Discourse in Magic

Boo! To celebrate Halloween, Jonah dug through the annals of magic history to find you a frightening magic story. His research led to the following clip of Eugene Burger recounting the tale of one woman and her haunted dollhouse. So lock your doors, shut off your lights, and prepare to be spooked by The Dollhouse of Millie Riggs. The following clip was taken from “Spirit Theater Presents: Hauntings,” which was included with the first published edition of Eugene’s book Spirit Theater. You can find the original clip and the proceeding Fox Sisters’s clip here: Eugene Burger Magic. A big thank you to Michael Burke for providing permission to re-share the clip. Have a safe and happy Halloween!

Jonah sits down with Ryan Hayashi this week to talk about finding a personality, magic competitions, and the ins & outs of television magic. Ryan is a hobbyist sleight-of-hand magician with a number of competition wins and television performances under his belt. At the age of eight, Ryan’s uncle gave him a magic kit for Christmas. While the other kids around him eventually lost interest in magic, Ryan’s only grew. Obsessed with learning more about the art, he would seek out any magic book he could in his small hometown, Dunnville, Ontario. After attending Carleton University for language and linguistic studies and failing to get into the police force, Ryan decided to pursue his two passions further, magic and martial arts, so he moved to Japan to study. In Japan, he taught English, opening each of his classes with a visual magic trick. Eventually one of his students approached him and asked him to attend a magic club meeting. Agreeing, Ryan attended the club and met a man who would be fundamental in developing his skills: Shoot Ogawa. Developing You Growing up, Ryan was the dorky, nerdy kid doing card tricks. At the age of nineteen, he made a conscious decision to improve himself. He started to work out. Study voice. Work on body language. Anything related to self improvement, he studied and implemented to eventually become the commanding figure he is today. Ryan makes it clear that if you’re happy with who you are, and you’re able to just connect with people without needing to change, you don’t have to change. But, he points out that everyone is capable of increasing and decreasing the gifts we’ve been given. Magic Competitions In 2001, Ryan decided he wanted to become a World Champion of Magic. To him, competing is a way to measure where you abilities stand compared to your peers while also forcing you to work towards a specific goal. Since the first competition he entered fairly blindly in 2001, Ryan has become a seasoned competitor with multiple FISM and other competition titles to his name. For those looking to compete, Ryan recommends dedicating three years to creating, crafting, and polishing the routine you wish to perform. You’ll be going up the best in the field – if you want an idea of where magic currently sits, he suggests looking up recent FISM performances. To have a chance at succeeding, Ryan gives some advice. The first being that there are endless possibilities with magic, you just need to figure out where you want to take it. For FISM, look at the eight categories you can enter – five being stage, three being closeup. Then you need to figure out the effect(s) you want. From there, the most important aspects, you need to determine not only the story of the act, but who you want to come across as on stage. What do you want the audience to take away fro you at the end of the act? What story do you want to sell? Ryan also suggests optimizing the balance between the visual and audio aspects of the act for maximum impact. Appearing on Television Ryan has appeared on a number of television shows, from Fool Us to Britain’s Got Talent, so he knows the ins and outs of appearing on television. With this in mind, Ryan makes it clear to the audience that when you’re going on TV, you’re selling your soul. Once you sign the release to appear on the show, the production now has free reign to edit you however they want. If you did good, they can make you look bad, and vice versa; it comes down to their goal for the production at the end of the day. Once you’ve sold your soul, Ryan explains that it comes down to the material you bring on. Now with the likes of Eric Chien and Shin Lim raising the bar for magic on TV, you need to bring material stronger than sponge balls; the lay audience now has an image in their mind of what magic can be. If your hands shake or you waver, the audience and the camera will pick it up. On top of the effects you perform, the scripting also needs to be tight. No longer can you string together effects and call it a day. Referencing his brother, a film industry veteran and script writing teacher, told him, Ryan lays out the four points you should try to encompass in your script to truly capture your audience: Three act structure Protagonist Change of heart Statement of humanity Wrap-Up Endless Chain Eric Chien What do you like about modern magic? What do you dislike? Ryan likes the current creativity and innovative material coming out of the competitions. Ryan isn’t a fan of people who just send him videos of them performing sleights without any thought put into scripting or routining. He wants the other 98% of the effect. Take Home Point Decide for yourself what you want your magic to be. If you make a conscious decision to hone your act and be professional, then you need to pay attention to the entire overall presentation. Plugs Ryan’s YouTube Ryan’s Instagram Ryan’s Facebo

This week Jonah sits down with Michael O’Brien to talk collaboration, developing material, and making effects relatable for your audience. Michael is a sleight of hand magician known for his work with the linking rings. At the age of six, Michael remembers receiving the Jawbreaker Magic Set and putting on shows alongside his friends for their families. Once he was in high-school though, his interests slowly drifted towards music and wrestling. It wouldn’t be until his graduating year that he met a busking magician who pulled him back into the world of magic by peeking his interest in sleight of hand. After obtaining a copy of Royal Road, Michael was pulled back into the world of magic. He started a job at a magic show at Disney, where he spent hours working on tricks to show and gaining performance skills. When he went home, he would pop in a DVD to learn new effects. Nowadays, his time is spent refining his presentations and working on his marketing material. Linking Rings Shoot Ogawa’s Ninja Ring routine was Michael’s first exposure to the linking rings. He, up until this point, had only seen card, coin and the little tricks he sold at the shop. After witnessing Shoot performing it at the Magic Castle, Michael dropped everything else he was learning for five months to focus solely on learning that close-up linking ring routine. While the technical aspects were straight forward, the actual presentation aspect took work. When he was comfortable with the rings, Michael began to look into other linking ring routines, which led him to discover Ninja Ring Plus by Matthew Garrett. Being able to link a wedding band to the ring and then being able to let the spectator examine it was too strong of and effect to pass up. Michael eventually had the opportunity to work with Matthew on Fusion, a collaborative project that saw five magicians release material on the close-up linking rings. Michael highlights that his routine came from years of practicing, integrating, and changing the material to eventually create his routine. Making it Yours So often, magicians can railroad themselves with presentations, limiting themselves to the standard props like cards. Michael explains that if you really want to shock the audience and create a presentation that you’re passionate about, you need to bring in something different. In his case, Pokemon cards. Michael performs his card to pocket routine with Pokemon cards, with the impossible location being a modified Pokeball he picked up at Toy ‘R Us. This presentation stemmed from his desire to perform card magic for children in a way they understand. The routine has now turned into a full fledged performance, with music and hat, and has become one of his most requested effects—people love that it’s not just a standard card trick. They’re captivated well before the actual trick begins. Wrap Up Endless Chain Eric Stevens What do you like about modern magic? What don’t you like? Brian loves that social media has allowed magicians to connect and get their name out there, but he dislikes how it allows for people to easily put down others. He reminds the audience that we have a duty to help incoming magicians, not shame them for questionable technique in their videos. Take Home Point It’s going to be a journey. You might go into magic thinking it’s going to go one way, but it might end up going another. Plugs Twitter Instagram YouTube Michael’s Website Michael’s Penguin Live

Brian Brushwood joins Jonah this week to talk creating content, finding a niche, and failing until you succeed. If you’ve searched for magic on YouTube, there’s a good chance you’ve come across Brian’s channel Scam Nation. Alongside being a Youtuber, Brian is a magician, a podcaster, a comedian, and an author – really, he just loves to share stories. Brian’s journey into magic began later in life. He was 18, attending university, and realized he had a ton of free time on his hands. His initial intention of taking up magic was not to pursue it professionally, but to just have a few cool tricks he could show around. After searching through the Yellow Pages, Brian discovered the Great Scott Magic Store where, after a three hour life changing conversation, he left with Royal Road and a bridge sized deck of Aviators. Throughout college, Brian was constantly performing. Between the restaurants he worked with his friend Gordon, kid’s birthday parties, and whatever other gig came his way, Brian put in his flight time. After graduating university, with what Brian akins to a degree in magic, he didn’t go straight into performing professionally, he went into the tech field while performing on the side. When he began to bring in more money from his performances, the company he worked under offered him a raise, placing him in a difficult situation. Not wanting to regret not pursuing a career in magic, Brian consulted his wife, quit his job and began down the path of becoming a professional magician. Standing Out As a kid, Brian’s family moved around. A lot. Every time Brian would introduce himself and establish who he was, his family would pick up and move to the next place. Eventually, introducing himself and establishing his brand became second nature. Brian attributes his ability to try experimental ways to market himself to the fact he doesn’t fear the rejection. When he was initially starting out, he knew that he needed to get some social proof for his sizzle reel – at the time this meant television appearances. Once more, Brian turned to yellow pages, sending out messages to the stations. When he heard nothing back, Brian went to Costco and purchased boxes of Fireballs, alongside a message saying that if they think those are hot, they should see Brian eat fire. This landed his first TV appearance that he would leverage on his reel. If you’re looking to catch people’s attention, you need to understand the audience you’re playing to and what their needs are; while your goal may be to entertain, the people booking you are looking for you to bring a certain value to the table. For Brian, when he was touring the college circuit, this involved writing a book called Pack the House! which gave Event Planners tips on getting butts in seats; he demonstrated what he knew, gave them value, and saw a lot more offers from Event Planners. Magic Online Eleven years ago, Brian started Scam School on YouTube, becoming one of the pioneers for teaching magic online. Through his platform online, Brian shares magic with newcomers and veterans, and invites them to collaborate with him. His goal is not to expose magic, but to teach it and help the art form reach a wider audience. That’s why he tries to take an approach the honours magic while still making it available to those who may not have access to traditional resources. People like the Masked Magician or those who simply tell you how a trick is done are not teaching. They’re exposing the secrets for the sake of exposing the secrets. Teaching magic online to Brian means that by the end of the video, the viewer should be able to do the trick. This is why he focuses on putting out complete tutorial videos of tricks. He also heavily focuses on crediting sources and selecting material that isn’t infringing on anything recently created. If you’re interested in putting out your own content, Brian insists that you release your good material first. Show them what you’re capable of doing and let them see the value you bring to the table. Then you can focus on monetizing and scaling up. People can’t fully judge who you are with just a teaser of what you might offer them. Wrap Up Endless Chain David Rowyn What do you like about magic in 2019? What do you dislike? Brian likes that magic is seeing so many talented women performers.. He also enjoys that Penn and Teller leave bread crumbs for budding magicians through their coded replies on Fool Us. Take Home Point Fail fast and reiterate. Let’s get to future you as fast as possible. Plugs Brian’s Website Brian’s Twitter Night Attack Scam Nation YouTube Scam Nation Website  

Welcome to Magicians Appetizer #6 Hi, Jonah here! This week I read an excerpt from an upcoming project that is available for preorder about the most important thing to do when going pro. The most important thing to do when going pro is to pick your target audience. In this episode I traces out exactly what that means, and why many magicians fail by falling into the ‘all purpose magician’ trap. If you liked this episode and want more advice about learning how to get your magic career started, pre-order the ebook today. Over the past few months I’ve written the first draft of an ebook titled: Your First 5 Gigs’ – Learn exact steps to your first few bookings, and start your magic business the smart way He’s attached 2 bonuses for anyone who pre-orders the ebook which you can read about here   Pre-order the book below or by clicking here   Loading…

Curtis Kam joins Jonah this week to discuss coin magic, thinking about your audience, and finding interesting plots. Although known for his coin work, Curtis is a well-rounded magician and writer who takes a unique approach to his presentations. He also once opened for a volcano. Curtis didn’t start magic with a magic kit. His journey began at the age of eleven when his parents had him tag along to magic classes with his shy younger brother. Growing up in Hawaii, his access to material was extremely limited. Between the single magic shop, limited books, the odd conventions, and the isolation from the mainland, Curtis approached magic with a unique take due to the isolation from the magic community. However, work was not sparse on the island. Birthdays, resorts and restaurants provided plenty of opportunities for Curtis to perform, allowing him to develop his performance skills early on in his career. While he may have not had the academic backing that magicians on the mainland on, he had the stage time and the freedom to pursue magic with his own interpretation. King of Coins After diving into the New York scene during his time at University, Curtis wanted to contribute to the scene. Sure, he could contribute another card trick, but he noticed a lack of coin magic and figured that was the route to go to gain people’s interests. His Palms of Steel series is what established him as a coin guy in the field (even though he has material in other areas). For those looking into learning coin magic, it can seem quite intimidating. However, Curtis points out that it comes down to the instructions they receive early on. If you find yourself trying to read difficult material or going through Bobo’s cover to cover, you’re probably going to get discouraged. While there aren’t exactly self working coin tricks to get your bearings, Curtis recommends learning Two in the Hand, One in the Pocket, and the Seven Pennies trick to learn the basics. Bobo’s Coin Magic, Expert Coin Magic and Kaufman’s Coin Magic may be the big three books for coin magic, but for those starting out, Curtis recommends learning from Stars of Magic. Finding Presentations Whether you approach it method or effect first, there are a lot of wonderfully unique things you can do with coins. If you have a desire to use a technique, then you realize you’ll need to place the focus on something else, giving you the motivation to think of premises and plots that will allow you to redirect the audience’s attention. Exploring a prop is another approach one can take when developing material; Curtis’ Okito Box routine came from his desire to find a use for the prop. Curtis recognizes that not everyone is going to be a professional magician. The requirements that they have for the magic they’re performing is different from the professional, so saying “hey look at this” is fine in a casual setting. In a formal setting, there are different expectations. One of those it better be entertaining while communicating an idea; you need to determine what they want to hear and how you can you deliver it to them. Putting a blank narrative over a trick (especially in coin magic) won’t cut it. Anybody can find competent tricks. It’s about how you frame them and the meaning you place on them that gives the audience something to connect to. At the end of the day, Curtis is a writer who finds ways to connect with the audience. Wrestling with Magic Wrestling Magic is a little book Curtis has that is an essay on magic. The essay focuses on the similarities between reality television, wrestling and magic, and how, when these mediums blur the lines in the right way, they become the most entertaining. The book can be found here: Wrap-Up What do you like about 2019 magic? What do you hate? Curtis likes that we’re entertaining into a phase where people are magicians. As in, they don’t have anything to do with magic, they just are magicians. It’s not as unusual as it use to be or socially ostracizing to be a magician. He’s also pleased to see magic moving out of restaurants and into theaters. Curtis is pretty happy with magic right now. He could do without the knockoff products though (If you’re interested in Okito Boxes and want an amazing one check out his friend who makes his boxes here.) Endless Chain Whit Haydn Take Home Point It’s okay to be an amateur. It’s okay to do magic that isn’t like the professionals do. It can be just as interesting and just as impressive. Plugs Curtis’s Penguin Live Wrestling with Magic Curtis’s Material Curtis’ Website Curtis’ Instagram

Jonah is joined by Anastasia Synn this week to discuss biohacking, the future, and the shocking side of magic. Anastasia is a biohacker, magician and stunt performer with 26 implants in her body that she uses in her performances and day to day life. Anastasia’s journey into magic began after seeing Chris Angel’s special on TV. His special led her to seeking out a magic store and purchasing the standard starter trick. While performing behind the bar she worked at, Anastasia quickly realized that she was drawn to the more visual magic. After discovering needle through arm and seeing people’s reactions, she knew that wanted to perform magic that would elicit that visceral, shocked response from her audience. Biohacking & Magic Biohacking is the practice of changing your chemistry and physiology through science and self-experimentation with the goal of enhancing your body. In Anastasia’s case, she’s a Grinder – a person who alters their body by implanting cybernetic devices like magnets or NFC chips. So how can you apply biohacking to magic? Anastasia explains that the limit is really your creativity and how far you’re willing to modify your body. By just implanting magnets throughout her body, she is able to perform or replicate magic tricks that use magnets to operate. RFID and NFC chips allow Anastasia to control switches with a flick of her finger or have information instantaneously fed to her. Being a relatively new field, there is a lot of potential to explore with what can be done. If you’re worried about safety, Anastasia assures listeners that it is safe as long as you’re smart about it. She tests and sterilizes everything that goes in her body; she knows where everything is coming from; she isn’t just sticking things into her body with the hopes it might work. While she might consider herself a guinea pig for the new tech, she isn’t stupid. If you are interested in learning more about biohacking you can check out the biohack.me forum where biohackers congregate. If you would like a reputable source to purchase chips, Anastasia recommends Dangerous Things (don’t let the name throw you off) and finding a person who does body modifications to install them if you’re squeamish. Shocking the Audience If you’ve seen her live, on Fool Us, or just a clip of her performing, you know that Anastasia doesn’t shy away from the weird, body horror-esque magic that throws back to the Chris Angel era. Whether it’s a needle through her arm or pulling out an absurd length of string from her chest though, Anastasia is always looking to find the humour in the uncomfortably shocking magic. Her goal is to not make people unsettled in this era of unsettling news, but to make people recognize the comedy behind what she’s doing. Wrap-Up What do you like about current magic? What don’t you like? Anastasia likes and doesn’t like the easy access to magic online. While she enjoys the fact that anybody can get into magic without being met by a barrier, she also recognizes that barrier made people have to fight to learn and discover the secrets of magic. Endless Chain Lisa Menna Take Home Point Please don’t be queasy, the future is not as scary as it seems. I promise. Plugs Anastasia’s Website Anastasia’s Facebook Anastasia’s Instagram  

