Derek became interested in magic at an early age when he went to a magic shop and bought his first trick: nickles to dimes. After that he bought many Reiss magic sets and as many books as he could find in his local bookstore. At first he didn't like mentalism because he didn't think anyone would be fooled by it. His father fooled him badly when he performed a few mental card effects from Scarne on Card Tricks. Derek went to school the next day and performed some of the same effects on his fellow high schoolers. The reaction was so satisfying that Derek stopped doing magic and focused only on mentalism for many years.
Eventually, Derek found Bizarre Magic and added that to his repetoire. He also became interested in what he calls "real magic": Tarot, Numerology, Hypnosis, NLP, among other things.
In recent years, Derek has returned to his roots in straight magic and has begun working on mastering and creating effects for both close-up and stage. He is a firm believer in returning magic to its shamanic roots and is a huge fan of such notables as Jeff McBride, Carl Herron, Ed Solomon, Kenton Knepper, Luke Jermay, and Ronald J. Dayton, to name a few.
Derek currently lives and works in North Georgia where he is a writer, life coach, and of course, wizard.
