Juan Esteban Varela

Esteban Varela

Jonah is joined by Juan Esteban Varela, a master at performing without props. Juan is the mind behind Magic in the Dark and in this conversation he talks all about it, about magic without props, and shares his personal story through magic and how wonderful it is.  Moving to Madrid Like many others, Juan got bit by the magic bug at a very young age and never looked back. He’s so immersed in his love of magic he says that he can’t understand why anyone wouldn’t want to be in magic. Originally from Chile, and after studying for law “as a hobby”, he moved to Madrid to chase down and connect with the Spanish magical community there. The openness of the community allowed Juan to settle in comfortably and he shares with Jonah some of his memories as a young magician going from lecture to party to hangouts and learning from the best magicians in the region.  It was during this time that he began asking questions about how magic can change. How important is it that we see for it to still be magic? How should you feel? How should you react? Nothing bothers Juan more, it seems, than when someone tells him how skilled he is or how amazing an idea his show was. Nothing short of “that was impossible” will satisfy him. Magic in the Dark Realizing that senses were just a means to an end, Juan developed a show called Magic in the Dark where audience members and himself wear blindfolds and the entire routine is performed entirely in darkness. Juan explains how you don’t need to deceive all the senses for magic to work and break down his core pillars to create any effect. All you need is to create a mystery, stimulate the imagination, and finally connect it to emotion. Nowhere in those three things does it suggest that you have to see! Magic Without Props Juan loves studying the principles of magic and using those principles to examine his methods to create incredible effects. And if, like Jonah, you’re having a difficult time imagining how a propless sightless magic effect can be possible Juan helps us out by performing a trick he usually saves for radio interviews. It’s an effective demonstration that should open up your mind to realizing the possibilities of magic without props.  After all this talk about props one shouldn’t assume that Juan is averse to technology. He has a lot of thoughts about technology and how it’s affecting magic and is excited to share with Jonah his latest ideas about VR, AR, and using technology to move magic into new possibilities.  Wrap-Up Endless Chain Roberto Mansilla What do you like about modern magic? What do you not like? The community has gotten much bigger. Even having this conversation on this podcast wouldn’t have happened not too long ago. The community is everyone now, this is great! Magic is expanding the frontiers of expression.  The love of the secret has been lost. It used to be that the secret was sacred but it seems like now, especially since the community is so large, everyone wants to share their secrets right away. It would be great if we could recover the love of the secret in some way. Plugs You can follow Juan on Instagram @juan.e.varela Juan’s website is jvarela.com The post Magic Without Props with Juan Esteban Varela appeared first on Discourse in Magic.

<p>Jonah is joined by Juan Esteban Varela, a master at performing without props. Juan is the mind behind Magic in the Dark and in this conversation he talks all about it, about magic without props, and shares his personal story through magic and how wonderful it is. </p> <h1>Moving to Madrid</h1> <p>Like many others, Juan got bit by the magic bug at a very young age and never looked back. He’s so immersed in his love of magic he says that he can’t understand why anyone wouldn’t want to be in magic. Originally from Chile, and after studying for law “as a hobby”, he moved to Madrid to chase down and connect with the Spanish magical community there. The openness of the community allowed Juan to settle in comfortably and he shares with Jonah some of his memories as a young magician going from lecture to party to hangouts and learning from the best magicians in the region. </p> <p>It was during this time that he began asking questions about how magic can change. How important is it that we see for it to still be magic? How should you feel? How should you react? Nothing bothers Juan more, it seems, than when someone tells him how skilled he is or how amazing an idea his show was. Nothing short of “that was impossible” will satisfy him.</p> <h1>Magic in the Dark</h1> <p>Realizing that senses were just a means to an end, Juan developed a show called Magic in the Dark where audience members and himself wear blindfolds and the entire routine is performed entirely in darkness. Juan explains how you don’t need to deceive all the senses for magic to work and break down his core pillars to create any effect. All you need is to create a mystery, stimulate the imagination, and finally connect it to emotion. Nowhere in those three things does it suggest that you have to see!</p> <h1>Magic Without Props</h1> <p>Juan loves studying the principles of magic and using those principles to examine his methods to create incredible effects. And if, like Jonah, you’re having a difficult time imagining how a propless sightless magic effect can be possible Juan helps us out by performing a trick he usually saves for radio interviews. It’s an effective demonstration that should open up your mind to realizing the possibilities of magic without props. </p> <p>After all this talk about props one shouldn’t assume that Juan is averse to technology. He has a lot of thoughts about technology and how it’s affecting magic and is excited to share with Jonah his latest ideas about VR, AR, and using technology to move magic into new possibilities. </p> <h2>Wrap-Up</h2> <h2>Endless Chain</h2> <p><a href="https://twitter.com/mansillarober" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Roberto Mansilla</a></p> <h2>What do you like about modern magic? What do you not like?</h2> <p>The community has gotten much bigger. Even having this conversation on this podcast wouldn’t have happened not too long ago. The community is everyone now, this is great! Magic is expanding the frontiers of expression. </p> <p>The love of the secret has been lost. It used to be that the secret was sacred but it seems like now, especially since the community is so large, everyone wants to share their secrets right away. It would be great if we could recover the love of the secret in some way.</p> <h2>Plugs</h2> <p>You can follow Juan on Instagram <a href="https://www.instagram.com/juan.e.varela" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">@juan.e.varela</a></p> <p>Juan’s website is <a href="https://www.jvarela.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">jvarela.com</a></p> <p>The post <a href="https://discourseinmagic.com/magic-without-props-with-juan-esteban-varela/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Magic Without Props with Juan Esteban Varela</a> appeared first on <a href="https://discourseinmagic.com" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Discourse in Magic</a>.</p>

Magic Without Props with Juan Esteban Varela

In this magical appetizer, Jonah makes a case for counting tricks. Love them or hate them Jonah is convinced that they should be a staple trick in your roster and lays out his reasons why.  Specifically we are discussing one type of card trick, the counting card trick, where you end up counting to a number. It could be any number, a card, a position, weighing the cards, or an actual trick where you are dealing lots of cards.  Misconceptions of Counting Tricks  Maybe, when you hear counting tricks, you immediately think of some of the problematic counting tricks like the 21 Card Trick. What we are hopefully going to express to you in this episode is that most of the challenges that you have with counting tricks are actually with dealing tricks. Those are tricks where you are dealing for a long period of time without any justification for why you’re doing it. If you don’t have a reason for the actual counting through the cards then what you’re doing is boring and, for the most part, audiences are smart and they know when you are dealing through a deck, over and over and over again, that there’s some sort of mathematical mumbo jumbo going on. You probably know of a couple of tricks that are mathematical card tricks in nature, and they probably deal with lots and lots of dealing, and those are not the ones that we are making a case for. We are making a case for when you count and you get closer and closer to the number.  Embedded Suspense Jonah likes to do a multi-phase weighing the card trick where he ends up counting through more than half of the deck multiple times and people go crazy. Usually if you’re doing a card trick you want to build a little bit of suspense. Maybe someone picks a card, they shovel inside the deck, you get a card out, and then they name the card and you look at the card and maybe pause for a second and look at them. You’re trying to build this drama, trying to manufacture drama by not just turning over the dang card. If a card is at a position, like the 21st position for example, you actually have to count one by one by one to get to that position. There is no other way to get there. So instead of there being manufactured drama, which an audience can feel, now there is built in drama.  The best example outside of card magic is the nest of boxes. As you’re opening a box and a smaller box in a smaller box, in a smaller box, getting closer and closer to what is going on, there is anticipation and excitement and the suspense is building because there’s no other way for you to get to that smallest box in the middle, aside from opening the biggest and then the next, and the next, and the next. There’s no faking that kind of drama, it’s built into the magic. Becoming The Conductor  One big thing in magic that Jonah is a big fan of is the rhythm in magic. When somebody is picking a card, when you’re returning it, and when you’re building suspense, there is rhythm. Quite literally, the drama gets closer and closer and closer. You can imagine and draw out the rhythm of what a trick looks like. There’s rhythm built into different magic tricks.  Imagine you tear a card once and then you tear it again and then you put your hands together and then, boom, it restores. There’s rhythm to those moments, how long you want to pause between each thing. With counting card tricks you become the conductor of that rhythm. You can decide at what pace you are getting towards the punchline, the climax. You get to conduct the rhythm of how people respond. You can get louder as you get closer to the number or you can go slower as you get closer to the number. The point is, you can really decide how people are experiencing the punchline of this trick. If the card is the 30th, you have to deal 30 cards. There’s no other way to get there but you can decide exactly how you want to arrive there and take the audience with you. Invite Jonah To Your Next Magic Lecture This episode is an excerpt from Jonah’s lecture notes, which you can only see if he lectures in your city. So if you want Jonah to lecture in your city, and you want to get some lecture notes, then you can send an e-mail to magic@torontomagiccompany.com and we will see if we can make our way to your city in 2024.  The post Magic Appetizer: A Case For Counting Tricks appeared first on Discourse in Magic.

<p>In this magical appetizer, Jonah makes a case for counting tricks. Love them or hate them Jonah is convinced that they should be a staple trick in your roster and lays out his reasons why. </p> <p>Specifically we are discussing one type of card trick, the counting card trick, where you end up counting to a number. It could be any number, a card, a position, weighing the cards, or an actual trick where you are dealing lots of cards. </p> <h1>Misconceptions of Counting Tricks </h1> <p>Maybe, when you hear counting tricks, you immediately think of some of the problematic counting tricks like the 21 Card Trick. What we are hopefully going to express to you in this episode is that most of the challenges that you have with counting tricks are actually with dealing tricks. Those are tricks where you are dealing for a long period of time without any justification for why you’re doing it. If you don’t have a reason for the actual counting through the cards then what you’re doing is boring and, for the most part, audiences are smart and they know when you are dealing through a deck, over and over and over again, that there’s some sort of mathematical mumbo jumbo going on.</p> <p>You probably know of a couple of tricks that are mathematical card tricks in nature, and they probably deal with lots and lots of dealing, and those are not the ones that we are making a case for. We are making a case for when you count and you get closer and closer to the number. </p> <h1>Embedded Suspense</h1> <p>Jonah likes to do a multi-phase weighing the card trick where he ends up counting through more than half of the deck multiple times and people go crazy. Usually if you’re doing a card trick you want to build a little bit of suspense. Maybe someone picks a card, they shovel inside the deck, you get a card out, and then they name the card and you look at the card and maybe pause for a second and look at them. You’re trying to build this drama, trying to manufacture drama by not just turning over the dang card. If a card is at a position, like the 21st position for example, you actually have to count one by one by one to get to that position. There is no other way to get there. So instead of there being manufactured drama, which an audience can feel, now there is built in drama. </p> <p>The best example outside of card magic is the nest of boxes. As you’re opening a box and a smaller box in a smaller box, in a smaller box, getting closer and closer to what is going on, there is anticipation and excitement and the suspense is building because there’s no other way for you to get to that smallest box in the middle, aside from opening the biggest and then the next, and the next, and the next. There’s no faking that kind of drama, it’s built into the magic.</p> <h1>Becoming The Conductor </h1> <p>One big thing in magic that Jonah is a big fan of is the rhythm in magic. When somebody is picking a card, when you’re returning it, and when you’re building suspense, there is rhythm. Quite literally, the drama gets closer and closer and closer. You can imagine and draw out the rhythm of what a trick looks like. There’s rhythm built into different magic tricks.<br/> </p> <p>Imagine you tear a card once and then you tear it again and then you put your hands together and then, boom, it restores. There’s rhythm to those moments, how long you want to pause between each thing. With counting card tricks you become the conductor of that rhythm. You can decide at what pace you are getting towards the punchline, the climax. You get to conduct the rhythm of how people respond. You can get louder as you get closer to the number or you can go slower as you get closer to the number. The point is, you can really decide how people are experiencing the punchline of this trick.</p> <p>If the card is the 30th, you have to deal 30 cards. There’s no other way to get there but you can decide exactly how you want to arrive there and take the audience with you.</p> <h1>Invite Jonah To Your Next Magic Lecture</h1> <p>This episode is an excerpt from Jonah’s lecture notes, which you can only see if he lectures in your city. So if you want Jonah to lecture in your city, and you want to get some lecture notes, then you can send an e-mail to <a href="mailto:magic@torontomagiccompany.com">magic@torontomagiccompany.com</a> and we will see if we can make our way to your city in 2024. </p> <p>The post <a href="https://discourseinmagic.com/magic-appetizer-a-case-for-counting-tricks/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Magic Appetizer: A Case For Counting Tricks</a> appeared first on <a href="https://discourseinmagic.com" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Discourse in Magic</a>.</p>

Magic Appetizer: A Case For Counting Tricks

Dustin Dean

Jonah is joined by Dustin Dean, an incredible mentalist who you may have seen on your TikTok feed. He has over half a million followers and countless videos with millions of views. In this conversation we’ll learn all about his success, how you can get into growing your social media presence, and how to thread the line between fooling your audience and being honest with them. The Mentalist on The Screen Dustin’s first influential exposure and interest in magic really came into focus when he encountered one of Darren Brown’s television shows. Seeing someone call themselves a mentalist and appear to explain the method of what they were doing was the catalyst for Dustin into understanding all the possibilities that magic could express itself as.   Most of the early magic that Dustin learned was through YouTube and in the beginning it was just Dustin and the internet. It was there that he learned his first card tricks before being introduced to magic clubs and the wider world of the magical community.   His big break came from a haircut where, while showing off what we could do to the staff at the barber shop, an agent happened to be there who was looking for more acts to book for the college circuit. You Don’t Have To Be A Magician (To Go Viral) At first Dustin threw himself into social media magic but now he’s mostly known on social media as one who debunks psychics and he’s learned that he doesn’t have to be so restricted to grow on social media. In his conversation with Jonah he shares the lessons and insights he’s learned creating multiple accounts and seeing many of his posts grow to millions of views with millions of followers.   Does his social media footprint translate into bookings? Not exactly but Dustin explains how he views his social media work and how it can surprise him in the long run what doors it’s been able to open and what clients he’s been able to secure.  The Honest Liars Dustin has a massive following for his debunking of physics and mediums. Why does he feel so driven to do all the research to expose them? And what does he think about other mentalists who don’t warn their audiences that what they are experiencing is not actually real?  Dustin has given a lot of thought into the ethics of mentalism and it’s effect on how it shapes the thoughts of people in the audience and he dives deep with Jonah into the world of debunking and mentalism and lets us into his reasons into why he does what he does.   Wrap-Up Endless Chain Joel Myers What do you like about modern magic? What do you not like? It’s getting more thinking about how it’s done or how it could be possible. Because of Google and social media a lot of people are figuring out how magic tricks work. This is not to say that exposure for the sake of exposure is a good thing but it is nice to see people learning and showing interest and, in a way, pushing magic forward to think of new avenues and ways to fool people. It’s not great that there is so much exposure just for the attention. Exposure videos are a very low level form of attention. It’s an easy dumb way to get views and attention and doesn’t really add much value.  Plugs Dustin can be found everywhere with the same handle @DustinDeanMentalist.  You can find him on Instagram, TikTok, Facebook, YouTube, and at dustindeanmentalist.com The post Social Media Magic with Dustin Dean appeared first on Discourse in Magic.

<p>Jonah is joined by Dustin Dean, an incredible mentalist who you may have seen on your TikTok feed. He has over half a million followers and countless videos with millions of views. In this conversation we’ll learn all about his success, how you can get into growing your social media presence, and how to thread the line between fooling your audience and being honest with them.</p> <h1>The Mentalist on The Screen</h1> <p>Dustin’s first influential exposure and interest in magic really came into focus when he encountered one of Darren Brown’s television shows. Seeing someone call themselves a mentalist and appear to explain the method of what they were doing was the catalyst for Dustin into understanding all the possibilities that magic could express itself as.  </p> <p>Most of the early magic that Dustin learned was through YouTube and in the beginning it was just Dustin and the internet. It was there that he learned his first card tricks before being introduced to magic clubs and the wider world of the magical community.  </p> <p>His big break came from a haircut where, while showing off what we could do to the staff at the barber shop, an agent happened to be there who was looking for more acts to book for the college circuit.</p> <h1>You Don’t Have To Be A Magician (To Go Viral)</h1> <p>At first Dustin threw himself into social media magic but now he’s mostly known on social media as one who debunks psychics and he’s learned that he doesn’t have to be so restricted to grow on social media. In his conversation with Jonah he shares the lessons and insights he’s learned creating multiple accounts and seeing many of his posts grow to millions of views with millions of followers. <br/> <br/> Does his social media footprint translate into bookings? Not exactly but Dustin explains how he views his social media work and how it can surprise him in the long run what doors it’s been able to open and what clients he’s been able to secure. </p> <h1>The Honest Liars</h1> <p>Dustin has a massive following for his debunking of physics and mediums. Why does he feel so driven to do all the research to expose them? And what does he think about other mentalists who don’t warn their audiences that what they are experiencing is not actually real? </p> <p>Dustin has given a lot of thought into the ethics of mentalism and it’s effect on how it shapes the thoughts of people in the audience and he dives deep with Jonah into the world of debunking and mentalism and lets us into his reasons into why he does what he does.  </p> <h2>Wrap-Up</h2> <h2>Endless Chain</h2> <p><a href="https://meyersmagic.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Joel Myers</a></p> <h2>What do you like about modern magic? What do you not like?</h2> <p>It’s getting more thinking about how it’s done or how it could be possible. Because of Google and social media a lot of people are figuring out how magic tricks work. This is not to say that exposure for the sake of exposure is a good thing but it is nice to see people learning and showing interest and, in a way, pushing magic forward to think of new avenues and ways to fool people.</p> <p>It’s not great that there is so much exposure just for the attention. Exposure videos are a very low level form of attention. It’s an easy dumb way to get views and attention and doesn’t really add much value. </p> <h2>Plugs</h2> <p>Dustin can be found everywhere with the same handle @DustinDeanMentalist. <br/> You can find him on <a href="https://www.instagram.com/dustindeanmentalist" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Instagram</a>, <a href="https://www.tiktok.com/@dustindeanmentalist" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">TikTok</a>, <a href="https://www.facebook.com/dustindeanthementalist" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Facebook</a>, <a href="https://www.youtube.com/c/DustinDeanMentalist" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">YouTube</a>, and at <a href="https://www.dustindeanmentalist.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">dustindeanmentalist.com</a></p> <p>The post <a href="https://discourseinmagic.com/social-media-magic-with-dustin-dean/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Social Media Magic with Dustin Dean</a> appeared first on <a href="https://discourseinmagic.com" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Discourse in Magic</a>.</p>

Social Media Magic with Dustin Dean

In this magic appetizer Jonah offers up three ways that you can grow your business to making more than 3k a month in the next six months. In the past Jonah has taught master classes and entry-level classes for magicians looking to increase their business and in this episode he’s going to share his insights on the three biggest mistakes that new magicians make when starting their business and what fixes you can do so that you can be well on your way.  Mistake #1: Pricing This is one of the most common mistakes that magicians are making. They’re charging something like $200 or $150 for their gigs. The problem with this is that it is very hard to reach critical mass. It’s very hard to get to $3,000 a month at $300 bookings. You need to do 10 shows a month and 10 shows a month is a lot, especially if you are getting started. The only magicians that get away with charging two, three, or even four hundred are the ones that are doing countless kids parties every single weekend, like four a weekend or more, because that’s the only way that they can actually make those numbers.  If you are getting started, you should aim at the $500 to $1000 range. The reality is that you can now get to your 3k to 5k a month in three to six bookings a month. If people are inquiring and asking you about your rates you should start at $500 and work your way up to $1000. You can do this by slowly increasing your rates. You can do this by having multiple different packages and multiple offerings, like a short show and a long show, or a show plus mingling magic. You can come up with some different options, but aim at the $500 to $1000 per gig range. That way you get it done in three to five gigs a month.  The only thing that’s stopping you from charging $500 to $1000 per gig is in your head. The key to actually getting to critical mass, to getting enough gigs under your belt, is to make enough per gig so that it is worth your while and you can actually start this part-time business.  Mistake #2: Your Leads Leads is another word for the inquiries or people asking about you or anybody who wants to hire you for a magic show. One of the biggest challenges with magicians who are getting started is that their way of getting leads is by crossing their fingers and hoping. That is not a way to generate bookings or a way to bring people into your world. There are tons of practical, tactical ways to get people into your universe, but you have to be doing them.  Some common, popular ways to get leads include mail outreach, cold calling, Google Ads, SEO (Search Engine optimization), generating content for your socials, signing up to gig sites, and Facebook ads. If you pick just one of them and do it every single day for 30 days you’ll have a terrific source for generating leads.  Mistake #3: Marketing Material Far too many magicians websites have one of these two big no-nos. First is a random headshot. Just photos of yourself with spread cards or cards in your hands does nothing for you. It won’t convince anybody that you are good at this. Second are stock photos of magicians and top hats and things that aren’t you. You probably don’t use a top hat when you do your gigs, you probably don’t dress in a tuxedo, and you probably do not have a rabbit.  Instead, what they’re looking to see is actual photos of you doing the thing. If you’re pitching yourself to do company events, it’s photos of you working at company events. If you’re pitching yourself to do bar mitzvahs and weddings, it’s photos of you doing bar mitzvahs and weddings. If you’re pitching to do birthday parties, you get the idea. You need photos of that. How do you get those photos? A million ways. Bring a photographer, ask the people there to take photos, take some photos yourself, bring a friend with you to take some photos with you. There are unlimited ways to do it and the same thing applies to video. One short video of you actually performing for the target market is going to do so much work. It’s gonna help you so much. The clients need proof, and if you’re charging now more than you would’ve been charging before, then one of the big things you’re going to need is proof. Do not fill your website with random headshot photos that you did with a photographer. Do not fill your website with stock photos of magicians. Fill your website with photos of you doing the thing for the people you do the thing for, and videos of you doing the thing for the people that you do the thing for. Level Up Your Magic Business  Those are the three biggest areas that you should be working on to get you to 3-5k a month. If you’re already at 3-5k a month and you want to get to six figures a year, you can send Jonah an email to magic@torontomagiccompany.com with the word “Mastermind” and you can talk with him about working together and seeing if he can get you there faster.  The post Magic Appetizer: 3 Ways to Make 3k appeared first on Discourse in Magic.