Jonah is joined by Pit Hartling this week to explore creating magic, counting tricks, and making presentation decisions. Pit is a German magician who brings his own take to sleight of hand card magic. At the age of ten, there were a series of small moments that built his passion for magic. He discovered a wooden magic set in his aunt’s basement; he saw the German magician, Marvelli, perform a series of classics that sparked Pit’s interest; and he entered his first magic shop in Hamburg where he purchased his first magic props. From there, his passion continued to grow in magic, and he found himself performing tricks for his schoolyard friends. By University, Pit was frequently performing to the point it wasn’t a question of if he was going to become a magician, but if he was going to finish his degree. He didn’t, but he hasn’t looked back on that decision. Creating Magic Pit has two approaches to creating magic. The first is determining what plot or phenomenon he wants to demonstrate to his audience. For example, he has an effect that is influenced by Douglas Adams’ concept of the Infinite Probability Drive. Pit then selected an effect that would help him clearly demonstrate the concept in a clear and amusing way to the audience. The second is finding a method you want to use and fitting a plot to it. Referring to Tamariz, Pit explains how that without a deceptive method at the core of your performance, you cannot create magic. You can entertain the audience, but you won’t be fooling them. By starting with a deceptive method and building the effect around it, you have a better chance to create impactful, enjoyable magic. Making Claims Pit doesn’t want his audience to leave with any false beliefs or understandings about the world while also leaving with a sense of impossibility about what they witnessed. To avoid having his audience believing falsehoods, Pit believes it comes down to the performer’s tone. To create an emotionally true sense of magic while keeping it intellectually fake, the performer needs to discover a tone and delivery that works for them. Additionally, you can add elements that play up the plot while showing the audience that it’s not real. Props and additional plot structures give the audience a hook to attribute the magic to while also allowing them to recognize that “oh, okay, he’s not a mind reader.” Pit points out though that if the method and performance is strong enough, you still have a strong effect on your hands. Inviting Challenges By getting spectators to challenge you to do certain things you’ve prepared for, you can make it seem like you’re omnipotent and could have responded to any challenge they threw at you, essentially making your magic stronger. Pit explains that challenges don’t arise randomly. They are usually triggered by something you have done or setup. There are points in magic where an inherent conflict is setup and the spectators want these conflicts to be resolved. If you figure out where these challenges are and how you can respond or use them to your advantage, you can bait them into challenge you and get the bigger payoff; the spectators will believe they set the conditions for you. You can read Pit’s article on the subject in the free essay collection Magic In Mind. Working with Magicians For the past 25 years, Pit has been working in a group of ten magicians called the Flicking Fingers. He explains that the show is more than the sum of its parts and relies on the synergy of the performers. The group has been able to get into theatres that, as solo performers, they would have never had the opportunity to perform at. Pit has also been part of a show called Magic Monday for the past 19 years. The show focuses on four clearly defined characters who have interactions throughout the show. The added advantage of working with a group is that you can have people working backstage to pull off methods while the performer is on stage. Offstage, Pit notes the advantages of working with other magicians. By simply talking through ideas with your peers, you can often spark ideas or understand how to improve your material. Wrap-Up What do you like about current magic? What do you hate? Pit enjoys that the magic scene is thriving; there are several venues opening in Germany for closeup magic shows. Pit, saying it’s more a pet peeve than anything, doesn’t like little things in magic books where it says “Now the spectator may shuffle the cards.” There’s better ways to phrase that instruction in his opinion. Endless Chain Helge Thun Jorg Alexander Gaston Take Home Point Pit reminds the audience to think from the spectator’s perspective. If you can understand what a spectator will think or feel at a particular point in a trick, you will be a much better magician. Plugs Card Fictions In Order to Amaze Pit’s Website Pit’s Instagram

This week the Amazing Johnathan joins Jonah to talk about comedy, magic and earning your chops. Johnathan is a worldrenowed comedy magician known for his shocking humour and twisted magic tricks. After wandering into a magic store in his hometown, Johnathan’s interest in magic began. Not being the most popular kid at his school, magic helped him stand out among his peers. It would be his spoon bending skills that gave him clout among his peers and teachers, with many of them believing he was in fact bending them for real. However, the power he had was lost during his senior year talent show when all six of the tricks he performed went horribly wrong – with one of them resulting in the death of a dove. After the show, he swore he would never perform a serious magic trick again. He was forced back into magic when he was stuck in San Francisco and needed money. It was on the streets that he met the likes of Harry Anderson and A. Whitney Brown. Through his time as a street performer, Johnathan discovered the style that worked best for him: shock humour. Comedy & Magic Johnathan is known for his ability to cohesively blend comedy and magic together to the point that magic almost becomes the butt of the joke. It’s not a matter of that he can’t do magic, it’s a matter of he can’t do magic consistently. When he started writing comedy, he found out he had an easier time writing edgy comedy bits than having his magic work consistently. When it comes to writing jokes, Johnathan has a few pieces of advice for the listeners. But, his main word of advice is to just write. Study joke structures and hang around funny people to understand what makes something funny, but without actually sitting down and writing, you’ll never get better. Johnathan goes on to recommend looking and listening for triggers in your life to find material you can use. While he recommends sitting down and fleshing out a character to have a better grasp on what presentations and effects will work for you, Johnathan never really did this himself. Instead, he relied on the reviews to describe who he was and then lent into them. The more he began to understand who his character was, the less of a crap-shoot adding new material to his set became. Stealing & Borrowing Material When you’re starting out, Johnathan explains, it’s okay to use published material until your comfortable. It was published for you to use. But, that being said, you better come up with something original if you want the respect of your peers and to stand out in the audience’s minds. What you can’t do is take people’s custom lines and use them as your own. Those lines aren’t published for a reason. In terms of people using his material, Johnathan has had people steal everything from single bits in his act to performing his entire show. While people claim it’s an homage or paying tribute, Johnathan sees it simply as people who have no intention of paying to use his work. He and his wife, Anastasia Synn, will go after these people who refuse to pay and hold them accountable for stealing his material. Death, Fandom & Documentaries In 2014 Johnathan revealed he had a year to live. His life was put on hold and, even though he wanted to write and perform, the death sentence became a nuisance. Eventually, after his third year of waiting to die, he said fuck it and went on a farewell tour for his fans; he wanted to give the generations of people who only saw him on TV an opportunity to see him live. Those who showed up were hardcore fans who, after the show, would come up to buy merch, take photos, and let him know just how he touched their lives. It was bittersweet. He was unable to give them the high energy shows he is known for, but being able to go back to work one last time was great. Reluctantly though, Johnathan had to stop his tour and return to retirement. Or as close to retirement as one can get when you have two documentaries, with one of the in theatres, out right now. Years ago, Johnathan had started a documentary only to be sidetracked by his video podcast, Burn Unit. When he received his death sentence, Johnathan decided he wanted to do a documentary correctly this time. When he was approached by Benjamin Berman about filming a documentary, Johnathan agreed. The second documentary team approached to film the Always Amazing documentary, Johnathan also agreed due to their success with previous docs; he had yet to see anything from Ben and wanted to make sure someone was going to release a documentary. At the end of it all, Johnathan just wants his fans to know who he is and recognize that he’s been able to succeed despite everything. Wrapup What do you like about current magic? What do you hate? Johnathan likes the access the internet has given to magicians to find and learn tricks. However, he also hates the access that the internet has given people. Endless Chain Steve Valentine Mike Hammer Mac King Take Home Point Johnathan reminds the listeners to never res

Jonah sits down with Jimmy Ichihana this week to discuss community, embracing your interests, and bringing card magic to the stage. Jimmy is a sleight of hand performer from Florida who has performed at the Magic Castle and has appeared twice on Fool Us. While Jimmy grew up in New York, his love for magic began in California where his uncle showed him a card trick that fooled him badly and cemented his desire to learn magic. Jimmy went on to attend Tannen’s Magic Camp where he had the opportunity to see insane magic that inspired him to continue learning and push further into magic. It was during his time working at a summer camp in Hancock, NY that Jimmy’s love for closeup card magic took hold. He spent two summers being the resident card magic instructor which ingrained his passion. Soon after he discovered the Paul Harris book, had the opportunity to see some amazing lectures, and witnessed Tamariz performing in Kitchener, Ontario. Fool Us When Jimmy first went on Fool Us, he submitted a routine that he had fallen in love with. It was a fun take on a gambling routine that didn’t require knowledge of gambling. However, as his friend pointed out when he was accepted to the show, he didn’t have any patter to go with the effect. Thankfully, Jimmy had the support of the Orlando magic community, his friends, and family to help him develop patter for the routine. It was through them that Jimmy realized he could combine his love of math with the routine. The next time Jimmy appeared on Fool Us, he performed his version of Henry Evans’ trick, Ten Exact Cuts. The effect had actually been a suggestion from his friend who realized it fit into the types of tricks Jimmy likes to perform. However, Jimmy recognized he would need to make the trick his own and spent a longtime developing it so it didn’t feel like a copy of Evans’ trick. As performing close up tricks on a stage that large, he wasn’t worried. By bringing people up to join him on stage, and by virtue of people in the audience knowing it was for a show, he was able to play to the spectators on the stage with him. Bringing Card Magic to the Stage For awhile now, Jimmy has been taking his close up material and moving it to the stage. During this journey, he has had to change the way he approaches not only the presentation but also the methods he uses. Moves and displays that only work on the table now need to be scrapped in favor of methods and presentations that allow Jimmy to play to fifty plus people. This shift has completely changed his mindset when approaching magic, and he has had to expand his magic toolbox. When searching for material to bring to the stage, jimmy recommends figuring out which effect you want to transmit to the audience first. Then, everything your saying and doing should build towards that effect. The best way to figure out what needs to stay and what should be scrapped is filming and watching back the performance; if you are bored at any point, the audience is too. Madrid Alongside his wife, Jimmy briefly moved to Madrid to learn in the Auxiliares program – a program where the Spanish government gives native English Speakers student visas. Being on a student visa and unable to work more than twenty hours a week, Jimmy was able to immerse himself in the magic scene and experience a whole different culture. Dedicated closeup theaters, libraries stocked with magic books, magic shops, and club meetings. Madrid was akin to a constant magic convention. Whether he wanted to see, do or jam magic, there was always somewhere he could go. Additionally, for the general public in Spain, going to see a magic was similar to going to see a movie or concert with friends. Wrap Up What do you like about magic in 2019? What do you dislike? Jimmy likes how welcoming the magic community is. No matter where he is, he knows he can find people he can bond with over some aspect of magic. Endless Chain Kostya Kimlat Steve Bedwell Terry Ward Bev Bergeron Bob and Val Swadling Bryan Miles Take Home Point Jonah enjoyed hearing about the moments that shaped Jimmy’s transition to the stage and his solutions for avoiding aspects of magic people generally hate. Jimmy reminded the audience that you don’t have to let other people define whether or not you’re doing too much card magic. Plugs Jimmy’s Website See Magic Live Jimmy’s Instagram

This week, Jonah sits down with Ray Anderson to discuss putting on a show, developing a character, and keeping your material fresh. Ray has been a featured performer with the long-running variety show, Esther’s Follies, for 20+ years. By mixing parody with grand stage illusions in an intimate setting, Ray brings a unique approach to magic. Ray’s journey into magic began like most; he received a magic kit for Christmas when he was in the third grade. Growing up, his access to magic was primarily the books in his local library as, growing up where he was in Texas, there weren’t a lot of magicians around to learn from. The idea that he could be a professional magician didn’t even cross his mind until he saw Mark Wilson performing on television. From an early age, he knew that he wanted to be a magician. There was no fallback plan or even the idea that he could fail. Throughout his early years, Ray performed closeup magic in restaurants and stand up material for kids shows. Eventually, he moved into the corporate world which gave him the chance to perform the grand stage illusions he wanted to. Esther’s Follies Ray came across Esther’s Follies while pursuing his BFA in Theatre at the University of Texas. His friend, Mario Lorenz, was the variety performer in Esther’s, and invited Ray out to come see the show. Immediately, Ray knew he wanted to be apart of the show and Mario invited him to join. So what exactly is Esther’s Follies? Esther’s is a variety show that has been running in Austin, Texas for the past 40 years. Each week, the show features political satire, comedy sketches, magic and musical numbers put on by talented musicians, actors, dancers and writers. Ray explains that magic is the spine of the show and incorporates the other performers into it to create a more cohesive experience for the audience. Putting on a Show Putting on a show like Esther’s requires a team of dedicated individuals. Every Sunday, the team sits down to pitch ideas, discuss current events, and start the bare bones structure of that week’s show. On Monday, a group of five core writers sit down to decide which ideas are worth pursuing and begin to write the show. Tuesday they rehearse and choreograph the show. Wednesday they polish everything off. Thursday, just before the show, they rehearse. Friday, they take what they learned from the previous show and add another layer of polish. And then they do it all over again. But the effort is worth it as the show is often sold out and constantly sees returning audience members. Esther’s also does very little if any advertising, relying on word of mouth to continue forward. It is a happening place in Austin, and if you know about it, you know about it.   Keeping it Fresh How do you keep a show running for 40 years? According to Ray, it’s about keeping up to date with and noticing the trends. Thankfully, the very nature of Esther’s material makes it easy for them to adapt to what will entertain their audience. However, Ray explains that the magic still needs to be on point and developing a strong magic act can take time, but you have to be willing to let go of old tricks. In terms of content, Ray explains that you need to be willing to let go of old jokes and material that don’t get the same reactions they use to. While you may get a chuckle still with a joke you’ve been telling for years, you could probably write stronger, current material. Wrap-Up What do you like about current magic? What do you dislike? Ray likes that people, especially the younger generation, are doing and trying more stand up type magic. In terms of what he dislikes, Ray feels that magic could still be little more open to change and welcoming in different views. Endless Chain Nick Lewin Take Home Point Jonah loves the amount of effort that goes into keeping the show fresh. Ray explains that even if something isn’t polished and still near the beginning stages, you should still put it out to the audience. It can be a huge benefit for the development of the trick. Plugs Esther’s Follies        

You had questions, Jonah has answers! Recently, Jonah asked listeners via social media and the mailing list to send in any questions they have regarding magic to be answered on this week’s episode. If you have a different take on the questions or if you didn’t get a chance to ask, please reach out to Jonah as he’d love to hear from you! Thank you to everyone who sent in questions!  

Jonah is joined by Mario the Maker Magician this week to discuss bringing value to your show, learning to be a flexible performer, and instilling passion into your magic. Mario is a children’s show performer who uses D.I.Y robots, handmade props and a slapstick performance style to show that magic can be found in anything. At seventeen, Mario left him with his dog Cloudkicker to hitchhike across the country as a street performing magician. His decision was inspired by an encounter with a street performer who told him that this was how he lived, and that idea of a wanderer’s life appealed to him. During his travels, Mario happened across a magic store an was instantly hooked. He spent the days watching people perform and learning from the likes of Rick Merrill and Gene Anderson. Soon, he was performing in a Chinese restaurant alongside a friend he made at the store. At twenty-three, Mario returned home, still trying to figure out who he was and what he was meant to do in life. While his friends had all graduated college, he was in his parent’s house with a pack of cards and sponge-balls. After a dream one night, Mario realized that he shouldn’t be avoiding children’s shows. Doing magic for adults didn’t let him embrace the person he was like children shows would. Bringing in Your Interests If you ever watch Mario perform, you will see that he strays away from the traditional cards and rings and sponge-balls. Instead, you will see a myriad of props and robots that perform the magic alongside him. His creations stem from his love for old magic automatons, and he found a way to mix this with his love of magic. Mario recommends to performers that they should fnd what they’re truly passionate about and integrate that with your magic for a more genuine experience. Whether it’s Dungeons and Dragons or robots or film, you can find a way to bring the passion for that into your performance for a more authentic feel. People want to know who you are and they want to be able to feel the love you have for what you’re doing on stage. You have to be passionate and willing to share that passion with the audience. Learning & Teaching Mario explains that throughout his life people taught him to continue learning and to seek out the information you’ll need, and he wants to pass this on to the future generations. When he performs for kids, he will gladly show them how his rabbit or his case works in the hopes of inspiring them and helping them learn. Mario goes as far as using software designed for kids and points them to the resources if they’re interested: Tinkercad Makerspace 3D Hub Arduino He wants to encourage kids to learn and experiment; if they understand how something works, they can understand how to fix it and make improvements. Mario applies the same ideas to helping newcomers in magic. He believes that there shouldn’t be a divide in the old and new generations of magicians; they should be working together to further magic by applying the lessons of the past with the new take on magic that the future magicians have to offer. Life on the Road When you leave your hometown, nobody cares about you. You have to make a name for yourself and that requires a lot of work. Mario reached out to a couple hundred theaters to see if they would have him on, sending each on a personalized email. Some replied back, and even fewer agreed to bring him in. Another year, Mario and his family decided they would save the money and rent out a theater space, sending targeted ads and reaching out to schools. Every year, Mario explains, bring something new to learn and overcome. Travelling in itself is difficult. He, alongside his family, travels across the country, going from gig to gig. After every performance, his kids want to do something while Mario is often spent from the shows. While it may be exhausting, Mario explains that it’s about finding a balance between work and family life. Creating Value in Your Show One of the biggest things for Mario is being flexible in you performance. While he believes heavily in scripting, he recognizes that you shouldn’t be held to your set list. Allowing the audience and environment to influence your act will allow for a more impactful show; you can better connect with your audience if you’re in the moment. Mario recognizes that it’s not about him, but the audience he is performing for and how they feel after the show is over. If you really want to improve your show, you should be seeking the advice of people you trust who want to help you tell your stories. Don’t be afraid to take criticism and apply it to your show – it is the only way you can truly grow in your performance. Furthermore, Mario recommends actively trying out new things. Not everything will work, but it will eventually lead you to effects that do work. Wrap-Up What do you like about 2019 magic? What do you hate? Mario likes t

