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The One Ahead Podcast is a monthly round-up of magic news stories and trick tutorials. In each episode, a guest co-host joins Rory or Nathan. Listen for free on One Ahead or podcast platforms like Apple or Spotify.

Read everything at oneahead.com

Stories Discussed:

  • Is This Magic Brand Breaking The Law?

  • The Power of Old Magic Magazines: Revealed

  • Why PropDog Magic Shop is Closing its Doors: Full Story

  • Debunking the Uri Geller New York Times Story

  • This Threads News is a Wake Up Call to the Magic Industry

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit oneahead.substack.com

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The One Ahead Podcast is a monthly round-up of magic news stories and trick tutorials. In each episode, a guest co-host joins Rory or Nathan. Listen for free on One Ahead or podcast platforms like Apple or Spotify.

Stories Discussed:

  • This is How Famous Magicians Make Money: Valuable Insights

  • Derren Brown's New Live Show is Missing Something: Full Story

  • Did You Know This About Ben Hart's New Magic Show?

  • How to Enhance Magic Tricks with Your Eyes: Revealed

  • Watch: Why Penn & Teller Are Unusual Genuises

  • Why David Blaine is the Best at THIS: How You Can Be Too.

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit oneahead.substack.com

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The One Ahead Podcast is a monthly round-up of magic news stories and trick tutorials. In each episode, a guest co-host joins Rory or Nathan. Listen for free on One Ahead or podcast platforms like Apple or Spotify.

Stories Discussed:

  • How I Confronted the Magician Who Pirated My Product

  • How to Cast Spectators for Street Magic Filming

  • Derren Brown's New Book for Magicians: Everything We Know

  • Dynamo's New TV Show & Fool Us Has a New Host

  • How This Magician Changed Baseball Forever

  • Why You NEED to Post Magic on Social Media: Secrets

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit oneahead.substack.com

View Details

The One Ahead Podcast is a monthly round-up of magic news stories and trick tutorials. In each episode, a guest co-host joins Rory or Nathan. Listen for free on One Ahead or podcast platforms like Apple or Spotify.

Stories Discussed:

  • The Best Most Underperformed Magic Trick: Revealed

  • Don't Get Scammed by the Outrageous Magic Marketplace

  • Hand Jobs and Magicians

  • How to Perform Magic for Friends

Talk to us

Send tips, stories, and suggestions: team@oneahead.com.

Book A Magician | Sponsor The Podcast

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit oneahead.substack.com

View Details

The One Ahead Podcast is a monthly round-up of magic news stories and trick tutorials. In each episode, a guest co-host joins Rory or Nathan. Listen for free on One Ahead or podcast platforms like Apple or Spotify.

Stories Discussed:

  • Magicians Who Protect Their Ideas Don't Have Many

  • Sheep & Thieves: Magic Coin Trick Tutorial

  • David Blaine Injured Himself on Stage Again

  • The Magician with 200 Million Views the Community Hasn't Noticed

  • Why The Magic Circle Just Banned this Magician: Full Story

Steve Faulkner is this month’s guest co-host. You can learn magic from Steve and be part of his friendly online community. Get access to 600+ tutorials and weekly Zoom sessions.

Talk to us

Send tips, stories, and suggestions: team@oneahead.com.

Magic Musings | Book A Magician | Sponsor The Podcast

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit oneahead.substack.com

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Craig Petty, Noel Qualter, Michael Weber and Scott Perry all had one hell of a month. Nathan and Rory recap these stories and discuss Blackpool Magic Convention.

Stories Discussed:

  1. "Mommmm, the magic reviewers are reviewing each other again."

  2. Who's Got The Receipts? (Part One)

  3. New Guys, Assemble! (Part Two)

  4. Learn a Prediction Trick for Casual Performances

Written and produced by Rory Adams. Co-hosted by Rory Adams and Nathan Wilson.

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit oneahead.substack.com

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Hey! Welcome to an occasionalfree editionof One Ahead. Every week, Members get magic insights, tricks and secrets!

Does the war in Ukraine make you feel helpless?

I, too, feel helpless. My friend Archie felt the same way.

I met Archie many years ago. He’s lovely, and we’ve worked together on a few television projects. If you have never met Archie, I encourage you to picture the poshest magician imaginable and then multiply the level of poshness by a factor of ten. Add to that some charm and a big heart, and you’ve got an Archie Manners.

