Robert Newgrosh discusses his one-of-a-kind education programme helping young people develop skills through magic.
In 2004, Robert Newgrosh was looking for a hobby to act as a counterbalance to the demanding nature of his financial markets training company: “I knew a couple of card tricks, but it was when I went to a friend’s birthday party and there was a magician there that I became completely fascinated. The thing with magic is that when you learn one trick, you instantly want to learn another, and it quickly became much more than a hobby! In 2008, I turned it into a part-time business on two fronts: performing at events such as Bar and Bat Mitzvahs and Magic Skills For Schools.”
“I should call myself the accidental magician because I never originally intended to do anything that I do now,” jokes Robert. “My daughters were only young at the time, but I’d taught them a couple of card tricks and they loved it. It was this combined with wondering if my background in writing and presenting courses could translate into magic that resulted in the programme being born.”
After seeing first-hand the positive effect magic had on his own children, Robert was motivated by the idea of improving young people’s confidence and self-esteem: “As well as it being fun for them, there are some real educational benefits. Once I started, I realised that magic actually involves a huge range of skills.
“Many of those I work with have special educational needs such as autism, ADHD, or dyslexia and some of the most important skills that my programme teaches is speech, language, and communication skills. Manual dexterity obviously plays a big part, there’s a lot of concentration involved, and it’s superb for developing reasoning, lateral thinking, memory, and coordination.”
Over his years working with children, Robert has noticed that they are relying on their phones more and communicating much less face-to-face which can have a damaging effect on their social skills and confidence, something which magic also helps to improve.
The underlying concept at the heart of the programme is simple – magic increases a child’s self-belief because once they realise they can do something that’s really amazing, it has the potential to change their whole outlook.
Robert found a gap in the market by using magic as an educational tool: “After my first time trialling the programme at North Cheshire Jewish Primary School, the kids loved it and I knew that I was onto something – I was shocked to discover that nobody else was doing something like this and, as far as I know, I’m still the only person! Since then, I’ve had around 1,500 eight-to-11-year-old children take part from more than 50 schools across the North West.
“I go into schools once a week for five weeks and teach two groups of six children the skills and tricks and at the end of the programme, we invite parents and the rest of their class to watch them in a show where they’ll showcase all they’ve learnt. I make sure that the tricks are easy enough for a child to learn but good enough to entertain and amaze friends and family.”
It’s the feedback that Robert receives that keeps him passionate: “After the show, I’ll ask the children how they’re feeling and the same feedback always comes back up about them feeling happy and more confident which is so rewarding. I love performing and doing my show but knowing that I’m making a difference to these children’s lives is amazing.”
Alongside Magic Skills For Schools, Robert is also available for magic performances: “I do free community shows for audiences of up to 30 which includes a 25-minute card magic show and a 20-minute talk followed by a Q&A. There’s also my ‘mingling style’ performances where I walk around and mix with guests at parties or receptions and perform tricks. I welcome any community groups, shuls or schools to get in touch!”