The house was packed at 6 a.m. as freshman Tyler Gronauer mentally prepared himself for one task: making an impression on a producer of “America’s Got Talent.”

He and his father Mr. Marc Gronauer had been up early that brisk November morning, getting ready for an hour-long drive to the audition in Detroit.

“I wasn’t really nervous, honestly,” Gronauer said about his audition. “I’ve been doing the trick for a while at where I work.”

The up-and-coming magician has worked at The Laundry Room, a restaurant in Fenton, for over a year now.

“I do walk-around magic,” Gronauer said. “I go from table to table and give each person a little magic show.”

He performs from 5 to 7 p.m. on the first Monday of every month.

Gronauer has performed magic since he was young.

He received his first magic kit when he was 5 years old and started out by showing his parents card tricks.

“It was fun. I would go into the kitchen to learn a trick, then minutes later come back out and perform it for my parents,” Gronauer said.

From there, Gronauer began perfecting his talents, finding any way he could to learn new magic tricks.

“I learned every trick in the box that night,” Gronauer said, “so from there I was always checking out books on magic from the library.”

Freshman Keegan Cummings has been a friend of Gronauer’s for years and is impressed by how far his magic has come.

“I think it’s incredible, just looking at the difference between middle school and now,” Cummings said. “Tyler was always good at magic. Like he was incredible when we were in sixth grade. He keeps getting better though, and he’s so good at it now.”

Magic is far from his only talent, as Gronauer has played musical instruments for several years.

Gronauer is musically gifted, able to play the guitar, ukelele, and is sitting second chair clarinet in the KHS band.

Chair placement is decided by a playing test performed in front of the class, and Gronauer’s success with the test can be attributed to his coolness under pressure. Only senior Taylor Stockton, this year’s drum major, is in a higher chair than him.

Stockton is impressed by Gronauer’s ability to perform in front of an audience.

“He’s used to working with crowds because he has to do magic in front of people,” Stockton said. “I think that’s why he did so well and is so comfortable performing.”

As for the future, Gronauer is waiting to find out if he made it to a television audition on “America’s Got Talent.”

“I have no idea when I would potentially be on the show, but I’ll find out soon,” Gronauer said. “I don’t think it matters if I made the TV audition or not. I learned from the experience, and that’s what’s important to me.”