Discourse in Magic

Jonah connects with Kim Andersen, a comedy magician from Denmark who has created some unforgettable magic products. In this conversation he’ll share with Jonah how he found himself immersed in the Danish magic scene, how he found himself creating content for his own television show, how he goes about challenging himself to keep creating, and why he always carries coins into the shower. Wrap-Up Endless Chain Jan Hellesøe is one of the biggest mentalists in Denmark with heaps of tv shows behind him and works closely with big magicians and theatre as a builder. What do you like about modern magic? What do you not like? Does not like the piracy of magic content. Folks should respect creators more. Creating magic will only continue if people actually get credited and paid for what they do. That said, Kim really appreciates the internet. It’s been one of the greatest tools to learn magic and network with other magicians.  Take home point Have fun and play. Plugs The best place to reach out to Kim is through instagram: @kimander5en You can get Silver Edge 1 & 2 at ellusionist.com  You can find his Penguin live lecture over at penguinmagic.com And you can find his product, Shrapnel, almost any place where magic products are sold! Finally, you can learn more about Magic Beep by visiting pegani.dk

Magic inventor Tobias Dostal discusses his unique approach to magic, blending art and illusion. He shares insights on creativity, finding inspiration, and the importance of creating original magic tricks. Tobias emphasizes the need for magicians to carve their path and find their style. He also highlights the increasing presence of women in the magic scene and encourages magicians to seek new tricks outside the classics.

Jonah is back with all new episodes of Discourse in Magic! After taking time off after the busy holiday season, Jonah has been busy touring and attending events around the country and beyond. In this episode he’ll catch you up on his lecture and performance tours as well as filling you in on his experiences attending Magifest and Blackpool. Jonah will also offer up tips on how to launch your own performance tour and what you can do to help grow your magic business during the slowest time of the year. If you’d like to learn more about booking the “Ben & Jonah Mean Business” lecture or would like to join up for one of the remaining seats available in Jonah’s six-figure mastermind course then e-mail Jonah at magic@torontomagiccompany.com, and be sure to include the word “intensive” in the subject if you’re interested in that mastermind course!

Jonah is joined by Siegfried & Joy. This duo from Germany has been taking the world by storm with their silly and engaging TikTok videos, an hilarious performance on America’s Got Talent, and sold out shows wherever they go. They’ll reveal to Jonah all of their secrets, except where they get their fabulous outfits! More Than A Parody When you first see Siegfried & Joy appear on stage you may begin to think that they are a parody of magic but if you were to listen to them you’d realize that while they are certainly having a lot of fun with the imagery of what classic magic has looked like in the past they are earnest about their love of the artform and take their presentation with the crowd very seriously. Siegfried & Joy share with Jonah their philosophy behind their performance. They don’t practice, they don’t script, and they never rehearse. To them the real work begins and ends with the interaction with the crowd. It is in the crowd that they find their performance and perfect their act.  Not Afraid To Fail No scripts means high risk but Siegfried & Joy are quick to admit that they aren’t afraid to fail, even when they fail live on stage in front of an audience or mistakenly flash their work on a TikTok video. In fact, to hear it from them it sounds like they fail all the time on stage and where other performers would go backstage and burst into tears they, instead, embrace the messy side of live acts and allow their audience a brief glimpse behind the curtain as they work to recover the show.   More Than A Success Two Siegfried & Joy shows are never the same, they are constantly re-working their routine in front of the audience and often involve the crowd in their performances. They share with Jonah their secret to building up such a chaotic style of performance into a show that is now regularly sold out in Berlin. They’ll also share why they decided not to continue into the next round of America’s Got Talent and what they loved and hated about their visit to Las Vegas.  Wrap-Up Endless Chain Tobias Dostal  What do you like about modern magic? What do you not like? “We hate online shows, we watched a few but we don’t think this is how artists should share this art. “ “We love that the zeitgeist is on board with classical magic. This is the best time for magic. This is the moment to go out, inspire people, and make them happy.” Take home point There is one name you should remember: Siegfried & Joy  Plugs Just google Siegfried & Joy. “And if you don’t find us then the algorithm will find you!”

