Nationally-Acclaimed Magician
Eric Anderson, South Fulton's Own 'Antoine Fisher'
Chandra Thomas Whitfield is an award-winning multimedia journalist.
If you didn’t know better, you’d probably think that Eric Anderson just has a familiar face.
Whether grabbing a meal at Bigg Man’s BBQ restaurant on Butner Road, pecking away at his laptop at the Marketplace Barnes & Noble or making his regular run to the Fairburn Road post office, invariably, someone does a double take and asks, “Don’t I know you from somewhere?”
Some never figure it out, but many do. (At 6' 4” and 265 pounds he’s hard to miss).
“Oh, you’re the magic man,” they typically gush before firing off a barrage of compliments about one of his live shows.
After seven straight years of performing magic at Underground Atlanta during its heyday in the 1990s, Anderson became a fixture in Atlanta’s “street performer” scene. Many of his loyal Underground fans are fascinated by his signature tricks, that include guessing birthdates with absolutely no clues or making a watch disappear from wrist or coins appear in clasped hands.
A lot of them don’t know, however, that while Anderson was at Underground he was also traveling the world – from Guam to Japan – sharing his illusionistic art with corporate clients such as McDonald’s, Delta Airlines, Georgia-Pacific, Coca-Cola and Revlon. He’s shared a stage with talk show host Sean Hannity, former First Lady Laura Bush, home-run king Hank Aaron and former President Jimmy Carter. He was even tapped to entertain at the “Salute to Heroes” Inaugural Ball in Washington D.C. during President Obama's inauguration.
“It’s just one more reason to live on the south side of Atlanta; knowing someone of his caliber lives in your area,” laments South Fulton resident Bryan Toussaint. “His mastery of magic is something that everybody, regardless of age, can appreciate.”
“Spooky,” was all Toussaint would say about a recent show where Anderson convinced two audience members to dip fiery skewers into their mouths and, via cell phone, guessed the amount of money an audience member’s mother was holding in her hands –in Las Vegas.
“That [latter] trick alone was the highlight of the night for me,” adds Toussaint, a CNN.com producer. “After a while you stop trying to figure out the tricks and just enjoy yourself.”
Although Anderson is best known around town as “magic man,” if more people knew his back-story, they’d probably also find “miracle man” a fitting moniker. Antoine Fisher was more than just a movie to Anderson; he said it was like peering into a mirror reflecting back memories of his own painful childhood. Just like the lead character in the film starring Denzel Washington and Derek Luke, Anderson grew up as a foster child who endured abandonment and abuse.
The youngest of nine children born to a woman in San Diego, Anderson was given up at birth. By the age of three he was adopted by a couple that he believed for many years to be his birth parents. After their rocky marriage ended in divorce, Anderson eventually moved in with his bitter and abusive adoptive father.
“I don’t see how you can abuse something that’s so completely defenseless,” he says, reflecting back on his life as a child. “It makes you realize that people really have issues.”
After a few tumultuous years, Anderson was “returned” to foster care, like a sweater from Target that didn’t fit.
“Even though I could not fully process it at the time, somehow at that time I knew my life had changed forever,” he says.
From there he bounced around to one physically, verbally and mentally abusive foster home to another. The magic tricks he’d first learned while living with his adoptive dad soon became his refuge -- a source of stability amid a life of constant instability.
“They’d be like ‘what do you want for Christmas,’ and I wanted everything related to magic,” remembers Anderson. “At first everyone’s really encouraging. Then at some point they’re like, ‘you’re obsessed.’ Magic made me want to learn. I soon realized that magic didn’t just happen; it was like a recipe you had to follow. You actually have to do something to make it happen.”
His hobby in many ways was therapeutic. For years he’d sneak in late night practices. By the time he reached his late teens, he’d amassed a small following performing at a local park.
“With all of my life experiences, I had gotten into a shell and magic was my way of communicating with people,” he says. “Magic isn’t static, you have to show it to people.”
After “aging out” of foster care at 18, Anderson later enlisted in the United States Air Force as a cook. Two years later he withdrew, returned to San Diego and then worked odd jobs until a fellow street performer suggested he move to Atlanta.
“He said ‘there’s this place called Underground Atlanta, and you’d do great there,’” says Anderson. “I also knew Atlanta had a lot of corporations and I wanted to perform for those companies, so I moved to Atlanta on a Greyhound bus with $600. I remember being so impressed when we pulled up and I saw the sign for (the strip club) Magic City. I was so naïve, I thought, ‘wow, they even have a big magic shop right downtown!’”
Within months of working at Underground, Anderson slowly began building up a corporate clientele. He continues to channel his passion for magic into a profitable business performing and speaking around the world and locally.
At a friend’s suggestion, he also now shares the details of his childhood in a special presentation called “The Magic of Attitude.” In it he uses his past experiences to convey that we all have the power to change our personal circumstances.
As for those who label his gift satanic and blasphemous, Anderson has this to say.
“Magic gave me something to work on and to move toward,” he says. “I think it honestly saved my life. When people say it’s evil it kind of hurts my feelings. How could God give you something evil that transforms your life and the lives of so many others?”
Much like the Fisher character in the movie, Anderson has also fulfilled his lifelong dream of having the family he’d always dreamed of while in foster care. In 2008 he married his wife Monique. Just under a year ago, they welcomed fraternal twins, Samantha and Sebastian.
