Discourse in Magic

Sean O is a master of cardistry and has achieved a lot at a very young age. Sean is only twenty years old but has been honing his skills since he was in grade school. He did his first paying gig was when he was nine. He first saw card magic when he was given The Trilogy by Dan and Dave. He would also watch XCM battles and was obsessed with it. Both of Sean’s parents worked in IT and he had many computers in his house growing up. He has combined his interest in the web and magic from the very beginning. Finding a community online was critical to his early development. But Sean has started to use the medium to further the live performance element of his career. Sean recently did a live stream on Facebook where he taught his girlfriend the moves to one of his card tricks. There is often a lot of judgement about magic tricks and a lot of secrecy in the community. Sean thinks that the cardistry community is much more open to sharing. There are some people that sell cardistry moves and that has fueled a lively debate in the community. Should moves be sold? Sean doesn’t have a problem with it. It takes a long time to perfect a card move. It has value and it is completely justified to attach a price tag to that. We are never going to run out of new and interesting content. Originality prevails in cardistry – much more than in the general magic community. There are some moves that have taken a person’s career from 0 to 100 really quickly. Finding original moves is not easy but those that do will find success. When Sean performs live he doesn’t just perform cardistry for lay people. But Sean thinks given time cardistry has the potential to become a potent live performance. It’s incredible that someone could win a major TV talent show using a trick that is 200 years old. There is a bit of a learning curve with audiences who tend to conflate magic and cardistry. Anthony Whitford is a close friend of Sean’s. He has a routine where he explains the entire history of the medium in a highly entertaining routine. Sean loves making things that can make someone think and feel something simultaneously. It’s that reason that he has gravitated towards Instagram. A two dimensional image can evoke a visceral emotional reaction and that makes it a perfect pairing with cardistry. Instagram also allows for the creation of incredible communities by simply using the hashtag. There is, unfortunately, a divide between the magic and cardistry communities. But Sean says everyone should have a much more open mind. The division is meaningless. He can help but lose respect for anyone that dismisses the entire art form. It’s a community that is going to grow regardless of what Jay Sankey says about it. Sean thinks that cardistry is a culture. It affects the way you live your life and the way you carry yourself. It’s a form of pop culture that is participatory – not just something you consume. What did you learn from the episode? Tyler was surprised to learn just how important it is to find your identity online. Jonah liked chatting about the importance of creating great content and sharing that with others. Sean agrees that the need for identity has been hugely aided by the rise of social media. Who should we have next on the podcast? Patrick Varnavas Chase Duncan What do you want to tell our audience? It all boils down to having fun. It’s all about entertaining yourself and others! What do you want to ask our audience? What is a different way to use social media to open up a new set of opportunities for yourself? Plugs Instagram Facebook Modus Operandi

Xavior Spade is making waves as one of the highest profile YouTube magicians. He is using live streaming to connect with an every-growing audience. Xavior found magic as a young person while growing up in Jamaica, Queens in New York City. But it was magic that helped him to escape the ghetto. It was incredible eye-opening experience to be treated as an equal in the magic community. Eventually, Xavior gravitated to new platforms like Twitch and Discord as a gamer. Some magic discussions took place on those video streaming services and eventually ended up on YouTube. Xavior thinks that just being yourself on YouTube is the best way to gain a following. He makes sure that his channel is not just for tutorials. He likes to add vlogs and interviews to make the content more diverse. He thinks that it’s often hard to not feel stupid while recording himself alone. But to do this you have to get used to being on camera. The hardest part about being in front of the camera is realizing there’s no judgement. But you don’t have to put on a grand persona on camera. In fact, if you do that you are going to come off fake. Editing is your best friend. The flow of the video is as important as the flow of a show. The music, lighting and editing all create the effect. So he always starts by finding the right piece of music and editing to that. It’s all about creating the right tempo. Magic has the potential to change people’s lives. Xavior was profoundly moved recently when a fan of his YouTube channel was helped during a rough patch in his life. That fan drove seven hours to one of Xavior’s lectures to personally thank him for helping him to turn his life around. You have to care about what you share and that in turn will do incredible things. Xavior thinks the anti-technology bias in the magic community is ridiculous. But people who think that you aren’t a real magician unless you perform for a live audience are dead wrong in his opinion. Technology has always been a part of magic and the old guard who refuse to acknowledge that are living in the past. Some magic deserves to die, Xavior says. Xavior has a lot of success with his business Lost Art Magic. That said, he thinks the magic industry is, for the most part, a road to nowhere. There are many people that are trying to start their own magic company but it’s a dangerous idea. Creating a business is predicated on profit and that demands a certain kind of exploitation. You have to create a different kind of brand. It’s not just about chasing sales. Most people simply don’t understand how important it is to create a great brand. Strong beliefs and strong ideas are far more important that a great business plan. What was your favourite part of the episode? Jonah loved the discussion about the state of magic online, especially on platforms like YouTube. Tyler liked that this was the first time that we got some tangible YouTube advice – especially Xavior’s admission that it’s hard to get comfortable on camera. Xavior is very passionate about the topic of online magic and loves the opportunity to talk about it. Who should we have on the show? Allen Okawa Xavior’s Challenge. Xavior says that if this episode gets over 3000 downloads he will make everything on Lost Art Magic free for one day. What do you want to ask the audience? Why do you love magic? Plugs https://www.instagram.com/xaviorspade/?hl=en https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC5Aaysw0-njB9xH8uvNFvvg Lost Art Magic

Garrett Thomas is an incredible magician, an opinion that was confirmed recently when Jonah saw him perform at the Buffalo 52 magic convention. Garrett first fell in love with magic because of his father. His dad was a huge fan of magic and was friends with the bar magician Eddie Fechter. Who had a brilliant way of teaching people. Fechter taught Garret’s dad a few tricks which were then passed on to young Garrett. That instilled an obsession in him at a very young age. His family has a history of addiction and Garrett feels that he funneled that addictive personality into magic. Garrett believes magic is the act of shifting a paradigm. The magic marker got its name because it allowed people to apply ink to materials like glass and metal that wasn’t possible before. It was like magic. There is a famous Asimov line that any science sufficiently advanced is indistinguishable from magic. Garrett thinks that’s backwards. Magic is any advanced skill. We are all magicians today with our ability to read and write along with a million other modern advancements. But because those skills are so common place they have lost their magic. Anything that isn’t done for survival or procreation is an act of art, according to Garrett. Using that definition reveals that magic is obviously an art. The real question is whether art is an art worth promoting. Garrett doesn’t have an answer for that. Because there is a big overlap between magicians and charlatans and common. These are people that take from society rather than give back. When you use magic as an abstract performance art it’s wonderful. But when you use it to deceive people that’s no longer the case. Magic is not the act of fooling someone. It’s the art of astonishment. Those are two different things, Garrett says. And he argues that as show like Penn and Teller’s Fool Us puts the focus on the wrong thing. It’s not about fooling someone. It’s about allowing people to enjoy something that isn’t real. Garrett calls it abstract performance art. He thinks magic is advanced empathy. A magician understands that the whole performance takes place on the audience’s mind. You have to appreciate the entire canvas. Garrett believes that the future of magical performance is all about being yourself. Copperfield and Chris Angel are playing characters. David Blaine is the first major performer to be himself. In an age where fake realties are everywhere because of technology, authentic reality is going to be increasingly in demand. What did you like about the episode? Jonah really likes Garrett’s emphasis on magic as the central part of any performance before adding things like comedy or music. Tyler liked Garrett sharing that his dyslexia being a central part of his creative life. Garrett says that combining art forms can be tricky. But people don’t usually have ability to multitask. You have to have a cadence to switch between magic and comedy. What do you want to tell our audience? Own it. Whatever your definition of magic is you have to own it. What do you want to ask our audience? What is your definition of magic? Who should we invite on to the show? Tyler Erickson Plugs Garrett is a columnist at Real Magic Magazine. Much of his products are produced by Cosmo Magic

We first came across Allan Hagen on Instagram, which has become a gold mine for finding new magical talent. Allan grew up in Norway which didn’t have much of a magic community. At 9 years of age he found a Norwegian language card magic book. After learning English he discovered magic websites in the early 2000’s and his learning took off. Allan primarily works in card magic. He quickly came to understand that cards are just 52 pieces of paper and have to imbued with meaning by the people using them. He thinks of a deck of cards as being full of limitless possibility. He says that young magicians should start out by learning from the masters. It would be foolish to ignore the classics. Work your way through Card College by Roberto Giobbi. There is enough knowledge there to last a lifetime. Eventually you will discover two or three pieces that resonate with you. That will then help you discover what your strengths are. In order to make your magic resonate you have to make some decisions. What is the plot going to be? Are you going to connect the trick to something in your life? For example, a disappearing card trick could tie into a story of you returning home. Magic has to mean something and it can be transformative without being pretentious. Allen believes that the magic shouldn’t detract from the performance but conversely, the performance shouldn’t detract from the magic. There has to be a balance. Some pieces can be very story heavy while others can be very magic heavy. Sometimes a great trick is just a great trick. But also the story itself can be a trick. Allen points to Derek DelGaudio’s blockbuster show on Broadway as being a great example of this. It’s not exactly a magic show but it is magical. If you have an extremely strong calling or you feel compelled to create something Allan says you have to listen to that calling. No matter what you are doing, whether trying to appeal to the masses or a niche audience you have to be happy with what you are creating. Allan’s best piece advice for new performers is to be authentic on stage. Find commonalities with your audience and connect with them on a human level. So how do you know what good magic is? Allan thinks it really is a matter of taste and is pretty subjective. Nevertheless, he has a few rules of thumb. Is the magic deceptive? That is to say does your trick fool the audience? If the audience isn’t talking about the trick the next day at breakfast the trick has failed. Make sure that your magic airtight. The other questions to ask yourself is whether your trick is entertaining or not. It takes practice and experience to know whether an audience is enjoying something or not. Allan knows that when he is working on new material it’s going to be terrible at first. Every piece takes a while to get the wrinkles ironed out. Allan has a very specific idea about how to practice magic. Practice is a very original thing. You have to find a regimen that’s right for you. How you practice is as much as how much you practice. If you want to read about it you can check out his blog post here. Allan likes to practice late at night with no distractions. He reads through everything to get an overview of how it should work – usually with cards in hand. He then refines the trick and tried to shape it to his own style. Finger placement and angles are usually worked out in this phase. Then he tried to improve the trick through repetition. Don’t do those sleights a thousand times in a row. That’s going to be counterproductive. You should cycle through multiple sleights rather than just one. Then you should let the sleight rest for a day. Let your mind catch-up with the trick. This is how you program your muscle memory. Then you have to rehearse the sleight, perform it and then refine it after each performance. The better a magician gets, the more you will be able to more judiciously pick the kind of audience you want to perform for.   What do you want to tell the audience? Magic, genuinely, has the power to change people’s live. What do you want to ask the audience? After, you perform for someone what would you want that person to remember about you a year later? Plugs Allan Hagen has been working a two phase poker system. He has a book called Serendipity about informal card magic. Allanhagen.com Instagram

Demian Aditya has become world famous because of his insane escape acts. Demian first became interested in magic because of David Copperfield who was on TV regularly in his native Indonesia. He loves doing the things other magicians ignore. The black art of Omar Pasha is one of the styles he first embraced. Later he moved into escapes because they too were being ignored. His escapes are incredibly dangerous. He risks his life because he says it makes him feel alive. Demian feels strongly that the reason his escape act is so powerful is because there is real danger. The audience knows what he is doing is dangerous. That engages them and it’s why they can’t look away. There have been several occasions where he came perilously close to death. On one occasion while rehearsing a trick his own crew was terrified for his safety. Demian took a different lesson from that incident than most people. He thought if he could scare his own crew that much, it would have a huge impact on the audience. While appearing on America’s Got Talent he astonished audience’s with his Buried Alive escape. The problem with his act, in Demian’s view, is that he keeps pushing the bar. Every escape has to be bigger and crazier. He is currently crafting a new escape that includes the use of quick drying cement. Needless to say, the risk for this new trick is higher than ever. When Demian was growing up in Indonesia finding information about magic was extremely difficult. The internet was still in its infancy and so finding good information was hard. Adding to the difficulty was the fact that there were very few working magicians in the country. While in university he met someone who knew a few card tricks. It took Demian a while to convince him to show him the secret to the trick. Then in 2002 he met one of the biggest magicians in the country and he truly began his training. By 2007 he had his own show on Indonesian TV. Demian has used the internet to promote his career right from the start. His YouTube channel was initially just used to promote himself to potential clients. After his first TV show was cancelled he began to use his online presence as his primary ways of communicating with his fans. After his appearance on AGT his Instagram account exploded in popularity. Escape attempts are intimidating for the rookie magician. Demian says you should start small with everyday household objects like duct tape. The audience eventually will need to believe that you are risking your life. You can’t start at that level. You will have to train to get that good and that starts with small escapes first. What did you learn from the episode? Jonah loved that Demian encouraged younger magicians to try escapes at home. Starting small and safely of course. Tyler was impressed with Demian telling young magicians to embrace the fear of failure both on stage and off. Demian says he is trying to do something different than what everyone else is doing. What do you want to tell our audience? Try to think that there is no box. Don’t think outside the box. You’ll still be haunted by the box. Try to think that there is no box at all. You can explore anything. What do you want to ask the audience? If there was one trick or routine that you could master, what would it be? Plugs Demian says you should listen to Discourse in Magic!

