As classmates gather around, senior Jacob Watt tells someone to shuffle his deck of cards to ensure his honesty. He says, “Pick a card, any card” and prepares to leave his audience questioning. As usual, he will pick the right card and never reveal his secrets.

Both Watt and senior Cord Alvarado taught themselves step-by-step tricks and now share their illusions with students as well as people out of school. Watt received a magic book from his brother and read the material over and over again; it took him only a year to master it all. Alvarado learned in similar ways.

“I really started just about a year ago when I accidentally stumbled on some tutorials on YouTube and it just kind of clicked with me I guess,” Alvarado said. “Then my buddy Kyle St. Charles learned that I liked magic and started helping me out.”

Alvarado does not just keep his talent to a small audience. He has expanded the variety of viewers. He loves magic as a hobby but he is also paid to do shows at parties and assisted living homes.

“One time I did magic at a retirement home called Vicnia Gardens,” Alvarado said. “It was just a lot of fun entertaining the residents; they love having guests. One of them kept going on about how handsome I was and she kissed me on the cheek.”

As for Watt, he has been seen performing his card tricks in class or in the library.

“I first started doing magic my freshman year because it always seemed cool to me,” Watt said. “My brother made me want to learn how to do magic because he did it too.”

Watt also learned how to do most of his tricks by watching tutorials on YouTube and from friends. The most popular trick he does is one he learned from YouTube called slap the card.

“I have a trick where I cough up a card and one time I did it in the library. My acting must have been overboard because Mrs. Hodges thought I was dying,” Watt said. “I told her to pick the top card and show everyone before putting it back in the deck; I started coughing really hard and pulled her card out of my mouth.”

Junior Emily Kinser witnessed another one of Watt’s card tricks and recognized his talent.

“The trick was pretty cool, it was where he had to guess what card I picked,” Kinser said. “Jake always gets it right; he has a few great tricks up his sleeve and his tricks are always a good way to start a conversation.”

For anyone who wants to learn how to do magic tricks, Watt suggests to find sources from books, web sites or to buy a beginner’s magic starter kit.