“It’s amazing when you realize that you have these little lives that look up to you,” he says. “What excites me most is thinking about all the things I want to share with them; all the things I felt I was never taught as a child.”
Whether grabbing a meal at Bigg Man’s BBQ restaurant on Butner Road, pecking away at his laptop at the Marketplace Barnes & Noble or making his regular run to the Fairburn Road post office, invariably, someone does a double take and asks, “Don’t I know you from somewhere?”
Some never figure it out, but many do. (At 6' 4” and 265 pounds he’s hard to miss).
“Oh, you’re the magic man,” they typically gush before firing off a barrage of compliments about one of his live shows.
After seven straight years of performing magic at Underground Atlanta during its heyday in the 1990s, Anderson became a fixture in Atlanta’s “street performer” scene. Many of his loyal Underground fans are fascinated by his signature tricks, that include guessing birthdates with absolutely no clues or making a watch disappear from wrist or coins appear in clasped hands.
A lot of them don’t know, however, that while Anderson was at Underground he was also traveling the world – from Guam to Japan – sharing his illusionistic art with corporate clients such as McDonald’s, Delta Airlines, Georgia-Pacific, Coca-Cola and Revlon. He’s shared a stage with talk show host Sean Hannity, former First Lady Laura Bush, home-run king Hank Aaron and former President Jimmy Carter. He was even tapped to entertain at the “Salute to Heroes” Inaugural Ball in Washington D.C. during President Obama's inauguration.
“It’s just one more reason to live on the south side of Atlanta; knowing someone of his caliber lives in your area,” laments South Fulton resident Bryan Toussaint. “His mastery of magic is something that everybody, regardless of age, can appreciate.”
“Spooky,” was all Toussaint would say about a recent show where Anderson convinced two audience members to dip fiery skewers into their mouths and, via cell phone, guessed the amount of money an audience member’s mother was holding in her hands –in Las Vegas.
“That [latter] trick alone was the highlight of the night for me,” adds Toussaint, a CNN.com producer. “After a while you stop trying to figure out the tricks and just enjoy yourself.”
Although Anderson is best known around town as “magic man,” if more people knew his back-story, they’d probably also find “miracle man” a fitting moniker. Antoine Fisher was more than just a movie to Anderson; he said it was like peering into a mirror reflecting back memories of his own painful childhood. Just like the lead character in the film starring Denzel Washington and Derek Luke, Anderson grew up as a foster child who endured abandonment and abuse.
The youngest of nine children born to a woman in San Diego, Anderson was given up at birth. By the age of three he was adopted by a couple that he believed for many years to be his birth parents. After their rocky marriage ended in divorce, Anderson eventually moved in with his bitter and abusive adoptive father.
“I don’t see how you can abuse something that’s so completely defenseless,” he says, reflecting back on his life as a child. “It makes you realize that people really have issues.”
After a few tumultuous years, Anderson was “returned” to foster care, like a sweater from Target that didn’t fit.
“Even though I could not fully process it at the time, somehow at that time I knew my life had changed forever,” he says.
From there he bounced around to one physically, verbally and mentally abusive foster home to another. The magic tricks he’d first learned while living with his adoptive dad soon became his refuge -- a source of stability amid a life of constant instability.
“They’d be like ‘what do you want for Christmas,’ and I wanted everything related to magic,” remembers Anderson. “At first everyone’s really encouraging. Then at some point they’re like, ‘you’re obsessed.’ Magic made me want to learn. I soon realized that magic didn’t just happen; it was like a recipe you had to follow. You actually have to do something to make it happen.”
His hobby in many ways was therapeutic. For years he’d sneak in late night practices. By the time he reached his late teens, he’d amassed a small following performing at a local park.
“With all of my life experiences, I had gotten into a shell and magic was my way of communicating with people,” he says. “Magic isn’t static, you have to show it to people.”
After “aging out” of foster care at 18, Anderson later enlisted in the United States Air Force as a cook. Two years later he withdrew, returned to San Diego and then worked odd jobs until a fellow street performer suggested he move to Atlanta.
“He said ‘there’s this place called Underground Atlanta, and you’d do great there,’” says Anderson. “I also knew Atlanta had a lot of corporations and I wanted to perform for those companies, so I moved to Atlanta on a Greyhound bus with $600. I remember being so impressed when we pulled up and I saw the sign for (the strip club) Magic City. I was so naïve, I thought, ‘wow, they even have a big magic shop right downtown!’”
Within months of working at Underground, Anderson slowly began building up a corporate clientele. He continues to channel his passion for magic into a profitable business performing and speaking around the world and locally.
At a friend’s suggestion, he also now shares the details of his childhood in a special presentation called “The Magic of Attitude.” In it he uses his past experiences to convey that we all have the power to change our personal circumstances.
As for those who label his gift satanic and blasphemous, Anderson has this to say.
“Magic gave me something to work on and to move toward,” he says. “I think it honestly saved my life. When people say it’s evil it kind of hurts my feelings. How could God give you something evil that transforms your life and the lives of so many others?”
Much like the Fisher character in the movie, Anderson has also fulfilled his lifelong dream of having the family he’d always dreamed of while in foster care. In 2008 he married his wife Monique. Just under a year ago, they welcomed fraternal twins, Samantha and Sebastian.
“It’s amazing when you realize that you have these little lives that look up to you,” he says. “What excites me most is thinking about all the things I want to share with them; all the things I felt I was never taught as a child.”