We’re really excited to welcome Billy Kidd to the podcast this week. Billy has gone from busking on the streets to performing for sold-out shows around the world. She trained as an actor in Edmonton and was almost totally disinterested in street performing and magic. That is until she saw Nick Nickolas performing at the Edmonton Street Performers Festival nine years ago. She was totally in awe of what he was doing. He guided her to the right books and soon enough made the transition from actor to magician. Billy was soon performing as a busker and that became her finishing school. She eventually made contact with Gazzo who took her under his wing. Billy says he was a hard teacher but he gave her the skills to make money straight away as a street performer. She now splits her time between performing on the street and performing on stage. Billy says that street performing is extremely nerve wracking. Getting a crowd on the street to pay attention to her was the hardest part. She thinks her acting background also gave her a leg up on the competition. Being comfortable in front a crowd came more naturally to her than for other magicians. She also filmed her shows for many years which allowed her to study her performance style. Billy eventually made it onto TV starting with the show Wizard Wars. She calls it the hardest show she has ever had to work on. Billy new that working with a stranger on-stage was going to be very difficult. It proved to be just as hard as she expected though she thinks it was a great learning experience. She also thinks it was the first and only show on TV that showed the creative process of the magician to the viewing audience. She later appeared on the show Breaking Magic. It was a science show dressed up as a magic show. It was a tricky show, she says, because of the balance between those two things. She thinks one of the reasons she got the gig was because she told the producers how bad she was at science. It never occurred to Billy that being a woman in magic made her unique. She still doesn’t think about it that much. Billy also think it matters very little to the audience. She has booked gigs where the agents have been surprised that she was a woman because of her name. Billy added escapes into her act later in her career. She developed her escapes because she was often performing in the same venues as Gazzo who is the master of more traditional tricks like the cups. 40:56 She thinks the escape routine really emphasizes her personality. She deliberately left out many of the elements that other escape artists use like the countdown. It was very much trial and error and many times she was performing for just a handful of people on the street. Nevertheless, she says she has become tired with her straight-jacket routine. Billy labels herself as a comedy magician. She started doing it partly because if the magic isn’t impressing people at least they can laugh. Billy thinks that it is really a category in and of itself. She has never taken herself super-seriously. What questions do you want to ask the audience? Why don’t you perform your magic? What do you want to tell the audience? Stop making the whole female magician thing even a thing. Stop asking. What are your takeaways from the episode? Tyler is impressed that Billy started performing magic almost from the very start of her career. Jonah really liked thinking of busking as being about performing and bringing together an audience. Billy reiterated the importance of going out and performing magic as much as possible. Who should we invite onto the podcast? Richard McDougall

On today’s episode, Mahdi Gilbert joins us to talk about the state of magic and not making excuses. He first got into magic as a little kid despite not having much exposure to it. He didn’t have a TV or internet but he had heard about magicians from other kids at school. His childhood logic was that if he could learn magic he would be able to do anything. Everyone told him that he couldn’t do it because he was so small, had a speech impediment and because he was born without hands. When he was 13 he stumbled across a video of Derren Brown in which he said that everything he was doing through psychology and that was a big breakthrough. Mahdi may not have had hands but he had a mind. A year later he started to create his own effects based on psychic effects like cold reading. He didn’t really have access to magic resources growing. He went to his first magic shop when he was 16. On his 17th birthday, he decided to learn sleight of hand. He didn’t think it was possible but set his mind to that goal. At first he couldn’t cut the cards or do a shuffle or even really pick up a deck. Mahdi didn’t want anyone to feel sorry for him so he practised his tricks alone in the dark after everyone else went to bed. He eventually perfected the art and has now been doing sleight-of-hand for over 10 years. Mahdi spent many hours at Conjuring Arts and considers himself extremely well read. Surrounding himself with magic 24-hours a day was critical in his development. Mahdi has gradually started to shift his attention online including posts on Instagram and his regular email updates from his website. He also recently appeared on Penn and Teller’s Fool Us program. Years ago Uri Geller told him that if you ever get a chance for publicity take it. Mahdi has tried to take that advice to heart. He had been somewhat cautious about TV prior to his appearance. He realized that TV is a great platform to expose his magic to millions of people. Mahdi feels that there isn’t anyone that has really taken online magic to the next level. There is no YouTube magician that is a household name. The internet is big enough that someone could become that. Nobody has cracked it yet. Mahdi thinks that more long-form videos are the way to become that household name. 15-second videos on Instagram aren’t good enough. There isn’t any emotional content where you’re drawn in. Mahdi hates all the fake magic on the internet. Many of the videos have people standing at the wrong angles and reacting as if they’re really seeing a great trick. That said Mahdi does like that there are people doing a lot of high-quality live magic shows like Derek DelGaudio. Magic has been in a bad place and it’s great to see it being revitalized on the stage.   What do you want to ask the audience? Where are you guys buying your clothes? Seriously. What’s going on? PSA For the cost of a coffee each day you can sponsor a magician Who should we have on? Uri Geller What was your favourite part of the episode? Jonah liked the idea the no one has become a breakthrough online magician. Tyler liked hearing about Mahdi’s journey into magic. Mahdi wanted to emphasize that the future of magic is based on emotional connection.  

Lawrence Hass is the Associate Dean of the Magic and Mystery School in Las Vegas. We wanted to invite him on to talk about the theory of magic at its deepest level. Lawrence has a Ph.D. in philosophy and taught the subject for many years. As he was finishing his Ph.D. he happened upon a David Copperfield performance on TV. He immediately started thinking about what Copperfield was doing in a philosophical framework. He likes to explain his insights like this. When you show tricks and toys to non-magicians they tend to be very cool to the performance. As children, we tend to be attracted to magic because of its secret power. The question is: how do we turn tricks into magic? On one level Lawrence wants to educate the audience rather than fool them. This comes down to the difference between a mean trick and something truly magical. It’s all about how you present the trick. For Lawrence transforming the performance space into a collaborative, playful place is the best way to engage the audience. An audience can tell if the performer is into it just for themselves. One of the axioms he teaches his audience is that the fundamental business of any magic show is relationship building. The audience has to trust you enough to lend you their disbelief. A very common effect is borrowing a $1 bill to transform it into $100 bill and then back into a $1. Lawrence created a routine where he takes a blank piece of paper, turns into a bill and then gives the money away. That trick turns the audience’s expectations on its head. It makes sure that the audience doesn’t feel like they are being taken advantage of. Magic is the experience of something impossible. That’s totally different than thinking magic is about tricking people. We are not magical con artists. Experiences of the impossible are about the wonder of making impossible things come to life. Lawrence believes that the audience has been trained to look for the secret methods that magicians use. This has been going on for a very long time. We are never going to be able to get the audience to suspend that train of thought. But Lawrence’s goal is to get them to suspend that for the length the show. “Bust the magician” isn’t the game we’re playing. Magicians take our puzzling attitude and project it on our audiences. That’s not the reason the audience is there. The idea that there is another level to magic than just puzzles and toys is upsetting too many magicians. Lawrence tries to teach people to move from the trickster level to a more sophisticated and artistic way of presenting magic. People learn by copying things from other people as precisely as possible. But it’s not very satisfying for very long. People want to bring something original to what they are learning. Bringing your originality to a bill change is hugely important. Vision comes first. Eugene Berger always asked a question that he would ask his students. “What do you want your magic to be?” The first thing Lawrence would advise magicians to do is to take the best trick in their repertoire and ask a series of questions. Is it original? Does it have something of yourself in it? People will usually find something original in it. It’s already there. You just have to recognize it. Lawrence befriended Eugene Burger over 25 years ago. They were both Philosophy professors and became fast friends. Eugene taught Lawrence that magic could be performed in an intelligent and accessible manner. It was an art form that could be performed for adults. Tricks are about props but magic is about our lives. He left an incredible legacy of books which will help everyone to become more effective magicians. A new book that Lawrence wrote with Eugene called Teaching Magic will be released in late October. What did you learn this episode? Jonah really loved the idea of changing from a lover of puzzles to a lover of performance. Tyler learned that avoiding the distractions and putting in the work is key to success. Lawrence says you don’t have to do anything new you just have to make your best material even better. Who should we have on the episode? Jeff McBride What do you want to tell our audience? Magic can be a great art. People need art and they need magic. Keep reaching for better magic. What do you want to ask our audience? What is the primary thing in your life that is interfering with your ability to craft a great piece of magic?

You know him from his incredibly popular videos The BC Shuffle and The Instagram Sessions. Jeremy Griffith has popularized social media magic in a way no one else has. His start in magic was similar to many people – an uncle bought him a magic set when he was just a kid. His dad had been a magician’s assistant when he was young and booked Jeremy into a magic class when he was in middle school. In high school, he attended the West Coast Wizards magic camp for four years in a row. From there he dropped out of magic. But when he turned 30 he got back into it with Instagram providing a gateway. Jeremy works very seldom as a professional magician. He runs the family software company with his twin brother as his day job. Jeremy has developed a new way of performing magic online. And along the way, he has devised a philosophy about how to become successful in the online world. One of those is an emphasis on consistency. You can’t let up for a month and expect everyone to come back. The other lesson is that you have to remain creative and not rest on your laurels. Because Instagram video only allows 15-second uploads that don’t leave you with a lot of time. Everything you do has to be flashy. Instagram is a very cool and simple platform. Jeremy chose to use Instagram only because it fit well into his busy life. He doesn’t think that’s necessarily the best model for everyone. There is a misnomer about performing on the internet that it’s easier. But that’s not the case. Because the audience is so sophisticated about video editing it’s more difficult to create a believable effect online. Jeremy ran into this problem right away when he was uploading pictures and videos of effects that could easily be explained with Photoshop. It takes a while to build up the trust with your audience that your effects are real. If your audience thinks that you are faking it you lose all sense of trust. A perfect example of this is the Jibrizy controversy. Jeremy thinks using technology to achieve an effect makes it much harder for other magicians to succeed online because the audience is becoming more cynical. He thinks that the magic community should be working to both maintain and raise the bar in terms of quality. Jeremy has had a number of opportunities to pursue endorsements. He is totally independent. But he has the luxury of having a whole separate career. Because of that, he became a purist about sponsored content. He has a clear conscience whenever he posts anything because he knows no one paid him to say it. If you are going to promote something you should be using it. If it’s not something you know and love, you’re just selling out. That said it is possible to do sponsored magic successfully and honesty. Jeremy says if you are going to go down that road you have to find a way that doesn’t diminish your intrinsic value. Jeremy has designed several decks of cards. Vitreous was a labor of love for Jeremy. Recently, his father passed away and the deck is a way to honor his Dad. The deck looks like a piece of stained glass. Jeremy studied theology for many years and he based the deck on the stained glass he saw while visiting the Nantes Cathedral. The other deck is the Royal Reserve which is based on the Republic No. 2 Deck. What do you want to ask our audience? Is there anything that still makes you feel that magical moment? What do you want to tell the audience? Don’t give up on that Ferrari! We’re facing a lot of challenges. Magic ebbs and flows but don’t give up on that moment. What was your favorite part of the episode? Jonah was really moved by Jeremey’s story of designing a deck of cards to honor his father. Tyler was inspired by the idea of shaping an Instagram presence by using the restrictions of the medium. Jeremy liked the idea of always interacting with the world you’re in. You’re not alone or in a bubble. Who should we have on the show? Demian Aditya The 4 gigs in 4 days Challenge: If you haven’t signed up yet. Make sure to do it before October 3rd. You can head here to do that. It’s time for you to learn how to book 4 gigs in 4 days. Hundreds of magicians have already joined. Come be a part of it before it’s too late! Click here to take the challenge

Jeremy Hanrahan is renowned in the magic community for his secret identity as @GaffGuy52. He started early and became completely obsessed. At first, he was a sleight of hand expert before he moved into gaffing. He started his career selling his gaff decks to Morrisey Magic in Toronto. Then, his decks quickly became hugely in demand. That lead to a 3000 deck order from Theory 11. He likes to think of himself as the Henry Ford of gaff manufacturing. That’s because he doesn’t just sit down and create one card – he’ll create a thousand in a regimented way. That means he can split a thousand cards in about three or four hours. Jeremy’s early performance style was more confused than anything. But he eventually became better and better. The Invisible Deck is one of his favourite tricks, and he makes them FAST! He can create about 300 invisible decks in a single day, so trying to explain to people what he does for a living is difficult. When he tries to people that he splits cards in order to insert a piece of steel he gets blank looks. He has settled on telling people that he is a “consultant”. Jeremy finds that keeping the tricks secret is not that difficult. That said, he will talk about what he is working on with some fellow magicians. But he never asks them about the actual tricks they will be performing. That’s because he wants plausible deniability. Because of that, there is a close comradery among Jeremy and other gaffers. According to Jeremy, there is no competition in the gaffing market place. It’s just a matter of finding people that can do what he does. He can count on his hand the number of people that can make the gaffs he does. But he really feels lucky to have stumbled into this business. It was a slow process. He had to figure out how to build the gaffs and then figure out how to make thousands of them at a time. Jeremy is something like the Batman of the magic world. “Gaff Guy” is Jeremy’s secret identity. He has had people ask him if he knows Gaff Guy. Jeremy always says no. He gets asked a lot by young magicians about how to create a gaff. He has a number of videos on his Instagram that illustrate the process. If you want to get good you will have to do it thousands of times. The question is whether you actually want to devote that much time to the process. For me, buying them in bulk is much more worth my time. Considering there’s people like Jeremy who LOVE it! Jeremy left a pretty good field of work to do this. If somebody had told him a few years ago that he would be doing this for a living he would have laughed. But after a health scare, his wife told him to pursue gaffing full time. The support of Penguin Magic and Theory 11 has been huge for him. He’s seen his cards on many platforms, from the Tonight Show to America’s Got Talent. He gets a huge thrill from seeing his stuff used. Of course, he’s not allowed to tell anybody. What magician should we have on the podcast? Nicholas Lawerence Kevin Reylek Jeremy Griffith What do you want to tell other magicians? Stop disrespecting people in forums and on social media. It’s a total waste of time. What question do you have for our audience? What type of gaffs would you like to see out there?  