<p>In this magic appetizer Jonah offers up three ways that you can grow your business to making more than 3k a month in the next six months. In the past Jonah has taught master classes and entry-level classes for magicians looking to increase their business and in this episode he’s going to share his insights on the three biggest mistakes that new magicians make when starting their business and what fixes you can do so that you can be well on your way. </p> <h1>Mistake #1: Pricing</h1> <p>This is one of the most common mistakes that magicians are making. They’re charging something like $200 or $150 for their gigs. The problem with this is that it is very hard to reach critical mass. It’s very hard to get to $3,000 a month at $300 bookings. You need to do 10 shows a month and 10 shows a month is a lot, especially if you are getting started. The only magicians that get away with charging two, three, or even four hundred are the ones that are doing countless kids parties every single weekend, like four a weekend or more, because that’s the only way that they can actually make those numbers. </p> <p>If you are getting started, you should aim at the $500 to $1000 range. The reality is that you can now get to your 3k to 5k a month in three to six bookings a month. If people are inquiring and asking you about your rates you should start at $500 and work your way up to $1000.</p> <p>You can do this by slowly increasing your rates. You can do this by having multiple different packages and multiple offerings, like a short show and a long show, or a show plus mingling magic. You can come up with some different options, but aim at the $500 to $1000 per gig range. That way you get it done in three to five gigs a month. </p> <p>The only thing that’s stopping you from charging $500 to $1000 per gig is in your head. The key to actually getting to critical mass, to getting enough gigs under your belt, is to make enough per gig so that it is worth your while and you can actually start this part-time business. </p> <h1>Mistake #2: Your Leads</h1> <p>Leads is another word for the inquiries or people asking about you or anybody who wants to hire you for a magic show. One of the biggest challenges with magicians who are getting started is that their way of getting leads is by crossing their fingers and hoping. That is not a way to generate bookings or a way to bring people into your world. There are tons of practical, tactical ways to get people into your universe, but you have to be doing them. </p> <p>Some common, popular ways to get leads include mail outreach, cold calling, Google Ads, SEO (Search Engine optimization), generating content for your socials, signing up to gig sites, and Facebook ads. If you pick just one of them and do it every single day for 30 days you’ll have a terrific source for generating leads. </p> <h1>Mistake #3: Marketing Material</h1> <p>Far too many magicians websites have one of these two big no-nos. First is a random headshot. Just photos of yourself with spread cards or cards in your hands does nothing for you. It won’t convince anybody that you are good at this. Second are stock photos of magicians and top hats and things that aren’t you. You probably don’t use a top hat when you do your gigs, you probably don’t dress in a tuxedo, and you probably do not have a rabbit. </p> <p>Instead, what they’re looking to see is actual photos of you doing the thing. If you’re pitching yourself to do company events, it’s photos of you working at company events. If you’re pitching yourself to do bar mitzvahs and weddings, it’s photos of you doing bar mitzvahs and weddings. If you’re pitching to do birthday parties, you get the idea. You need photos of that. How do you get those photos? A million ways. Bring a photographer, ask the people there to take photos, take some photos yourself, bring a friend with you to take some photos with you. There are unlimited ways to do it and the same thing applies to video. One short video of you actually performing for the target market is going to do so much work. It’s gonna help you so much. The clients need proof, and if you’re charging now more than you would’ve been charging before, then one of the big things you’re going to need is proof.</p> <p>Do not fill your website with random headshot photos that you did with a photographer. Do not fill your website with stock photos of magicians. Fill your website with photos of you doing the thing for the people you do the thing for, and videos of you doing the thing for the people that you do the thing for.</p> <h1>Level Up Your Magic Business </h1> <p>Those are the three biggest areas that you should be working on to get you to 3-5k a month. If you’re already at 3-5k a month and you want to get to six figures a year, you can send Jonah an email to <a href="mailto:magic@torontomagiccompany.com">magic@torontomagiccompany.com</a> with the word “Mastermind” and you can talk with him about working together and seeing if he can get you there faster. </p> <p>The post <a href="https://discourseinmagic.com/magic-appetizer-3-ways-to-make-3k/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Magic Appetizer: 3 Ways to Make 3k</a> appeared first on <a href="https://discourseinmagic.com" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Discourse in Magic</a>.</p>

Magic Appetizer: 3 Ways to Make 3k

In this magic appetizer Jonah offers up three things that you may want to think about when you are creating magic, making routines, and putting stuff out in the world.  #1: Clarity Comes from Action and Not Thought When you are coming up with an idea or when you are working on something, it rarely feels like you’re gaining ground when you are just sitting there thinking about stuff. You only gain ground when you do the thing, you have to actually put something down on the drawing board and do something and then you’ve got something to play with. When you actually do the thing, you grow a little bit more attached to it and you start to see the idea for what it really is. As soon as you can do the thing, do it for real people. Maybe do it for a friend, maybe record a video of yourself doing it or trying it, even if it feels too early, you don’t need to publish it and share it with a million people, you just have to find a place to do the thing. Whether it’s an open mic night, whether it’s doing it for a friend, or whether it’s just videoing it and doing it for yourself, clarity comes from action and not thought. You will not think your way out of a problem. #2: Limitation Breeds Creativity It can be impossible to create when you have nothing that you can draw on. In the past any growth that Jonah has ever had in his show has come from one of two things. They’ve ever come from a deadline or it comes from an obvious hole that is in his act. You will be way more likely to actually pull something together when you have a box that you’re trying to work within. Aim to solve a problem and get it done by a deadline. The more limitations that you have, the more likely it is that you’re going to actually produce something. Do not give yourself endless time for endless options to come up with something or you will end up with nothing. #3: The Best Ideas Come From Past Ideas It is so much easier to reach back into something that you’ve already done in some way and modify it than it will be to come up with something brand new. It’s kind of like a paradox that you have to draw on stuff that you’ve already done to come up with something new because then how do you come up with something new if you’re already drawing on stuff that you’ve already done? To get past this, find a low stakes environment that you can play and you can try things at. Go get some first drafts there and out of the way so that when you actually have to create something you have examples to draw on that you’ve actually laid a little bit of the groundwork that you can pull from. So whether you’re getting a chance to perform on open mic nights, or you are putting out a video, you want to get some of these first drafts under your belt so that when the time comes that you want to actually create something and fill those gaps you’ll be ready for it. You’re not starting completely fresh, but you’re pulling from a short list of ideas that you have used before. Having a low stakes place to actually try stuff is great, not just so that you can try, but so that later you can draw on it. Find a place to come up with those first draft ideas so that later when the time comes, when it’s important, you have some first drafts that you can pull from and then start working on and tweaking and playing with. The post Magic Appetizer: Three Notes on Creativity appeared first on Discourse in Magic.

<p>In this magic appetizer Jonah offers up three things that you may want to think about when you are creating magic, making routines, and putting stuff out in the world. </p> <h1>#1: Clarity Comes from Action and Not Thought</h1> <p>When you are coming up with an idea or when you are working on something, it rarely feels like you’re gaining ground when you are just sitting there thinking about stuff.</p> <p>You only gain ground when you do the thing, you have to actually put something down on the drawing board and do something and then you’ve got something to play with. When you actually do the thing, you grow a little bit more attached to it and you start to see the idea for what it really is. As soon as you can do the thing, do it for real people. Maybe do it for a friend, maybe record a video of yourself doing it or trying it, even if it feels too early, you don’t need to publish it and share it with a million people, you just have to find a place to do the thing. Whether it’s an open mic night, whether it’s doing it for a friend, or whether it’s just videoing it and doing it for yourself, clarity comes from action and not thought. You will not think your way out of a problem.</p> <h1>#2: Limitation Breeds Creativity</h1> <p>It can be impossible to create when you have nothing that you can draw on. In the past any growth that Jonah has ever had in his show has come from one of two things. They’ve ever come from a deadline or it comes from an obvious hole that is in his act.</p> <p>You will be way more likely to actually pull something together when you have a box that you’re trying to work within. Aim to solve a problem and get it done by a deadline. The more limitations that you have, the more likely it is that you’re going to actually produce something. Do not give yourself endless time for endless options to come up with something or you will end up with nothing.</p> <h1>#3: The Best Ideas Come From Past Ideas</h1> <p>It is so much easier to reach back into something that you’ve already done in some way and modify it than it will be to come up with something brand new. It’s kind of like a paradox that you have to draw on stuff that you’ve already done to come up with something new because then how do you come up with something new if you’re already drawing on stuff that you’ve already done? To get past this, find a low stakes environment that you can play and you can try things at. Go get some first drafts there and out of the way so that when you actually have to create something you have examples to draw on that you’ve actually laid a little bit of the groundwork that you can pull from.</p> <p>So whether you’re getting a chance to perform on open mic nights, or you are putting out a video, you want to get some of these first drafts under your belt so that when the time comes that you want to actually create something and fill those gaps you’ll be ready for it.</p> <p>You’re not starting completely fresh, but you’re pulling from a short list of ideas that you have used before. Having a low stakes place to actually try stuff is great, not just so that you can try, but so that later you can draw on it. Find a place to come up with those first draft ideas so that later when the time comes, when it’s important, you have some first drafts that you can pull from and then start working on and tweaking and playing with.</p> <p>The post <a href="https://discourseinmagic.com/magic-appetizer-three-notes-on-creativity/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Magic Appetizer: Three Notes on Creativity</a> appeared first on <a href="https://discourseinmagic.com" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Discourse in Magic</a>.</p>

Magic Appetizer: Three Notes on Creativity

David Gerard

Jonah is joined by David Gerard, a magician who started later in life after a career working in silicon valley marketing for startups. David’s unique background and experiences blends perfectly with Jonah’s interests and curiosity in this conversation that covers everything from how to face the harsh reality of criticism and examining what it feels like to be fooled, to discussions on marketing yourself for corporate events, retaining your clients, and how to grow your magic business.  Making a Choice to Be Amazed David remembers vividly his first encounter with magic and shares with us the story of how his dad took him to see a magician and made the decision that day not to pick the trick apart but embrace the choice to be amazed. David took that amazement and carried it with him as he grew up.  It didn’t really start there though as David would go on to work for Google and eventually move on to marketing with startups around the Seattle area. Magic was always there in the background but he’s an admitted late bloomer to the life of a professional magician. This means now, of course, that when he performs at a corporate event he can literally speak their language and knows how to connect with that audience.  The Magic (and Science) of Gratitude David is passionate about mindfulness and meditation and he shares with us lessons he’s learned and the questions he’s asked himself as he continues to perform. He also encourages every magician to examine why they’re on the stage in the first place, to understand what it means to be fooled (and how that isn’t always a positive experience for people), and being clear about your wants and desires.  Marketing To Your Expertise In the later half of this conversation Jonah and David deep dive into marketing your show. David offers up advice on how to get your time on stage, how to handle criticism, and the importance of choosing carefully who you get your advice from.  Does your show have to be original? Or is it more important that your connection to the audience is authentic? How vital is it to study the classics versus breaking out to invent your own routine? And when you have that all sorted out how do you market yourself to event planners and agents who are booking magicians for their next event?  David shares his ideas on how to retain those relationships with those event planners, where to find corporate gigs, and important tips to retain those gigs while also sourcing new ones.  Wrap-Up Endless Chain Eric Mead What do you like about modern magic? What do you not like? A lot of people are getting exposed to magic now and there is better magic out there now. It’s really great that people are so welcoming and so sharing and the secrets aren’t that far away now.  However, there are less and less places to get stage time which is the number one thing that makes you good and that’s really sad. Plugs David’s primary page is gerardmagic.com and you can stay in touch with him on Instagram at @davidgerardmagic The post Magic, Mindfulness, and Marketing with David Gerard appeared first on Discourse in Magic.

<p>Jonah is joined by David Gerard, a magician who started later in life after a career working in silicon valley marketing for startups. David’s unique background and experiences blends perfectly with Jonah’s interests and curiosity in this conversation that covers everything from how to face the harsh reality of criticism and examining what it feels like to be fooled, to discussions on marketing yourself for corporate events, retaining your clients, and how to grow your magic business. </p> <h1>Making a Choice to Be Amazed</h1> <p>David remembers vividly his first encounter with magic and shares with us the story of how his dad took him to see a magician and made the decision that day not to pick the trick apart but embrace the choice to be amazed. David took that amazement and carried it with him as he grew up. </p> <p>It didn’t really start there though as David would go on to work for Google and eventually move on to marketing with startups around the Seattle area. Magic was always there in the background but he’s an admitted late bloomer to the life of a professional magician. This means now, of course, that when he performs at a corporate event he can literally speak their language and knows how to connect with that audience. </p> <h1>The Magic (and Science) of Gratitude</h1> <p>David is passionate about mindfulness and meditation and he shares with us lessons he’s learned and the questions he’s asked himself as he continues to perform. He also encourages every magician to examine why they’re on the stage in the first place, to understand what it means to be fooled (and how that isn’t always a positive experience for people), and being clear about your wants and desires. </p> <h1>Marketing To Your Expertise</h1> <p>In the later half of this conversation Jonah and David deep dive into marketing your show. David offers up advice on how to get your time on stage, how to handle criticism, and the importance of choosing carefully who you get your advice from. </p> <p>Does your show have to be original? Or is it more important that your connection to the audience is authentic? How vital is it to study the classics versus breaking out to invent your own routine? And when you have that all sorted out how do you market yourself to event planners and agents who are booking magicians for their next event? </p> <p>David shares his ideas on how to retain those relationships with those event planners, where to find corporate gigs, and important tips to retain those gigs while also sourcing new ones. </p> <h2>Wrap-Up</h2> <h2>Endless Chain</h2> <p><a href="https://ericmead.org/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Eric Mead</a></p> <h2>What do you like about modern magic? What do you not like?</h2> <p>A lot of people are getting exposed to magic now and there is better magic out there now. It’s really great that people are so welcoming and so sharing and the secrets aren’t that far away now. </p> <p>However, there are less and less places to get stage time which is the number one thing that makes you good and that’s really sad.</p> <h2>Plugs</h2> <p>David’s primary page is <a href="https://www.gerardmagic.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">gerardmagic.com</a> and you can stay in touch with him on Instagram at <a href="https://www.instagram.com/davidgerardmagic" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">@davidgerardmagic</a></p> <p>The post <a href="https://discourseinmagic.com/magic-mindfulness-and-marketing-with-david-gerard/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Magic, Mindfulness, and Marketing with David Gerard</a> appeared first on <a href="https://discourseinmagic.com" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Discourse in Magic</a>.</p>

Magic, Mindfulness, and Marketing with David Gerard

Today Jonah talks about how to sell tickets to your public magic show by offering up four ways that you can use to sell out your public ticketed magic show. Tip #1: Submit to Listings This is an easy one, an obvious one, and one that you should always be doing. submit to listings all over your city. There are journals, newspapers, online news places, places that actually have event submissions. If you search for things to do in your city you will find all of the websites that have recommendations for what to do this weekend. All of those listings accept submissions. They’ll accept information about different ideas for what to do in your location. So if you make a list of all of the different listings or places that you can list events in your city, then it’s very, very easy whenever you launch your show. One by one, submit your show to every single listing for them to list in the things to do category, and you’re gonna get a lot of traffic from there because people are looking for what to do. People get pretty excited when they get to go see a magic show in your city, and it’s a pretty easy way for them to know about it.  Tip #2: Share on Social Media Maybe this seems obvious to you, but a lot of the times when people put on public shows, they post one poster or something like that, and that is it. Keep the public up to date, post posters, post photos, post videos, post information, and most importantly let them know when tickets are almost sold out. People love to buy things when they know that other people have already bought them. So as well as trying to sell your first few tickets on social media you should also be aiming to sell the last few tickets. Help encourage your audience, your fans, to actually get tickets to come and see the show.  Plus, the people in your world really like to see the behind the scenes. How is your show getting made? How are you getting your venue? How are you getting prepared? How are you? Get people really excited about the show and get them to know the behind the scenes. Tip #3: Run Facebook Ads Facebook ads are great because you can target exactly the right people. You can say that you want people that are within 10 miles of a particular location or for people that are only interested in specific types of things. Whatever you’re thinking, give that a try. There’s no right or wrong answer. Some searches that Jonah likes to use are people that are interested in theater, entertainment, art galleries, magic people that like David Blaine, or people that like America’s Got Talent. A great direction to target is using search terms that sort of feel like they’re in the same realm as what you do. If you target the right people with the right ads, and if you have all of the tracking set up correctly, then you’re gonna know how many tickets exactly are sold from your Facebook ads.  Tip #4: Get On Local News Send a press release telling all of the local news stations, just like you did all of the event submissions, telling them that you have a public magic show. If you give them the details, and you do it every time, then you may be surprised by who wants to bring you on their morning show. They’re always looking for fun, interesting stuff to bring on the show and magic is the most fun and interesting thing. You’ll get to perform for the hosts of the show and then you get to promote your event. Even though young people maybe don’t watch the morning news a lot, there are still a lot of people who do. A lot of people get their news and their ideas for things to do from these programs. So reach out to things like radio shows in your city and morning shows on local tv. Send messages and tell them that you have a public show. Follow Up With Jonah If you need help accomplishing any of these things then feel free to send Jonah an email at magic@torontomagiccompany.com. And if you’ve ever gotten a nugget of value out of this show, it would mean the universe if you left a review in the podcast app of your choice.  The post Magic Appetizer: How To Sell Out Your Show appeared first on Discourse in Magic.

<p>Today Jonah talks about how to sell tickets to your public magic show by offering up four ways that you can use to sell out your public ticketed magic show.</p> <h1>Tip #1: Submit to Listings</h1> <p>This is an easy one, an obvious one, and one that you should always be doing. submit to listings all over your city. There are journals, newspapers, online news places, places that actually have event submissions. If you search for things to do in your city you will find all of the websites that have recommendations for what to do this weekend. All of those listings accept submissions.</p> <p>They’ll accept information about different ideas for what to do in your location. So if you make a list of all of the different listings or places that you can list events in your city, then it’s very, very easy whenever you launch your show. One by one, submit your show to every single listing for them to list in the things to do category, and you’re gonna get a lot of traffic from there because people are looking for what to do. People get pretty excited when they get to go see a magic show in your city, and it’s a pretty easy way for them to know about it. </p> <h1>Tip #2: Share on Social Media</h1> <p>Maybe this seems obvious to you, but a lot of the times when people put on public shows, they post one poster or something like that, and that is it. Keep the public up to date, post posters, post photos, post videos, post information, and most importantly let them know when tickets are almost sold out. People love to buy things when they know that other people have already bought them. So as well as trying to sell your first few tickets on social media you should also be aiming to sell the last few tickets. Help encourage your audience, your fans, to actually get tickets to come and see the show. </p> <p>Plus, the people in your world really like to see the behind the scenes. How is your show getting made? How are you getting your venue? How are you getting prepared? How are you? Get people really excited about the show and get them to know the behind the scenes.</p> <h1>Tip #3: Run Facebook Ads</h1> <p>Facebook ads are great because you can target exactly the right people. You can say that you want people that are within 10 miles of a particular location or for people that are only interested in specific types of things. Whatever you’re thinking, give that a try. There’s no right or wrong answer. Some searches that Jonah likes to use are people that are interested in theater, entertainment, art galleries, magic people that like David Blaine, or people that like America’s Got Talent. A great direction to target is using search terms that sort of feel like they’re in the same realm as what you do.</p> <p>If you target the right people with the right ads, and if you have all of the tracking set up correctly, then you’re gonna know how many tickets exactly are sold from your Facebook ads. </p> <h1>Tip #4: Get On Local News</h1> <p>Send a press release telling all of the local news stations, just like you did all of the event submissions, telling them that you have a public magic show. If you give them the details, and you do it every time, then you may be surprised by who wants to bring you on their morning show. They’re always looking for fun, interesting stuff to bring on the show and magic is the most fun and interesting thing. You’ll get to perform for the hosts of the show and then you get to promote your event.</p> <p>Even though young people maybe don’t watch the morning news a lot, there are still a lot of people who do. A lot of people get their news and their ideas for things to do from these programs. So reach out to things like radio shows in your city and morning shows on local tv. Send messages and tell them that you have a public show.</p> <h1>Follow Up With Jonah</h1> <p>If you need help accomplishing any of these things then feel free to send Jonah an email at magic@torontomagiccompany.com. And if you’ve ever gotten a nugget of value out of this show, it would mean the universe if you left a review in the podcast app of your choice. </p> <p>The post <a href="https://discourseinmagic.com/magic-appetizer-how-to-sell-out-your-show/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Magic Appetizer: How To Sell Out Your Show</a> appeared first on <a href="https://discourseinmagic.com" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Discourse in Magic</a>.</p>

Magic Appetizer: How To Sell Out Your Show

Jonah is joined by FISM winner Markobi where they talk all about what it takes to win a competition, what it’s like to work with a team, and what it’s like to work alone. Free Videos and Social Media Markobi learned his first magic tricks from those very same free youtube channels that magicians in the industry today can’t stand. From those videos he started following the names that kept showing up in the comments and began connecting with more and more people doing anything he could to speak to magicians on social media. From there it was up to him to take the train to Paris and start meeting these magicians in person. Markobi speaks candidly with Jonah about how important those early days of networking and connection were to figuring out what kind of magician he wanted to become.  The Road To FISM In this conversation Markobi shares with Jonah who his inspirations were for his grand champion win at FISM 2022. He talks about what it’s like to work on a team, and some of the misconceptions you may have about what it means to be on a competition magic team, it’s a lot more alone time than you may think.  Most magicians are quick to point out that Markobi’s FISM performance is very funny for magicians and seems particularly tailored to that particular audience and environment. With Jonah, Markobi gets into the considerations he made when scripting his world champion performance and how he tailors his jokes for the audience he has. He also offers up advice on how you should handle your time at a competition you’re competing in.   Finally, Markobi catches us up on how his life has changed post FISM. The work he’s doing now and how winning the grand prize at FISM isn’t the end of the road but just the very beginning for him. Wrap-Up Endless Chain Alain Simonov  What do you like about modern magic? What do you not like? A lot of magicians are keeping to the basics and old techniques despite the rise and lure of modern technology. Even new discoveries are being found by studying old books and continuing old traditions of magic. Even young magicians are not forgetting about the past but looking to it for inspiration, which is very surprising.   The importance of mentalism is very boring. It’s not always bad but everyone wants to do it and there’s a lot more bad mentalism than good mentalism. Too many mentalists are just following trends. Plugs Since FISM, Markobi’s youtube channel has been reopened at youtube.com/@Markobi1 On Instagram, take note that you add the extra “m” at the end of his name at instagram.com/markobim  If you’re following those two channels you’ll be the first to know when Markobi’s book is ready! The post The World Champion of Magic with Markobi appeared first on Discourse in Magic.

