The Pulse of Chattanooga has a great feature on a magician we have yet to meet but hope to one day.  Chase Ellsworth sounds like a very interesting young man.

He became infected with the Magic Bug as a child when his uncle bought him an encyclopedia of magic with tricks a plenty to read about and learn.

He had time to practice under unfortunate conditions.  Coming from a dysfunctional home and spending time in a juvenile detention center, he was away from the distractions that many of us face – like TV and video games.

“I wasn’t even able to see my friends so I buried my nose in this magic book and it took hold,” he says. “For me, I wasn’t influenced so much by David Copperfield as I was David Blaine.”

He credits David Blaine as being his inspiration over David Copperfield.  In part, it is Blaine’s stunts and death-defying approach to magic that made him special.

Now, 13 years later, he has the tricks down so well that he can fool himself.  “A magician practices sleight of hand like a musician practices chord progressions,” explains Ellsworth. “I practice in front of a mirror, up close, to where I’m confident enough to perform.”

He eschews the title “magician” and prefers to refer to himself as a mentalist or illusionist.  He has adopted the name Artifice the Mentalist. Despite the intimidating name, he assured the reporter that his shows are fun and involve a deck of cards.

“There is definitely a disparity and diversity when it comes to performing magic,” he says. “That’s why people have a certain cheesy or gimmicky view of it.”

He uses his powers of discernment to help in his audience selection.  “You want to bring up people who like magic and are not trying to figure out every move,” he says. “You want excitable people instead of skeptical people.”

Amen, brother.

“Sometimes people don’t know how to react and even look to me to show astonishment and amazement,” he observes. “But I love to see the reactions of people in that moment where I reel them in.”

He is currently performing his magic at several restaurants in the area and you can catch-up with his very busy schedule by visiting his website artificefx.com.  Word has it he will also be performing at the Creepy Carnival Halloween festival at the Dwell Hotel October 31st. Visit the Dwell Hotel.com for tickets.

Read the full profile in the Pulse here.