Jack Wise is a top notch Corporate Magician based in Dublin, Ireland who specialises in blending sophisticated humour with jaw dropping magic. Jack’s unrivalled experience and sure fire delivery allows him to offer you something unheard of in the entertainment business. Jack’s website can be found at www.jack.ie and he has also kindly provided us with his showreel

Jack, can you give us a bit of a Magic bio – tell us how you got started in magic, and how you ended up going from hobbyist to pro.

I just bored of the getting up early nine to five crap so one day I just decided not to bother going into work and started telling everyone I was a professional magician…and they believed me.
I learnt my first magic trick from my Granddad. He taught me the 3 shell game. He knew the coolest stuff and he didn’t give a damn how dangerous it was, he’d show it to me. For example he taught me how to make gunpowder. He also used to also distill poitin in his shed. I remember falling in the door locked after he’d dilute a shot in ribena. His justification was I helped make it so I should get my share!!
I was ten at ten at the time.

He used to say it was important to know how to do all this stuff in case the Nazis ever came back. He was mad in the most wonderful way. My happiest memories as a child were spent in his company.

“Never let your schooling interfere with your education”
Mark Twain once said “Never let your schooling interfere with your education” which summed up my approach to school .I had my own magic curriculum and school was in the way. I’d been suspended numerous times but the best of all was for blowing up Hugh Kelly’s school bag (you guessed it …with the gunpowder).The cops were called and everything!

Entering the work force
So when I finally finished my sentence in school I decided to enter the work force by pitching svengali’s in a toy shop called “It’s Magic “while working for a P.I. Company by night installing pinhole cameras and bugs on phone lines .Having Private Investigator business cards with was great knicker dropping material but it was hard work.

Customers high and how to all almost die!

My first paid performance lasted three years. It was in the VIP suite of The PoD and Spy nightclub. I’d perform every Saturday night from 12 – 2am .Loads of Celebs rolled in – Robbie Williams, Kylie, spice girls to name a few .It was great but very tough -a true baptism of fire cause the punters were stoned, drunk or high – E was rampant at the time!

I’ve always be interested in the carnie stuff so during that time I learnt sword swallowing which I performed at the launch of the Subaru Impreza .I also used to perform it behind the bar occasionally in POD until 1 night this guy who was off his head tried to push me. It would have been very messy if he’d succeeded. That was the last time I sword swallowed .I had learnt a valuable lesson – you can trust yourself but never trust Joe public!
While working in “Its Magic” I was fortunate enough to have met Quentin Reynolds. He’s taught me a lot about Magic including my kids show . The great thing about kid’s shows is they teach you something that I think most Magicians never master and that’s timing. Thank you Quentin for being such a generous friend!

Comedy – it’s almost all uphill!

About four years ago I started working comedy clubs. They’re probably the toughest audiences of all because if you’re not funny the audience will tell you. A lot of comedians don’t like Magicians so it’s an uphill battle but I’ve got to say I get a real kick out of the challenge especially when you win them over in a 400 – 500 seater like the Laughter Lounge.

If you could provide one piece of advice to a magician who was just starting off, what would it be?

Put the little plastic things back in the box, tape back up the wrapping paper and give the crappy magic set back to you Auntie.

But if you insist on keeping it –
Decide where you want to perform and pick your material accordingly.

If it’s in the pub for your mates (and if you’re fifteen performing in a pub you’re pretty cool) then NFW is a great trick but if you want to perform at corporate functions then doing elmsleys in front of your nut sack for tables of ten just isn’t acceptable. They can’t see your face and they can’t see the cards.

So choose your material carefully – in the real world it’s got to be visible and simple to follow -
Chop cup is good, reverse matrix (unfortunately) is not!

Make sure there’s absolutely no dead time.

Know what you’re going to say at every point in the trick. Fully script all your routines. If you’ve got to get the four aces out of the pack know what you’re going to say while you’re doing it. Make it funny or at least interesting rather taking the retarded Magician’s approach of trying to learn to cull faster!

