44 THE QUEENS COURIER • BUZZ • JULY 17, 2014 FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT www.queenscourier.com buzz A Bacardi mini-documentary Mini-documentary features Queens magic shop BY CRISTABELLE TUMOLA ctumola@queenscourier.com/@CristabelleT America already knows he’s “Got Talent.” A new mini-documentary is now showing how one Queens magician has helped a pair of local tricksters and countless others through his shop. “The Magic Man,” a six-minute fi lm recently released on YouTube as part of Bacardi’s The Untameable Series, features Rogue Magic and Funshop on Queens Boulevard in Elmhurst. The store is owned by 35-year-old Briarwood magician Roger “Rogue” Quan who appeared on the July 1 episode of “America’s Got Talent,” and also owns Rogue Magic Bar & Theatre in Rego Park. Quan opened the store in 2000, and in addition to selling tricks, the business became like a sanctuary for local youngsters. “I pushed these kids. If they needed money, needed a place to stay,” Quan said, he helped them out. “I created another family and they helped me out.” Two of those people’s stories are the focus of “The Magic Man” — Ridgewood resident Michael “Six” Muldoon and Brooklyn native Devonte Rosero. Both men have made careers out of magic after dealing FLEX SPENDING Use it or lose it! summer SAVINGS ONSITE DOCTORS • EYE EXAMS • CONTACTS • 1 HOUR SERVICE • VISION PLANS ACCEPTED • SUNGLASSES • LOWEST PRICES 2 PAIR OF EYEGLASSES QC QC QC $99 Includes: EYE EXAM, Frames & Lenses Select frames with clear plastic, single vision lenses+/- 4 sph., 2 cyl. Not valid with any other offers, sales, vision plans or packages. Must present prior to purchase. Offer valid at this location only. Offer ends:8/18/14 NO-LINE BIFOCAL EYEGLASSES $99 Includes: EYE EXAM, No-Line Bifocal Lenses & Frame Select frame with select clear plastic no-line bifocal lenses +/- 4 sph., 2 cyl up to 2.50 add. Not valid with any other offers, sales, vision plans or packages. Must present prior to purchase. Offer valid at this location only. Offer ends: 8/18/14 BAY TERRACE SHOPPING CENTER 211-51 26 AVENUE • BAYSIDE, NY 11360 718.631.3699 *FREE with the purchase of glasses. Contact Lens Exam and EYE EXAM tting add’l. *See store for details. QC DISPOSABLE CONTACTS $99 Includes: •EYE EXAM •2 Boxes of Lenses Contact Lens Fitting additional. Clear Soft contacts brand clear spherical lenses.Not Valid with any other offers, sales, vision plans or packages. Must present prior to purchase. Offer ends: 8/18/14 DESIGNER SUNGLASSES st STARTING AT $99 Place of the 2013 THE QUEENS QueensCourier.com Some Restrictions Apply. See Store For Details. In Stock Items Only. Not Valid with any other offers, sales, vision plans or packages. QC Must present prior to purchase. Offer expires: 8/18/14 with personal struggles. At a young age, Muldoon, now 25, coped with having a sixth fi nger and weight issues. His Maspeth house burned downed when he was 11 and his parents separated around that time. Muldoon found magic at about age 13, and bought his fi rst trick from Quan’s store. “It kind of became an addiction after that,” said Muldoon, who eventually started working at the shop. Quan not only helped give Muldoon the confi dence he needed, but also his stage name — ”Six.” “He gave us a place to connect, to be open, to fi nd ourselves,” Muldoon said. After Muldoon nearly died from a ruptured spleen at 18, and was looking to give back, Rosero, who had just met the founder of Magicians Without Borders, suggested that Muldoon work with the organization. Today, the two are still involved with the group, which travels to more than 30 countries “using magic to entertain, educate and empower.” They also both started System 6 Magic, a company that produces playing cards and DVDs, and have each become accomplished performers and entrepreneurs. Though he became interested in magic at an early age, in his teen years Rosero, now 24, started associating with local street gangs. After landing in the hospital, Rosero received a call from Quan, whose shop he used to go to four or fi ve years earlier, urging him to try out for a magic competition, he recalls in “The Magic Man.” “If Rouge had not called me, I would be in jail or dead,” Rosero said. The mini-documentary is not the fi rst time Quan’s magic shop and some of the people it’s helped have been captured on fi lm. A full-length documentary called “The Magic Men,” featuring Rosero and another local magician, Miles Thorn, was screened at the Woodstock Film Festival in 2013. The fi lm’s producer is trying to get it distributed for full release in New York City, according to Quan. He believes it may have been the reason the fi lmmakers behind the Bacardi piece came calling. The aim of the Bacardi series is to tell “remarkable stories of irrepressible spirits from around the world.” Some of that spirit is summed up in how Quan answers the question about why he does what he does in the documentary. “Why do I do it? Because I want people to believe. That’s what magic’s all about.” To watch “The Magic Man,” visit http://bit. ly/1pQmRcG. Photo courtesy of Michael “Six” Muldoon features the story of Ridgewood resident Michael “Six” Muldoon (right) and how Roger “Rogue” Quan (left) and his magic shop has helped him and many others.
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