A Frankfort teen may find his passion for magic to be more profitable than he had imagined.
Blake Alexander, 15, has been asked to be on NBC's "America's Got Talent," giving him a shot at a $1 million prize.
"For my 11th birthday we went to Navy Pier, and I saw some a magician perform for some chicks and that interested me and then it took off from there," Alexander told The Herald News of his interest in magic.
His performance has grown to become far more than your basic card tricks.
"I'm not into the little stuff anymore," he said. "I can do things ranging from making girls disappear, and then they reappear in the audience. The main illusion is making a girl float in the air and then she disappears and reappears in the back of the audience."
The teen's first audition for the show didn't go too well, and he didn't make the cut. But, being a true performing, he went back and perfected his gig. He was shocked when he was chosen after his second effort.
"I couldn't believe it," he told the paper, but added that he's confident that his performance will be a winning one.
Alexander will take some time off from his job at McDonald's in Markham to fly to Los Angeles for filming in about a week.
He's excited by the prospect of performing on the popular show, and the possibility of winning the grand prize is even more exciting.
"If I win I'm going to spend about $100,000 on the rest of the props and illusions and add to the show. I'm going to buy a 24-foot long trailer to haul it all around, save for college, donate some to the Make-A-Wish Foundation and buy a slightly used Mercedes."