This week, Jonah sits down with Stuart MacDonald to discuss storytelling, effective methods for practicing, and what to consider when changing your act. In 2017, Stuart made history at the IBM-SAM Combined Convention where he claimed all 5 top awards with his unique performance. If you haven’t seen the performance, we highly recommend watching it before listening to the episode: https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=1&v=lnObtoan-0g Stuart’s love of magic started in grade three when he received a magic kit. As he grew up in Michigan, he eventually learned that he was only 75 miles from the Magic Capital of the World, Colon, Michigan, where the Abbott’s Convention is held. It was here that Stuart learned magicians came together to share their ideas and love for magic. It wouldst’ be until college that Stuart started going full time. Each time a performer would come to his school, Stuart would interview them to learn how they were touring. Through these interviews, Stuart was inspired to go full time and sent out brochures to the booking group MACA. They signed him on for five years, but it quickly turned into a fifteen year contract. At the end of his initial magic career, he and his wife had grown dead tired of driving around. They had grown so tired of it, they decided to build a haunted house which accidentally became the largest haunted house in Michigan. This project took them out of magic completely, causing them to vanish from the a scene they were fairly hot in during the 90s. Stuart proceeded to work a number of jobs over the years, primarily producing and working in advertising. When he eventually was just selling ads, he realized how depressed he had become and worked backwards to where he was most happiest: performing magic. Knowing that if he wanted to make a splash, he would need to go the FISM route once more. How Competitions Changed Stuart had competed on the FISM circuit before when he entered into the 1985 competition in Madrid. However, his understanding of the competition circuit was immediately shattered when he discovered that there had been in a steep rise in the level of skill and talent being showcased. His act flopped. However, he had expected this to happen; his competitors had spent years on their acts and he had only put in six months. Competing gave him an idea of where he stood in relation to them though. After the competition he met with Gene Anderson who told him that the mirror was simply a concept. He wanted it to be a story. Bringing in a new take on his act with the advice of Gene, Stuart swept the competition. He was flabbergasted that one simple change to his act could have a whole new impact on the audience. Since then, he has constantly been improving and reinvent the routine. Intertwining Story with Magic When Stuart was changing his act, he realized that he needed to complete change his understanding of magic. By bringing in his background in theater and script writing, Stuart was able to take a more story driven approach to his magic. Stuart explains that he views each of the individual props in his routine as suitcases. He is constantly asking questions about the objects which allow him to branch down new avenues with his routine. These questions has brought his act to such a defined point that one change has the potential to change every other aspect of the overall routine. To actually develop storytelling skills, Stuart recommends learning how to write scripts and follow proper story structure. You need to understand how to write conflict and how to justify the choices you’re making in your magic. You also can’t be afraid to “kill your darlings.” Being able to edit out parts and recognize where aspects of the routine need to be changed is a large part in developing a stronger routine. Getting Feedback Stuart is constantly putting his work into the world for feedback. There have been a number of people who have had input into the routine and have driven him towards improving his act. However, the person who set him on the right track was Tobin Ost, a Tony nominated production designer, who sat down with Stuart and questioned every little aspect of the act. These questions were what set him on the path he is currently taking with his routine. One innovative method Stuart uses to receive feedback is Facebook Live; he tells people when he’ll be going live and proceeds to perform for whoever has tuned in, requesting advice from his viewers. However, it ca be difficult to get feedback. Most people don’t want to hurt or embarrass you, so Stuart recommends the changing the question you ask to: What bothered you? People are more inclined to tell you what aspects of the routine they felt stood out and could use work rather than the usual “it was all good.” Practice, Practice, Practice After winning the Combined Competition, Lance Burton told Stuart “Good luck at FISM. All you have to d

Jonah is joined by Jamy Ian Swiss this week to discuss persona, creativity and the importance of learning the classics. Alongside being a dedicated, lifelong student of magic, Jamy is a prolific writer, sleight of hand artist, and magic historian. Growing up as a shy, introverted child, Jamy was often introduced to new hobbies by his parents in an attempt to bring him out of his shell. His first introduction to magic came at the age of seven when his father purchased a colour vision box from Tannen’s and performed it for Jamy at dinner. From that moment, Jamy’s passion for magic began and he quickly became a lifelong student dedicated to mastering the art. At first, Jamy’s father would go to Tannen’s to purchase magic every time Jamy mastered a trick. When he was 11, Jamy started attending the store himself to watch and learn from the magicians who attended the store. Louis Tannen, Presto, Al Koran, all became important mentors in Jamy’s initial years of learning magic, and they continue to influence him. Magic, however, was just a passion. A hobby. He didn’t want to be a kid’s performer like his friends because he dislikes performing for kids. Additionally, while he had grown up recognizing the importance of the arts, he had been instilled with the bias that no sane person would consider pursuing an artistic career. Magic simply remained a hobby for him while he pursued a more traditional career. Jamy would proceed to lock himself in a room for a year to practice before emerging a year later, booking two corporate gigs, and never looking back. Mentors Jamy recognizes that he had the privilege of being surrounded by great mentors throughout his career in magic. Now, as his mentors slowly leave him, Jamy recognizes more than ever the impact his mentors had on his life. In turn, he has tried to pay it forward to help the newer generation. When looking for a mentor, it’s not enough to just find someone with more experience than you. Not only should they be more intelligent and skilled than you, they need to jive with your magic interests without being afraid to give you honest critiques; you shouldn’t be taking advice from somebody who is going to impose their thoughts on you. However, you shouldn’t try to learn in a vacuum which is why it’s important to surround yourself with people who scare the living hell out of you. Confronting Discomfort Magic, at its core, is a disconcerting experience. A cognitive dissonance for the spectator is created as their understanding of the world is challenged which can result in an uncomfortable situation for the audience and the magician. However, rather than avoid this feeling, Jamy believes magicians should embrace it. Jamy isn’t interested in upholding the status quo; he’s interested in experiences and art that provoke thought and feeling. He doesn’t seek to please or be pleased with his art because, at the end of the day, if you’re trying to please everyone, no one will ever be passionate about what you’re doing. If you are setting out to create “childlike wonder” in adults, you’re taking the wrong approach to magic. Children believe anything is possible which is why it isn’t fun doing magic for younger people. If your audience can’t tell the difference between fantasy and reality, what impact does magic have? Referencing Max Maven, Jamy explains that this is why magic has been rendered trivial as the performer is making fun of magic rather than embracing the provocative nature of the art. Learning the Classics Just because it’s new, doesn’t mean it’s good, Jamy explains. The classics are classics for a reason. If you want to gain a fundamental understanding of magic, he recommends learning the classics like Vernon’s cups and balls. It is only after you have a thorough understanding of the classic routines that you should consider branching out to your own unique takes on magic. When you do decide to branch out, Jamy believes that you should research every iteration of an effect you can find to understand the work that has gone into the effects before you. With Dennis Behr’s Conjuring Archive, researching effects is easier than ever. Jamy notes that there is an issue with the onslaught of products that are released everyday. Primarily, products that have been developed by magic newcomers who believe that they’ve either created a new miracle or are releasing an older effect under the impression that they are the first to discover it. Often, these effects aren’t very good or somebody has developed it before, demonstrating that the person didn’t conduct their research before releasing the product. Jamy explains that good magic is hard to find, let alone create, and that the overwhelming amount of material on the market is difficult for newcomers to comprehend. The Importance of a Message Don Allen. Eugene Burger. Penn & Teller. All of their effects were informed by their personalities and the messages they want

Jonah serves up another bite-sized episode this week, giving you the motivation you might just need to hear.  

Does the blank page scare you? Do you constantly find yourself deleting and retyping the same thing, only to repeat the process? Do you wish the computer could just read your mind and write the script you want for you? In this bite-sized episode, Jonah addresses writer’s block and offers an easy strategy to start writing your magic script.

Jonah sits down with Adam Rubin this week to discuss creativity, writing, and applying magic to other aspects of your life. Alongside being a magician, Adam is the Director of Puzzles for Art of Play, a #1 New York Times best selling picture book author, and an ex-creative director in advertising. Adam’s journey into magic started when his friend repeatedly fooled him with a trick involving buttons jumping from hand to hand. As the trick burned a hole in his head, Adam found himself needing to know the secret, leading him to read the entirety of Mark Wilson’s Encyclopedia of Magic. Soon, magic became a central part of his life. While Adam embraced his magical identity in highschool, moving away from his small town in New York to attend university in St. Louis gave him the opportunity to step away from the magician label. Although he didn’t actively let people know he was into magic, Adam continued to perform magic in secret. After graduating a fine arts program with a discipline in advertising, Adam began a a successful career path in advertising. An Accidental Picture Book Author Out of university, Adam began a job working for Leo Burnett – a famous advertising firm in Chicago. When he initially began, it was a fun and cool experience that let him travel and create compelling marketing campaigns, but he soon found it to be repetitive and his creativity was focused on capturing what the client wanted. Adam’s career as a picture book author began when a friend put him in contact with Adam’s illustrator, Daniel Salmieri. Intrigued by how words and images could operate together, Adam wrote Those Darn Squirrels. Soon, Adam was able to leave his job and pursue writing picture books full time. He, so far, has published ten books including Dragons Love Tacos, Robosauce, Secret Pizza Party and, his latest book, High Five. Art of Play When Adam quit his day job, he found himself with a lot of time on his hands and a desire to start a company that would allow him to create magical objects and puzzles. Adam approached Dan and Dave to propose his idea as it just seemed right to collaborate with them; they had created a company that sold astonishing objects with a timeless quality. Currently, as Adam puts it, everything in the shop is designed to delight, do something amazing, or create an unexpected moment. Whether it be an unexpected solution or a physics principle, Art of Play wants to leave their customers with a truly astonishing experience and a timeless object. Magical Thinking & Creativity Adam sets out to create magic tricks that don’t require a magician. By taking the performer away from the magic, you are leaving a person with a wonderful emotion that they can just take in. Whether it’s bowls that change size or cigars that disappear in an ash tray, Adam designs his magical objects with the intention of creating astonishment in his audience. When it comes to actually being creative, you just have to start, Adam says. If you are stumped on where to begin, he recommends writing down the worst possible version of your concept; you’ll begin to see the route it’s going to take and it takes away the judgement. The worst thing you can do is give into fear because fear is the biggest enemy of creativity. Wrap-Up What do you love about 2019 magic? What do you hate about it? Adam likes that the magic scene in New York City is rich and energetic thanks to the many public shows, performers, and the collaboration. He does not like screen magic. It bums him out to see people trying to pass off video tricks as sleight-of hand. Adam also isn’t a fan of the oversaturation of people trying to sell tricks. To him, it seems inward facing; he would like to see magicians actively sharing their creations with the public. Endless Chain Noah Levine Mark Setteducati Kostya Kimlat Take Home Point Fuck Fear. Plugs Adam’s Author Website Adam’s Other Website Adam’s Instagram Adam’s Twitter Art of Play

This episode Jonah sits down with Julie Eng to discuss Magicana, the community within magic, and elevating the perception of magic. Julie is an award-winning performer and the executive director of Magicana. Growing up with a magician as a father meant that magic was always a part of her life. She, alongside her sister, would perform in and help with the behind the scenes of her father’s shows. Eventually, Julie began to perform her own shows for children’s birthdays and started to work restaurants. Having grown up with a non-conventional life, Julie wanted to rebel against her unusual upbringing by choosing a more normal career path, leading her to take business in university. As she pursued her degree, she began to see the overlap in the skills she has developed thanks to magic and the demands of the business field. Magic became fun again for her. Instead of being something she was doing, it assisted the things she wanted to do. Magicana For those unfamiliar with the organization, Magicana is an “arts organization dedicated to the exploration and advancement of magic as a performing art.” For the last eighteen years, Magicana has produced shows, archived footage, and recognized the innovators of magic all in the pursuit of showing the public why magic is so fantastic. Recently, they were awarded by the Academy of Magical Arts with the Literary and Media Fellowship Award. The Screening Room is one of Magicana’s ongoing projects with the goal of curating and capturing fantastic acts at the height of their careers. The project started with Gary Slaight and David Ben deciding they wanted to make a magic archive that was available to the public, but the question became “How?” It was through people’s magic collections that Magicana was able to find VHS tapes, 8mm film, and other archaic forms of media for shows like the Magic Palace and Luna De Verano. With the help of James Allan, Magicana has digitized, tagged and cross referenced these recordings for your viewing pleasure. The Allan Slaight Award is an annual award that recognizes individuals who are championing magic as an art form. Thanks to the generosity of the Allan Slaight family, the award carries a real weight behind it by rewarding the recipients with a cash prize. Individuals can be recognized in fuve categories: Canadian Rising Star International Rising Star Sharing Secrets Sharing Wonder Lifetime Achievement My Magic Hands is Magicana’s learning program which seeks to help children build self-confidence, learn communication skills, and develop their critical thinking abilities. For 6-8 weeks, students work with a magic coach to learn a trick they must present at the end of the course. For Julie, she enjoys watching the journey the kids take, describing it almost as a recreational therapy. Perception of Magic Julie often floats back and forth on whether or not we can classify magic as an art form. There’s a massive range to what the subsets in magic are with each having its own way to define magic. For her, it comes down to how we participate in it and what we want to see in magic. Magic to Julie should move her and make her feel something. As for the public’s perception, that’s where Magicana steps in to show that magic is more than a clown performing at a kid’s birthday. Magicana shows that there is a wide range of what magic can accomplish. Additionally, between Fool Us and America’s Got Talent, we are beginning to see a shift in how the public consumes magic. Community in Magic The community in magic is one of the things Julie loves about the art. The community around her helped her flourish and has supported her throughout various moments in her life. A majority of the people who attend the 31 Faces North Conference with her are people she sees as her brothers. One of the best times in her life was creating The Magic of Johnny Thompson. After being approached by him at 31 Faces, Julie helped Johnny layout the book and take photos. She would fly down to Vegas to spend their short time together taking hundreds of photos. While it was hard work, it was always a good time with him; Johnny always lived in the moment and never complained about the work. Growing Up Strong Julie’s father always instilled her with the idea that she is the magician. When she walked into a gig she was performing at with her father, he would always state that she would be the performer, not him. Now, it’s not so novel to be a female magician to lay people, and Julie loves that. Growing up surrounded by magicians, Julie had men who she saw as uncles at the magic club and men who she sees as her brothers now. They all actively supported her presence in magic and this helped her flourish. However, Julie recognizes that there is still a glass ceiling even after people like Celeste Evans championing the way for female performers. But, thankfully, Julie reminds that audience that th

This week Jonah is the one being interviewed as he joins Sammy Younan on his podcast, My Summer Lair, to discuss the perception of magic and developing in your craft. My Summer Lair is a podcast that explores the fringes of pop culture in Toronto by bringing on local artists to discuss their craft. Make sure you listen until the end of the episode to hear Jonah perform a trick that you can follow along with at home. If you enjoyed the episode, you should check out more episodes from My Summer Lair: My Summer Lair Site Girth Radio Instagram

Kiko Pastur joins Jonah this week to discuss aesthetic magic, challenging your creativity, and finding symbolism in an effect. Kiko is a magician from A Coruña, Spain, whose style draws on the beauty and wonder of our world. Growing up, Kiko discovered magic alongside his brother and his brother’s friend. Having grown up in the Northern part of Spain, Kiko’s magic became more inspired by Celtic roots compared to the traditional Spanish culture, resulting in his more poetic, serious approach to magic. Finding Beauty Art and entertainment are two different realms for Kiko. To him, entertainment means that the creativity is influenced by the audience, while art sees the creativity being influenced by the artist. Through the use of symbolism, metaphors and music, Kiko is able to explore the concepts of beauty and wonder in his magic. To add beauty to your magic, you need to refine your aesthetic and find what is beautiful in your life. By refining what you want to show the audience, you can create a world for them to momentarily join you in, to experience the world through your eyes. If you are looking to add symbolism to your magic, you need to know what you want to tell your audience. What do you want them to take from the performance? In one or two sentences, you should be able to describe the goal of the trick. Being Vulnerable Standing in front of a crowd and expressing what you find beautiful in the world is an extremely vulnerable moment. This is why Kiko believes so heavily in creating the proper atmosphere. You need a connection with the spectator for them to be open to the magic and what you’re sharing with them; you are letting them step into your world, so you want them to experience it how you do. Creating Challenges If something is too easy, it’s not worth it to Kiko. To him, art is an aesthetic challenge where nothing is ever finished for him – every act and trick will always be incomplete requiring further work. By imposing challenges and limitations on his creative process, Kiko is able to rethink his approach to problems, forcing him to take a new approach to executing the impossible. However, while most magicians focus on challenging the method, Kiko believes performers also need to challenge the performance, staging and the feelings of your audience. The Spanish School of Magic The Spanish School of Magic is broad and difficult to narrow down, says Kiko. It’s not quite clear to him what constitues the Spanish school, but he does believe that the Spanish thinkers are often focused on diving into theory and perfecting every aspect of the magic. Spanish magicians see it as playing: the logical and rational part of a spectator’s mind is given the chance to react as they join the magician in playing. Approaching magic with this playful attitude, you are not fighting against the spectator’s rationale mind. Where Juan Tamariz invites the audience into his happy world, Kiko invites his audience to indulge in the beauty of the world. Wrap-Up What do you like about 2019 magic? What do you hate about 2019 magic? Kiko likes and dislikes the globalization the internet has brought to magic. While magic has allowed magicians to connect with each other and see a variety of magic, it has also brought with it a wave of people believing they have to get good at magic fast. It takes time to develop and understand a craft. Take Home Point Jonah and Kiko both believe that you should play with the idea of beauty in your magic. Endless Chain Juan Tamariz Gabi Pareras Juan Esteban Varela Plugs Kiko’s Website Kiko’s Instagram Kiko’s Facebook    

