When people think of magicians many think they’ve seen it all or know how the tricks are done. But when people are asked to volunteer in a magic trick performed by Magician Brian Yazzie they, once again, become a wide eye child held in bewilderment. Yazzie’s greatest joy is to see that astonishment on a person face. Magic emanates in his every action and trying to catch how it is done is futile. 

Yazzie will mystify the America’s Got Talent producers this Wednesday for a chance to perform on national television. Yazzie, from Lee Chee, will be the first full blooded Native American magician to ever audition. He also brings Native country a new genre of performance art, forever changing the way Native Americans are classified as entertainers. It is a rare person to challenge and overcome the American stereotypes of Navajos and the Native American stigma of magic. However, Yazzie has done so and raised the bar in what people will expect from any magician.

“I want to want to show America that we are still here,” Yazzie said.

He is also the first Navajo to be inducted into the International Brotherhood of Magicians recognized by 88 countries across the world. For the AGT audition, Yazzie will bring tricks and techniques he has developed himself to the stage. He hints he will be bringing a 20-year-old trick that he has personalized. In a world of secrecy and illusion Yazzie will not elaborate any further to keep up the element of surprise.

“Astonishment is our natural state of mind. When we’re born everything around us is astonishing. As we grow we learn more, we hear, sight, and the smells. The mind categorizes the new things and we store these things away in boxes in our minds. Then one day somebody walks into your life and says, ‘You wanna see some magic?’, and you have that feeling you had as a kid again. When a magician brings back that feeling of astonishment, your mind tries to categorize which box to put it in and it doesn’t have a category. You’re free again. The moment last ten seconds and the mind closes the boxes again. Adults are too skeptical. You have to believe like a child, plan like an adult and believe like a child.” says Yazzie about life and the illusion of magic.

Influence

Yazzie began his journey as a magician at age 13 when the seed of magic was planted inside his head by magician David Blaine. The influence began when Yazzie seen Blaine’s first television premiere in 1996.

So, he began practicing the tricks he’d seen Blaine astonish crowds with. It began with a simple manipulation of the cards. Now, to see Yazzie cut and shuffle deck of cards is to honestly believe in magic. He has perfected a signature card trick that perfects the illusion and mystery of close up magic.

“This trick is something you’ve never seen and you will feel something you have never felt before,” Yazzie refers to the child-like feeling of amazement.

Yazzie also studies magicians from the past and researches new tricks. In the secret world of illusionist many techniques are not easily shared. Yazzie admits he is currently learning a trick it took almost 12 years to uncover.

 “I think technology is playing a big role in accomplishing some mind-blowing effects, but I don’t really use it. I [sometimes] do on stage,” he admits.  

He performs his signature card trick for kids in schools or at conferences as a motivator for accomplishing goals. Yazzie intends to show children there are no boundaries if they are motivated and believe in themselves.

“Magic, for me, is about opening people’s minds and inspiring them. I want to change what every everybody thought they knew about Native American Entertainment. That's my biggest goal. The last magician we had was the coyote. He was the trickster. Honestly my magic extends from that and my culture. I think it’s a big part of who we are.” says Yazzie.

Growing Up

Much like many reservation families, alcohol is a life changing factor in the lives of the children who are being raised by parents with a dependence on alcohol. Yazzie knows this childhood and lost his mother to alcohol when he was 11 years old. Which also left him without his father since. The same year Yazzie found a way to cope using card tricks while living with his grandmother. To further push the need for an outlet Yazzie lost his grandmother when he was age13. Again, magic and illusion was his escape from an all too familiar problem many Native American children face.

“I was born on the rez into poverty with no running water or electricity. I didn’t finish high school, both parents were alcoholics, I’ve been married and divorced. It’s sad to say many of our children are still growing up this way,” Yazzie said.

He acknowledges his life path began to follow the same challenges with alcoholism. Yazzie admits only being sober will make his story the greatest story ever told of overcoming the odds against him.

“My art and my profession is steering me away from all that [negativity],” Yazzie said.

 Rather than allow more children to follow the path of becoming another statistic, Yazzie hopes to inspire the children to believe in themselves. Connecting the hope of anything is possible through magic is his reward when he sees the children smile.

Going Pro

“My quest to go professional began two years ago when I started coming out with my magic. people through social media were surprised that a Navajo was performing magic. I want to add more to this genre. Native can do magic, too,” he said. “Magic is like a rabbit hole. The deeper it goes the more profound your magic becomes. I heard that your talent is Creator’s gift to you and what you do with the talent is your gift to the Creator.”

A major goal he hopes for is the legacy of making his children proud is his highest achievement. “I want to show them they can become somebody no matter what they go through in life. To all the youth, really,” he said.

One big support system is his grandma Dixie Ellis from Lower Antelope Canyon Tours who was one of his first sponsors when he made the decision to go professional. Adventurous Antelope Canyon Tours, Carol Big Thumb and Navajo Canyon Tours also backed him when his new journey began.

“I definitely wouldn’t be where I am without them. Shout out,” Yazzie acknowledges he will be representing them and the community at the audition.

“This has been truly an amazing journey. I definitely love my art. I was born to be a magician,” he said.