His struggles, however, turned out to be a gift as well, because often he misread the words, resulting in a different, and oftentimes improved, variation of the trick. “I would learn things the wrong way,” he says. “Sometimes it was better or worse. But every so often, when I came up with something better, it was shocking to others.”

In other words, Alexander’s challenges forced him to come up with innovative tricks in his own way, and later even other magicians became astounded. “Being a magician changed my life because I was very shy, and it taught me to come out of my shell,” he says.

As a true people person, he can name several moments throughout his lifetime, when he felt fortunate for his ability to share magic. From his performance for the Rolling Stones to helping a man propose to his girlfriend, his career has led him meet many people, whom he otherwise would never have met. “It’s neat to see different worlds,” he says.

But perhaps his biggest statement is that he would rather provide an experience for his audience based off of the “let me show you” mentality, unlike other magicians, who emulate the “I fooled you”, kind of feeling.

Although his passion for performance makes living the magician’s life easy, he said his career doesn’t come without challenge—especially in a digital age. With the growing world of technology, most 21st century entertainment is carried out with some form new age device. “People will believe that you are just doing the trick with technology,” he says.

But Alexander says he doesn’t rely on technology for entertaining others, but on his elusive skills. “Magic is about connecting with people,” he says. “As soon as you have technology in that way, it is not as interesting.”

Even with all of his successes, Alexander’s magic has never been about the trick, but more about the people he shares the magic with everyday. For the future, he says, “I hope I can keep giving people happiness, and maybe inspire some people to be magicians like me.”