Ruben Palacios prepares a basic card trick to demonstrate his magic skills.

DANIELLE SCHOOLEY – Hoof Prints Staff

He’s talented. He’s energetic. He’s outgoing. He’s magic. He’s Ruben Palacios.

Junior Ruben Palacios is known for his magic, his skateboard tricks and his back flips. Ruben’s uncle, the only person in his family that does magic, started showing him magic tricks when Ruben was 12.

Ruben had always been interested in his uncle’s magic and he decided that he wanted to learn magic himself. His uncle taught him a few basic magic tricks and once he had mastered those he began learning new tricks by watching Criss Angel on television.

Although Ruben enjoys showing off his new magic tricks to his friends they are not always as enthusiastic as he is. Ruben explains that his friends do not care much for his magic.

“My friends think it’s stupid and say I shouldn’t do it,” he said.

Ruben doesn’t let his friends’ opinions bother him. He still proceeds with his magic no matter what anyone thinks about it, simply because he enjoys doing it.
Ruben has mastered many difficult tricks, including throwing a card through a window. Though this trick may seem impossible for obvious reasons, Ruben accomplished this feat in one short week.

“I have my own way of doing it,” Ruben said.

His interests are not just limited to magic tricks. He enjoys skateboarding with his friends and has picked up many tricks along the way. One move that took a lot of practice is what Ruben calls a “hard flip.” This skateboarding trick consists of flipping the skateboard between his legs while in the air.

Along with his skateboarding and magic tricks, he also has another unusual talent. Ruben does special flips which he calls “free walking.” This involves him running up a tree before doing a back flip.

Along with the skating and flips comes the chance of sustaining an injury. This past summer Ruben fell off his skateboard and cut his arm. This may not seem like a major accident to many, but he got blood poisoning from this accident. If it would have reached his heart he could have died.

Of course this incident scared Ruben but it still did not stop him from skateboarding. He doesn’t see himself ever giving up skateboarding, magic or his back flips and other tricks. He doesn’t plan to do anything career-related with any of his talents except enjoy them throughout his life.

“I think I will always skateboard and I think I will continue learning new magic tricks my whole life,” Ruben said, ”but I don’t think I will ever try do it either one professionally.”