Steve Reynolds is a renowned New Orlean’s card magician who is obsessed with keeping the history of magic alive. Steve first got into magic as a kid growing up outside of Philadelphia. He was about seven years old when he wrote a book report on Houdini. Later, someone gave him the book How to Do Tricks with Cards which fit perfectly for him because he was already fascinated by cards. When he was 15, he got a subscription to Genii Magazine and through that he bought a Brother John Hamman tape. From that moment on he became obsessed. It was when Steve performed “The Twins” trick for his father and grandfather that he understood the power of magic. Because the reaction from his family was so powerful he began to dissect the psychology of that trick. He couldn’t understand why people reacted the way they did. The phrase “the magic happens in minds of the observer” really hit home for him. Eventually, he began to experiment with how far he could go with subtlety. It was then that he began to fuse together his ideas into what became The Monks Way. Steve has managed to integrate the psychology of the audience into the methodology of his magic. Moreover, Steve believes that a lot of magicians treat technique as the effect. In Steve’s opinion, the technique is there to service the effect. Steve realized early that he wasn’t going to be able to learn everything. John Hamman became a mentor to him as a young person and Steve feels strongly that he wants to continue what his predecessors originated. He wants to share that material with as many people as possible. Steve was once asked, “how long does it take you to learn a trick”. He answered that it could take as much as ten years. You have to be willing to put the time in. For example, look at Ed Marlo. He had a full-time job, a wife, and kids and was still able to revolutionize 20th-century card magic. But if you say you don’t have the time to learn, Steve isn’t buying it. He adds that young magicians need to recognize that it’s going to take a long time. You have to be happy doing it by yourself. Don’t be so over eager to share it with other people. Be happy learning it. But Steve doesn’t have a step-by-step advice about how to become a magician. He just did it. He was full of passion and obsessed with learning. Steve remembers how difficult it was to find information when he was younger. Steve finds that there are a lot of young magicians that have the right attitude about magic. But many people are stuck in a bubble of performing only for their friends. In fact, Steve thinks that if they step out of that bubble and perform for a real audience they are going to be in for a rude awakening. What did you learn this episode? Jonah learned that you have to pick something and really focus on something. He really wants to focus on particular influences and to totally understand the magicians that really resonate with him. Tyler learned that he is thankful for the mentors that have shaped him. You have to love every aspect of magic. And you have to love the practice. Steve encourages everyone to remember that magic is about the audience and creating relationships. Who should we have on next? John Racherbaumer What do magicians need to know? This is about the audience. Moves are not tricks. They are tools. Listen to your audience. Plugs Steve is beginning to compile Marlow material that was unpublished. He is working on a book called Marlo Speaks. The book will be based on audio tapes of Marlow explaining six tricks. SteveReynoldsMagic.com

Zack Mirza has created a remarkable career both as a professional animator and a magician. He has animated a variety of children’s programs and his magic career was featured in the OLN series Illusion of Grandeur. He has combined both those passions in a Kickstarter campaign to create his own unique deck of cards featuring characters based on Arabic folklore. In this episode we discussed Zack’s unique creative process and his love of the art of magic. Zack first got into magic when he was a young child. He saw a magician perform at a carnival in London, Ontario and he quickly became obsessed. It was his grandfather was someone that loved magic and pranks. That attitude to life became deeply ingrained in Zack. Zack is a natural introvert and he kept his magic practice mostly to himself. His coming out began when famous football player Pinball Clemmons saw him performing some tricks on a basketball court. Pinball took Zack with him to a variety of school presentations and that was the start of his career. Magic is always at the forefront of Zack’s life. Zack has spent much of the last year performing as much as possible. He was the resident magician at The Drake Hotel. He has taken some time off to get back to the nitty gritty of learning and mastering new tricks. For Zack magic is not just magic, there’s an art to it. He works as a professional animator and he finds that there is a lot of overlap between the two fields. Animation is the illusion of life and magic is almost exactly the same thing. It’s a natural parallel because you’re crafting your own reality. His TV show Illusions of Grandeur was a perfect example of right place and right time. He had met a few people in the television industry that liked his online videos. Zack emphasized that his success didn’t happen overnight. There were many years of working on his material and being very proactive. Once you’re doing something that you feel very strongly about the right pathways are going to open up for you. Illusions of Grandeur is a very real magic reality show. The show went to the core of someone trying to achieve a goal. What drives a person to master their craft? Zack has just Kickstarted his deck, The Jinni Deck. Zack got the idea for the deck because he wanted to translate his love of art into a deck. He wanted to create something that had a demonic bent to it. But Zack loves the film Aladdin and was inspired to model his deck on the folklore of the traditional Jinn. He took the Arabian folklore and turned it into a whole fictional world. Zack thinks the exposure of magic right now has made magic trendy once again. But he thinks that being passionate about the art is what makes it appealing to people. He also thinks that being honest and authentic is the only way to be successful. Zack’s advice to younger magicians is that you have to be in love with what you do in order for it be successful. He thinks a lot of people have a convoluted idea about what they want to accomplish. And a great work ethic is hugely importantly. Zack believes you have to be OK with baby steps. Setting yourself realistic goals is also very important. What do you want to tell the magic world? Be authentic. That’s the name of the game. Be you. What’s the one question you have for the audience? Do you prefer the TV magician or the social media magician? What did you learn? Jonah liked was how chill Zack was about his failures. Tyler really appreciated hearing about the design and creation about the Jinni deck. Zack loves the creative process and where it can take you. Recommended guest Dan White Plugs Jinni Deck ZackMirza.com @ZackMirza Snapchat and Instagram

Harrison Greenbaum is the hardest working man in comedy and magic. His unique act has landed him slots on Last Comic Standing and America’s Got Talent. His career started early first as a stand-up comic who occasionally used magic in his sets when the jokes weren’t landing. He was encouraged to focus just on the comedy but by the time he graduated college he decided that he wanted to combine the two. Harrison just completed his first tour with The Illusionists one of the largest magic promotions in the world. That success coincided with his appearance in the current season of AGT. He is also obsessed with getting a Netflix special which he is relentlessly promoting with his I Want a Netflix Special website. Harrison is now performing as many as 700 shows a years, which is an astonishing number. He admits to us that many of those shows are sometimes just fifteen minute sets at a comedy club – which allows him to do three or four shows a night. Harrison also does a large number of shows in the independent circuit including a recent show that took place in the middle of Central Park in New York. He is a firm believe that young comedians and magicians should do as many shows as possible. Failing is the most important part of getting good. He has been lucky enough to work with some of his comedic heroes like Louis C.K. He was particularly inspired when he watched Louis work out his latest MSG special night after night at the Comedy Cellar. America’s Got Talent is a huge platform and Harrison found the experience extremely difficult. The audition process included waiting for up to twelve hours before performing. In subsequent rounds the wait was just as long with the added stress of having cameras constantly filming. The one frustrating thing is having your performance heavily edited before it made it to air. The old joke is that if you do comedy magic you’re probably not that good at either. Harrison totally recognises that a huge amount of comedy magic is brutal. Harrison has some pretty firm ideas about how to perform magic. Most people go to the magic store, buy a trick and then figure out some way to jam it into an act. Harrison does it exactly the opposite. He comes up with an idea first then develops a trick. There are certain rote jokes that every magician does in every set. We discuss the problem of people following tends or even stealing material form one another. Harrison recognizes that people can come up with the same idea independently. Nevertheless, he is a firm believer that performers should focus on material that is truly surprising and original. We love to discuss the creative process. Harrison’s process is all about output. He tries to come up with as many crazy ideas as possible and then follows through on them. Sometimes that doesn’t work but when they do click it becomes a truly original idea. Over time the audience is always going to tell what is working and what isn’t. If your joke isn’t working it’s because the comparison isn’t right. Comparing apples to apples isn’t funny but comparing apples to pirates is. Recommendations When Harrison was in collegein Boston he loved to attend the Mystery Lounge. One of the performers there is Mike Bent who is also a professor of comedy at Emerson. Bent famously had a prop-off between himself and Carrot Top. Lessons My big takeaway is Harrison’s advice to develop material premise first. Tyler loved Harrison’s focus and drive. Harrison’s main takeaway is that he needs a Netflix special. Harrison says it’s hugely important to go break stuff – be willing to fail. Plugs http://HarrisonGreenbaum.com http://www.harrisonmagic.com/ http://iwantanetflixspecial.com/

Our guest this week is Glenn West. Glenn is a fantastic magician who started his love affair with magic after being introduced to the craft by his father. Magic is constant presence in his life though he is not a working magician. Instead, he works as an animator in film and television. Glenn’s magic is very visual and in your face and has a huge ‘wow’ factor. His love of magic is directly related to his passion for film. In this episode Glenn, Tyler and I talk about the morality of magic. Specifically, whether its right to lie to a crowd. Glenn alludes to the Penn and Teller school of thought on this question. The audience should never leave a show believing in something about the world that isn’t true. The difference between creating illusions on screen and illusions in a magic performance is that there is a willing suspension of disbelief in the cinema that may not exist in a magic show. Glenn believes that magic occurs in the mind of the audience. Glenn thinks that magic is a free market and protecting tricks is difficult when it takes tons of money to protect your intellectual property. That impulse to protect our IP contrasts markedly with cardistry which is very open source. Our chat shifted to a conversation about how the coming automation revolution is going to wipe out large sectors of the economy. I talked about the example of Wolfram Alpha, a computational search engine that has become so good it has rendered computational mathematicians largely obsolete. Glenn believes that careers based on artistry and creativity will be among the few that will survive in the future. Magic being one of them. (So long as society doesn’t collapse) Technology has also changed the way young people are learning magic. Most of us saw a trick when we were young and then went out and bought a magic book. Now younger magicians go straight to YouTube. This has presented a huge opportunity for magicians. I think there is a new land grab underway in spaces like Instagram Stories and Snapchat. Whoever gets there first is going to create an entirely new and very different career. But does that mean you have to focus more on quantity over quality? Recommendations We have had most of Glenn’s friends on the podcast already but after pressing him he suggested we reach out Xavier Spade who we all agree has been doing some really interesting stuff. Lessons I continue to rant about the importance of creating as much content on as many platforms as possible. Tyler thinks the conversation about the suspension of disbelief in film as compared to stage magic was particularly compelling. Glenn, meanwhile, found the conversation about Instagram Stories and other social media inspiring Plugs Glenn’s passion project A Series of Unfortunate Effects combined his love of filmmaking and magic. He demands that you all watch it immediately. facebook.com/MagicByWest twitter.com/MagicByWest

In episode 69 we sit down with cardist Anna DeGuzman to talk magic, cardistry, content creation and much much more! Anna knows a TON about cardsitry and it’s place online. Cardistry seems to have grown alongside the growth of social media in the past few years. It was massive on Youtube (it still is), but then with the eruption of Instagram, that’s where many cardists live in a 2017 space. Cardistry is visual, short, doesn’t requite audio, looks just as good for a camera as it does live (if not better. I think the growth of cardsitry is very tightly linked with how we consume on social media.) Of course when we chat about magicians and social media the obvious topic of theft and crediting comes up. In this episode Anna walks us through what crediting is like in cardistry, and why it’s not frowned upon to do someones move before they released it Cardistry is an open source art form, which allows it to grow much faster than magic. In magic there are secrets, so it grows slowly, in the backs of magic stores and pizza places. Which is what led us to talk about content creation. Today it’s a MUST! Especially if you want to amass a following, or reap benefits in the online world. Right now, so many people have sharability and virality to thank for their success. If you want to jump into the world of cardistry check out Annas Page Do yourself a favour and START MAKING CONTENT Contact Instagram Youtube Twitter

