Joshua Lozoff became hooked on magic the first time he saw an act – even though he couldn’t see the performer.
He was traveling in Bolivia in 1998, having just recently ended his acting career in L.A., and saw a large crowd gathered around a street magician. Lozoff focused on the audience, watching their amazed faces.
“That was what did it for me,” he says. “Magic is great, but to this day, I still feel like magic is in the experience that people have who watch it and participate in it. It’s not in whatever I do with my hands or props.”
Lozoff left Bolivia anxious to learn the trade. “It felt like a fever,” he says. “I had to learn it and share it with people.” Today, his shows sell out, and fans of his “strolling magic” range from CEOs to preteens.
Born Performer
Although magic became a new interest, Lozoff was no stranger to life as a performer. He grew up in Orange County and pursued acting from the time he was 9, starring in the children’s show Sparks on WRAL and taking roles in PlayMakers’ productions and in TV movies shot in Wilmington. He moved to L.A. shortly after he graduated from Carolina Friends School in 1989, got an agent and landed some roles, including a recurring one as Carla’s son on Cheers.
“I was never a star, but I had a few pretty good years,” Lozoff says.
His good years included a part as Logan in the Alicia Silverstone film Clueless. But while he was on the set, he realized he wasn’t feeling satisfied by acting anymore.
“The thing about being a professional actor is it’s got to be the most important thing in the world to you,” he says. “I have no interest in acting anymore. It’s all gone for me.”
Lozoff moved back to Chapel Hill, into the childhood home that his father built, and then began the travels that led to his introduction to magic. He found a teacher – a professional magician located in, ironically, California. A year after they began working together, with Lozoff flying back and forth every few weeks, his teacher encouraged him to perform professionally – something Lozoff hadn’t intended to do. He started with a gig in 2000 at Mellow Mushroom, when it was located on East Franklin Street.
“There are some arts that you can become a master of without having that interaction,” he says. “You could be the most incredible painter in the world without anyone ever discovering you. … But magic is different. The magic doesn’t happen until you’re performing.”
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