Jonah and Ben answer all your questions about how they got their appearance on Penn and Teller’s Fool Us, and how you can get yours too. How Did We Get On? Ben had actually been approached before as his name was passed around as a potential candidate, but back then when he applied they declined. As years went on and Jonah and Ben found themselves locked down together during the pandemic they decided to work together and apply a duo act, a new pairing that they hadn’t tried before but found they enjoyed working together.  Jonah and Ben share with you how they worked together as a team to invent the trick they performed on Fool Us and how they have worked out their dynamics as they’ve moved from solo performances to a duo act.  How Did We Pick The Trick? How did they pick the trick they performed on Fool Us? They didn’t!  At first Ben and Jonah submitted their tricks they were doing for their virtual Zoom shows. The response from the show producers was that they liked their energy but the tricks needed tweaking.  Ultimately their answer would lie in their Youtube series diving into the Tarbell books in magic. In that series Jonah and Ben would each challenge each other to find a different Tarbell trick and give it a modern twist. It was from that series that the Watermelon Trick was born.  Jonah and Ben break down the entire process of developing the Watermelon Trick and what it was like auditioning it to the Fool Us producers, what worked, what didn’t, and what changed before it made it onto television. How Did We Prepare? Finally they had caught the interest of Fool Us, but unfortunately it was for a new trick they had never performed before. How did Jonah and Ben prepare to perform the Watermelon Trick in front of Penn & Teller? How did they work out what to say, where to stand, and where to look? They go over all the meticulous planning, practicing, and rehearsing that went into getting the trick up to the quality that they’d perform on Fool Us.  Plugs Check out the Toronto Magic Company’s Youtube Channel to watch the performance on Fool Us as well as the Tarbell Challenge videos that started the journey to discovering the trick they performed for Penn & Teller. https://www.youtube.com/c/TorontoMagicCompany And check out Jonah’s previous conversation with Teller: https://discourseinmagic.com/a-life-of-magic-with-teller/

This week Jonah wants you to do one thing, which is to watch him and Ben Train perform on Pen & Teller’s Fool Us which airs for the first time on Friday November 4th, 2022!

Mortenn Christiansen is a Danish magician who recently won first place at FISM 2022 for comedy. He shares with Jonah his story about growing up without any magicians around him to aim higher and farther than even he originally thought he could accomplish.  A Kid and a Magic Shop Mortenn was twelve when he discovered his local magic shop, eventually spending so much time there that they would offer him a job where he continues to work there to this day. At the shop he taught himself to learn English, since all the magic instructions he had were printed in english. At first he had no desire to perform, for Mortenn the magic was enough. Eventually, however, he would reach out and began performing in local competitions. It wouldn’t be long before he was winning so often that they would stop letting him compete just to be fair to the other competitors.  Magicians Are Not Great Performers Mortenn challenges the notion that every magician should perform and recognizes that it’s really strange that this artform, compared to any other, almost mandates that everyone who wants to learn magic must also perform magic. Take away the secret behind the routine and most magicians struggle to be engaging performers, but this shouldn’t be a bad thing and Mortenn encourages everyone, including those who don’t feel like they would be strong performers, to still study and learn magic just for themselves.  If you do decide to perform he offers up the lessons he’s learned himself and pushes everyone to keep their set original. It would be very weird to perform an exact copy of a comedy routine yet in the realm of magic it’s totally acceptable. Keep making stuff and working on original stuff and never let yourself feel like your trick is ever done and doesn’t need additional improvements or modifications. Keep working at it, and always aim higher. Wrap-Up Endless Chain Rune Klan What do you like about modern magic? What do you not like? Likes the Zoom shows. Mortenn regrets not getting into Zoom shows but admires how well the magic community adapted to changing needs of both performer and audience. Does not like magicians who don’t think.  Take home point Think better. Try to aim higher. It doesn’t have to fool magicians but thinking that it should fool a smart person. Do not assume that lay people are dumb. Plugs Instagram: @mortennmortenn You can also find Mortenn at Vanishing Ink’s conventions, The Session, in London, and Magifest in Ohio, USA both in January where he will be performing his FISM winning routine.

