Magic isn't dead. It's in Ballard.

For the past year and a half, Tim Flynn has been hosting the monthly magic show "That's Impossible!" at Egan's Ballard Jamhouse (1707 NW Market St). He doesn't don the over-the-top personas of David Blaine or Criss Angel, but nonetheless he'll dazzle audiences alongside other local magicians with sleight of hand and a charming personality.

The next show will be next Wednesday, Oct. 30, at 7 p.m. It will mark his 10th anniversary being in magic, a career which started at a humble little church booth on Halloween entertaining passing kids.

For Flynn, who has worked at Boeing for 35 years, magic has been life altering.

"I finally found my passion, something I love to do," he said. "I don’t know where the journey’s going to take me."

Flynn says he gets high from connecting with audiences: Watching them lean forward in their chairs, invest themselves in the magic tricks and the show, and, if he's done it right, seeing them gasp in blank astonishment.

"You have the opportunity to turn someone’s day around instantly. To bring joy and laughter and life into someone’s day when that wouldn’t have happened (otherwise)," he explained.

Flynn wasn't always great at magic -- he still describes himself as a five or six out of 10 -- it's taken a lot of work and learning. It was like going to college, he said, the way he had to read books and learn from mentors such as his personal hero Tom Frank. He went from entertaining kids at a booth on Halloween to emceeing his own show at Egan's.

Of course, it took some pressuring for him to become an emcee. He said the Ballard News-Tribune had to mention Catherine Lenox, who suggested to Flynn to take the reins of the show after the founder, Tony Comito, couldn't do it anymore for personal reasons.

If you were to talk to Flynn, he would probably be a little reluctant about boasting how far he's come.

"I'm just someone's dad who loves magic."

Still, the show is great fun.

For more info, visit http://www.ballardjamhouse.com/

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