We were lucky to catch up with Matthew “levi” Burdine recently and have shared our conversation below.
Hi Matthew “Levi”, so great to have you on the platform. There’s so much we want to ask you, but let’s start with the topic of self-care. Do you do anything for self-care and if so, do you think it’s had a meaningful impact on your effectiveness?
I didn’t always take care of myself. Being a ‘workaholic’ was a great source of pride. Consistently rising in an IT career drove me. My first position out of college eventually had me living next door to my employer and working over one-hundred hours a week. Change in leadership and company goals eventually drove me to approaching burnout. About fifteen years ago, I sought other employment. I went to a much larger company that was properly organized and staffed, and this provided me with proper working hours.
What a breath of fresh air! I finally had time to live a life outside of work. Breaking away was not easy. At first, I used a lot of the free time to pursue IT projects of my own interest. Eventually, I started to I enjoy more time with family. In 2018, I learned just how important that family time was. My mother passed away and I was overwhelmed with depression. The thought of how much time had been wasted literally made me sick.
Through several months, I started to raise myself up again. I gained interest in playing cards. Everyone has seen a regular red or blue deck of Bicycles. I happened across a deck of black ones and became obsessed. They helped me to keep my hands busy, practicing shuffling. With them, I was able to at first keep away from my thoughts, then later work through them.
Shuffling a deck of cards has proven to give me comfort. I started collecting them. There is a whole world of cards, by many designers and manufacturers. They have varying features. Some are less suitable for games and more appreciable for art. Others are devious and specialized for magic tricks. I taught myself a simple trick, working out what I had seen someone else do. Having practiced it for a while, I showed a few other people with the assumption they wouldn’t be fooled. When I was wrong and they were, what glorious reactions did they have! I got myself a few publications from the used book store and studied them.
One of the magazines I found mentioned the International Brotherhood of Magicians and meetups of regional clubs called Rings. I learned there was one local to me in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania — I.B.M. Ring 13. I decided to venture out of my comfort zone and attend one of their meetings. I introduced myself as Levi, the Greek representation of the Hebrew Matthew in the Bible. It was the first time I had ever used an alternative name.
Everyone welcomed me, and were eager to hear my story and share with me. I had found a group of friends.
Having enjoyed my time, I kept going back. I kept learning magic and meeting new people. More importantly, I felt I was getting out of my rut. I learned to be happy again. This has been huge. Magic has helped me to be more confident at work, and around people in general. It’s taken strain off of relationships, and helped put balance into my life. Last year, members of I.B.M. Ring 13 elected me as President of their club. I’ve been honored to organize and advance our community engagement and appreciation of magic as an art, and hope to keep contributing.
Appreciate the insights and wisdom. Before we dig deeper and ask you about the skills that matter and more, maybe you can tell our readers about yourself?
I lead a group (we are a non-profit) of about forty people with varying levels of interest in magic. Some have a career in performing, others have it as a side-job. Many others are hobbyists, or just attended with a friend and have been coming back because they enjoy it. Our organization’s goal is to advance the appreciation of magic in our community. We do this with open-invitations to visit our club meetings where we teach and perform for each other. We plan networking events with other magic clubs and with headlining magicians visiting venues in our area. We also do performances for the public as fundraisers to support our cause and promote our art.
Our group is quite diverse. It’s exciting to see a range of ages from several different backgrounds get together and foster engagement with each other and their community. We have members who do magic for schools, libraries and nursing homes. One of our most recent members has been receiving donations from others in the club to start an after-school program where he can teach magic to disadvantaged youth. We are all passionate about magic, and this has been a life-long dream of his that we’re able to support.
If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?
Patience, persistence, and bravery have been helpful while diving into magic.
Like learning anything new, failure is bound to happen. Ability does not manifest overnight. Being patient with yourself and working through challenges eventually leads to success. Persistence is important. Knowing when to take a break but not giving up on practice goes hand-in-hand with patience. Last, I think bravery is important because just trying is sometimes the hardest part. It’s good having a community, but not using them is of no benefit. Reaching out for help or performing magic for others can be daunting, but it helps greatly with improvement.
Any advice for folks feeling overwhelmed?
A feeling of being overwhelmed is not hard to achieve in magic. There are so many talented people and they all do very cool things. When I’m overwhelmed, first of all I take a break and step back. I practice and perform magic for fun, and if it’s not fun then it has lost its purpose. Reminding myself of that helps. Second, I ask myself why a challenge is so difficult to overcome. Is it the right challenge? Does the effect I am performing suit me? Everyone wants to be a rock star. I find it is important to not compare myself or my progress to others. Sometimes I modify my objectives to satisfy myself. If one part of a trick is particularly difficult to do, I try to focus on the parts I am better at. If I am absolutely needing to perfect that one part, I seek instructions from books or videos, or reach out to a more experienced performer for help. Last, sometimes it’s just practice. Giving myself room to breathe and time to keep at it will get me there. I remind myself of past success I’ve celebrated and use that as motivation to keep trying.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.ibmring13.org/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/levi.magic/
Image Credits
Beaver County Photography
Emily Feldman
Lucy Hall
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