It might seem odd for a profession that relies on sleight of hand and visual tricks to be performed by a blind man.
However, Ryan Fox has been defying the odds since he beat brain cancer at age 9, which left him with just a small amount of peripheral vision.
“Don’t judge me on my disability,” he says. “Judge me on my performance.”
After surgery and months of treatment, including chemotherapy, Fox had to re-learn practically everything, including how to walk and talk.
His mother bought him a children’s magic kit because he struggled with traditional physical therapy.
“This thing was literally made for the beginning magician, made of wood and metal, professional kit but for kids,” Fox said. “I didn’t realize that it would have a full impact on the rest of my life.”
According to Ryan’s mother, Michelle Fox, practicing magic became his physical therapy. It stayed with him through elementary, middle and high school.
A little over 20 years later, Fox performs at shows around the Phoenix metro area. He does weddings, corporate events, dinner parties, fundraisers, comic con and the recent Phoenix Saboten Con. In his own words, he’s open for anything.
“I just thought it would help,” Michelle Fox said about buying her son a magic kit. “I didn’t know it would lead to this.”
Ryan traces his serious interest in performing as a magician to an experience with the Boston Red Sox, while the team was visiting children’s hospitals as part of community outreach.
According to Ryan, the players visited while he was getting a blood transfusion, and former outfielder and designated hitter Jose Canseco approached his bed.
Ryan ended up performing what he calls his first magic trick — a disappearing act on Canseco’s $5,000 World Series ring.
“The look on his face was literally priceless,” Ryan said. “And I think that’s what really gave me the bug, is just that reaction.”
Fox began performing as a magician full-time following other jobs that did not fit, which included returning carts at Safeway.
“I’m not sure what my boss was thinking – sending a blind kid with a white cane out to the parking lot to retrieve carts,” Fox said. “I couldn’t see brake lights or reverse lights, and I couldn’t hear electric cars. Needless to say, it didn’t go well. I had cars back up into me, and I was hit multiple times.”
One good thing came out of the job: a friendship of seven years with Steve Armstrong, who worked as as merchandiser for MillerCoors brewing company. The two met stocking shelves at the grocery store.
According to Armstrong, the two clicked because they both like to make people laugh.
“He can see if you’re not having a good day or whatnot, and he, like, zones in on that,” Armstrong said. “And he always puts a smile on your face.”
Armstrong recently brought his two young children to one of Ryan’s performances, a stage show during a fundraiser for breast cancer awareness held outside a salon.
It was the first time they had seen Ryan perform for a live audience.
“He’s come a long way,” Armstrong said. “It’s amazing, where [he was at] when we met to where he’s at now.”
Armstrong said he’s amazed by Fox’s perseverance. “It’s just easy to him. But from the outside looking in, it’s like, ‘Wow, really?’”
“Nothing knocks him down. And that’s what really gets me, because there’s a lot of things that would hold us down,” Armstrong said.
To overcome the challenges of his blindness, Fox relies on meticulous planning for his act. He scopes out the location before getting on stage. He uses a large bin to discard used props as he goes through his routine. He arranges a small table with items on a hidden shelf, which allows him to grab each one in order.
“Not many people know this, [but] my table is probably my best friend when it comes to doing magic,” said Ryan.
Fox said he often uses “blind jokes” to break the ice.
“My audience needs to know that I don’t really care about my disability,” Ryan said. “I’m disabled, but don’t let that give you the impression of me.”
He has faced some difficulties getting work, something Ryan attributes in part to clients’ hesitation to hire a blind magician.
“As a person that is disabled … trying to become a performer is literally the hardest thing to do,” he said. “They don’t really take you seriously.”
However, he still managed to build a resume of performances and clients in the 12 years he has worked as a magician. Fox got his first paid job with the group HopeKids, a charity for children who have cancer or who have beaten cancer.
Those kinds of performances are especially close to his heart.
“I can relate to them,” Ryan said, referring to children with cancer. “It’s really nice to have someone take your focus away from the all the pain and suffering that you’re going through and just have a moment of being a child again.”
Contact the reporter at Anya.Magnuson@asu.edu.
