Jeff McBride released his Commando Act on video a number of years ago. It was a brilliant idea. It was an entire act that he could carry as hand-luggage on a flight. The biggest prop was his linking rings. If his luggage got lost Jeff could still perform.

Around that time I was beginning to pare back on my children’s act. This was purely pragmatic. If I am going out to do a show, I like to do a second or even a third while I am at it. The most I have ever done was seven during a communion Saturday. To take on that amount of parties in succession you need an act that breaks down quickly, and that involves little set-up. Ideally you need an act you can carry in one trip from the car.

Adding to my problems was that air travel changed completely after the 9/11 attacks. The good old days of flying with a seventy kilo flight case are long gone. I perform each December in Lapland, and take every other opportunity to travel at other people’s expense. But now I had to cram two forty five minute acts into one suit case and one piece of hand-luggage. In fact both shows had to fit into the hand-luggage, with room for a few books.

Could it be done?

From that problem arose my Kids Kommando Act.

Here are the rules:

1. The act has to use ordinary props that every magician would have anyway.
2. There can be no special kids props, or dealer routines.
3. The act must fit into a toilet bag for easy travelling.
4. The act must be capable of being loaded into the pockets of a regular costume.

The act that resulted is suitable for small to medium sized rooms. It is ideal for birthday parties, and groups of up to sixty or seventy kids. It is not suitable for large rooms or big stages. It is also an ideal starting point for close-up workers who want to make the jump into children’s magic (where the money is). It uses the skills any good close-up worker will have anyway.

Needed: Two sponge bananas. One sponge carrot. Three regular sponge balls. A few modelling balloons. Eighteen playing cards. One ribbon. One thumb-tip. Set of ropes. Mouth coil.

Set-up: The sponge bananas and carrot go into my left-hand trousers pocket. So do the 18 cards, and the mouth coil. In my right-hand trousers pocket I put the thumb tip and ribbon, as well as one of the modelling balloons, ready for the balloon-eating effect. Two sponge balls go into my right-hand jacket pocket. The other goes into my left-hand jacket pocket, along with a handful of modelling balloons. The ropes go into my right-hand trousers pocket.

The Routine.

I open by explaining that I became a magician recently but went into the wrong shop for my wand. I ended up with a banana instead. Now I do the repeating banana effect. Every time I put the banana back into my pocket another one appears at my fingertips. Eventually I get fed up and accuse the kids of slipping me bananas. I get them to promise not to give me any more bananas, then put the final one away. A carrot appears at my finger tips.

I then blame hunger for my problems, and tell the kids I must stop to eat a sausage. I produce the doctored balloon and go into a routine loaded with gags, which culminates with me eating a fully inflated balloon, the producing a mouth coil.

Now I explain to the kids that the venue was built over a graveyard, and a ghost is annoying me. He is sitting on the head of one of the kids. I tell the kids that ghosts are afraid of Barbie Dolls, and I have Barbie’s hair ribbon. So I produce the ribbon, and do a one-handed knot to catch the ghost. Then I vanish the ribbon with the thumb tip, then produce it from the stomach of a kid.

After this I explain that I did not always work as a magician. I used to be in charge of quality control in the spaghetti section of an Italian restaurant. This is my cue to do the Professor’s Nightmare. But any rope trick would do. I like the Professor’s Nightmare because it does not involve cutting any ropes. So the one set of ropes will last me forever.

I now stop for a public safety announcement. I tell the kids that if they are swimming they have to be careful of jellyfish. They have a habit of laying eggs in girls’ hair. Then I produce a sponge ball from the hair of one of the girls, and go into a simple sponge ball routine.

Now I take nothing from my pocket and tell the kids that what they are looking at is a new deck of cards from Japan, that are so miniaturised that they can only be seen if we moisturise them. I place the nothing on my tongue, then produce the eighteen cards (cards from mouth as done by Bill Malone). With the eighteen cards I do the six card repeat, throwing cards on the floor as I go.

I pick a boy and a girl, and have them race to pick up as many cards as possible. Then I divide the cards evenly, nine to each child. I then do cards across, pretending to be a pick-pocket. This provides a lively close to my act.

