You read enough interviews with magicians and you start to see some patterns. The biggest goes something like this…
Random Magician began performing at age 6…
It’s a fairly unique obsession with our art. You don’t often read interviews with musicians, for example, that take pride in detailing a ridiculously early age they picked up an instrument or played their first gig at a birthday party.
So why do magicians care?
My guess is because magic is, by and large, a young man’s game. Really young, like 8-12 young. Of course, almost everyone reading this is probably older than that, but the period of obsession that crystalizes a drive to continue practicing and performing is often forged that early.
If we accept the hypothesis that the origins of a magic fascination are very important than it stands to reason that performers would have those details at the forefront of their mind.
Or maybe it’s just because reporters often lead with the question, “When did you first get into magic?” because it’s an interesting art form to be into.