Discourse in Magic

Jonah has returned from Spain and, as souvenirs for his listeners, has brought back a number of episodes with some amazing Spanish magicians. First up is Juan Rubiales, who sat down to discuss mentors, bringing emotion into your magic, and loving yourself. Alongside being a skilled magician, Juan is also a talented caricature artist.  After being shown a magic trick at fourteen, Juan decided to perform it for his ill grandfather. Upon finishing the trick, Juan witnessed his grandfather smile for the first time in a month. Driven to recapture and share that feeling he had upon seeing his grandfather’s reaction, Juan knew he was meant to become a magician.  Not aware of magic clubs or meetings, he began to search out people who could teach him at bars. He was obsessed with learning the art. It wouldn’t be until he met a performing magician that he discovered the world of magic in Spain when he was invited to a magic club twenty minutes from them. Entering into the club, Juan was greeted by the likes of Juan Tamariz alongside those he was not familiar with at the time, but he would later learn were skilled in their own right.  Driven by Magic  After seeing his grandfather smile, Juan knew he was meant to be a magician. Magic was something bigger than him, and, to truly feel like he was living, he needed to share it with others. He landed his first reoccurring show at a theme park after showing a higher up a trick; the director proceeded to fund a stage show for him, letting him perform it multiple times a week.  However, eventually, he left it all behind. Magic had stopped being about sharing his passion for the art and quickly became about the money. Shows had just become a way to earn a paycheck for Juan, and he hated that this was true. So, he quit magic.  It wouldn’t be until two years later that Tamariz would bump into him and ask where he had been. After explaining the situation, Juan was invited to dinner with Tamariz where the two spent five hours discussing magic. Juan left that meeting with a new passion for magic and a promise to himself that he wouldn’t perform magic in a place he didn’t want to perform. Mentors Juan has had the opportunity to learn under a few mentors in Spain,  including Juan Tamariz. His mentors, however, showed him more than just magic. They taught him about life. About sharing emotions, and about understanding the audience.  If you’re looking for a mentor, Juan recommends finding someone who not only has more magic experience than you, but more life experience. A mentor should help you grow as a magician and as a person.  Being Yourself  Under his mentor, Juan learned that if he was going to truly express his emotions and soul through his magic, he would need to accept himself. Conforming to what others expect of you and hiding away what makes you you only stifles the effect of your magic. Everyone picks up ways to act from others, so it’s imperative to sit down and work out who you are. Asking friends and family to answer a few questions about you can help in sorting out you personality traits. The most important part about magic, according to Juan, is not the magician but connecting with the audience. The magic happens in their heads, so you need to be able to connect with them at a personal level to truly share your magic. Figuring out who you are is a key component to creating this connection.  To bring your personality into your magic, you have to be ready to fail. Choose a trick you love and have a connection to and fail. Then keep working to improve it, diving into research if necessary, to make it something you love performing. The failure will hurt but the effort will be worth it when you eventual perform a beautiful effect. Wrap-Up Endless Chain What do you like about modern magic? What don’t you like? Juan likes what magic online is doing it. Not only is it showcasing magic to a larger audience, but it’s giving those who are interested in magic another way to enter the art. Juan isn’t a fan of magic on television that relies heavily on stooges and editing. He’s fine with it as a form of entertainment, but he wouldn’t refer to it as magic. Take Home Point You must do the thing that you love. Don’t look at other people, just be yourself.  Plugs Juan’s Instagram  Juan’s Twitter  Juan’s Facebook  Juan’s Website Juan’s Material  The post Loving Magic with Juan Rubiales appeared first on Discourse in Magic.

While Jonah’s away in Spain, Ben Train has infiltrated Jonah’s computer (he really needs a less obvious password). Instead of his original list “10 Weird Facts About Jonah,” Ben has decided to give you some tips on how to start your own show. So, without further ado:  Build a Team: You can’t run a show alone! Find like minded individuals who want to help create and run the show.  Find the Show’s Purpose: Simply put, what is the show about? Are you putting on an open mic or a classy parlour affair?  Learn Your Audience You can’t please everyone. Learn who your audience is so you can better design and market your show.  Pick a Name: And make it memorable. You need a name that is interesting, expresses what the show is about, and is unique – you don’t want your audience to confuse you with other brands that have the same name. Find a Venue A free venue to be exact. Find a place that serves your show’s needs. A lot of venues will gladly welcome free entertainment.  Create Graphics Anywhere you advertise needs a graphic. Remember that some of the places you advertise on will require different dimensions.  Take Photos A picture is worth a thousand words! Take photos of visual magic and the audience to share on social media. Investing in a photographer i Invest in Production Value  Start with a mic. Not only will your audience be able to hear you, it’ll raise the perceived professionalism of your show.  After that you can consider purchasing lights, speakers, backdrops, etc.  Sell Tickets  You’ll probably rely on friends and family starting out. But, once you put together a good show and start advertising, you will start to draw the public’s attention. Just be realistic about your audience numbers! Produce a Good Show  Flashy graphics and photos will only get you so far. You want people to not only experience an amazing magic show, but you want them to tell their friends about it.  At the end of the day, you need to just go out and do it. You’ll learn as you go, and you might even find that some of Ben’s advice isn’t right for you. Just give it a shot! And let us know if you’re putting one on – Ben promises that Jonah will personally come down to perform on your lineup. Shout out to the Magic Lab in Boston which has its debut show December 5th!  The post Stolen Episode: How to Start a Show Hosted by Ben Train appeared first on Discourse in Magic.

It’s a minisode this week! Jonah recently sat down with math tutor Vanessa Vakharia on her podcast, Math Therapy, to work through his math-related traumas. If you hate math, this is the perfect podcast for you! If you’re interested in hearing the full episode or still need more math therapy, you can find the full episode list on the Math Guru website. You can even find the homework Jonah was prescribed to help him come to terms with his math trauma. The following clip was pulled from Episode 3: A Mathemagical Crisis. The post Vanessa Vakharia on The Math Guru appeared first on Discourse in Magic.

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

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

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

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.

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

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

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