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player ready...Luis Carreon’s magic might bring the house down now, but when he first started, it quite literally took out a Tiki bar.
It happened while performing at a Hawaiian-themed party at a house — complete with Tiki torches and a Tiki bar that somebody’s uncle spent hours making for the event.
“They put me in front of the bar. I borrow a bill and put it in an envelope and then the envelope would burst into flame,” Carreon said. “That night, I don’t know what I did wrong, but that envelope, once I lit it on fire, it shot out of my hand and it landed on the roof of the Tiki bar. And that Tiki bar is all dry hay. And the whole Tiki bar went on fire and I just remember I was standing there, I was freaked out, I couldn’t move.”
He remembers the fire department arriving and firefighters extinguishing the row of Tiki torches one at a time and then finally the whole Tiki bar.
“It was pretty funny because I made it to the newspaper the next day. They didn’t say my name, but they said ‘Magician Turns Tiki Bar on Fire.’ It was definitely very embarrassing. But I still got paid, so that’s good.
“I was very young when I did that, I think I was 18. I was very young, very green. But I just always remember that story. And whenever I see a Tiki bar, I just try to stay away from it,” he laughed.
The now 34-year-old Carreon, who spent much of his teen years doing magic tricks at the Centennial Park Skate facility in Naperville, has come a long way since that early gig. A founding member of Chicago Magic Lounge in Chicago, he is currently the artist in residence there Wednesdays through the end of September with his new show, “Luis Carreon: La Bestia,” which means “the beast.”
“It’s a fast-paced comedy show that celebrates my Hispanic heritage,” he said. “It’s the story of my life, but I’ve taken those stories and added the element of humor. I’m always working for the magic in the show to feel fresh and modern.”
At an hour and 20 minutes — “I get very chatty on stage,” he said — the show features 11 tricks and a lot of audience interaction.
“The final piece of the show uses about 12 audience members,” he said. “I won’t say what the trick is, you’ll have to come and see it. It’s a very interactive show.”
Carreon first became interested in magic as a child in Mexico. His grandfather was a circus clown.
“Whenever he was in town, he would do a little bit of magic for me, but he never showed me how it was done. I think that’s how I got interested in it,” he said.
Around the age of 10 his family moved to the United States. When he was growing up on Chicago’s South Side, he would go to Izzy Rizzy’s House of Tricks.
“I was taking ESL classes, I thought maybe if I could learn to read some magic tricks, I could hopefully try to communicate with some of the students,” he said.
Using the pocket translator his mother bought him, he translated the books so he could learn the tricks.
“I honestly feel the magic taught me English,” he said. “Pretty much I had to force myself to learn English in order to read some of the magic books, so I really feel that magic was my teacher when it came to ESL.”
To the kids on the South Side though, the magic stuff was strange. One day a friend suggested they go to Centennial Park in Naperville to skate. Carreon quickly found new friends — and a new audience for his magic tricks.
“Three or four times a week I used to hop on a train and take it out to Naperville and skateboard. And I used to do magic for the kids at the skate park,” he said. “I feel I got really good at doing magic at the skate park in Naperville. My skate board skills were good, but the magic skills were better.”
He frequented the park and Naperville to the point that “he should have lived there.” After high school, Carreon did a little bit of college with hopes of becoming a zoologist. But he was still drawn to the magic. After a few semesters, he began trying to get jobs doing magic tricks, sometimes performing at places for free. On weekends he did magic at a Giordano’s near Midway Airport and one in the city.
“That’s how I started getting some business,” he said. “For the most part, everything I’ve done up until this point in my life I kind of did on my own because I didn’t have anybody to teach me or the money to pay anyone to teach me so I just had to teach myself how to do it.”
Slowly things started happening and soon magic became his full time job.
“And I was not having to struggle for paying bills anymore,” he said. “I guess it was magic.”
In addition to performing in theaters, Carreon gets booked for private parties and events. He has traveled around the country both performing and teaching magic.
He has performed in New York City’s Monday Night Magic, at House of Cards in Nashville and is a frequent performer at Magic Castle in Hollywood.
Over the years he had been recognized for his magic, winning the Harlan Tarbell Close-up Competition Award from the International Brotherhood of Magicians two years in a row and earning first place at the Chicago Magic Competition hosted by The Society of American Magicians.
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“They inspire you and push you to work a little bit harder on your act,” he said.
He is also the head demonstrator at Magic, Inc., a magic shop on the city’s North Side.
Carreon has also performed on television, appearing on Univision’s Evening News and on two seasons of “Tengo Talento, Mucho Talento,” a Spanish language version of “America’s Got Talent.” In 2015 he made it to the final round.
“I made it to the finals, and I placed second with it,” he said. “The singer won, but not the magician.”
Asked if he would do a similar show again, he said no, that it is too much stress.
“My ultimate goal is not to become famous doing it,” he said. “I just want to be happy and make a living doing something that I enjoy doing.”
‘Luis Carreon: La Bestia’
When: 7 p.m. Wednesdays to Sept. 28
Where: Chicago Magic Lounge, 5050 N. Clark St., Chicago
Tickets: $45 main floor; $50 front row
Information: 312-366-4500; chicagomagiclounge.com
Kathy Cichon is a freelance reporter for the Naperville Sun.