Maybe don’t be yourself.
The old adage “be yourself on stage” is bullshit! And when your Mum told you “you’re perfect the way you are” that was bullshit too and she knows it!
I could sugar coat it but the truth is when you step in front of the audience they’ve decided whether they like you or not in about twenty seconds, particularly in Close up because they haven’t paid to see you which means that, until proven otherwise you are an interruption!

So if you’re trying to figure out what your character/style should be than it might be helpful to give the following some thought -
You can break down how the world perceives you into the following categories:
The things you know about yourself and everybody else does.
The things you know about yourself and nobody else does.
And the things you DON’T know about yourself and everybody else does.
The last one is the one to focus on if you’re trying to figure out a performing persona for yourself.

There are things about you and me that other people probably don’t like. The big question is, are you going to look at your personality as Eugene Burger says, “with a ruthless honesty” to figure out what they are.
I’m not necessarily suggesting changing these negative traits (being anything that turns an audience off you) but you should be aware of them as they may be “invisibly tripping you up” while you’re performing.
You could also take a lateral approach to the whole thing and try and use what the harsh eyes of the audience see as a “flaw “to your advantage. For example, if you’re a big fat guy of 6’7” trying to perform an elegant Channing Pollock dove act the chances are the audience will struggle to hold back the laughter at the incongruous “Walter Mitty” scenario.
If, on the other hand you were to acknowledge the situation and use it to your advantage you could have really strong comedy act where the audience would laugh with you and give you the applause you deserve for what is very fine magic.

The message is you’ve got to be aware of what your audience really thinks.

These are just a couple of thoughts to consider. They are my thoughts so if they are too hard hitting and I have offended anyone my apologies. If on the other hand you have found them interesting let Ian know and I’ll gladly put up put up a few more ideas /concepts which may be of some use.

Who are your biggest influences in the magic community?

Well, if I was having some sort of big crazy magic party…

Bill Malone would entertain during the champagne & truffle reception.
Billy McComb would MC and I’d bring him a bowl of rice pudding on stage just in case he was thinking about heading back to the home early (I miss Billy!).
Opening act -Jeff Hobson 10 mins max (and not too much of the faggy stuff either – it offends some people!)
Finney would be up next with his rope routine but none of his life story/pep talk trying to make everybody cry and mashing the buzz.
Followed by Wayne Dobson to do his vent improv with Frank Bruno like on his DVD. Frank’s a riot!!
Then Tom Mullica to do his cigarette act. I know he’s given it up but I don’t give a damn- I like it and I’d make him do it with cigars or maybe pipes.
Then I’d let Billy vanish the cage to close the show.

Daryl and Jeff McBride would be collecting the glasses and cleaning the ashtrays (please don’t tip them).

Man, that would be some party. After that, everybody in the SIM would like me. I’d rock!

Do you find that exposure today, be it the likes of the Masked Magician, or more recently, youtube, file sharing etc is having an adverse effect on the art?

I’ve had a few muggles tell me they Youtubed some of my heavy hitters I’m well known for – like the dynamic coins and the pencil through Perspex . I don’t let it bother me, I just nail em with my killer gemstick routine and that shuts them up real quick!

And asking people not to file share is the equivalent to putting Mary Harney behind the counter in Butler’s Chocolates… the inevitable is going to happen. It’s as ridiculous as demanding that no one lend each other magic books in the 80’s. Please some serious questions..

How important do you feel membership of an organization (IBM, Magic Circle etc) is to the career of a magician?

I said please, some serious questions!!
Magic societies can be either negative or positive experience depending on your mind set.

Let’s get the negatives out of the way –
As in all performing arts there is a natural competiveness which will lead to bitching and occasional unpleasantness .From my experience Magicians who are negative towards another member usually fall into one of the following categories – Envy, jealousy or resentment.

