Jayne Perry was born in the Mystical Catskill Mountains. She has always been surrounded by magic, and the stage has always been part of her life. She sang in choirs and family shows from an early age. She quickly discovered magic through the magic inherent in the waters, forests, and mountains of the Catskills. She studied with her dad, Mr. Magic, and soon began performing magic in the family show.

Jayne made her debut at two years old as the Shadow in her dad's rendition of "Me and my Shadow.” She became his magician’s assistant when she was five. By seven, she received her very own “Jerry Mahoney” ventriloquist dummy. After much practice, she took him to school for second grade Show and Tell. On the request of her teachers, she and “Dennis” performed “All I want for Christmas is My Two Front Teeth” for all eight classrooms. No acting required: she really was missing those teeth.

As Jayne grew older, she discovered the magic of literature. Through literature, she saw many strange and magical places. She went to Oz and met the Wizard. She adventured though Middle Earth with Gandalf. She went Narnia to serve Aslan. She became interested in writing, creating her own worlds, stories, and wonders. Magic was truly everywhere.

For much of her adulthood, Jayne could only pursue creativity and imagination on the weekends. During the week, she worked as a soldier, then a computer scientist, then a college professor. Each career required a limited type of imagination. Still, her days off were spent in wonder. She developed habits and techniques to make the best use of time so she could continue to read, write, and create.

For the last 10 years or so, Jayne has extended the weekends to everyday. She has performed Laughs, Wonders, and Illusions from the Board Rooms to fundraisers, from Civic groups to schools and libraries. She made magic from a full illusion show to the palm of a hand. Her imagination, creativity, and performances finally became her career.

When Covid spread, performing live became impossible. She instead used the time to focus on the practice of a creative life. It took a long time for our society to resume public life, so she explored other media. Now that she can present and perform again, Jayne has updated her shows to reflect her new perspective on magic and storytelling. Along with those shows, she helps groups and companies to develop their own cultures and practices of imagination so they can leverage the Creative Imperative.