Who or what inspired you to start doing card magic?

For me it was just a simple beginner set that most people get at some point, then David Blaine inspired me to carry on. Now Blaine irritates me and it's Jamy Ian Swiss all the way.

DC

Jeff Pinsky, the owner of Browser's Den. I bought cheek to cheek of him, then moments later I was inspired by-

Ray Anderson, who showed me cheek to cheek with a normal deck (Triumph), which inspired me to look up-

Vernon, who taught me about naturallnes of action, and led me to the works of-

Ammar and Daryl, who's tapes and books taught me the importance of directness in effect and presentation, and who's lessons and effects helped me impress-

Bill Abott, who became my mentore, and helped me progress more then anyone else, and who inspired me to research-

Don Allan, Al Baker, Darwin, Eugene Burger, Karrell Fox, Bert Allerton, Mike Close, Tony Webber, and a plathora of others.

Well Ive skipped parts of my progression, like all the lesser know magicians who inspired me to be creativity (if you can call guys like chad long, lee asher, ariel Frailich, and david williamson lesser known....) but it still a pretty good answer, no?

For rizzle, Im out.

My magician buddies Chad and Ashford Knitel inspired me to learn and master difficult sleight of hand.

Carl Andrews and Darren Romeo

Joe Labero. As simple as that.

Card Magic - Daryl! I watched his Encyclopedia of Card Sleights vol. 1 and ever since I was hooked on card magic.

no I also do flourishes.
The persona that inspired me at first to start flourishing was I'd say Harwin aka Jonas. You may have seen some of his videos on other forums.

David Blaine and Rodney Reyes.

You are kidding right?

Who me.....no.

I was inspired by that incredible sleight of hand master with impeccable showmanship, Oz Pearlman.

Just kidding.

When I was a wee lad there was that cheesy seventies TV show The Magician. I'd probably laugh at it if I saw those episodes today, but it really made me want to be a magician. I sent away for a Flosso Hornmann catalog from an ad in a comic book. I got some awful tricks, and this really stupid old booklet on card magic by Thurston called "50 Card Tricks." I still have it and just looked at it the other day - what a worthless POS! But I didn't know any better. It was a really bad book, but it got me to practice the pass and the back palm, anyway, and now they're totally ingrained in my muscle memory. I really wish I had discovered RRTCM or Card College back then, because I probably would have kept up with it. Eventually I stopped doing magic and only picked it up again the last couple of years or so. I love theatrical experiences but I don't have the time or the patience to be involved in theater. So for $2 I have an amazing form of theater that fits in my pocket and I can take it with me wherever I go. So I guess this is all the long way of saying that it really hasn't been the individuals that inspired me to do card magic, but really the possibilities of the art form itself (and the need for a non-musical outlet in my life).

Some guy at Dave and Busters got me into magic than i saw David Copperfield and David Blaine.

To be honest, I'm inspired by kids that show me an honest effort to learn. I'm inspired by people that take magic as seriously as I do and people that watch it in awe, not of the moves themselves, but the effects overall. I'm inspired when I have people that have been doing this for over 40 years telling me that they want me to do a show in their theater.

John Shryock.

Dan and Dave Buck
Lee Asher