Jonah shares with you his secrets on how to get an extra 50 to 250 leads in Q4, the busiest time for a magician. The information in this episode comes directly from a two hour workshop that Jonah hosted. There are three simple things that you can do to earn you extra quality leads and in less then ten minutes you’ll be all caught up and ready to tackle the season ahead. If you don’t want to miss the next workshop then visit discourseinmagic.com/updates and sign up for the newsletter. Additionally, you should follow the Discourse in Magic Facebook group where you can be notified about future workshops and events. If you’d like to reach out to Jonah directly you should visit the Facebook page and message him the word “Leads” and that way he’ll know you came from this episode and will be able to see if he can help.  

This week Jonah connects with cardistry legend Franco Pascali. Franco is an amazing magician, thinker, and creator and he’ll share his secrets on how he develops his skills and grows his communities. Seeing Magic Young Magic found Franco when he would spend time with his fathers friends when they were playing card games. Even though none of these friends were magicians they all knew one basic trick. By the time Franco saw David Blaine on TV, he was already familiar with the basic concepts.  As a kid, Franco was running up and down the playground trying to show everyone everything he knew. It wouldn’t be long before he’d audition for the Magic Castle Junior Academy, which would be the first time being around other magicians apart from the magic shop.  Franco shares with Jonah all you’ve ever wanted to know about the Junior Academy and what it was like being a kid growing up in that environment.  Anyone Can Do Magic Franco has a lot to say about learning magic and learning how to be creative. He doesn’t consider himself a naturally creative mind but truly believes in the power of practice and repetition. There are so many resources available online that if you’re willing to put in the work you’ll be able to develop your skills and be a decent magician. The trick is you have to be willing to put in the work!  Playing and Having Fun Franco is prolific in the cardistry community, as well as being brought in as a consultant for cardistry on shows like Magic Camp. Franco has a lot of praise for cardistry and shares with Jonah why he loves cardistry and the differences it has between the magic community.  Franco loves cards so much it’s no surprise that he launched his own card line, enter Cartelago, and he opens up on all the details and considerations that go into the design and construction of great card decks.   Wrap-Up Endless Chain Tony Picaso, AKA the “Cardfather”, is an LA underground sensation in magic. He’s done many exclusive shows at the Magic Castle for many prestigious guests and he just oozes knowledge. What do you like about modern magic? What do you not like? I like that there are a lot of creative young people right now which has led to a lot of advancements in gimmick building. The modern gimmicks we have now are very exciting.  I don’t like anything unauthentic in magic. I hate cheezyness. I hate stupid tiktok content. Take home point When it comes to performing magic and being a better magician, there’s been a lot of glorification of ideas without backing and for me the backing is the actual hours spent performing. Your audience is your best teacher. You also have to be fully fearless of failure. Failure has nothing to do with us. All we can do is our absolute best and then go do it with a good heart and good intentions and the rest does not matter and won’t matter to anybody watching.  If you find a repertoire that you love… it’ll somehow show and it’ll be the best thing you do.  Plugs Instagram: @francopascali If you’re interested in being part of a cool magic community that teaches free magic, follow @magicintel. This is a private account and when you follow you may be asked to DM a video of you doing magic. If you’re interested in getting playing cards check out @cartelago  Finally, Franco just dropped his latest trick, “Disposition”, which you can find in the Theory11 store.

Jonah is back with an update on all the places he’s been since the last podcast update and brings with him some tips for you as magicians enter their busiest time of the year. Since the last time you heard from him Jonah has been all around the world, he attended the FISM 2022 World Cup in Quebec, he’s been to Barcelona, Israel, and Chicago. He shares all about his travels, what he learned, and what he was doing in each location. This time of year, October to December, is also the busiest time of the year for magicians. Jonah will share with you all you need to know to prepare for this period of busy business and if it would benefit you to get ready for Q4, be sure to sign up for Jonah’s workshop by signing up for the newsletter at discourseinmagic.com/updates In the mean time make sure you follow Jonah on Instagram, Facebook, and Youtube to get all the latest updates and offerings that he’s creating for you on an almost daily basis!