<p>Jonah is joined by FISM winner Markobi where they talk all about what it takes to win a competition, what it’s like to work with a team, and what it’s like to work alone.</p> <h1>Free Videos and Social Media</h1> <p>Markobi learned his first magic tricks from those very same free youtube channels that magicians in the industry today can’t stand. From those videos he started following the names that kept showing up in the comments and began connecting with more and more people doing anything he could to speak to magicians on social media. From there it was up to him to take the train to Paris and start meeting these magicians in person. Markobi speaks candidly with Jonah about how important those early days of networking and connection were to figuring out what kind of magician he wanted to become. </p> <h1>The Road To FISM</h1> <p>In this conversation Markobi shares with Jonah who his inspirations were for his <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TJX-z0O9TOE&amp;ab_channel=Markobi" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">grand champion win at FISM 2022</a>. He talks about what it’s like to work on a team, and some of the misconceptions you may have about what it means to be on a competition magic team, it’s a lot more alone time than you may think.<br/> </p> <p>Most magicians are quick to point out that Markobi’s FISM performance is very funny for magicians and seems particularly tailored to that particular audience and environment. With Jonah, Markobi gets into the considerations he made when scripting his world champion performance and how he tailors his jokes for the audience he has. He also offers up advice on how you should handle your time at a competition you’re competing in.  </p> <p>Finally, Markobi catches us up on how his life has changed post FISM. The work he’s doing now and how winning the grand prize at FISM isn’t the end of the road but just the very beginning for him.</p> <h2>Wrap-Up</h2> <h2>Endless Chain</h2> <p><a href="https://www.alainsimonov.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Alain Simonov </a></p> <h2>What do you like about modern magic? What do you not like?</h2> <p>A lot of magicians are keeping to the basics and old techniques despite the rise and lure of modern technology. Even new discoveries are being found by studying old books and continuing old traditions of magic. Even young magicians are not forgetting about the past but looking to it for inspiration, which is very surprising.  </p> <p>The importance of mentalism is very boring. It’s not always bad but everyone wants to do it and there’s a lot more bad mentalism than good mentalism. Too many mentalists are just following trends.</p> <h2>Plugs</h2> <p>Since FISM, Markobi’s youtube channel has been reopened at <a href="https://www.youtube.com/@Markobi1" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">youtube.com/@Markobi1</a></p> <p>On Instagram, take note that you add the extra “m” at the end of his name at <a href="https://www.instagram.com/markobim" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">instagram.com/markobim</a> </p> <p>If you’re following those two channels you’ll be the first to know when Markobi’s book is ready!</p> <p>The post <a href="https://discourseinmagic.com/the-world-champion-of-magic-with-markobi/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">The World Champion of Magic with Markobi</a> appeared first on <a href="https://discourseinmagic.com" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Discourse in Magic</a>.</p>

The World Champion of Magic with Markobi

Jonah invites you to join in on his mastermind course where you can scale up your magic business. Join The Mastermind Jonah is re-opening up the doors for the Mastermind this month, and he’s looking for five magicians who want to add 3k to 5k per month to their magic business in the next 90 days. All of the tips, all of the magician appetizers that you see coming out on this podcast, with practical magic business advice, come right from the Mastermind training. If you want Jonah’s help, not only with this step-by-step information with templates and scripts that you can copy for your magic business, but also for him to hold your hand and guarantee that you’re going to scale and add 3k to 5k a month to your magic business, this might be for you. Five Things You Need You need five things to be a good fit for this.  Number one, you need to already have a show or mingling magic that you are confident in. This is not a magic coaching program, this is a business coaching program for professional magicians. Number two, you need to already be making at least 25k a year in your magic business. We help people scale from 50k to 200k but you already need to have gotten started. That means you’ve got things like a website, you’ve got a business, you’ve got a couple of the things in place that are ready to help you scale. Number three, you need to have time for three to five more company or private events every single month. If you don’t have the time, then there’s no way that this would be a fit. So it’s important that you have the time.  Number four, you are friendly and coachable. You will be welcomed into the Mastermind family and it’s very important that you are both of those things. And number five, you can keep a secret.  Here’s What To Do If you are all of those things then send a message to magic@torontomagiccompany.com with the word SCALE and Jonah will send you the deets and see if it’s a fit to work together. Jonah will be back next week with another epic interview coming your way. The post Mastermind Invitation appeared first on Discourse in Magic.

<p>Jonah invites you to join in on his mastermind course where you can scale up your magic business.</p> <h1>Join The Mastermind</h1> <p>Jonah is re-opening up the doors for the Mastermind this month, and he’s looking for five magicians who want to add 3k to 5k per month to their magic business in the next 90 days.</p> <p>All of the tips, all of the magician appetizers that you see coming out on this podcast, with practical magic business advice, come right from the Mastermind training. If you want Jonah’s help, not only with this step-by-step information with templates and scripts that you can copy for your magic business, but also for him to hold your hand and guarantee that you’re going to scale and add 3k to 5k a month to your magic business, this might be for you.</p> <h1>Five Things You Need</h1> <p>You need five things to be a good fit for this. </p> <p>Number one, you need to already have a show or mingling magic that you are confident in. This is not a magic coaching program, this is a business coaching program for professional magicians.</p> <p>Number two, you need to already be making at least 25k a year in your magic business. We help people scale from 50k to 200k but you already need to have gotten started. That means you’ve got things like a website, you’ve got a business, you’ve got a couple of the things in place that are ready to help you scale.</p> <p>Number three, you need to have time for three to five more company or private events every single month. If you don’t have the time, then there’s no way that this would be a fit. So it’s important that you have the time. </p> <p>Number four, you are friendly and coachable. You will be welcomed into the Mastermind family and it’s very important that you are both of those things.</p> <p>And number five, you can keep a secret. </p> <h1>Here’s What To Do</h1> <p>If you are all of those things then send a message to <a href="mailto:magic@torontomagiccompany.com">magic@torontomagiccompany.com</a> with the word SCALE and Jonah will send you the deets and see if it’s a fit to work together.</p> <p>Jonah will be back next week with another epic interview coming your way.</p> <p>The post <a href="https://discourseinmagic.com/mastermind-invitation/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Mastermind Invitation</a> appeared first on <a href="https://discourseinmagic.com" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Discourse in Magic</a>.</p>

Mastermind Invitation

Jason Suran

Jonah is joined by Jason Suran who shares his advice on how to build lasting relationships to support your magic business. Jason is a mentalist based in New York and has done a ton of work on TV and company gigs and has even performed for four NBA teams. He gives us tips on how to grow a loyal group of clients and shares stories on what has gone great and what has gone wrong and takes us behind the scenes on what it’s like to perform for Speakeasy Magic. Stuffing Playbills to Perfecting Mentalism Jason shares two stories of how he came to find magic, the first is the rehearsed answer he tells all his audiences and the second he shares with you about what really happened. It all comes down to being too broke to afford a seat in the Players Theatre in New York and agreeing to stuff the playbills with surveys at the back of the room night after night so he could see the shows being performed.  Jason attended NYU to study television and film but he shares why he left that behind for the world of magic and mentalism and offers his insights to the ethics of mentalism and how much you should or should not let your audience believe how real the performance is.  These days you can find Jason performing regularly at Speakeasy Magic which has become an invaluable opportunity to perfect magic and mentalism performances in consistent conditions. The McKittrick Hotel is the sort of place where he can expect the same lights, same smoke, same everything every single night for years and it’s given him every conceivable advantage. Keep listening and you’ll hear about some behind the scenes experiences at Speakeasy and other venues he’s performed at as Jason offers up some insight into how different and difficult magicians have it compared to other artforms.   If You Want Press, You Have To Do Shows From appearing on news programs like The Social here in Canada to performing for NBA teams and establishing a long lasting engagement with Speakeasy Magic there’s one connecting thread that binds all those successes together. Jason makes a strong point to the value of staying in touch with every client, going so far as to set up google alerts to anniversaries and other milestone events. Clients overtime become friends and it’s always worth it to shoot of an email every so often to remind them what you’re up to. Almost every major engagement that Jason can remember can be linked back to his “scrappy list” of emails and the energy he spent to build genuine connections.  Wrap-Up Endless Chain Eli Bosnick: Talk to him about building communities in magic. What do you like about modern magic? What do you not like? There is a large impulse to make it meaningful, honest, and vulnerable. Thanks to Derek DelGaudio’s show we now have a model for it now for the first time in a hundred years.  There’s a tremendous amount of mentalists who learned the wrong lessons from Derren Brown, who saw what Derren did and missed the point. They think that if they lie they’ll be awesome. The psychology presentations were always aesthetic additions but Derren is an awesome performer despite that. Too many mentalists believe that the audience needs to believe the bullshit.  Take home point Be open to every opportunity and every person you meet and be honest with yourself about where you want it to take you. Plugs Instagram is the best way, @jasonsuran Website: jasonsuran.com Jason performs at the Mckittrick Hotel’s Speakeasy Magic regularly and has a residency at the SoHo House The post Building Magical Relationships with Jason Suran appeared first on Discourse in Magic.

<p>Jonah is joined by Jason Suran who shares his advice on how to build lasting relationships to support your magic business. Jason is a mentalist based in New York and has done a ton of work on TV and company gigs and has even performed for four NBA teams. He gives us tips on how to grow a loyal group of clients and shares stories on what has gone great and what has gone wrong and takes us behind the scenes on what it’s like to perform for <a href="https://mckittrickhotel.com/the-club-car/magick/#/?qty=1" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Speakeasy Magic.</a></p> <h1>Stuffing Playbills to Perfecting Mentalism</h1> <p>Jason shares two stories of how he came to find magic, the first is the rehearsed answer he tells all his audiences and the second he shares with you about what really happened. It all comes down to being too broke to afford a seat in the Players Theatre in New York and agreeing to stuff the playbills with surveys at the back of the room night after night so he could see the shows being performed. </p> <p>Jason attended NYU to study television and film but he shares why he left that behind for the world of magic and mentalism and offers his insights to the ethics of mentalism and how much you should or should not let your audience believe how real the performance is. </p> <p>These days you can find Jason performing regularly at Speakeasy Magic which has become an invaluable opportunity to perfect magic and mentalism performances in consistent conditions. The McKittrick Hotel is the sort of place where he can expect the same lights, same smoke, same everything every single night for years and it’s given him every conceivable advantage. Keep listening and you’ll hear about some behind the scenes experiences at Speakeasy and other venues he’s performed at as Jason offers up some insight into how different and difficult magicians have it compared to other artforms.  </p> <h1>If You Want Press, You Have To Do Shows</h1> <p>From appearing on news programs like <a href="https://www.ctv.ca/shows/the-social" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">The Social</a> here in Canada to performing for NBA teams and establishing a long lasting engagement with Speakeasy Magic there’s one connecting thread that binds all those successes together. Jason makes a strong point to the value of staying in touch with every client, going so far as to set up google alerts to anniversaries and other milestone events. Clients overtime become friends and it’s always worth it to shoot of an email every so often to remind them what you’re up to. Almost every major engagement that Jason can remember can be linked back to his “scrappy list” of emails and the energy he spent to build genuine connections. </p> <h2>Wrap-Up</h2> <h2>Endless Chain</h2> <p><a href="https://www.berlintalentinc.com/elibosnick" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Eli Bosnick</a>: Talk to him about building communities in magic.</p> <h2>What do you like about modern magic? What do you not like?</h2> <p>There is a large impulse to make it meaningful, honest, and vulnerable. Thanks to <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt11916302/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Derek DelGaudio’s show</a> we now have a model for it now for the first time in a hundred years. </p> <p>There’s a tremendous amount of mentalists who learned the wrong lessons from <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Derren_Brown" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Derren Brown</a>, who saw what Derren did and missed the point. They think that if they lie they’ll be awesome. The psychology presentations were always aesthetic additions but Derren is an awesome performer despite that. Too many mentalists believe that the audience needs to believe the bullshit. </p> <h2>Take home point</h2> <p>Be open to every opportunity and every person you meet and be honest with yourself about where you want it to take you.</p> <h2>Plugs</h2> <p>Instagram is the best way, <a href="https://www.instagram.com/jasonsuran" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">@jasonsuran</a></p> <p>Website: <a href="https://www.jasonsuran.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">jasonsuran.com</a></p> <p>Jason performs at the <a href="https://mckittrickhotel.com/the-club-car/magick/#/?qty=1" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Mckittrick Hotel’s Speakeasy Magic</a> regularly and has a residency at the <a href="https://www.sohohouse.com/houses/soho-house-new-york" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">SoHo House</a></p> <p>The post <a href="https://discourseinmagic.com/building-magical-relationships-with-jason-suran/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Building Magical Relationships with Jason Suran</a> appeared first on <a href="https://discourseinmagic.com" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Discourse in Magic</a>.</p>

Building Magical Relationships with Jason Suran

Jonah Babins from Discourse in Magic tackles magic’s hardest issues, theories, philosophies, discussion, and more to help you explore.  He jumps into all sorts of magic, and resources, and most importantly actionable tips to help better the art and become a killer performer!

As a touring performer I’m always listening to podcast well on the road. This is, by far one of my favorites. The talent and discussions are top notch! Surely give it a listen and you’ll find yourself learning much more about magic, being a good entertainer, and improving your human connection with your audience.

Simply Amazing!

Better than Tom Cruise&#39;s performance in Top Gun.

Review

Discourse in Magic

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 The post Why Being Sincere Means Connecting with Your Audience with Asi Wind appeared first on Discourse in Magic.

<p>If you don’t know who Asi Wind is, I recommend stopping the podcast episode and checking him out.</p> <p>Google, or Youtube or whatever. You’ll find him..</p> <p>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.</p> <p>Thankfully I was able to spend some time with him at the 2015 Motor City Magic Convention, and Sorcerers Safari!</p> <p>Bot otherwise not a ton of places online to show how great his non-method brain is eh?…….</p> <p><strong>******Cue the Discourse in Magic Intro Music*********</strong></p> <p>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!</p> <p>In this episode of DIM we cover many topics but the plot that holds true for the full episode is “<strong>sincerity</strong>“. It took just one example to make it clear.</p> <p>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’.</p> <p>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.</p> <p>Why do an invisible deck like hundreds of others?</p> <p>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.</p> <p>Finally Asi gives us some snips from his upcoming book. (That’s right! Asi is coming out with a book soon!).</p> <p>If you want to check out some of his products you can here: <a href="https://www.artofmagic.com/products/asi-wind" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">https://www.artofmagic.com/products/asi-wind</a></p> <h1>Contact</h1> <p><a href="https://www.facebook.com/asi.wind?fref=ts" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">Facebook</a></p> <p><a href="https://twitter.com/Asiwind" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">Twitter</a></p> <p><a href="https://www.instagram.com/asiwind/" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">Instagram</a></p> <p><a href="http://asiwind.com/" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">Website</a></p> <p>The post <a href="https://discourseinmagic.com/sincere-connecting-audience-asi-wind/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Why Being Sincere Means Connecting with Your Audience with Asi Wind</a> appeared first on <a href="https://discourseinmagic.com" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Discourse in Magic</a>.</p>

Why Being Sincere Means Connecting with Your Audience with Asi Wind

Carisa Hendrix

Magic podcast hosts collide this episode as Carisa Hendrix, co-host of Shezam, sits down with Jonah to discuss performance, women in magic, cultural theory, and “It Factor.” Carisa is an award-winning magician who brings her background in visual arts and sideshow to her magic.  Carisa’s reason for getting into magic is a complex one, but she can trace the root of her inspiration back to Max Maven’s Canadian kid’s show, “MAXimum Dimension.” Even now, she notes, you can see how the show inspired her character. Magic, however, was always a secondary outlet as she there was no one else in magic around her. When she was kicked out of her house at the age of sixteen, Carissa took up a position at a haunted house as a sideshow performer, honing her fire eating and juggling skills. She soon landed a job as a magician’s assistant. Eventually, Carisa went off to university to pursue a visual arts degree while continuing her work as a sideshow performer. It was at the age of 25 that she realized she hadn’t decided to live the life she was living. It was then that she made the conscious decision to embrace magic.  Creating a Performance Carisa has a crafted her magic and sideshow acts over the years based on what she wants to show the audience. By sitting down and defining what success means to her, Carisa is able to write enough material to meet her individual goals. While she recommends looking at what other people have done, she warns that you shouldn’t try to be like them. When it comes down to it, you want to define your reputation based on your wants, not by what others have achieved. One of the most important aspects of polishing your routine is practicing your material wherever you can, Carissa explains. You need to find places where you can be terrible, like open mic nights or variety shows, in your city. In the end, the quickest way to achieve a polished set is to perform it over and over again for an audience you don’t know.  Authentic Magic Being the most visually literate culture in history, our audiences can better derive meaning from and pick up on subtle aspects of texts. With this in mind, Carisa goes on to explain that you need to be authentic in your practice or your audience will pick up on your lies. Pulling from her own experience, Carisa says that she was originally creating magic just to be extremely fooling. The realization that she was forgetting to put art into her magic was a heartbreaking moment which made her start her routine from scratch again.  For her, magic is about realizing the aspects of your life that you deeply wish and fantasize about. People come to magic shows to experience real power or feel a different experience that they cannot otherwise achieve. Magic, just for a moment, allows people to step outside of adulthood and experience something else, returning them to a simpler time. Women in Magic Alongside Kayla Drescher, Carisa co-hosts a podcast focused on women in magic called Shezam. The podcast was born from the fact that everyone trying to solve the issue of women in magic was a dude. After five months of bouncing around ideas, they finally released the first episode expecting nothing to come of it. However, people were listening. Primarily, men who were interested in helping women feel accepted in magic were listening. Since the launch of Shezam, Carisa and Kayla have attended four conventions and have received funding from the IBM. For those interested in how they can make the community a more welcoming environment, Carisa recommends starting with advocacy. Advocate for women by inviting them to be on lineups and share their experiences, but be aware of tokenism and the effect it can have. If you don’t move beyond the “we need a single woman on the lineup” mentality, you set up a culture where the women who rise to the top can either play with the boys or are okay with being completely alone. Furthermore, you will continue to see the same faces over and over again because they fall into one of those two categories. Carisa explains that women shouldn’t be expected to grin and bear any misogyny that comes their way if they want to succeed. Men and women need to recognize that to be supportive, you have to acknowledge the issues that come with tokenism. When approaching the topic, try to put yourself into their perspective. Realize what it’s like to work by themselves, or what issues they were facing. Don’t subjugate them to the role of assistant.  The culture won’t fix itself overnight, but we can start fixing each part. Start with empathy. Start with questioning your default assumptions. Recognize that everyone is different.  Meta-Modernity During her lecturing tour with John Reed, Carisa spoke about the idea of Meta-Modernity and how magic adapts with cultural shifts. Where visual art tends to be the first through the door when adapting to a new cultural art style, magic tends to be the last. Modernity was the era of cultural understanding after World War One. There was a sentiment and a generosity behind the idea that tech would solve all the problems. It wasn’t until Copperfield and Doug Henning, in the 80s, that magic really started to adapt these sentiments into the art. Following Modernism was Post-Modernism— an embrace of cynicism—which took shape in magicians like Criss Angel and David Blaine. With each cultural shift, these magicians became the stand out names due to their embrace of the culture. Currently, we are in a culture of Meta-Modernity: we’re tired of just irreverent cynicism but we’re not ready for overly cheesy material. We want to experience the swing of emotions in the narratives we’re told.  It Factor The idea that some people are just born with a certain star quality is not an idea Carisa subscribes to. To her, “it factor” and “star power” are convenient lies we tell ourselves. Becoming a good entertainer takes time, polish and careful choices—chalking it up to “it factor” doesn’t do the performer justice. Carisa emphasizes the idea that you need to be unapologetic about who you are. Every struggle you have should be seen as a point for you, something you can draw on and embrace in your performance.  Bubble U Until recently, Carisa has been performing bubble shows—a variety act that utilizes the amazing qualities of bubbles. With no expectations or gendered traits tied to them, bubbles are easily adapted to different genres to meet your purposes. Bubble U is Carisa’s online course that teaches performers the basics of manipulating bubbles and how to perform her routine. If you would like to sign up, visit http://www.nonsensekids.com and use coupon code “Discourse” to receive $50 off your purchase. Wrap-Up What do you love about magic in 2018? What do you hate about magic in 2018? Carisa loves that small, niche branches of magic are becoming popular. Magicians are able to embrace who they are and perform the magic that defines them. Carisa doesn’t like the way magic has been commodified. Lots of performers are just looking at the top ten on Penguin and cycling through them.  Magic PSA There is no such thing as “it factor” or “star power.” These are oversimplifying complex choices made by performers over the years.  Question of the Week  How do you want magic to be remembered?  Endless Chain  Christopher Barnes Alba Plugs Instagram Website Shezampod Bubble U   The post Secrets to Developing Your Act with Carisa Hendrix appeared first on Discourse in Magic.

