When Jeb Earl was a kid growing up in Winslow, Ariz., his grandpa used to bring him a flavored-ice cup from Phoenix. Not the ice, just the cup.

Each one had a magic trick printed on the bottom, and Earl would practice the trick until he got it right. Then he would put on a magic show for his neighborhood.

Earl, now 39 and living in Safford, Ariz., still feels the magic and wants to share it. The Mormon magician, who goes by the name "Earl the Wizard," puts on shows for libraries, schools and birthday parties.

"I'm what's called a parlor magician," Earl said in a recent telephone interview. "I really like small groups, close-up, and working closely with the children and having fun. That's the whole thing, is having fun."

From those beginnings on a cup, Earl's path to magic has had a lot of twists and turns.

After serving a mission to Scotland for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, he decided he was interested in graphic design. He was also helping with a Scout troop and went to a camp in Flagstaff with the boys. In the kitchen, he met a woman who was helping with the camp's food service. Earl and Wanda, now a corrections officer, were married, and they are raising four children -- Jacob, 15; Hyrum, 12; Sarah, 10; and Samuel, 7.

He was working for a funeral home doing its in-house publishing in Mesa, then moved to Safford, where he did headstone work "for a couple of weeks." He taught graphic design at Eastern Arizona College for about three years, where he earned his bachelor's degree as well. He got a fellowship at Savannah College of Art and Design in Georgia, so the family packed up and went there -- staying two months before returning to Arizona.

He also joined the Army but hurt his back after about a month.

Still, magic kept calling Earl.

He did his shows and went on a "Creativity at Sea" cruise that included classes for family entertainers. That meant he had a chance to perform his tricks for other magicians.

What he loves most is doing magic for children. He says he has shows scheduled at the Safford Library in June, and he especially enjoys going to an Apache reservation to do shows as part of STEPP, a drug and alcohol prevention program for children.
Earl's experience with children carries over to the Safford 1st Ward and his duties as Cubmaster -- "I get up there and kind of put on a show," he said.

"It's a passion ... just to see the smiles," he said.

Gary Clement, library programming technician for the Elsie S. Hogan Community Library in Willcox, Ariz., booked Earl for a show last December for about 20 children.
"His magician stuff was really, really good," Clement said.

Earl always tries to tie in a positive message with his tricks. One of his favorites is called "mother of diamonds," which starts out with coal in a cup that changes to diamonds. It's a story of patience and potential.

"Everybody can become diamonds," he said.

Earl also likes to use an Axtell Drawing Board in his shows. He draws a face on the board, and it "comes to life" with moving eyes and mouth that talks back to you.

Earl, who has been doing magic for about four years now, says he would like to do it full time, "but the economy is slow, so it's taking time." So he does freelance graphic design and substitute teaching. He believes his act has the potential to get bigger, because the nearest magicians are in Tucson and Phoenix. And he's certainly willing to travel that far.

But for now, he's content to do as many shows as he can and build on what he has.
"Magic is an escape," he said. "You're able to get away and just have fun, and that's what it's all about."

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E-mail: rwalsh@desnews.com