Magic has been a part of Orlando Cuevas’ life since he was 5.
“I got a magic kit when I was a child,” said Cuevas, an art teacher for the last three years at Dickinson High School and a semi-professional magician. “I saw a trick and said, this is great.”
Cuevas has brought his love of magic into the classroom at Dickinson and has been conducting an after-school magic class since 2000.
“The classes are part of the school’s Extended Day Program,” Cuevas explained. “The school gives extra help with the three R’s, of course. But there are also free classes in music, martial arts and auto detailing.”
The magic classes are part of the program, and the program itself is free.
“Private magic lessons can run $30 an hour,” Cuevas said. “Why pay for them, when the school is giving it to you for free?”
The magic courses, held after school in the computer classroom on the fourth floor of the high school, usually get 40 registrants, according to Cuevas.
“About 20 students show up,” he said, “and the good ones hang in.”
For the new semester, Cuevas has a core of five experienced students who have taken the classes before and now serve as tutors for the incoming students. One of the veterans is 17-year-old Elvis Gonzalez, who has developed a profiencey with card and ball tricks.
“I like to entertain people,’ said Gonzalez about why he likes to do magic. “And girls seem to go for it, too.”
Gonzalez’s favorite trick is known as the “French Drop,” in which a small ball appears to move from one hand to the next and then to different parts of the stage.
“This takes a lot of work,” said Gonzalez. “But it’s worth it when you finally get the trick down and everything runs smoothly.”
On the weekends, Gonzalez works as an assistant on Cuevas’ magic shows.
“It is good practice,” Gonzalez commented on his weekend work. “One day I hope to be a professional magician.”
Senior Anthony Reyes joined the magic classes as a sophomore and by his own admission was little slow catching on.
“When I started, I knew squat about magic,” Reyes admitted. “I came up here to have lunch with a friend and got interested. I’ve been learning ever since.”
Reyes has so perfected his skills that he has mastered the “Card on the Ceiling” trick.
“You have the volunteer pick a card and write on it,” said Reyes, explaining on the trick works. “You have them draw a picture or something, to make the card very distinctive.”
According to Reyes, the magician then shuffles the deck of cards, binds them with a rubber band and then flings them at the ceiling. The card with the marking on it should stick to the ceiling. One example of the feat executed by Reyes is still attached to the ceiling of Room 411, where the classes are held.
Cuevas, who was Director of Cultural Affairs for Jersey City from 1996 to 1999, started doing serious magic in his late teens when he worked at The Magic Shop, a now-vanished novelty store that was located near the White Castle near Journal Square. Cuevas learned to do magic tricks from the owner, Art Kahn, who was at first reticent about teaching Cuevas.
“He told me ‘You can’t learn this,’ ” Cuevas said. “After awhile he showed me stuff and I started doing shows on my own. He didn’t show me too much. I don’t think he wanted me cutting into his act.”
After a bunch of volunteer jobs at children’s parties and churches, Cuevas got his first paying gig at a Ground Round in Jersey City.
“I did four shows a day, five days a week,” Cuevas said. “I would also go from table to table doing card tricks. I made $75 a day, and that was pretty good back in the 1970s.”
Part of Cuevas’ routine is the famous pulling-a-rabbit-out-of-a-hat trick. That trick, he says, is often talked about, but rarely performed.
“The trick is based on another trick called ‘Glass out of a fountain of silks,’ ” explained Cuevas. “It’s the same thing, just the principle applied to a different object.”
Cuevas believes that magic has a lot of attraction for high school students for different reasons.
“There is poetry to magic,” said Cuevas. “For these kids, there is also a sense of empowerment that builds self esteem. Don’t you think the ability to do something others can’t will make you feel better about yourself?”
One of the newcomers to the magic classes at Dickinson is Vanessa Candelaria, who says she is fascinated by magic even though she is just a beginner.
“I feel unique when I do this,” Candelaria said. “I fell this is something I could really be committed to. And besides, everyone here is cool.”