Teacher Bio: Max Dunlop (Magic & balloon animals)

Class Title: Magic & Balloon Animals (10-11:30am)

My name is Max Dunlop, I am an artist and musician (painter and drummer) currently living in Ridgewood Queens. I began practicing and perform magic as a child. My father is a painter, so growing up in Connecticut, when he would bring his work into the city (which was quite frequently) he would drop me off at various magic shops (often just sections of peep show parlors in times square). Here a greasy old man would teach me the basics of card and coin manipulations (double lifts, palming cards, and false shuffles). I became enthralled.

By the time I was in high school, I would often cut class and take the metro-north train into the city where I would perform street magic shows all day in Central Park. This is where I learned the basics of pacing, crowd density, the use of money lines and assistants as tools to create a more entertaining and financially successful show.

I graduated high school (barely) and moved north, where I studied at the Art Institute of Boston. There I performed my street show in the Boston Commons every weekend and in the T-stations when it was either too cold or raining. The show continued to evolve with the addition of new tricks, jokes, patter, and eventually balloon animals. I became able to support myself off the act. I moved to NYC in 2005 and still occasionally head out to my old spots in Central Park when I need some extra cash around the end of the month.

I am now looking forward to teaching the things I have learned, about magic and performing a street show, at the Brooklyn Skill-share.