<p>Magic podcast hosts collide this episode as Carisa Hendrix, co-host of Shezam, sits down with Jonah to discuss performance, women in magic, cultural theory, and “It Factor.” Carisa is an award-winning magician who brings her background in visual arts and sideshow to her magic. </p> <p>Carisa’s reason for getting into magic is a complex one, but she can trace the root of her inspiration back to Max Maven’s Canadian kid’s show, “<a href="http://www.maxmaven.com/MAXimum.php" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">MAXimum Dimension</a>.” Even now, she notes, you can see how the show inspired her character. Magic, however, was always a secondary outlet as she there was no one else in magic around her. When she was kicked out of her house at the age of sixteen, Carissa took up a position at a haunted house as a sideshow performer, honing her fire eating and juggling skills. She soon landed a job as a magician’s assistant.</p> <p>Eventually, Carisa went off to university to pursue a visual arts degree while continuing her work as a sideshow performer. It was at the age of 25 that she realized she hadn’t decided to live the life she was living. It was then that she made the conscious decision to embrace magic. </p> <h1>Creating a Performance</h1> <p>Carisa has a crafted her magic and sideshow acts over the years based on what she wants to show the audience. By sitting down and defining what success means to her, Carisa is able to write enough material to meet her individual goals. While she recommends looking at what other people have done, she warns that you shouldn’t try to be like them. When it comes down to it, you want to define your reputation based on your wants, not by what others have achieved.</p> <p>One of the most important aspects of polishing your routine is practicing your material wherever you can, Carissa explains. You need to find places where you can be terrible, like open mic nights or variety shows, in your city. In the end, the quickest way to achieve a polished set is to perform it over and over again for an audience you don’t know. </p> <h1>Authentic Magic</h1> <p>Being the most visually literate culture in history, our audiences can better derive meaning from and pick up on subtle aspects of texts. With this in mind, Carisa goes on to explain that you need to be authentic in your practice or your audience will pick up on your lies. Pulling from her own experience, Carisa says that she was originally creating magic just to be extremely fooling. The realization that she was forgetting to put art into her magic was a heartbreaking moment which made her start her routine from scratch again. </p> <p>For her, magic is about realizing the aspects of your life that you deeply wish and fantasize about. People come to magic shows to experience real power or feel a different experience that they cannot otherwise achieve. Magic, just for a moment, allows people to step outside of adulthood and experience something else, returning them to a simpler time.</p> <h1>Women in Magic</h1> <p>Alongside <a href="https://discourseinmagic.com/episode-123-becoming-an-amazing-performer-with-kayla-drescher" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Kayla Drescher</a>, Carisa co-hosts a podcast focused on women in magic called <a href="http://www.shezampod.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Shezam</a>. The podcast was born from the fact that everyone trying to solve the issue of women in magic was a dude. After five months of bouncing around ideas, they finally released the first episode expecting nothing to come of it. However, people were listening. Primarily, men who were interested in helping women feel accepted in magic were listening. Since the launch of Shezam, Carisa and Kayla have attended four conventions and have received funding from the <a href="https://www.magician.org" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">IBM</a>.</p> <p>For those interested in how they can make the community a more welcoming environment, Carisa recommends starting with advocacy. Advocate for women by inviting them to be on lineups and share their experiences, but be aware of tokenism and the effect it can have. If you don’t move beyond the “we need a single woman on the lineup” mentality, you set up a culture where the women who rise to the top can either play with the boys or are okay with being completely alone. Furthermore, you will continue to see the same faces over and over again because they fall into one of those two categories. Carisa explains that women shouldn’t be expected to grin and bear any misogyny that comes their way if they want to succeed. Men and women need to recognize that to be supportive, you have to acknowledge the issues that come with tokenism.</p> <p>When approaching the topic, try to put yourself into their perspective. Realize what it’s like to work by themselves, or what issues they were facing. Don’t subjugate them to the role of assistant.  The culture won’t fix itself overnight, but we can start fixing each part. Start with empathy. Start with questioning your default assumptions. Recognize that everyone is different. </p> <h1>Meta-Modernity</h1> <p>During her lecturing tour with John Reed, Carisa spoke about the idea of Meta-Modernity and how magic adapts with cultural shifts. Where visual art tends to be the first through the door when adapting to a new cultural art style, magic tends to be the last.</p> <p>Modernity was the era of cultural understanding after World War One. There was a sentiment and a generosity behind the idea that tech would solve all the problems. It wasn’t until Copperfield and Doug Henning, in the 80s, that magic really started to adapt these sentiments into the art. Following Modernism was Post-Modernism— an embrace of cynicism—which took shape in magicians like Criss Angel and David Blaine. With each cultural shift, these magicians became the stand out names due to their embrace of the culture.</p> <p>Currently, we are in a culture of Meta-Modernity: we’re tired of just irreverent cynicism but we’re not ready for overly cheesy material. We want to experience the swing of emotions in the narratives we’re told. </p> <h1>It Factor</h1> <p>The idea that some people are just born with a certain star quality is not an idea Carisa subscribes to. To her, “it factor” and “star power” are convenient lies we tell ourselves. Becoming a good entertainer takes time, polish and careful choices—chalking it up to “it factor” doesn’t do the performer justice.</p> <p>Carisa emphasizes the idea that you need to be unapologetic about who you are. Every struggle you have should be seen as a point for you, something you can draw on and embrace in your performance. </p> <h1>Bubble U</h1> <p>Until recently, Carisa has been performing bubble shows—a variety act that utilizes the amazing qualities of bubbles. With no expectations or gendered traits tied to them, bubbles are easily adapted to different genres to meet your purposes. Bubble U is Carisa’s online course that teaches performers the basics of manipulating bubbles and how to perform her routine.</p> <p>If you would like to sign up, visit <a href="http://www.nonsensekids.com" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">http://www.nonsensekids.com</a> and use coupon code “Discourse” to receive $50 off your purchase.</p> <h1>Wrap-Up</h1> <h2>What do you love about magic in 2018? What do you hate about magic in 2018?</h2> <p>Carisa loves that small, niche branches of magic are becoming popular. Magicians are able to embrace who they are and perform the magic that defines them.</p> <p>Carisa doesn’t like the way magic has been commodified. Lots of performers are just looking at the top ten on Penguin and cycling through them. </p> <h2>Magic PSA</h2> <p>There is no such thing as “it factor” or “star power.” These are oversimplifying complex choices made by performers over the years. </p> <h2>Question of the Week </h2> <p>How do you want magic to be remembered? </p> <h2>Endless Chain </h2> <p><a href="https://www.christophertmagician.com/about.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Christopher Barnes</a></p> <p><a href="http://www.magicalba.com" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Alba</a></p> <h1>Plugs</h1> <p><a href="https://www.google.ca/url?sa=t&amp;source=web&amp;rct=j&amp;url=https://www.instagram.com/carisahendrix/%3Fhl%3Den&amp;ved=2ahUKEwiE89nQ8NPeAhUk6YMKHWRsDmYQjjgwAHoECAMQAQ&amp;usg=AOvVaw2gsdc5SkcZKo6dXO8YcXiX" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Instagram</a></p> <p><a href="http://www.carisahendrix.com" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Website</a></p> <p><a href="http://www.shezampod.com" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Shezampod</a></p> <p><a href="http://www.nonsensekids.com" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Bubble U</a></p> <p> </p> <p>The post <a href="https://discourseinmagic.com/secrets-to-developing-your-act-with-carisa-hendrix/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Secrets to Developing Your Act with Carisa Hendrix</a> appeared first on <a href="https://discourseinmagic.com" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Discourse in Magic</a>.</p>

Secrets to Developing Your Act with Carisa Hendrix

This week Ben Earl joins Jonah to discuss practice, sleight of hand, and approaching magic as an art. Alongside being a skilled sleight of hand artist, Ben is also an author and founder of Studio52. Ben’s interest in magic started when he stumbled across Expert Card Technique at his local library. The book was his glimpse into an underground subculture that he knew he needed to learn more about. However, in his twelve year old mind, sleight of hand was illegal, so he dropped the book out of the window. He didn’t want the librarian to take the book away from him or send him to jail because he was considering taking the book out.  Ben devoured the book, never connecting that the moves he was learning were for magic tricks until he saw David Blaine on TV doing moves he recognized. After showing his friends a few moves and finding a magic shop, he was addicted to the art form.  Magic as an Art  Magic has been a constant in Ben’s life as the art keeps him intellectually and creatively stimulated like nothing else. He can take a coin and make it appear or disappear with this intuitive understanding that he is just playing with bigger ideas. Methods and concepts are just tools he can use to communicate ideas and understand his own approach to the world. There is an inherent duality to magic. At times, Ben feels that he’s just performing card tricks whereas other times he recognizes he can reshape someone’s understanding of the world. Just by understanding that magic, like any other art form, has an inherent, absurd duality to it, Ben is able to step aside from one aspect of magic to focus on ones that intrigue him.  This is why he doesn’t call himself a magician per se but a creative artist; he is constantly creating, and writing, and thinking about magic, but he is only a magician in the eyes of a layperson who can only describe what he just showed them as magic. By calling himself a creative artist, he doesn’t feel like he’s attaching himself to a restrictive or reductive title. Attributing Meaning  Magic is fascinating because it isn’t real. The art form revolves around simulating the impossible with the shared understanding that what is being done isn’t real. However, like in a film, we suspend our disbelief long enough to experience something beyond our understanding of the world.  With this being said, it can be difficult to bring your own meaning into the art form. For Ben, meaning comes from moving towards the things he likes; when something feels right, he does more of it. Overtime, he discovers things that have meaning to him and what drives him to what he’s connected to. Problem solving and creating aesthetically pleasing solutions appeal to Ben which drives his magic creation process.  Approaching Sleight of Hand Sleight of hand, supposedly, is using deceptive means to achieve a certain result, yet magicians often regard good sleight of hand artists as ones where we can “see” the moves happening; you perceive in their performance that a move has happened. In Ben’s opinion, good sleight of hand is when the sleight is so perfectly choreographed into the routine that you can’t tell when or how it happened; you missed the move like you were supposed to.  To achieve good sleight of hand, you have to put into perspective what you want sleight of hand to be for the spectator. An ace cutting routine is inherently a demonstration of your skill, while controlling a card or performing a pass shouldn’t even be smelt by the spectators. With that being said, magicians are still trying to determine how to separate the performance aspect of sleight of hand from the deceptive nature of the practice. When you’re practicing sleight of hand, you are building habits and muscle memory that will eventually make a move an extension of your body. However, if you practice slouched over your desk, staring at your cards, and disregarding the other factors inherent in performance, that is how you will perform for other people. Ben recommends practicing moves in environments that stimulate social situations as to grow comfortable with compensating for environmental restrictions.  Discovering your Path  Magic is an overwhelming art form with various avenues to explore. You, unfortunately, can’t do all the moves and tricks. Rather than trying to cover up your magic gaps, Ben recommends embracing them as a part of who you are. The difficult part is finding the right path for you and what you want to explore in magic. Writing, teaching, performing. These are just some of the paths in magic people can explore, and they may not all be for you, but just enjoy the process of discovering what is magic to you.  However, be aware that you’re being trained to be a consumer. Magic is a small community, and there is material constantly being released. With everyone buying and reading the same material, Ben sees people approaching magic with the same influences; they are all talking and developing the same material, rather than exploring different territory. By not reading the latest book or playing with the latest gimmick, Ben is able to control his influences and approach magic with a more objective viewpoint.  The Shift The Shift is the magic book Ben always wanted to publish — everything he loves about magic is embodied by this book. From effects to technique to theory, Ben breaks down each of these aspects of magic into detailed sections, giving his thoughts and insight into how he approaches these foundations of magic.  The font, the layout, the images. Every minute detail of the book was carefully considered, Ben explains. Even the title, The Shift, was chosen as the book is meant to represent a shift in thinking and the reader’s approach to magic. Wrap Up Endless Chain Chris Kenner What do you like about modern magic? What don’t you like? For Ben, the level of access to magic is both a pro and a con. Because incoming magicians don’t have to experience the difficult journey of seeking out information, they lose a valuable aspect of the discovery process. However, magic is seeing a rise in skill and connectivity among the community.  Take Home Point  Ben reminds the listeners to take joy in what they do.  Plugs The Shift  Studio52 Ben’s Website  Ben’s Instagram Ben’s Material  The post Magic is Hard with Benjamin Earl appeared first on Discourse in Magic.

<p>This week Ben Earl joins Jonah to discuss practice, sleight of hand, and approaching magic as an art. Alongside being a skilled sleight of hand artist, Ben is also an author and founder of Studio52.</p> <p>Ben’s interest in magic started when he stumbled across Expert Card Technique at his local library. The book was his glimpse into an underground subculture that he knew he needed to learn more about. However, in his twelve year old mind, sleight of hand was illegal, so he dropped the book out of the window. He didn’t want the librarian to take the book away from him or send him to jail because he was considering taking the book out. </p> <p>Ben devoured the book, never connecting that the moves he was learning were for magic tricks until he saw David Blaine on TV doing moves he recognized. After showing his friends a few moves and finding a magic shop, he was addicted to the art form. </p> <h1>Magic as an Art </h1> <p>Magic has been a constant in Ben’s life as the art keeps him intellectually and creatively stimulated like nothing else. He can take a coin and make it appear or disappear with this intuitive understanding that he is just playing with bigger ideas. Methods and concepts are just tools he can use to communicate ideas and understand his own approach to the world.</p> <p>There is an inherent duality to magic. At times, Ben feels that he’s just performing card tricks whereas other times he recognizes he can reshape someone’s understanding of the world. Just by understanding that magic, like any other art form, has an inherent, absurd duality to it, Ben is able to step aside from one aspect of magic to focus on ones that intrigue him. </p> <p>This is why he doesn’t call himself a magician per se but a creative artist; he is constantly creating, and writing, and thinking about magic, but he is only a magician in the eyes of a layperson who can only describe what he just showed them as magic. By calling himself a creative artist, he doesn’t feel like he’s attaching himself to a restrictive or reductive title.</p> <h1>Attributing Meaning </h1> <p>Magic is fascinating because it isn’t real. The art form revolves around simulating the impossible with the shared understanding that what is being done isn’t real. However, like in a film, we suspend our disbelief long enough to experience something beyond our understanding of the world. </p> <p>With this being said, it can be difficult to bring your own meaning into the art form. For Ben, meaning comes from moving towards the things he likes; when something feels right, he does more of it. Overtime, he discovers things that have meaning to him and what drives him to what he’s connected to. Problem solving and creating aesthetically pleasing solutions appeal to Ben which drives his magic creation process. </p> <h1>Approaching Sleight of Hand</h1> <p>Sleight of hand, supposedly, is using deceptive means to achieve a certain result, yet magicians often regard good sleight of hand artists as ones where we can “see” the moves happening; you perceive in their performance that a move has happened. In Ben’s opinion, good sleight of hand is when the sleight is so perfectly choreographed into the routine that you can’t tell when or how it happened; you missed the move like you were supposed to. </p> <p>To achieve good sleight of hand, you have to put into perspective what you want sleight of hand to be for the spectator. An ace cutting routine is inherently a demonstration of your skill, while controlling a card or performing a pass shouldn’t even be smelt by the spectators. With that being said, magicians are still trying to determine how to separate the performance aspect of sleight of hand from the deceptive nature of the practice.</p> <p>When you’re practicing sleight of hand, you are building habits and muscle memory that will eventually make a move an extension of your body. However, if you practice slouched over your desk, staring at your cards, and disregarding the other factors inherent in performance, that is how you will perform for other people. Ben recommends practicing moves in environments that stimulate social situations as to grow comfortable with compensating for environmental restrictions. </p> <h1>Discovering your Path </h1> <p>Magic is an overwhelming art form with various avenues to explore. You, unfortunately, can’t do all the moves and tricks. Rather than trying to cover up your magic gaps, Ben recommends embracing them as a part of who you are. The difficult part is finding the right path for you and what you want to explore in magic. Writing, teaching, performing. These are just some of the paths in magic people can explore, and they may not all be for you, but just enjoy the process of discovering what is magic to you. </p> <p>However, be aware that you’re being trained to be a consumer. Magic is a small community, and there is material constantly being released. With everyone buying and reading the same material, Ben sees people approaching magic with the same influences; they are all talking and developing the same material, rather than exploring different territory. By not reading the latest book or playing with the latest gimmick, Ben is able to control his influences and approach magic with a more objective viewpoint. </p> <h1>The Shift</h1> <p><a href="https://www.vanishingincmagic.com/magic/magic-books/the-shift-benjamin-earl/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">The Shift</a> is the magic book Ben always wanted to publish — everything he loves about magic is embodied by this book. From effects to technique to theory, Ben breaks down each of these aspects of magic into detailed sections, giving his thoughts and insight into how he approaches these foundations of magic. </p> <p>The font, the layout, the images. Every minute detail of the book was carefully considered, Ben explains. Even the title, <a href="https://www.vanishingincmagic.com/magic/magic-books/the-shift-benjamin-earl/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">The Shift</a>, was chosen as the book is meant to represent a shift in thinking and the reader’s approach to magic.</p> <h1>Wrap Up</h1> <h2>Endless Chain</h2> <p>Chris Kenner</p> <h2>What do you like about modern magic? What don’t you like?</h2> <p>For Ben, the level of access to magic is both a pro and a con. Because incoming magicians don’t have to experience the difficult journey of seeking out information, they lose a valuable aspect of the discovery process. However, magic is seeing a rise in skill and connectivity among the community. </p> <h2>Take Home Point </h2> <p>Ben reminds the listeners to take joy in what they do. </p> <h1>Plugs</h1> <p><a href="https://www.studio52magic.com/the-shift" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">The Shift </a></p> <p><a href="https://www.studio52magic.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Studio52</a></p> <p><a href="https://www.benjaminearl.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Ben’s Website </a></p> <p><a href="https://www.instagram.com/benearl52/?hl=en" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Ben’s Instagram</a></p> <p><a href="https://www.vanishingincmagic.com/magician/Benjamin-Earl/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Ben’s Material</a> </p> <p>The post <a href="https://discourseinmagic.com/magic-is-hard-with-benjamin-earl/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Magic is Hard with Benjamin Earl</a> appeared first on <a href="https://discourseinmagic.com" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Discourse in Magic</a>.</p>

Magic is Hard with Benjamin Earl

David Williamson

We are here with a very special guest this week.  David Williamson is an incredible comedy magician and sleight-of-hand master.  David first fell in love with magic as a kid when he read a short story about Harry Houdini.  He learned the French Drop and his teacher said “maybe one day you’ll be a magician.”  He feels that he was bitten by the bug early and he had no other choice but to follow his passion. He was totally obsessed with it from a very early age.  Amateur Magicians Handbook was hugely important for David.  Harry Hay pointed out in that book that magic requires an audience to become real.  It’s an empty practice without someone else.  David was painfully shy.  But he forced himself to get up on open stages at bars at the age of 15. David’s stage style is very organic because he thinks he doesn’t really have an act.  It’s just attention seeking.  Get attention and keep their attention.  When someone looks at their watch in the audience it kills him.  He does a lot of corporate clients early on and he realized that focusing the attention on the people in the office was more important.  Eventually his act became more focused on the audience.  He doesn’t do a monologue.  He immediately starts audience interaction.  It’s play time. David thinks it’s very hard to give advice to up and coming magicians.  There are as many paths to success as there are magicians.  He once had an older magician tell him not to pursue his dream to be a professional.  But he totally ignored that advice.  When asked he tries to talk young people out of it.  If they don’t have the fortitude they will give up. Being overly picky about the audience isn’t necessary.  David just has one question: Are they human beings?  If so he can perform for them.  But he does have different styles for corporate clients or children.  David is known as being one of the funniest magicians performing.  But he insists that everyone has a sense of humour.  Magicians just need to figure out how to enhance their innate sense of humour.  You just have to commit to the gag.  Don’t wink at the audience.  The only way to get the genuine laugh is to forget about being the cool guy and committing to the gag. Turning a trick into a performance isn’t easy.  But every trick has a narrative unto itself.  Ideally, you can include a twist at the end.  Combining two effects can sometimes achieve that surprise.  But you have to ask yourself: “Why should people care?”  What is the emotional hook that will draw the audience in?  If you can touch them emotionally you will truly connect with your audience. What do you want to ask the question? Where did Mayer Effetz’s finger end up? What do you want to tell our audience? Stop doing a double-undercut.  David hates that move. Who should we have on the podcast? Richard McDougall Noel Britton What did you like about the episode? Tyler liked hearing that you always have to be a student. Jonah liked hearing about how David fell out of love with magic for a while but eventually reconnected it. David loved all the praise. Plugs? Circus 1903 in Las Vegas DavidWilliamson.com The post Becoming an Entertainer with David Williamson appeared first on Discourse in Magic.

