She Wows Audiences With Her Contagious Smile & World- Class Hand of Magic! An Exclusive Interview With Las Vegas Magical Headliner Jen Kramer

Q: You were first fascinated by magic at age ten. Can you share with our audience what captivated you about magic?

JK: My Uncle Steve gave me a book called The Royal Road To Card Magic as a 10th birthday present and I was endlessly intrigued. It’s a sleight-of-hand card magic classic first published in 1948. I would spend hours sitting cross-legged on the green carpet of my childhood bedroom, keeping this magical, orange-bound book open with my knee as I held a deck of blue Bicycle playing cards in my hands, adjusting the positions of my fingers around the cards as I read the instructions. From the moment my uncle gifted me The Royal Road, I loved the process of learning and practicing these card magic techniques, then sharing the magic I learned with family and friends.

My reasons for loving magic have evolved over time, but – at the beginning, as a kid – there was something especially exciting about learning magic secrets and being able to wow even the seemingly all-knowing grown-ups. Over the years, I realized that the real secret of magic is in genuine human connection. Connecting with people and sharing the experience of wonder that magic evokes is what keeps me captivated by magic.

Q: What did your family and friends think when you talked about magic at such an early age?

JK: I’m fortunate to have such awesome, supportive family and friends who encouraged my passion for magic. My mom and dad regularly drove me to the various events where I performed early on and they (along with my two younger sisters) were my first test audience when I was working on a new piece of magic. Around age 11, I joined a group called The Society of Young Magicians, the youth chapter of The Society of American Magicians. Then, a few years later, I attended Tannen’s Magic Camp. So early on, through the magic community, I met great friends who were also magicians and we connected over our shared love of magic.

Q: Who was your mentor growing up and how do they remain important to you today?

JK: I’m really grateful to have had wonderful mentors in magic while I was growing up, who will always be so important to me. My first mentors in magic were my Uncle Steve, Albert Lasher, and Tom and Janet Verner.

My Uncle Steve had studied magic for many years, so we would have a blast with our “magic jam sessions” whenever we’d meet up, talking about magic techniques and showing each other what we had each been working on lately. He also gifted me my very first magic books, starting with The Royal Road To Card Magic, the book that first piqued my interest in magic and totally changed my life.

Albert Lasher, the leader of Assembly #69 of The Society of Young Magicians, was a wonderful mentor as well, always so kind and generous to me and our entire group of young magicians. He would teach us about magic and performance, encourage us, and find great opportunities for us to perform in the community. One of my favorite places where we’d perform was on KidZone TV, an interactive studio which would broadcast our shows to pediatric patients at Mount Sinai Hospital in New York. Albert arranged these performances, which was just one example of his ever-present kindness, dedication, and generosity over the years.

When I was 12, I also met Tom and Janet Verner, who founded the organization Magicians Without Borders. From the moment we first met, I’ve been inspired by the work they do entertaining, educating, and empowering people all around the world and spreading hope and happiness through magic. I first had the opportunity to work with them when I was in high school and later connected Magicians Without Borders and the Yale Magic Society. We ended up doing a joint trip to Mumbai and rural Gujarat, India, to perform magic together. That was such a special experience.

Q: At what point did you realize this was your career calling?

JK: I had always loved magic and been interested in pursuing it full-time. When I was in college, I started thinking more seriously about how to work out the practical realities of making magic my full-time career.

Throughout middle school, high school, and college I had worked as a magician, starting with birthday parties, then regular shows at our local Barnes & Noble bookstore, private events, Bar/Bat Mitzvahs, college shows, corporate events, and more. So, over the years, I had the opportunity to gain “flight time,” as Lance Burton would say. That experience performing magic for people in various environments, from stage shows to close-up strolling magic, was so valuable.

In the summers after my freshman and sophomore years at Yale, I interned with Nathan Burton’s show in Las Vegas. I had a great experience working with Nathan and his team, learning about the Vegas showbiz world. Then, during my junior and senior years, I started reaching out to properties in Las Vegas to pitch my show. When I graduated in 2014, I moved to Las Vegas to do magic full-time.

Q: Do you still remember your first public performance? Tell us what it was like.

JK: My first public performance was when I was 11 years old, at my little sister’s birthday party. I was paid in pizza and was thrilled with that arrangement! I also performed at my cousin’s Sweet 16 around that time, then soon after that I started performing regularly at parties. With each performance, I learned more and more and became more comfortable and confident in the magic and my performance chops.

My first regular gig as a magician was at our local Barnes & Noble bookstore. During my lunch period at school around age 14, I called Barnes & Noble to ask about performing my magic show on their Storytime stage in the kids’ section on a regular basis. I went into the store to do an audition show and it went well, so I started performing my show there on a biweekly basis. I loved doing these shows. It was such a great opportunity to get that “flight time” and led to other opportunities as well, like performing at a Harry Potter book release party (which was especially fun for me, as a Harry Potter fan).

Q: How did you get your break to perform in Las Vegas?

JK: During my junior and senior years at Yale, I started reaching out to properties in Las Vegas (cold-calling and cold-emailing from my dorm room in New Haven, Connecticut) to pitch my show. I expected to get many no’s – it wasn’t anything to take personally, they didn’t know me personally – but I was going to be proactive and persistent. All I needed was one yes. If I got one yes, then it was a win.