The whole routine takes forty five minutes, and fits into my pockets. It is my act when I travel. I was able to do it at my brother’s wedding with just what I could stuff into my suit pockets. I was able to do it in a Himalayan village 15,000 feet above sea level, in my hiking gear. I did a season in Irish Ferries with it.

It is not the only routine that meets my criteria for a Kids Kommando Act. Quentin Reynolds’s beautiful routine with a pocket hanky would fit in perfectly. A linking rings routine with ninja rings, or a ring on rope routine, or a rigid rope would also work. The possibilities are legion. Misers dream using a borrowed cup would work – and would suit a skilled close-up worker.

What are your ideas for a Kids Kommando Act? Don’t be afraid to comment – all suggestions are welcome.

Tony Black (real name Anthony Galvin) is a hypnotist and mind-reader based in Munster, but who performs throughout the country. His hypnosis show is a good deal wilder, and less structured, than most, with a heavy emphasis on comedy. Often he opens the show with one of his mind-reading routines, such as Russian Roulette with exploding toilets.
Tony has been performing magic for twenty five years, and hypnosis for fifteen. His show has brought him all over Ireland, as well as three tours of the middle-east, and a summer as the only hypnotist on the Greek isle of Kos.
As a magician he has spent twelve winter seasons in Lapland, three summers on the high seas, and been arrested twice for driving while blindfolded. His book Teach Yourself Magic has sold extensively in Britain and America. He also briefly held the world record for the longest public lecture (62 hours 15 minutes).

- although I didn’t come to magic until I was about 22 (about 10 years ago) I can look back at my childhood and see that there were many thinks being put in place. For example: I grew up on a holiday park surrounded by entertainers. They used to get the brass of the day as well, so it wasn’t the red coat brigade!
As well as that general influence, I was also a devious little gig! Nothing insidious you understand, just mischievous. At the age of 5 I used to wait in the on site supermarket for a large harrassed family, drop an ice cream into their basket, and pick it up when they had paid! I also used to stand and shiver next to the hotdog stand till someone took pity on me and bought me one!
After school (I got into loads of trouble but that’s another story) I followed in my mums footsteps and studied nursing.
At about 22 I saw David Blaines first TV special and was hooked. I bought a pack of cards and started to work out what he was doing. I think what made it different for me was that I had a good understanding of psychology and coimmunication. I understood WHY magic worked! The HOW could wait a bit. I joined the local magic society for a short time (Wessex Magical Society) but felt their direction wasn’t right for me. My big learning curve came when I got a residency in a fairly rough bar. I did Thurs Fri & Sat nights and really cut my teeth.
The awards were won because I was the right person at the right time. I don’t think magic ability can be judged by comp acts!

What books and videos (besides your own excellent ones which you can plug at this point if you want) would you recommend?

Doc Eason was a great inspiration during my time at the bar. Tommy Wonder for his incredible understanding of performance. Gary Kurtz for leading me with his head! And Greg Wilson for his naturalness in performance.

My dvd & lecture notes will give you an understanding of my attitude towards misdirection (not always conformist). Please buy them. This way I will have enough money to maybe do some more!

Recently you seem to be leaning heavily towards blending magic with hypnosis, can you tell us more about this?

I have always been interested in Psychology, NLP and hypnosis. I have used aspects in all my work but specifically the misdirection and state management. Recently I began to experiment with full inductions and the impact they have with magic and found I can blend hypnosis, magic and pick pocketing to enormous effect.

Do you not feel that some effects such as reverse mind reading or a hypnotic card force are almost too damn powerful?

Like any magic, it is up to you to pace the audience and then ‘tell’ them how to repond. This is done ideally on an unconscious level without them being aware. Saying that though, everyone responds differently to different things so it is as much about feeling the moment as it is about anything else.

Now you’re entirely self taught in hypnosis, what books and/or DVD’s would you recommend?

Reality is Plastic by Anthony Jacquin and Deeper and Deeper by Jon Chase.

It is also worth looking at youtube but not until you know enough to sift through the crap!

Rumour has it that you actually got punched at Blackpool over some hypnosis.

Not strictly true. After a good hypnosis session this young lad went back to his ‘friends’ who convinced him I had mistreated him in some way. Add lots of alcohol. He came over shouting and hit me on the back of the neck. Once he calmed down we had a quick chat and by the end of the evening he was buying me drinks and all was fine. No hard feels. I did learn from the experience though!

