What’s better than a wacky magic show brought straight to your local library? Beats me!
This week, I got to talk to the magic man himself, Tommy Diaz, or more familiarly, Tommy Terrific, opens a new window, and explore how he went from Arkansas boy to the zany character we all know and love!
How it all began…
Tommy Diaz has been bringing his delightfully comedic magic shows around the country full-time for 17 years! Tommy started his career in New York City where he used his experience in acting to conjure up the wacky character known as Tommy Terrific. The inspiration for this unconventional career path came from his father-in-law, who had a traveling magic show of his own in Canada. Taking a few pages from his book, the magnificent character of Tommy Terrific was brought to life with his signature magic book, magic box, and, of course, sassy magic bird.
While we were talking, Tommy recalled his first-ever show at an elementary school in Brooklyn. “When you have 500 kids laughing and yelling your name,” He said, “You start to think… I could get used to this.” Since then, Tommy has brought his traveling magic show to our very own Harris County Public Libraries for 5 years now! I myself, am hoping they continue for many more.
Where do you get the ideas for your themed shows?
The magic show, he said, is meant to be relatable to kids. Before conjuring up an idea for a show, he thinks to himself, "what would kids be interested in?" This has led to Black History Month shows centered around Black Baseball players, George Washington Carver (the inventor of peanut butter), and more recently, Black Cowboys of the Old West, which he brought to HCPL this February! If you’ve ever been to one of Tommy’s shows, you can tell a lot of thought goes into every trick he pulls out of his magic box as it relates to the theme of the show.
Why make it educational?
What’s great about Tommy is not just his warm personality or his endless creativity in making new versions of his wacky magic show but his commitment to helping kids learn and grow. Every show is filled with facts and anecdotes that even adults can learn from! One might even say that the real magic of Tommy’s shows is the inspiration he instills in children to continue to educate themselves on important topics.
Although… the water he made come out of someone’s elbow during one of his shows here at HCPL was pretty magical too!
Thank you, Tommy, for the partnership you’ve cultivated with our library system. We are always so happy to introduce kids to your wacky, educational, and heartfelt magic shows.
Tommy Terrific will be back at our libraries for our Summer Reading Program, so be sure to check out one of his shows at your nearest library! The theme? Art! Painters! Galleries! All in conjunction with our Summer Reading Theme: Color Your World.
We’ll see you there!
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