The magic math teacher: Andreas Steigerwald aka "Magician Collin" takes part in the German championship

Created: 05/10/2022, 20:00

By: Veronica power

Nefertiti up close: the magician Collin takes his audience into a magical world as a night watchman in the museum.

He will compete in the German Championship of Magic in May.

© Norbert Leinweber/Event Forum Fürstenfeldbruck

Andreas Steigerwald has a magical hobby: the math teacher from Neufahrn takes part in the German championship as the magician Collin.

Neufahrn

– What actually happens when the lights go out in the museum at night?

Magician Collin follows this question in a magical way.

He not only wants to inspire his audience with his art, but also convince a specialist jury: He is one of around 40 artists who will compete at the German Magic Championships in Fürstenfeldbruck from May 11th to 15th.

Magician Collin's real name is Andreas Steigerwald.

The 39-year-old from Neufahrn is a passionate teacher of mathematics and economics at the FOS/BOS Erding.

But magic is his great hobby, to which he has devoted himself since childhood.

Two first places in the preliminary round

He already qualified in 2019 for the German championship, which should have taken place in May 2020.

“We then had two months to go before the championship, and all the tryouts to test audience reactions were set.

A gig was planned every week,” Collin recalls.

"And then came the cancellation." Corona.

lockdown

Since then, the championship has been postponed twice.

For Collin, the cancellations have had their pros and cons.

"You have two more years of development time, in which you could build and try out even more new things," he explains.

"But even the best idea is useless if you can't test it in front of an audience, and live performances have been virtually non-existent in the past two years."

But now Collin is happy to finally be able to present his magic again.

For the competition he has come up with a show that has master potential.

He will appear in the General Magic and Grand Illusion divisions.

In both disciplines he took first place in the preliminary round in 2019 - a huge achievement in the magician scene that nobody has achieved for a long time, "certainly not for 20 years", as Collin proudly explains.

By the way: Everything from the region is now also available in our regular Freising newsletter.

In the "General Magic" category, he takes his audience into a magical world as a night watchman in a museum.

30 effects in eight minutes

The spectators can look forward to a real magical firework display that Collin will burn off on stage: he packed a total of 30 effects into his eight-minute performance.

The grand illusion, which typically uses huge props, also lasts eight minutes.

Here Collin tells a magical fairytale story with witches, fairies and a gingerbread house.

“In both performances there is a story with a common thread that is explained by the various effects.

Actually, it's a play with lots of magic effects," says Collin.

He invented these tricks himself or modified, newly decorated or developed existing ones so much that one can speak of his own tricks.

"It's important that you don't show standard tricks, but convince with something new," explains Collin.

After all, it is important to inspire a specialist jury consisting of very experienced magicians.

“If you want to surprise them, you simply have to break new ground.

After all, at the end of the day they should say about the performances that they are suitable for the stages of this world, because the championship title is also a recommendation to other stages to book the winner.”

German champion is the real goal

And the title is the ticket to the World Cup, which is scheduled to take place in Québec (Canada) at the end of July.

He would certainly be delighted to represent Germany in Canada, says Collin.

“But my real goal is not so much the World Cup.

The German championship title is the decisive factor for me,” reveals the father of two.

Magic 2020

The magic congress "Magica 2020" with the German championships of magic will take place from May 11th to 15th in the event forum Fürstenfeld in Fürstenfeldbruck.

Magicians compete in General Magic, Grand Illusion, Manipulation, Mental Magic, Comedy, Child Magic, Parlor Magic, Close-Up, and Card Magic.

Around 700 artists are expected.

At the same time, the public festival "HocusPocus Fürstenfeld" is taking place.

Visitors can experience magicians from all over the world over five days.

There are 30 shows, each lasting around an hour, as well as a supporting program, some of which is free.

Information and tickets at www.hocuspocusfuerstenfeld.de.

You can find more current news from the district of Freising at Merkur.de/Freising.