Brooke & Nick Propst

For those of us who have the technical ability of someone who has no technical ability (we could not think of a magician that would not sue us so we kept it ambiguous), there is skill and there is skill.

Some skill can be taught and some cannot. Both Brooke Propst and Robert “Robbie” Moreland have skills that cannot be taught; it is innate.

Mr. Moreland has skills of a physical kind. This young man can do things with a deck of cards or a few coins that would have you signing up for his Cult if he was looking for members. His hands move fluidly where ours would normally tremble. His mind invents new sleights – like the outstanding “Cloud Change” – that our minds cannot even hope to learn.

We have never seen Mr. Moreland perform or lecture before. What a treat to watch this kid (in comparison to us) perform in the Close-Up Show here at SCAM? In the words of our psychologist, “what an amazing sight!”

The man knows his history of cards and coins and has stood upon the shoulders of those greats that have gone beyond to see where we might be – assuming we had the natural born talent.

This is not a knock against Mick Ayres or Mr. Moreland but some of us have no ability to coordinate our hand movement with the tasks our brains have assigned. We are no good, we’re clumsy, plus we have no skill. But, that’s okay, we also have no imagination plus no inhibition.

Mr. Moreland’s lecture today was wonderful to watch and we took incredibly detailed notes. But we also knew the lecture was like graduate-level physics to folks like us. It was pretty to look at, and his explanation helped us understand there was some natural and rational method by which he accomplished his thing of beauty but that was about it.

We want to be like Mr. Moreland but the fact that we cannot is exactly the reason why it is such a joy to watch Mr. Moreland perform and teach.

Robert Moreland

We were surprised to hear he had not yet been to California to show off his skills and innovations. In a special way, we felt as if we were special: we had a chance to see him before the whole world knew about his talents.

Brooke Propst is less than ten years old but has the timing and ability to script a routine that competes with the most talented of our craft. We realize it is almost required to compliment younger magicians and praise their abilities even if those abilities are lacking.

In Miss Propst’s case, however, she has talent and she has skills.

We learned from Miss Propst’s father, Nick, his daughter wrote her own patter all on her own. When he offered to help script the effects, she rebuffed him and questioned whether he really believed she could perform in the SCAM 2005 Stage Competition.

Her desire to script the show herself plus most importantly, the results of her efforts, prove to us that she will be a force with which to contend.

Miss Propst has a winning smile and sweet eyes that give the impression she would never, ever, deceive you. Even as she is perpetrating the effect before you, she seems almost too sweet to be in our business.

But let’s cut to the bone. Anyone can be sweet, cute, and adorable. Anyone can have the technical ability to do magic that requires manual dexterity. But can young Miss Propst also be creative, innovative, and commercial?

This may not count for much on your balance sheet, but we have to admit that we have stolen her lines. That is right; we stole the lines of a young woman in her single-digits. We are not proud. We are realistic. Miss Propst’s routine was absolutely outstanding in terms of style, timing, and real laughs. In fact, we competed against the young Miss Propst in stage competition at SCAM and were left in the dust. She came in second (in the Junior Division – the SCAM judges allowed us in the under-16 year-old division because of our emotional immaturity). We did not even make the final cut of five.

Miss Propst is a class act. She was kind enough to ask for our autograph. This was a class move that we normally associate with the A-Class performers.

We do not want to give away her key lines – not because we think she will be appearing in your city – but because we will. We want to seem original and special: even if it means stealing from a child magician.

We have no idea if Miss Propst intends to pursue our art as the hobby or profession. It is clear she enjoys it and we can always use magicians who enjoy the pure pleasure performing magic is. We hope she decides to stay with it.

It would be a shame to see such a brilliant light wasted illuminating some less significant portion of our world. She has a talent, a real talent to tell jokes, perform magic, weave a story, and truly entertain.