After several months of Russian military buildups near Ukraine's borders, Russia launched a large-scale invasion of Ukraine on 24 February 2022. You will have seen the shocking images and videos from the war. The number of refugees fleeing Ukraine reached 2 million on Tuesday, according to the United Nations, the fastest exodus Europe has seen since World War II.

I began getting texts from Archie. He felt helpless, but he wanted to help. He wasn’t sure how. He’s not a medic, he’s not ex-military—he’s a magician. What could he do? How could he help? A few days later, I received a photo on WhatsApp from Archie.

He had found a way to help.

I asked him to write about it.

Four Days in Poland…

Written by Archie Manners

Like so many, I have been left aghast at the scenes we see from Ukraine, wondering what can be done for those forced to flee. Whilst donations are clearly an excellent way of helping, as a professional magician, it occurred to me that there might be another way to help. I wondered if performing for some child refugees might be a good idea.

That was on Friday morning. And everyone told me I was mad. But, by Friday evening, I was in the centre of Lublin, a Polish town 60km from the Ukrainian Border. Equipped with some warm clothes and a box of child-friendly magic, I met a man called Rob, who I had found through the Polish Red Cross. He, too, thought I was mad but was kind enough to help.

I spent a great deal of time working in the Red Cross Warehouse with Rob, sorting through the thousands of donated items – from toothbrushes and nappies, blankets and food. It was the perfect place to be useful when performing for the refugees wasn’t an option. But the primary purpose of my trip was to perform for children.

Unfortunately, I am not a children’s magician. Like many of you, I carry some sponge balls and have a thumb tip hidden away in the back of a cupboard. But I spend most of my year travelling the globe performing for quite glamorous people at quite glitzy parties. And my audiences are always adults. I packed some of those trusty sponge balls, a collection of rope, some silks, sharpies, cards, elastic bands, loops and flash paper. And off I went.

The first, in the swimming complex, housed 80 women and children. Formerly a sports hall, the lines of the basketball court were now covered by metal bed-frames, making it look part prep school, part prison. Women of all ages idled in the beds. Some were on their phones, desperately seeking news from loved ones still in Ukraine, others napping. The children sat in a play area – which was a corner of the Hall strewn with old toys, colouring books and sweets.

The first problem was getting in—the wonderful volunteers spoke no English, so I got out my phone and hit play on my pre-typed Google Translate message. The Google-voice read, in bit-part Polish:

‘Hello, my name is Archie, and I am a magician from London. I have come to Lublin to perform for the Ukrainian refugees here and wondered if I could come in and show the children some magic tricks’.

The look I received was as bemused as you’d expect. But after a bit of to-and-fro, I was welcomed in. Despite being full of mothers and children, I immediately noticed how quiet it was. Unsurprisingly, the Hall was not a place of laughter or smiles but instead had a funereal air. I struggled to imagine how these children felt, separated from their fathers and just about old enough to understand what was going on. They were supposed to be dreading going to school, dreaming of playing football, or irritating their parents over what to watch on TV. Instead, they were in a sports hall in Lublin, with no idea of what their future held.

With the help of the Red Cross, I was allowed in and sat on a bed next to two young girls. I asked them to put their hands out and gave them a small red sponge ball. Naturally, they didn’t speak any English and so had no idea why I was there, but with a bit of miming, I started making the ball disappear and reappear behind their ear – a simple magic trick.

The silence was interrupted by laughter. Slowly, all the children gathered around, followed by their parents. Before long, the Hall echoed with that most extraordinary of sounds –children laughing. It was such a simple thing, a ball just disappearing, and reappearing – but the mothers, aunts and grandmothers joined in, filming their children as they became more and more confused by a simple ball.

I continued performing until I had run out of magic and waved goodbye to the families. The 30 children ran towards me, and all hugged me, shouting ‘Goodbye’ in English. It made me realize that while these children may be safe, their involvement in this ghastly conflict is far from over.

The following day, Rob organized for me to visit ‘Deafzone’, a charity that houses deaf refugee children. These kids couldn’t hear the bombs that landed around them in Ukraine—they can’t hear anything. But they could literally feel them as they exploded, and now found their world even more challenging.