This week Jonah sits down with Nate Staniforth to discuss disillusionment, determining your intent, and creating visceral effects. Alongside touring the college circuit, Nate is the author of Here is Real Magic and Clouds and Kingdoms. At nine years old, Nate happened to stumble upon magic after being inspired by Lord of the Rings; he, like Gandalf, wanted to cast spells and seem unstoppable, so he went to his library in search of a book of spells. Instead, he found a book on sleight of hand and proceeded to spend hours perfecting a single coin vanish. After performing his new trick for his classmates and seeing them experience something they couldn’t process, Nate realized how easy it was to pull the rug out from under people, and he didn’t know what to do with this information. What Nate did know was that the reactions captivated him and he wanted to chase those reactions. Magic was never a recreation or diversion for Nate, it has just been a constant in his life and was the only option he could see. Finding Intent Before discovering who the best version of Nate is on stage, he went through several phases. For some people, the best version of themselves on stage may be mixing their magic with comedy and theatrics. In the end, however, to create visceral magic it comes down to the intent behind the performance. If you go on stage with the belief that the audience is there to praise you, you cannot create a real genuine connection with them. You, as the magician, are in service to the audience. For Nate, when he steps on stage, his intent is to make the hairs on the back of their neck stand up. He wants to be able to flip a switch in the spectators mind and have them realize the world through magic. Every trick Nate does in his show is built around this intent. Nate points to David Berglas and Tommy Wonder’s Books of Wonder as examples of magicians who have a clear intent behind their art. Disillusionment Having grown up in a small town in Iowa, Nate was unfamiliar with the realities of show business. After his first year on the college circuit, he began to burn out. He eventually hit a point in his career that, as a magician, there was nothing remotely magical in his life. When his disillusionment was starting to greatly impact his ability to perform, Nate took a trip to India to rediscover how he use to feel about magic. During his time in India, Nate began to write and explore different art forms as a way of creative release. The writing Nate did in India would eventually lead to his book Here is Real Magic which Jonah recommends to anyone feeling disillusioned with their art. Clouds and Kingdoms For Nate, it is one thing to talk about magic but it’s another thing to put this into practice in your work. In his book Clouds and Kingdoms, Nate breaks down a handful of the effects he uses in his show and shows how he applies his magic ideals in them. In magic, you have to reveal far more than you’re concealing to truly push magic forward; the other arts have discovered ways to play to their strengths and allow artists to talk about things that really matter in human life. With magic often stopping at the “did I fool them?” aspect of the art, Nate strives to push further and capture the inherent wonder magic has. Wrap-Up What do you like about 2019 magic? What don’t you like? Ryan is excited that magic has entered a new golden age where we are seeing an influx of people from different backgrounds and circumstances. Endless Chain Wayne Houchin Rory Adams Take Home Point Ryan wants the audience to prioritize appreciating the work of other artists who are not magicians. If you want to drive your creativity, you have to live with other people’s works and let them inspire you. Plugs Here’s Real Magic Clouds and Kingdoms – Use the code Discourse at checkout for 15% off. Nate’s Instagram Nate’s Website Nate’s YouTube    

This episode Jonah sits down with Ran’D Shine to discuss performing on the college circuit, creating inclusive environments and the rich history of African Americans in magic. Alongside being a highly sought after, award winning magician on the college circuit, Ran’D is also a magic historian and educator. Ran’D’s journey in magic began as a graduate student attending Penn State for health education. One day he happened to walk into the student union room to see students sitting around a table doing card tricks. Soon after introducing himself, Ran’D and this group of students formed an official magic club at the university. After completing his degree, he went to study in South Africa for a year. While there, he managed to secure a teaching position at the College of Magic in Cape Town. During his time there, he had the chance to learn from the students and the faculty while honing his own skills. Ran’D eventually returned back to America where he worked at Penn State as a researched while pursuing his PHD in public health. After a year, he decided that what he wanted to do was perform magic full time. Representation & Inclusion A turning point for Ran’D, a moment where he realized that he could do magic professionally, happened in university. His friend handed him a Genii magazine where Hiawatha was featured on the cover and it clicked with Ran’D that there were professional magicians who looked like him. Seeing someone who represented him in the community was an important part in him realizing he could pursue magic full time. While they may be underrepresented in the community, there is a rich history of African American magicians who have helped pioneer magic; their stories have started to be unearthed thanks to people who have begun to conduct research and interviews into their legacies. One of the best things you can do to encourage underrepresented people in the community to participate is to just make an environment that welcomes them. People should feel like they connect to others and pursue their passions; nobody should feel alone while they’re pursuing their passions. The College Circuit The college circuit is an oversaturated, highly competitive industry that tends to eat most people who enter the industry; those who make it out the other side of the initial starting phase will most likely succeed. Ran’D explains that you always have to be on your A-game, constantly working on your act, and learning how to deal with drunk college kids who will call you on your BS. However, for Ran’D, it’s all a joy for him. The constant restructuring of his show and the logistics involved with the business keep the joy of magic alive for him. For those who want to get into the college circuit, Ran’D offers three pieces of advice: You have to have a solid hour act that you’ve had ring time with Be ready to adapt to different performance environments It’s a marathon, not a sprint Quiet Masters Produced and Directed by Kenrick ICE McDonald, Quiet Masters is a documentary that highlights the important history of black magicians from around the world. McDonald, the former president of IABMA and S.A.M., set out to capture the experience of black magicians from around the world, going as far back as the 1800s. Ran’D encourages everyone to watch the documentary to learn about the rich history the documentary uncovers. Heart and Soul of Magic The Heart and Soul of Magic is a magic show that features a rotating cast of African American magicians with diverse performance styles. Ran’D’s idea for the show began before he was a professionally performer. As he attended magic conventions, he would often see he was one of the few African American magicians present. Knowing there were more, he began to reach out to magicians he knew. Eventually, he was able to create a lineup that featured fantastic African American performers. Since 2002, the show has been on and off, but Ran’D’s eventual goal is to tour with the show. Wrap-Up What is one thing about modern magic you like? What don’t you like? Ran’D loves the resurgence of books in magic; this year alone, he points out, there have been some fantastic releases. He notes that a nice balance between books and downloads has been established. Ran’D wants to see people having less frivolous debates over magic. So many people are trying to be the next guru, but they’re trying to achieve that by belittling and talking down to people. Part of this is due to social media where context behind the words is often lost. Endless Chain Chris Jones Jibrizy Take Home Point Ran’D wants everyone to leave being aware that diversity in magic exists, and that you should be communicating with anyone disagrees with you rather than just yelling at them over the internet. Plugs Ran’D’s Website Ran’D’s Instagram Heart and Soul of Magic Quiet Master’s of Magic  

This week, Jonah sits down with Ryan Joyce to discuss the realities of touring, marketing a show, and working towards a solid show. Ryan is a Canadian magician who spent thirteen years touring the country with a stage illusion show. Ryan has also been seen on Penn & Teller’s Fool Us, Canada’s Got Talent, and his YouTube channel with over 8 million views. Ryan’s first magic memory occurs in Junior Kindergarten when he seemingly made an eraser “vanish” and then “reappear” on the other end of the class. At such a young age, he learnt that he could do something to create a response. In his final year of highschool, Ryan convinced the student council and the school to spend $7,000 to fund his grand illusion show. Ryan described his hour and a half show as a “smashing mediocre success,” but it did what it needed to do: the right person in the audience saw the show, and Ryan received a 13 week tour offer, which turned into 13 years. Show or an Act? When Ryan was starting out, you had to decide if you were going to be a show or an act. Ryan has always been a show. For thirteen years, he traveled across Canada with a team of people to put on grand stage shows. And, over all these years, performing has never gotten tiring for him. He finds that when he steps on stage, he can get into a state that lets him flow through the show. Ryan enjoys the experience of 1,300 people experiencing the same feeling. Booking out Your Own Show Back in the 1990s/2000s, Ryan and his mentor Paul had a successful telemarketing company that would sell the shows. Eventually, this method became outdated, but, with the advent of targeted ads, reaching out to people who want to see a magic show has never been easier. Currently, Ryan is selling an event from ground zero. His starting point is nailing appealing branding right off the back so there’s a consistency across his marketing. One of his first pieces of content will be a short video that has the potential to go viral. From there, it’s about monitoring who’s looking at your content and marketing towards them. Pack Small, Play Big At one point in his touring career, Ryan was touring with a five ton truck to transport his stage act. Each stop they would have to setup, sometimes in less than ideal spots, and tear down the massive act, only to have to rebuild it later on. To add a new section to the show, they would have to rent out a large location to practice. While Ryan still enjoys the large stage productions, he has moved towards shows that he could easily replace the props for when the airport loses his luggage. Wrap-Up What do you like about 2019 magic? What don’t you like? Ryan likes that people are creating and finding their own identities without the fear that someone is going to steal it. Ryan dislikes when magicians put somebody down on stage who willingly came up to help. It’s uncomfortable for everyone, and your audience will probably leave believing you’re a horrible person. Endless Chain Joan Caesar Take Home Point Ryan wants the audience to remember: Be Interesting. Plugs Ryan’s Website Ryan’s YouTube Ryan’s Instagram

It’s another bite sized episode this week! This time, Jonah suggests an interesting way to discover your character. After the warm reception of the last Magician Appetizer, Jonah decided to release another one to further test the format. Next week the podcast will return to its regular format with the occasional serving of a Magician Appetizer.    

This week, Jonah is trying out a different kind of solo episode. Short but packed with information, the Magician Appetizer episodes are meant to whet your appetite for the larger topics discussed on the podcast. To start this new format off, Jonah explores the idea of putting on the shoes of your audience member. Over the past few months, Jonah has been listening to older episodes. In line with the theme of stepping into your audience’s shoes, Jonah has decided to delete most of the solo episodes believing that listeners won’t receive value from them. If you would like to keep or listen to the older solo episodes, you can download them before they’re removed from the site.  

On episode 161, Jonah sits down with Gordon Precious to discuss exploring life and searching for real magic. Besides being an incredible magician, Gordon has traveled to over 100 countries, owns an extensive magical apparatus collection, and holds the world record for being the oldest heli-skier at the age of 94. Gordon fondly remembers how his interest in magic was sparked. His uncle, who lived in Toronto, would often come visit young Gordon in Hamilton. Each time he visited, he would stop at the Arcade Magic Shop to purchase jokes and pocket close-up tricks. In 1937, around the age of thirteen, Gordon began to work semi-professionally, starting out at the Hamilton Lions Club and the Rotary Club. Eventually, Gordon decided he wanted to travel the world and fund his travels through magic. Searching for Real Magic During his 94 years of life, Gordon searched for real magic. His quest began at the Hamilton public library where he found books on how to perform magic. After exploring the juvenile section, he was allowed to explore the section of magic books that were locked away from the general public. Knowing that he wasn’t going to find real magic in the West, Gordon set his sights on India and Africa in the hopes that he may witness a true miracle. So, for three and a half years, Gordon traveled from village to village performing tricks for people. Everywhere he went he seemed to hear “you should have been here last week when this person performed a real miracle.” It would always seem like he just missed the thing he was searching for. While Gordon never saw these mystics or miracles in action, he did have the opportunity to witness various magicians around the world; he fondly recalls a magician in Delhi who gave him a vanishing bird cage and helped him land a ten minute spot in a nightclub. Gordon also remembers seeing a magician in Egypt named Gali Gali who was hoisted onto the deck of a ship Gordon was travelling on and performing what seemed like miracles. Exploring Life with Magic Gordon recommends magic to anyone who is interested in magic. It is intriguing to see wonderful presentations; it’s intriguing to learn how to perform tricks; and it is sometimes mind blowing to see what others come up with. At the end of the day, it is about enjoying magic and sharing your passion with those around you. During his travels, there’s one thing that Gordon holds true: love your fellow man, woman and nature. While it may be difficult some days, it is important to enjoy everything and be happy that you’re alive. Having prejudice and hatred towards other people, even if it’s hard some days not to, will only hold you back from experiencing life. Magic Collection Over the past 40 to 50 years, Gordon has acquired an extensive collection of magical apparatuses. He has a love for the beauty and ingenuity behind the tricks. He especially has an appreciation and intrigue for older electronic effects; Gordon has everything the Dutch magician Tony Anverdi created with his favourite being the Anverdi Key Box. Helicopter Skiing Gordon has always been an ardent skier and goes heli-skiing every five years. This year he set the record for being the oldest person to go helicopter skiing at the age of 94 — surpassing the previous record holder who was 91. The people in charge of the helicopter skiing operation filmed Gordon’s trek down the mountain which you can watch here: https://youtu.be/hreJznwyTZo Wrap-Up Endless Chain Cesaral Take Home Point Jonah really enjoyed the idea of enjoying life and respecting your fellow humans. Ben liked that, during his travels, Gordon never lost sight that magic was the means for him to experience the life he wanted. Gordon reiterates the idea that you need to love your fellow human. What do you like about modern magic? What do you hate? Gordon enjoys everything about magic whether it’s modern or old. If it’s clever and well presented then it’s great. If not, then it’s just bad magic. Final Words Practice hard, and you can never practice too much.

On episode 160, Jonah sits down with Michel Clavello to discuss finding the magic that’s right for you, how to share joy through your magic and producing magic products. Co-owner of Vernet Magic, Michel is a magician and mentalist from Argentina who has won several awards at major conferences for his innovative illusions. Michel was a ten year old boy in Argentina when he started doing magic. With limited access to magic, Michel only had the books from the library and a short, black & white television program where only a set of hands would demonstrate and teach a trick. At eleven, he discovered a magic shop in Buenos Aires which he attended with his friend. To this day Michel can still recall the beating of his heart as he approached the shop. Michel would soon discover a second magic shop where he would eventually meet the great magic masters who would become his mentors. While Michel currently performs mentalism, he explored everything as a child die to his deep love for everything in magic. From children’s birthdays, to close-up, to stage, to manipulation, it would only be at the behest of one his mentors that he chooses one area to focus on.   Mentors Throughout his career, Michel has had several mentors who have shaped his knowledge and passion for magic. From the magic club, Michel learnt under a man named Oscar Keller who became like a father to him in magic. They would often meet up multiple times a week to discuss and develop their magic, allowing Michel to go deeper into the craft. The magic club is also where he was introduced to Greco—his current co-owner of Vernet Magic. Michel also had two major masters who’s words still remain with him in all of hide performances; Juan Tamariz and Fantasio. Michel was fifteen when he met Juan; he was competing in a conference and Juan happened to be one of his judges. Throughout his career, Michel would attend Juan’s lectures and have the chance to watch him perform. Eventually, Juan would be the one to prompt Michel to choose a specific area to focus on and explore it deeply. Where Juan was the deep, insightful thinker, Fantasio was the artist. Michel would see Fantasio performing on TV and wanted to be like him. The two eventually became good friends, and, to this day, Michel can still feel his words whenever he performs. Competing For Michel, competing has never been about winning first place. While it was nice to win, competitions became a way for him to focus on accomplishing one thing. He needed to have an act polished by the time the conference arrived which prevented him from veering off to explore new areas of magic. Vernet Magic Michel, alongside his friend Greco, owns and operates Vernet Magic which is known for producing thumb tips and other strong effects. The two purchased the company in 1994 from Vernet and continued to create the products already in production; it would be over the course of a few years that they would improve and update the molds for the products. At his first conference when he was fifteen, Michel met Vernet, and it would be to him that Michel showed his first thumb tip to. Vernet, who had entered magic later in life, brought a childlike wonder in his approach to magic. At the competition the two competed in, he performed a stage illusion like a parlour trick, winning him first place over Michel. In terms of the products released today by Vernet Magic, Michel says they only take on and produce effects that they like. Whether they do the effect in their shows or it brings a genuine joy to them, Michel explains that it has to be a real, human effect because they have to spend time to bring the concept into reality; he doesn’t want to view it as an arduous task. Magic Library In a corner of his home, Michel has an extensive magic library. He finds a nostalgia in books that reminds him of being a child and opening the pages to learn a new secret. Between receiving the book in the mail and feeling the pages as he riffles through them, there is a magic, to him, in the physical book. He knows where every book is on his shelf and will spend time just going through his collection. With that being said, Michel still sees a value in eBooks. When he’s travelling, he knows that all he needs is his phone to bring the collection with him and continue his studies; he doesn’t need to bring unwieldy books with him in his bag or risk damaging them. However, Michel belio that you can’t get the same feeling from your phone. That tactile feeling brings a connection to the content that you seem to lose otherwise with a phone. Wrap-Up Endless Chain Juan Esteban What do you like about modern magic? What do you hate? Michel likes that we have entered into a new golden age of magic. Where before you had a handful of good magicians, you can now go to New York and see a handful of fantastic shows playing in different venues. Michel doesn’t necessarily like the route close up magic has taken for c

Gambling expert, Norman Beck, sits down with Jonah for episode 159 to discuss taking a logical approach, public speaking and when to take a bet. Alongside being a magician and public speaker, Norman has been the VP of Claims and Security for SCA for the past 24 years, spending his time working out how individuals may cheat the system. Norman’s interest in magic started around the age of eight. While he was attending an event with the Boy Scouts, he went on stage with a a magician for the first time in his life. Soon after, his mother gave him the Boy Scouts’ magic book and his interest continued to grow since then. Like most magicians, Norman started out doing children’s birthday parties while he was in highschool. In college, he began to do close up magic at a restaurant. It was at the restaurants that Norman grew his skillset and learned what to do and not to do. When he left college, Norman spent five years working as a police officer, using magic to connect with the community during their outreach times. After leaving his job, he moved to Arkansas and was briefly married. During his divorce, money became tight and he found himself leaning cold reading to get by. It would be years later that Norman would begin his current job of ensuring gambling games. Claims and Security If you’re hosting an event where individuals have the chance to win a sum of money, you’re probably working with Norman. To summarize what he does, Norman is the one flies who flies around the world, giving away money for contests like field goal kicks, publisher clearing house, or televised games shows. His job is to ensure that the games are being run fairly and, when there is a claim, that the claim is legitimate. Norman found himself taking on the job about twenty four years ago after his friend and Bridge player, Bob Hammon, contacted him asking if he wanted to join his venture. Previously, Norman had turned down the job offer as he thought the concept of insuring games of chance was absurd. However, finding himself trapped in his job as an insurance adjuster, Norman accepted the offer and moved to Texas where’s he lived ever since. When to Play When you approach a gamble, wage, or bet, there are a few things you need to keep in mind. The first being that, if it didn’t cost you anything to play, there is no downside to playing. The second major thing to keep in mind is, never bet in a casino. The odds are heavily in the house’s favour and the best you can hope for is a short haul. When determining if you should play a game or make a choice, Norman says it comes down to understanding what you’re getting yourself into. How are you spending your money? What knowledge do you have of the situation? What are the odds like for you, and how can you make them lean further in your favour? When you take a logical approach to a situation, you have a better chance of understanding what the outcome may be. Public Speaking A few years ago, Norman was asked to give a presentation about what he does for a living. Not wanting to do it, he quoted them an outrageous price, only for them to accept it. Begrudgingly, he did the speech only to learn that he actually enjoys public speaking more then magic. To him, where magic is away to help people momentarily escape the world, public speaking gives him the chance to help change the world. When he gives speeches, Norman recounts his time of coping with a brain tumour. Six or seven years ago, he was diagnosed with a brain tumour the size of a baseball after going to the doctor to have his hearing checked. Taking the fact that he could die out of the equation, Norman approached his surgery in a very systematic way. He visited a malpractice doctor to understand if the surgeons were as skilled as it was claimed; he spoke with previous patients who had undergone similar surgeries; he hired a doctor to sit with his family during the operation so that if any questions were asked, the doctor could help them make the right call. He tells this story when he gives his speech so that his audience can understand that you can do certain things to help when you’re approaching a situation. Norman goes on to say that if you actually want to be like him, you need to accept that you’re not that smart. Three People Who Shaped His Magic Over his lifetime, Norman says there have been three conversations that have shaped his view on magic. Don Alan When Norman was fourteen, he attended his first magic convention where the headliner was Don. Not knowing who Don was, Norman reserved three seats near the front of the room at the request of veteran magicians. After watching Don perform an hour of close-up, Norman knew that that’s what he wanted to do. So much so, that Norman told Don that he was going to do everything he did. Don, seeing a sixteen year old standing before him, told Norman to go home, get naked, and stare at himself in his mirror until he accepted that he was not Don Alan, and that if he ever tried to be, the best h

