angeles and thought she was pretty cool. There was no one else like her out there. There was something she embod-ied, some energy that I wanted to understand better. Shimada remembers how Suzanne stood out in the crowd. Suzanne had this boyish girl-thing going on that I related to right away. She approached me and we started talking a lot about magic, not really about tricks, but more esoteric things. Soon we developed a real sisterhood with each other.

It was after Mystery School and the Women in Magic conven-tion that Suzanne continued to develop a more personal and more narrative approach to her act. One of her signature effects is her Band-Aid trick. The essence and emotion of the trick is about a parents connection to a child. Her only son, Ian, is the inspiration for the trick. Ian, a recent graduate from an arts high school describes his mothers magic as a beautiful puzzle and recalls asking her one day as a child why Band-Aids work and her replying, Because theyre magic! Suzanne explains, Whether its holding a childs hand or putting a Band-Aid on a cut, its more than tending to the child, its about the love that you give doing the tending. People forget that theyre opening their hearts with a simple act like putting on a Band-Aid for someone.

Magician and writer David Regal sees Suzanne as a unique and compelling performer and considers her Band-Aid trick as a standout in her act. Suzannes presentation of Joe Givans trans-position effect done with Band-Aids is maybe my favorite trick in her repertoire. Her identity as a woman and a mother infuses the magic with a layer that affects an audience on multiple levels. Its kind of a perfect thing. Jonathan Levit adds, Suzannes Band-

Suzannes presentation of Joe Givans transposition effect done with Band-Aids is maybe my favorite trick in her repertoire. Her identity as a woman and a mother infuses the magic with a layer that affects an audience on multiple levels. Its kind of a perfect thing.

David Regal

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SSAid effect warms our heart because we see her as a loving mother. We like her. And the effect ends with a result we never expected. As a result, backtracking hardly worksits a fooler. With much of Suzannes work, her best misdirection is her storytelling.

The other notable trick in Suzannes show is her unique pre-sentation of Cups and Balls, which transformed significantly after she attended Mystery School. She first learned her Cups and Balls routine under the tutelage of Al Schneider. He worked with her on the physical part of the trick, which was an essential layer and she first performed it in 1988. Then after Mystery School, she added a storytelling component to it. Its Suzannes connection to the story that draws her audience into her presentation and that makes her magic personal and real.

The patter for the Cups and Balls routine came to me in a dream. One night before I went to bed, I said Im ready. At four oclock in the morning, I woke up with this story running through my head. I knew I had to get up and write it down, otherwise I would have lost it. Levit extols Suzannes particular brand of storytelling magic. Her routines are masked in stories that touch your heartstrings and tie into her mystical imagination.

Suzanne especially loves performing her Cups and Balls rou-tine. It centers me. I get to talk about something that I am going through in my own life. The message of the story is just because you have a way of doing something different from others, doesnt mean youre wrong. Its just different. Its your own way of doing something.

On your lifes journeyKnow that our paths may appear very differentBut our quests are very much the sameAnd if we just choose to learn from each otherWe may just find lifes greatest treasure.(excerpt from Cups and Balls)Suzanne is a unique treasure to the magic community. And

its hard to avoid the fact that shes a woman magician in a male-dominated world. But Suzanne prefers to see herself more as a magician who happens to be a woman rather than a woman magician. Shimada insists. Theres no label or category for Suzanne. She is her own entity. Regal explains, Suzanne could

be lumped into the category of Female Magician but that would be doing her a disservice. The biggest problem with magic today is that the general population does not consider it a performing art, and the reason for this, I believe, is a lack of interpretation by performers. We go to singers we enjoy because they interpret, they add something of their own to what they do. We follow this logic with painters, dancers, all the arts. For some reason, most magicians simply do not do this. Id put Suzanne in that exclusive group that treats magic as an interpretive art.

Suzanne has observed throughout her performances around the world that audiences dont seem to care that shes a woman as long as shes entertaining and the act is fun. Sometimes an audience member will say, Wow, Ive never seen a woman magician before, but it usually doesnt come up. Ultimately, the only difference between a guy and a woman magician should be whether youre good or not, entertaining or not, magical or not, and respectful or not.

There are some advantages to being a woman magician though. Suzanne points out, I can include my audiences in a different way. Its harder for guy magicians to work with women audience members the same way I can. I can hug both men and women, and I can lean on men and women in a playful way. A guy magician might come off as intrusive if he did that. Because Im a woman, my energy is going to feel less threatening (I think). Heres another thing that doesnt have anything to do with being a woman. Im only five feet tall. Thats a really good height to be a restaurant magician. When Im standing next to a table, Im almost eye-to-eye with people while theyre seated. I wouldnt be as fun or as comfortable to watch if I were six feet tall!