<p>We are here with a very special guest this week.  David Williamson is an incredible comedy magician and sleight-of-hand master.  David first fell in love with magic as a kid when he read a short story about Harry Houdini.  He learned the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/French_drop" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">French Drop</a> and his teacher said “maybe one day you’ll be a magician.”  He feels that he was bitten by the bug early and he had no other choice but to follow his passion.</p> <p>He was totally obsessed with it from a very early age.  <a href="https://www.amazon.ca/Amateur-Magicians-Handbook-Henry-Hay/dp/0785802045" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Amateur Magicians Handbook</a> was hugely important for David.  Harry Hay pointed out in that book that magic requires an audience to become real.  It’s an empty practice without someone else.  David was painfully shy.  But he forced himself to get up on open stages at bars at the age of 15.</p> <p>David’s stage style is very organic because he thinks he doesn’t really have an act.  It’s just attention seeking.  Get attention and keep their attention.  When someone looks at their watch in the audience it kills him.  He does a lot of corporate clients early on and he realized that focusing the attention on the people in the office was more important.  Eventually his act became more focused on the audience.  He doesn’t do a monologue.  He immediately starts audience interaction.  It’s play time.</p> <p>David thinks it’s very hard to give advice to up and coming magicians.  There are as many paths to success as there are magicians.  He once had an older magician tell him not to pursue his dream to be a professional.  But he totally ignored that advice.  When asked he tries to talk young people out of it.  If they don’t have the fortitude they will give up.</p> <p>Being overly picky about the audience isn’t necessary.  David just has one question: Are they human beings?  If so he can perform for them.  But he does have different styles for corporate clients or children.  David is known as being one of the funniest magicians performing.  But he insists that everyone has a sense of humour.  Magicians just need to figure out how to enhance their innate sense of humour.  You just have to commit to the gag.  Don’t wink at the audience.  The only way to get the genuine laugh is to forget about being the cool guy and committing to the gag.</p> <p>Turning a trick into a performance isn’t easy.  But every trick has a narrative unto itself.  Ideally, you can include a twist at the end.  Combining two effects can sometimes achieve that surprise.  But you have to ask yourself: “Why should people care?”  What is the emotional hook that will draw the audience in?  If you can touch them emotionally you will truly connect with your audience.</p> <p><strong>What do you want to ask the question?</strong></p> <p>Where did Mayer Effetz’s finger end up?</p> <p><strong>What do you want to tell our audience?</strong></p> <p>Stop doing a double-undercut.  David hates that move.</p> <p><strong>Who should we have on the podcast?</strong></p> <p>Richard McDougall</p> <p>Noel Britton</p> <p><strong>What did you like about the episode?</strong></p> <p>Tyler liked hearing that you always have to be a student.</p> <p>Jonah liked hearing about how David fell out of love with magic for a while but eventually reconnected it.</p> <p>David loved all the praise.</p> <p><strong>Plugs?</strong></p> <p><a href="http://www.circus1903.com/tickets/tour/las-vegas" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Circus 1903 in Las Vegas</a></p> <p><a href="http://DavidWilliamson.com" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">DavidWilliamson.com</a></p> <p>The post <a href="https://discourseinmagic.com/becoming-entertainer-david-williamson/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Becoming an Entertainer with David Williamson</a> appeared first on <a href="https://discourseinmagic.com" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Discourse in Magic</a>.</p>

Becoming an Entertainer with David Williamson

To start off 2019, Jonah sits down with Steve Shaw, better known as Banachek, to discuss mentalism, the ethics behind deception, and parapsychology. Banachek is one of the world’s leading mindreaders who has helped debunk psychic claims, created effects for leading performers and is sought after by venues around the world for his performances.  When Banachek started, he wasn’t aware that there was a subsection of magic called mentalism. He just knew there were psychics fooling people with tricks.  Banachek, born in England before emigrating to South Africa, had a troubled childhood which saw him raising his two younger brothers. This prevented him from developing his social skills alongside other children. He was the kid in the back of the class who was afraid of being called on. When he was raising his brothers, he would always try to instill the value of fairness in them. He wanted them to know right from wrong–a value he still holds dear to this day.  Project Alpha Project Alpha was a four-year-long hoax that involved planting Banachek and Michael Edwards in a parapsychology research project to demonstrate that it is possible to fake psychic powers in a controlled environment. Banachek initially went in believing it to be an “I’m against them” scenario to prove that the proper protocols were not being followed by the scientists. However, he eventually came to the realization that things weren’t necessarily black and white; the scientists weren’t evil, they were just imposing their own beliefs on the trials and believing they could not be fooled.  Before the project began, James Randi sent the scientists a list of eleven caveats to follow so that they could truly test the psychic claims of Banachek and Edwards. The scientists dismissed the suggestions, saying that Banachek and Edwards would be unable to perform under such conditions. During the project, Banachek would write letters to Randi explaining how they would manipulate the tests; Randi would then inform the scientists that they should look out for these exact methods during their experiments. The scientists would, again, dismiss the suggestions. Overall, the project revealed that we can be fooled and that we need to be more open to the idea that we can be fooled. This focus on critical thinking is something that Banachek still tries to instill in people today.   Deception of Mentalism  Banachek believes that the difference between a psychic and a mentalist is that the mentalist doesn’t claim to have real psychic power. He, as a mentalist, is taking the five known senses to create the illusion of a sixth sense. In terms of if we are lying to the audience, Banachek says that “a lie is a lie is a lie.” If you tell your audience that everything is pure psychology, you leave it open to people to expose that you are lying which will affect how other performers are viewed.  When he was starting out, he would say he was using magic and tricks in his performance, only to be told by other mentalists that cheapens the art. Banachek never understood why, as the essence of what they’re doing is fake. At the moment, they are duplicating psychic phenomena, but, when you’re off stage, you don’t want to leave the door open for people to make their own assumptions about what actually occurred as it can lead the spectator to dangerous assumptions.  This is why Banachek will constantly reinforce the idea that what he’s doing isn’t real which, in a way, makes his effects stronger as the audience is thinking “how could you have possibly known” compared to “he’s a real psychic.” To him, telling people that what he is doing is fake comes from an ethical standpoint because he sees himself as an authoritative figure on stage; people don’t know what to expect when they go to a mentalism show, so they’re going to believe whatever it is he tells them if he’s convincing enough.  Pseudoscience &amp; Magic You are not going to convince everyone that pseudoscience is fake, especially if you are hostile in confronting people. What you can do is talk about pseudoscience on the correct platforms to inform people and get them thinking critically about what they’re being told. Banachek goes on to explain that we should be focusing on the larger mediums as they’re the ones influencing the masses; we can use their publicity to educate people. If we are to educate on a smaller level, it shouldn’t be confrontational or else people will put up a wall. It’s better to have an educated discussion to understand their viewpoint. You can’t just think everyone is stupid because they don’t know what you know.  Banachek highlights his show Telepathy as an example of how he approaches educating people. During the first half, he comes out as psychic to build the same emotional reaction the audience would have if they went to see a psychic.  In the second half of the show, he comes out to inform the audience that what he did was all fake. He wants the audience to know that they can be fooled and that they shouldn’t believe blindly. He wants the audience to know that they don’t need to necessarily change their views, they just need to realize that there are those who will take advantage of their beliefs.   Million Dollar Challenge  The JREF offered one million dollars to anyone who could demonstrate a supernatural or paranormal ability under scientific testing conditions — the test was terminated in 2015 but Banachek says it will likely be coming back in a different form. The difficult part about conducting the claims was coming up with a test that was agreeable to science and the psychic. When they conducted the tests, they wanted the subject to succeed, but they needed the participant to succeed under the proper test conditions. No one was ever able to pass the preliminary stages.     Believability and Criss Angel When he was working with Criss Angel, the goal was to create believable magic; it’s not a good trick if it doesn’t look real. When he was creating effects for the show, they would come up with 300 tricks per season and then they would have to quickly figure out presentation and method as they had a tight filming window. Often, they were restricted by the environment. Banachek knew that they didn’t have to stooge things for the effect to be fooling on some level, so he took advantage of the medium. Editing allowed them to hide methods that would otherwise be exposed on television, or they could block the show in a way to avoid exposed angles. These methods, Banachek said, are similar to blocking a routine on a stage. He wants the audience at home to have a similar experience to the participants in real life, so he took advantage of the medium.  Banachek goes on to explain that there are always going to be purists who see certain methods as dirty or impure. However, magicians are in the business of deceit, so it’s difficult to say what is and isn’t a dirty method when it comes to trickery. By going online to expose other magicians for using “dirty methods” they’re hurting the art form as a whole, not just the singular performer. Once you have people thinking a magician uses a particular method, they’ll begin to think that’s how all magicians approach the effect.   Wrap-Up How has the audience changed?  Banachek hasn’t necessarily seen a change in his audience, but he has noticed that people are attending more live performances for the uniqueness of the experience.  Endless Chain Andrew Gerard Take Home Point Jonah likes the idea of leaving the audience better off than when he found them.   Banachek likes the idea of not attacking people when you want to educate them.  Tyas liked talking about how magicians are often cannibalizing the culture and how people tend to discredit methods and other performers. He wants people to be building the artform, not stifling it.  Last Words  Be positive about magic. When you knock down another magician, you’re tearing down yourself, and you’re knocking down the art form.  Plugs  Banachek’s Brain – Podcast  Website  Instagram  Twitter    The post The Truth About Mentalism with Banachek appeared first on Discourse in Magic.

<p>To start off 2019, Jonah sits down with Steve Shaw, better known as Banachek, to discuss mentalism, the ethics behind deception, and parapsychology. Banachek is one of the world’s leading mindreaders who has helped debunk psychic claims, created effects for leading performers and is sought after by venues around the world for his performances. </p> <p>When Banachek started, he wasn’t aware that there was a subsection of magic called mentalism. He just knew there were psychics fooling people with tricks. </p> <p>Banachek, born in England before emigrating to South Africa, had a troubled childhood which saw him raising his two younger brothers. This prevented him from developing his social skills alongside other children. He was the kid in the back of the class who was afraid of being called on. When he was raising his brothers, he would always try to instill the value of fairness in them. He wanted them to know right from wrong–a value he still holds dear to this day. </p> <h1>Project Alpha</h1> <p>Project Alpha was a four-year-long hoax that involved planting Banachek and Michael Edwards in a parapsychology research project to demonstrate that it is possible to fake psychic powers in a controlled environment. Banachek initially went in believing it to be an “I’m against them” scenario to prove that the proper protocols were not being followed by the scientists. However, he eventually came to the realization that things weren’t necessarily black and white; the scientists weren’t evil, they were just imposing their own beliefs on the trials and believing they could not be fooled. </p> <p>Before the project began, James Randi sent the scientists a list of eleven caveats to follow so that they could truly test the psychic claims of Banachek and Edwards. The scientists dismissed the suggestions, saying that Banachek and Edwards would be unable to perform under such conditions. During the project, Banachek would write letters to Randi explaining how they would manipulate the tests; Randi would then inform the scientists that they should look out for these exact methods during their experiments. The scientists would, again, dismiss the suggestions. Overall, the project revealed that we can be fooled and that we need to be more open to the idea that we can be fooled. This focus on critical thinking is something that Banachek still tries to instill in people today.  </p> <h1>Deception of Mentalism </h1> <p>Banachek believes that the difference between a psychic and a mentalist is that the mentalist doesn’t claim to have real psychic power. He, as a mentalist, is taking the five known senses to create the illusion of a sixth sense. In terms of if we are lying to the audience, Banachek says that “a lie is a lie is a lie.” If you tell your audience that everything is pure psychology, you leave it open to people to expose that you are lying which will affect how other performers are viewed. </p> <p>When he was starting out, he would say he was using magic and tricks in his performance, only to be told by other mentalists that cheapens the art. Banachek never understood why, as the essence of what they’re doing is fake. At the moment, they are duplicating psychic phenomena, but, when you’re off stage, you don’t want to leave the door open for people to make their own assumptions about what actually occurred as it can lead the spectator to dangerous assumptions. </p> <p>This is why Banachek will constantly reinforce the idea that what he’s doing isn’t real which, in a way, makes his effects stronger as the audience is thinking “how could you have possibly known” compared to “he’s a real psychic.” To him, telling people that what he is doing is fake comes from an ethical standpoint because he sees himself as an authoritative figure on stage; people don’t know what to expect when they go to a mentalism show, so they’re going to believe whatever it is he tells them if he’s convincing enough. </p> <h1>Pseudoscience &amp; Magic</h1> <p>You are not going to convince everyone that pseudoscience is fake, especially if you are hostile in confronting people. What you can do is talk about pseudoscience on the correct platforms to inform people and get them thinking critically about what they’re being told. Banachek goes on to explain that we should be focusing on the larger mediums as they’re the ones influencing the masses; we can use their publicity to educate people. If we are to educate on a smaller level, it shouldn’t be confrontational or else people will put up a wall. It’s better to have an educated discussion to understand their viewpoint. You can’t just think everyone is stupid because they don’t know what you know. </p> <p>Banachek highlights his show Telepathy as an example of how he approaches educating people. During the first half, he comes out as psychic to build the same emotional reaction the audience would have if they went to see a psychic.  In the second half of the show, he comes out to inform the audience that what he did was all fake. He wants the audience to know that they can be fooled and that they shouldn’t believe blindly. He wants the audience to know that they don’t need to necessarily change their views, they just need to realize that there are those who will take advantage of their beliefs.  </p> <h1>Million Dollar Challenge </h1> <p>The <a href="https://web.randi.org/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">JREF </a>offered one million dollars to anyone who could demonstrate a supernatural or paranormal ability under scientific testing conditions — the test was terminated in 2015 but Banachek says it will likely be coming back in a different form. The difficult part about conducting the claims was coming up with a test that was agreeable to science and the psychic. When they conducted the tests, they wanted the subject to succeed, but they needed the participant to succeed under the proper test conditions. No one was ever able to pass the preliminary stages.  </p> <p> </p> <h1>Believability and Criss Angel</h1> <p>When he was working with Criss Angel, the goal was to create believable magic; it’s not a good trick if it doesn’t look real. When he was creating effects for the show, they would come up with 300 tricks per season and then they would have to quickly figure out presentation and method as they had a tight filming window. Often, they were restricted by the environment. Banachek knew that they didn’t have to stooge things for the effect to be fooling on some level, so he took advantage of the medium. Editing allowed them to hide methods that would otherwise be exposed on television, or they could block the show in a way to avoid exposed angles. These methods, Banachek said, are similar to blocking a routine on a stage. He wants the audience at home to have a similar experience to the participants in real life, so he took advantage of the medium. </p> <p>Banachek goes on to explain that there are always going to be purists who see certain methods as dirty or impure. However, magicians are in the business of deceit, so it’s difficult to say what is and isn’t a dirty method when it comes to trickery. By going online to expose other magicians for using “dirty methods” they’re hurting the art form as a whole, not just the singular performer. Once you have people thinking a magician uses a particular method, they’ll begin to think that’s how all magicians approach the effect.  </p> <h1>Wrap-Up</h1> <h2>How has the audience changed? </h2> <p>Banachek hasn’t necessarily seen a change in his audience, but he has noticed that people are attending more live performances for the uniqueness of the experience. </p> <h2>Endless Chain</h2> <p>Andrew Gerard</p> <h2>Take Home Point</h2> <p>Jonah likes the idea of leaving the audience better off than when he found them.  </p> <p>Banachek likes the idea of not attacking people when you want to educate them. </p> <p>Tyas liked talking about how magicians are often cannibalizing the culture and how people tend to discredit methods and other performers. He wants people to be building the artform, not stifling it. </p> <h2>Last Words </h2> <p>Be positive about magic. When you knock down another magician, you’re tearing down yourself, and you’re knocking down the art form. </p> <h1>Plugs </h1> <p><a href="http://www.banachek.com/news/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Banachek’s Brain – Podcast </a></p> <p><a href="http://www.banachek.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Website </a></p> <p><a href="https://www.instagram.com/banachek/?hl=en" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Instagram </a></p> <p><a href="https://twitter.com/banachek?lang=en" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Twitter </a></p> <p> </p> <p>The post <a href="https://discourseinmagic.com/the-truth-about-mentalism-with-banachek/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">The Truth About Mentalism with Banachek</a> appeared first on <a href="https://discourseinmagic.com" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Discourse in Magic</a>.</p>

The Truth About Mentalism with Banachek

David Parr

Known for his appearance on Fool Us, David Parr joins Tyler and Jonah. Bringing his theatrical background to magic this episode, David discusses the value of live theatre, the power of storytelling and Fool Us.  David received a magic set when he was younger, and, once he learned all its tricks, needed to know more. His studies led him to the local library and magic store. Soon after, he was performing for library programs in his hometown of Milwaukee. As he moved into regular gigs, his focus was on the enjoyment of performing magic and letting people experience the things he loved. It wasn’t until seeing Doug Henning perform that it dawned on him that magic was something he could do for a living.  Sharing the Live Experience  David emphasizes that the value of live theatre lies in the moment. Everything the audience and the performer is experiencing is a product of that set of people, in that room during specific conditions. The value of the ticket comes from the ephemeral moment that the audience gets to experience. From these moments, the audience can have their effect on the magic which allows the performance to undergo its evolutionary phase.  During his show with Joe Diamond, David mentions that they use to ask the audience who had seen a live magic performance before. Most people had not. For David, this becomes an opportunity to define what live magic can be for the audience. Defining Magic  David believes that the definition of your magic influences what you do. He explored this concept in his book, Magic Mirror, which he co-authored with Bob Neal. While Bob came up with a (self-admitted) convoluted defition, David realized he needed to come up with his own simpler definition. This led him to his current description: Simulated impossibility.   This base definition becomes his foundation. From there, he builds the theatrical and technical elements that allow him to fulfill and exceed his audience’s expectations. By giving people multiple levels to engage with, David is able to capture people’s attention and give them memorable moments. People will find something to engage with–whether the puzzle element or the stories–if you give them multiple elements. By the end of the show, people should have an understanding of who he is as a person. Storytelling and Scripting  Theatre and film have procedural aspects to their narratives, David explains. Narrative is a powerful tool at our disposal because humans are programmed to connect with narratives. By taking them from point A to point B, you can create memorable moments that they can retain in their mind after the show is over. People will go out and try to share their memories, extending the performance beyond the initial room.  David strongly believes in scripting magic. Scripting is the chance for a performer to make deliberate, conscious choices about their performances and why they are doing specific things. David goes on to remind us that you don’t have to be chained to your script. You can deviate and respond to your audience–a script will just allow you to return to the trick without the need to fish around. When writing your script, David recommends recording your performance and transcribing everything you say during it, including the verbal ticks. You can then see where the problems are and can start to make conscious choices about the way you’re performing. You can begin to ask questions like, “what does my audience need to know to understand the narrative?” Fool Us  David points to his Fool Us performance as an example of how important narrative is. The back-and-forth game of his trick acted as a compelling enough narrative that people were caught up watching; they didn’t have the opportunity to reverse engineer the procedure. David goes on to say that he fooled them with theatrics as he knows Teller is aware of the effect’s principle.  Wrap-Up Magical PSA  Ask yourself “Why am I doing this?” If the answer is “look at me” then you probably need to reassess why you’re doing magic. Asking this question over and over will allow us to grow not only as performers but as people.  Question of the week?  Who am I? How have the threads of the people who have inspired you been woven into your work? Magic is a process of self-discovery.  What do you like about the 2018 magic community? Something you don’t like? Many magicians are clinging to the past because they can’t horde secrets anymore. They are denying the reality we live in. So give them more beyond that. Give them a human being to relate to.  Take Home Point Jonah resonated with the idea of editing and including as little as necessary to give people multiple layers they can connect with.  David liked the idea of determining what it is you want to accomplish.  Tyler liked the idea that a script is not a straightjacket and that it can only serve to better your performance.  Endless Chain  Chrisitan Cagigal or Joe Diamond Social Media  Website: https://www.davidparr.com/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/parrmagic/?hl=en Twitter: https://twitter.com/parrmagic?lang=en   The post Performance That Engages on Multiple Levels with David Parr appeared first on Discourse in Magic.

<p>Known for his appearance on Fool Us, David Parr joins Tyler and Jonah. Bringing his theatrical background to magic this episode, David discusses the value of live theatre, the power of storytelling and Fool Us. </p> <p>David received a magic set when he was younger, and, once he learned all its tricks, needed to know more. His studies led him to the local library and magic store. Soon after, he was performing for library programs in his hometown of Milwaukee. As he moved into regular gigs, his focus was on the enjoyment of performing magic and letting people experience the things he loved. It wasn’t until seeing Doug Henning perform that it dawned on him that magic was something he could do for a living. </p> <h1>Sharing the Live Experience </h1> <p>David emphasizes that the value of live theatre lies in the moment. Everything the audience and the performer is experiencing is a product of that set of people, in that room during specific conditions. The value of the ticket comes from the ephemeral moment that the audience gets to experience. From these moments, the audience can have their effect on the magic which allows the performance to undergo its evolutionary phase. </p> <p>During his show with Joe Diamond, David mentions that they use to ask the audience who had seen a live magic performance before. Most people had not. For David, this becomes an opportunity to define what live magic can be for the audience.</p> <h1>Defining Magic </h1> <p>David believes that the definition of your magic influences what you do. He explored this concept in his book, <a href="http://www.penguinmagic.com/p/1261" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Magic Mirror,</a> which he co-authored with Bob Neal. While Bob came up with a (self-admitted) convoluted defition, David realized he needed to come up with his own simpler definition. This led him to his current description: Simulated impossibility.  </p> <p>This base definition becomes his foundation. From there, he builds the theatrical and technical elements that allow him to fulfill and exceed his audience’s expectations. By giving people multiple levels to engage with, David is able to capture people’s attention and give them memorable moments. People will find something to engage with–whether the puzzle element or the stories–if you give them multiple elements. By the end of the show, people should have an understanding of who he is as a person.</p> <h1>Storytelling and Scripting </h1> <p>Theatre and film have procedural aspects to their narratives, David explains. Narrative is a powerful tool at our disposal because humans are programmed to connect with narratives. By taking them from point A to point B, you can create memorable moments that they can retain in their mind after the show is over. People will go out and try to share their memories, extending the performance beyond the initial room. </p> <p>David strongly believes in scripting magic. Scripting is the chance for a performer to make deliberate, conscious choices about their performances and why they are doing specific things. David goes on to remind us that you don’t have to be chained to your script. You can deviate and respond to your audience–a script will just allow you to return to the trick without the need to fish around.</p> <p>When writing your script, David recommends recording your performance and transcribing everything you say during it, including the verbal ticks. You can then see where the problems are and can start to make conscious choices about the way you’re performing. You can begin to ask questions like, “what does my audience need to know to understand the narrative?”</p> <h1>Fool Us </h1> <p>David points to his Fool Us performance as an example of how important narrative is. The back-and-forth game of his trick acted as a compelling enough narrative that people were caught up watching; they didn’t have the opportunity to reverse engineer the procedure. David goes on to say that he fooled them with theatrics as he knows Teller is aware of the effect’s principle. </p> <h1>Wrap-Up</h1> <h2>Magical PSA </h2> <p>Ask yourself “Why am I doing this?” If the answer is “look at me” then you probably need to reassess why you’re doing magic. Asking this question over and over will allow us to grow not only as performers but as people. </p> <h2>Question of the week? </h2> <p>Who am I? How have the threads of the people who have inspired you been woven into your work? Magic is a process of self-discovery. </p> <h2>What do you like about the 2018 magic community? Something you don’t like?</h2> <p>Many magicians are clinging to the past because they can’t horde secrets anymore. They are denying the reality we live in. So give them more beyond that. Give them a human being to relate to. </p> <h2>Take Home Point</h2> <p>Jonah resonated with the idea of editing and including as little as necessary to give people multiple layers they can connect with. </p> <p>David liked the idea of determining what it is you want to accomplish. </p> <p>Tyler liked the idea that a script is not a straightjacket and that it can only serve to better your performance. </p> <h2>Endless Chain </h2> <p><a href="http://www.christiancagigal.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Chrisitan Cagigal </a>or <a href="http://www.joediamondlive.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Joe Diamond</a></p> <h1>Social Media </h1> <p>Website: <a href="https://www.davidparr.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">https://www.davidparr.com/</a></p> <p>Instagram: <a href="https://www.instagram.com/parrmagic/?hl=en" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">https://www.instagram.com/parrmagic/?hl=en</a></p> <p>Twitter: <a href="https://twitter.com/parrmagic?lang=en" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">https://twitter.com/parrmagic?lang=en</a></p> <p> </p> <p>The post <a href="https://discourseinmagic.com/performance-that-engages-on-multiple-levels-with-david-parr/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Performance That Engages on Multiple Levels with David Parr</a> appeared first on <a href="https://discourseinmagic.com" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Discourse in Magic</a>.</p>

Performance That Engages on Multiple Levels with David Parr

Johnny Thompson

We’ve invited magic legend Johnny Thompson otherwise known as The Great Tomsoni onto the show today. Together with his wife Pamela Hayes Johnny has been performing for packed houses in Las Vegas for decades. Johnny saw a movie about a Mississippi river boat gambler when he was a kid and he decided he wanted to become a card sharp. He bought The Expert at the Card Table at a Chicago bookstore for 35 cents. He spent the next four years trying to learn everything between those covers. Johnny eventually realized that there wasn’t a lot of places for a 12 year old card cheat to work so he decided to switch to magic. Johnny started working on a dove magic act in the 1940’s. He soon realized that there was already too many bird magicians on the scene so at the age of 16 in 1951 he joined Jerry Murad’s Harmonicats, a musical act with a number of hits under their belts. He stayed with the group until 1957. But Johnny eventually decided to get back into magic but this time with a focus on close-up magic. Johnny booked a regular gig at the Playboy Club in New York. Over the next year he would perform three times a week. He slowly began to incorporate more slapstick humour into those performances. By the end of the year he had an act that was almost entirely comedy. The act was an immediate hit. Over the last few years Johnny has become one of the most sought after magic advisers in the business. He had retired the act in 2015 but by then he had already been occasionally consulting with magicians like Penn and Teller, Chris Angel and Michael Carbonaro. Johnny was first approached with the concept of Fool Us about 10 years ago. He told Penn and Teller that the hardest part of the concept would be to tell the magician they knew how the trick was done without telling the audience. Johnny suggested Teller could draw out the illusion but they settled on just using magic lingo that the audience wouldn’t know about. He is the guy that decides whether Penn and Teller have actually been fooled during the taping of the show. Johnny is about to release a new book titled The Magic of Johnny Thompson. The book is a two volume set that details everything Johnny has learned over a six decade long career. One of the trick’s is known as The Gambler’s Ballad a trick that Johnny has been closing his shows with for decades. Showtime recently produced a film called The Gambler’s Ballad: The legend of Johnny Thompson. The film documents Johnny’s life and features him teaching the trick to Teller. The book also features moves that would otherwise have been lost as they were taught to Johnny by long dead magicians. Johnny says he has been incredibly lucky because his career has spanned an astonishing change in the magic business. His first job was performing in front of freak show in the 1940’s. He met some of the great magicians of the early 20th century when he was coming up like Paul Rosini and Jay Marshall. Chicago was the place where bar magic was invented and there was the remnants of vaudeville was still active when he was a kid. Johnny says it’s tough to make a career in show business. His goal was to end up on a Vegas stage. It was the Mecca of magic. That’s no longer the case. There’s no place for magicians like Johnny anymore. When the hotel companies replaced the mob in the 1980’s they ended the lounge show and that so many magicians depended on. He says that close-up magic is the one bright spot in the business. Places like Germany still have a large number of close-up theaters. But increasingly, he says, magic is being pushed onto video and online. What don’t you like about modern magic? What do you like? Johnny doesn’t like the current fad of people revealing how tricks are done online. He does like how many young an exciting magicians there are in the business right now. What would you like to ask the listeners? How many of you have solid, classic magic in their repertoires? Who should we have on the show next? Armando Lucero What did you like about the episode? Jonah liked hearing about the history of show business. Tyler liked hearing that Johnny became a magician because of his love of being a card sharp. Johnny was just excited to be on a podcast because that’s what will keep the art form alive. The post Show Business and Magic Consulting with Johnny Thompson appeared first on Discourse in Magic.

