"Choose a card, the one you want".
This formula is Mehdi's daily life.
With him, there is always a game within reach.
And the illusion is a matter of every moment.
The 32-year-old is a professional magician.
Or almost.
This inhabitant of Montesson, who works on behalf of the city of Rueil (Hauts-de-Seine), is part of the second promotion of the Double Fond, a café-theater in the 4th arrondissement of Paris which is also the only official school of magic since it delivers since 2018 a diploma level bac + 2 recognized by the Ministry of Labor.
This official training in the profession of magician is a world first.
In any case, this is assured by the educational manager of this astonishing training, Adeline Galland.
“There had never been an official framework for this profession.
France is the first country to do so.
Today, we are proud to have the profession of magician recognized, ”she explains.
At the school of magicians
Like Mehdi, there are about thirty of them following the course.
“Learners” with extremely varied profiles.
“We have young post-baccalaureate students who are passionate and who want to achieve their dreams, but we also have a lot of professional retraining, says the manager.
Circassians for example, such as acrobats or jugglers who are in their fifties and who are starting to be limited in their specialty ”.
For all the same, for nearly 15,000 euros, the Double Fond offers them a "turnkey" solution with 550 hours of training - for nearly "2,500 hours of personal work" - at the end of which future professional magicians must be able to "master all aspects of the business", including business development and management.
“The agent model is no longer relevant,” explains Adeline Galland.
Magicians today need to be entrepreneurs ”.
VIDEO. Here is the first state diploma of magician
For Mehdi, obtaining this professional diploma represents "a unique opportunity".
“It's first and foremost a way of enhancing my status as a magician,” explains the young man.
Because today, anyone can declare themselves a magician.
There, that offers me references.
It is also a form of recognition of the work carried out throughout these years, of all these hours of training ”.
Hours that it would be very difficult for him to count.
Because Mehdi fell into magic when he was only 8 years old.
“My brother gave me a ride and I asked him how he did it.
He said to me: manage.
I worked hard ”.
Newsletter The essential of 78
A tour of the Yvelines and IDF news
Subscribe to the newsletterAll newsletters
Seeing his friends impressed increases his desire tenfold.
And it is also with the same trick as at the age of 15, he manages to seduce Camille, the mother of his two children.
Bitten by the virus, she herself became a magician.
"Let's say it's a consuming passion," they proclaim together.
So much so that the couple recently had to move to afford an additional room, solely dedicated to illusion.
"Monsieur Magic" at the town hall
With the Covid crisis, Mehdi obviously had to put away his show projects, essentially structured around tales for children, and demonstrations of mentalism for adults.
"It is the art of reading in the minds of the spectators", he sums up.
A clever mix of "illusion, psychology and distraction".
READ ALSO>
Magic: Eric Antoine's advice to wow the whole family
But being away from the stage doesn't prevent him from playing the magic wand on a daily basis.
On behalf of the youth department of the city of Rueil, he works in particular in schools, and in particular in colleges, to raise awareness of “living together”.
Of course with magic tricks.
“It captivates and it helps get messages across.
We are talking about school bullying, cyberstalking, homophobia… ”.
In the meantime, perhaps, to launch out definitively in the living spectacle.
“I continue to build.
I'm giving myself a chance, ”he explains.
But as he recognizes with a smile, Mehdi has "no supernatural power".
Nothing, unfortunately, that can determine the future.