In episode 68 we sit down with long time friend Jason Dean. We’ve known Jason since back in the Sorcerers Safari days, and have been pumped to get him on the show. Jason is a rockstar magician. He is a rockstar – The drummer for Sidewise; a crazy metal band, as well as an accomplished and creative magician. Jason dives in with us to ways that you can benefit as a magician even if it isn’t your career. It’s so important that we get value out of magic, instead of magic getting the value out of us (being exploited by the magic retailers of the world). In this episode Jason walks us through some stories from the road, and how he’s used magic to his benefit. You can use it to meet important people, get invited to high profile events, and eventually work with your heros. One of the major themes in the episode is to remember how amazing what we do is, and to not forget that what we do is a real gift We also talk about the value of failure, the overlap of being in a band and being a working magician, and the question: is it harder to make it as a band or as a magician. Jason seems to think that it’s a band, and I totally agree. My reasoning was the volume of the competition out there. His argument was it’s 6x as hard to work with a team of 6 than a team of 1. Then we get really deep. Have you ever struggled with multiple passions? Jason walks us through what it’s like to pick one passion over another. Sometimes it’s difficult when other people identify you as something that you stop identifying with. “Jason the Magician” was gone, but “Jason the Drummer” was here to stay. It was nice to talk to someone who still benefits from magic without being a full time performer. Jason Dean is someone who makes magic cool, he makes it accessible, and he wants to make a massive impact with his work. If you haven’t yet check out his penguin Live Lecture Or feel free to reach out on social media. Leave a comment with what you thought (especially of the Juan Tamariz story at the end) Contact Website – Sidewise Facebook – Jason Dean Twitter – Jason Dean Instagram

In episode 67 we sat down with the very brilliant Michael Feldman. Michael is a full time Lawyer as well as a recognized magician. He performs and creates fantastic magic that’s as knuckle-busting as it is baffling. We spoke to Michael about his journey in magic, specifically his unlikely path the Lawyer/ magician. With a love for creating and being on stage, and a slow reduction of free time. He decided that the best most enjoyable way to spend his few non law focused hours on magic. First we spoke about giving and taking advice. Michael like many magicians believes it is our duty to help bad performers become better performers. It is however important that we make sure they want our feedback and criticism before we give it to them. The more bad magic we remove from this world the better all of magic becomes. Sometimes, there are sensitive topics for magicians that might be hard to help them get better. A fun example is magicians shuffling cards during a magic show. A BIG HUGE NO-NO No shuffling, no holding, no anything. You’re an audience member, we get that it’s your fidget spinner, but it’s just not the time. Then we dove into the land of magic law. [cue the Law and Order music] To make a long story short: magic may very well be copywritable…. but you wouldn’t want to be in court trying to prove it. Which means it’s up to us magicians to self police theft at our discretion (You can go as crazy as the Jerx protecting his book) Finally we spoke about Michaels New book: “A New Angle” It’s available, its beautiful, and I’m going to get one. For more info about Michael hit up his website or Social Below Contact Website Facebook Twitter Instagram

In episode 65 of Discourse in Magic we sit down with old friend Ryan Edwards. We’ve known Ryan from once again, Sorcerers Safari, but we wanted to introduce him to all of you and give you a chance to get TOP NOTCH magic tools! Ryan does it all! He’s written and performed two of his own magic shows. He’s advised and built props for top magicians around the world, and he most importantly he handcrafts tools (wallets, card clips, close up pads) for magicians looking to up their magic style at REhandcraftered.com We started by chatting with him about his alternate path into magic. Ryan had an interest in magic, but the thing that helped get him noticed was his crafting skills. He was found on the scene because of a custom card clip that he made for himself. After attending a large magic convention it all started. Endless demands from the magic community; an inbox full of request for their own hand crafter products. With that, he launched his very successful business. Here’s the twist. He’s not just a great craftsman. He’s a fantastic magician too! Probably because he brings the same dedication to his show as he does his craftsmanship. All to help him craft an amazing show! Just hearing him chat about the steps he took to have a successful show, makes it clear that he’s amongst the pros. We discuss the importance of scripting, show design, and how to make sure that you’re doing a great job. If you’re in the process of making your own show you’ll like this episode. If you want to be inspired to do something different with your magic, you’ll really like this episode. Ryan has worked with friend of the podcast Patrick Kun, as well as advising for Steven Brundage during his run on AGT. Ryan’s one of the guys who’s spent his years behind the scenes, crafting materials and sharing his ideas. Now that he’s been creating and producing his own shows, I think we’re going to see much more of him on the scene. Let’s chat about what Ryan is known best for: His hand crafted materials. Ryan makes Close-up pads, card clips and everything in between for close up magicians looking to up the style of their most important tools. He’s created things for Teller, for David Copperfield, and he’s even made a close-up pad for me…. AND I LOVE IT! There’s very few people that do what he does…. and boy does he do a great job! If you’re looking for a handcrafted close-up pad, card clip, wallet, or ANYTHING. Ryan is your guy. You can check it out at : REhandcrafted.com I usually put contact info…. But just Go to the website. They’re gorgeous!!!!!

Not all hero’s wear capes, and not all magicians live on the stage. Some can be found sitting at the table at the magic shop, shuffling cards, or creating some new magic. Jeff was an important character in the Toronto magic scene who had an impact on the on two young budding Toronto magicians (Tyler and I). He was at the magic store, at magic camp, and in all of the big time Toronto magic circles. One day we found out that Jeff quit magic. I know… I performed tricks that he had invented. Had been inspired watching him lecture, jammed alongside him, and now he was quitting magic? It didn’t make sense. Well since then 3 great things happen. Jeff Came back to magic after many years of separation. The Toronto magic community rejoiced. He started working at the magic store again, bringing all that is right back to the universe He joined us to talk about his expirience on episode 64 of the podcast. If you’ve ever experienced falling out of love with magic, this episode might strike a chord with you, and might help you fall back into love We walk through the reasons why he left, why he’s back, and what you can take from that. All artists have experienced some distaste for what they do at some point in their careers and I thought it would be interesting to address those emotions and experiences dead on. When you fall in love with magic, your whole life becomes magic. While I don’t know what you personally might struggle with, I know that everyone struggles with something. If what you need it a break from magic, take it. If what you need is more inspiration, FIND IT! Whatever you need, you can take something valuable from Jeff in this episode. Another reason why I loved this episode was because Jef walked us through aspects of Toronto’s magic scene that he admired before, and that brought him back, more recently. Things like the Browsers Den and Sorcerers Safari, which come up on the podcast often have had a huge roll in the development of magicians in Toronto. It was nice to once again dive in deep with a local magician, and give listeners an opportunity to get a taste of what it’s like to be a young magician in Toronto. At the end of the episode we tackle a more hard hitting issue: Why does Jeff like “Oil and Water” so much? He walks us through why he thinks it’s great. Let me know what you think of the episode, it would mean the world. If you’re looking for something to do next time you’re in Toronto why not head to the Browsers Den of Magic to go see Jeff!

In episode 63 of the podcast we sit down wit Mark Calabrese to talk about what it takes to make it in magic. Mark is an incredibly accomplished performer. With multiple baffling card effects released on the magic market, as well as appearances on Wizard Wars and Penn and Teller Fool us. In this episode we broke down just that. We broke down his journey into full time magic, and his journey on those fantastic magic shows. We started with his Penn and Teller Fool Us performance. What looked like a really cool act was secretly a directional nightmare. Without spoiling what happens all I can say is the finished product on video is NOTHING like what actually happened in the studio that day. We’ve had a few guests walk us through the behind the scenes of some of the shows that they’ve been on but this was probably the most surprising. He also walked us through his Wizard Wars performance. We learned once again that there’s more than what we see on the final product. Mark wasn’t entirely pleased with what happened behind the curtain and you can hear all about it in the episode. Finally we chat about what it takes to make it as a magician through word of mouth. It takes quality, it takes not cutting corners, it takes being awesome, and going the extra mile. As a magician it’s not that hard to go the extra mile. Stay an extra hour at the event you’re performing at, or make sure that every last table sees you do magic. It’s little things like that which go a long way. Anyways, I’m not going to spoil the whole episode. You have to listen to it to find out! If you do, let me know what you think about it in the comments below!

In this episode we sit down with Canadian Comedy Magic Icon Matt Disero. Matt is a hilarious Canadian comedy magician, who has made his way up through the comedy circuit. Sitting down with Matt in person it gave us an opportunity to really interact, dig deep, and touch on some of the important nuances of comedy magic. I first found Matt when he was part of James Alan’s Toronto show: “Magic Tonight” Little did I know that Matt’s a Toronto Magic Comedy Icon! In the episode we got advice in both the performance and technical aspects of comedy magic, as well as some more business related aspects. For example Matt gives us clear instructions on how to deliver a joke: Stop all movement on the punch line. You may want to repeat the set-up or the premise multiple times (like Chris Rock is known for) to make sure everyone is on the same page. The punchline however, needs to be delivered at a stop point. In terms of business we also learned a ton from Matt! Being a magician in the stand-up comedy is tough. I’m not referring to writing jokes, I’m talking about the cut throat industry. Sometimes magicians are told that this specific comedy show does not bring magicians on. That can be incredibly unfortunate. However, Matt Disero is a pro performer who does not get bogged down my sour comedy establishments. He’s performed at corporate events, cruises, private events all over! Plus he’s going to be performing at the magic castle in LA! Check out this clip of Matt! One of the best parts of chatting with Matt is he’s someone who’s been through the comedy and magic circuit in Toronto. He’s been a part of institutions such as Yuk Yuks, Harper’s and other important staples for Comedy and Magic in Toronto! If you want all the goodies from the episode, the best way to do it is to listen to it! If you want to catch more Matt Disero you can either find out where to catch him on tour, or check out some of his social medias to keep up to date! Contact Facebook Twitter Instagram Website

We brought on expert mentalist, hypnotist and rockstar entertainer Spidey. If you haven’t seen Spidey on Youtube, Facebook, or on TV you might have seen him at your local theatre. Guzzo Cinemas in Montreal to be exact. That’s how Spidey got his first pocket of fame. After many years of performing Spidey spun a deal with the theatre owner that he would make videos that play before the movies (instead of those quiz shows). The videos would always be changing, and continue to drive people to the movie theatre. It turned out to be a great success. Not only did Spidey become an icon of Montreal, but his reach started to spread. Wizard Wars, Americas Got Talent, Penn and Teller Fool Us, and other major Television shows. Check out this cool spider: Having Spidey on the podcast was fun for me (Jonah) since every time I performed in his city, people would mention him by name and that he was at the movie theatre. It wasn’t until recording this episode that I fully understand what everyone meant. Spidey gives us the exact approach he’s used to get to where he is. Everything from having a manager to having great material, Spidey puts it all on the table. He seems to work with the best in the business at some of the best events in the world. Now is the time to find out how he did it (and how you can do it too) If you know who Spidey is, this episode will help you understand how he got to all of the amazing places he is today. If you don’t know who Spidey is, it’s time to tune in, and find out. Either way, you’re going to learn a thing or two from this episode Enjoy Contact Facebook Twitter Instagram Website

In this episode we sit down with Marc Kerstein. If you haven’t used, or been fooled by one of Marcs magic apps, you’ve missed out. Marc is THE iphone magic app guy, and has been brought on to consult on multiple TV series including David Blaine’s most recent special. This is what I’m talking about: How did the effect work? Marc did it. YUP. So now it’s time to tune into the episode. ….. How do you make a magic app? I don’t know. But we asked Marc in the episode, and he walked us through what his creative process is like, which was pretty helpful. I mean, I didn’t expect to know after he told me. You need to know how to code, which I do not. Marc does it by drawing inspiration from the worlds of magic and the worlds of technology. It’s sort of obvious when you think about it, but it’s important. It’s important that he stands out because he’s combining his interests. The things that are going to make our magic different are the same things that make us different. If you have an interest in VR, try to pair that with magic. Maybe you have an interest in theatre, pair that with magic. If you love charities, pair that with magic. Using magic + your talent or magic + your interest is a great basis for uniqueness and originality. One of the most exciting aspects of the episode is we touch on some of the difficulties of technology magic. There are some apps that are basically card tricks in the app, which is backwards. There are some apps, where it’s obvious that technology is behind the work. Just because you’re using technology doesn’t mean you abandon all of the important psychology that usually goes into magic tricks. For example everyone thinks every single app magic trick is done with voice recognition. As an app creator you have to make sure people don’t thing that it’s voice recognition. Even when it isn’t voice recognition. There’s so much that goes into making these apps. It takes the ideas, the creation, the design, the coding and the scaling to hundreds of users. All of which Marc does on his own. 1000 True Fans I mentioned a concept in the article that I think is supper important for magicians, artists or entrepreneurs. It’s written by a man named Kevin Kelly. It’s very short read (3 min) that will change the wya you think about being an artist. 1000 True Fans Where Can I Find Marc’s apps If you do magic, enjoy mentalism, and own an Iphone WHAT ARE YOU DOING NOW OWNING ANY OF MARCS APPS! Click here and start exploring You’re welcome Contact Website  