Would you mind giving us your side of the story and what, if anything, you learnt from it?

Be in control. Think about the effect the hypnosis COULD have and build in safety features! All experience is there to be learnt from!

Right we’ll bring it back towards magic more. You seem to really favour some sleights, the side steal and cull mainly. Do you deliberately focus on them or is it just an accident that they feature so much in your work?

Just the most efficient tools for the job I found, that’s all!

In your Lecture DVD you talk about just not caring if a spectator catches a move, how long did it take you to get to this point?

As I said earlier, my life experience lead me to this. It is just a state of mind born from an understanding that, quite frankly, its not that important! If you get caught, so what. Brush it away as irrelevent and get on to something good. The less you focus on it the less they will. If its important to you its important to them!

Who has influenced you most in your work?

Everyone I meet is an influence. I model people. Its a really good way to develope.

How do you feel exposure and file sharing is affecting the art as a whole?

I realise why many magicians are passioonate about all this, but the truth is it makes no difference to a working pro. So what if they know what a thumb tip is! Fool them with it anyway. The more magicians go on about it the more interest they create. I bet the masked magician is watched by more magicians than anyone else!

Is there a question you’d like to have been asked? What is it and what’s the answer?

Are you available for lectures and conventions?

Yes!

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 !!!)

Damian Hoban was nice enough to allow us to republish his review of the Irish Magic Convention that was held last month in Limerick. Cheers Damien!

Just a quick note to thank everyone involved in the Irish convention on 27-29th March 2009. Next year’s gathering in Belfast will revert to the May bank holiday weekend.

Jon Allen is a World Close Up champion and Gold Star member of the Inner Magic Circle. Opening the Gala show, Jon performed his excellent new routine, The Pain Game. Have a look at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p2IxiZeV1h0

Alexander De Cova and Dave Allen brought a mixture of creativity and slack-jawed wonder to the proceedings in Cabaret performance and lecture. Dave’s lecture included elements of Vent/puppetry and was well received by a few kids (yes, real kids – not magicians acting up!) in the audience. Alexander de Cova’s lecture contained some stunning rope and silk magic, in addition to demonstrating to Irish magicians his Beer Game. I’m sure some people, at least, tried to get to grips with this one in the bar afterwards. Especially for those of us from Limerick, he demonstrated his effect called “Stab in the Dark”.

Zane (Joe Swing) treated the audience to fabulous renditions of favourite Rat Pack numbers in addition to performing a few quick magical tricks between numbers. Zane (in addition to Kaymar, Pat Fallon & Paddy Clancy) also ran a dealers stall during the convention. Lecturers Dave Allen, Alexander de Cova, Trevor Lewis & Jon Allen also were selling effects/lecture notes.

John Kimmonds had ‘em rolling in the aisles with his award winning Ventiloquism act. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k7ROWHn1OqA. As a finish, he commandeered Cathal Costelloe from the front row of the audience, stuck a half-face vent mask on him and had Cathal conversing in a falsetto voice reminiscent of the great Alan Ball.

Tom Moloney, dressed as a medical doctor (now ye all know why the A&E departments are short staffed) demonstrated his fantastic comedy juggling routine to much applause. Local talent Lorcan Russell (Harpist) and Kevin Prendergast (Irish Dancing) complimented the international flavour of the event with a touch of some traditional Irish arts.

Trevor Lewis, in his capacity as MC, was thoroughly professional and witty in his role and had to endure many references to Wales’ loss to Ireland in the Grand Slam over the course of the weekend.

Both Stage (Saturday night) and Close Up (Sunday afternoon) competitions were held this year. Congratulations to award winners Leon Andersen (Stage competition), Ruth Andrews (Most Promising Young Magician), Daragh McGrath (Gemini Trophy), Eamonn Murphy and Fred Corveneio (Close Up competition) and the Munster Society of Magicians for the team event

Damian Hoban

David Knight is a 33 year old Bristol Born professional magician who has been based in Dublin for the last three years. He is a psychological illusionist and specializes in very natural feeling mental entertainment. He has just launched an international tour and will leave for the UK and beyond at the start of May. David will be premiering the new show “Mind Man” in Dublin before he leaves, this will be happening at Sin nightclub in Dublin on the 25th of April at 7.30pm, tickets are €10 and will be available at the door, or in advance from the venue.