These children communicate exclusively in sign language. My sign language is limited to hand gestures that really aren’t suitable for children, so I resorted to performing in complete silence, a challenge to someone who relies on words for misdirection. This was really challenging – not only do I naturally crave an audience reaction but being forced to perform in silence made me realize how the children were just watching. My sleight of hand had to be top-notch.

Fortunately, having made a selected card float, their faces lit up. They smiled and frantically signed to each other. I hope the signing was positive, but it could have very easily been ‘Good God that Rope Trick was Awful’ or ‘I saw him put the playing card in his shoe. Why isn’t David Blaine here?’.

These children were, it seemed, completely without family. But they had each other – a group of remarkable young people with exactly the same experience. Unable to hear anything, forced from their homes, but with each other. They ranged from age five to seventeen, and the older ones were noticeably interacting with the younger ones. In that one sense, they did have family and were supported brilliantly – as all the refugees were – by the Polish community. Once again, though, their story is just beginning.

I visited a few other refugee sites, and the process was always the same. Trying to explain who we were to confused volunteers, performing for a small group of children before most of the Hall came to watch. One centre we visited, a larger site with perhaps 200 residents, a small girl I was performing for started crying.

I was halfway through my set, in front of about 30 children, when I noticed this small girl with a bottle of water, which she continually waved in my face as I was performing a well-known card routine, where a signed card appeared inside my wallet. I wasn’t sure what she wanted with the bottle of water, but when I finished the show, she looked at me with disgust in her eyes and began crying. I went over to her, worried that I had made her day even worse. The reason for her tears became obvious. The water was a present for me, and she was upset that I hadn’t taken it.

We all know that Magic is an international art. That there is nothing quite so versatile or able to elicit joy amongst people, wherever they are, and whoever they might be. Of course, refugees need food, shelter and warmth more than magic, but my time in Poland was an important reminder of how lucky we are, but also the ability we have to bring light into dark places.

Archie recommends donating to the Disasters Emergency Committee.

Butterfly Playing Cards for Ukraine.

Another friend, Ondrej, has been fantastic and launched a new version of his popular playing cards. 100% of the profit from the cards goes to humanitarian charities helping the people of Ukraine. Learn more and get yours here.

This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.oneahead.com/subscribe

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👋🏼 Hey, Rory here! Welcome to a ✨ free edition ✨ of my weekly newsletter. Each week, I share insights and secrets I learned working with the biggest names in magic.

“So, it’s a convention for magicians?” that’s what they say, “and only magicians can attend?” So I tell them that’s true. “How many magicians?” they ask, and I tell them six thousand. That’s when they spit out their coffee. After they take it all in, they’ll say, “And what do you all talk about?” I pause. Mostly just magic, I tell them. Satisfied, they drink some more coffee, “where did you say it was again?”

Blackpool, I tell them… Blackpool, England.

“Blackpool?” they say…

“Why Blackpool?”

This is a question every friend asks when I tell them I’m driving to the northern seafront town and into the February storms in pursuit of magic. It’s a question I still struggle to answer. It’s one I will try my best to answer for you today.

I just googled Blackpool so that I could share some details about the once historic and famous British seaside town, and these are the top results:

That’s the news of oil spill tar washing up on the beaches and a councilor comparing Blackpool to Chernobyl. The internet also tells me there will be strong winds of up to 96km/h over the convention this weekend.

I’d say pack a brolly, but I fear you will get blown away.

Alright. Blackpool is a large town and seaside resort on the northwest coast of England. It has an estimated population of 139,720 (which briefly becomes 145,720 for a weekend every February).

Blackpool became a major centre of tourism in England when some clever sods built a railway in the 1840s connecting it to the industrialised regions of northern England.

It was suddenly much easier and cheaper to visit Blackpool. By 1901, Blackpool became known as “the archetypal British seaside resort.”

Over time, people’s tastes in holidays changed and also flights to Spain are only a tenner (bargain), so Blackpool’s status as a leading resort came to an end.

Anyone visiting the town will see its businesses and economy have not quite received the memo or been able to change. Whilst it continues to attract millions of visitors every year, you do get a sense that you’re visiting a place that once was incredibly popular—and that you are visiting out of season.

What is the Blackpool magic convention?

Well, it’s the largest magic convention in the entire world. Thousands of magicians congregate to that little windy seaside town to watch lectures, buy magic tricks, network and get Nandos. It was founded in 1904 by the Blackpool Magicians Club, which certainly answers the question—why Blackpool?