On episode 158, Matt Johnson joins Jonah to discuss escapology, adding human elements to your magic, and recreating your brand. You may know Matt for his water tank escape on Penn & Teller: Fool Us or for his semi-place finish on Britain’s Got Talent. Matt remembers a wind-up box at his grandmother’s house sparking his initial love for magic. While not a magic trick, it still gave him this magical feeling and caused him to want to know how a little box could play music. At the age of twelve, he started learning tricks and, after performing for Matt’s siblings’ birthday, a magician took Matt under his wing. Soon, he was attending his local shop every weekend right through his teen years. The magic shop was his grounding and it allowed him to immerse himself in everything from sleight-of-hand, to mentalism, to unicycling. At the age of eighteen, he was encouraged to follow what he loved and he began to perform for every venue – from bowling alleys to corporate shows. In terms of his interest in escapes, he first attempted them when he was sixteen. His first and last time in a straitjacket involved him dangling from a crane and simply escaping the jacket. At the age of eighteen, his interest in his escapes stopped and it wouldn’t be until three years ago that he took them back up. Restarting Escapes For his entire twenty year long career, Matt has been a full performing magician and a jack of all trades in the magic he performed. However, three years ago he hit a brick wall. His performances were becoming robotic and his passion for magic was dwindling. He knew he needed to change or he was going to stop altogether. Around this time, he had been visiting his local swimming pool to learn how to hold his breath. Matt was not training for an escape or for a magic related reason; he was learning how to hold his breath to understand the experience his brother goes through. Born with a rare genetic disease called Tuberous Sclerosis, Matt’s brother experiences seizures which cause him to be unable to breathe or speak, trapping him alone in his mind as he waits for the seizure to stop. As his older brother, Matt wanted to know what it felt like to be alone in your head, unable to breathe, so he took to the swimming pool to learn. Ultimately, Matt knew that to truly understand, he needed to be locked in a box so that even if he wanted to come out, he would still need to escape. So he built the water tank and began to rehearse. The four minutes he could do in the pool, quickly became twenty seconds in the tank. With the knowledge that you’re locked inside comes a whole new psychological game. That moment for Matt was when he truly began the struggle his brother was going through. The Human Element At the end of the day, Matt doesn’t approach the water tank escape from a performance perspective. He doesn’t train for it by learning free diving or breath holding techniques; the only training Matt had was the training he did through his sheer persistence at his local pool. That’s why when you watch Matt perform and he says that “after a minute thirty underwater, he’s in trouble,” he sincerely means that he’ll be in trouble. This, in Matt’s opinion, is what allows him to truly connect with his audience. And it’s that connection he’s looking for in his escapes, as people should be doing in all of their performances. When the audience is able to see that what he’s enduring is real and that there is a struggle going on, they actually care about him. They remember how they felt for him while he’s struggling to escape. Matt explains that magic is not about tricks, it’s about the audience remembering the connection you made with them. Because the audience can see Matt struggling, they want him to succeed. So, when he stands up, free from the tank, the audience is compelled to stand with him. Don’t Try This at Home For those who wish to take up escapes, Matt’s first piece of advice is: Don’t try this at home. Any escape is dangerous. If you’re going to attempt anything like an escape, you need have a spotter nearby with a key for the locks. If you’re practicing holding your breath, alert the lifeguards and let them know what you’re doing. You may pass out long before you reach your actual limit. With anything that has an element of danger, injury or death is a real option. You need to treat escapes with the utmost respect and professionalism if attempting them. Britain’s Got Talent It took five years for Matt to get on Britain’s Got Talent. Each year he would send in audition video after audition video. Eventually, in 2017, he sent in a rudimentary version of his water tank escape. During his audition, however, his water tank shattered at the two minute mark, flooding the stage. To remind him to not stop chasing his dreams, he got a tattoo on his hand that

With Toronto’s annual magic convention, The Browser’s Bash, right around the corner, Jonah sits down for episode 157 to give you ten tips on maximizing your magic convention experience. Ten Things to Remember for Magic Conventions 1. Relationships Over Advice Whether the convention is one day or three, you will probably have the opportunity to interact with multiple magicians during your time there. While you may be getting good advice from one person, you may be missing out on the chance to develop meaningful relationships with other magicians. 2. Do Your Research Before you attend the convention, you will want to conduct research on the performers and lecturers–they’ve been asked to headline the convention for a reason, after all. If you decided to skip a lecture or performance because you don’t know who they are, then you may miss out on valuable information. 3. Seek First to Understand, and Then to be Understood Taken from Seven Habits of Highly Effective People, you should try to understand who the other person is before you try to help yourself. By having someone show you something, you can get a sense of who they are and then decide if they can help you improve yourself. 4. What are you working on? Don’t ask “What can I help you with?” because it doesn’t signal that you’re paying attention to what they’re doing. Similarly, “Show me something” may result in them showing you a gag trick or something that doesn’t show who they are as a performer. By asking “What are you working on?” or “What are you currently playing with?”, you get the best sense of who they are as it’s the effect that is currently occupying their time. 5. How to Give Advice First of all, you should only give advice if you’re asked. You can offer to give them advice, but launching in to a criticism of their work will only come across as a hostile rather than helpful or supportive. When you are giving advice, give them a compliment sandwich. Say something nice, give the negative and how they may go about fixing it, and then say something nice again so you finish on a positive. 6. Tricks to Bring When preparing for a convention, magicians often prepare for magic conventions by bringing a technically challenging, deceptive trick that doesn’t necessarily show who they are. Instead of that, Jonah recommends bringing: A trick that he wants help with A trick he is confident in fully performing A magician fooler 7. How to Ask for Help and How to Ask for Advice When you’re at the convention, you want people to know that you want their advice. So, ask them. But, tell them why you want their advice so that they know why they are super valuable to you. If they’re really good at a certain type of trick that relates to what you’re working on, then let them know that’s why you’re seeking out their advice. 8. Little Wins Because the goal of the convention is to make relationships, you want to leave each person you meet with some sort of little win. Whether this be giving them the advice they need, directing them to a book that will help them improve, or connecting them with a person who may have the solution they need, you can leave them with a little win that will have them remembering you helped make them stronger. 9. Bathroom & Food There may be a moment where you find yourself talking to someone that you just don’t want to be talking to. Or perhaps you want to move on to the next person but you find yourself trapped in conversation. Either way, if you need to slip away, tell them you need to use the washroom or grab a bite to eat. Just remember to grab a piece of contact info. 10. The Followup After the convention, you need to follow up with the people you met if you want to keep those connections. Did you promise someone you’d send them relevant information? Send the information! Did somebody give you some valuable information at the convention? Thank them! By reaching out, you can show you’re a valuable resource which will help cement the relationship as most people don’t followup nowadays. Questions for the Conventions Who has impressed you so far at this convention? What are you trying to get out of this convention? Now that you’ve seen what I do, who do you think I should meet? If we were to meet a year from now, and you were celebrating something in magic, what would you be celebrating?

For episode 156, Brent Braun sits down with Jonah to discuss what you need to do to improve your magic. Co-founder of the Magic Firm, Brent is regarded as one of the top behind-the-scenes magic consultants, helping magicians move beyond simply thinking about tricks and methods. Brent’s interest in magic started later in life. As a single father at the age of twenty, Brent would often find himself with nothing to do once he put his son to bed at 8pm. Never being big sleeper, he soon began to find himself shuffling cards to pass the hours. When he would go out to bars and resturants, magic became a way to communicate and meet new people. At the time, Brent was working in a factory making products that he was unfamiliar with. It wasn’t until a client asked what the product was that Brent sought out the VP to help him learn what exactly the factory was making. From there, he was fast tracked to sales and magic now became a way for him to entertain his sales clients. Eventually, he recieved a break from a sales rep who invited him to perform at an event that they hired a magician for every year. A few years later, Brent wandered into his local magic shop to learn that someone made off with the money and that it would probably be closing down. For fifty dollars a week, Brent offered to take over the store. Three years later, Brent started his own store in a mall which he ran for 6-8 years. During his time running his store, Brent was also performing and working on other magic related projects. Magic Firm The purpose of the Magic Firm is to make better magic by working with performers to develop all aspects of their acts. The Magic Firm came about as a bit of a mistake, Brent explains. At the end of the day, he is a problem solver who likes to assess and reasses situations to understand why something does or doesn’t work. In the back of the magic store he owned, was a small theatre where magicians would come to perform. After the show, Brent would sit down with them to discuss their shows and why they were doing certain things. A lot of the perfomers often wouldn’t be asking these questions, so this reflection period would often help them become noticeably stronger performers. The creation of the Magic Firm allowed Brent to uitlize his ability to workshop with people, allow him to embrace his passion for business, and, most importantly, help make better magic. When magicians come to the Magic Firm, Brent won’t be writing out their scripts and putting together the entire show for them. What he does is sit down with the performers and discuss why they’re doing certain effects, what does and doesn’t work for them, and understanding who they are as a person. Brent wants to help magicians find their brand and help them put together a cohesive show that has their voice behind it — not his. Improving Your Magic It is hard to fix something when you’re at the centre of it; you cannot objectively evalute your performance which is why it helps to bring in someone else to assess your act. Whether it’s the Magic Firm or asking a director to watch one of your performances, Brent recommends bringing somebody in who will give you honest critism. Second, you need to learn how to take and apply critism. People have a tendency to shrug off notes refusing to change–until they fly Brent out and pay his fee. If you can’t afford the Magic Firm, then work, Brent says. The best way to learn is to perform and then reflect on your performance. Overtime, you will naturally begin to understand what is and isn’t working for you. While you may be against the concept of it, taking on some exposure gigs is the best way to get your name out there and get the performance hours in. Overall, you need to understand what you’re doing and why you’re doing something so that you can assess your performance. While you can read a book or watch a DVD, you won’t be able to fix the issues without knowing what exactly it is that needs to be fixed. The Magic Firm will take a look at you as an individual and tell you the exact issue so that you can directly address it. However, Brent does recommend that everyone should read Maximum Entertainmnet by Ken Weber. J&B Magic Shop and Theatre Brent was looking for a place where he could host and help block out the magicians coming to the Magic Firm. Looking at the numbers, Brent realized it didn’t necessarily make financial sense to just rent a place, so he began to look for a location to buy. While he was looking, the downtown space was being revitalized so the prospect of a magic theatre excited the mayor and the realtor he was speaking to. Unsure, Brent sat down to write out a business plan only to discover that he could finanically open a magic shop and public theatre. When the idea wouldn’t go away, Brent looked at buildings and found a few places that could work. After speaking to a friend about it, Brent launched an Indigogo campaign which was, to his surprise, fully funded by a community th

On episode 155, Kainoa Harbottle sits down with Jonah to discuss coin magic, educating your audience on magic, and magic in the 19th century. Kainoa is known for his extensive work on coins and his ability to bring theatrical techniques into his performances to elevate magic for his audience. Kainoa has always been a performer, often finding himself playing the eccentric villain characters in his school drama classes. His journey into magic, however, didn’t begin until eighth grade. During a free day at school, Kainoa learned a trick to attend a magic session with his friends. Alongside these friends, Kainoa started a group that worked children’s birthdays At the time, Kainoa wasn’t doing sleight of hand. It wasn’t until he met Curtis Kam that he began his journey into coin magic. He began to table-hop before Curtis’ show where he quickly learned the basics of table hopping like don’t’ perform while they’re eating and that self-working tricks weren’t enough anymore.   Why Coin Magic is Daunting Acting as a confessional of sorts, Kainoa often has magicians approach him to tell him that they don’t perform coin magic because they’re afraid. He, of course, understands that there is pressure as, unlike card magic where you can put a hot card back on the deck, you can’t put a coin back on a deck when you’re feeling heat. However, going on to quote Curtis Kam, Kainoa says that you just need to palm the coin. You’re not going to learn how to do coin magic unless you practice doing coin magic. For those who want to get into coin magic but find the process too daunting, Kainoa reminds people that it’s about learning in steps. When most people started out with card magic, they most likely didn’t learn how to keep a break. They learned key cards and self-working tricks. With coins, you need to start with palming one coin and build from there. Kainoa goes on to explain that most people don’t know the most important part of Bobo’s Modern Coin Magic: the last section with the routines. By learning routines, you can begin to understand the routines and structure of coin plots, moving your coin magic beyond just vanishing a coin. Naturalness as a Construct You don’t need to be natural to do card magic, but coin magic relies on an understanding of how your own body moves. For example, if you try to teach a person how to vanish a coin, they often can’t grasp the concept of acting like they’re doing something. If you take a coin and put it in your hand, and then you take a coin and pretend to put it in your hand, it should look the same. Kainoa goes on to explain that there is no such thing as a general naturalism as everyone moves differently. Because naturalism is a construct, you have the opportunity to construct how you move. This has led to Kainoa making two major decisions with his coin work. The first decision he made was to teach himself his major material with his left hand so that his dominant hand was free to shake the spectator’s hand. The second decision he made was gesturing as if he was finger palming coins all the time. By palming coins all the time, he was able to build this as a natural way to move. Advice for Table Hopping One of the first nights Kainoa was table hopping, he had a table that just kept talking to him. After the show, he spoke to Curtis saying that he was trying to get through the magic but people kept talking to him. Curtis told him that that’s his job; you’re there to make people happy, you’re not there to sell them magic. Kainoa goes on to explain that this realization changed the way he approaches table hopping. You have to learn how to listen to people, and you need to learn how to authentically interact with the people you’re performing for. If you’re making the magic about yourself, you’re not making them comfortable and you’re intruding into their space.  If you’re working in a restaurant, you want the people to leave and want to come back for the magician. You need to provide them with that moment of hospitality. Be playful, interact with what they’re doing, you’ll have your moment to blow them away. Audience Perception of Magic Most people come in with the perception that magic is meant for clowns and children’s birthday parties. When you perform magic for these people, you are most likely defining magic for them. Which is why if you’re doing to mess with the perception of reality, you better be performing the best magic you know. When Kainoa performs and his audience says they’ve “seen a trick before,” Kainoa takes the moment to educate his audience on magic. He wants a smart audience that he can still fool, so his patter focuses on defining magic and helping the spectator understand what is happening. He is taking the moment to build the world of magic in front of them by breaking down their concept of magic and showing them the difference between a trick, an illusion, and magic. Magic in the 19th Century Alongside being a skilled sleight-of-hand magician, Kainoa is

Alan Alfredo Marchese joins Jonah for episode 154 to discuss choosing effects, creating emotion, and the Spanish School of Magic. Originally from Argentina, Alan now lives in Spain where he has earned a reputation for taking effects and turning them into powerful moments for his audience. In 1972, growing up in Buenos Aires, a 12-year-old Alan saw his friend performing Professor’s Nightmare which was the intial spark for his journey into magic. His friend introduced him to the man who would become his magic teacher. His teacher owned a magic store where Alan would help demonstrate and build tricks every day after school. Alan went off to study at University, where he proceeded to work as a Merchant Marine Officer and Professor of Physical Education. He left both these jobs behind when he started to perform magic, primarily doing kid’s birthday parties. His views on magic changed when he attended the FISM hosted in Madrid where he met and fell in love with a girl; he moved to Spain when he was 27 to be with her. After struggling to find a job in Spain, he attended a magic convention where he competed in a gala show. From there he received his first contracts and people began to recognize him as a professional. Moving to Madrid also allowed him to travel back and forth to Barcelona where he worked alongside Juan Tamariz to develop magic. Juan Tamariz’s Influence Alan credits Juan for having the biggest impact on his magic. Since he was 14, Alan has known Juan. Alongside Alan’s teacher, Juan and Aan would stay up late at a bar discussing magic until 6 am when the rest of the magicians had gone off to bed. Where he admits he’s not skilled in coming up with ideas, Alan is extremely skilled at taking concepts and building on them, finding the changes that need to be made, which is an important skill to Juan. Juan’s influence taught Alan that you need a solid foundation in your magic if you wish to perform great magic. When you analyze Juan’s teachings, you realize that he has compiled the theory of the greatest thinkers, like Vernon and Ascanio, and put them together to create a fundamental basis for his magic. Choosing Effects If you want to perform quality material, you need to read books, Alan says. Every effect he performs was pulled from a book because the newer material isn’t very strong compared to the classics. While Alan may put his own twist on the details of an effect, the underlying methods and principles remain the same. When he’s choosing effects, he tries to think like a layperson to find tricks that will make the spectator say “oh, what?”. To do this, you need to have a criteria for what makes a good trick. Alan goes on to explain that his criteria is based around the Carlyle Principle: When Vernon and friends were at the Magic Castle, they were trying to decide on which magician to see. Carlyle recommended standing at the exit and asking the audience to describe the effects they saw. If the description was simple, that was the magician they saw. If the effect cannot be explained with simple language, then Alan feels like it’s not a memorable effect. Above all else, Alan wants his spectators to remember the magic. Card Magic on the Stage You only need a regular deck of cards to perform on stage. To make card tricks work on stage, however, you need to rely on the audience at the front to signal to the audience at the back that magic is happening even if they can’t see the pips on the cards. If the performer has done enough to bring out the reactions in the crowd, the people at the back won’t remember they couldn’t see the card. The second option is, when doing table work, projecting the performance on a screen. However, Alan warns that you shouldn’t place the screen behind the performer and project the performer; the audience’s attention will be pulled away from the performance and you will lose your connection with them. Highlighting Juan as an example, Alan recommends have a screen that only projects what is on the table placed directly beside the performer. This allows the audience to keep their attention on the magician while being able to see the moves being done on the table. Adding Emotion There are a variety of emotions you can add inside a show, Alan explains. However, to bring your audience through these emotions, you need to be aware of what you want the audience to feel. This requires analyzing what you want them to feel at specific parts in the show; looking at the emotions inherent in the effects you perform; and studying emotions as a whole. If you can understand how an audience is feeling, you can make the necessary changes to improve your overall set. It is necessary to change the emotions people are feeling or your audience will get bored. This is why when your choosing your effects you should be viewing them as almost bare bones, waiting for a shell to be put over top. Spanish School of Magic The Spanish School of Magic focuse

