Discourse in Magic

Recorded live during UnConventional.fun, Jonah hosts a virtual panel on hosting virtual shows. Joining the panel is David Parr, Ben Seidman, Haim Goldenberg, and Adrian Lacroix. Together they discuss the good side and the bad side of hosting virtual shows, how to develop your virtual show business, and tips and tricks they’ve learned along the way as the entire magic performing world has had to adjust to the new normal. Virtual Shows Require Innovation On one hand you get to work from home but on the other hand you get to work from home and that can be both a blessing and a curse when you never get to leave your home. From the lack of audience reaction, to staring at computer screens for extended periods of time, there’s a lot of work that goes into making a virtual show work. Virtual shows also present unique advantages like working inside the frame, when you’re hosting a virtual show you can have the frame of your camera work to aid you allowing you to perform moves that would be impossible on a stage in-person.  Hosting virtual shows requires that you have to write an entirely new show for the medium. This is a great time to create new magic. Everything is still new and there’s lots of room still to innovate how virtual shows are hosted and presented.  Building New Tools How do you connect with people across the screen? You have to get used to talking to a camera like it’s a person, the lens is your intimate connection to your audience and it will take practice to build the skill to make eye contact with your audience through this medium. David points out that sincerity is part of the engine that makes this function. Many of the skills used in television specials will be the same skills used in virtual shows. Engaging with people on a human level and being in the moment is critical. You don’t want your show to be a passive experience, where they can sit back and lose interest in what’s happening. Treat your shows like a live television show, pay attention to your lighting and your environment. Starting out, it might be ok to make it look like you’re live in your home but Haim suggests that this time is passing and having a professional looking studio is becoming the expectation. Is It Worth The Effort? Virtual Shows are not the same as in-person shows but they are also not the same as a TV special. If you keep comparing virtual shows to in-person performances you may be setting yourself up to defeat yourself. The only way to discover the strengths and weaknesses of virtual shows is to take the plunge. You might just start with a laptop and the built in camera and microphone but if you’re anything like Ben you’ll find solutions to lighting and camera rigging to build innovative environments that work for your show and your needs.  Choose To Do Something If you are presented with two possibilities between do nothing and do something, why would you choose to do nothing? Every single person presenting shows right now is having to innovate and face the challenge of virtual shows. You might be worried at first but once you get some road time you’ll build your experience and your confidence to be able to show your clients how good of a show you can produce for them.  Links David Parr – Curious excursions into magic and mystery, myth and history Ben Seidman – Magician, Comedian, Pickpocket Haim Goldenberg – Real Life Mentalist The Mental Magic of Adrian Lacroix

Jonah was invited to the Better Business with Magic podcast, to join host Nolan Webster to discuss the intersections of math and magic and how they can work for anyone who wants to improve their business skills. Math and Magic Math helps you in many ways and for Jonah it was all about helping with problem solving. Math has a creative nature and requires ingenuity and problem solving to come to a solution. In math you have to define your terms and plan how you will problem solve. In magic you really have to understand how to define everything that’s happening. To pull off something you need to be able to begin with the end in mind and a background in math helps build those skills. Iterate Again  As a magician you go on stage and do the performance and keep doing it over and over and over. After a year you’ll begin to notice that the same things will happen again over and over and over whenever you interact with the audience. Eventually you’ll be able to predict what the most likely outcomes are in seemingly random moments which you can use to figure out your best joke or your best strategy. The same thing applies to business. After enough iterations you’ll see what sticks and what doesn’t for your product.