My goal was to sit down in person with the decision-maker, as I thought my best chance of making something happen would be to meet them face-to-face and pitch my concept in person. After many no’s, I got my first potential yes. I flew out to Las Vegas during the spring break of my senior year for an in-person meeting. It went well and they agreed to give the show a shot, so I knew when I moved out to Las Vegas that I had one weekly show I could count on. I could then work my other performances around that.

Once we had a working model at that property, Wyndham’s Grand Desert Resort, I secured a second weekly show at another property, Marriott’s Grand Chateau. Soon after that, I had a third weekly show at a third property, Cancun Resort. I would also perform regularly at corporate events, theaters, private parties, college events, trade shows, and more, traveling around the country and the world, working these performances around my regular shows in Las Vegas.

I did these shows for the next four years until the opportunity came along to headline my show at Westgate Las Vegas Resort & Casino. It had been my long-time dream to have a magic residency in Las Vegas and I’m so grateful to have the chance to perform my show at such a special, historic property – the same property where Elvis Presley performed hundreds of sold-out shows. My show at Westgate opened on May 16, 2018, and we’re now approaching 600 shows at Westgate.

Q: What was your first thought when the COVID shutdown hit Las Vegas? What changes did you work on during your time off?

JK: It was such a surreal time. When the Las Vegas shows were on pause, I missed performing for live, in-person audiences. During that time, I worked on adapting the content of the show to our “new normal” for when we would reopen. I wanted the show to be just as fun and engaging as ever, which meant adapting many of the routines so they would work well in this new environment. Many of the touch points in the show – moments when an audience member would join me on stage or touch props – required rethinking. Sometimes this meant coming up with an entirely new method for a piece of magic. At the time, the regulations and guidance were changing almost daily, so I worked out different performance options. Adapting the magic to these limitations was a creative challenge, but one that pushed me outside my comfort zone and resulted in magic that I’m proud of. Some of the solutions that were originally devised for COVID-related reasons ended up being improvements to the show overall, elements that I want to keep in the show in the long term.

Q: You’re well over 500 shows in Las Vegas. What does it take to keep your show engaging to the audience?

JK: I love connecting with people and audience participation is a big part of my show. That means that every show is different because every audience is different, so the audience really makes the show what it is. When the audience contributes to the show, it leads to moments that are really special, because people say and do unexpected things all the time. That makes the show experience extra engaging. I love being present and in the moment with people, as some of those improv-y moments can be the most memorable. Audiences are smart – they know when something really special and unusual is happening. It’s awesome when they can leave the show with a story like, “I happened to be there on the night when THIS happened!” the I Borders over a and performmag-and communidifficultencourto –share they’re out the when -

Q: What makes your show different from other magicians?

JK: The audience participation element is something I really focus on in my show. To me, magic is all about the experience of connecting with people – interacting with audience members is such a fun, engaging, and personal way to do that. As a female magician, I also enjoy incorporating traditionally feminine items like dresses and lipstick into the magic I perform. For example, one of my favorite parts of the show is a routine in which an audience member’s signed hundred-dollar bill magically appears inside a freely-selected tube of lipstick. It’s also a show for all ages: whether you’re 8 years old or 80 years old, this show is for you. We often have multiple generations attending the show together and seeing them smile, laugh, and create shared memories is so special.

Q: You’re the founder of the Yale Magic Society. Can you tell us about its mission?

JK: Community has always been something that I really value. The Yale Magic Society is a community of magicians at Yale who have a shared passion for magic, who support and learn from each other, and who do shows together on campus, in New Haven, and beyond. We would meet weekly to share magic and give feedback on each other’s performances. We also brought in special guest magicians to perform and lecture. I graduated from Yale in 2014 and am excited to see the amazing work that the group continues to do, from on-campus shows to performing abroad with Magicians Without Borders.

Q: After attending your show, I know that charity support is important to you. Tell us about the work you do for Magicians Without Borders.

JK: Magicians Without Borders is a wonderful organization founded by Tom and Janet Verner, which focuses on using magic to entertain, educate, and empower people around the world. I serve on the Advisory Board for Magicians Without Borders and have been inspired by the organization ever since I first met Tom and Janet when I was 12 years old. Since 2002, Magicians Without Borders has traveled to over 40 countries and performed for over million people.

I was excited to connect Magicians Without Borders and the Yale Magic Society, two groups that I love, when we did a joint trip to Mumbai and rural Gujarat, India, to perform magic shows together. That experience perform ing in India showed me firsthand just how universal mag ic is; we didn’t speak the same language as our audience but were able to communicate through magic. Performing our shows and seeing kids and adults alike smile and laugh is so rewarding. Through magic, we can communi cate that the seemingly impossible can become possible, an inspiring and powerful message for people in difficult situations all around the world.

Q: Congratulations on conquering a historically male-dominated profession. For the parents in our au dience whose kids are interested in magic, what encour agement do you have for them?

JK: It’s exciting to see the next generation of magicians getting into magic and I’m absolutely rooting for them! To the aspiring magicians out there, I’d encourage you to do what you love, to work hard at it, and to be proactive to go after opportunities rather than waiting for them to come to you.

Magic is a fantastic way to connect with people and share the experience of wonder, making people feel like they’re five years old again and seeing the world through a new, exciting lens. There are so many wonderful resources out there to learn magic, from books to videos, brick-andmortar shops to online shops, young magicians’ groups, and more.

Meeting young magicians at our meet and greets after the show is so special and brings back memories from when I was first discovering magic as a kid. I love talking magic with them and sharing words of encouragement. The future of magic is bright!

She Serves as Founder, Chief Executive Officer,