<p>We’ve invited magic legend Johnny Thompson otherwise known as <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johnny_Thompson" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">The Great Tomsoni</a> onto the show today. Together with his wife Pamela Hayes Johnny has been performing for packed houses in Las Vegas for decades.</p> <p>Johnny saw a movie about a Mississippi river boat gambler when he was a kid and he decided he wanted to become a card sharp. He bought <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Expert-Card-Table-Treatise-Manipulation/dp/0486285979" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">The Expert at the Card Table at a Chicago</a> bookstore for 35 cents. He spent the next four years trying to learn everything between those covers. Johnny eventually realized that there wasn’t a lot of places for a 12 year old card cheat to work so he decided to switch to magic.</p> <p>Johnny started working on a dove magic act in the 1940’s. He soon realized that there was already too many bird magicians on the scene so at the age of 16 in 1951 he joined <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GjhDpiu4ais" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Jerry Murad’s Harmonicats</a>, a musical act with a number of hits under their belts. He stayed with the group until 1957. But Johnny eventually decided to get back into magic but this time with a focus on close-up magic.</p> <p>Johnny booked a regular gig at the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Playboy_Club" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Playboy Club</a> in New York. Over the next year he would perform three times a week. He slowly began to incorporate more slapstick humour into those performances. By the end of the year he had an act that was almost entirely comedy. The act was an immediate hit.</p> <p>Over the last few years Johnny has become one of the most sought after magic advisers in the business. He had retired the act in 2015 but by then he had already been occasionally consulting with magicians like Penn and Teller, Chris Angel and Michael Carbonaro.</p> <p>Johnny was first approached with the concept of Fool Us about 10 years ago. He told Penn and Teller that the hardest part of the concept would be to tell the magician they knew how the trick was done without telling the audience. Johnny suggested Teller could draw out the illusion but they settled on just using magic lingo that the audience wouldn’t know about. He is the guy that decides whether Penn and Teller have actually been fooled during the taping of the show.</p> <p>Johnny is about to release a new book titled <a href="http://www.magicana.com/buy/publications/magic-johnny-thompson" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">The Magic of Johnny Thompson</a>. The book is a two volume set that details everything Johnny has learned over a six decade long career. One of the trick’s is known as The Gambler’s Ballad a trick that Johnny has been closing his shows with for decades. Showtime recently produced a film called <a href="http://www.sho.com/titles/3455634/gamblers-ballad-the-legend-of-johnny-thompson" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">The Gambler’s Ballad: The legend of Johnny Thompson</a>. The film documents Johnny’s life and features him teaching the trick to Teller. The book also features moves that would otherwise have been lost as they were taught to Johnny by long dead magicians.</p> <p>Johnny says he has been incredibly lucky because his career has spanned an astonishing change in the magic business. His first job was performing in front of freak show in the 1940’s. He met some of the great magicians of the early 20th century when he was coming up like <a href="https://geniimagazine.com/wiki/index.php?title=Paul_Rosini" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Paul Rosini</a> and <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jay_Marshall_(magician)" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Jay Marshall</a>. Chicago was the place where bar magic was invented and there was the remnants of vaudeville was still active when he was a kid.</p> <p>Johnny says it’s tough to make a career in show business. His goal was to end up on a Vegas stage. It was the Mecca of magic. That’s no longer the case. There’s no place for magicians like Johnny anymore. When the hotel companies replaced the mob in the 1980’s they ended the lounge show and that so many magicians depended on. He says that close-up magic is the one bright spot in the business. Places like Germany still have a large number of close-up theaters. But increasingly, he says, magic is being pushed onto video and online.</p> <p><b>What don’t you like about modern magic? What do you like?</b></p> <p>Johnny doesn’t like the current fad of people revealing how tricks are done online. He does like how many young an exciting magicians there are in the business right now.</p> <p><b>What would you like to ask the listeners?</b></p> <p>How many of you have solid, classic magic in their repertoires?</p> <p><b>Who should we have on the show next?</b></p> <p><a href="https://www.armandolucero.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Armando Lucero</a></p> <p><b>What did you like about the episode?</b></p> <p>Jonah liked hearing about the history of show business.</p> <p>Tyler liked hearing that Johnny became a magician because of his love of being a card sharp.</p> <p>Johnny was just excited to be on a podcast because that’s what will keep the art form alive.</p> <p>The post <a href="https://discourseinmagic.com/show-business-magic-consulting-johnny-thompson/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Show Business and Magic Consulting with Johnny Thompson</a> appeared first on <a href="https://discourseinmagic.com" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Discourse in Magic</a>.</p>

Show Business and Magic Consulting with Johnny Thompson

Garrett Thomas

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 The post Understanding Magic with Garrett Thomas appeared first on Discourse in Magic.

<p>Garrett Thomas is an incredible magician, an opinion that was confirmed recently when Jonah saw him perform at the <a href="http://buffalogt.blogspot.ca/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Buffalo 52</a> 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 <a href="http://www.geniimagazine.com/magicpedia/Eddie_Fechter" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Eddie Fechter. W</a>ho 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.</p> <p>Garrett believes magic is the act of shifting a paradigm.  The <a href="https://www.staples.com/magic+markers/directory_magic+markers" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">magic marker</a> 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.</p> <p>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.</p> <p>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 <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Penn_%26_Teller:_Fool_Us" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Fool Us</a> 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.</p> <p>Garrett believes that the future of magical performance is all about being yourself.  <a href="http://www.davidcopperfield.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Copperfield</a> and <a href="https://twitter.com/CrissAngel?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Eauthor" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Chris Angel</a> 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.</p> <h2><strong>What did you like about the episode?</strong></h2> <p>Jonah really likes Garrett’s emphasis on magic as the central part of any performance before adding things like comedy or music.</p> <p>Tyler liked Garrett sharing that his dyslexia being a central part of his creative life.</p> <p>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.</p> <h2><strong>What do you want to tell our audience?</strong></h2> <p>Own it.  Whatever your definition of magic is you have to own it.</p> <h2><strong>What do you want to ask our audience?</strong></h2> <p>What is your definition of magic?</p> <h2><strong>Who should we invite on to the show?</strong></h2> <p><a href="http://www.strongermagic.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Tyler Erickson</a></p> <h2><strong>Plugs</strong></h2> <p>Garrett is a <a href="http://reelmagicmagazine.com/index.php/garrett-thomas-try-this-at-home-two-fisted-magic-issue-6.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">columnis</a>t at Real Magic Magazine.</p> <p>Much of his products are produced by Cosmo Magic</p> <p>The post <a href="https://discourseinmagic.com/understanding-magic-garrett-thomas/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Understanding Magic with Garrett Thomas</a> appeared first on <a href="https://discourseinmagic.com" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Discourse in Magic</a>.</p>

Understanding Magic with Garrett Thomas

Jason Ladanye

Jason Ladanye is a world-class sleight of hand magician and card cheating expert, known for his latest book “Confident Deceptions”, his studies with Darwin Ortiz and knowledge in the major topics of theory, practise, scripting and tension made him a great addition to the podcast. Jason first started magic when he was 5 through his brother showing him a simple magic trick and his parents giving him magic books from the library they lived above. He then watched the David Copperfield special and was instantly hooked, so he bought as much magic stuff as he could. What attracted him to the cards were how many tricks you could perform with one pack, and there not being any evidence when asked how you did it. After saving up money from performing at parties, Jason bought his first Darwin Ortiz VHS, and asked if he could be a mentor to him after a surprise phone call. This, among other things made it clear that card magic was for him. Jason learned about breaking tricks down, learning them as in-depth as possible and how to trust your mentor. From here, Jason went into his own magic theory all about the importance of character, premise, effect and – most importantly – progression. Scripting was also a big deal, as it helps him keep consistent with each show (which he’s still developing to this day). Ortiz is a huge inspiration to the DIM boys, as both of his most popular books “Strong Magic” and “Designing Miracles” are in their Theory Resource Guide. A huge lesson that Ortiz taught Jason was figuring out “why” exactly a trick works and is performed that way. He then talks about the benefits of tension vs surprise, and how to keep the audience in the palm of your hand for as long as possible. One of the tricks in his latest book shows how to do this in 60 seconds! What was the biggest things you took from mentoring with Ortiz? “He taught me that character, premise, effect and progression are the most important things in any performance” What do you want to ask the audience? Who are you and is it consistent to the work you’re doing? What do you want to tell the audience? Watch your online criticisms of another people’s work, unless you can helpfully show a better version of it What was your favourite part of the podcast? Jonah liked applying Hitchcock’s tension theory to your magic. Tyler liked putting in an obstacle to extend the final suspense of a trick. Jason says it’s all about premise and effecting character Who should we have next on the podcast? Darwin Ortiz and Michael Vincent   Plugs Website and Book: cardmagicbyjason.com The post How to Perform Card Magic with Jason Ladanye appeared first on Discourse in Magic.

<p>Jason Ladanye is a world-class sleight of hand magician and card cheating expert, known for his latest book “Confident Deceptions”, his studies with Darwin Ortiz and knowledge in the major topics of theory, practise, scripting and tension made him a great addition to the podcast.</p> <p>Jason first started magic when he was 5 through his brother showing him a simple magic trick and his parents giving him magic books from the library they lived above. He then watched the David Copperfield special and was instantly hooked, so he bought as much magic stuff as he could.</p> <p>What attracted him to the cards were how many tricks you could perform with one pack, and there not being any evidence when asked how you did it. After saving up money from performing at parties, Jason bought his first Darwin Ortiz VHS, and asked if he could be a mentor to him after a surprise phone call.</p> <p>This, among other things made it clear that card magic was for him. Jason learned about breaking tricks down, learning them as in-depth as possible and how to trust your mentor. From here, Jason went into his own magic theory all about the importance of character, premise, effect and – most importantly – progression.</p> <p>Scripting was also a big deal, as it helps him keep consistent with each show (which he’s still developing to this day).<br/> Ortiz is a huge inspiration to the DIM boys, as both of his most popular books “Strong Magic” and “Designing Miracles” are in their <a href="https://discourseinmagic.com/theoryresourceguide" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Theory Resource Guide</a>. A huge lesson that Ortiz taught Jason was figuring out “why” exactly a trick works and is performed that way. He then talks about the benefits of tension vs surprise, and how to<br/> keep the audience in the palm of your hand for as long as possible.</p> <p>One of the tricks in his latest book shows how to do this in 60 seconds!</p> <p><strong>What was the biggest things you took from mentoring with Ortiz?</strong><br/> “He taught me that character, premise, effect and progression are the most important<br/> things in any performance”</p> <p><strong>What do you want to ask the audience?</strong><br/> Who are you and is it consistent to the work you’re doing?</p> <p><strong>What do you want to tell the audience?</strong><br/> Watch your online criticisms of another people’s work, unless you can helpfully show a<br/> better version of it</p> <p><strong>What was your favourite part of the podcast?</strong><br/> Jonah liked applying Hitchcock’s tension theory to your magic.</p> <p>Tyler liked putting in an obstacle to extend the final suspense of a trick.</p> <p>Jason says it’s all about premise and effecting character</p> <p><strong>Who should we have next on the podcast?</strong><br/> Darwin Ortiz and Michael Vincent</p> <p> </p> <p><strong>Plugs</strong><br/> Website and Book: <a href="https://www.cardmagicbyjason.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">cardmagicbyjason.com</a></p> <p>The post <a href="https://discourseinmagic.com/how-to-perform-card-magic-with-jason-ladanye/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">How to Perform Card Magic with Jason Ladanye</a> appeared first on <a href="https://discourseinmagic.com" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Discourse in Magic</a>.</p>

How to Perform Card Magic with Jason Ladanye

David Malek

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 The post Entertainment Value and Finding Your Shtick with David Malek appeared first on Discourse in Magic.

<p>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. </p> <p>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.</p> <p>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.</p> <p>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!</p> <p>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.</p> <p>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!</p> <p>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.</p> <h3>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!</h3> <p>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.</p> <p>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)</p> <p>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. </p> <p>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. </p> <p>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.</p> <p>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. </p> <p> 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</p> <h1>Contact</h1> <p><a href="https://www.instagram.com/_malektheking/?hl=en" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Instagram</a></p> <p><a href="http://davidmalek.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Website</a></p> <p><a href="http://doublegeorge.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">DoubleGeorge.com</a></p> <p><a href="http://www.markedcards.org/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">markedcards.org</a></p> <p>The post <a href="https://discourseinmagic.com/entertainment-value-finding-shtick-david-malek/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Entertainment Value and Finding Your Shtick with David Malek</a> appeared first on <a href="https://discourseinmagic.com" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Discourse in Magic</a>.</p>

Entertainment Value and Finding Your Shtick with David Malek

Ryan Hayashi

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

<p>Jonah sits down with Ryan Hayashi this week to talk about finding a personality, magic competitions, and the ins &amp; outs of television magic. Ryan is a hobbyist sleight-of-hand magician with a number of competition wins and television performances under his belt.</p> <p>At the age of eight, Ryan’s uncle gave him a magic kit for Christmas. While the other kids around him eventually lost interest in magic, Ryan’s only grew. Obsessed with learning more about the art, he would seek out any magic book he could in his small hometown, Dunnville, Ontario.</p> <p>After attending Carleton University for language and linguistic studies and failing to get into the police force, Ryan decided to pursue his two passions further, magic and martial arts, so he moved to Japan to study. In Japan, he taught English, opening each of his classes with a visual magic trick. Eventually one of his students approached him and asked him to attend a magic club meeting. Agreeing, Ryan attended the club and met a man who would be fundamental in developing his skills: Shoot Ogawa.</p> <h1>Developing You</h1> <p>Growing up, Ryan was the dorky, nerdy kid doing card tricks. At the age of nineteen, he made a conscious decision to improve himself. He started to work out. Study voice. Work on body language. Anything related to self improvement, he studied and implemented to eventually become the commanding figure he is today.</p> <p>Ryan  makes it clear that if you’re happy with who you are, and you’re able to just connect with people without needing to change, you don’t have to change. But, he points out that everyone is capable of increasing and decreasing the gifts we’ve been given.</p> <h1>Magic Competitions</h1> <p>In 2001, Ryan decided he wanted to become a World Champion of Magic. To him, competing is a way to measure where you abilities stand compared to your peers while also forcing you to work towards a specific goal. Since the first competition he entered fairly blindly in 2001, Ryan has become a seasoned competitor with multiple FISM and other competition titles to his name.</p> <p>For those looking to compete, Ryan recommends dedicating three years to creating, crafting, and polishing the routine you wish to perform. You’ll be going up the best in the field – if you want an idea of where magic currently sits, he suggests looking up recent FISM performances. To have a chance at succeeding, Ryan gives some advice. The first being that there are endless possibilities with magic, you just need to figure out where you want to take it.</p> <p>For FISM, look at the eight categories you can enter – five being stage, three being closeup. Then you need to figure out the effect(s) you want. From there, the most important aspects, you need to determine not only the story of the act, but who you want to come across as on stage. What do you want the audience to take away fro you at the end of the act? What story do you want to sell? Ryan also suggests optimizing the balance between the visual and audio aspects of the act for maximum impact.</p> <h1>Appearing on Television</h1> <p>Ryan has appeared on a number of television shows, from Fool Us to Britain’s Got Talent, so he knows the ins and outs of appearing on television. With this in mind, Ryan makes it clear to the audience that when you’re going on TV, you’re selling your soul. Once you sign the release to appear on the show, the production now has free reign to edit you however they want. If you did good, they can make you look bad, and vice versa; it comes down to their goal for the production at the end of the day.</p> <p>Once you’ve sold your soul, Ryan explains that it comes down to the material you bring on. Now with the likes of Eric Chien and Shin Lim raising the bar for magic on TV, you need to bring material stronger than sponge balls; the lay audience now has an image in their mind of what magic can be. If your hands shake or you waver, the audience and the camera will pick it up.</p> <p>On top of the effects you perform, the scripting also needs to be tight. No longer can you string together effects and call it a day. Referencing his brother, a film industry veteran and script writing teacher, told him, Ryan lays out the four points you should try to encompass in  your script to truly capture your audience:</p> <ol> <li> Three act structure</li> <li> Protagonist</li> <li> Change of heart</li> <li> Statement of humanity</li> </ol> <h1>Wrap-Up</h1> <h2>Endless Chain</h2> <p><a href="https://www.instagram.com/ecsleights/?hl=en" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Eric Chien</a></p> <h2>What do you like about modern magic? What do you dislike?</h2> <p>Ryan likes the current creativity and innovative material coming out of the competitions.</p> <p>Ryan isn’t a fan of people who just send him videos of them performing sleights without any thought put into scripting or routining. He wants the other 98% of the effect.</p> <h2>Take Home Point</h2> <p>Decide for yourself what you want your magic to be. If you make a conscious decision to hone your act and be professional, then you need to pay attention to the entire overall presentation.</p> <h1>Plugs</h1> <p><a href="https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCcljl7skgY2u2unx563VObA" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Ryan’s YouTube </a></p> <p><a href="https://www.instagram.com/ryan_hayashi_/?hl=en" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Ryan’s Instagram </a></p> <p><a href="https://www.facebook.com/ryan.hayashi.3" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Ryan’s Facebook</a></p> <p>The post <a href="https://discourseinmagic.com/competition-and-television-magic-with-ryan-hayashi/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Personality, Television, and Magic Competitions with Ryan Hayashi</a> appeared first on <a href="https://discourseinmagic.com" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Discourse in Magic</a>.</p>

Personality, Television, and Magic Competitions with Ryan Hayashi

Jamy Ian Swiss

Jonah is joined by Jamy Ian Swiss this week to discuss persona, creativity and the importance of learning the classics. Alongside being a dedicated, lifelong student of magic, Jamy is a prolific writer, sleight of hand artist, and magic historian.  Growing up as a shy, introverted child, Jamy was often introduced to new hobbies by his parents in an attempt to bring him out of his shell. His first introduction to magic came at the age of seven when his father purchased a colour vision box from Tannen’s and performed it for Jamy at dinner. From that moment, Jamy’s passion for magic began and he quickly became a lifelong student dedicated to mastering the art.  At first, Jamy’s father would go to Tannen’s to purchase magic every time Jamy mastered a trick. When he was 11, Jamy started attending the store himself to watch and learn from the magicians who attended the store. Louis Tannen, Presto, Al Koran, all became important mentors in Jamy’s initial years of learning magic, and they continue to influence him.  Magic, however, was just a passion. A hobby. He didn’t want to be a kid’s performer like his friends because he dislikes performing for kids. Additionally, while he had grown up recognizing the importance of the arts, he had been instilled with the bias that no sane person would consider pursuing an artistic career. Magic simply remained a hobby for him while he pursued a more traditional career. Jamy would proceed to lock himself in a room for a year to practice before emerging a year later, booking two corporate gigs, and never looking back.  Mentors  Jamy recognizes that he had the privilege of being surrounded by great mentors throughout his career in magic. Now, as his mentors slowly leave him, Jamy recognizes more than ever the impact his mentors had on his life. In turn, he has tried to pay it forward to help the newer generation.  When looking for a mentor, it’s not enough to just find someone with more experience than you.  Not only should they be more intelligent and skilled than you, they need to jive with your magic interests without being afraid to give you honest critiques; you shouldn’t be taking advice from somebody who is going to impose their thoughts on you. However, you shouldn’t try to learn in a vacuum which is why it’s important to surround yourself with people who scare the living hell out of you.  Confronting Discomfort  Magic, at its core, is a disconcerting experience. A cognitive dissonance for the spectator is created as their understanding of the world is challenged which can result in an uncomfortable situation for the audience and the magician. However, rather than avoid this feeling, Jamy believes magicians should embrace it.  Jamy isn’t interested in upholding the status quo; he’s interested in experiences and art that provoke thought and feeling. He doesn’t seek to please or be pleased with his art because, at the end of the day, if you’re trying to please everyone, no one will ever be passionate about what you’re doing. If you are setting out to create “childlike wonder” in adults, you’re taking the wrong approach to magic. Children believe anything is possible which is why it isn’t fun doing magic for younger people. If your audience can’t tell the difference between fantasy and reality, what impact does magic have? Referencing Max Maven, Jamy explains that this is why magic has been rendered trivial as the performer is making fun of magic rather than embracing the provocative nature of the art.  Learning the Classics  Just because it’s new, doesn’t mean it’s good, Jamy explains.  The classics are classics for a reason. If you want to gain a fundamental understanding of magic, he recommends learning the classics like Vernon’s cups and balls. It is only after you have a thorough understanding of the classic routines that you should consider branching out to your own unique takes on magic. When you do decide to branch out, Jamy believes that you should research every iteration of an effect you can find to understand the work that has gone into the effects before you. With Dennis Behr’s Conjuring Archive, researching effects is easier than ever.  Jamy notes that there is an issue with the onslaught of products that are released everyday. Primarily, products that have been developed by magic newcomers who believe that they’ve either created a new miracle or are releasing an older effect under the impression that they are the first to discover it. Often, these effects aren’t very good or somebody has developed it before, demonstrating that the person didn’t conduct their research before releasing the product. Jamy explains that good magic is hard to find, let alone create, and that the overwhelming amount of material on the market is difficult for newcomers to comprehend.  The Importance of a Message Don Allen. Eugene Burger. Penn &amp; Teller.  All of their effects were informed by their personalities and the messages they wanted to convey to their audience. The effects these performers chose are not new, revolutionary tricks. What makes their presentations memorable is the original presentations they brought to their routines.  At the end of the day, it is how you present a trick that makes it magical. You cannot simply rely on a method to fool the audience, and you cannot recite somebody else’s script as it won’t be genuine. You need to put the work into finding what you want to say and creating a routine around this message if you ever want to do impactful performances. Wrap-Up  What do you like about magic in 2019? What do you dislike?  Jamy likes what the Spanish are doing for magic. They are focused on creating an experience of mystery, and they have a deep appreciation for what they’re communicating; they’re not trivializing the experience. Jamy dislikes the overwhelming onslaught of magic that is released on a daily basis. Anybody coming into magic has to sift through material in an attempt to find something good. Endless Chain  Eric Mead  Take Home Point  Don’t get distracted by material on YouTube or the fancy new product on the market. Becoming a great magician requires hard work, study, and finding a mentor who is willing to critique you.  Plugs Take Two  Lyons Den Preserving Mystery  Shattering Illusions  Devious Standards  Cups &amp; Balls Masterclass  Card on Ceiling Penguin Lecture  Jamy’s Website   The post Finding Your Voice with Jamy Ian Swiss appeared first on Discourse in Magic.