This week Jonah talks about how to break into the virtual magic business. The virtual magic business is an important new wave with lots of money in it. If you’ve been listening since the pandemic hit you’ve heard Jonah get slowly more and more excited about virtual magic. In this short episode Jonah will tell you everything you need to know to launch your virtual magic business.   The Catch 22 Paradox If you’re interested in virtual magic shows you know that there’s a paradox when you’re trying to book shows. In order to book shows you need proof that you’ve done virtual magic shows. But in order to book your first show you need to show proof that you’ve done a virtual magic show before. So how do you show proof that you can run a virtual magic show even if you’ve never done one? Jonah will share the same strategies he’s used to fix this paradox that he’s used to get into the summer camp industry, the school business, and to start booking venues.  Start Booking Shows Once you’ve overcome the first hurdle and have the proof that you need it’s time to start booking your shows at low to medium prices so that you can build up real testimonials and real photos and videos. Make sure you record everything, keep screenshots, and collect your testimonials.  Need More Help? If you want to learn more about the things that have been working for Jonah, you can book a free fifteen minute call to talk about your virtual magic business and to see what it would be like to work together. And of course don’t forget about Unconventional.fun, it’s the most exciting project that Jonah has ever started. A one day virtual magic convention that takes place in an 8-bit world. It’s happening on September 27th, 9am to 10pm EST, and Jonah would love for you to be there!

UnConventional.Fun Jonah is joined by business partner and co-founder of the Toronto Magic Company, Ben Train, to discuss the details surrounding their upcoming virtual magic convention, UnConventional.fun! They also share stories about their past experiences with magic conventions and how vital it has been to both of their own personal journeys as magicians. What is UnConventional.Fun? Jonah and Ben have been running virtual events for most of 2020 and have really missed the unique connections and experiences that can only be found at magic conventions. So they got thinking about all the performers they’ve worked with in the past, and all the performers they wished they could work with but were separated by distance and conflicting schedules and figured out a way to replicate the magic convention in a virtual space. Unlike other virtual convention experiences, the attendees at UnConventional.fun will create an 8-bit character to represent them as they move around the convention like a video game. As they approach other attendees and guests their webcams will fade up on the screen and allow them to meet and interact with them face to face. This means you can visit a table where a demonstration is happening, or hangout at the virtual bar, or go to a room where a lecture is being held, or just mingle around in the jamming space with other magicians who are in attendance. Jonah and Ben have custom built the magic convention of their dreams, pixel-by-pixel. It promises to be thirteen hours of magic programming unlike anything you’ve ever been a part of. Growing Up With Magic Conventions Magic conventions have been an important part of both Jonah and Ben’s lives going back to their childhood. Jonah was spoiled by going to Magic Camp every summer, a week long magic convention, but it was after university that he began visiting more conventions more frequently. His favourite memory is visiting John Luka’s Motor City Close-Up Magic Convention and constantly jamming with amazing magicians. Replicating The Magic of Magic Conventions For Ben, his favourite parts of the magic convention are the gala shows and the hanging out and jamming in the lobby. This is why it was so important UnConventional.fun was more than just logging into Zoom. He needed an awesome convention where people could set up in the lobby and jam and tables between lectures and get to experience the magic convention magic that’s so important to him.  Limited Space Available Tickets are limited to only 300 attendees so visit UnConventional.fun right now to find out how to get involved and join in on the fun on September 27th from 9am to 10pm (EST)

Jonah was invited to the Preconceived Podcast to talk about magic and understanding the craft and business of magic. This episode is a selection of that conversation that Jonah had with Preconceived host Zale Mednick. Check out the Preconceived Podcast for the complete interview. It’s a fun conversation with a magic layperson and a rare chance to hear Jonah talk about the introductory philosophies of magic in the magic communities. Magic Is Closer To Cooking Than Comedy In stand up comedy no two acts are the same. But in magic you can go and purchase a trick at your local magic shop and you will end up performing a trick that others have seen before. Instead consider that you’re cooking chicken soup. Lots of restaurants make chicken soup but you’re the only chef who makes your chicken soup. Just because your trick is the same as another performer doesn’t mean it can’t be unique.  Is It Cheating? Or Is It Magic?  It’s very hard to say that you only perform a magic trick a certain way before it becomes cheating. Sure there are some practices that are frowned upon, like planting stooges in the audience, but at the end of the day the most important takeaway for your audience is that for one moment they couldn’t look up the answer and they were confronted by something they couldn’t explain. It doesn’t matter how the magician has created that environment, and yes the method might involve being a cheater, but where do you draw the line? If your audience knows it’s not true but feels like it’s true then you’re doing something right. It’s Important To Know It’s An Illusion That said, some magicians do believe it’s important, especially in the hard to believe it’s true but it feels like it’s true styles of mentalism, to offer a disclaimer at the start of their show that what you are about to see isn’t real even if it feels like it is. Having someone like a lawyer actually believe that it’s possible to read someone’s mind could become really problematic and even when you’re creating a space for someone to experience the rug of reality being ripped out from under them in a safe and controlled environment it may also be important to remind the audience that nothing you do is, in fact, reality.