In this episode we had the pleasure of interviewing our friend Suzanne. We met Suzanne at Sorcerers Safari (RIP) last summer! Suzanne is an expert restaurant magician. To be a great restaurant magician you have to be good at more than just magic. You need to be able to work well with people. Be a part of team. And make sure your spectators are both seen and heard. Suzanne taught us a thing or two about compassion. Let’s start with when you’re actually getting the restaurant gig. She teaches us not to promise that we’re going to bring in people. But to let our actions speak for themselves! It’s important to find a venue that truly understands the value of regular magic. Whether that’s because they’ve worked with a performer before, or because you can convince them the value. It’s important that you both know why you’re there. For us as magicians it’s important that we remember we’re not there to show off our own ability. We need to be a valuable part of the team, and we need to be a chameleon when it comes to helping the restaurant in the waitstaff If that means we have to run to table 6 to perform for 10 minutes to stall the drink order coming out, then that is what we have to do to be most valuable. Maybe it means we have to stand by the front and performance for the guests who are waiting for their reservation and getting antsy. Magic is such a fascinating and valuable tool in a restaurant. Treat it like one! We are there to make sure the guests have a great time and return. But we’re also there to help the restaurant bring people in, order food and drinks, and turn over the tables. Then Suzanne teaches us how to work with the audience. Suzanne’s style is with caring. Just like before, performing is not all about us. We need to be able to feel the vibes of the table. Anything from the table who’s there to party, to the one there to grab a bite to eat after their mother’s funeral. It is our job to make sure that the customers are seen and heard. Sometimes that means hearing them say that they do not want to see us perform. But sometimes, it means they should have the starring role in your magic. The dining experience is all about being served: You’re served food made specifically for you. From a waiter that was designated to serve you. Then the magician comes over to your table and explains how he’s the most magical person in the world??????????? Something doesn’t fit!!!!! How about this: The magician comes to your table and shows you why YOU are the most magical person the world, or this is the most magical evening in the world! Anything but being all about the magician!! As Suzanne puts it, it’s all about caring. Actually listening to others. Hearing them. Actually paying attention to what they say. And responding accordingly I thought this was a fantastic episode.It was full of love and full of compassion. The way to Magic should be! Contact Website Facebook Twitter  

It’s been a long time coming to get my good friend Morgan Pierce to join us on the podcast. Morgan is a wildly talented magician turned financial advisor from Kingston, Ontario who joined us to chat about finances and limiting beliefs. If you want to better understand what you’re worth, listen to Morgan talk. He’s one of the only guys who can QUICKLY put things in a way that changes the way you think about yourself. Here’s an example from the episode. When Morgan was explaining how to price yourself he asked us: “How much would you charge to stand there and do nothing for an hour”. That question itself made me think about raising my price, since I deliver much more value performing than I do standing there doing nothing. Using the example that I would need to be payed at least $100/ hour to absolutely nothing, how much does that mean I’m worth to do something great!! All of a sudden my worth just went up, because of a change in my own mindset! The other fantastic thing about Morgan is he’s obsessed with how we think. Which means he’s often talking about limiting beliefs instead of tactics, mindsets instead of “hacks”. Since everything we do flows from the inside out, making sure you have a positive outlook, and setting yourself up for success are really important. Like anything difficult, you have to go into it with the right mindset. In Episode 55 we finally dove into talking about money. Since Morgan is a financial advisor, I thought asking him for some standard financial advice for a magician would be helpful. It turns out, it was VERY helpful. Things like insurance for what we do is incredibly important which I wouldn’t have thought of. But also he gave us tips as to how to track what you do, and why that makes such a difference. Most importantly when chatting about money, one of the important themes is tracking. Having a metric to track, allows you to really understand where you’re at, where you were, and where you’re headed. If you know how much money you NEED to make, how much you usually make, and what your expenses are. Its much easier to make more, than if you’re purely guessing everything. Find a way to track your income, and expenses to make sure you’re paying yourself first, putting the right amount of money into savings, back into your business, and making sure you are being responsible! While the episode was mostly about money and limiting beliefs we did touch on a few other ideas that are worth mentioning. The first is a New York Times article about recognizing patterns. Since so much of what we do is pattern recognition. I really love the article since it demonstrates the only way to learn a pattern. https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2015/07/03/upshot/a-quick-puzzle-to-test-your-problem-solving.html (Do what I do and send it to girls when they say they don’t want to go out with you) Another thing that we spoke about is engaging with your audience and performing the magic that they asks for. As a performer it’s our job to serve our audience best. Which is what will allow us to charge what we’re worth. As Pat Flynn says: your income is the metric which measures how well you serve your audience. If we can learn over time what it is that our audience wants, then we should make magic that fulfills what they ask for (I wouldn’t want to play cards with you, can you make my wife disappear, etc…). The better you get at serving your audience the more income you can expect. It’s a equal balance of impact and income. Overall, if you’ve ever had trouble with pricing yourself, it’s worth listening to the episode, even just for a philosophical reboot. Lastly, our free course “Fantastic Gigs and Where to Find Them” starts May 1st. If you cares about getting booked more be a part of our free 5 day course. If you want to get involved head to ****{COURSE CLOSED} Contact Facebook Linkedin Twitter Instagram

In episode 52 we chat with our first guest of “motivation month”. The point of the month is to give you the motivation you need to get off of your ass and start fighting gigs. They’re out there, you just have to find them. In thus episode we interview Brian Miller, who snaps us back to reality to explain hot to book some gigs: Website Business Card Google Thats it! But it takes days of hard work. He also gave us a fantastic tip for people starting out Restaurants As Brian put it, lets say you want to advertise on google. You have to pay money for a dozens of people to see you every day. With restaurant magic they pay you for dozens of people to see you every day! It’s a no brainer. With a good website, a good business card, and a constant flow of fresh leads (restaurants, google, email lists, phone numbers) there is no reason why you shouldn’t have gigs rolling in! If you enjoyed Brian’s interview you might also enjoy his vlogs! Here’s the most recent video about his upcoming tour: Otherwise all of the gems are in the episode! Brian packs it full of tips for magicians at many levels in their careers from those who are just starting out, to those who need just a few more gigs. The last thing that Brian spoke about is finding your market. I think this is such an important point that magicians seem to thing doesn’t apply to them. PICK A MARKET AND OWN IT!!! If you want to contact Bryan check out any of his social medias below Contact Website Facebook Twitter Youtube Instagram

Boo Ya everybody! We made it to Episode 52! To celebrate we invited over four of our closest Toronto magic friends to talk about the Toronto magic community. Before I dive into the content of the episode I just want to thank you at home for being with us for 52 episodes! No matter if you’ve been with us for a little bit or a while, you’re part of the Discourse in Magic community and I want to thank you. Feel free to check out the video! In this episode we started by finding out what our guests have been up to for the past year, and what’s going on in their lives. No surprise, it seems like everyone is in the world of performing magic, or teaching magic, or both. Let’s just say. They’re all “Making It” with magic! Pretty cool! Mark Corriea is honing his own shows by performing non-stop, all over town. Rosemary Ried is performing, as well as teaching/directing at Conjurer Community. Chris Mayhew just got back from a UK lecture tour, and is working on starting his show fresh, and Ben Train is working with me (Jonah) and a few others on producing TONS of shows in Toronto. Toronto is becoming a POWERHOUSE for magic (if it wasn’t already) For me, the Browser Bash acts as a “New Years” of sorts for Discourse in Magic. So with that we were able to chat with our friends about whats coming in the next magic year for them. We were able to get a peek into peoples heads about some crazy things coming up in the future.We also all took a moment to chat about what we’ve been up to in the last year in terms of magic. It’s important to make sure that you are always progressing and developing. What have you done in terms of magic in the last year? At the end of the day if this episode is going to celebrate anything let it be a celebration of the talent in this city. Toronto is quickly becoming a hotspot for magic. If you were looking for a place to come visit, jam out, and learn something. Now is the time! Once again, big thanks for staying with us for 52 episodes! Here’s to 52 more! Every person that was on the episode has another episode with us. If you liked them, go check out their episode, they are some of the most downloaded episodes we have! Ben Train Chris Mayhew Rosemary Reid Mark Correia PS. let me know if we should print the inspirational shirts that say “Be the magic podcast that you want to see in the world”

Episode 51…. we’re almost there! If you’re talking about comedy magic, there are just a few names that automatically come to mind. John Archer is one of them. Not only is his magic baffling, but he’s also absolutely hilarious. He’s known for whipping up his audience, and getting incredible moments out of the magic and the punchlines! We decided to break it all down and get advice from the expert about all of the parts of the comedy magic that we need help with. There’s advice for beginners, intermediate, and even advice for the experts looking to make their shows better. Here’s a small summary of some of the points for whomever it might help. For beginners: It’s okay to use peoples published material! You’re starting out. You aren’t going to “make it” with that material, but you need to learn your own cadence and rhythm. You need to find the timing in which you deliver punchlines, and not take that from other comedians. It’s totally okay to take solace in the fact that you know the routines are going to work so all you have to do is be fun. Just make sure you’re using that time to also develop and try out other things For Intermediate performers: Listen to your audience. We’re not talking about the advice they give after the show, but how they respond during it. The best way to know if a line or idea works is to use it in an act. That’s the best way to understand exactly how to be best. Being intermediate is one of the safest places to be. You know the strong parts of your show already, and you can play with the other parts until they’re good enough to stick! For Advanced Performers: FIRE… The equation for editing your show. F- Funny, I-Interesting, R-Relevant, E-Entertaining. That is exactly how you edit your show. Make sure that every single moment checks at least one of these boxes. If it isn’t funny, interesting, relevant, or entertaining then you can cut it out of your show. Don’t take it from me, all of this is straight from John Archer! We tried to do our best to steer John away from using the classic response of “performing more”. It’s obvious that performing a ton makes you better, we tried to dive into the real things that you can use to make sure that if you want to be funny on stage you have some of the tools to make that possible, and not just betting on time. If you want to get a taste of John Archer’s magic check out his spot on Penn and Teller. While he was obviously well known before that, it was a perfect moment for him to share his magic with a massive audience, and might just be where we discovered him! Since he’s a real performer, its worth looking though some of his other videos and promo materials to get a feel for what the pro’s are doing. Contact Website Facebook Twitter

There is absolutely no question in my mind that you’ve heard of Gazzo. Maybe you’ve seen his Fool Us performance. It’s possible you’ve seen another clip from Youtube. Or equally likely, you could have seen him busking in your city! Gazzo is what we call an “Old School” performer. He does his tricks, and he does them well. In this episode Gazzo basically argues that’s the way it should be, and needs to be if you’re going to spend your life entertaining people. Most importantly he explains how you can do it. One thing you might notice is some controversial thoughts. He thinks magic is easy, he thinks magic is pathetic, and he makes some interesting comparisons with juggling. I would be curious to know what YOU think. There’s something in me that knows it really is difficult to turn a magic trick, as it exists in todays form and make sure it’s an entertaining expirience. Most of the time, it’s just an annoying person showing you a puzzle. If you’re hoping to be an awesome entertainer, then you might want to start in the place which Gazzo recommends: busking on the street. Going into this I thought that busking on the street was a great way to learn because you would know if you were good based on whether or not people paid you afterwards. He explains, the way that you know that you’re good is by paying attention to the ways that people react to you when they react. Notice if people walk away in the first 5 to 10 minutes of your set or if they stay there and more people come. It’s also important to point out the difference between street magic and busking. Street magic is bothering people with magic who are walking on the street. Busking is entertaining audiences who are interested in participating in street entertainment often in exchange for money at the end. It’s of course no surprise that the secret to being great is by performing a lot. But to be incredibly specific as Gazzo was: do three tricks well. You basically need to make sure that you have set, or an act. Then you have to make sure that you’re an excellent performer. If you’re looking good for the name of the book or DVD set that has well tailored material for you that’s already polished and has outs and jokes built into it……… I have terrible news. That’s impossible! You need to make your affect work! By putting in the work If you want more tips though, just listen to the god damn episode. And leave a comment if you’re a human with a face and any opinions you wanna share (about this episode) Contact Website Facebook

