“What the fuck?”
“No way!”
“You’re the devil!”
“You’re God?”
“Can you do my wife?”

These are some of the responses Richard “Ritchy Flo” Flores gets when he shows people his magic.

Every day he makes it a point to show at least ten people magic without asking for money. He walks around Denton, approaches people, and tries to blow their minds, hoping he will have made an impact on their day.

“I think if there’s anything Denton has always needed, [it] was a badass magician with good hair,” Flo said. “I hope to be that superhero.”

Originally in Denton as part of a rap group, magic strangely became his trademark.

His love for both goes hand-in-hand with his need to be a creative. He wanted to be in a band when he was in second grade. When he was six, it was his grandpa who introduced him to magic.

“When I was a kid, I always wanted to be an entertainer,” Flo said. “I thought I wanted to be like a clown or something.”

Rapping came easy to him, so Flo put magic on the backburner. The music took him places, one of those places being the Czech Republic. He had a friend who rapped there and Flo visited to perform shows while in his teens. He recalls the moment he rekindled his talent for magic one night at a bar in the Czech Republic.

“I was drunk and I just grabbed a deck of cards and started showing people magic and they freaked out and they loved it,” Flo said. “I was like ‘Wow, I need to start doing that more.’”

So he did it more. He pulled out his old magic books from his grandparents’ home and then bought more. Now, his collection consists of hundreds of books.

He said he remembers doing rap shows where a party would follow and people would ask him to freestyle. He wouldn’t want to freestyle after finishing a set, so he decided to show people magic after shows instead. Even now, he still makes music and produces for Gitmo music, but he knows his magic is what makes him special.

“People like my music, but people love my magic,” Flo said.

Flo has almost a scientific approach to magic. It relies heavily on his willingness to experiment. What he shows people on the street is usually the result of him applying other things he’s learned to whatever is in front of him that moment.

“A lot of it’s just knowing stuff and then using what’s around you to make it happen,” Flo said. “Anything can be a trick.”
He said money has never been a driving factor for him, so within reason, he gets to live every day doing what he loves instead of wishing he was.

“To me, [everyday life] is like a bunch of BA BA BA BA! But, that’s all in my head because I’m just springing off a bunch of cool ideas, things I want to do,” Flo said. “For everyone else, it’s probably just me sitting around on a computer, making music or reading stuff.”

Flo’s magical persona adds to the richness of Denton. Flo said he always asks people when a magic show was last in Denton, they don’t think there has ever been one. So, in response, an event titled A Magical Evening With Ritchy Flo And Friends will be held on Saturday, Nov. 25 at Andy’s Bar. Flo said he hopes he can intoxicate people with his magic.

“That night, I’m pretty much going to be the liquor and I’m going to be working my best to get everyone fucked up,” Flo said. “At the end of the night, everyone is going to feel drunk as hell but there probably won’t be much alcohol involved.”

Flo’s charismatic performance of the magic is special, too. A likable character accompanied by cheeky commentary makes each trick enjoyable.

“I just want to create experiences for people,” Flo said. “I want people to walk away any time they encounter me and be like, ‘That was some magical shit. He didn’t even do a trick, he was just looking at me.’”

His magic can be checked out on his Instagram account @ritchyflo to become familiar with him before catching his show at Andy’s.

Header image by Christopher Rodgers
Additional Photo by Jason Thornton

Artist Spotlight: Ritchy Flo