Local speaker, author, and magician Kent Cummins, or the Fantastic Kent Cummins as he is known, was recently awarded the Lifetime Achievement Award by the Society of American Magicians in Austin.
Cummins, the director of the Fantastic Magic Center here in Georgetown, has been entertaining, educating, and inspiring audiences all over the world for over 70 years.
Born in Del Rio, Texas, in 1943, Cummins was introduced to his first magic trick by his grandfather when he was just six years old.
“My grampa was the manager of the Buckhorn Museum in San Antonio,” Cummins said. “He gave me a little magic coin box trick from his gift shop. I loved that thing. I went around performing it over and over again for everyone.”
His father took notice of Kent’s love for this trick and for Christmas that year bought him a Gilbert “Mysto Magic” set.
“I opened up that set and said, ‘Wow, this is it,'” he said. “‘I’m going to be a magician.'”
Wanting to learn everything he could about the world of magic, Cummins became a regular at the local library. As he got older he visited libraries in larger cities and eventually moved up to the grown-up section and more in-depth magic books.
“793.8 is the Dewey Decimal number for magic books, and I read everything that the library had having to do with magic,” he said.
Fascinated by the art of magic and inspired by famous magician Harry Blackstone, Cummins performed magic shows all through his school years. He also learned juggling and puppetry, and won trophies at magicians’ conventions for his magic and juggling performances. His shows helped pay his way through college.
After college, Cummins married his childhood sweetheart, Margot, and was commissioned into the Army as a Second Lieutenant. He would perform magic shows for his fellow soldiers in his free time and became known as a speaker, writer, and teacher.
On January 1, 1986, Cummins made the decision to pursue magic full-time, which began his career as a professional magician. To date, Cummins works with Fortune 100 companies to train their sales people by using magic techniques. He is active with the National Speakers Association as a keynote speaker and gives motivational and team building presentations around the globe.
“My specialty is magic with a message,” Cummins said. “I don’t typically just go out and do tricks. I want the magic to inspire and educate while it’s entertaining.”
Throughout his career, Cummins has worked closely with children’s library departments to not just entertain kids, but to teach them that he learned everything he knew about magic from books. In 1993 he started the Magic Camp in Austin, a summer day camp for kids.
“I decided to teach a new generation of children,” he said. “We taught them magic, juggling, and puppets to build their self confidence, help them overcome shyness, and help with physical skills.”
The camp became a model for inclusion, welcoming handicapped children, kids with down syndrome and other special needs.
“We learned so much about how kids with special needs are not allowed to do the same things the same way as other kids,” Cummins said. “We made a point to be welcoming to any child.”
After running the camp for 18 years Cummins turned the camp over to new ownership. It just celebrated in 30th summer and is still helping thousands of children in the Austin area.
For this and a lifetime of bringing the world joy through magic, the Society of American Magicians honored Cummins in December at their holiday gathering. Cummins thought he was going to honor his close friend and fellow magician Peter Hinichs, better known as ‘Peter the adequate’, for his career in magic. However, to his surprise, he was presented with a lifetime achievement award.
“I’m now a life member,” he said. “I’ve done magic all my life, but I certainly wasn’t expecting any formal recognition for it.”
Cummins turns 80 this year and is semi-retired, but that didn’t stop him from performing 52 shows in 2022.
“Fifty-two is a magical number,” he said. “Houdini was 52 when he died. It’s the number of cards in a deck of cards. It’s a wonderful number.”
Cummins has started the Fantastic Magic Center in town to preserve the art and history of magic and share it with others. It houses his and other magicians’ collections of magic that may otherwise be discarded. Their books and props are repurposed and passed on to newer, younger magicians.
Cummins has also started a podcast called Tales from the Fantastic Magic Center which shares in the purpose of preserving the history and art of magic. So far he has recorded 29 episodes and sees it as a fun way to share his knowledge of magic. New podcasts are released every Monday.
“Most people have never met a magician and have no idea how magic works or what’s involved,” he said. “This podcast is my attempt to share my 74 years of experience with people who find that fascinating. And frankly, most people do.”
Cummins encourages budding magicians to not limit what they learn to watching YouTube videos but to get to the library and read books about magic. He also says to join a magic club.
“Austin is one of the top areas of magic in the country,” he said. “There are many magic meetings going on every month and a lot of resources for anyone interested in it.”
Though magicians won’t share their secrets, they do have favorite tricks and illusions, and Cummins has a few of those up his sleeve.
“My favorite close up trick is called the Ball in Vase,” he said. “It’s a version of a trick that’s in the oldest books of magic published centuries ago. My favorite illusion is levitation, floating someone in the air. To me, it’s beautiful and inexplicable.”
What is easily explainable and undeniable is the contribution Cummins has made in the world of magic.
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