Rising Stars: Meet Sher’ril & Samantha Knox

Today we’d like to introduce you to Sher’ril & Samantha Knox.

Hi Sher’ril & Samantha, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today.
We’ve loved magic for as long as we can remember. Watching VCR tapes of David Copperfield’s TV specials was a huge inspiration to us, as was the support of our parents. Having a career in show business is odd enough for most families without having to add magic and escapology into the mix. Thankfully, they took us seriously and encouraged us when we decided to become magicians and escape artists at 14 (Sher’ril) and 10 (Samantha). Our first professional performance was at a local middle school where our father worked as a 5th-grade math teacher. We had never seen a magic show in person before that day, so it was a very special show for us. As of October 31st, 2022, we’ve been performing for ten years.

We’ve been asked before if we were nervous about our first performance, and admittedly, we were kind of nervous. Then just before the show, we heard over 200 5th and 6th graders in our audience singing the classic song “Magic” by Pilot. Feeling their excitement and energy when they cheered, sang, and applauded gave us a special boost to perform. Even today, our best shows are for audiences who are genuinely excited and happy to be there. When you give energy, you get energy. Since our first show at the middle school, we’ve kept growing in our skills and expanding our repertoire. The last thing we want is to get in an artistic rut or give an audience a stale show; looking back over the years, our act has improved so much since the beginning that our shows today were almost completely unrecognizable from our shows ten years ago. We’ve even begun to train our youngest sister, “Felice the Magical,” and have included her in several recent shows. The only thing that has remained unchanged is that we’ve stayed true to our style and continued working together as an awesome team.

Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
In our last interview with Nashville Voyager, we spoke of the issues of sexism within and without the magic community. We touched on that magic and escapology as a career are not cheap. In May of 2021, we learned that producing a show ourselves isn’t cheap either. We decided to branch out and put ourselves out into the community by hosting our show at a local venue. To cover the cost of the venue and make a profit, we had to perform 4 shows in one day. We’ll readily admit that wasn’t our brightest idea. Just factoring in the resetting of each show and the time needed for costume changes, bathroom breaks, and snack breaks, doing four shows at once is not something we’d recommend to any fellow performers. To make things worse, Sher’ril’s left leg was injured in a freak accident while unloading the props and stage pieces into the venue the night before the shows. She was on the trailer when a storm blew up suddenly, knocking a couple of large, heavy stage pieces onto the back of her leg. While everyone else continued unloading the props and setting up the stage, Sher’ril’s calf swelled and bruised badly. With Epsom salt soaks, plenty of Tylenol, and adrenaline, Sher’ril insisted on performing all four of the shows, and they went largely as planned. The show really must go on! After that experience, our business had to be put on hold during the months that Sher’ril’s leg was healing. That period was both a nice break and a frustrating obstacle. Returning to the stage has never felt better!

Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
A few things set us apart from many other performers and magicians. We’re primarily self-taught and invent our illusions and routines, and we started out learning escapes, while most magicians begin with card and coin tricks. While it’s a common belief that magicians “lie for a living,” we do our best make it a point to avoid lying in our performances. Instead of lying, we use psychology. We show our audiences what we want them to see, for instance, an “empty” box. We do not comment, and the audience assumes that since the box looks empty, it is empty. Performing this way, we can make all sorts of illusions without ever having to tell a lie. We don’t deceive our audiences. They deceive themselves. If you think of a magician’s assistant or a female magician, you’re probably going to think of small outfits sparkling with sequins that accentuate every curve of the woman’s body. While that can be a very effective misdirection, giving the magician an easier time performing their sleights, we prefer to rely on our talents and skills more than the appearance of our figures. Because of this, we dress modestly, not showing much skin and wearing jackets like our male counterparts. We believe that the focus of a magic show should be magic; staying true to our roots, our shows are always appropriate for people of all ages. We’re neither “kid magicians” nor “adult magicians.” We’re magicians, meaning we can entertain anyone anywhere with our escapes, witty banter, sleight of hand, and comedy. The audience is always our top priority.

What do you think about luck?
Luck is really what you make of it. In one way, we could count ourselves unlucky because of everything that happened in 2020 and how that affected our business. We could also be unlucky because of Sher’ril’s injury in May 2021. Any struggles or bits of “bad luck” we’ve encountered have taught us some very important lessons, and we consider that to be good luck instead. However, we’d say that luck has played a role in our careers. Sometimes, everything just seems to fall into place and always work out for the best. A few years ago, we were scheduled to perform close-up magic at a benefit in the Factory at Franklin, and another magician was scheduled to perform onstage. We’re not sure why he couldn’t follow through with that commitment, but we’re eternally grateful for the opportunity it provided. That night, we performed card tricks at every table, a series of great routines onstage, and assisted our client in solving a problem. That experience and the unexpected pleasure of this follow-up interview are great examples of good luck. We can’t wait to see what the next ten years hold for Sher’ril & Samantha: Escape Artists Extraordinaire!

Contact Info:

• Website: https://sherrilandsamantha.wixsite.com/escape-artists/shop
• Instagram: @sherrilandsamantha
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SherrilAndSamantha
• Youtube: https://youtube.com/channel/UCE2lsWoXoBvEhO-Iq55BQMg