I remember getting into magic when I was a 13 year old kid in middle school. My brother had shown me the "21" card trick and I was immediately hooked. I needed to know how it was done. I typed "how to do magic tricks" into the search engine and low and behold one of the websites that popped up was theory11. This was way back in 2008, and I remember vividly that old-school underground grunge look to the website. Just thinking about it brings back so many good memories of just getting into magic and not knowing what the heck I was doing. Those were the days!
I signed up for the forums, bought a few tricks, and started learning. At a time where I didn't really fit in much at my school, I found a community in theory11. I remember logging on every day, anxious to see what topics others have started, and I even started a few of my own. I started building friendships, and most importantly, I started getting better because of all of the advice and feedback I had received. Once I noticed how much better I had gotten, it gave me a drive to keep pushing, to become better, and return the favor to others who were just picking up magic for the first time. Nothing made me feel better than to share some advice and see their improvement as a result. As a young teenager I wanted to stand out from the rest and be as kind, polite, and as professional as possible, as I took this very seriously (Unless someone had asked about The Wire, in which case everybody had a field day giving the poster crap for asking the question for the thousandth time
).
One of the things I loved the most about the forums was the SNCs. I remember winning a fair share of SNCs back in the day, and those were some of the most fun, challenging, and rewarding experiences I had while developing my skills. Stepping outside of a comfort zone and getting creative experience boosted my learning ability and I was trying new things, and seeing things from a different perspective. It's always important to test everything you have learned so far and give yourself a challenge. If you are not challenging yourself, how will you get better? I think SNCs are a perfect way to give you that kickstart, as it did for me. Even if I wasn't the prize winner, I walked away with a new thought, idea, or perspective. It was a great learning tool for me, like I know it is for a lot of you.
Once I had been a member for quite a while, I was asked to be an official moderator of the forums. This was huge. I knew that being professional in my dialogue with other members was going to pay off. Like Dominus said above in his response, it felt good to be acknowledged and to acquire that status of being a moderator. This was a community that I found home in, and I couldn't have been happier to be a closer part of it.
Fast forward to the summer of 2010. theory11 was hyping up a big site relaunch on their birthday (August 31st). They were planning a huge release event, and with all of the teasers, they did a huge scavenger hunt. This scavenger hunt was unlike anything I had been involved in before. I remember logging on my computer every Friday at 11pm EST for the newest riddle to solve, and each time a riddle was solved, I would wait until next week for the newest one. For each riddle you solved, you got closer to winning the contest. On another Friday night at 11pm, a new riddle was posted. This one was tricky, but I eventually solved it and it brought me to a page that said something along the lines of this: "There is a special email address located on one of the photos on our website. Once you find it, send your mailing address to that email."
I remember going through almost every page on the website and not finding a single thing. I was getting incredibly frustrated, as I thought someone else had found it already and I had no chance. I got up from my computer chair to get something to drink, and as I looked down at an angle, I saw an email address pop up on the page. I started freaking out, and was able to make out the address. I emailed them my mailing address and then waited. On another night later in the week, they had posted that one member's doorbell will ring on Friday at 11pm EST. Fast forward to that Friday night, I was on a Skype call with Zach Mueller. We were chatting, talking about the scavenger hunt contest, and I remember telling him there was no chance in hell that I won it. He kept his composure and was talking to me like normal (he knew about me winning but did a great job at hiding it).
At 11pm I heard my doorbell ring, and Zach looked at me and said "Answer it" and hung up. I was like, "what the hell?!" I jumped up and ran to my door as fast as possible. I opened the door and found a package sitting on my doorstep. No one else was around, not a soul. Just a package sitting there with no delivery guy. I picked it up and opened it, and found a book. Inside the book was
a letter from JB detailing what was inside the book. It was a hollowed out book with the first ever deck of Sentinels ever made. I was the only one outside of the team to see this deck and use it for the first time. I was blown away. This was when theory11 had just started using the embossing and metallic inks/foils on their boxes, and boy was it breathtaking for its time. I was in pure disbelief and shock, but also in amazement and awe. This was an experience I will never forget. I won't divulge who it was that left the package on my doorstep, though. That part, for you, will remain a mystery.
Fast forward to November of 2010, and I was invited to officially join the theory11 team. As a 15 year old at the time, it was something I only dreamed of doing, especially at that young of an age. These were people I had looked up to ever since I started my magic journey, and being invited by them to be an official staff member is a dream come true. When I started out I fully expected magic to only be a hobby and not something I would do for a living, because those chances were so small. I planned on going to college immediately after high school because I didn't think I would be doing something that I love as a profession. All of that had immediately changed, and I couldn't have been happier.
theory11 is the world to me. It's without a doubt a part of me. To think, if my brother never showed me that card trick, I wouldn't be here. I wouldn't be living out a dream. I wouldn't be doing something that I love as a profession. I honestly believe that my life would have been much worse if I didn't have the theory11 community to go to when I needed to fit in. I went through a series of painful chronic migraines and other medical issues that caused major problems with my school, and I started to feel like I was trapped and there was no way out. Fortunately, I had this community and a job that I love to get me through it, and to give me a sense of purpose and direction.
While we continue to grow and accomplish great things, there will never be a time that we stop learning. I fully believe, through my own experience, that theory11 has been and continues to be a place to learn and grow in the art of magic (and cardistry). theory11 has changed my life completely for the better, and I cannot envision my life without it. It certainly would not be as magical.
-C