Jonah is joined by Ken Weber to discuss his revised and expanded Maximum Entertainment 2.0. Ken Weber is a renowned mentalist and hypnotist who was named “one of the most frequently requested” performers on the college circuit by Newsweek magazine and was awarded the Dunninger Award for Excellence in the Performance of Mentalism by the Psychic Entertainers Association. Now, having almost completely retired, Ken Weber is a sought-after mentor and performance consultant, author of the acclaimed book Maximum Entertainment and Maximum Entertainment 2.0.  “Hey Kid, You Like Magic?” At the age of 10, Ken lived at a home for asthmatic children in Denver, Colorado. A chance encounter while walking the streets of Denver would land him in a teen magic club. By age 12 he had returned to New York with his business card ready. By the time he was in college he was a mentalist and after graduating and unable to find a job, despite two university degrees in theatre, he accepted a two week gig working on a cruise and from that point on he never looked back.  Magic and Money Ken has two hobbies. Magic and investing. In the late 1980’s Ken started up a newsletter to help other people avoid being taken advantage of by stock brokers, which led to him doing a good deed here and helping someone out there and one thing led to another and Weber Asset Management was formed. Now he advocates for the rainy day fund, especially among performers. At a time when he’s advising clients to have money saved away for the changes happening in the world he can see how many performers are not prepared for the hard times ahead.   There’s a lot of mistakes beginners make and Ken’s advice is to focus on the business and not rely on spending every dollar made on tricks and new products. Polish what you have and don’t kill yourself trying new material over and over.  Have You Heard It Before? Don’t Use It!  From music to jokes to phrases every performer has used the same lines or the same songs from other acts. Ken’s advice is to never use a line you hear another performer use. It takes away your creativity, instead ask yourself how you can get the same joke without using the exact same words. Ken’s warning is that eventually you’re going to work with agents and bookers and if they see you performing the same tricks with the same phrases to the same music then that is not going to help you. Classics are fun but Ken thinks you should make your own classics.  To Script or Not to Script For a long time Ken was a non scripter but he noticed that as soon as he began to write things down it forced him to ask himself if he really needed to say what he was saying or say it in that way. Now Ken is a strong believer in scripting everything you do and recording as often as you can. A script helps you identify when things aren’t clear and improve on the details of your performance in a way that adlibbing everything all the time simply can not achieve. Additionally, When it’s time to edit your videos, hire someone from outside your magic circles and let them bring their dispassionate objectivity to the editing and help you direct your videos without your ego getting in the way.  Wrap-Up Endless Chain Harrison Greenbaum (note: we’ve already talked with him in “A Masterclass in Comedy Magic with Harrison Greenbaum”) What do you like about modern magic? What do you not like? The level of magic and commitment is astonishing. And it’s gratifying to see the ingenuity and skill levels even among very young performers. But Ken does not like the advertising in magic. Every trick is “The Greatest Trick Ever” yet many of them are just tweaks on classics. The worst is when the advertisement is edited in such a way that you can’t see that you would have been able to see how it’s done if you had seen it performed in a magic shop.  Take home point Every day ask yourself, “what did I do today to move my career forward?” whether it be marketing stuff, learning a new routine, perfecting a routine, or taping something and then looking at it later but every day you have ask yourself what did you do? For the professional, Ken used to advocate that you have a three month rainy day fund but now that we know that there is such a thing as a pandemic Ken wants all of his professional show business friends to have six to twelve months socked away in a bank account. Investment is important, not just because of a pandemic but because you can also literally break a leg! You have got to have that rainy day fund and you have got to build it up as soon as possible because you never know what tomorrow is going to bring.  Plugs Maximum Entertainment 2.0 can be found in every major magic dealer. You can learn more about it at max-ent.info.

