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CHRIS PATZANOVSKY
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A MASTER MAGICIAN who is also a member of the UofM’s men’s tennis team. On the side, the junior physics/mathematics major develops computer apps, including two for download on the App Store: “Color Tapper” and “2D Insanity.”
How did you get into magic tricks? I got a magic set when I was a little kid. When I got older, I saw a YouTube video where a magician was getting girls’ phone numbers by doing magic. It changed my outlook on what magic is—I could use it as more of a social thing to meet people (and to get girls’ phone numbers). It always has made me happy to make other people happy. And seeing them be amazed by what I do with the magic tricks has inspired me to continue. Where do you perform? Usually when I meet up with other athletes or friends at a party, I bring my cards with me to entertain everybody. Do you ever reveal any of your secrets? A friend of my mother’s is actually a professional magician—he told me the first rule is to never reveal a secret. Even though I do magic for fun—and not really for money—I do take that to heart, that you shouldn’t reveal a secret. I think it is part of the fun. What is the secret of being a good magician? A lot is how you sell the trick. Many of the tricks I do aren’t the hardest of tricks—they don’t require the biggest sleight of hand, but it is all about how the presentation flows. There are some magicians who say that you really are doing magic, but to be honest, magic is just deception and
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U N I V E RS I T Y O F M E M P H I S M AGA Z I N E |
SPRING 2018
PATZANOVSKY is not only a member of the No. 18 Memphis men’s tennis team, he is also a master magician.
sleight of hand—and really convincing the people that what you’re doing is real. Favorite trick? It has a bit to do with gambling. It is a trick where I make a bet on anything. There is one card flipped upside down in the deck and I tell the spectator we’re going to make a bet and if his or her card is the card that is flipped upside down in the deck, they have to buy me a Coke; if not, I will buy them a Coke. Obviously there is a good chance their card is not the one flipped upside down—but it is every single time. I also do a trick with a Rubik’s Cube. I throw it up in the air, and it is all mixed up but when it comes back down it is completely solved. Do tennis and magic go hand in hand at all? A lot does with the presentation part because with magic I have always been extroverted. Magic has helped me to get even deeper in how to interact with people especially when we play at home and have people watching. And when I do a trick shot on the court, the guys every once in a while call me Houdini. Any career aspirations for magic? I heard great advice from a magician once that as a magician you will never be a millionaire but you will always live like one. If tennis doesn’t work out, I may have a career path.