If you are interested in magic at all, you should visit the convention. It’s the most insane event and weird in all of the best ways.

For an industry as niche as ours, BMC (as the cool kids call it) gives you the rare opportunity to meet and smell six thousand magicians all within the backdrop of the beautiful Winter Gardens Empress Ballroom.

Unlike so many hobbies and pursuits—you can meet your heroes in magic. You can stand alongside them as you watch a magic dealer pitch their latest magic trick. That’s right—there’s a dealers room that will host over 150 magic dealers from around the world this year.

I have an odd personal relationship with the convention. It was ten years ago when I attended for the first time. I only knew two magicians, and they’d been kind enough to drive me up from Bristol for the weekend. I signed away the rights to twelve tricks I’d created as a teenager at that convention.

I probably wouldn’t be exaggerating if I said I owe my career as a telly magic writer, and thus my career as a comedy telly writer, down to Blackpool Magic Convention.

A year later, I worked as a member of Dynamo’s creative team scouting new magic tricks. It was only a month or so after I’d accepted the job that would serve as my university degree equivalent in magic. I learned a lot in that role, and fast.

One year later, I was standing outside Winter Gardens (in the rain again) when Debbie Young (legendary Derren Brown TV producer) phoned to offer my first television gig as the lead magic consultant on ITV1’s The Next Great Magician.

That show quickly became my university degree equivalent in television. I learned how to produce hidden camera pranks, big dangerous stunts, studio shoots, and I also learned never to work with dogs again.

Since my first visit, I have only ever visited Blackpool in a working capacity.

This year will be my first convention back as an everyday visitor.

One year, in the rain outside The Winter Gardens, an Ex of mine broke up with me over a phone call between magic lectures. That was a strange, strange magic convention.

An hour or so later, Chris Ramsay (YouTube magician and expert puzzle solver) said hello to me, and I said hello back to him, sounding very much like someone who had just been broken up with on the phone in the rain at Blackpool Magic Convention. I was miserable.

Every year, I buy a different magic puzzle in the dealer’s hall and bring it back with me to give to my Papa. That’s my Grandad. He’s the man who got me into magic when I struggled to climb the dangerous metal ladder up into his attic as a five-year-old to retrieve the shoebox of magic tricks he collected in the Navy.

This year will be my first Blackpool, after which there will not be a Papa back in Bristol waiting to receive a new magic puzzle. This will make this a strange convention, though I am sure I will continue the tradition of finding a good magic puzzle to buy with him in mind.

This year will be the first convention in a few years for the many reading this post as they take the train, planes, rental car, and coaches to the rainy, “Chernobyl looking” beautiful Empress Ballroom. Primed and ready to squeeze into a children’s single bed at a local Bed and Breakfast and order a pint from the infamous Ruskin.

It will be the first time I see many friends of mine in several years.

It will be the first time I get to meet One Ahead members in person.

Panny-d caused the previous two conventions to be virtual, and prime minister Boris Johnson’s need to score political points after getting caught partying through all of the lockdowns has caused 2022’s convention to be very much in person.

There are no laws and no blanket restrictions, besides all of the rules and regulations the venue is rightly keeping in place for our safety.

I’m looking forward to seeing you there.

I want to give you a pin.

I have a cool pin to give you if you are a full member. We can have a quick chat, and I can learn more about you and how I can best provide value in future member-only newsletter posts.

I’ll be hanging out at these booths at these times. Feel free to say hello if you see me elsewhere, and if I have pins on me, I’ll give you one. I’m packing 300 pins, and it’ll be first come, first serve.

Friday 2:30-3 pm at the Visual Magic Store booth.

Saturday 9:30-10 am at the PlainSight Magic booth.

Sunday 2:30-3 pm at the Visual Magic Store booth.

If you are not a full member, and an enamel pin is the thing that finally convinces you to become one, you can do so here. It’ll cost you $10, which I’d say is worth its while for a pin and a chat and also the entire archive of member-only posts.

Make A Donation To A Blackpool Community Cafe.

I do want to end with this video piece by The Guardian about the impact of the pandemic, and recent universal credit cuts on the people of Blackpool. You can donate to the community cafe featured via PayPal here.

I will be donating all of the One Ahead revenue received from new subscribers during the convention weekend to Amazing Grace.