David, if you could provide any piece of advice to an aspiring magician, what would it be?

Try and be original, don’t try and be Keith or Derren. Take from them but deliver in your own style. It is far more important to have an original persona that clever tricks. Magicians forget that they are entertainers first and foremost and I hate to say it but, NO ONE BELIEVES IN MAGIC so you have to offer something more than a well rehearsed trick. The presentation and you yourself are everything.

When you were first getting into magic, and as your own career was developing, what magicians influenced you?

David Copperfield above all, then later Derren Brown who introduced me to the field I now work in and the like of Theo Annemann

Is there any commercially available effects, be it a book, a DVD or a single effect that you rate very highly? Why?

The last one I purchased was a doozy – so I’m not promoting it! Overall I think Menny Lindenfeld’s ‘Hollow’ card effect is wonderful and dreadful businessman though he is, theres much to be said for Jay Sankey. my friend Owen Lean – whom is represented on the site has some great tips and effects in his e-books too and shouldn’t be overlooked.

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 think the behind the scenes clips of Copperfield’s big end effects on youtube have hammered home the final nails into the coffin of stage illusion. It is dying out and on the whole thats a good thing as everyone is doing the same stuff. Unless you have Copperfield’s budget and time, leave it alone. There are too many acts built around second rate box effects – I should know, I was one of them! On the whole I think the masked magician did a great job in not revealing anything of practical stage use and exposing those who were performing poor standards of predictable rubbish.

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

To their career – not at all. To the starting magician, they’re a great resource. remember that they are predominantly social clubs and you should seek many avenues of research to further you art. Areas outside of magic are great for providing original ideas and presentation techniques as other magician’s won’t have stumbled onto them in such vast numbers. Hard to be different if we all learn from the same magic shop or club.

What ‘type’ of magic do you feel most drawn to? What do you
associate yourself with the most? (Mentalism, Grand Illusion, Close-up etc)

I am in the mentalist category but I work regularly in bars and functions as a close up magician. Close up mentalism is the new budding area I am into and with my almost prop-less approach, it is really starting people getting excited about seeing magic again. They’ll never accept it as real and I am going against the grain by offering real world explanations including science and psychology which, although they still don’t understand and are thrilled by, at least they don’t feel that I’m insulting their intelligence.

Over the past few months Ger Kearney and John Casey have been working quietly behind the scenes to bring David to Cork, and the fruits of their labour have finally paid off. David needs no introduction as he is one of the foremost experts in the field of close up and restaurant magic. His most recent book (2005) ‘Close-up: The real secrets of magic” is a best-seller in France and was sold out in less than 15 days after its release. The DVD “The Real Secrets Of Magic” (2006) adapted from this book was nominated Best Magic DVD 2006 by Genii Magazine (US), Magie Magazine (DE) and over 14.000 copies were sold in 13 months. In August 2006, David won the 3rd prize at the World Championships of magic (FISM) in Stockholm, Sweden (Micro-Magic – FISM Award 2006) and was voted in April 2008 the TMW Award for Best Magician 2008

David will present a highly entertaining 2 hour lecture which will have something for everyone, and it is a lecture not to be missed by either the amateur or the professional. As an added bonus David has agreed to a Master class session on Saturday afternoon before the lecture. This will benefit the intermediate to the advanced close up magician, and it will help them to develop their magic skills in an intimate learning environment, with first hand advice from David himself. This Master class has very limited places so as to maximise the learning experience for those involved. To book your place in the master class you must confirm your interest (to the email addresses below) before 6th April.

Lecture price is €15. This includes a tea-coffee reception that starts at 8pm.

The Master class package is €100. This includes the master class, Dinner with David and the lecture. (Please note that the master class starts at 2pm in Cork City).

