Participants of All Ages Learn Magic Tricks
In Workshop With Award-Winning Performer

This June 10 at 2:00 pm, folks in Paonia get to dive into an inspiring magic workshop led by second generation magician, Phina Pipia. “This is a program that’s as fun as it is educational, with an impact that lasts long after the hour is over,” says Pipia. The hour starts with a short magic demo in which youngsters are wowed with original illusion work. Then, Pipia says the real magic words: “Do you want to learn how to do that yourself?”

Together, the class dives in, learning how to perform not one, but two world-class magic tricks and gaining the skills to make them from scratch. At the end of the hour, everyone gets to take their magic tricks home. The workshop was directly inspired by Pipia’s touring illusion, music, puppetry, and theater show, Ha Ha Da Vinci which has been on the road in Europe, the US, and Canada for more than four years and will be at The Learning Council on June 12, “The goal is to help students learn magic, while also discovering how to unlock their own creative potential.”

Magic Workshop Description

Students will learn a magic trick they can perform themselves, delve deeper into the magic of the Italian renaissance, and discover the biggest magic trick of all, how to make your ideas a reality.

Workshop Runs: June 10, 2:00 - 3:00 pm
@ The Learning Council
Cost: Free

What Will Students Gain from the Workshop?

The daughter of a professional magician, Pipia grew up in a house where the laws of physics were defied on a daily basis. “I sometimes joke that I have a permanent suspension of disbelief”, she says, “as a toddler, I never learned that objects tossed into the air would come down, or that a coin closed in my hand would be there when I opened it. Illusion was a part of everyday life. As a result, I believe that just about anything is possible.” Her magic workshops are steeped in that sense of wonder.

Students learn two magic tricks they can perform themselves, but they also learn something more; “the workshops use Leonardo da Vinci’s boundless curiosity as a blueprint,” says Pipia, “teaching practical skills in illusion, but most importantly, helping students see the world as filled with limitless possibility.”

About the Instructor:

Called “terrific,” by the New York Times, "imaginative, intelligent, and strangely mesmerizing,” by the San Diego Union Tribune, and “impossible to resist,” by the Montreal Gazette, Phina Pipia's performances combine illusion, music, puppetry, and dance to captivate audiences around the globe.

Under the mentorship of physical theater luminary, Avner Eisenberg, Phina began developing her critically-acclaimed solo show, Ha Ha Da Vinci in residence at the Centrum Foundation for the Arts in Washington State with funding from the Port Townsend Arts Commission in 2020. After three years in theaters, it was developed into a 90-minute piece and received a 2024 residency for further development at the east coast physical theatre hub, Celebration Barn.

Ha Ha Da Vinci has now earned numerous awards from festivals and critics, accolades from major publications. and has been produced in Europe, Canada, and the United States. Last fall the show was translated into Italian, and in October, 2025 it enjoyed its first 5-weeklong tour of Italian theaters, with shows in Zocca, Milan, and Catania.

Phina’s upbringing among artists and performers has meant that the extraordinary has always been a part of daily life. Her work is imbued with that sense of wonder and magic.