Ryan Loyle never thought much about magic.Then 2½ years ago he found his calling while surfing YouTube during a dark time.Now he says magic not only saved his life, but is helping him make things a little better for others.
“The power of magic is letting people know the impossible can become possible,” Loyle says.
Monday he will make his second trip to entertain the cancer patients at Shore Medical Center in Somers Point.
The Absecon native said he wasn’t sure how those undergoing chemotherapy would take someone coming up and doing some slight of hand.
“They were so happy, it was so amazing,” he said."You felt the whole energy shift from negative to positive."
“Loyle truly loves bringing smiles to those he performs for, and shared his own personal magic philosophy with us today,” Shore Medical wrote on its Facebook page."I hope I bring them hope and joy," Loyle says.
One trick involves ripping up a card.
"Right now this card is broken," he says. "With a little bit of hope and faith, anything can be possible."
And then the card is revealed in one piece, with no sign of a tear."I never tell anybody you're going to be OK and beat this, because that's not up to me," he says. "But I can say anything is possible and not to lose hope."
He vows to come back at least once or twice a month.
Loyle, 39, said he always wanted to find a way to help people that went beyond his 20 years as a union ironworker.
Then, about three years ago, he got laid off and was sent into a depression.
It was coming across a YouTube video on how to do a magic trick that shone a light on his way out of the darkness and to his new passion.
It’s almost an obsession, he admits.
He went about reading books and watching himself in the mirror to make sure everything was perfect before taking his newfound talent to the people.
Loyle loves the "street magic" popularized by David Blaine. Walking up to a people not expecting to be entertained.
"It can be a challenge," he says. "You kind of need to be a chameleon."
Videos he’s posted on
YouTube, Instagram and
Facebook show the delighted and often mind-blown reactions to his tricks.
It offers a mental escape from the sometimes rough aspects of life, Loyle says.
"My whole saying with magic is spread the love," he says.
As people gather around watching, they don't notice their differences.
"The cards are like people," he will tell them. "All the cards are different but you need all the cards together for a full deck.""It's entertainment with a meaning."
Loyle currently lives in Somers Point and works maintenance at a high-rise in Ventnor Heights. But his hope is to one day do magic full-time.
"I don't want to be famous, I just want to be impactful," he says. "If I can make an honest living and still do this, I'd be the happiest guy on Earth."