Here’s the difference as I see it :
Envy – you see your neighbour has a new car and wish you had it( a natural enough reaction).
Jealousy – you see you neighour’s new car and illogically think you should have it and are angry at him for having it (not a good place to be).
Resentment – You climb over the wall and scratch the car knowing you’ll never have it because you haven’t their skills, charm or talent (bad – get help).
On the other hand…if everybody is bitching about you then maybe there’s some truth in it. It’s time for some of Eugene’s ruthless honesty.

And the positives
But despite all of this societies are a great place to learn. They are also a great place to make friendships that will probably last you a lifetime.
One of the best things you can do is chat with the old farts. Introduce yourself, find out about the magic they like and perform. They have a depth of knowledge and wealth of experience that if you’re lucky, they may share with you .I’ve been fortunate enough to make friends with some of the most knowledgeable minds in magic and the amazing thing is they are in my society.

Have you ever had someone call you on your guarantee?

Yea.. They call me on it all the time but I’m usually in the car and gone by then.

But seriously,
When you offer a guarantee you better be able to deliver .One complaint or unhappy table and the client are fully (and fairly) entitled not to pay.
I started offering my money back guarantee about 18 months ago.Since then I’ve had a three people try and call me on it. One was legitimately testing the guarantee, one was my fault and the other was just trying to rip me off…

The Rip off…
I was booked to do a 25 minute Stand up spot for a Christmas party of 250 roofing contractors. They were serious drinkers so I was nervous going on stage.
I remember half way through looking off stage to the guy who had booked me who was standing behind a kind of partition. He was (what I thought was) putting my pay into an envelope as it turned out he was taking it out!!
Fortunately the show went really well and I finished on a strong round of applause so I went straight to the booker to thank him and collect my money because I had another gig to go to.
Well the guy sneered at me as he said “Yea Jack it was good and everything but I didn’t like it that much”. I knew what was coming and I was raging so I turned around and walked right back on stage. I grabbed the mike and asked the crowd if they enjoyed the show, they gave me another good strong round of applause. I looked off stage, the guy wasn’t sneering anymore. He was panicking trying to put my money back into the envelope. He knew I was about to explain the situation to the audience and ask their opinion. He literally ran on stage and thanked me as he handed me the opened envelope.
I later found that he’d been stealing from the social committee. I was one of his attempts to rip them off. It was an awful situation to be in.

An expensive lesson
The other occasion was when I was booked to do 25 minutes of stand up at a fortieth birthday. After a long drive I turned up only to discover that my amp wasn’t working. It was my fault because I hadn’t tested it before leaving. I did close up for about 1 ½ hours which the guests really enjoyed but the guy was so disappointed about the Stand Up that I didn’t ask him for anything. An expensive lesson!
The Audience was forced to be a jury!

The last was when a head bridesmaid had booked me to perform close up over the meal for her friend’s wedding. It was her wedding gift to the Bride.
They were a fun group and it went down really well. They were very drunk by the end of the meal .When I approached the bridesmaid to be paid she said she just had to check something first. She then picked up the wireless mike which was still on the table from the speeches and proceeded to walk/stumble around the twenty or so tables and asked them over the PA did they enjoy Magician. It was both hilarious and really unnerving!! All of the reviews were very positive except for 1 table that was really pissed because I didn’t do anything for them!!
I’d missed their table (gulp) by complete accident. The bridesmaid shouted over the mike “you’d better get down here fast if you want your bleedin money”. Twenty minutes later I got paid and the Bride tipped me a fifty cause because as she said herself, she was “scarlet” over the whole thing.
In the end of the day they were very happy but you know what, even though it was very unusual I thought it was fair enough .She was paying, it was for her best friend and she was making sure she got her money’s worth. But believe me if I hadn’t delivered there was no way I was going to get a penny.

Do you have an agent ? How important do you think having an agent is to a professional magician? (For someone who is starting out and wants more paying gigs).

I think every professional Magician should have an Asian. They can be expensive but if you get a good Asian they’re great!

(Editors note – since receiving this we’ve actually discovered that all of the above is true !!!)