For more information or to book a place at the master class, contact John Casey or Ger Kearney

Tony Black (real name Anthony Galvin) is a hypnotist and mind-reader based in Munster, but who performs throughout the country. His hypnosis show is a good deal wilder, and less structured, than most, with a heavy emphasis on comedy. Often he opens the show with one of his mind-reading routines, such as Russian Roulette with exploding toilets.
Tony has been performing magic for twenty five years, and hypnosis for fifteen. His show has brought him all over Ireland, as well as three tours of the middle-east, and a summer as the only hypnotist on the Greek isle of Kos.
As a magician he has spent twelve winter seasons in Lapland, three summers on the high seas, and been arrested twice for driving while blindfolded. His book Teach Yourself Magic has sold extensively in Britain and America. He also briefly held the world record for the longest public lecture (62 hours 15 minutes).

Tony, thanks for taking the time to talk to us a bit. Firstly, can you tell us a little bit about Hypnosis. What is it to you?

There’s a lot of academic debate about what hypnosis is. The truth is that it doesn’t matter. For practical purposes it is a state of hyper-suggestability, in which a person will lose their inhibitations and follow the directions of the hypnotist while they are on the stage. Personally I believe it is a state of social compliance rather than trance – they know what they are doing and go along for the craic. But I could be wrong. I base my induction on this. Rather than trying to put my volunteers into a trance I work on getting them to do what I tell them. I want my induction to be as fast as possible, so it doesn’t slow the show down.
I have come up with what I think is a unique approach for difficult groups – small gatherings, or stuffy businessmen, or awkward weddings, etc. I don’t bother with an induction, and don’t mention hypnosis. The show is presented as a gameshow on the theme of suggestibility. Yet without any induction the volunteers do everything I ask, right down to the Full Monte at the end.

What books or videos would you recommend to somebody who wanted to start preforming as a hypnotist or mind reader?

As a neophyte hypnotist the most useful book I found was Eddie Burke’s Professional Secrets of Stage and Cabaret Hypnotism, available through his website, www.mreenterprises.co.uk. Eddie is a veteran British performer who released many of his cherished routines when he retired. His book on the Question and Answer act contains all you will ever need to know about the strongest routine in mentalism. His People Sticker Routine is also pure gold.
Mastering Hypnosis from Trickshop.com is quite good, and David Knight also has a very good book out on the subject. But I would avoid Ormond McGill’s Complete Encyclopedia of Stage Hypnotism, which is full of waffle, hopelessly out of date, and over-rated.
On mentalism anything by Larry Becker or Lee Earle will be practical and useful. Lee Earle has a great DVD on the Question and Answer act, and another on the Centre Tear, both of which are essential viewing. Richard Osterland’s DVDs are very good on technique, but I would not copy his presentation. Corrinda’s 13 Steps to Mentalism is a cornucopia of great ideas. Max Maven and Banachek are also worth studying. Banachek’s Psychological Subtlieties is brilliant, as is his Psychokenetic Touches.
I believe every mentalist should be a good cold reader. To begin with, try the works of Joe Riding, Then move on to The Full Facts on Cold Reading by Ian Rowlands. That’s all you will ever need.

Can you tell us a bit more about your mind reading act?

My mind-reading act is completely propless. There are no zenner cards, no sealed boxes with predictions, no bend cutlery. A real mind-reader would not bother with such buffonery, and neither do I. You should be able to do a complete mind-reading act with nothing more than a whiteboard and marker, and some slips of paper.
I open with a Bank Night routine, which shows the audience (or so they believe) that I can use my words to influence their thoughts. Tests become progressively more difficult and impressive. The idea is not to strain credibility. I get them to accept that I can influence their thoughts, and pick up on some of their thoughts. Then, step by step, I up the ante. During the hour I will pick three people at random and tell them their star signs, teach everyone how to recite the alphabet backwards, etc. I love Andrew Mayne’s Social Distortion – a powerful routine. I end with a Question and Answer segment, in which they put their questions on slips of paper, which are left in a bowl on the stage. Without touching the bowl I scan their minds and reveal several of their questions. It’s a very powerful closer. Quentin Reynolds used to end his psychic game show with this, and he did it brilliantly. Derren Browne featured it on his show Night of Wonders (as The Oracle Act). It is pure dynamite.
Occasionally I will end the show with a hypnosis segment instead.

The likes of Derren brown has attracted an awful lot of people into the field of mentalism, with a seemingly large quantity of younger performers. Something that I have often heard bandied about is the fact that a younger (as in younger than 25-30) will almost always be less successful as the audience may not be able to take them seriously. Do you put weight to this theory? Why?

