Discourse in Magic

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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