I recently managed to get my hands on an out of print magic book that I’ve been after for a long time. Not only was it as brilliant as I’d hoped (YAY!), but it has really opened my eyes to a better way to buy books off Amazon in the future. There’s real gold hidden …
No matter where you are, what mood you’re in or what resources you have, you can always do “something”. And sometimes, “something” is good enough. It’s easy to get lost in your way to achieving a goal, or swamped with ideas and other stresses that stop you being the person you want to be or …
I guess I’m lucky. The biggest regret in my life thus far is waiting so long before I took the plunge to perform magic for real people. It took me a long time to get up the courage. The more I waited, the worse it got. Whenever anyone asks me for any advice about how …
If I had to name my all time favourite comedian it would be Jerry Seinfeld, hands down. When I first got into comedy, I bought his Seinlanguage book (at the time of writing, there is a copy available for 1p!); which is basically his act in typed form. It shouldn’t work written down, but it …
I’ve learned many great skills from the world of comedy. One of the best was something I learned when I was studying improvisation at The Comedy Store. It’s a great tip that you can either use on your own or when you’re having a discussion with someone else, or a team of people. It’s a …
What you can learn from “Whose Line Is It Anyway?” Read More »
“…if I take my sponge ball, put it in your hand and click my fingers…TADA! Now you have two balls…” Why should I care? As magicians, we know that the vast majority of our tricks can be reduced down to trite puzzles. How did the balls vanish? How did my card rise to the top …
Magic is about doing the impossible. Every trick we perform has to defy science, explanation or belief. If it’s explainable, it becomes a stunt or a weird party trick. These tricks are a great example of something really cool; they look fabulous and amaze your friends, but you know it’s not magic, as there is …
TLAM: Impossible as Standard, or “How to be a Millionaire!” Read More »
Regular readers of the blog (Hi Mum!) will know that I have created a series of articles based around the “How To Think Like A Magician” premise – the idea that magicians learn a whole bunch of skills, quite aside from the actual magic and sleight of hand, that many people are impressed by and …
“I’ve learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.” – Maya Angelou I wish I could just leave this blog post there. As a magician, I often get bogged down with questions such as: “What brand/colour/size of cards …
One of the things I most often get feedback about (aside from my Herculean physique and attractive odour) is my ability to remember names. I love saying goodbye to people by name at the end of a two hour gig, where I’ve met about 100 people. Don’t get me wrong; I don’t remember everybody I’ve …
Think Like A Magician: How to remember people’s names Read More »