ARLEN SOLOMON SHOWS LIZZIE GOGAL A NEW MAGIC TRICK. PHOTO BY KRISTY GRAVER

Arlen Solomon’s interest in magic was sparked by a card trick and a cousin who just had to spill the beans about it.

Inadvertently learning trade secrets as a kid led him to his current role as executive director of The Society of American Magicians, a national magic organization that’s the oldest and most prestigious in the world.

“Easy tricks tend to be mathematical,” he says, “that’s why they fool a lot of people.”

Like me, for instance.

The Philadelphia resident was in town last week to meet with a newly chartered youth chapter, the only official one in the region for children ages 7 to 17. The Society of American Magician Youth #152 meets once a month at the West View Hub. Students can also take online courses and join the SAMY Achievement Pin Program as they master nine areas of magic.

The first thing they learn how to do is shuffle a deck of Bicycle-brand playing cards, which they get to take home.

I attended last Tuesday’s meeting, where Michael Mykita, who leads the Society of American Magician Youth #152, was helping two sixth-graders prepare for National Magic Week, which runs through Oct. 31.

HEATH CHURBOCK GETS A LESSON ON FROM ARLEN SOLOMON. PHOTO BY KRISTY GRAVER

Their enthusiasm could make anyone’s bad mood disappear.

In addition to learning card tricks and sleight of hand, the kids are building confidence, discipline and public speaking skills through magic.

“I describe it as freedom,” says Elizabeth “Lizzie” Gogal. “I can tell people how magic helped me deal with my autism.”

When she joined, she was quiet and reserved. These days, she’s a social butterfly who earns pocket change staging magic shows at local restaurants. Heath Churbock performs under the stagename “George” and, while fidgeting with a metal contraption called a shape-shifting prop called a circle to square, uttered one of the heartiest laughs I’ve ever heard.

They showed off their skills to me and as if they were playing to a packed theater.

Like Solomon, Mykita took an interest in magic as a child, but put his hobby on the backburner once he got to college. A leukemia diagnosis at age 28 changed his outlook on life and reinvigorated his passion for hocus pocus.

He started hanging out at the former Cuckoo’s Nest Magic Shop on the South Side where he learned tricks from seasoned pros. His first paying gig was at a 60th birthday party. He made ten bucks doing card tricks for delighted guests.

MICHAEL MYKITA TEACHES KIDS THE SECRETS BEHIND MAGIC TRICKS AT THE WEST VIEW HUB. PHOTO BY KRISTY GRAVER

“After that, magic was always a part of my life,” he says, waving a wand that vanishes before my eyes.

Mykita now performs in the Miracle Elixir Side Show and works at Squirrel Hill’s Games Unlimited. In addition to board games and puzzles, the shop is stocked with everything a budding magician could want, from showmats and sponge balls to swords you can seemingly swallow.

Many magicians bequeath their props to the society, so a new generation can experience the wonder of it all.

PHOTO BY KRISTY GRAVER

In May, Solomon plans to step down and let a younger person take the reins of the organization that was founded on May 10, 1902, in Martinka & Company, a magic shop in New York City. The following year, Ehrich Weiss (aka Harry Houdini) was elected to membership. He served as the national president from 1917 until his death on Oct. 31, 1926. World-renown magicians such as David Copperfield and Lance Burton are also members of the society.

“Big, loud and larger than life — that’s what magic is,” Solomon says. “If I can train one of the kids I work with, if I can make an impact on them, that’s a legacy.”