Thanks for taking the time to read this.

If you want something to listen to during your journey to the convention—I recently sat down for a conversation with the daily magician podcast. Listen here.

This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.oneahead.com/subscribe

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👋🏼 Hey, Rory here! Welcome to the ✨ occasional free edition ✨ of my weekly newsletter. Each week, I teach tricks and reveal secrets I learned working for the biggest names in magic. If you’re not a member, here’s what you missed this month:

A Self-Working Lottery Prediction: Learn It Now!

5 Easy SEO Wins For Professional Magicians

Turn Your Watch Into A Prediction Watch!

Let me start by thanking full members who make it possible to commission guest posts from incredible magic minds like this.

One of the odd things that have happened through this pandemic is we’ve discovered some incredible minds who wouldn’t usually share so much online. Dr Matt Pritchard is one of those great minds. I’ve repeatedly been sent his fascinating optical illusions. Each video feels like a puzzle, or a Tenyo trick, waiting to be solved. They often remind you of your childhood magic kits while also encapsulating the feel of huge stage illusions.

He’s a wise man, and I feel incredibly excited to introduce this guest post all about the assumptions his optical illusions exploit. Enjoy!

During the pandemic lockdowns, my work switched from live performances to creating optical illusions and short magic videos for social media. Mainly for my own amusement to fill the depressing void in my diary and to learn some new technical skills to help navigate the virtual world.

The Magic Circle announced the new ‘Virtual Magician of Year’ contest earlier this month. This got me thinking about the opportunities and pitfalls this recent lockdown fuelled medium has created.

Assumptions.

Magicians deal in assumptions—leading our spectators to think down incorrect paths and skip over crucial details that might betray hidden workings—making a smooth journey without any hint of the crunching of cognitive gear changes. At the final destination, it’s hard for viewers to deconstruct the magic effect because they have nothing to grip onto.

However, as magicians, we can often be both the victims and villains of making bad assumptions. They are often so insidious we’re unaware that we’re making them, which can lead us to limit our performances inadvertently.

An essay by Michael Close that helped open my eyes to the more creative use of assumptions can be found at the beginning of Workers 5—It’s recommended reading.

Let’s explore a few additional assumptions when creating magical video content…

1. The camera is seeing what an audience member would see.

Filming allows precise control over the environment akin to working in a well-equipped theatre but at a fraction of the cost. Many of my optical illusions make use of being able to control the viewing position and angle tightly.

Imagine what effects a stage illusionist would be able to present if they were only performing to a single spectator in seat D24 with their unique sightlines. As a virtual magician, you’ve got that opportunity.

Much like a theatre’s wings and proscenium arch, you’ve also got the edges of the camera frame to deploy to your advantage. A crude example is using the bottom edge of the screen to allow the ‘lapping’ of objects. Far more sophisticated applications exist, especially when combined with a timely zoom in or out of the scene to disguise the method. If you’re familiar with Jon Allen’s version of Professor’s Nightmare, you’ll know that he makes good use of edges to add conviction to that routine.

You can carefully set up lighting in conjunction with the camera’s settings to highlight specific areas or camouflage secrets. Although let’s not delude ourselves into thinking, the bold use of black art escapes the attention of spectators’ thoughts. I’m tired of seeing half my Instagram feed looking like it was filmed down a coal mine to make a tiny object vanish.

Some effects are impossible to do in real life because they are just too noisy (unless you’re on a large stage with loud music blaring). Not so when presented on a screen when microphones can be repositioned, temporarily muted, or the volume levels tweaked to hide tell-tale signs.

Question to ponder: How can I incorporate techniques used in a large theatre into my own work?

2. Magic only works from one angle.

From the very beginning of learning magic, we’re taught to watch our angles and make sure we don’t flash. What if having multiple angles on a performance enhances the effect? Video performances allow the possibility of doing just that, from ultra-close ups to instant slow-motion replays. We see this to good effect in shows like Britain’s Got Talent, where a close-up card trick can bring a standing ovation when blown up onto the big screen. The technology to do this in virtual shows requires very little investment and is relatively simple to operate solo during a show. It’s an easy win for increasing production values.

A quick tip: when presenting over platforms like zoom, “spotlight” alongside yourself a particularly expressive spectator during the magic moments. Their emotional reactions can elevate the performance.