If you saw them walking down the block you would stop dead in your tracks. A haunted couple just walked out of a catalogue from the 1930s. Mysterion, a fast talking Dracula looking gentleman with a white streak through his hair and a fitted Jacket with a leopard print neck and the matching pants. And Steffi Kay. A dapper young lady dressed in vintage clothing with bright red lips. If I didn’t know better I’d bet a months salary that she is from a Time Machine. This duo walks on stage with a twinkle in their eyes. Sometimes I think it’s because they can read minds, but other times I think it’s because they’re secretly from another universe. We decided to sit to talk to them about exactly that impression that they seem to make on people! Why it’s so important to think about what you’re wearing and when you’re wearing it? Most importantly exactly how you can get noticed and to “get yourself out there”. Mysterion welcomed us into his home to see his incredible (and creepy collection of things). Mysterions advice on getting out there is simple: you need to spend time with the crowds of performers in your city. Hang with the musicians. Hang with the artists. Hang with the theatre kids. It’s the only way to start meeting the right people and making mega connections. His awesome example was the fact that he made the front of a magazine for a music project that he undertook which of course gave him more clout in the world of magic. He also explains his tactics towards looking different and being present in public looking different.It attracts a lot of questions and that of course translate into more business. It’s so much easier to tell someone that you think you bumped into Dracula on the street, then it is to tell them that you met a magician. If what we’re doing is truly impossible why not bet on it as our entire character. Steffi on the other hand discusses her approach with fashion. Her advice for a young magician like us is that more than half of the battle to is just finding clothes that fit and having good posture. With a little bit of help from a friend, googling, or just some good old fashion research you can come up with some great fashion advice for yourself. It’s up to you to take action, and stand out from the crowd, while wearing clothes that fit ( and of course having good posture). When approaching magic from the perspective of building a character both your mannerisms and your attire create the full picture. These two both have it down pat. Mysterion and Steffi have reached great heights of success in Toronto and now they are starting to travel all over the US. If you want to catch them and you live near Toronto check out the Dave and busters in Oakville where you can find them, Ben Train, Dave Curran, Mark Korea, and myself [Jonah] come Friday and Saturday nights. Shows are at 8:30 and 10:30. Otherwise follow them up on social media below and try to see when they’re going to come to your city. I have a feeling it’s going to be sooner than you think. Will see you at our favourite place…THE FUTURE Contact Website Facebook Instagram

In episode 47 we sit down with David Malek…THE KING. He’s not just the King at entertainment, but he’s also one of the most skilled card man alive today. This episode is all about maximizing your entertainment and exactly how to do that. If you know who this man it’s no surprise that David’s interest in magic stemming from gambling. It’s hard to birth card shark like this who wasn’t enthralled by gambling. The day that made it all change was when Darwin Ortiz performed at his college. That helped spike his interest in things like riffle stacking and the Zarro shuffle; moves that would inspire his work as a technician. David however is not your classic card magician. He’s not well known for his hours of book reading, or constant back and forth posts on the Magic Café, but for his wildly entertaining performances that send laypeople and magicians howling of laughter. I once watched him WHIP UP a room full of magicians. The audience that many of us consider to be the most difficult of audiences to stir up with material made for laypeople. Not only was everyone baffled by his magic, but you’ve never seen a room of people (so old) laugh and cheer soo hard! That’s exactly what we try to break down in this episode. He walks us through exactly what it takes to be a wildly entertaining performer. Think of the big names: Leonardo DiCaprio, Madonna, Prince. People that are worth even more than their paid. That’s exactly what it takes to be a top level magician as well. You need to give 200% to the stage. As prince said,” the show has it to be better than the album, is just has to”. In magic it’s the same. If video lives up to your life performance you need to become a better performer. You should be able to whip up the audience LIVE! The other tip that David gave us is to perform the same tricks over and over and over again. Why? Because it’s through repetition that you’re able to isolate the important moments, gather lines that are given to you from the crowd, and allow yourself to interact with the people around you. That’s what Copperfield does. That’s what Lance Burton does. It’s what the greats do, and there’s no way around it, so you should too! For me it’s simple. As soon as you can perform without thinking about what your next move is going to be, or what your next line is going to be, that’s when you are truly performing. Anything before that you’re still learning. If we take that mentality and apply it we could have the best 15 minute act in the world. If America’s got talent or Penn and Teller Fool uUs has taught us anything it’s that 15 amazing minutes of magic is more than all you need to be successful. (Google Steven Brundage) We also touch on the idea of what makes an exciting card effect. One of the things that David brought up was how little the effect matters compared to the personality and character of the performer. His examples of walking through how exciting his effects are: cutting cards, spelling tricks and counting packets. Tricks are said to be some of the most boring in magic. But I swear, if you watch David perform them you will agree that the entertainment value pushes his performance over the edge. His breakdown and analysis of how to be entertaining is exactly why he’s considered one of the greats. With skill matched by no one, a shtick which nobody could copy, and wisdom from years and years of time on stage. I heard incredible quote the other day “Only take advice from people who you would switch places with”. Well, I think David’s advice is priceless. Which probably tells you a lot about who I look up to as top of the line performers. If you want to get in contact with David you can head to either of these websites or what I recommend is following him on Instagram. Between the photos of people reacting, and the photos of people laughing David’s Instagram page is a great thing to see on your feed every day Contact Instagram Website DoubleGeorge.com markedcards.org

In this episode we sit down with John Guastaferro and we chat all about making your own effect awesome. John is an expert at working with different important elements and putting them together to make a beautiful trick. Since reading John’s book “One Degree” I knew that he had the right type of approach to magic. Creating beautiful masterpieces by focusing on what he knows and diving into theory, character, and branding in the process. One of the things that we chat about in the episode is the difficulty and fear of starting fresh. For me, I hate the flashing cursor on a blank screen. It makes it feel like anything you put down is wrong. John makes it very clear that he never starts fresh. By working off of what you’ve been using the last time you analyzed your magic and put pen to paper, you never have to start new. That doesn’t mean that your brand and your brand identity can’t change over time. As John explains even Instagram was once just a fun way to put a silly filter on a photo. Now, Instagram is a tool for connecting to others all around the globe in your niche! Another wildly important thing that John talks about is his constant note-taking. By making sure to take notes any time that something comes to his mind, he forget his ideas less often. By making a habit of it, you know where you keep them, how you take notes best, and you’ll be be a master in no time. He recommends things like Evernote or just the standard Apple note software because it syncs with his computer and he can make separate folders for different ideas. John also breaks down his napkin approach. It’s all about putting the characteristics down onto a napkin sized piece of paper, with either words or images so that you can better understand your brand. This was always one of my favourite parts of John’s book. My favourite magic books are all about theory. John did a great job with the theory aspect and branding in his book, and this episode! One piece of advice that he gave us was to write down effects that you like and effects that you don’t like and then try to distill why that is. It seems like all of these processes are about distilling why you like each thing, and what you want to do with that! But as always, it’s abundantly clear that you have to understand who you are before you can make the perfect effect. What that means for you is keep performing, but do a lot more writing down and breaking down of your past performances, and trying to understand who you are and what makes you special. That is the key to being a great magician. Introspective work! If you’re interested in buying either of John’s books you should head over to his website here and take a look. This weekend John is lecturing at the Blackpool magic convention, if you see him there say hi for us! We’ll be here freezing our asses off in Canada. Contact Facebook Twitter Instagram Website

Nick Wallace spills the beans on exactly how scripting a show creates an incredibly powerful experience for your audience! In this episode he breaks down exactly how he works with a director and why he would never create a show without it. Nick started off doing Fringe Festivals just like Keith Brown from Episode 38 all about Fringe shows. If you listened to that episode, you’ll remember Keith actually mentions Nick as being his inspiration for starting to do Fringe shows! Nick started off using his brother as a director for his shows, but after meeting an awesome director that he worked with in a play he decided to pair with him. He wanted to work with someone who does this professionally! He now has something that nobody else on the podcast has spoken about. Nick has a team creating his show with him! Instead of him worrying himself about every last detail, he knows that he has a support system. In fact he has both someone to make sure that what he’s putting on stage is great, and he has the motivation to be wildly prepared because he’s getting advice from a professional. I’ve always found that working with others is something that brings out the best in you, because you’re trying to show each other your best work and be the most valuable, and earn your keep. Since all magicians talk about making an experience for their audience why aren’t more of us talking to directors to make our shows? Nick takes this into his own hands. He creates a unique experience by creating a séance for his audience making sure not to overdo the magic. Instead, Nick does his best to scare his audiences, by being clear, subtle and articulate. Finally we deep dove into the topic of scripting. When you work with a director, you need to script your material. You need to have something to edit, you need to be able to execute everything that you planned. Not only is your success dependent on it, but so is your directors success. Nick scripts his entire show, memorizes it, performs it, and is not afraid to rescript, replace, or remove things altogether. Just like two months ago, when the theme was “crafting your show”, Nick highlights most important point of all. The importance of knowing exactly who you are as a performer so that when you add new material and try to script your act, you know exactly what to do.   Contact Facebook Instagram Website

In this episode we sit down with James Harrison to talk all about the importance of your props, your identity and paying your dues. James was a special guest on the podcast because he won January’s contest. But we’ve known James for a long time. He’s been a friend of ours from Toronto* for years! James is the only pickpocket that I know in person and to tell you the truth i’ve never seen him pick a picket. I’ve only ever seen him do awesome magic (and steal a couple watches). As he expressed on the podcast he’s been trying to expand into other fields. One of the things that he wants to play with is presenting a magic show which isn’t all positive vibes. Instead James wants to experiment with different things in magic. Giving your audience different feelings. Feelings like uneasiness and feelings like not knowing if what you did was real or not. In an earlier episode Ben Train stands for the fact that one should not lead their audience to believe that they have powers which they don’t actually have. James disagrees with that in this episode since he thinks that you should put forth something and not necessarily worry about exactly how your audience perceives it. Think back to High sSchool english class even if you read a book by an author that was still alive did you ever send an email to ask what they really meant? Of course not! Once art is created and put into the world you cannot control how people perceive it! Another thing we spoke about on the episode of the podcast was the need for originality. Do you need to have an original effect? An original method? An original premise? The answer from the episode is it depends on what you’re using it for. If you’re using it for claiming that it’s your own then you need to have your own method or at least a wildly original presentation. If you are using it as a performer and you purchased the trick it’s not the end of the world if you do what is out of the box. You should slowly make it your own instead of coming up with some convoluted garbage. Let your expirience and your character help shape it as your own. It’s important that these questions have context. If you’re performing for your friends you can do a trick exactly the way the creator did it with the same handling and very similar pattern and that’s OK. You bought the trick and you’re allowed to do it! It’s frowned upon by the magic community, but that’s OK you’re not performing it for the magic community! What you have to think about is when you’re performing for paying audiences. If you’re performing for paying audiences then it’s OK to use the method that you bought but it’s important that eventually your presentations become personalized and unique. Don’t be the guy doing someone else’s trick with someone else’s performance for an audience that hired you! You want to be doing your unique performance for an audience that hired you. Contact Facebook Twitter Instagram Website   If you actually perform, and you want some help I have a recommendation. Join us on a 7-day Masterpiece Challenge! I want 100 people to join me on a challenge to turn a trick into a masterpiece, just head to discourseinmagic.com/masterpiece

In episode 43 we sit with Chad Juros to tell us his story of magic. I’ll save most of the details for the episode itself, but I can provide you with a short version of Chads incredible story. Chad was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukaemia as a child. During many of his years and months at the hospital Chads father brought magic to help take his mind off of things. That repeated itself a second round as Chad returned to the hospital a few years later. Fast forward a few years more and Chad ended up performing magic for his father bedside in the hospital. His father was was given under a year to live after discovering brain tumors. You can imagine the heart ache that has been brought to a family, childhood cancer, and death of a parent, but Chad responds with positivity and fulfilling his fathers dying wishes to continue to spread his magic wherever he goes. With his fathers final wishes Chad builds a foundation called Spread the Magic. In it Chad is able to help struggling patients, and is able to perform magic and help kids get their mind off of the illnesses that are ailing them. Chad turns quite an eye opening story, into an inspiring piece. Most importantly he shares how he took that story and used it to drive what he does today. Using your experiences, ideas and talents to help the world are some of the best tools that you can use. In this episode we chat about the segment that he had with David Copperfield on Good Morning America. The clip is below, and I highly recommend you watch it, it compliments the episodes very well!   He’s also been on Fool Us, and yes, we attached it below   If you want to get in touch with chad feel free to contact him below on social media, from his website, or check out his new promo video! Contact Facebook Twitter Website

Welcome to our first ever live show! We invited Wes Barker, Eric Leclerc and Chris Ramsay to Toronto to record an episode but we said HEY, why don’t we invite the local magicians too. SO WE DID! And it was a blast! Take a look! from left: Jonah Babins, Chris Ramsay, Eric Leclerc, Wes Barker, Tyler Williams (Thanks to Eric Jackson for the photo) Currently if you want to see the live video from the event, you can check our Facebook page. But we’ll be taking it down shortly since Chris Ramsay is planning on releasing some footage from the event on his account, and it’ll be better than what my iphone + tripod shot. We touched on topics like interacting with you fans, managing the regular creation of content, what is good magic content, creating under a tight time frame, new ideas, clickbait magic and tons of other topics that matter to you. If you have every worried about your magic content not being good enough or not getting enough views you’ll probably enjoy the episode. More than that there’s quite a bit of jokes and antics in the episode because put these 3 guys on stage with alcohol and you get something different that on stage with a deck of cards. We dipped into all major channels from TV to Youtube, to Facebook and even into Vine for a little bit, we spent most of the time talking about Youtube. If you want to check out what these guys have been up to you, I’ll link below to some awesome videos from their accounts! Chris Ramsay Wes Barker Eric Leclerc   Leave a comment below, and let us know what you thought of the live show? Should we do a live show in your city? Let us know!

