While some magicians and illusionists think pretending to drown yourself is entertaining, Walter King is attempting a more ambitious trick - bringing diversity to the whitewashed world of magic. "There are some of us out there, and we have an audience, but it's about mareting," says King. "A lot of agents and producers see a black face and don't want to promote you."

A Chicago native, King was into wizardry as a kid, at least until the glares of his friends became too problematic. "All we ever saw on TV were white magicians, so I let it go for a while to keep from getting messed with," says King, aka "The Spellbinder." I don't blame my friends, it's just that if you don't see it you don't think it's possible; people just couldn't understand what I was talking about."

Continue reading this story in the September 2006 issue of KING (#34).

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