David Ginn, Magician

Job: Magician, Loganville

What I do: "I love Harry Potter," said Loganville magician David Ginn, 61. "When I read the first book, within five pages, I knew Harry Potter was me at age 11."

Now Ginn is living the magic, performing with his live rabbit, Harry, at schools, libraries and churches. He also leads seminars, gives lectures and writes books about magic, comedy and entertaining children.

And he's been doing it for 36 years. "I've never had a real full-time job, other than two years in the Army," he said.

Now, he typically does more than 300 shows a year and travels around the world for lectures and seminars.

The magic shows are educational and deal with topics such as reading, American and world history, citizenship, inventions or dinosaurs.

He interlaces the tricks with corny jokes, puppets, fast-paced patter and audience participation.

"I keep the show going — bam, bam, bam!" he said.

In his books and at his lectures, Ginn teaches magicians and clowns the art of entertaining children. "These are people who already know tricks. What they learn is how to do them for an audience of children."

What got me interested in this: "As an 11-year-old kid, it was a hobby," Ginn said. "I read about magic and began putting on shows with a friend. The hobby turned into an occupation."

Doing magic shows helped pay his way through the University of Georgia, he said. "Other than being a writer, I never wanted to do anything else."

Best part of my job: "Entertaining the children and seeing them smile and hearing them laugh," Ginn said. He especially enjoys "seeing them amazed when something magical happens."

Most challenging part: "It used to be coming up with new shows each year — completely new shows, tricks, jokes, publicity and research," he said. "It's just like teaching a class."

Now that he's a regular on the education circuit, he has built up a large repertoire of shows and can reuse them for different groups of children.

He constantly tries to strike the right balance between education and entertainment. As for encouraging children to read, one of his biggest allies has been the Harry Potter book series by J.K. Rowling.

What people don't know about my job: "What it takes to put on a show" — researching educational material; coordinating publicity; studying the material, jokes and tricks; and practicing it all, he said.

What keeps me going: "A good night's sleep," Ginn said.

There's also the business side of his magic. Ginn is his own booking agent, publicist and travel planner. And when he says he'll do a performance — often eight to 10 shows a week during the school year — he will be there, he said.

Preparation needed for this job: "To do what I do, you have to love children," Ginn said. "I'm a big kid at heart."

He learned the tricks of the trade by reading books on magic, attending conventions and professional club meetings, and watching a lot of magic.

Ginn has bachelor's and master's degrees in journalism from UGA. He went into the Army after his college ROTC program and "plunged into this after the Army."

He built a customer base by visiting, calling and writing to school principals or anyone else who might hire a magician.

"It's been a wonderful life so far, to quote Jimmy Stewart," he said. "This is what God wants me to do."

- By Karl W. Ritzler, for ajcjobs. Got an interesting job that you love? E-mail your story to jobseditor@ajc.com.