September 13, 2007

PROFILE
His success is no trick
Fullerton High grad wins magic contest.
By BARBARA GIASONE STAFF WRITER

No foolin’, Justin “Stryker” Langdon baffled 18 professional judges to win the 2007 Strolling Olympics championship at the renowned Magic Castle in Hollywood.

For starters, the Fullerton Union High School grad (Class of ’89) pulled the old trick, “Pick a Card, Any Card,” before spreading out a blue deck in what magicians call Chicago-opener fashion. One judge’s card turned red, and had his name on it.

Langdon isn’t divulging the technique, but he’s positive the twist on an old formula helped clinch his award.

Indeed, he has dozens of tricks up his sleeve – or in his sleight-of-hand that he manipulates for parties, private students or customers every Friday night at Café Tu Tu Tango at The Block in Orange.

“The fun part of the café job is the initial, embarrassed look on people’s faces,” Langdon said. “They think I’m going to bend a balloon when I walk up to the table. Eventually, they come to respect classical magic.”

Question: How did you stumble into magic?

Answer: I was working at Disneyland when I was 19. One day on my lunch break, I wandered into the Magic Shop and the salesman didn’t look like he was capable of fooling me. I asked him to do a trick, and he blew me away. He said all I had to do was buy a $6 book, and I could learn it in five minutes. He was right, and magic became a hobby.

Q: Did you ever take a course in magic?

A: Cal State Fullerton has a certification program, “Magic as a Performance Art.” I learned so much from Professor Dave Thorsen, who also teaches at the Magic Castle.

Q: What are the crowd-pleasers?

A: There are two types of magic: cerebral and visual. With visual, you’re impressed with what you see; with cerebral, you’re skeptical and try to figure everything out. A coin trick is visual, a card trick is cerebral.

Q. How many tricks do you perform per night at the restaurant?

A: Usually between 18 and 26 with three sets of tricks at each table.

Q. Can anyone learn magic?

A: I have a 70-year-old student with arthritis, and he’s really catching on.

Justin Langdon
Age: 36
Family: Wife Jessica; daughter Lauren, 11, and son, Logan, 6.

Hobby: Rubik’s Cube competitions