Kevin Blake Interview: Mystifying Second Act as an Illusionist
Diana Landau | December 09, 2025
Carl is amazed when he interviews the one and only Kevin Blake. Kevin is different from most of our podcast guests in that he is only in his 30’s. But he definitely took a big risk to dive into his very successful second act and he shares what he learned with the rest of us. Kevin is a former marketing exec who left a successful career to follow his dream of becoming a magician/illusionist/mentalist. He now has a wildly popular show in San Francisco at the Palace Theater.
Kevin grew up in suburban Sacramento, CA. A big part of his childhood was spent going to swim practice and becoming a star swimmer in high school and the collegiate level (He would later go on to swim in the Trials for the 2012 and 2016 Olympics!)
After college and a degree in Psychological and Brain Science, Kevin landed at Wells Fargo and pretty quickly felt he wanted something different. Walking around one day in SF he saw a sign for a “Creative Agency” and knew he would rather be following a much more creative path. As a marketing exec, he created brand identities through digital, print, motion and video for big brands such as Lagunitas Brewing Company, Duraflame, JanSport Backpacks, Intel, and more.
While Kevin enjoyed that career, he always had a passion for magic and performing shows. He developed a side gig of online magic shows for companies all the while honing his craft. The pandemic actually became a big new opportunity for him. “I was making more (money) in two months than I was making for my yearly salary.” (You'll have to listen to the podcast to learn more about that!) “It gave me the freedom to be able to quit,” he tells us. He decided to go for it and work in magic full-time. His family and friends were nervous for him and supportive. “Nervous? Yes. But I was confident.”
Kevin has performed and has competed on a national level -- America's Got Talent and Penn & Teller: Fool Us. Now he performs for sold-out, live magic shows at the Palace Theater as well as for corporate business events. “I’m lucky I have a marketing background so I can sell tickets and promote my business,” he adds. When not performing, Kevin is constantly working on his show, and also spending time with his family. And yes, he’s still swimming.
Kevin Blake, on beginning a Second Act:
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“Your time is open. What do you do with that time? We all have to fill our time with things that create meaning for us.”
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“If you've always had a passion sitting in the back of your mind, try it as a side gig. Go for it, try it, experiment and see what you find. The only thing that can happen is that you'll learn a lot.”
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“If it (second act) was really, really comfortable I wouldn't have that same fire to hustle!”
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“Finding or creating your own small network of people who do what you do is critical.”
Diana Landau is the Content Wrangler for Pickleball Media. After 15 years in corporate marketing, in 2012 she pivoted to write and wrangle content for Niche Media's weekly blog. She now manages the "I Used to be Somebody" blog.
