While The Entire world Seems To Have In no way-Ending Tips Up Its Sleeve, This Dallas Performer Will not Allow Just about anything Diminish His Magic.
In May possibly of 2020 Edward Ruiz, much better regarded as Confetti Eddie, shut his magic parlor. He experienced occupied the house for 26 yrs, originally as an art gallery but later transitioning it to a venue for magic exhibits in 2007. A just one-of-a-sort area, the reduction built Deep Ellum noticeably less…well, magical.
A staple performer and figure in the community, Ruiz was deserving of one of Deep Ellum 100’s grants. He’s been placing that grant to use by making up his act although going through the troubles brought on by the decline of a shopfront.
This month, Ruiz is executing in-man or woman to a general public group for the first time because August of 2021. His initial-at any time solo show, “Confetti Eddie and the Secret of the Two Headed Jaguar” will run on January 23 and January 30 at 4 Day Weekend in Lower Greenville.
We spoke to Ruiz about what his exhibit involves, as perfectly as the other factors he’s been up to, magic university and seeking to appear like a wizard.
What have you been up to currently?
You know, the pandemic, so I’m in this new put in my everyday living now. With that dollars, [the Deep Ellum 100 grant] I took my demonstrate digital. I set up a home studio and commenced accomplishing my magic online. It aided me truly feel like I nonetheless experienced a position to conduct since I took a major strike when I shed my magic parlor. I felt like my artistic room had been taken away from me. So it was awesome to get the help from the Deep Ellum 100 and be able to put collectively something.
What does a digital magic exhibit seem like and how have you experienced to adapt your craft throughout all this?
That was a obstacle. All magicians had to discover how to do no-touch magic. There is so numerous great magicians from the earlier that have already been undertaking this like David Copperfield, Jim Steinmeyer — these men have all been accomplishing magic on Tv set, exactly where you contact the display screen and that kind of stuff. So everyone just hit the books and we commenced pulling out all that aged stuff like mentalism. It a unique genre. Magic is a major house with several rooms. There’s a design and style for every person.
I ended up positioning in the top rated 100 of this throughout the world, cyber magic opposition. All of a sudden I’m showing up on like, Texas Currently — I did a tiny segment for them on their on their NBC present, so all of a sudden, I’m like, “Oh, wow, I’m digital, I’m all around the area. I don’t have to have the magic parlor anymore. I could go to these other sites.” And that is how I get my magic out there.
[During the pandemic] I just needed to get far better at crafting and just, discovering, so I set myself back again in a student place. I returned to Dallas College and went forward and enrolled in the only magic school in the environment, The Magic & Secret Faculty. I’ve been learning so considerably.
I haven’t been performing a complete whole lot of in-individual stuff. But throughout my time off, it gave me a possibility to kind of like, go again to my roots, relearn about myself and who I am and what I like to accomplish.
I truly just auditioned for Penn & Teller: Idiot Us. I created this original act. Fingers crossed they’ll think about it.
Inform me a small little bit a lot more about that possibility.
When I was undertaking the naughty magic exhibit, I was finding a good deal of level of popularity for it. A casting director approached me about staying on America’s Received Expertise. So I went by way of that approach and sort of sped as a result of the front of the line, finding quite far guiding the scenes. I never produced it to an audition recorded on phase because they couldn’t determine out if they wanted to have me. They ended up like, “well, we really don’t know if we can demonstrate your butt on Television.” It genuinely received down to no matter whether or not they can permit enable the viewers see my butt.
This new possibility is for Penn and Teller. It’s terrific for your occupation as a magician, since there is not a entire whole lot of countrywide phases and televised opportunities for magicians, and this is a person of the massive ones. The notion is to get on the show and build a magic act that’ll idiot Penn and Teller. It is like our Super Bowl for magicians.
Back to the magic university, what does a usual day of that search like?
Properly, to start with off, I had to be initiated as a member, so there’s only so considerably I can tell you. I did just take the obligation of the mage, and that is my oath on not to give up secrets and techniques and to use magic in fantastic religion.
But we fulfill on the net and they train us magic. They also convey in visitors to converse to us and encourage us. Every single week, we meet a new magician, somebody who’s been on Penn & Teller, or a different member of the Society of American Magicians, or David Copperfield himself. Everyone’s present is shut down right now, so everybody is in the very same exact predicament, which include the large names. It’s just really interesting that we’re in a position to join with all these large name people today out there as a result of the university. We’re being linked no make a difference our caliber of know-how.
So you’re building a pleasant neighborhood virtually. Is there much of a magic scene in Dallas?
Indeed and no. It is not like it has a Deep Ellum of magic. We have to blend our magic in with items that individuals go out and do already. We’re undertaking at comedy clubs, and we’re executing the burlesque things. We’re executing that so that we can present y’all that magic is strong. It can cling in there with all the other doing arts.
At the exact time, of course, we want to occur jointly and have our individual location or our personal spot so that we can celebrate just magic on its own, which we really do not have in Dallas.
Is a magic venue a thing you see on your own serving to produce in the future?
Yeah, I communicate about it all the time. I’m just on the lookout for people today that want to be the bar element or the restaurant components. And enable us do the amusement. We definitely require those people that are driven and have the exact vision, which is that it is all about magic. Since it does function, there is presently designs out there in diverse metropolitan areas. We just need Dallas and persons here to understand that magic is a way to carry people jointly
What can you convey to us about your new display without having revealing far too substantially?
With the pandemic, there was a whole lot of internal reflection. My demonstrate, “The Secret of the Two-Headed Jaguar,” is generally about Confetti Eddie’s origins — who is Confetti Eddie, but also who is the artist at the rear of Confetti Eddie, Edward Ruiz? I chat a little bit about my roots, where by I come from and how I came to be below, touring to Spain and Mexico City and retracing my roots. So I have all of that individual things mixed into the story that I wrote about a Mayan prince, who’s shed in the jungle and has to find out how to discover his way. And all through that course of action, he meets a magical two-headed jaguar and these realizations occur to light-weight and he is able to uncover his way household. I use magic to tell the tale. That is that is how I converse to the audience all the the story elements — through magic.
Is this tale-telling structure one thing you hope to carry on with in long run exhibits?
For sure. I consider the best stories are our very own particular stories mainly because they have a way to join with every person. It is also progress for me since as a youthful magician, a large amount of instances, we just do the tips and complete the moves. But with storytelling, we use magic to emphasize a actual, truthful story and engage an viewers.
When did you to start with start off obtaining into magic?
Early. Due to the fact I was a child, actually. It was something that I experienced normally loved. Even in my other issues like my artwork and my theater profession, there was usually a little magic strategy on the aspect.
And it was it was a little something I considered that would be wonderful for when I was an outdated individual. I don’t forget hunting at all all those magic books, and the magicians ended up generally like, old, wizard-looking men and I was like, “Yeah, I want to be an aged dude like that. I want to be an old person magician.”
Address image by Desiree Gutierrez.