You need a certain something to be a successful mentalist, but that something does not come with age; it comes with stage craft. Young performers can be very successful, as long as they are themselves, rather than trying to ape older performers. The most important thing is to be completely sincere. I believe that we should be looking at the television psychics – people like Derek Ackorah, Jon Edwards, etc. They are charletons and unscrupelous scumbags, but they manage to convince the public that they can read minds and tap into unknown gifts. Imagine having that effect on an audience, but doing it in an ethical manner. My ultimate aim is to walk on a stage with absolutely nothing and be as convincing as those television guys.
Interestingly Max Maven has just released a set of DVDs called Nothing, and that is what he uses. He does an hour of very strong (and entertaining) mentalism with nothing more than what you would find in the average hotel room. Brilliant, and highly recommended.

How do you feel about people mixing mentalism with other magic or hypnosis?

I think that if you mix mentalism with magic you might as well put a big sign on your back saying Fake. Your mentalism will be put down to trickery, and will lose all it’s emotional impact. I am aware that many performers will disagree with me on this, but they are wrong. If you are billing yourself as a magician you can throw in a mental effect. It’s just another trick, and a change of pace. But if you are billing yourself as a mentalist, then the magic cannot be part of that performance.
I often perform for groups who know I am a magician (I get around a bit). I get over the awkwardness by doing a magic trick at the very beginning – I either swallow a balloon or do the torn and restored newspaper. Then I pause, stare at the audience, and tell them that what they saw was a magic trick. It’s the last magic trick you’ll see tonight, I tell them. By acknowledging the problem and pushing it to one side I can get on with the mentalism show. I have openly told them that I am putting aside my magic for the hour, and they accept that. I am no longer a magician in their eyes.

Have you got any parting words for any budding mentalists or hypnotists?

The most important thing to remember as a mentalist or a hypnotist is that you are selling yourself. It is your personality and people skills that will make or break your show. These are the skills you need to work on. Paul McKenna was the most successful (in terms of income and exposure) stage hypnotist of all time. He began as a radio DJ, so his presentation skills and delivery were smooth, sophisticated and professional. That gave his show an edge.
At a masterclass a number of years ago Jeff McBride told us that the most important thing he would recommend to all magicians was to join Toastmasters International, and learn how to speak properly in front of an audience. I have been in that organisation twenty years, and the benefits are enormous.
Don’t copy other performers. Study their techniques and learn from them, but make your presentations your own.
Read as much as you can, and not just about mentalism and hypnosis. A DVD is easier, but a book contains so much more information, so make the effort.
Finally, focus on your goal, the show you dream of putting on. But don’t forget the little steps that bring you to that goal. A lot of performers think they are ready for the big time, but they don’t want to do the small soulless shows that get them there. They forget the paperwork, the boring and expensive advertising work, the mail shots that get no response.
That said, it’s a great life. You meet interesting people and see a bit of the world. You are your own boss. And in a recession entertainers make serious money. So to anyone thinking of embarking on this life, I would just like to wish them the best of luck. Do it right and success will follow.

If you want to book Tony, you can contact him through his Website or on 087 7504321

But that aside, James has recently released his newest set of lecture notes, with the less imaginitive title of ‘Stuff’. Luckilly the bland title belies the content, which is exactly the kind of material we have grown to expect by James. Boatloads of misdirection (You really do need balls to pull alot of this off), a fondness of the side steal (and this time the cull!), and very very workable.

My only complaint at this stage, is the combination of the white handwriting style font with the wood grain style background is quite difficult to read off a computer monitor, but James is certainly not the first magician to do something like this (Seriously folks! Pay a couple of quid to get someone who has a little bit of experience in these kind of things to do it for you! Hell, send us an e-mail and we will give you some tips on useability..

And now for a breakdown:

TOCTP

A psychologically deceptive, double hitting, thought of card to pocket.

Very nice, what is a genuinely thought of card by one spectator is shown to be the card you placed in there a few moments before. The patter covers all the dirty work and it is one of the easier technically effects.

Caught 3 Times

3 spectators cards appear one at a time between two face up cards within the deck. Each time the spectator is holding the cards and letting their imaginations run wild!

