ELLWOOD CITY, Pa. — Dr. Bradley Brown is a rare combination, a dentist who makes cavities disappear and a magician who makes objects appear apparently out of nowhere.
“Being a dentist is my serious side, being a magician is my fun side,” Brown said.
After graduating from Columbia University, Brown opened his dental office in Ellwood City in 1989. He continues honing his skills in both fields, dentistry and magic.
Brown of Ellwood City said magic has fascinated him all his life, so he became a magician.
“I am what thousands of hours of misspent youth can do for you,” Brown said.
As a lifelong student of magic, Brown said he studies all types of magic because he wants to know how it works.
By the time he was 7, he was practicing magic and when he was 10, he was appearing in talent shows and performing at birthday parties.
It all began when Brown was in elementary school and his parents allowed him to stay up one night a week to watch magicians on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson. The local newspaper listed Carson’s guests for the week, so Brown knew when the magicians would appear.
“Carson had been a magician for 30 years, and every week he featured a magician on his show as his way to honor the art form,” Brown said. “I would be so excited after the show, I couldn’t sleep. I have a scientific mind and just had to know how it was done. I was fooled and wanted to know how it happened.”
One morning when Brown didn’t make it up to go to school the next morning, his father, Dale, took him for a ride in the car.
“I had no idea where we were going, but I knew my dad wasn’t happy with me,” Brown said.
His father took him to Aliquippa to visit the Mystic Magicians of the Beaver Valley and asked them to teach his son magic. Brown joined the group and is still a member.
After graduating from Riverside High School in 1979, Brown attended Columbia University in New York City, where he would do magic on Manhattan street corners and in Central Park. Once when his father was visiting, Brown took him to the park and found a bench for his father to sit and watch as Brown set up a table and performed close-up magic tricks.
When Brown finished his performance, he asked his father how he liked it.
His father said, “Well, all those people had a good time watching you, but I don’t know why you do it.”
“I said, ‘Look in the hat’ (that Brown set out for his fans to drop in donations) and there was more than $100 there,” he recalled. “Then my Dad understood.”
Brown attends one or two magician conventions each year to keep up with the latest. He meets magicians from all over the United States, attends lectures and demonstrations.
“I like it all,” Brown said. “I study the world’s best and learn the psychology, which is a big part of magic. I’m a card guy. I do close-up magic, but I’m interested in all types of magic.”
For a fee at conventions, magicians can perform their best tricks in front of some of the top magicians, who critique the tricks and show them how to improve.
“It is challenging because you are performing in front of other magicians,” he said. “You know you can’t fool them, but you want to impress them with your technique.”
At the conventions, Brown has met David Blaine, David Copperfield and other well-known magicians.
“Once at a Siegfried and Roy show, I was passing behind the stage when they made an elephant disappear. I saw how it was done and that was exciting. Magic continues to fascinate me,” Brown said.
In 2015, Brown was inducted into the Beaver County Sports Hall of Fame. While a student at Riverside High School, Brown was a running back on the football team and a point guard on the basketball team. After graduating from Riverside in 1979, Brown went on to play basketball at Columbia University and played against NBA stars such as Patrick Ewing and Chris Mullin.
“I was athletic, but I always found time for magic,” he said. “It is just part of my personality.”