This episode the interviewer becomes the interviewee. Jonah sits down with Brian Miller on his podcast, One New Person, to discuss his identity as a magician, copywriting and a chance encounter with one person that had a ripple effect on his life. Brian is a magician turned speaker with the goal of helping people feel heard and valued in our disconnected world. You may remember Brian from his Discourse in Magic episode, Episode 54 – Networking for Magicians. or you may have heard about his book, Three New People, which advocates for a change in how we approach interacting with each other. One New Person is Brian’s new podcast. His intention is to highlight ordinary people who are doing meaningful work and shaping the world around them. Believing that every interaction you have and every person you meet is important, Brian has his guests discuss an interaction that had a ripple effect in their life. Jonah’s Episode Identifying as a Magician It wasn’t until recently that Jonah began to feel confident in telling people that he was a magician. Before, he would find himself telling people it was alright to laugh, almost as a defense mechanism for how absurd the concept could be to most people. However, between producing so many shows and his podcast, Jonah now feels like he has the ability to say he is a magician without feeling like an impostor. Marketing, Business & Copywriting While Jonah likes the creative side of magic, he does find himself drawn towards the advertising and marketing side of magic. He feels that if his marketing is better than his show, then his show needs to get better, and vice versa. It becomes a tug-of-war, constantly pushing him to better his understanding of marketing and to better his magic. Jonah goes on to highlight how the structure and intention of copywriting is similar to performing magic on stage. The goal of both are to communicate an idea from one person to the next in the clearest way possible. A Chance Encounter When Jonah was in elementary school, he was known as the person who did magic. When he was heading off to summer camp, he opted to leave behind his tricks, bringing only a single deck of cards from the dollar store with him; he was on his way out of magic. Or, he was, until he met Ben Train who was working in the tuck shop at the camp. Ben reignited Jonah’s interest in magic after showing him a seemingly impossible card trick. From there, Ben acted as Jonah’s magic teacher, his co-councilor at Sorcerer’s Safari, and, now, as his business partner with the Toronto Magic Company. All of this came from meeting at a summer camp with Ben showing Jonah a card trick. Brian’s Plugs Three New People One New Person Brian’s Website

For episode 162, Jonah sits down with Dan White to discuss working with a team, creating a show, and performing on television. Dan has appeared on the Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon ten times, has an on running show at the Nomad, and has consulted for people like David Blaine, David Copperfield and Kanye West. When Dan was a boy, his father gave him a magic kit, sparking his interest in magic. Growing up in Philadelphia, Dan had access to a magic store where he was able to go to learn and share magic. Eventually, Dan began to work there which allowed him to repeatedly perform tricks and polish his style during his eight years at the shop. While Dan attended University full-time, he was still performing magic. During this time, Dan moved to New York to further his education and his magic career. By living in New York, Dan was able to perform gigs at nightclubs and bars. New York also gave him the opportunity to meet magicians and give him access to the real inner world of magic. Soon, Dan met David Blaine and eventually stated working with him. After working with Blaine on his show, Dan was given the chance to consult for David Copperfield which led to him working with Robert Smith, Blake Vogt, Patrick Kun, Homer Liwag and Chris Kenner. After working with Copperfield, the restaurant 11 Madison Park approached Dan wanting to create a deck of playing cards for the restaurant and a trick that they could incorporate into their dessert course. When they completed this project, they asked if Dan would be interested in performing a show at their hotel. Since then, Dan has been performing The Magician at the Nomad Hotel in New York. Working with a Team Whether he’s consulting for a show or creating his own material, Dan is often working with his fellow magicians and peers to develop ideas. Often, everything starts as a spark, a seed of an idea that comes while he and his friends are talking. When they come together to share their ideas, it gives then a chance to discuss the concepts and develop them further. Dan highlights that by working with others, you have the chance to utilize their expertise to better execute your vision. Creating a Show When Dan was crating his show for The Nomad, he knew he wanted it to be more than an open mic format or a standard show. At the beginning, it was primarily him developing a narrative that would be the through line for the show. Nailing down his narrative was the most important part as it gave the show more than just a series of tricks. Dan also knew that he would have the audience’s attention when they entered the room, so it became a process of how to give the audience the best overall experience. In terms of effects, Dan often asks what would be cool or interesting to do on stage that would fit into the narrative. While he isn’t switching in and out new effects constantly, he is ways creating new effects as he sees no reason not to be. Performing for Fallon Jimmy Fallon discovered Dan after seeing the second half of Dan’s first ever show at the Nomad. Enjoying what he saw, Jimmy invited Dan onto the show to perform. There’s a different between performing on television and performing on The Tonight Show, Dan explains. On The Tonight Show, Dan is trying to cater to Jimmy’s brand while also performing effects that interest him and allow the most amount of people to participate. Dan also believes that a television show appearance shouldn’t be a one and done moment; the effect you decide to do should have multiple hits and moments that get the spectators involved in the magic rather than as passive observers. Built in Experiences Dan wants to be like a musician but with magic. Like music, he wants magic to consistently deliver an impact moment that can be experienced over and over again by lay people. He wants people to watch a trick and get chills from the presentation. You can of course deliver an experience through magic by focusing on building peaks and valleys into the show. Give your audience the ups and downs they want. Have the gruesome and sexy moments mixed into the hard hitting and calm moments. Dan points to Copperfield as an example of someone who truly understands how to take the audience on an experience. To help build this experience, Dan highlights that you need to connect with your audience on a real person level. You can see different results when you interact with people in certain ways. You first need to recognize there is an antagonistic side to a magic show, and that you need to defuse that atmosphere to help bring up the energy to a place where the audience can relax and be entertained by the performance. Wrap-Up What do you like about 2018/2019 magic? What do you hate? There is nothing major that Dan hates in the current magic period as even when he is presented with something he doesn’t like or disagrees with, he still appreciates that it has him thinking and that it is clearly pushing a boundary. If anything, the only thing he does

Jonah is joined by Manuel Llaser for episode 151 to discuss emotion in magic, learning from teachers, and analyzing your approach to magic. Manuel is an Argentinian magician who developed his deep appreciation for magic under the guidance of Juan Tamariz. Manuel comes from a family of artists. His uncle, Alan Marchese, started him on the path of magic when he was five years old. Under his mentor, Manuel developed a deep love for the craft. In 1992, Manuel met Juan Tamariz and they immediately connected. In 1998, Juan invited Manuel to come work with him. Leaving law school, Manuel went to help Juan with writing and archiving his ideas. Teachers and Mentors With his background in Eastern philosophy, Manuel has always understood that to truly learn and develop in a craft, you need to learn from a teacher or guru. In the East, knowledge being passed from the teacher to the student is a normal tradition. Not only does it help one improve their skills, but it helps the student develop humility, listening and analytical skills, and a sense of what they actually want to accomplish within their chosen craft. A teacher, Manuel emphasizes, is meant to guide you through the basic principles and how to apply them. Nowadays, there is a tendency of people telling you to branch out and follow your own path to understand the craft. While it is important to stay true to you, Manuel says, you need to be aware of the fundamentals before you can actually go deeper into the world of magic. By learning the theories under his mentors, he was able to decide which areas were and weren’t for him, and why he was making these decisions. Manuel emphasizes how important it is to pay respect to the people in the past and to appreciate the magicians who are teaching you. By simply learning the latest method for an effect, you are losing out on the deeper theory behind why and how that effect was created. Performing Around the World During his time performing in different countries, Manuel has been able to develop his approach to communicating through magic. In Spain, Manuel had the best experience as people had been regularly exposed to magic and had an understanding of what magic can be. Similarly, Manuel enjoyed performing in India as they were like children experiencing magic. There were times where he was performing for thousands of people at one time. Contrasting this experience was his time in Malaysia. There was no community of magicians there and the public had very limited knowledge of magic – Criss Angel, Copperfield and Derren Brown was generally the extent of their exposure. Manuel was also dealing with a language barrier; he suddenly had to rework his approach and the magic he was actually performing. He ended up talking less, fully scripting out his routine rather than improvising, and presenting more visual effects. During his time in Russia, Manuel worked with a translator which resulted in his performance completely being lost. He now had to consider the effects he was performing and how he could take advantage of having a translator. He had to learn to adapt and move outside of his comfort zone to be able to perform strong magic for the audience. From his travels has come Manuel’s ability to adapt his magic for a small audience who has a minimal understanding of magic to an audience of thousands who don’t share his language. Spanish vs North American Magic The Spanish school was born out of a need for change, Manuel explains. There were seven magicians who were on a mission to move magic forward because it had stagnated after Vernon’s death. The younger generation saw it as their responsibility to move magic forward so it can have the shock and impact they desired. They took the torch and went deeper into the study of magic by deeply analyzing the theories behind magic and practice; they looked at the symbolism and the structure; they examined the symbolism behind magic and how magic interacted with cinema and theatre. The Spanish school is primarily an approach to how to study magic from a deeper, critical perspective. Manuel goes on to highlight that North America has its own schools that take a similar approach, pointing primarily to Vernon and Marlo and how they developed their own different approaches to magic. Manuel goes on to explain that to actually follow a school, you need to look at the references that the school is based on. By studying the cultural moments and theories from these older schools, you can adapt these concepts to a newer generation, pushing magic further. Emotional Effects Emotion is what hooks people to a moment. When we reflect on a memory, we tend to have an emotional reaction. Magic, Manuel explains, is a concert of emotions. By being conscious of what your audience is feeling during any given moment in your performance, you can increase the impact of your overall effect. You have to find a way to create emotion in your audience through the language of magic. Juan Tamariz has forced M

For episode 150, Jonah would like to thank the listeners for accompanying him on this journey. To do so, he has sat down to reflect on a trick he has been performing for a while now to see how it has changed with him. Alongside the audio, there is a video component to accompany Jonah’s reflection. Thank you to Jacque Swan for cutting together the video. A Trick in Review For the past few years, Jonah has been performing the balloon sword swallow trick in his stage act. What started off as an awkward experience for him and the audience, slowly developed into a fun, scripted trick that ends his set and gets the audience ready for the next performer. This performance has undergone major changes in presentation, and Jonah thought he would sit down to see how and why these changes happened. The First Performance Jonah’s first performance of the balloon swallow on stage was rough. There is no music, no scripting or blocking, and he struggles to do the trick smoothly. Additionally, he performs the trick  at the beginning of his act, which doesn’t necessarily setup the atmosphere he wants for the rest of his set. However, he has jokes that land and the audience is attentive, so there is a foundation for a performance to develop out of overtime. The Middle Performance With the addition of music, a script and some practice, his balloon swallow developed into a trick that made the routine more than just  a man eating a balloon on stage. He now has a character and specific beats he is hitting during the performance. The trick, however, is still at the beginning of his set, making it difficult for him to bring the audience back in for the rest of his performance. The Recent Performance Between music that suits his goal, a script with specific beats, blocking, and moving the trick to the end of the act, Jonah has greatly improved his presentation for the balloon swallow. While there are still aspects he would like to change, he has managed to get the balloon swallow to a place where he feels that it’s a strong act.   Thank You Once more, Jonah would like to thank everyone who has gone on this journey with him. His hope is that as he’s grown over the 150 episodes, you have too, and he hopes that you’ll continue this journey with him.

For episode 149, Jonah sits down with his roommate and business partner, Ben Train, to take a critical look at their own approach to magic and their performances. Approaching the Shows Each month, the two perform approximately 22 public shows under the Toronto Magic Company branch. These shows break down to their show at Dave & Buster’s, Newest Trick in the Book, and Art of Magic. Each show has the two taking a different approach to what they’re trying to accomplish: Newest Trick To Ben, The Newest Trick in the Book is meant to provide magicians a platform to gain performance experience and showcase their new material. While he would like to have a new trick each week, he’s focused on making the experience a resource for other magicians. However, when speaking on what he would like to do at the show, Ben highlights what Harrison Greenbaum said during his episode: You should be focused on breaking everything you’re doing down in order to figure out how you actually want to perform the trick. Newest Trick should be his opportunity to break down his tricks, but he doesn’t always feel like he’s taking advantage of that opportunity.   Jonah shares a similar view to Ben, but he adds on that because they are often the hosts, they need to start the show off with effects they know will work to get the audience ready. He goes on to say that, while they may not necessarily be trying out new tricks they do get the opportunity to try out different presentations and build on what they learned for their future shows. Art of Magic While the Newest Trick is about the magic community, the Art of Magic is for the audience in Ben’s mind. At every show, his focus is on casting magic in a positive light and giving the audience the best overall experience. He isn’t worried about the lineup in this case as the lineup has strong, professional performers each month, allowing him to focus on performing his best material. Agreeing with Ben, Jonah adds that this is the show he invites his friends to come watch as it’s where he’s performing his best work. Dave & Buster’s For the past 2 ½ years, Ben has been performing his show at Dave & Buster’s. Out of his three regular public shows, this is the one that Ben finds himself anxious about. It’s a challenging show due to the unknown factor of his audience; these are primarily people who came to Dave & Buster’s to play games but now find themselves attending a magic show. While he wants to create a better show, he needs to focus on providing an experience that everyone can enjoy. Ben goes on to say that you need to learn to adapt your performance to the audience. If you want to have that impact on your audience, you need to connect with them and make it seem like you’re not reciting a script. To improve how you interact with people, Ben recommends reading Three New People by Brian Miller. Jonah worries less about this show as he’s the opener. However, taking the advice of Dave Curran, Jonah has slowly created an act that isn’t mentalism due to the headliners generally performing mentalism. Recently, Jonah realized that the character he’s become has been because of Dave & Busters. When a Show Goes Bad To put it bluntly, Ben feels like shit. When the performance goes bad, it sticks with him. He has his wins and his losses, which both stack up, but he never forgets his losses as his show is supposed to represent the culmination of his life’s work: if a show goes South, his life’s work is a waste. Ben lets the wins build him up and takes away lessons from his bad shows. He goes on to say that because he has been performing his show for so long, the worst he can do is okay. The Artist’s Plight As you get better at your craft, you will look back and say “I was bad.” With every new project you take on, you will make mistakes but you will learn from them. By the end of the project, you will look back and see everything you would like to change. In future projects, you can apply these learnings but there will always be something else that you want to change because it could be done better. As you continue to learn and apply what you learned, you will keep seeing your previous work as bad. This, Ben says, means you’re fine and that you’re growing. You look back and think your work is bad because you’re better. At his best, Ben admits that he’s not as good as some of the greats at their worst. While there is a danger to comparing yourself to other people, Ben asks why wouldn’t you want to do that? Yes, be the best you that you can be, but Ben wants to be able to affect people and perform like the greats; he doesn’t want to go on stage and be the weakest link in the show. Being Original If you create a new presentation for an existing effect, then is it original, Jonah asks. Over time, he finds himself looking at his magic and thinking that he shouldn’t be doing certain tricks as the effect exists. He would like to get to a point where he is creating and perfo

The “Millionaire’s Magician” Steve Cohen joins Jonah on Episode 148 to discuss branding, developing a show, and how to shape a career. Steve is best known for his long-running weekly show, Chamber Magic, but has also appeared on numerous television shows, produced a sold-out show at Carnegie Hall, and has performed all over the world for esteemed audiences. Ever since he was six years old, Steve’s life has been driven by magic. As an eight year old boy, he was attending school dressed in a three-piece corudroy suit because he was convinced he was meant to be a magician. Doug Henning was his inspriation, and he wanted to give that magical feeling to others. Throughout elementary and highschool, Steve would perform at birthday parties. He continued to perform during his time at Cornell University, performing for the likes of Carl Sagan and the Board of Trustees. Eventually, he decided he needed to put on his show, so he rented out the Black Box Theatre and put ads in the college paper. The shows sold out and this was his first taste of the entrepreneur side of magic which made him realize it was all worthwhile. Finding your Brand Steve wants to capture the elegant side of magic, with the hopes that he can elevate it beyond a comedy bar act. With this desire in mind, when he was searching for venues, he knew he had to find a place that would emulate the feeling of an old-style, salon show.  The National Arts Club, the Waldorf, the Lotte New York Palace Hotel are all venues that have captured the feeling of the show that Steve wanted. After finding the venue, it became a matter of meshing the show to the environment by changing the clothes he wore, building props with the room in mind, choosing the right colours. These little touches all highlight Steve’s belief that you are trying to deliver the audience an experience. His tagline “Millionaire’s Magician” was a phrase that he worried about using, believing it would isolate people even though he was already performing for millionaires. However, his friend assured him that it would benefit him, and he was correct. As he used this handle for his shows in London, the media started running with it, which eventually led to the media in New York covering it. The press continued to feed into this, making it a reality. Steve says that he won’t turn away people who aren’t millionaires because his purpose is to give people the experience of the 19th-century drawing room; he wants his audience to feel like the elite. Giving an Experience People will only talk about the experience of the show, so your show needs to be solid. Last October, Steve passed his 5000 performance of his show Chamber Magic. However, it has evolved over the years with his audience and his goals.  While his goal is to melt the audience’s brains, he primarily wants them to leave to tell their friends and family about the experience. When you’re putting together a show, you need to consider the material you’re putting into it. If you simply do the material everyone else is doing, you’ll become an interchangeable performer. People come to a show expecting to see something they’ve never seen before, so it is your job to deliver that experience. With this in mind, Steve often searches old publications for tricks that haven’t been seen in decades; he’ll then adapt them to his style by updating the methods and techniques. Maxims In Steve’s book Win the Crowd, he covers the idea of maxims in magic, simple rules you can apply to take control of any situation. When writing the book, he wanted to remain true to what magicians are doing without tipping off non-magicians to the secrets. This led to him creating chapters around key concepts in magic, using magicians as examples of how these concepts can be applied. These maxims are: Be Bold Expect SuccessDon’t State, Suggest Practice, Practice, PracticeBe prepared Steve applies these concepts not only to his magic but to any venture he approaches. Going on to quote Daniel Burnham, the chief architect of the Chicago’s World Fair, Steve says he follows the motto “Make no little plans; they have no magic to stir men’s blood.” Steve views his career as one large experiment which he has the ability to shape. From his book, to his graphic novel, to the shows he puts on, every project he does is meant to shape a career that he can proudly look back on in his old age. Max Malini Steve first came across Max Malini when he was a young teenager reading Learned Pigs & Fireproof Women by Ricky Jay. The chapter dedicated to stories about Max Malini was a revelatory moment for young Steve. The primary appeal of Max was that he didn’t travel with a lot of equipment; he took a minimalisitc, almost improtpu approach, to his performances, which added more to the magic due to the seemingly unprepared nature of the effects. Steve highlights that Malini had a balance betwen planning and spur of the moment inspriation; by having an understanding of