Magicians will tell you that when you ask someone to play along with a trick, anything can happen and usually does. Suzanne leaves places in her act for the inevitable unpredict-ability that comes with performing live. There are many parts of my act that I have choreographed and other parts that are left open to whatever happens in the moment. I dont care how I get to the end of a trick, just as long as were all having a good time getting there. Suzanne has developed an engaging and intimate act that feels fresh every time because she keeps the script fluid.

You might hear the same lines each time you watch her perform, but somehow the experience always feels new. Thats a big part of her gift as a magician.

Im never bored when I do magic. In my mind, I take a seat with the audience and experience the tricks from their point of view. Its more about my connection to the audi-ence each night, rather than performing a pre-packaged show. Ive developed my act over the years through trial and error. Whenever I perform, I turn on a video in my head and put it on record and when I take a break, I imme-diately evaluate what just worked and what didnt work. While I chitchat with the audience, I make a few adjust-ments, and then move on to my next trick. Its like I have a TIVO in my brain and play back what just happened.

Suzanne treats her audience with the utmost respect. Its not about me. Its only about the audience, what they see, what they experience. If theyre not having fun, then Im not doing my job. If your audience likes you and you screw up a trick, they still like you and everyone wins.

suzanne with her inspiration, hank, her horse

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SIf your audience doesnt like you, theyll try to screw up your trick and everyone will lose. One way is fun for everyone and the other is antagonistic on both sides. I choose fun over antagonism every time!

She never stops growing as a magician and is always perfecting and re-imagining her craft. Her journey to becoming a magician is never-ending. These days, her biggest inspiration is offstage out in a pastoral field. His name is Hank and hes her horse. Suzanne spends all of her free time with Hank, whos been schooling her on the latest nuances of her act, in par-ticular, on the interaction with her audience.

Being with Hank inspires me. It might be because Im learning to communicate with him in a gentle way and can transfer that to the rest of my life too. He teaches me a lot about myself. Hanging out with him helps me learn more about communication, body language, and how much energy to give a trick. A big part of misdirection is knowing how to lead your audience. Learning to work with a horse is a feel thing. If Im scared, hes going to be scared. When performing a trick, its about where you want to put your energy and attention. When I want the audience to be intense, I need to be intense. When I want them to relax, I need to be relaxed. Ive learned to adjust my energy according to what Hank can take on a given day, and its allowed me to read my audi-ences better too.

When Suzanne first learned the coin vanish from Al Schneider, she spent a lot of time just holding the coin in her hands, feeling its weight, knowing wheth-er it was heads or tails, studying everything about that coin. She put all her attention on it. Where you put your attention is key in performance. If youre committed, the audience will be there for you the whole way.

Another part of Suzannes act that she keeps perfecting is her comedic timing. Comedy inspires me. I TIVO comedy shows and repeat the lines of my favorite comedians over and over again so I can understand their timing. It bugs the heck out of Louis, but its something I find extremely useful to my act. Schneider likens Suzannes stage comedy to the great Will Rogers. Will Rogers would drop a gag line that was really funny. Then there would be dead silence. Then he would throw something in as an afterthought. That would crack up the audience and enormous laughter would follow. I see that coming to Suzanne naturally. In my minds eye, I see her doing a card trick. The audience sits there stunned. Then after she waits a bit, she says, well maybe you wanted a different card. And she reveals something else. The hammer drops and the audience is left breathless.

As a seasoned magician who is constantly transforming herself and her act, Suzannes advice to new magicians is not to learn everything thats out there. Learn three or four tricks and learn them well. Give it time. Play with the trick for a while before adding anything else. Learn the nuances, not just how the trick

works. Make it be about your audience. Above all, have fun with it and dont take yourself too seriously.

Wherever Suzanne finds herself, whether its performing at the three different bustling restaurants in Minnesota, at house parties, corporate events, magic conventions around the country, or at the beloved Magic Castle, she stays true to her pure love of magic that first sparked her imagination when she was that little 10-year-old girl and saw her first card trick. I love to connect to

people through magic. I love to see people smile and experience what I experienced the first time I saw Al Schneider do that coin vanish that changed my life. I can see the wonder in their eyes. Thats the way I experienced magic then, and thats the way I will always experience magic.

suzanne with her family, husband Louis and son ian