In this episode Tyler and I sit down with Caroline to chat all about everything it takes to build a community and following. Caroline Ravn is the queens of outreach. In the episode she gives us tips about how to get published in an article. Want to hear how to do it?…. You build a friendship with people in charge, you pitch them stories of your fantastic life, and you reach out to them with deadlines to take on your new stories? One more thing…. When they ask for an interview they are going to want to come to YOUR HOUSE. Make sure there are cookies in the oven. Something so simple swill translate into the best articles written about you! On top of doing a great job for print media, her social media is on point as well. Mainly Instagram. The keys to Instagram are a little bit different. Daily photos, fan engagement, and sharing the amazing work of her peers. Hard work!! But clearly it pays off! Caroline is storming through magic and laying her path in the process! She’s seems to be doing what everyone else is doing except faster and better. Make sure to check out her social media below, particularly her Instagram! Contact Instagram Twitter Website (in english )

If you don’t know who Asi Wind is, I recommend stopping the podcast episode and checking him out. Google, or Youtube or whatever. You’ll find him.. Not only has he released incredible effects that have ROCKED the magic community like Double Exposure, Catch 23, and more recently Gypsy Queens but he is also a leading magical thinker. Thankfully I was able to spend some time with him at the 2015 Motor City Magic Convention, and Sorcerers Safari! Bot otherwise not a ton of places online to show how great his non-method brain is eh?……. ******Cue the Discourse in Magic Intro Music********* If you’re even somewhat cultured and up to date with magic and you watched the recent David Blaine special you might have seen Asi in it. Not just his face, but you could see Asi’s fingerprints in a ton of Davids work too. Especially on some late night TV, and promo for the recent special! In this episode of DIM we cover many topics but the plot that holds true for the full episode is “sincerity“. It took just one example to make it clear. To paraphrase: ‘ If you think the weight on the ink of a card isn’t an interesting plot, why do you think your audience does’. What Asi shares is that it’s important the we respect our audience. Respect them by performing things that we enjoy, and that resonate with us! People come to the theatre to see YOU and YOUR SHOW. Which means they care about what YOU are interested in. Why do an invisible deck like hundreds of others? More than anything his mentality shines through in his magic and other hobbies: “be a student forever”. If you think you know everything about magic right now, it’s time to think again. Finally Asi gives us some snips from his upcoming book. (That’s right! Asi is coming out with a book soon!). If you want to check out some of his products you can here: https://www.artofmagic.com/products/asi-wind Contact Facebook Twitter Instagram Website

If you’ve ever wondered how to get into a Fringe Festival, what it is, how to use it to make money and why you would want to do it, you’re in the right place. In episode 38 Keith Brown lays it all out for us. Fringe. What is it? Every year in cities all around the world there are theatre festivals under the “Fringe” name. It’s a festival that last typically 10-14 days with theatre shows, everything from comedy to student plays, to magic. Some of the smaller ones like Regina are 5 days, But fringe is a festival that happens all over the world! Bigger ones like Australia last a month. Best of all, the performers are either first come first serve or picked from a lottery, which means next year, you or I could have the same chances of making it as Keith If you want to figure out how to apply, or anything else that you need to know this is the official Fringe Festival website (each cities festival has their own website, but this is a great resource to find them! fringefestivals.com Also here is an AMAZING resource from a friend of Keiths: samsmullins.com Between the URL above, this episode, and the open invitation to contact Keith with any questions, you have no excuses! As Keith explains in the episode the beauty of the Fringe festival is that it’s an opportunity for you to put on show after show after show, and they cannot sensor what you do. That means that this is the time to find out if the fun art and ideas that you have in your mind produce great theatre when they come to reality. A Fringe tour is the perfect place for you to do a routine dozens and dozens of times. Keith really helps us out by holding nothing back. He’s honest about exactly what it takes. While there seems to be a sea of benefits to joining a fringe festival, like anything it requires work. Keith shows us exactly what to do, and how to engage with people at the fringe festival and invite them to your show. Most importantly he reminds us of something that is incredibly important going in. You and the other fringe performers are all on the same team. You all want to promote each others shows, you are teammates and not competitors. Having that mentality is one of the most important lessons that Keith gave us from fringe. Since such a big part of the festivals success is word of mouth, you need to be on your best behaviour, do some favours, and win some friends. They could help make or break the success of your show! If you want to check out more about Keith you can follow his website, or check him out on social media (PARTICULARLY INSTAGRAM STORIES :)) Contact Website Facebook Instagram Twitter

If you’ve ever seen anything that Chris Funk has ever done (which you probably have) you know how special what he does is. His performance and effects are like no other. His presentations are unique. They’re about himself, his past, interests and the things around him. He’s not afraid to add dynamics to the show that other people don’t: Personal stories, live music, and major theatrics. Chris funk is the master of makign a show that is reflective of himself That’s exactly what we spoke to him about in this weeks episode. When we came at the episode we were asking about how to craft a show and looking for tactics, but Chris made the truth clear. Have an amazing show, and everything else will fall into place. It seemed like every single question was answered with the same idea. Making sure that you’re show is made out of things that relate to you, describe you, and help you share your ideas. Otherwise there is no way to stand out. If you don’t know what I mean by stand out here are some of the videos that Chris Funk has starred in on TV (and now youtube) It was great because we received not only the much needed motivation to make your shows about ourselves but that he also gave us the advice about how to do that! It seems like some of the things that are at the root of all of this is scripting, effect selection, transitions, mindful marketing, originality of performance and thoughtfulness. I shall close this article with the same as the close the episode “Magic is the only talent you can buy” – Steve Martin Let’s prove him wrong shall we? As always I would love to know what you think about the episode, and share in the comments below! Contact Facebook Youtube Twitter Instagram

We sit down with Toronto’s own James Alan to discuss some of the finer details of crafting a show. This episode was particularly exciting because James has been a fan of the show. Not only did he come prepared, but he was also able to blast misconceptions that we had spoken about in previous episodes. The most out of the box idea that we spoke about was creating your own intros. While that seemed to come naturally out of the situation, and would seem standard for any magician, it often goes both not written or worse, not thought out. Since he’s produced a ton of shows he can recognize those little tiny things that add up over time which makes the difference. That’s exactly what this episode was about. We tend to often talk in big ideas in Discourse in Magic, and James really helped us slow down to understand that it’s the little things that count the most. The subtleties. Another idea that came up is standing your ground. Especially when you’ve defined your character, you need to be able to see that some things might fit into your show but other things might not, and you need to be aware of that. We also touch on standing your ground when it comes to less than pleasant Gigs. Like many things it all depends on where you are in your magic career, what stage you’re at. The stage you’re at in your magic helps dictate a lot of things. It dictates the business that you do, but also dictates the process of implementing magic in your show when you don’t have a lot of expirience. Putting together a show might mean doing more tricks than you have rehearsed. While late in a career, you know exactly what tricks take exactly how long, and have exactly what reaction. It gets’s harder and harder to swap things out. I would love to know what you think of the episode in the comments below! Thanks Ps. You should Follow James On Twitter, he shares some funny stuff! Contact Facebook Twitter Website

You know him from Comedy Network! You’ve watched his Viral Videos! You know him Cupcake Wars (okay maybe not) the one and only Justin Willman joins us on the podcast! If you’ve never heard of Justin pause the episode and go watch this! Willman has a great approach to Magic on TV and on Youtube. One of the unique approaches that we haven’t heard is a real fight for quality over quantity online. Most advice is “start producing amazing content regularly”. Now it’s a given that quality is important. But to put it first over quantity is unique advice. The other thing which is an important distinction is that Justin is not producing online content to make money online. He doesn’t sell magic tricks. He wants people to book him for more stage time and fill more seats. People often forget that producing content on youtube does not make you a YOUTUBER. That’s a good thing. You don’t need to vlog. You can just make 1 or 2 or 5 GREAT VIDEOS. While we think he’s the expert on TV. Some of the videos that he’s produced on the internet have been amazing. Specifically the ones that have to do with his recent wedding. We spoke about them in the episode but they’re worth watching: More than anything Justin is a the king at making sure his magic has purpose. If you just watch his Comedy Network special you’ll understand how great of a job he does at being current. Tricks about Social media, Pot (since it’s pretty IN right now), technology advances and other very topical subjects. His magic magic makes sense! Check out his recent video about social change that we were talking about in the episode!   So! If this is the first time that you’ve heard of Justin (doubt it!) then you should Subscribe on youtube and check out his other social medias Contact Facebook Twitter Instagram Youtube

In this perfectly timed episodes days after David Blaine’s special we have the very bright Daniel Garcia telling us about the ups and downs for consulting. Garcia consults for many of the major TV magicians including Cyril, Dynamo and of course David Blaine. With projects under his belt like The Ultragaff Deck, Garcia projects, Bent Touch Slink, Torn, Torn Too an countless videos projects and lectures all over the world. There is no surprise that this guy is one of the most highly recommended magic consultants around. In this episode we walk through some ways to be creative in the morning if you can handle it. It has to do with using the creativity that your brain has in the morning, and then creating magi from your first hand creative thoughts later. I recommend listening to the episode to hear the way that Garcia walks through it If you haven’t caught Garcia’s last major appearance, on the project he was working on: the new David Blaine special. If you haven’t checked it out, here it is:   UPDATE: JK the link is broken. Rights and stuff. Bummer I guess Garcia gives us prime advice for how to get creativity and inspiration from things like a book cover. I don’t want to give away too much, cause it was an awesome episode, but here’s episode 33 with Daniel Garcia Contact Facebook Twitter

If you’re reading this it means you care about modern media and social media. For that you are already a winner. Of course it’s not as easy as signing up for social media accounts to get fans, you need to make quality content. If there’s anything to take out of the episode overall is that you need to start producing content today. While sometimes people are smart enough to come up with a ‘formulaic’ way to make a viral video, or viral content, the way to learn how to do that is by doing it. If you want to videos? Start recording. Podcast? Do it up. Amazing Instagram photos? do your best. You need to be a content creator. The most important thing that we learned from Flom in this is that he came into magic with the approach of TV first. I think that’s a great approach especially in todays age. The way that you look in footage and online is almost as important as your show. More and more that’s the place where potential clients book you first. That might even be the place where the bulk of your fans live. Making sure that you content is TV ready, or more TV quality. you can share it. While I couldn’t do a justice to the details that we went in in the episodes here are some tips about each social media platform (and our links to go follow us) How to Master Each Platform Facebook As Justin explains on Facebook since they’re scrolling through the content, you need to catch their attention, and can be watched on silent. A ton of people watch videos on silent, and you need to have something that’s going to get their attention immediately! Twitter This platform is hopeless for growth. Here’s my advice, ask good questions to semi-famous people and tag them. You’ll be blown away that they respond, and that other people like it, retweet it and follow it! Instagram Also tough. Although we don’t give great advice in the episode here is my advice. Since it’s curated content, people care about their Instagrams. In niches specifically, there are communities that form on Instagram. Make sure to engage in others, like often follow others and comment on others. Make sure you produce regularly Snapchat/Instagram Stories It’s tough now, but the lesson we got from Justin in the episode was to get in early. Justin was in on snapchat very early, and with that was able to build a massive community of people who follow him. The other thing is that snapchat is good if you have an exciting life. It’s hard to provide exciting daily content if you have a desk job. Most importantly you have to upload daily Vine Vine is dead. (The links goes to Instagram) There are a TON more details in the episode about how to master social media as well as some other forms of media. If you want our social media guide head over to: discourseinmagic.com/social-media-guide-magicians Contact Justin Facebook Twitter Instagram Snapchat

In this episode we get to sit down with the Magic Podcast king himself Julian Mather. Julian has basically done everything under the sun in terms of magic. He’s performed, taught, created 2 podcasts, and created tons of products that are meant to help magicians with the commercial side of magic (often the most difficult part). Julian walks us through some straight up tips as to how to do it, and he’s very clear about the benefits of the online world and exactly how to do it. Here are some of the highlights from the episode: Don’t open a restaurant unless you have a starving crowd The number one piece of advice is to make sure that there is a market for you to do what you want to do before you do it. Marketability trumps creativity every time. If you want to be able to sell what you do without struggling you need to create something that you already know people want Don’t take a NO To heart You have no way to know why someone might say no to what you offer them. Maybe they’re really busy, maybe they had a bad day, maybe it just isn’t the right time. Don’t take a NO to heart! Keep being in front of their face The reason why Email marketing campaigns tend to be the best is because you can make sure that you show up in front of someones face a certain number of times a year. If you can be the go to magician for someone, then you’re the person that they’re going to call. Keep showing up in front of them, and they will remember you! Email Marketing With all of the new social medias, and methods of interaction, email marketing is still one of the most successful. Why? Because most business is still conducted over email! If you can show up in peoples inboxes regularly providing content for them specifically they’re going to remember you, and book you when the time comes! This is the service we use called Convertkit. It’s software for email to automate everything. We chat all about it in the episode. Try it here! Originality Being original is not as important as being commercial. Make sure that you can provide a product that people are going to buy. That might be difficult if you’re trying to create all of your own content. Create content online When you create material for the online world it’s there forever. By committing to an online project people an see that you are committed, since you created a certain number of episodes, blogs or whatever pieces of content you’re creating. Contact www.kidsentertainerhub.com www.kidsentertaineracademy.com www.tailormadecareer.com www.magicianbusiness.com  