This week Jonah talks about one of his favourite obsessions, virtual magic shows. How do you sell a virtual magic show? What are the factors that are really enticing for someone looking to book a virtual magic show? And what are some of the factors working against you? Key Strategies Jonah will go over his key strategies and break down the specific things he does when booking a virtual magic show (hint: it’s the same strategies he’s been using for years to book in person shows) and then follow up with a demo sales call. What You’ll Learn After this short lesson you’ll learn why it’s so important to Be Wonderful, to Listen, to Crush Any Fears, to Problem Solve against what you’ve heard, and to never forget the Flying Monkey Principle! Wait, You Have A Flying Monkey? Looking to learn more about what Jonah touched on this episode? Sign up for Jonah’s free webinar on August 26th at 8pm EST where he’ll show you his exact strategies for pricing virtual shows to maximize income

Jonah is joined by Rafael Benatar to discuss his translations of magic masters into other languages, the secrets to memorization, and cultural differences in magic performances. Rafael is a prolific writer and has played a pivotal role in bridging the language gap between the magic community at large and legends such as Darwin Ortiz, Juan Tamariz, Ascanio, and Roberto Giobbi. His list of writing credits can fill a small library and he has translated a wide selection of books from Spanish, English, and German origins.  Magic and Music Hailing from Venezuela, Rafael was more into sports than magic. His father was the magic enthusiast and it was during a visit with his father to Magic Castle that showed Rafael that magic was an art-form he couldn’t ignore. From classical guitar to the lute Rafael’s studies were in ancient instruments which took him to London and a magic shop where he self-taught himself the basics. His studies would take him across Europe until he settled into Switzerland and his first magic club with Roberto Giobbi. Armed with a discipline for studying and practicing, once he discovered the information one could find in magic books, nothing could stop him.  Translating the Masters Having studied music in London and Switzerland and fluent in Spanish and English, Rafael was uniquely suited to translate the nuances of magic practices in different countries. Developing his own style he is quick to point out that a direct translation is rarely a good idea, even when the translation is technical in nature, you sometimes have to rephrase and say it as you would say it in the translated words. Rafael also notes how different the styles are between different countries. For example, Americans are good at practicing but a Spanish magician will be good at a covering move. Rafael has lots of stories to tell about the magicians he has translated from Arturo de Ascanio and his spin on the magic lecture to Roberto Giobbi’s theory of “The Critical Interval”, the precise moment when magic happens, and the “crazy genius” of Juan Tamariz. Rafael’s translations go well beyond simply translating the words. He needs to understand the context of every trick and confirm that they can be performed as they have been written, no matter how complex they may be. Mastering Memorizing Rafael applies many of the things he learned in music towards his magic. The most important is his system of practicing. Learning anything from beginning to end has its own issues which usually means you remember the beginning much more than the end, having practiced it more than the rest. But Rafael knows that memorizing a stack is something anyone can do, if you put in the work. Rather than learn from beginning to end Rafael recommends you learn the stack backwards in groups. And the secret trick? Practice memorizing right before you go to sleep! Your brain will keep working on the practice while you sleep and internalize the patterns.  Wrap-Up Endless Chain Camilo and Mark Mitton What do you like about modern magic? What do you not like? People are not happy to just read the instructions and do the trick. Good magicians are always going a step further. Now people are changing things around and giving them good twists. This leads magic down an artistic past. But there is an excess of information and not knowing what to do with it and how to handle it. Not everyone can read every book coming out and the most recent trick gets mixed up with the fundamentals. The fundamentals are always more important than the latest cool thing.  Take home point If you learn a technique from a sleight or a book, don’t be happy to just do what the book says. Be concerned about the cover. Try to put yourself on the side of the audience and try to imagine that you’re doing a more difficult move and cover it.  Plugs Penguin Magic: https://www.penguinmagic.com/magician/rafael-benatar Vanishing Inc: https://www.vanishingincmagic.com/magician/Rafael-Benatar/ And more in the works!