Jay Sankey sits down with Jonah for episode 147 to discuss magic online, creating and persuasive communication. Not only does Jay hold the world record for creating the most original illusions, but he runs a successful YouTube channel, is an international public speaker, comedian, performer, and consultant. Jay’s interest in magic started when his grandmother gave him a magic set for his eleventh birthday. However, she had picked up the magic set during a European tour, so the instructions were in German. From the get-go, Jay had to develop his own way to perform tricks. He kept with magic because it was something that he wasn’t necessarily good with at first but he had the drive to improve. As he continued with it, he found it was a way for him to show his awkward self without having to actually reveal his actual self; he found that lay people were happy to accept the cardboard cut out of what a magician is perceived to be. Jay began performing at birthdays and in church basements when he was fifteen. When he won the award for close-up magic at Tannen’s Magic Camp, Jay believed that his fate was sealed. Although he did attend the University of Toronto to study philosophy and psychology so that he could go into advertising, Jay was deep into magic. Persuasive Communication Alongside his magic, Jay is an international public speaker who presents on and runs workshops for persuasive communication. Using his background in marketing and ad copy, Jay explains how people’s choices are primarily driven by their emotions as much as the ideas they’re presented with. His core goal when approaching copywriting is directing the audience to a certain collection of emotions but allowing them enough room to apply their imagination; you are inspiring the audience to create their own interpretation which is a concept that can be applied to presenting magic. Jay goes on to explain how communication, especially in our current landscape, is about brevity. If you don’t grab the audience’s attention right off the back, you have nothing. However, simply getting their attention isn’t enough. You need to get their attention while remaining on brand. When you do get their attention, you have the opportunity to continue to sell yourself and your magic. From there, it’s about finding a throughline that allows you to transition from trick to trick without losing the audience. Teaching Magic Online Jay began to put magic on YouTube after realizing that he isn’t thrilled with where magic is today. The often condescending and dismissive nature towards magic by the general public, and the confusion between an amateur and a veteran performer, frustrates him. With this as his basis, Jay figured he needed to do something to change how magic is viewed. His question is not “should these secrets be revealed?’ but “how and where should these secrets be revealed?” Secrets like a thumb tip or invisible thread are not the real secrets of magic to Jay. The secrets of magic come in the form of the psychology and theory behind the tricks that employ these tools. However, most people aren’t concerned with this content when they’re trying to discover these tricks online. By teaching magic on YouTube, he has the opportunity to distill the important information alongside the usage of magic tools by bringing his own authenticity to teaching the material. His belief is that if there is going to be bad magic, he might as well balance it out with his knowledge and appreciation for the art. Overall, Jay wants to move the art of magic forward. He wants to improve how it is viewed by the general public, and this is his way of helping that cause. Creating Magic When you’re creating magic, you need to consider your relationship to your ideas, Jay says. If you are judging your ideas and comparing them to others, you’re going to find it difficult to create. Creating is about expressing who you are and how you relate to magic. You need to be able to give yourself permission to write down your ideas and allow them to develop over time. Additionally, don’t put your ideas on a pedestal as it will only halt your creative process. Jay doesn’t mind that people are doing his tricks the way he does them because he understands not everyone can create magic. However, when someone expresses an interest in creating their own magic to show themselves, Jay wants to encourage that desire. Jay goes on to remind people that just because you’re performing an already created or established trick, you shouldn’t stop yourself from bringing in your own personality and interpretation to the actual performance. Wrap-Up Endless Chain Richard Sanders David Acer Mike Scott What do you love about 2018 magic? What do you hate about 2018 magic? Jay likes the fact that we are being exposed to different, interesting personalities in magic. The growing diversity in magic is fantastic and is causing magic to move away from the narrow representation we often see. Jay doesn’t like the culture of styliza

Jonah sits down with Haim Goldenberg to discuss the business of magic, taking risks and finding your character for episode 146. Haim is an Israeli-Canadian mentalist who is behind Cryptext and the show Goldmind. The first magician Haim saw was Uri Geller. Wanting to be like Uri, young Haim spent his time trying to bend spoons with his mind and hypnotizing people in the streets.  Over time, he learned that Uri’s powers weren’t real and that he needed to learn magic to pull off the miracles he saw on television. Haim spent several years performing as a magician, primarily for kids shows, before switching fully to mentalism. While mentalism became his career, magic still remains his hobby. Taking Risks If you want to succeed, you need to be willing to adapt and change yourself to better suit the demands of your audience, Haim says. It is difficult to succeed if you don’t take risks. Switching to solely performing mentalism for adults was a huge risk for him. When he quit performing magic at kids shows, Haim took a financial hit during his first six months as he reestablished himself.  However, he eventually started getting the shows that he wanted to perform and is now successful as a mentalist. The major risk he took in changing his performance style allowed him to succeed in an area that was truer to his character. Finding your Character When you’re performing, people are there to see you, they’re not there to just see magic tricks, so it’s important to find out who you are on stage. From there, you can determine what magic suits your character and how you can bring your own personality into the tricks you’re performing. To uncover your character, you have to remain true to yourself. Don’t try to be like other magicians or performers on stage that you admire as it won’t be authentic. While you can play a character on stage, it needs to be a character that you created. The only way to improve and understand who you are on stage is performing. Experience is the most important aspect in becoming a better magician as you can’t improve if you don’t perform. Overall, don’t try to impress your audience. You, as a person, are not trying to impress people in your everyday life, and you should be like that on stage. You want your audience to have fun with you, and Haim believes that the audience will love you because they want to love you. Magic as a Business When you’re starting out, money should not be your focus. Your focus should be on developing yourself and getting to a point where you can begin to raise your costs to better match your skill level. Haim emphasizes that you need to be aware of what you’re worth and that you should raise your costs in reasonable increments. While you may be a good magician, you may not be great at the business or marketing aspects. It may be beneficial for you to find the right person who is able to sell you. If you are a professional, Haim recommends committing 90% of your time to marketing and 10% to practicing magic. After you perform, you should try to remain attached to your clients by keeping in touch with them. People may love you, but they will forget about you so reaching out to them will help keep you in their minds when they need an entertainer. Creating for Television Creating a television show is a huge undertaking and is the second risk Haim took in his career. When creating the pilot for Goldmind, Haim used his life savings to fund the episode; he vowed to quit magic if a producer didn’t pick the show up. After sending the pilot episode around to various studios, it was picked up for thirteen episodes. Haim goes on to explain that his show succeeded because of his character. Referencing Justin Willman’s show Magic for Humans, Haim explains that a character is what separates you from other shows and makes the audience want to return. Just because you’re good onstage, doesn’t mean you’re good on television. A successful show requires directors and consultants who understand how television works and how to adapt your magic for the medium. Haim believes that if you want to succeed on television, you need to learn how to listen to professionals in the field.   Wrap Up What do you like about 2018/19 magic? What do you hate? Haim likes how fast pace everything has become. Additionally, he likes how connected the world is as you can see so many magicians that you may have otherwise never seen. Haim dislikes how people have become lazy because they can get whatever they like when they want it. He feels people aren’t putting in the time and effort to learn. Endless Chain Lior Manor Nimrod Harel Amir Lustig Lior Suchard Take Home Point Jonah liked the idea of not being lazy and putting in the necessary effort to improve your magic. Haim liked the idea of going out and finding places to perform to gain experience. Plugs Cryptext 2 Goldmind Website Instagram

To start off 2019, Jonah sits down with Steve Shaw, better known as Banachek, to discuss mentalism, the ethics behind deception, and parapsychology. Banachek is one of the world’s leading mindreaders who has helped debunk psychic claims, created effects for leading performers and is sought after by venues around the world for his performances. When Banachek started, he wasn’t aware that there was a subsection of magic called mentalism. He just knew there were psychics fooling people with tricks. Banachek, born in England before emigrating to South Africa, had a troubled childhood which saw him raising his two younger brothers. This prevented him from developing his social skills alongside other children. He was the kid in the back of the class who was afraid of being called on. When he was raising his brothers, he would always try to instill the value of fairness in them. He wanted them to know right from wrong–a value he still holds dear to this day. Project Alpha Project Alpha was a four-year-long hoax that involved planting Banachek and Michael Edwards in a parapsychology research project to demonstrate that it is possible to fake psychic powers in a controlled environment. Banachek initially went in believing it to be an “I’m against them” scenario to prove that the proper protocols were not being followed by the scientists. However, he eventually came to the realization that things weren’t necessarily black and white; the scientists weren’t evil, they were just imposing their own beliefs on the trials and believing they could not be fooled. Before the project began, James Randi sent the scientists a list of eleven caveats to follow so that they could truly test the psychic claims of Banachek and Edwards. The scientists dismissed the suggestions, saying that Banachek and Edwards would be unable to perform under such conditions. During the project, Banachek would write letters to Randi explaining how they would manipulate the tests; Randi would then inform the scientists that they should look out for these exact methods during their experiments. The scientists would, again, dismiss the suggestions. Overall, the project revealed that we can be fooled and that we need to be more open to the idea that we can be fooled. This focus on critical thinking is something that Banachek still tries to instill in people today. Deception of Mentalism Banachek believes that the difference between a psychic and a mentalist is that the mentalist doesn’t claim to have real psychic power. He, as a mentalist, is taking the five known senses to create the illusion of a sixth sense. In terms of if we are lying to the audience, Banachek says that “a lie is a lie is a lie.” If you tell your audience that everything is pure psychology, you leave it open to people to expose that you are lying which will affect how other performers are viewed. When he was starting out, he would say he was using magic and tricks in his performance, only to be told by other mentalists that cheapens the art. Banachek never understood why, as the essence of what they’re doing is fake. At the moment, they are duplicating psychic phenomena, but, when you’re off stage, you don’t want to leave the door open for people to make their own assumptions about what actually occurred as it can lead the spectator to dangerous assumptions. This is why Banachek will constantly reinforce the idea that what he’s doing isn’t real which, in a way, makes his effects stronger as the audience is thinking “how could you have possibly known” compared to “he’s a real psychic.” To him, telling people that what he is doing is fake comes from an ethical standpoint because he sees himself as an authoritative figure on stage; people don’t know what to expect when they go to a mentalism show, so they’re going to believe whatever it is he tells them if he’s convincing enough. Pseudoscience & Magic You are not going to convince everyone that pseudoscience is fake, especially if you are hostile in confronting people. What you can do is talk about pseudoscience on the correct platforms to inform people and get them thinking critically about what they’re being told. Banachek goes on to explain that we should be focusing on the larger mediums as they’re the ones influencing the masses; we can use their publicity to educate people. If we are to educate on a smaller level, it shouldn’t be confrontational or else people will put up a wall. It’s better to have an educated discussion to understand their viewpoint. You can’t just think everyone is stupid because they don’t know what you know. Banachek highlights his show Telepathy as an example of how he approaches educating people. During the first half, he comes out as psychic to build the same emotional reaction the audience would have if they went to see a psychic. In the second half of the show, he comes out to inform the audience that what he did was all fake. He wants the audience to know that they can be fooled and that

New year, new magic! To ring in the new year, Jonah sits down with Ben Train, Chris Mayhew, and Jacque Swan to discuss their magic highlights and lowlights from 2018, and what they plan to change for the upcoming year. Contest Winner Jonah would like to thank everyone who entered the contest. With 614 individuals who entered the contest, and a total of 7,271 total entries, you have made this the largest contest Discourse in Magic has ever put on. But, now, the moment you’ve been waiting for. The winner is: @alexbowden52 Congratulations! Thank you again to everyone who entered! Highlights Ben: The shows he put on through the Toronto Magic Company were highlights for him. He is proud of what they were able to accomplish and how the company developed throughout the year. As a personal highlight, he was honoured to have been able to perform at the Chicago Magic Lounge. Chris: Consulting on his first TV show, called the Thrillusionists, was the biggest highlight for him this year. Not only did he get to marry his passions of filming and magic, but he was able to see how to execute a major project. His second highlight was finally seeing the fruits of his labour come to fruition, as he finally released his deck of cards: Leon Playing Cards. Jacque: Taking up coin magic was her highlight in 2018. It helped her further her studies of magic, and she doesn’t believe she would be as into the community if it wasn’t for coin magic. Jonah: Newest Trick becoming a weekly show was his highlight this year. Not only did it allow him to up his number of performances, but it helped foster a magic community that has allowed him and other Toronto magicians to grow. Lowlights Ben: Over the past year, he spent a lot of time focusing his time and energy on projects outside of his personal show. Due to this, he feels like his personal show has fallen behind in terms of quality, and he isn’t exactly excited to perform it now. Chris: In a sense, taking a year off performing was a lowlight. It was odd not performing after doing it for so long. This decision came from him feeling like his old character was not working for him, and he felt like the effects were married to this character. However, by taking a step back he was able to realize that he loves performing and gained a new perspective on who he is as a performer. Jacque: She regrets not showing people the material she has been working on and regressing back to her social anxiety tendencies. When she does show her material, she often only shows effects that she is confident in performing rather than new material. Jonah: He didn’t take seriously the sheer amount of creativity required to complete all the projects he took on this year. 2019 Magic Resolution Ben: Last year, his goal was to focus on creating more original magic. However, he didn’t perform a lot of the material he developed. This year, he vows to implement his changes rather than just talk about them. Chris: He plans to start performing again now that he’s taken time off. Jacque: Her goal is to figure out who she is and how this relates to her performance. Jonah: He feels that his character has developed over the past year so some of the magic he is currently doing doesn’t necessarily fit with who he has become. In the new year, he plans to look at who he has become and what magic better suits this new character. Words of Wisdom Ben: “I don’t have to be here, I get to be here.” Chris: “Just enjoy doing things.” Jacque: “Don’t be afraid to show people what you’re working on.” Jonah: You need to actually do more than just read and watch magic. You need to actively implement your ideas and what you’re learning to actually grow in your magic.