Having extra perspectives can also add to the level of impossibility. Rather than a multi-phased routine, what about a multi-angled routine? Last year I made this video:

Admittedly it’s more of a puzzle than a blockbuster (and the music is annoying!). I only know of 2 people who figured it out unprompted. Can you?

Question to ponder: Where might adding another view aid your performance?

3. The magician is working alone.

Magic is largely a solo endeavour, especially in the realms of close-up magic. Performing through a camera lens allows off-stage assistants to aid your magic. They can literally be centimetres away from you and will remain hidden.

Question to ponder: Can recruiting a helper create new opportunities for my magic?

4. That would be too much work for the magician.

“Sometimes magic is just someone spending more time on something than anyone else might reasonably expect.” Teller

When I finally get around to writing a magic book, I’m going to call it “Impractical Magic.” I am fond of creating ridiculously overengineered setups to make my magic videos. I deliberately shy away from using conventional magic props and techniques. They’re primarily for my own enjoyment of setting and overcoming challenges. However, they do make them very hard to deconstruct as a spectator. There isn’t just one simple principle at work.

If your work goes beyond what can be imagined by a spectator, then you’re a good way towards creating a powerful effect. Here’s an example of mine that you only see the tip of the iceberg:

Virtual magic performances allow you the possibility of taking the time to create elaborate setups for your performances. You’ve not got the time pressure of a quick get in at a theatre or a TV crew impatiently waiting for you to fine-tune the set. Filming from a home studio allows the luxury that the likes of Copperfield and Penn & Teller have in having a consistent theatre setup to perform in. And you won’t need to spend the big bucks to kit it out. If you can track down a copy of Tom Mullica’s “Magic at the Tom Foolery” book, you can read how he custom-fitted his magic bar theatre.

Question to ponder: How can I customise my virtual studio to aid my magic?

5. The magician has amazing skills.

I love watching videos like these from Michael Wlotzka:

There is, of course, some skill here, but the real secret is patience. Imagine what it would look like if all you ever saw were the final successful attempts. The performer would seem like the most skilled juggler in the world. They could curate their skill.

In so many fields the nature of performance has changed. Previously a stage performer would present the same act hundreds of times, and each new audience would watch it once. Now an online performance may only ever happen once but may be viewed multiple times (often slowed down or even viewed frame by frame, as the curious spectator tries to excavate the secret).

This is both an opportunity and an obstacle.

Let’s think about two words: accuracy and precision. They don’t mean the same thing. I find it helpful to think about targets. Accuracy is a measure of how close to the bullseye your average shot is. Precision is a measure of how spread out these shots are. The diagram below helps us to understand how a combination of accuracy and precision might play out in four situations.

Traditionally, a good performer would have to be accurate and precise in executing sleights and prop handling. There is a good reason why most big-name magicians shy away from live TV performances, especially for one-off grand illusions.

As a little exercise, look at this Doug Henning performance of Walking Through a Brick Wall and see if you can spot what didn’t go to plan.

At least this time, it wasn’t an escaped tiger on the rampage backstage.

Pre-recorded video allows you to exploit an accurate and NOT precise way of working. Film multiple takes and then pick the best one. This is perhaps one of my biggest secrets to my lightning-quick illusion videos like this:

You’ve seen 1 video; you didn’t see the 99 I deleted because they weren’t good enough. Often, I would think I’ve got the perfect shot, but then zooming in and going frame by frame, I spot a glitch. (You do that, don’t you?) My skill is my patience. Filming my own content has allowed me to do this as there’s no film crew to pay or piss off with my fumbling attempts to get it right.

Question to ponder: Can you replace precision for patience?

But isn’t this all cheating?

Yes. Probably.

As an artist, you need to make some choices about values.

What are your creative rules to stick to? How do you define magic? What is the role of a magician? What would you like your audience to experience? Do you want consistency between your in-person and virtual performances?

Knowing the answer to these questions will help decide what areas of deception you feel comfortable using and what areas to stay clear of. Some of what I’ve written above makes me feel uncomfortable. I also know past-Matt would be criticising present-Matt for some of the choices I now make. Virtual magic is a medium with huge potential to explore and gives us some of the tools previously only reserved for big-budget productions. Let’s keep pushing our art and craft forward.

Question to ponder: How can I use the restrictions of virtual shows to my advantage and to move magic forward?

This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.oneahead.com/subscribe