Jonah is joined by Steve Valentine this week to discuss acting while being a magician – and the dangers of not being taken seriously, uncovering the lost history of magic, and the importance of a presentation that transcends the trick being performed. Steve was introduced to magic thanks to the prescient powers of the gift of a magic kit from his mom, who also predicted the future careers of his siblings with her gifts to them! Steve’s life has taken a lot of twists and turns from working as a DJ in nightclubs in Yugoslavia to acting on television and in videogames to lecturing at Magic Castle and touring with the Illusionists. Steve certainly believes that nobody should ever feel tied to only being stuck doing one thing.   A Chance to Be Bad The most surprising fact about Steve’s history is undoubtedly his start as a performing magician, if you don’t count his failed shows in his parent’s garage, was on the stage at the nightclubs we was hired to run in Yugoslavia in the 80’s. What made it so great for him was the change to be bad and fail terribly and have the chance to keep going back out and try again. The chance to find a place and go be bad, where failure was an option, was a blessing in disguise to developing his early skills as a magician. Always an Actor Steve has always lived in both worlds of acting and magic and one always informs the other for him. He advocates for every magician to consider acting classes, if only to help you know how to make your voice strong so your voice will survive a long run of performances. It’s all part of the same art form of entertainment. The difficulty of not being taken seriously as an actor who also performed magic meant that for much of his early acting career magic had to be put to the sidelines, that was until a fortunate break on House which saw both of his worlds blended together again. Steve’s biggest advice for magicians who are aspiring actors is to stick it through and focus on their longevity, a lesson he learned personally after waiting three years for his first speaking role. Teaching Magic Steve has also been named Lecturer  Magician of the Year (2013 & 2014) by the Academy of Magical Arts and recognizes that a good magical lecture is not just about the tricks but also the history, the performance, and story. Through his research he’s discovered a wonderful hidden history, of magical acts that were never recorded entirely and whose mysteries have been lost through time. By piecing together different accounts, and a little reading between the lines, he’s been able to recreate 19th century secrets and help understand more about the history of magic and it’s performances. That passion has extended to his latest endeavor with Magic on the Go, an online resource and repository of magic history. What’s most important for Steve is to preserve the history of magic so that the incredible magic secrets of the 1900’s aren’t lost to history and  create an easily accessible database for future magicians. Wrap-Up Endless Chain Keith Fields What do you like about modern magic? What do you not like? The level of skill is phenomenal. A lot of that has to with video and being able to learn by seeing and not just reading. But the proliferation of exposure means that the presentation has to transcend the trick. Take Home Point We’re in a world that is a world of deception. But the one person who should never be deceived is the magician. We want to deceive the public, not ourselves Plugs Magiconthego.com Stevevalentine.com Stevevalentinelive.com IG: @SteveValentine Twitter: @SteveValentine

This week, Jonah joins Graeme “Graemazing” Reed on an episode of his podcast, Magicians Talking Magic. The two discuss pivoting to performing virtually, and how to build relationships during these uncertain times. Graeme is an Ontario based magician with a background in media and broadcasting. With the shifting atmosphere, it is now essential for people to shift their personal and business lives online to continue interacting during these uncertain times. For all of us to do this successfully, we as magicians need to share and support each other as we move forward into this new normal for performing.  While this is only a section from the episode, Graeme will be releasing the full episode over on his podcast. So, if you’re interested in learning more about producing shows online, I recommend stopping over and giving the full episode a listen.  Plugs Graeme’s Website  Graeme’s Instagram  Magician’s Talking Magic Podcast