<p>Jonah is joined by Jamy Ian Swiss this week to discuss persona, creativity and the importance of learning the classics. Alongside being a dedicated, lifelong student of magic, Jamy is a prolific writer, sleight of hand artist, and magic historian. </p> <p>Growing up as a shy, introverted child, Jamy was often introduced to new hobbies by his parents in an attempt to bring him out of his shell. His first introduction to magic came at the age of seven when his father purchased a colour vision box from Tannen’s and performed it for Jamy at dinner. From that moment, Jamy’s passion for magic began and he quickly became a lifelong student dedicated to mastering the art. </p> <p>At first, Jamy’s father would go to Tannen’s to purchase magic every time Jamy mastered a trick. When he was 11, Jamy started attending the store himself to watch and learn from the magicians who attended the store. Louis Tannen, Presto, Al Koran, all became important mentors in Jamy’s initial years of learning magic, and they continue to influence him. </p> <p>Magic, however, was just a passion. A hobby. He didn’t want to be a kid’s performer like his friends because he dislikes performing for kids. Additionally, while he had grown up recognizing the importance of the arts, he had been instilled with the bias that no sane person would consider pursuing an artistic career. Magic simply remained a hobby for him while he pursued a more traditional career. Jamy would proceed to lock himself in a room for a year to practice before emerging a year later, booking two corporate gigs, and never looking back. </p> <h1>Mentors </h1> <p>Jamy recognizes that he had the privilege of being surrounded by great mentors throughout his career in magic. Now, as his mentors slowly leave him, Jamy recognizes more than ever the impact his mentors had on his life. In turn, he has tried to pay it forward to help the newer generation. </p> <p>When looking for a mentor, it’s not enough to just find someone with more experience than you. </p> <p>Not only should they be more intelligent and skilled than you, they need to jive with your magic interests without being afraid to give you honest critiques; you shouldn’t be taking advice from somebody who is going to impose their thoughts on you. However, you shouldn’t try to learn in a vacuum which is why it’s important to surround yourself with people who scare the living hell out of you. </p> <h1>Confronting Discomfort </h1> <p>Magic, at its core, is a disconcerting experience. A cognitive dissonance for the spectator is created as their understanding of the world is challenged which can result in an uncomfortable situation for the audience and the magician. However, rather than avoid this feeling, Jamy believes magicians should embrace it. </p> <p>Jamy isn’t interested in upholding the status quo; he’s interested in experiences and art that provoke thought and feeling. He doesn’t seek to please or be pleased with his art because, at the end of the day, if you’re trying to please everyone, no one will ever be passionate about what you’re doing.</p> <p>If you are setting out to create “childlike wonder” in adults, you’re taking the wrong approach to magic. Children believe anything is possible which is why it isn’t fun doing magic for younger people. If your audience can’t tell the difference between fantasy and reality, what impact does magic have? Referencing Max Maven, Jamy explains that this is why magic has been rendered trivial as the performer is making fun of magic rather than embracing the provocative nature of the art. </p> <h1>Learning the Classics </h1> <p>Just because it’s new, doesn’t mean it’s good, Jamy explains. </p> <p>The classics are classics for a reason. If you want to gain a fundamental understanding of magic, he recommends learning the classics like Vernon’s cups and balls. It is only after you have a thorough understanding of the classic routines that you should consider branching out to your own unique takes on magic. When you do decide to branch out, Jamy believes that you should research every iteration of an effect you can find to understand the work that has gone into the effects before you. With <a href="https://www.conjuringarchive.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Dennis Behr’s Conjuring Archive</a>, researching effects is easier than ever. </p> <p>Jamy notes that there is an issue with the onslaught of products that are released everyday. Primarily, products that have been developed by magic newcomers who believe that they’ve either created a new miracle or are releasing an older effect under the impression that they are the first to discover it. Often, these effects aren’t very good or somebody has developed it before, demonstrating that the person didn’t conduct their research before releasing the product. Jamy explains that good magic is hard to find, let alone create, and that the overwhelming amount of material on the market is difficult for newcomers to comprehend. </p> <h1>The Importance of a Message</h1> <p>Don Allen. Eugene Burger. Penn &amp; Teller. </p> <p>All of their effects were informed by their personalities and the messages they wanted to convey to their audience. The effects these performers chose are not new, revolutionary tricks. What makes their presentations memorable is the original presentations they brought to their routines. </p> <p>At the end of the day, it is how you present a trick that makes it magical. You cannot simply rely on a method to fool the audience, and you cannot recite somebody else’s script as it won’t be genuine. You need to put the work into finding what you want to say and creating a routine around this message if you ever want to do impactful performances.</p> <h1>Wrap-Up </h1> <h2>What do you like about magic in 2019? What do you dislike? </h2> <p>Jamy likes what the Spanish are doing for magic. They are focused on creating an experience of mystery, and they have a deep appreciation for what they’re communicating; they’re not trivializing the experience.</p> <p>Jamy dislikes the overwhelming onslaught of magic that is released on a daily basis. Anybody coming into magic has to sift through material in an attempt to find something good.</p> <h2>Endless Chain </h2> <p>Eric Mead </p> <h2>Take Home Point </h2> <p>Don’t get distracted by material on YouTube or the fancy new product on the market. Becoming a great magician requires hard work, study, and finding a mentor who is willing to critique you. </p> <h1>Plugs</h1> <p><a href="https://www.magicana.com/blog-category/take-two" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Take Two </a></p> <p><a href="https://www.magicana.com/blog-category/lyons-den" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Lyons Den</a></p> <p><a href="https://www.vanishingincmagic.com/magic/magic-books/preserving-mystery/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Preserving Mystery</a> </p> <p><a href="https://www.vanishingincmagic.com/magic/magic-books/shattering-illusions/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Shattering Illusions </a></p> <p><a href="https://www.vanishingincmagic.com/magic/magic-books/devious-standards/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Devious Standards </a></p> <p><a href="https://www.vanishingincmagic.com/magic/close-up-magic/cups-and-balls-masterclass/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Cups &amp; Balls Masterclass </a></p> <p><a href="https://www.vanishingincmagic.com/magic/magic-dvds/card-on-ceiling-swiss/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Card on Ceiling</a></p> <p><a href="http://www.penguinmagic.com/p/7641" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Penguin Lecture </a></p> <p><a href="http://honestliar.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Jamy’s Website</a></p> <p> </p> <p>The post <a href="https://discourseinmagic.com/finding-your-voice-with-jamy-ian-swiss/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Finding Your Voice with Jamy Ian Swiss</a> appeared first on <a href="https://discourseinmagic.com" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Discourse in Magic</a>.</p>

Finding Your Voice with Jamy Ian Swiss

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 The post From the Cinema to Centre Stage with Spidey appeared first on Discourse in Magic.

<p>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.</p> <p>Guzzo Cinemas in Montreal to be exact.</p> <p>That’s how Spidey got his first pocket of fame.</p> <p>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).</p> <p>The videos would always be changing, and continue to drive people to the movie theatre.</p> <p>It turned out to be a great success.</p> <p>Not only did Spidey become an icon of Montreal, but his reach started to spread.</p> <p>Wizard Wars, Americas Got Talent, Penn and Teller Fool Us, and other major Television shows.</p> <p>Check out this cool spider:</p> <p></p> <p></p> <p>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.</p> <p>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.</p> <p>Now is the time to find out how he did it (and how you can do it too)</p> <p>If you know who Spidey is, this episode will help you understand how he got to all of the amazing places he is today.</p> <p>If you don’t know who Spidey is, it’s time to tune in, and find out.</p> <p>Either way, you’re going to learn a thing or two from this episode</p> <p>Enjoy</p> <h2>Contact</h2> <p><a href="https://www.facebook.com/SpideyMagic" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">Facebook</a></p> <p><a href="https://twitter.com/SpideyHypnosis" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">Twitter</a></p> <p><a href="https://www.instagram.com/spideyhypnosis/?hl=en" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">Instagram</a></p> <p><a href="http://www.spideymagic.com/" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">Website</a></p> <p>The post <a href="https://discourseinmagic.com/cinema-centre-stage-spidey/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">From the Cinema to Centre Stage with Spidey</a> appeared first on <a href="https://discourseinmagic.com" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Discourse in Magic</a>.</p>

From the Cinema to Centre Stage with Spidey

Brian Brushwood

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

<p>Brian Brushwood joins Jonah this week to talk creating content, finding a niche, and failing until you succeed. If you’ve searched for magic on YouTube, there’s a good chance you’ve come across Brian’s channel Scam Nation. Alongside being a Youtuber, Brian is a magician, a podcaster, a comedian, and an author – really, he just loves to share stories.</p> <p>Brian’s journey into magic began later in life. He was 18, attending university, and realized he had a ton of free time on his hands. His initial intention of taking up magic was not to pursue it professionally, but to just have a few cool tricks he could show around. After searching through the Yellow Pages, Brian discovered the Great Scott Magic Store where, after a three hour life changing conversation, he left with Royal Road and a bridge sized deck of Aviators. </p> <p>Throughout college, Brian was constantly performing. Between the restaurants he worked with his friend Gordon, kid’s birthday parties, and whatever other gig came his way, Brian put in his flight time. </p> <p>After graduating university, with what Brian akins to a degree in magic, he didn’t go straight into performing professionally, he went into the tech field while performing on the side. When he began to bring in more money from his performances, the company he worked under offered him a raise, placing him in a difficult situation. </p> <p>Not wanting to regret not pursuing a career in magic, Brian consulted his wife, quit his job and began down the path of becoming a professional magician. </p> <h1>Standing Out </h1> <p>As a kid, Brian’s family moved around. A lot. Every time Brian would introduce himself and establish who he was, his family would pick up and move to the next place. Eventually, introducing himself and establishing his brand became second nature. Brian attributes his ability to try experimental ways to market himself to the fact he doesn’t fear the rejection. </p> <p>When he was initially starting out, he knew that he needed to get some social proof for his sizzle reel – at the time this meant television appearances. Once more, Brian turned to yellow pages, sending out messages to the stations. When he heard nothing back, Brian went to Costco and purchased boxes of Fireballs, alongside a message saying that if they think those are hot, they should see Brian eat fire. This landed his first TV appearance that he would leverage on his reel. </p> <p>If you’re looking to catch people’s attention, you need to understand the audience you’re playing to and what their needs are; while your goal may be to entertain, the people booking you are looking for you to bring a certain value to the table. For Brian, when he was touring the college circuit, this involved writing a book called <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Ultimate-Ever-Growing-Increasing-Attendance-Campus/dp/0971364613" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Pack the House</a>! which gave Event Planners tips on getting butts in seats; he demonstrated what he knew, gave them value, and saw a lot more offers from Event Planners.  </p> <h1>Magic Online </h1> <p>Eleven years ago, Brian started Scam School on YouTube, becoming one of the pioneers for teaching magic online. Through his platform online, Brian shares magic with  newcomers and veterans, and invites them to collaborate with him. His goal is not to expose magic, but to teach it and help the art form reach a wider audience. That’s why he tries to take an approach the honours magic while still making it available to those who may not have access to traditional resources. </p> <p>People like the Masked Magician or those who simply tell you how a trick is done are not teaching. They’re exposing the secrets for the sake of exposing the secrets. Teaching magic online to Brian means that by the end of the video, the viewer should be able to do the trick. This is why he focuses on putting out complete tutorial videos of tricks. He also heavily focuses on crediting sources and selecting material that isn’t infringing on anything recently created. </p> <p>If you’re interested in putting out your own content, Brian insists that you release your good material first. Show them what you’re capable of doing and let them see the value you bring to the table. Then you can focus on monetizing and scaling up. People can’t fully judge who you are with just a teaser of what you might offer them. </p> <h1>Wrap Up</h1> <h2>Endless Chain</h2> <p><a href="http://magic.davidrowyn.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">David Rowyn </a></p> <h2>What do you like about magic in 2019? What do you dislike?</h2> <p>Brian likes that magic is seeing so many talented women performers.. He also enjoys that Penn and Teller leave bread crumbs for budding magicians through their coded replies on Fool Us. </p> <h2>Take Home Point </h2> <p>Fail fast and reiterate. Let’s get to future you as fast as possible.</p> <h1>Plugs</h1> <p><a href="http://www.shwood.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Brian’s Website</a></p> <p><a href="https://twitter.com/shwood" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Brian’s Twitter</a></p> <p><a href="https://nightattack.tv/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Night Attack </a></p> <p><a href="https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCRd9JHiQvqwT8O4d0QGI9jQ" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Scam Nation YouTube</a></p> <p><a href="https://www.scamstuff.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Scam Nation Website</a></p> <p> </p> <p>The post <a href="https://discourseinmagic.com/the-magic-of-collaboration-with-brian-brushwood/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">The Magic of Collaboration with Brian Brushwood</a> appeared first on <a href="https://discourseinmagic.com" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Discourse in Magic</a>.</p>

The Magic of Collaboration with Brian Brushwood

Steve Cohen

The “Millionaire’s Magician” Steve Cohen joins Jonah on Episode 148 to discuss branding, developing a show, and how to shape a career. Steve is best known for his long-running weekly show, Chamber Magic, but has also appeared on numerous television shows, produced a sold-out show at Carnegie Hall, and has performed all over the world for esteemed audiences.  Ever since he was six years old, Steve’s life has been driven by magic. As an eight year old boy, he was attending school dressed in a three-piece corudroy suit because he was convinced he was meant to be a magician. Doug Henning was his inspriation, and he wanted to give that magical feeling to others.  Throughout elementary and highschool, Steve would perform at birthday parties. He continued to perform during his time at Cornell University, performing for the likes of Carl Sagan and the Board of Trustees. Eventually, he decided he needed to put on his show, so he rented out the Black Box Theatre and put ads in the college paper. The shows sold out and this was his first taste of the entrepreneur side of magic which made him realize it was all worthwhile.  Finding your Brand Steve wants to capture the elegant side of magic, with the hopes that he can elevate it beyond a comedy bar act. With this desire in mind, when he was searching for venues, he knew he had to find a place that would emulate the feeling of an old-style, salon show.  The National Arts Club, the Waldorf, the Lotte New York Palace Hotel are all venues that have captured the feeling of the show that Steve wanted. After finding the venue, it became a matter of meshing the show to the environment by changing the clothes he wore, building props with the room in mind, choosing the right colours. These little touches all highlight Steve’s belief that you are trying to deliver the audience an experience.  His tagline “Millionaire’s Magician” was a phrase that he worried about using, believing it would isolate people even though he was already performing for millionaires. However, his friend assured him that it would benefit him, and he was correct. As he used this handle for his shows in London, the media started running with it, which eventually led to the media in New York covering it. The press continued to feed into this, making it a reality. Steve says that he won’t turn away people who aren’t millionaires because his purpose is to give people the experience of the 19th-century drawing room; he wants his audience to feel like the elite.  Giving an Experience People will only talk about the experience of the show, so your show needs to be solid. Last October, Steve passed his 5000 performance of his show Chamber Magic. However, it has evolved over the years with his audience and his goals.  While his goal is to melt the audience’s brains, he primarily wants them to leave to tell their friends and family about the experience.  When you’re putting together a show, you need to consider the material you’re putting into it. If you simply do the material everyone else is doing, you’ll become an interchangeable performer. People come to a show expecting to see something they’ve never seen before, so it is your job to deliver that experience. With this in mind, Steve often searches old publications for tricks that haven’t been seen in decades; he’ll then adapt them to his style by updating the methods and techniques.  Maxims In Steve’s book Win the Crowd, he covers the idea of maxims in magic, simple rules you can apply to take control of any situation. When writing the book, he wanted to remain true to what magicians are doing without tipping off non-magicians to the secrets. This led to him creating chapters around key concepts in magic, using magicians as examples of how these concepts can be applied. These maxims are: Be Bold Expect SuccessDon’t State, Suggest Practice, Practice, PracticeBe prepared Steve applies these concepts not only to his magic but to any venture he approaches. Going on to quote Daniel Burnham, the chief architect of the Chicago’s World Fair, Steve says he follows the motto “Make no little plans; they have no magic to stir men’s blood.” Steve views his career as one large experiment which he has the ability to shape. From his book, to his graphic novel, to the shows he puts on, every project he does is meant to shape a career that he can proudly look back on in his old age.  Max Malini Steve first came across Max Malini when he was a young teenager reading Learned Pigs &amp; Fireproof Women by Ricky Jay. The chapter dedicated to stories about Max Malini was a revelatory moment for young Steve. The primary appeal of Max was that he didn’t travel with a lot of equipment; he took a minimalisitc, almost improtpu approach, to his performances, which added more to the magic due to the seemingly unprepared nature of the effects. Steve highlights that Malini had a balance betwen planning and spur of the moment inspriation; by having an understanding of effects in his toolbox, Malini was able to make magic happen whenever he was presented with a situation. Approaching Performing When you do the same show over and over again, it can begin to feel stale or repetitive. To Steve, however, each show is a chance for him to improve and put on the best show of his life. Additionally, while it may be his 5000th performance of the show, it’s the first time for somebody in the audience; if he were to go on stage and blow off the performance, he is potentially crushing somebody’s excitement in the audience. Every show is a chance to make it fresh for yourself and the audience.  In terms of creating and scripting the show, Steve lays out his process in two layers: the procedure and the emotional hook. While the procedure is the instructions necessary for the specators, the emotional hook needs to be there so he can connect with the audience and leave them with something memorable. He doesn’t necessarily have a formula for creating hooks; he just free writes for three minutes and then chooses concepts and ideas that resonate with him. His major goal is to make it seem like he isn’t just reading a script on stage, so he carefully selects the words he uses on stage, knowing that certain language suits him and his show best.  Wrap Up What do you love about 2018 magic? What do you hate about 2018 magic? Steve likes that people are attending magic shows and that there are more going on around the country. He notes that several performers have taken inspiration from his show, and he is glad that he has inspired so many people. Steve is not a fan of videos that are made just for the sake of showing off moves. As a performer, he sees magic as being an interplay with the audience. He encourages people to still learn sleights, but to also look down the line of how you could apply these sleights to a performance.  Take Home Point Jonah liked the idea of trying to make everything feel fresh and putting on your best show each time.  Steve likes the encompassing idea of just doing your best magic because people are interested in magic now. They find joy in it so if you can do the best magic possibly, you can bring them that joy.  Plugs Evergreen by Steve Cohen is a book that will be released by Vanishing Inc. in the coming yearMillionaires’ Magician Win the Crowd Chamber Magic Instagram The post Make No Small Plans with Steve Cohen appeared first on Discourse in Magic.

