Columbus magician places at World Championship of Magic

Erik Tait, a magician from Franklinton, placed third in cards last month at the World Championship of Magic held by the Fédération Internationale des Sociétés Magiques in Quebec City, Canada.

Erik Tait has loved magic ever since he received his first magic kit at the age of about 10.

And now — years later — the 37-year-old from Franklinton still performs a cups and balls trick he learned at his first introduction to magic, as well as a card trick he picked up from his grandfather at age 12.

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The only difference? Now he’s world-renowned, having placed third in cards last month at the World Championship of Magic held by the Fédération Internationale des Sociétés Magiques (International Federation of Magic Societies) in Quebec City, Canada.

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The federation, created in 1948, represents more than 70,000 magicians from some 49 countries. And its world championship featured 3,000 competitors in various categories in late July.

Tait said he feels honored to have stood on the podium at what he calls the “Olympics of magic” in front of thousands of world-class magicians using a routine he developed over four years. He said he was the first American to place in card magic in about two decades.

“The mindset was always to participate, not win an award,” Tait said. “FISM is something that I’ve sort of looked at since I was a kid and hear about it and always thought, like, ‘Oh man, wouldn’t it be cool to compete?’ But in my head, it was always for sort of legends and really big names in magic.”

This isn’t the first taste of success that Tait has had, though. He appeared on the “Penn & Teller: Fool Us” TV show on the CW network and won first place for close-up magic in an International Brotherhood of Magicians convention.

Nick Locapo, 41, theater manager of P3 Magic near Ohio State University’s campus, where Tait often performs, said Tait has become a more confident person as his magic technique has developed.

Locapo attended the recent world championship and said he was unsurprised to see Tait on the podium.

“I saw amazing stuff, but nobody that threw in as strong of a performance as Erik did,” he said.

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Tait, who has a degree in comedy writing and performance from Humber College in Toronto, said he started juggling at 17 at The Comedy Barn in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee, before the owner of a local magic shop taught him some card tricks.

After Tom Vorjohan, a program chairman at the International Brotherhood of Magicians, recommended him for it, he joined the organization, which sponsored him to attend FISM.

Vorjohan, 58 of St. Petersburg, Florida, said Tait’s magic is on “a whole ‘nother level,” with unique card tricks paired with comedy. He said Tait puts a lot of effort into his shows, even working with numerous local businesses in Columbus on his suit, music and more for the world championship.

Tait said he has graduated to using older methods for his magic that he’s found through extensive reading and research. These methods are less-recognizable to established magicians, particularly when Tait adds his own unique comedic spin to the tricks, he said.

“I won this award because of the way I do magic, and I’m not going to change that,” Tait said. “The only thing that’s going to change is my focus. … I’d very much like to perform for audiences and teach magic.”

Tait said he hopes to leverage his accomplishment to help aspiring magicians learn and compete if they want.

“I should not be an anomaly on the podium in card magic; I should be the beginning of the tradition,” Tait said. “Some of the best card magicians in the world live in the United States — they live in New York … they live in Chicago, they live in L.A., they live in Las Vegas, they live here in Columbus.”

ThisWeek reporter Gary Seman Jr. contributed to this article.