HOLLYWOOD, Calif. — Wyatt Kehoe’s hands are almost never empty. For two to three hours a day, the 13-year-old practices his slight of hand, shuffling cards, learning to manipulate them masterfully and with more than a touch of showmanship.

“Sometimes you have to give it a blow,” he says, as the card in his hand suddenly changed from the 6 of clubs to the four of diamonds. 

Ask him how he does it and he’ll tell you the truth.

“Magic!”

Magic is nothing short of an obsession for the Valley Village teen, one that started early and shows no sign of disappearing. He remembers being about 5- or 6-years-old when his mom showed him and his brother a trick she’d read in a magazine.

“My brother thought it was cool,” Wyatt remembered, “but I thought it was, like, AMAZING!”  

Presto! His life would never be the same. Since then, Wyatt has spent countless hours watching YouTube videos, pouring over books, and of course, catching any act he could in-person. That includes visits to the famed and exclusive Magic Castle.

It was there that he mustered the courage to do one of his own tricks for a young magician who told him about the Academy of Magical Arts Junior Society. Designed as a mentorship and training program for gifted young magicians, membership is also very exclusive and hopefuls must be at least 13-years-old to audition.

So Wyatt waited and practiced.

“And actually on my 13th birthday this year, I put in my form to register for the auditions,” he said.

That audition took place on April 3 and for the second time in it’s long history, it was held virtually. The auditioners – all between the ages of 13 and 19, had no longer than five minutes to wow the judges. One second over and they would be instantly disqualified.

Wyatt went in prepared but also realistic. AMA Junior Society Chair Steven Barnes says the Junior Society is a highly competitive program and it’s incredibly rare to get accepted on your first try.  

“It’s not a beginning program. And it’s not a school,” he said. “We like to think of ourselves as the Julliard of magic.”

The program was spearheaded in 1974 by actor Cary Grant and pioneering female magician Diana Zimmerman, who is still on the board and was part of the panel overseeing this latest round of auditions. She’s looking for a few things from the applicants: creativity, originality and skill, which she said seems to have gotten more advanced since the early days of the Junior Academy.  She also sees more girls audition than she did nearly 50 years ago.

“Not enough,” she sighed, “but we see more girls.”  

Since it’s inception, roughly 3,000 people have come through the Junior Society including Barnes, who was 14 when he was accepted.

“And this last November I turned 50,” he said, “so I’ve spent most of my life here.”

So has Vice Chair David Doyle who joined the Junior Society at the age of 15 and met Barnes there. He described it as a farm system, a way for the Academy of Magical Arts to build a deep bench and shore up the future of the institution.

“The hope is that those kids go on to be performing members of the Magic Castle,” he explained.

So will Wyatt be one of them?  Doyle and Barnes watched his audition intently, taking notes and laughing at his jokes which revolved around his relationship with Siri. Wyatt described the audition as the most nerve-wracking experience of his life but also his best performance to date.

And it must have been because a few days later, an email arrived. 

“Dear Wyatt,” he read off his computer screen. “Congratulations! Based on your audition on April 3rd, your application has been approved and you are eligible to be a member at the Academy of Magical Arts Junior Society!” Off camera, his mother, who was recording the moment, cheered.

“It felt so amazing,” Wyatt said of receiving the news. “It’s literally like getting an acceptance letter from Hogwarts.”

Delivered by email, of course, instead of owl.

For Wyatt this is life-changing. All the practice, all the reading, all the hours with a deck in his hand, this acceptance tells him it’s been worth it and he’s on the right path...a path that — once they can meet in person again — will take him directly through the secret bookcase.