<p>The “Millionaire’s Magician” Steve Cohen joins Jonah on Episode 148 to discuss branding, developing a show, and how to shape a career. Steve is best known for his long-running weekly show, <em>Chamber Magic</em>, but has also appeared on numerous television shows, produced a sold-out show at Carnegie Hall, and has performed all over the world for esteemed audiences. </p> <p>Ever since he was six years old, Steve’s life has been driven by magic. As an eight year old boy, he was attending school dressed in a three-piece corudroy suit because he was convinced he was meant to be a magician. Doug Henning was his inspriation, and he wanted to give that magical feeling to others. </p> <p>Throughout elementary and highschool, Steve would perform at birthday parties. He continued to perform during his time at Cornell University, performing for the likes of Carl Sagan and the Board of Trustees. Eventually, he decided he needed to put on his show, so he rented out the Black Box Theatre and put ads in the college paper. The shows sold out and this was his first taste of the entrepreneur side of magic which made him realize it was all worthwhile. </p> <h1>Finding your Brand</h1> <p>Steve wants to capture the elegant side of magic, with the hopes that he can elevate it beyond a comedy bar act. With this desire in mind, when he was searching for venues, he knew he had to find a place that would emulate the feeling of an old-style, salon show.  The National Arts Club, the Waldorf, the Lotte New York Palace Hotel are all venues that have captured the feeling of the show that Steve wanted. After finding the venue, it became a matter of meshing the show to the environment by changing the clothes he wore, building props with the room in mind, choosing the right colours. These little touches all highlight Steve’s belief that you are trying to deliver the audience an experience. </p> <p>His tagline “Millionaire’s Magician” was a phrase that he worried about using, believing it would isolate people even though he was already performing for millionaires. However, his friend assured him that it would benefit him, and he was correct. As he used this handle for his shows in London, the media started running with it, which eventually led to the media in New York covering it. The press continued to feed into this, making it a reality. Steve says that he won’t turn away people who aren’t millionaires because his purpose is to give people the experience of the 19th-century drawing room; he wants his audience to feel like the elite. </p> <h1>Giving an Experience</h1> <p>People will only talk about the experience of the show, so your show needs to be solid. Last October, Steve passed his 5000 performance of his show <em><a href="https://www.chambermagic.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Chamber Magic</a>. </em>However, it has evolved over the years with his audience and his goals.  While his goal is to melt the audience’s brains, he primarily wants them to leave to tell their friends and family about the experience. </p> <p>When you’re putting together a show, you need to consider the material you’re putting into it. If you simply do the material everyone else is doing, you’ll become an interchangeable performer. People come to a show expecting to see something they’ve never seen before, so it is your job to deliver that experience. With this in mind, Steve often searches old publications for tricks that haven’t been seen in decades; he’ll then adapt them to his style by updating the methods and techniques. </p> <h1>Maxims</h1> <p>In Steve’s book <em><a href="https://www.harpercollins.com/9780061757563/win-the-crowd/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Win the Crowd</a></em>, he covers the idea of maxims in magic, simple rules you can apply to take control of any situation. When writing the book, he wanted to remain true to what magicians are doing without tipping off non-magicians to the secrets. This led to him creating chapters around key concepts in magic, using magicians as examples of how these concepts can be applied. These maxims are:</p> <ul><li>Be Bold </li><li>Expect Success</li><li>Don’t State, Suggest </li><li>Practice, Practice, Practice</li><li>Be prepared</li></ul> <p>Steve applies these concepts not only to his magic but to any venture he approaches. Going on to quote Daniel Burnham, the chief architect of the Chicago’s World Fair, Steve says he follows the motto “Make no little plans; they have no magic to stir men’s blood.” Steve views his career as one large experiment which he has the ability to shape. From his book, to his graphic novel, to the shows he puts on, every project he does is meant to shape a career that he can proudly look back on in his old age. </p> <h1>Max Malini</h1> <p>Steve first came across Max Malini when he was a young teenager reading <em><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Learned-Pigs-Fireproof-Women-Entertainers/dp/0374525706" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Learned Pigs &amp; Fireproof Women </a></em><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Learned-Pigs-Fireproof-Women-Entertainers/dp/0374525706" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">by Ricky Jay</a>. The chapter dedicated to stories about Max Malini was a revelatory moment for young Steve. The primary appeal of Max was that he didn’t travel with a lot of equipment; he took a minimalisitc, almost improtpu approach, to his performances, which added more to the magic due to the seemingly unprepared nature of the effects. Steve highlights that Malini had a balance betwen planning and spur of the moment inspriation; by having an understanding of effects in his toolbox, Malini was able to make magic happen whenever he was presented with a situation.</p> <h1>Approaching Performing</h1> <p>When you do the same show over and over again, it can begin to feel stale or repetitive. To Steve, however, each show is a chance for him to improve and put on the best show of his life. Additionally, while it may be his 5000th performance of the show, it’s the first time for somebody in the audience; if he were to go on stage and blow off the performance, he is potentially crushing somebody’s excitement in the audience. Every show is a chance to make it fresh for yourself and the audience. </p> <p>In terms of creating and scripting the show, Steve lays out his process in two layers: the procedure and the emotional hook. While the procedure is the instructions necessary for the specators, the emotional hook needs to be there so he can connect with the audience and leave them with something memorable. He doesn’t necessarily have a formula for creating hooks; he just free writes for three minutes and then chooses concepts and ideas that resonate with him. His major goal is to make it seem like he isn’t just reading a script on stage, so he carefully selects the words he uses on stage, knowing that certain language suits him and his show best. </p> <h1>Wrap Up</h1> <h2>What do you love about 2018 magic? What do you hate about 2018 magic?</h2> <p>Steve likes that people are attending magic shows and that there are more going on around the country. He notes that several performers have taken inspiration from his show, and he is glad that he has inspired so many people.</p> <p>Steve is not a fan of videos that are made just for the sake of showing off moves. As a performer, he sees magic as being an interplay with the audience. He encourages people to still learn sleights, but to also look down the line of how you could apply these sleights to a performance. </p> <h2>Take Home Point</h2> <p>Jonah liked the idea of trying to make everything feel fresh and putting on your best show each time. </p> <p>Steve likes the encompassing idea of just doing your best magic because people are interested in magic now. They find joy in it so if you can do the best magic possibly, you can bring them that joy. </p> <h1>Plugs</h1> <ul><li>Evergreen by Steve Cohen is a book that will be released by Vanishing Inc. in the coming year</li><li><a href="http://www.themillionairesmagician.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Millionaires’ Magician</a> </li><li><a href="https://www.harpercollins.ca/9780060742058/win-the-crowd/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Win the Crowd </a></li><li><a href="https://www.chambermagic.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Chamber Magic</a> </li><li><a href="https://www.instagram.com/chambermagic/?hl=en" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Instagram</a></li></ul> <p>The post <a href="https://discourseinmagic.com/make-no-small-plans-with-steve-cohen/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Make No Small Plans with Steve Cohen</a> appeared first on <a href="https://discourseinmagic.com" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Discourse in Magic</a>.</p>

Make No Small Plans with Steve Cohen

Brent Braun

For episode 156, Brent Braun sits down with Jonah to discuss what you need to do to improve your magic. Co-founder of the Magic Firm, Brent is regarded as one of the top behind-the-scenes magic consultants, helping magicians move beyond simply thinking about tricks and methods. Brent’s interest in magic started later in life. As a single father at the age of twenty, Brent would often find himself with nothing to do once he put his son to bed at 8pm. Never being big sleeper, he soon began to find himself shuffling cards to pass the hours. When he would go out to bars and resturants, magic became a way to communicate and meet new people.  At the time, Brent was working in a factory making products that he was unfamiliar with. It wasn’t until a client asked what the product was that Brent sought out the VP to help him learn what exactly the factory was making. From there, he was fast tracked to sales and magic now became a way for him to entertain his sales clients. Eventually, he recieved a break from a sales rep who invited him to perform at an event that they hired a magician for every year.  A few years later, Brent wandered into his local magic shop to learn that someone made off with the money and that it would probably be closing down. For fifty dollars a week, Brent offered to take over the store. Three years later, Brent started his own store in a mall which he ran for 6-8 years. During his time running his store, Brent was also performing and working on other magic related projects. Magic Firm The purpose of the Magic Firm is to make better magic by working with performers to develop all aspects of their acts.  The Magic Firm came about as a bit of a mistake, Brent explains. At the end of the day, he is a problem solver who likes to assess and reasses situations to understand why something does or doesn’t work. In the back of the magic store he owned, was a small theatre where magicians would come to perform. After the show, Brent would sit down with them to discuss their shows and why they were doing certain things. A lot of the perfomers often wouldn’t be asking these questions, so this reflection period would often help them become noticeably stronger performers. The creation of the Magic Firm allowed Brent to uitlize his ability to workshop with people, allow him to embrace his passion for business, and, most importantly, help make better magic.  When magicians come to the Magic Firm, Brent won’t be writing out their scripts and putting together the entire show for them. What he does is sit down with the performers and discuss why they’re doing certain effects, what does and doesn’t work for them, and understanding who they are as a person. Brent wants to help magicians find their brand and help them put together a cohesive show that has their voice behind it — not his.  Improving Your Magic  It is hard to fix something when you’re at the centre of it; you cannot objectively evalute your performance which is why it helps to bring in someone else to assess your act. Whether it’s the Magic Firm or asking a director to watch one of your performances, Brent recommends bringing somebody in who will give you honest critism. Second, you need to learn how to take and apply critism. People have a tendency to shrug off notes refusing to change–until they fly Brent out and pay his fee.  If you can’t afford the Magic Firm, then work, Brent says. The best way to learn is to perform and then reflect on your performance. Overtime, you will naturally begin to understand what is and isn’t working for you. While you may be against the concept of it, taking on some exposure gigs is the best way to get your name out there and get the performance hours in. Overall, you need to understand what you’re doing and why you’re doing something so that you can assess your performance. While you can read a book or watch a DVD, you won’t be able to fix the issues without knowing what exactly it is that needs to be fixed. The Magic Firm will take a look at you as an individual and tell you the exact issue so that you can directly address it.  However, Brent does recommend that everyone should read Maximum Entertainmnet by Ken Weber. J&amp;B Magic Shop and Theatre Brent was looking for a place where he could host and help block out the magicians coming to the Magic Firm. Looking at the numbers, Brent realized it didn’t necessarily make financial sense to just rent a place, so he began to look for a location to buy. While he was looking, the downtown space was being revitalized so the prospect of a magic theatre excited the mayor and the realtor he was speaking to. Unsure, Brent sat down to write out a business plan only to discover that he could finanically open a magic shop and public theatre.  When the idea wouldn’t go away, Brent looked at buildings and found a few places that could work. After speaking to a friend about it, Brent launched an Indigogo campaign which was, to his surprise, fully funded by a community that wanted it to happen.  Making Magic Better  If we want to say magic is an art, then we should be looking for every opportunity to help elevate it in the eyes of the general public. Magic is at a highpoint and we should be taking this time to show why magic is relevant and important in people’s lives.  Brent goes on to say that we shouldn’t be putting other magicians down, especially the younger magicians who are up and coming. If you see someone post something online and they flash or mess up a move, you should privately reach out to them to give them advice. Don’t shame them and tell them they’re exposing magic. If you have a grievance with another magician, call or message them. The magic community is insular enough that we can easily contact other performers; you shouldn’t be airing out magic’s dirty laundry for the general public to see. We need to be elevating each other. Brent truly believes that the more magicians and the more magic enthusiats that there are, the more shows he can personally book. By doing amazing things in one city, it will eventually impact the view of magic in another city. We are helping each other by performing better and stronger magic that leaves an impact on the audience.   Wrap-Up Endless Chain  Nate Staniforth What do you love about magic in 2019? What do you hate? Brent likes the resurgence of theatres and the  Brent hates the online bullying and the drama. He would prefer that people reach out to each other and just discuss the issue. It’s a tight knit community, so if you need to clear up a misunderstanding, it’s simple to reach out. We don’t need to be airing out dirty laundry as It doesn’t help to build magic up.  Take Home Point  Jonah loved the thought of just focusing on your magic and what you want to do with it, not just accepting complacency.  Brent believes finding your voice is the most important aspect. It’s what a lot of people miss.  Plugs The Magic Firm  Brent Braun on Facebook  The post Making Better Magic with Brent Braun appeared first on Discourse in Magic.

<p>For episode 156, Brent Braun sits down with Jonah to discuss what you need to do to improve your magic. Co-founder of the Magic Firm, Brent is regarded as one of the top behind-the-scenes magic consultants, helping magicians move beyond simply thinking about tricks and methods.</p> <p>Brent’s interest in magic started later in life. As a single father at the age of twenty, Brent would often find himself with nothing to do once he put his son to bed at 8pm. Never being big sleeper, he soon began to find himself shuffling cards to pass the hours. When he would go out to bars and resturants, magic became a way to communicate and meet new people. </p> <p>At the time, Brent was working in a factory making products that he was unfamiliar with. It wasn’t until a client asked what the product was that Brent sought out the VP to help him learn what exactly the factory was making. From there, he was fast tracked to sales and magic now became a way for him to entertain his sales clients. Eventually, he recieved a break from a sales rep who invited him to perform at an event that they hired a magician for every year. </p> <p>A few years later, Brent wandered into his local magic shop to learn that someone made off with the money and that it would probably be closing down. For fifty dollars a week, Brent offered to take over the store. Three years later, Brent started his own store in a mall which he ran for 6-8 years. During his time running his store, Brent was also performing and working on other magic related projects.</p> <h1>Magic Firm</h1> <p>The purpose of the Magic Firm is to make better magic by working with performers to develop all aspects of their acts. </p> <p>The Magic Firm came about as a bit of a mistake, Brent explains. At the end of the day, he is a problem solver who likes to assess and reasses situations to understand why something does or doesn’t work. In the back of the magic store he owned, was a small theatre where magicians would come to perform. After the show, Brent would sit down with them to discuss their shows and why they were doing certain things. A lot of the perfomers often wouldn’t be asking these questions, so this reflection period would often help them become noticeably stronger performers. The creation of the Magic Firm allowed Brent to uitlize his ability to workshop with people, allow him to embrace his passion for business, and, most importantly, help make better magic. </p> <p>When magicians come to the Magic Firm, Brent won’t be writing out their scripts and putting together the entire show for them. What he does is sit down with the performers and discuss why they’re doing certain effects, what does and doesn’t work for them, and understanding who they are as a person. Brent wants to help magicians find their brand and help them put together a cohesive show that has their voice behind it — not his. </p> <h1>Improving Your Magic </h1> <p>It is hard to fix something when you’re at the centre of it; you cannot objectively evalute your performance which is why it helps to bring in someone else to assess your act. Whether it’s the Magic Firm or asking a director to watch one of your performances, Brent recommends bringing somebody in who will give you honest critism. Second, you need to learn how to take and apply critism. People have a tendency to shrug off notes refusing to change–until they fly Brent out and pay his fee. </p> <p>If you can’t afford the Magic Firm, then work, Brent says. The best way to learn is to perform and then reflect on your performance. Overtime, you will naturally begin to understand what is and isn’t working for you. While you may be against the concept of it, taking on some exposure gigs is the best way to get your name out there and get the performance hours in.</p> <p>Overall, you need to understand what you’re doing and why you’re doing something so that you can assess your performance. While you can read a book or watch a DVD, you won’t be able to fix the issues without knowing what exactly it is that needs to be fixed. The Magic Firm will take a look at you as an individual and tell you the exact issue so that you can directly address it. </p> <p>However, Brent does recommend that everyone should read <a href="http://www.penguinmagic.com/p/1258" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"><em>Maximum Entertainmnet</em></a><em> </em>by Ken Weber.</p> <h1>J&amp;B Magic Shop and Theatre</h1> <p>Brent was looking for a place where he could host and help block out the magicians coming to the Magic Firm. Looking at the numbers, Brent realized it didn’t necessarily make financial sense to just rent a place, so he began to look for a location to buy. While he was looking, the downtown space was being revitalized so the prospect of a magic theatre excited the mayor and the realtor he was speaking to. Unsure, Brent sat down to write out a business plan only to discover that he could finanically open a magic shop and public theatre. </p> <p>When the idea wouldn’t go away, Brent looked at buildings and found a few places that could work. After speaking to a friend about it, Brent launched an Indigogo campaign which was, to his surprise, fully funded by a community that wanted it to happen. </p> <h1>Making Magic Better </h1> <p>If we want to say magic is an art, then we should be looking for every opportunity to help elevate it in the eyes of the general public. Magic is at a highpoint and we should be taking this time to show why magic is relevant and important in people’s lives. </p> <p>Brent goes on to say that we shouldn’t be putting other magicians down, especially the younger magicians who are up and coming. If you see someone post something online and they flash or mess up a move, you should privately reach out to them to give them advice. Don’t shame them and tell them they’re exposing magic. If you have a grievance with another magician, call or message them. The magic community is insular enough that we can easily contact other performers; you shouldn’t be airing out magic’s dirty laundry for the general public to see. We need to be elevating each other.</p> <p>Brent truly believes that the more magicians and the more magic enthusiats that there are, the more shows he can personally book. By doing amazing things in one city, it will eventually impact the view of magic in another city. We are helping each other by performing better and stronger magic that leaves an impact on the audience. </p> <p></p> <h1>Wrap-Up</h1> <h2>Endless Chain </h2> <p>Nate Staniforth</p> <h2>What do you love about magic in 2019? What do you hate?</h2> <p>Brent likes the resurgence of theatres and the </p> <p>Brent hates the online bullying and the drama. He would prefer that people reach out to each other and just discuss the issue. It’s a tight knit community, so if you need to clear up a misunderstanding, it’s simple to reach out. We don’t need to be airing out dirty laundry as It doesn’t help to build magic up. </p> <h2>Take Home Point </h2> <p>Jonah loved the thought of just focusing on your magic and what you want to do with it, not just accepting complacency. </p> <p>Brent believes finding your voice is the most important aspect. It’s what a lot of people miss. </p> <h1>Plugs</h1> <p><a href="http://themagicfirm.com/phone/index.html" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">The Magic Firm</a> </p> <p>Brent Braun on Facebook </p> <p>The post <a href="https://discourseinmagic.com/making-better-magic-with-brent-braun/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Making Better Magic with Brent Braun</a> appeared first on <a href="https://discourseinmagic.com" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Discourse in Magic</a>.</p>

Making Better Magic with Brent Braun

Jared Kopf

Our guest this week is a brilliant mind in the magic community. He’s a magician, a priest and a raconteur – we’re really excited to have Jared Kopf. Every child is born with a sense of wonder that gradually dwindles. For Jared it never dwindled. He doesn’t remember a specific moment when he fell in love with the art form. But by the time he was a young kid he had become totally obsessed. By 14 he was making pretty good money doing walk-around magic in restaurants. By the time he returned to magic after university he was much more interested in the art of magic rather than just fooling people. Jared is deeply fascinated by how magic has informed human civilizations for millennia. One of his touchstones is the early work of sociology The Golden Bough which revealed how magic, religion and science were deeply intermingled in early human societies. Magic is a real phenomenon and he rejects the idea that it is reducible to simple deception. Not all magic is deception. Jared sees magic everywhere. It sounds crazy but he sees magic when he is paying for groceries with a debit card. That sense of wonderment permeates his work in film as well. He likes to achieve magical effects on camera but that doesn’t just mean using special effects. When you can make the viewer forget that they are watching a film – that’s a magic trick. Jared used to play comedy clubs quite a bit as a performer. But he’s not a comedian. There were only about three big laughs in his set. Eventually he stopped doing tricks and focused more on telling stories. It’s about putting the audience into a kind of trance. Magicians that are really popular can do that. All great artists are magicians but not all greats magicians are great artists. What do you want to tell our audience? Read as much as you possibly can about any subject that interests you. Be kind to people and know yourself. What do you want to ask our audience? Why do you want to fool people so badly? What do you like about magic right now? Jared enjoys seeing a performance by someone that is an expression of pure love like Teller’s Shadows. Who should we have on the show next? John Wilson What was your favourite part of the episode? Jonah liked hearing about the different parts of our world that are magical that don’t appear magical at first blush. Tyler enjoyed hearing that not all magicians are artists but all artists are magicians. Jared enjoyed talking about performing in a conversational style. Plugs https://www.instagram.com/jaredkopf/ https://www.facebook.com/jaredkopfmagic/ The post Real Magic  with Jared Kopf appeared first on Discourse in Magic.

<p>Our guest this week is a brilliant mind in the magic community. He’s a magician, a priest and a raconteur – we’re really excited to have Jared Kopf. Every child is born with a sense of wonder that gradually dwindles. For Jared it never dwindled. He doesn’t remember a specific moment when he fell in love with the art form. But by the time he was a young kid he had become totally obsessed. By 14 he was making pretty good money doing walk-around magic in restaurants. By the time he returned to magic after university he was much more interested in the art of magic rather than just fooling people.</p> <p>Jared is deeply fascinated by how magic has informed human civilizations for millennia. One of his touchstones is the early work of sociology The Golden Bough which revealed how magic, religion and science were deeply intermingled in early human societies. Magic is a real phenomenon and he rejects the idea that it is reducible to simple deception. Not all magic is deception.</p> <p>Jared sees magic everywhere. It sounds crazy but he sees magic when he is paying for groceries with a debit card. That sense of wonderment permeates his work in film as well. He likes to achieve magical effects on camera but that doesn’t just mean using special effects. When you can make the viewer forget that they are watching a film – that’s a magic trick.</p> <p>Jared used to play comedy clubs quite a bit as a performer. But he’s not a comedian. There were only about three big laughs in his set. Eventually he stopped doing tricks and focused more on telling stories. It’s about putting the audience into a kind of trance. Magicians that are really popular can do that. All great artists are magicians but not all greats magicians are great artists.</p> <h3><b>What do you want to tell our audience?</b></h3> <p>Read as much as you possibly can about any subject that interests you. Be kind to people and know yourself.</p> <h3><b>What do you want to ask our audience?</b></h3> <p>Why do you want to fool people so badly?</p> <h3><b>What do you like about magic right now?</b></h3> <p>Jared enjoys seeing a performance by someone that is an expression of pure love like <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SJH9iFOji_A" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Teller’s Shadows</a>.</p> <h3><b>Who should we have on the show next?</b></h3> <p><a href="https://www.vanishingincmagic.com/magician/John-Wilson/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">John Wilson</a></p> <h3><b>What was your favourite part of the episode?</b></h3> <p>Jonah liked hearing about the different parts of our world that are magical that don’t appear magical at first blush.</p> <p>Tyler enjoyed hearing that not all magicians are artists but all artists are magicians.</p> <p>Jared enjoyed talking about performing in a conversational style.</p> <h3><b>Plugs</b></h3> <p><a href="https://www.instagram.com/jaredkopf/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">https://www.instagram.com/jaredkopf/</a></p> <p><a href="https://www.facebook.com/jaredkopfmagic/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">https://www.facebook.com/jaredkopfmagic/</a></p> <p>The post <a href="https://discourseinmagic.com/real-magic-jared-kopf/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Real Magic  with Jared Kopf</a> appeared first on <a href="https://discourseinmagic.com" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Discourse in Magic</a>.</p>

Real Magic  with Jared Kopf

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