An awesome seeming sandwich effect. I haven’t got round to anything more than preliminary fiddling and it is quite knuckle busting. Lot of spread culling. If you are technically able to perform it, then it looks like the kind of effect you will get great reactions from!

Brainless Travelers

A reworking of the classic effect from Still Fancy a Pot of Jam? High impact magic for the confident performer.

Same effect as on his DVD, there may be some subtle changes to it but nothing jumped out at me. Still a lovely gimmick free travelers routine, nothing too technical and the ’sleight’ is a pleasure to do, brass balls optional but advised.

Ahead and Under

Four of a kind instantly vanish from the deck and reappear ANYWHERE!!

A nice magician fooling routine. As a performance for lay people it is unnecessary and far from the cleanest way to achieve a card under something effect. Essentially this is what you pull on magicians and those friends who just burn your hands. Basically this will drop kick them in the nuts as they will not have a clue.

Triple Whack

What Harris would have done if steroids were legal!

I like this a lot. Once again spread culling makes an appearance. I don’t want to say too much as it will hint at the method but there is so much misdirection at one point in this routine strippers could dance in and pick pocket everyone in the audience.

ITHwich

An in the hands sandwich with a hypnotic twist

Billing it as a hypnotic sandwich effect was in my opinion a little silly, it’s an awesome effect and my favourite in the notes. Personally as I do a lot of hypnosis I would lean towards doing the hypnotic presentation but it is very much an option. Do not skip this effect if you can’t hypnotize.

Card on Ceiling

Ever thrown the deck in the air only for the pack to split everywhere? This method not only makes Card on Ceiling flawless but also give a new level of impossibility!

I don’t perform a CTC effect for all the reasons above. This has convinced me it may be worth reconsidering. It improves the effect and makes it tidier.

Anyone who’s read any of my other reviews should know of my distaste for giving complex products a numerical value however this is once again an excellent purchase that I really cannot fault in any way, shape or form.

Stuff is available from James Brown’s website for £7.50 as an ebook.

I think that the subject of this interview requires no introduction. Keith Barry, probably the most well known performer of magic in Ireland today has kindly agreed to take some time out of his busy schedule to answer some questions for us. Keith has been a major inspiration for so many young Irish magicians, including myself.

Hi Keith, first off, thanks for taking the time to answer these for us. What have you got coming up? Any new TV specials or new tours?

I’m currently on tour at the moment – having great fun. it’s called ‘Keith Barry, Direct from Vegas’ and is the same show which I performed there in Nov last year. This Fri and Sat I’m in Tipperary, all other dates can be found on Keithbarry.com

What advice would you give to any aspiring young magician?

Read as many books as you can and perform for as many people as possible. Also perform as many different varieties of magic as you can – stage, kids, close-up, platform, etc – it will help you become a more rounded performer. Too many young magicians concentrate just on close-up these days – by doing other styles of magic they will become better entertainers.

What magicians have inspired your career the most? Why?

In the beginning Paul Daniels, David Copperfield and Lance Burton were the ones who really inspired me. I watched all of their specials religiously over and over again. In later years it would have to be the great Doc Shiels and Billy McComb. Doc for his insight into mentalism and all things bizarre, and Billy for his insight into being a professional entertainer.

What commercially available effects (books dvds or single effects) do you rate most highly?

I’m a big fan of Sankeys material – especially paperclipped – it never fails to fry an audience. Branded by Tim Trono is also excellent.

How do you think the level of exposure in magic today (youtube, files sharing etc) is affecting magic?

Magic is more accessible now than ever before. I don’t think it will hurt magic at all because it’s really only budding magicians who bother to search youtube for the methodology to a trick. Most humans will never go to the bother of trying to find out how a trick is done. Blatant exposure however is not good for magic.

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

It really depends on what your expectations are. I can only speak from personal experience. I remember fondly the days when I was a member of the Munster Society – I would travel from Galway with Pat Meaney to many of the meetings and lectures. John Bowden and Pat Meaney were very helpful and took me under their wing. I was also a member of the SIM – Pat Fallon was very helpful to me in those days. I enjoyed being a member of the SIM for quite a few years but then I started travelling abroad for 6-8 months a year so I wasn’t really an active member any more. I did go the odd time when i was back but I found the dynamics had changed and to be quite honest found the whole thing very negative. Even just 3 days ago a member told me of some of the ‘Keith barry bitching’ that goes on – this is one of many occasions i have heard of this. It’s unfortunate but I no longer have any interest in any of the societies – too much negativity and back biting by people who I thought were friends and should know better. I’d rather be at home working or spending time with my family than get involved in that stuff. Enough said.

