WYOMING, Mich.-- A West Michigan teen, who's been the victim of bullying, found a new power in himself thanks to magic.
Chase Brown, known to many of his peers as Chase The Magic Man, hopes to use his new confidence to inspire other young people dealing with their own struggles.
From watching his YouTube channel, it's hard to imagine Brown being anything other than a smooth talking, talented magician. But Brown claims he's come a long way.
"Personally, [magic] brought me out of my shell," said Brown. "I used to stay to myself and didn’t talk to a lot of kids. I used to get bullied so that didn’t help.”
Brown says he discovered his love of magic was more of a natural talent about a year and a half ago.
In practicing his craft, Brown found it opened a whole other side of himself he never knew existed.
One of his teachers even noticed and took it a step further.
"It just so happened I was watching FOX 17 one morning and you were featuring Eric Ross. I emailed Eric in hopes of connecting him with Chase," said Sonya Hernandez, Chase’s teacher.
“Eric responded without hesitation.”
Brown says he's been a fan of Ross since watching his performance on The Ellen Show and finally got the chance to meet one of his biggest inspirations.
That meeting eventually grew into a special friendship.
"It’s not so much helping, I mean he’s got chops," Ross said. "He’s good at what he does. Its just more about ideas.”
Hernandez says Brown's transformation has been incredible to see.
"It was like watching a butterfly transform from a caterpillar to a butterfly, the transformation I've been able to see in Chase over the last 12 weeks. It's amazing.”
“I think we as a human have a moral obligation to help those who want to learn and to meet those who you’ve influenced to keep influencing," Ross added.
Chase hopes he can pay it forward by inspiring others struggling to get through hardships and loss in their own lives.
“I love seeing reactions," said Brown. "That’s mainly why I do it, just the reactions because I couldn’t get those reactions out of people before and I love making people smile.”
You can check out more of Chase The Magic Man's videos by clicking here.
ERIC ROSS YOUTUBE: https://www.youtube.com/user/ericrossmagic
