9-Year-Old Manitoba Magician Wins Young Magicians of Manitoba Competition

 At only nine years old, Kolbyn Potter is already making a name for himself in the magic world after being named the 2026 winner of the Young Magicians of Manitoba competition.

Potter, who lives in Winkler, Manitoba, began exploring magic when he was just four years old. Like many young performers today, his early inspiration came through online videos and social media. One magician in particular immediately captured his imagination — legendary Canadian escape artist Dean Gunnarson.

According to Potter, watching Gunnarson’s dramatic escape performances on YouTube sparked his desire to pursue magic seriously. He explained that seeing dangerous escape stunts made him realize how far the art of illusion could go and inspired him to start practicing on his own.

While escape magic may be his long-term goal, Potter’s journey began with classic card magic. One of the first effects he learned involved dealing four aces to the tops of separate piles. Today, his interests include card tricks, rope magic, flourishes, and sleight-of-hand techniques.

Potter says he practices constantly and already has more than 70 tricks in his repertoire. He credits online tutorials for helping him develop his skills, although he noted that some techniques still require figuring things out independently through trial and error.

In addition to Gunnarson, Potter also looks up to fellow Canadian magician Darcy Oake, whose large-scale illusion performances have also influenced his ambitions. Potter hopes to eventually move into more extreme styles of magic and escape artistry as he gets older.

For now, the young magician continues refining his act while encouraging other aspiring performers to start simple by learning card handling, cuts, and flourishes before progressing to more advanced effects.

Winning the Young Magicians of Manitoba competition marks a major milestone for Potter, but he says his future goals are even bigger — including one day touring the world as a professional magician.

Source: Adapted from original reporting with files from Ty Hildebrand.