You recently launched your €10,000 psychic challenge. Has anyone been stupid enough to respond? Do you feel that Irish ‘Psychics’ are in general shut-eye (deluded enough to actually think they are psychic) or open-eye (deliberately lying about it for fun and profit).

No-one has taken up the challenge. I believe we have a mixture of both open and shut eye ‘psychics’ here in Ireland. I think it’s very dangerous for vulnerable people to live their lives by what these so-called psychic advisors tell them. Look at the following Popoff had until Randi exposed him – it really was frightening. I will do my best to educate people on the art of the psychic but at the end of the day most believers will still believe no matter how much information you give them!!!!

Examine the Billfold, and you’ll discover various different compartments and small pockets for credit cards, documents and things. It also has a long money pocket plus a short zip compartment. On the outside is a flapped pocket, which cleverly hides the secret entrance and the pocket is usable too. The small outer flap serves another unique purpose, if your rear pocket is deep, it is very difficult to load a palmed card without much delay and fumbling, with this new Billfold, it is simple. Just lift wallet up prior to performance and hook the small outer pocket flap on pocket edge. It makes loading a dream, and ever so fast as the wallet is in exactly the same position every time.

I had been keeping my eyes open for a card-to-wallet to use as a closer for a while now, but not being much of a suit wearer, I was keen to keep away from the handbag sized wallets that most magicians seem to use in their routines. Eventually, on the recommendation of Mark Waddington I picked up this one from Top Secret Magic and it has quickly been integrated into my routine, and even become my day to day wallet too! Now, on with the review!

The Effect
This is a wallet for card-to-wallet type effects, it is a billfold style wallet, i.e. the type of wallet you probably have in your pocket right now rather than the giant handbag of a suit pocket wallet some magicians seem to prefer.

Cost
I paid £38 from  Top Secret Magic, they had it at my door without problem within a week. (I’m in Ireland)

Difficulty
Realistically this is probably a 2-3 (out of 5), you will need to be able to palm a card in some way shape or form to use this wallet. The method you use to palm it depends on what effect you are using it with. I just use a simple top palm when I am using it to finish my ACR.

Review
This is the first wallet I have purchased, and having used it in the wild for about two weeks at this stage I am very happy to recommend it to anyone who wants to preform this type of effect. I find the loading mechanism very easy, it requires no slides, can be just as easily kept in the back or side pocket (maybe not on tight jeans) and as I typically preform in Jeans and a T-Shirt, it is much more appropriate than any of the large style wallets you may have seen.
The product is made out of real leather, and looks just like a normal wallet, there is no reason why you can not use this as your every day wallet should you so desire. I don’t know about UK money, but Euros fit fine into the bill slot, even the large 50 euro note.

The wallet has the standard bill slot, which is described above, two areas in front of that that are suitable for credit cards, bank cards etc. Between the two is another flap that is playing card size. This might be suitable for a small packet trick or the like. Just above the bill slot is a small zippered compartment, this is where the card appears once it has been loaded, and on the other side is a small slot (Maybe to hold your drivers license or something).

On the outside of the wallet is a small pouch that is almost exactly the right size to hold a playing card. I personally keep Colour Monte in mine.

Due to the design of the wallet, the load is very easy, and a card can be easilly loaded as you reach into your pocket to get the wallet, I have yet to have the card catch or snag on anything when using it.

Overall
I can happilly give this 5/5, it was exactly what I was looking for, will not draw any attention amongst the people I typicially preform for (For example I have never seen anyone who is not a magician use one of the large style wallets, I think they look a bit too unusual to most people for them to not draw attention). It has one purpose (card to wallet) and it preforms this exactly as you would expect it to. The price is reasonable, the construction of the item is fantastic, I see no reason why this will not manage two or three years wear and tear being used as an every day wallet (even longer if it is just used for preformance).