Pipo Villanueva joins Jonah for episode 143 to discuss adding impact to your magic. Pipo is a magician from Spain who has performed at the Magic Castle and is known for performing impactful effects. Pipo started fairly late in magic. In his mid-twenties, he became frustrated with music and changed course to pursue magic. He had always worked with his hands and needed a creative outlet that would allow him to explore the world. Magic became the art form he chose to pursue. His interest in magic was the intellectual, puzzle solving side and coming up with ideas. Living in Madrid, he had the opportunity to meet, arguably, some of the most skilled and knowledgeable close-up magicians who helped him grow. From day one, magic was a career for him. Over time he would eventually grow more serious about magic as his connection to the community became deeper. It became a basic part of his life that helped him understand himself better. Frustrations and Failures Pipo explains how frustration and failure is a necessary part of the process. You have to accept that magic will highlight your worst qualities, and you will need to confront them if you want to improve. Simply ignoring the issues will result in you either stagnating or quitting magic altogether. When Pipo was starting out, he would have conversations with magicians and see people perform, only to think to himself that he wasn’t going anywhere with what he was currently doing. It was in these moments, the ones where he failed or became frustrated with the art he was putting out, that he learned the most. These moments helped him find the way that was right for him. Authentic Magic An authentic connection with the audience is built when the artist does something that is meaningful to the performer and the audience, Pipo explains. People are interested in people; they want to see you, and you want them to leave with a sense of who you are after the show is over. You shouldn’t be trying to put together an act that is deliberately trying to touch the audience’s heartstrings as it will not be authentic. It may work at some level, but you won’t be establishing a real connection with the audience. Pipo goes on to say that, while you shouldn’t pander to your audience, you shouldn’t ignore them either. Magic is not about having superpowers. It’s about celebrating the intelligence of the audience. You need to provide meaningful connections within your act so that the audience can create the effect. It is up to the performer to craft the psychological state of the spectator so they can fully experience your magic. The audience should be allowed to watch a four phase routine without knowing that the routine is going to have four phases; they should be able to experience the suspense while piecing together the puzzle. Plot Structure Every effect you perform should be connected to a deeper idea that will resonate with the audience. However, this idea is implicit, not explicit, and is meant to bring meaning to what you’re performing. When crafting his material, Pipo believes the less information the better. If you throw out too much information, it becomes meaningless to the audience as you are pulling away from the point you are trying to communicate. Wrap-Up Recommendation Luis Olmedo Miguel Muñoz What do you love about 2018 magic? What do you hate about 2018 magic? Pipo loves that Derek DelGaudio’s show, In & Of Itself, was able to happen. Pipo dislikes the lack of good magic exposure. Most of the magic in media is built on manufacturing conditions and reactions. However, he believes in counter-attacking this with good material. What was your favourite part of the episode? Jonah liked the idea of being authentic in your magic and being conscious of the connection between the expression of the artist with the audience’s understanding of said expression. Pipo highlights the idea that you’re doing something wrong if the audience doesn’t have a sense of who you are after your performance. Word of Wisdom Put the best of yourself in the magic you do. It’s relevant and makes a difference to put yourself in your magic. Plugs Learn Magic by Pipo Villanueva Pipo’s Blog Instagram

Episode 142 is a new take on the catch-up episodes. In the first half, Jonah is addressing a topic in the magic community which has been a part of many recent discussions: Magic exposure online. In the second half, he sits down with his writer and editor, Jacque Swan, to discuss magic in Toronto and behind the scenes of the podcast. Part 1 Exposure Online Discourse in Magic has always vouched for being positive about the future. As the internet changes the way we interact and share content with each other, Jonah believes that we need to take a “yes and” approach to magic online. To him, it is not rational to believe that we can completely stop magic from being exposed online. The logical approach would be to embrace technology and help establish how secrets are shared online. What Shouldn’t be Exposed It should go without saying that you shouldn’t be exposing tricks someone else has published. That is their livelihood and their reputation that is being exposed alongside their effect. However, there are tricks that may be considered “public domain” due to the number of times they have been taught. The French Drop, the salt shaker through the table, these are simple tricks that people learn as kids that may spark someone’s interest in magic. Young People Paying Their Dues The internet, like the library or your local magic store, has become another resource for people to use to learn and further their magic. To claim that young people are not struggling to find and learn secrets is inaccurate; they still need to watch hours upon hours of video to even begin to understand magic much in the same way previous generations had to read dozens of books. If you speak to a young person in magic, you will find that they are knowledgeable about their field and have been putting in the effort; they just happen to be excelling at a faster rate than what was previously possible. Your Magic Online People fear the idea that their magic is going to be exposed online. They’re afraid that after their performance people will pull out their phones and Google the method for the effect. Yes. This will, unfortunately, happen every once in a while, but the response to this should not be “magic shouldn’t be shown online,” it should be “how can I make my magic un-Googleable?” Jonah refers to the article by the Jerx for ideas on how to elevate your magic beyond search terms. We should be trying to elevate our magic beyond the standard fair rather than trying to fight against something we cannot stop. The Nuance of Magic Online We shouldn’t be saying “magic shouldn’t be online” because, unfortunately, it is going to be exposed. It is going to be exposed by performers, by the very people selling magic, and by people who have no business in magic. So, we should be asking how we can take control of how magic is being distributed online. What can be exposed? What shouldn’t be exposed? Who are the teachers we should be directing people to? We should be encouraging people towards the correct resources rather than demonizing the whole concept of magic online. Part 2 Jacque Swan, the writer and editor for the podcast, sits down with Jonah for the second half to discuss magic in Toronto and behind the scenes of the podcast. Jacque has only recently joined the Toronto magic scene, but she has been coming in and out of learning magic since she was five years old. She didn’t learn there was a magic community until she stepped foot in Browers Den of Magic four years ago. When she’s not spending her time learning/watching magic, she’s a freelance writer who is attending school for Broadcast-Television Production. Women in Magic The two briefly discuss Jacque’s experience as a female in the Toronto magic community. She highlights how accommodating most of the magicians have been to helping her find solutions and how welcoming they have been. Continuing from this idea, she explains how she likes that people are treating her like “one of the boys” rather than an outsider who could be potentially scared off. Felice Ling, part-time performer from Boston, recently performed on Newest Trick and blew away everyone in attendance with her performance. Jonah came up with a new term for what she did–Magic Foreplay–as she interspersed little effects throughout her prediction routine; from beginning to end, Felice captivated the audience. Young People in Magic Jonah wanted to recognize that there have been a lot of young people coming out to TMC shows and going to the magic shop; he also wants to recognize that the Toronto magic community has really stepped up to help them learn. He highlights two kids in particular who demonstrate why we should be inviting young people into magic rather than pushing them away. Behind the Scenes Jacque explains that the audience only loses out on about 10% of the conversation. She mainly removes long pauses, “ums” and tangents that stray too far from the original point. You

After several recommendations, Joe Diamond finally sits down with Jonah for episode 141 to discuss ritualistic magic, believability, and engaging your audience. Joe is a mentalist based in Illinois who delves into the weird side of life through his magic. He has headlined at the Chicago Magic Lounge, performed alongside David Parr, and hosts a weekly show called The 13th Hour. Joe’s introduction to magic is fairly standard. He was intrigued by the David Copperfield specials and received magic kits as a kid. However, it was not the puzzle side to magic that drew him in; it was the magic side of magic. Magic was a way for him to bring the weird and impossible things he loved to life. After seeing the first World’s Greatest Magic, he realized he didn’t have to do large stage illusions and could do effects that let him express his interests. When he was seventeen, he worked at Six Flags performing seven hours a day for three or four days a week. During his time at the park, he was able to go out to try everything from mentalism to card magic to geek magic. His learning wasn’t isolated to a single vein of tricks. During this time, he also had the opportunity to fly to Toronto and work with Jay Sankey on a video called Underground Jam; this would eventually lead to them working on future projects together and becoming friends. Joe only completed one year of college before realizing he was making enough money by performing magic. However, his decision to become a full-time magician was just before the 2018 financial crisis. Fortunately, he was able to adapt his mentalism and approach to marketing his shows to make it through the recession as a fulltime performer. The 13th Hour The 13th Hour is Joe’s weekly show for thirteen people. What started as a one-off show before he went on tour quickly became a weekly event as people in the area continued to show interest in coming out to the experience. The 13th Hour is held in a reportedly haunted mansion which has been turned into an artist space. Joe has a yearly lease with the building to rent out one of the studios which is where he performs the show–a show that has been tailored for that specific venue. The intimate studio allows for him and thirteen guests to see and experience the magic with each other. Starting with traditional mind reading, Joe slowly moves into more esoteric tricks before convincing the audience that time travel is real. Believability First, Joe believes you should stop doing disclaimers at the beginning of your show. He views it as being condescending to your audience and underestimating their intelligence. By giving a disclaimer, you are not setting up a world that will draw them in, but, rather, telling them how to experience what they’re about to see. If you approach your show wanting the audience to believe you have some gift, you are limiting yourself in what you can perform. This is why Joe has replaced the idea of believability with the idea of being “engaged with the premise.” Believability doesn’t matter if the audience isn’t engaged with what you’re doing; you should be going down the rabbit hole together. If you want your audience to believe in a concept like time travel, you need to build towards that, progressing your effects so that the audience is on your side by the time you reach the finale of the show. Categories of Performances When approaching performances, Joe breaks down effects into three different categories: Ritual Effects: A ritual effect follows the formula of A+B=C. A good example is his trick Diamond Jacks: the spectator needs a good luck charm, he has a good luck charm, they perform the effect. Setup and Payoff: Joe credits Carissa Hendrix for this definition. Much like how a joke has a setup and payoff, so do many tricks. Picking a card is your setup, finding the card is your payoff. One Act Play: Joe credits David Parr for this definition. You can approach your performance like a play where you have characters, conflicts and a plot surrounding your effect. Joe goes on to explain that you can do three pick-a-card tricks with these three styles and your audience will experience different effects. Wrap-Up What do you love about 2018 magic? What do you hate about 2018 magic? Joe explains how magic has given him so much, and how he is delighted to see kids still reading and learning from books. He is not a fan of how people are hung up on online exposure. While he agrees that exposure can be bad, he reminds people that you can find a lot of these secrets at local libraries. Joe goes on to explain that you should be making your performance so captivating that people are Googling you after the show, not your methods. Recommendations Jay Sankey Ross Johnson Christopher Carter Christian Cagigal Bill Cook Brian Brushwood Plugs Joe’s Instagram Joe’s YouTube Joe’s Website Journal of Alchemy Underground Jam Resources Mentioned Absolute Magic by Derren Brown Definitive Sankey by Andi Gladwin and Joshua Jay Sp

Jonah sits down with Zivi Kivi for episode 140 to talk the business of performing. Zivi is not only a children’s entertainer, but he operates several podcasts like the Balloon Artist Podcast, Generous Podcast, and the Magician Business Podcast while also instructing with the Kids Entertainer Academy. Zivi’s interest in magic started while he working in Japan as a software developer sent over from Israel. While in a toy store, he saw the invisible deck performed and immediately purchased the trick. On the plane ride home, he discovered the instructions were all in Japanese; he ended up sharing the experience of learning the trick with a passenger who spoke Japanese and English. Over time, his interest in magic and performance developed. Soon, magic became something Zivi wanted to pursue full time, so over the next eight years, he slowly built a reliable business. With a background in business, Zivi thought he was set to succeed in the entertainment world, only to quickly learn that the business of magic is drastically different from selling marketing software solutions. His journey to improve led him to discover the Magician Business Podcast which radically changed his approach to marketing his services. The Ten Percent Rule As Zivi continued developing his business, he realized that applying an extra ten percent of his time to a task would scale the vale he received from said task. For example, if he is performing, he can film and edit a quick summary of the event which he can send to future clients. By applying an extra twenty minutes, he is able to create an additional resource for marketing his business. Zivi emphasizes that there is always one more thing you can do to achieve this ten percent. Ten Hour Principle Having worked with performs from around the world, Zivi noticed that everyone shares the same problems. He began to note how people approached solving the issues and began to apply these tactics to his own teachings, which led to him developing the eight marketing tactics: Search Engine Optimization (SEO) Ad words Paid and unpaid Facebook marketing Instagram Email Champion building system tactics (focus is on creating and driving fans) Cold calling and outreach Ninja tactics (leveraging connections and networking) The ten-hour principle comes into play when you choose one of these tactics and focus on it for ten hours each week. By spending ten hours a week on one thing, Zivi says, you can reach a tipping point with your marketing where you’ll begin to see results; he says that most people follow marketing tips but don’t apply enough time to see results.to see results. He goes on to say that if you’re not happy with the results, you can always change next week, but you need to focus and get to the point where your marketing is productive and efficient. Eventually, as you learn what does and doesn’t work for you, you will have developed processes and systems that will allow you to achieve the same results in an hour; you just need to learn what works for you first. You will need to measure your results and understand the numbers to figure out where your time is best spent. By measuring what you get out of ten hours, you will understand where to focus. Failure Marketing & Ten Mistakes You need to plan for failure, Zivi says. By embracing the things that don’t work, you can learn from your mistakes and improve your approach to marketing. If you don’t see results after spending a few ten-hour slots on something, then go back to the list of eight to find an approach that may work better for you. Zivi goes on to break down the ten mistakes he made when he was starting out, reminding the audience that what didn’t work for him may still work for you. Branding his car: the branding on his car had no call to action and no way to track how many people were actually seeing it. Purchased too much: he had to throw away thousands in materials because he overestimated the amount of time he would have for tricks and what he would need. Ad words: he entered into a competition with his friend to see who could get the higher ranking. They spent a fortune during the competition buying competitive ad words rather than focusing on cheaper, niche keywords. 90-day social challenge: he did a 90-day social challenge where he posted for 90 days straight. While he had nice graphics and stories, he wasn’t being social in his posts and interconnecting with people on the platform. Water bottles: he had a plan to hand out silicone water bottles with his branding so that kids would be hydrated. The bottles got confiscated at customs which would have required him to pay a hefty fee to prove they were safe. Not practicing practice: he was not practicing in an effective manner to truly improve his skill to amaze his customers. Not developing one more skill: he wishes that he could add one more amazing skill to his repertoire to accompany his balloon and magic skills. Backlinks: he didn’t understand the importance of backlinks f

This week, Jonah sits down with Ondřej Pšenička to discuss creating magic, Fool Us, and the importance of community. Ondřej is an award-winning magician who has performed at the Magic Castle, on Penn & Teller, and is the creator of the Butterfly Deck. Ondřej doesn’t really have a story about how he got into magic, it was always just an interest. With the help of his mom, he was able to find a magic club in Prague and soon began to work on his own competition routine. Magic became a career path for him when he met Alan Vejr of Eve’n Alan. Ondřej showed Alan a video of his performance, and, seeing potential, Alan became his mentor for four years until his passing. During his time under Alan, Ondřej was exposed to magic outside of Prague through videos of masters like Dai Vernon, Fred Kaps, and Cardini. Creating Magic When Ondřej creates magic, he is focused on creating effects that are strong in presentation because it is impossible to come up with something no one knows. However, he still wants to create magic that will fool laymen and magicians. With this goal in mind, Ondřej approaches magic creation by looking for methods and moments that he can implement in unexpected ways. Ondřej goes on to explain how it’s important to embrace your strengths and weaknesses. For him, clean magic means no sleight of hand. He doesn’t enjoy performing it and prefers the impact of mental effects. The Butterfly Deck is a prime example of how you can create stunning effects with simple concepts used in unexpected ways. Butterfly Deck The Butterfly Deck was designed to fool magicians. Ondřej says that it’s not special in any way because everything you need is hidden in the beautiful back design. In response to those who feel like they can’t use marked decks out of fear they’ll be caught, Ondřej says that only magicians tend to check or suspect that the deck is marked. When laymen tend to look at his deck, they just comment on the design. He goes on to say that when you’re working with a marked deck, you should perform effects that can’t be explained away with a marked deck. When asked why Ondřej would reveal the secrets of the deck, he replies that he wants to see what people can do with the tool he created. If you have a Butterfly Deck, and you have interesting ideas on how to use it, email him at: [email protected]. Fool Us Ondřej never had the ambition to go on Fool Us. It wasn’t until he was working on his Magic Castle act that he developed an idea that was perfect for the show. He had this image of him, sitting beside Teller while watching Alyson fool Penn on stage. With this idea in mind, he created a video at the Magic Castle and sent it into the show. His primary goal for the effect was making Alyson the star of the show. Ondřej encourages you to submit a video to the show if you have an idea that you feel would work. When making your video, he urges you to consider the environment you will be performing; they have monitors where they can watch in detail what you’re doing, meaning they will catch some things but miss others. Additionally, and this goes for any TV performance, work with the directors and producers. They want to make you and the show look as good as possible for everyone watching. University Magic Course Ondřej attended the University of Dance and Circus in Stockholm for a magic course. Over the course of three weeks, Tom Stone instructed Ondřej and his fifteen classmates, teaching them various magic methods and concepts. From there, the students split off in pairs to develop and brainstorm tricks that utilized what they had learned. The focus was never on teaching tricks but letting them develop their own material. Ondřej describes the course as life-changing. He learned the power of working with people to brainstorm ideas and develop tricks. Without his time spent at the university, he wouldn’t have his show, he wouldn’t have had his Fool Us Performance, and he wouldn’t have met the designer for the Butterfly Deck. While the course is not currently open, it may be running again in July or August in 2019. Follow Tom Stone on Facebook for details. Prague Magic While there have been prominent Czech magicians like Pavel Pomezny and Lubor Fiedler, there is not much magic in Prague. However, with the KIM club–which focuses on creating a magic community for young magicians in Prague–and lecturers, like Karl Hein, bringing in their magic perspectives, Ondřej says that it is getting better. He calls back to the idea of community when talking about how the magic culture is improving in Prague. With his upcoming show, 52 Lovers, he says that he is only the tip of the iceberg and owes so much to his magic friends. The material may be his for the one hour set, but none of his ideas would have developed without the assistance of the community. Importance of Scripting In Ondřej’s magic club, they were recently talking about Pete McCabe’s On Scripting Magic

It’s a solo episode for 138 as Jonah sits down to catch you up on his trip to Austin, where he’s at with his magic and new ideas for the podcast. Austin, Texas Jonah recently traveled to Austin, Texas to perform a private show for a group of online marketers. While there, he had the opportunity to listen to their expertise in marketing while being able to share his knowledge of performing. One of the highlights of his trip to Austin was seeing a political satire show that mixed music, sketches, and large-scale illusions–performed by Ray Anderson–together to create an incredible show. The show, Esther’s Follies, sees new skits each week as the performers meet up to create the show based on the week’s news cycle. This constant change in performance alongside the collaboration of talented people provided Jonah with a moment of inspiration.  Down the road, he hopes that he can incorporate the talents of outside people into his shows to elevate the overall experience for the audience. Len Cooper Award During the Browser’s Den of Magic 44th Anniversary party, Jonah won the Len Cooper Memorial Award which recognizes a magician under the age of 26 who has shown a dedication to the art of magic. Jonah is honored to have received the award and recognizes that he is in good company alongside the previous winners like James Alan, Ben Train, Chris Westfall, and Jeff Hinchliffe. Jonah was able to take a moment to sit down with Bernice Cooper — the wife of Len Cooper who the award honors — to discuss why Len was such a staple in the Toronto magic scene, and what qualities she would like to see in the people who win the award. Bernice replied that Len was very kind to young people entering into magic and that he was gentle in his approach. Her words resonated with Jonah, and he hopes that he can continue to apply these traits to his own magic. A Twist on the Classics Recently, Jonah has been moving away from trying weirder magic concepts, like potions and amulets, to putting his own spin on classic effects. His current focus is a chop cup routine that he has been performing at Newest Trick. Soon, he’ll be looking at putting his own twist on a metal bending routine. It’s a new approach for him, so he would like to hear from the listeners who may have suggestions or resources. Corporate Season While TMC slows down their shows during the November/December season, Jonah is picking up more and more private shows. After years of hard work, he now has a steady client base who continue to recommend and bring him back to perform. He highlights how important word of mouth can be for a magician as the audience members who recall what they saw, are recalling an impossible moment. That’s why it’s so important to have good, memorable material that you have spent time honing. Discourse in Magic In a few weeks, one lucky listener will have the chance to win a prize worth $200. Keep an eye out in the coming weeks for details on how to enter the contest. Soon, Jonah will be releasing a new theory resource guide to replace the current one. If you are interested in the old one, you should check it out soon as once the new one goes up, the old one will disappear. If you haven’t yet, consider joining the mailing list for updates and additional resources to enjoy alongside the podcast.