If you want to know what type of procedure to use to get booked, you’re in the right place! The one and only Wes Barker brings the heat on episode 29 by chatting all about how to get booked. Since he’s made big waves in a short time, he’s tells us exactly what to look for in branding and why cold calling colleges is so fun and easy! If you don’t know anything about Wes, let me give you a rundown. Canadian boy, very original magician. He’s performed on: Americas Got Talent, Penn and Teller Fool Us, Wizard Wars, Just For Laughs, and even throws his own theatre shows! The one thing that’s obvious is that he’s creative and clever. He has original effects for the stage, and he knows what he’s creating for. Wes is a go getter because he calls all of the right people and knows how to talk. If you want to learn exactly who to call and what to say this is the episode for you! He explains why it’s easy, and it was honestly a blast to listen to him talk about some of the conversations he has on the phone. If you want to have a good laugh while learning exactly how to take action for your magic, and getting booked. I would tune in to the episode As he and Lou explains in the previous episode: by doing magic full time, you’ve free’d up some 40 hours a week to do marketing. You should be spending those hours reaching out. In this episode he explains that he uses cold calls to target clients. It’s especially easy when he’s chatting with students. Since it’s their job to book talent, when he calls as talent to get booked it helps a ton. If you aren’t interested in college market, try col calling another industry. He mentions old age homes, but feel free to get creative! In the episode we chat about the importance of branding. Wes knows that you need to be able to sell exactly what you do in a few words or a tagline. While you give up the potential to have a wide number of gigs, as we mentioned before you will get more and better higher paying gigs. One of the thing that Wes explains is that while it’s totally okay to do special shows that are unique for clients “You want to do as much of the magic that you want to do as possible”. Find the niche or the group where you can do your show over and over again. That’s what’s going to be your money maker. I’ve found that to be totally true, and I would recommend it to anybody! We also chatted with him about TV specials. If you are interested in learning how to pitch your magic. Contact Facebook Twitter Youtube Vimeo  

In episode 28 we had the wonderful Lou Serrano chat with us about exactly how to book gigs. As he says, there isn’t one way to get gigs, but there are 50 ways. Lou basically walks us through 5 or 6 of them in this episode. We decided to chat with him about getting booked as a magician mostly for closeup magicians in the beginning stages. The more advice that we try to get that’s applicable to us, the better chance we’re going to be able to apply what we learn, and actually test it out. As Lou explains it by the end of the podcast, the only thing that we really need to do is take action. There are enough steps and tips in this episode that as long as you take action you will see rewards. Just do it! We chat about the benefits and pitfalls of cold calling, cold emailing and snail mail. Sending a standard newsletter in the mail. Since no performers are using regular mail, you’ll have the upper hand. He tells us exactly how he gets restaurants gigs. Since some gigs could last years and years, its worth playing the numbers game and reaching out to dozens of restaurants to find the best one. You can tell by the way Lou speaks and the volume of content that he shares that he knows his stuff. As a matter of fact he has a website called www.sixfiguremagic.com , Enter the coupon code: “discourse” you can get 20% of his product. If you’re a magician looking to get better at the business and marketing of magic, this is a product for you! If you’re interested but you aren’t 100% sure about his Six Figure Magic. I urge you to google it, and read some reviews. It seems like everyone has only amazing things to say about the program, and it you’re looking to invest in yourself. This is the way to do it! Contact Website (lou Serrano), sixfiguremagic.com, LouSerranoMarketing.com Facebook Twitter Youtube

If you are into creative methods for magic, then I recommend listening to this episode. Mathieu Bich turns the standard notions of creativity on their head by chatting about the process he goes through to create magic, More importantly he chat’s about the purpose of his magic creation: himself. That seems to be the key to creating awesome magic. Finding the solutions you want to be found is easier to find by looking inside for the solutions instead of outside to resources. He walks us through his journey of becoming a creator and exactly how and why he creates, and even walks us through what he was thinking and feeling in his Penn and Teller Fool Us performance. You can check this out here, and watch what he does to Penn and Teller: Since his first appearance on Theory11 to his FISMm and Penn ant Teller debut, he’s made his mark on the modern magic community. His approaches are unique, so is his insight, and most importantly he has his own theory, ideas, and structures that he uses to invent, and make his magic awesome. Bich is one of this generations best creators. He’s not looking for a 400th way to do the same trick. He’s innovating, and he’s innovating for the one magician he needs to create for: himself The best past was that it was such a refreshing take on being creative in the art of magic. Most people subscribe to the thought of endlessly sharing and endlessly learning. He is a true artist in the sense that he is so much more focused on creation for his own purpose instead of that of others.   Since often his purpose for creating new magic methods is so that it can make him happy, and please his needs, he ends up creating mountains more magic, for his own benefit. Which of course he likes because he created it for himself. I would love to know what you all think of this interview Check out some of his awesome magic:   Contact Website Twitter Let us know in the comments below what you thought about the episode!

In this episode we sit down with the amazing Youtube star Daniel Fernandez. When I say amazing youtube star, I’m both referring to his 720,000+ subscribers, and his amazing videos that have me smiling, and watching to the end. If you haven’t seen it yet, here is the video where he mentions flying out one of his subscribers: But if you haven’t seen his youtube channel yet, I would totally recommend checking it out. He creates awesome videos all about magic. And he’s someone making massive waves in the youtube world spreading the same awesome magic that we’re a part of. Check this out too!   **If you are looking for the contest that we mentioned in the episode feel free to click here and try to win! Otherwise, I really recommend checking out Daniel Fernandez’s videos, channel and everything else. He’s a great voice for youtube, magic, being flirtatious with ladies, and tons of other areas he was a real blast to chat with.   Follow da tings! Contact Twitter Youtube Instagram   PS. If you like amazing magic tips and resources for becoming a better magicians in performance and business. Sign up for our newsletter –> We’ll send you our Theory Resource Guide for FREE <3 See you there! Awesome! Welcome to the newsletter family <3. Go check your email we sent you a free Gift! There was an error submitting your subscription. Please try again. Email Address I'd like to receive the free email course. Subscribe /* Layout */ .ck_form.ck_naked { /* divider image */ background: transparent; line-height: 1.5em; overflow: hidden; color: #666; font-size: 16px; border: none; -webkit-box-shadow: none; -moz-box-shadow: none; box-shadow: none; clear: both; margin: 20px 0px; text-align: center; } .ck_form.ck_naked p { padding: 0px; } .ck_form, .ck_form * { -webkit-box-sizing: border-box; -moz-box-sizing: border-box; box-sizing: border-box; } .ck_form.ck_naked .ck_form_fields { width: 100%; float: left; padding: 5%; } /* Form fields */ .ck_errorArea { display: none; /* temporary */ } #ck_success_msg { padding: 10px 10px 0px; border: solid 1px #ddd; background: #eee; } .ck_form.ck_naked input[type="text"], .ck_form.ck_naked input[type="email"] { font-size: 18px; padding: 10px 8px; width: 34%; border: 1px solid #d6d6d6; /* stroke */ -moz-border-radius: 0px; -webkit-border-radius: 0px; border-radius: 0px; /* border radius */ background-color: #fff; /* layer fill content */ margin-bottom: 5px; height: auto; float: left; margin: 0px; margin-right: 1%; height: 42px; } .ck_form input[type="text"]:focus, .ck_form input[type="email"]:focus { outline: none; border-color: #aaa; } .ck_form.ck_naked .ck_subscribe_button { width: 100%; color: #fff; margin: 0px; padding: 9px 0px; font-size: 18px; background: #2da0a8; -moz-border-radius: 0px; -webkit-border-radius: 0px; border-radius: 0px; /* border radius */ cursor: pointer; border: none; text-shadow: none; width: 30%; float: left; height: 42px; } .ck_converted_content { display: none; padding: 5%; background: #fff; } /* max width 500 */ .ck_form.ck_naked.width500 .ck_subscribe_button { width: 100%; float: none; margin-top: 5px; } .ck_form.ck_naked.width500 input[type="text"], .ck_form.ck_naked.width500 input[type="email"] { width: 49%; } .ck_form.ck_naked.width500 input[type="email"] { margin-right: 0px; width: 50%; } /* max width 400 */ .ck_form.ck_naked.width400 .ck_subscribe_button, .ck_form.ck_naked.width400 input[type="text"], .ck_form.ck_naked.width400 input[type="email"] { width: 100%; float: none; margin-top: 5px; } .ck_slide_up, .ck_modal, .ck_slide_up .ck_naked, .ck_modal .ck_naked { min-width: 400px; } .page .ck_form.ck_naked { margin: 50px auto; max-width: 700px; }

In this episode we sit down with the one and only Chris Wiehl to chat about being original and creative with magic effects. If you aren’t familiar with Chris’ magic, check out any of the following tricks he’s created. And All Will Be Consumed Rip Senses Arthur – PS. If you want to win ARTHUR you can try out our September Contest If you just watch any one of those you’ll get an opportunity to see how creative he is. In the episode he explains that he doesn’t just sit down and create a new effect. Ideas, premises, and methods all come from jamming, learning, compromising and being open. Interestingly enough we speak about some of his favourite performers, who surprisingly enough aren’t big method creators. There’s some inspiration for you if you aren’t a big method creator (THATS US TOO), there are so many different ways to be creative. We once again want to thank Chris for donating ARTHUR for the winner of Septembers contest. If you haven’t entered the contest yet, click here to go see how you can win an arthur Contact Website Twitter Facebook Instagram   PS. If you like amazing magic tips and resources for becoming a better magicians in performance and business. Sign up for our newsletter –> We’ll send you our Theory Resource Guide for FREE <3 See you there! Awesome! Welcome to the newsletter family <3. Go check your email we sent you a free Gift! There was an error submitting your subscription. Please try again. Email Address I'd like to receive the free email course. Subscribe /* Layout */ .ck_form.ck_naked { /* divider image */ background: transparent; line-height: 1.5em; overflow: hidden; color: #666; font-size: 16px; border: none; -webkit-box-shadow: none; -moz-box-shadow: none; box-shadow: none; clear: both; margin: 20px 0px; text-align: center; } .ck_form.ck_naked p { padding: 0px; } .ck_form, .ck_form * { -webkit-box-sizing: border-box; -moz-box-sizing: border-box; box-sizing: border-box; } .ck_form.ck_naked .ck_form_fields { width: 100%; float: left; padding: 5%; } /* Form fields */ .ck_errorArea { display: none; /* temporary */ } #ck_success_msg { padding: 10px 10px 0px; border: solid 1px #ddd; background: #eee; } .ck_form.ck_naked input[type="text"], .ck_form.ck_naked input[type="email"] { font-size: 18px; padding: 10px 8px; width: 34%; border: 1px solid #d6d6d6; /* stroke */ -moz-border-radius: 0px; -webkit-border-radius: 0px; border-radius: 0px; /* border radius */ background-color: #fff; /* layer fill content */ margin-bottom: 5px; height: auto; float: left; margin: 0px; margin-right: 1%; height: 42px; } .ck_form input[type="text"]:focus, .ck_form input[type="email"]:focus { outline: none; border-color: #aaa; } .ck_form.ck_naked .ck_subscribe_button { width: 100%; color: #fff; margin: 0px; padding: 9px 0px; font-size: 18px; background: #2da0a8; -moz-border-radius: 0px; -webkit-border-radius: 0px; border-radius: 0px; /* border radius */ cursor: pointer; border: none; text-shadow: none; width: 30%; float: left; height: 42px; } .ck_converted_content { display: none; padding: 5%; background: #fff; } /* max width 500 */ .ck_form.ck_naked.width500 .ck_subscribe_button { width: 100%; float: none; margin-top: 5px; } .ck_form.ck_naked.width500 input[type="text"], .ck_form.ck_naked.width500 input[type="email"] { width: 49%; } .ck_form.ck_naked.width500 input[type="email"] { margin-right: 0px; width: 50%; } /* max width 400 */ .ck_form.ck_naked.width400 .ck_subscribe_button, .ck_form.ck_naked.width400 input[type="text"], .ck_form.ck_naked.width400 input[type="email"] { width: 100%; float: none; margin-top: 5px; } .ck_slide_up, .ck_modal, .ck_slide_up .ck_naked, .ck_modal .ck_naked { min-width: 400px; } .page .ck_form.ck_naked { margin: 50px auto; max-width: 700px; }