This talk was given at a local TEDx event, produced independently of the TED Conferences. What if...you could do the impossible? What would that look like? Would you overcome obstacles in your life? Would you improve your community, or your world? How would you envision your life…if you could do the impossible? In "You Can Do the Impossible, Too," entertainer and speaker Jason Michaels shares his own deeply personal story of doing the impossible: overcoming the debilitating neurological disorder Tourette's Syndrome to become an international award-winning entertainer. He also shares mind-boggling "Impossibilities" from his repertoire of magic and illusion to inspire us to overcome our own challenges by "doing the impossible" in our own lives.
Jason Michaels, better known as “The CardShark,” is a dynamic and engaging speaker and entertainer with astounding expertise in the arts of deception. He has been a student of sleight of hand, illusion, and theater for almost 25 years. A storyteller by heart, Jason loves to blend impossible mysteries with unforgettable tales of adventure, danger and romance.
Diagnosed with Tourette’s Syndrome at age six, Jason has battled the neurological disorder and its uncontrollable “tics and twitches” his entire life. However, at age 16, he experienced the impossible when he first stepped onto the stage in a high school play. While Jason performed the tics and twitches associated with his Tourette’s vanished. He discovered a passion for live theater and, after wandering into a magic shop later that year, Jason’s path in life was set. In 2005, Jason became an international award-winning entertainer after competing in several international magic competitions.
As a professional speaker and entertainer, Jason is celebrated for his ability to engage and inspire his audiences. Because of his own creative and inquisitive nature, Jason thoroughly enjoys performing for both artistic, cultured audiences as well as highly intelligent, analytical crowds.
Jason has shared his style of interactive humor, sleight of hand, and illusion with audiences on cruise ships and at corporate events, universities, performing arts centers, and private social affairs all over the world, including the Bahamas, Shanghai, Beijing, London, Las Vegas, Chicago, Atlantic City, Orlando, and his home, Nashville.
At 16, Jason Michaels experienced the impossible in his own life and since then has been performing the impossible around the world to the astonishment and delight of his audiences.
About TEDx, x = independently organized event In the spirit of ideas worth spreading, TEDx is a program of local, self-organized events that bring people together to share a TED-like experience. At a TEDx event, TEDTalks video and live speakers combine to spark deep discussion and connection in a small group. These local, self-organized events are branded TEDx, where x = independently organized TED event. The TED Conference provides general guidance for the TEDx program, but individual TEDx events are self-organized.* (*Subject to certain rules and regulations)