Desert Island Tricks
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Desert Island Tricks
Luca Volpe
On this episode of Desert Island Tricks, we talk with amazing mentalist Luca Volpe. Listen as Luca shares why the Stealth Assassin wallet tops his list of must-have tricks and how it enhances his performances by prioritising the journey over the reveal.
But that’s just the beginning. Luca takes us on a journey through his favorite magical tools, including a classic gimmick revamped for mentalism and the emotionally powerful Grismer lock from his FISM act. He emphasizes the significance of emotional connection and storytelling, showing how even simple tools can make a profound impact. For anyone passionate about mentalism, Luca's insights into using everyday items to build emotional resonance and memorable experiences are truly invaluable.
Luca also delves into the mysterious allure of tarot cards and pendulums, and how they can turn a standard trick into a mesmerizing performance. As we explore the evolution of his "The Fox" folio and reminisce about timeless techniques from Bascom Jones volumes, Luca’s stories remind us of the magician’s unique ability to craft lasting human connections. Tune in to discover how you can elevate your own magic and mentalism performances by focusing on the little things that make a big difference.
Luca's Desert Island List:
Stealth Assassin Wallet by Peter Nardi
NYX Project by Luca Volpe
Thumb Tip
The Grismer Lock by Paul McCaig
Pendulum
Tarot Deck
The Fox Folio by Luca Volpe
Crystals
Bascom Jones Book
Pocket Multi Tool Knife
A podcast about being an artist from a practical perspective. The series will...
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Find out more about the creators of this Podcast at www.alakazam.co.uk
Thank you for watching.
Speaker 2:Hello and welcome to another episode of Desert Island Tricks. I'm actually in the studio today, but still doing it virtually. But for a very good reason, because today's guest is someone that's very, very hard to pin down because he is so busy. In fact, seconds ago he just showed me his flight plan, flight plan, flight to plan, and, my goodness me, he is one busy, busy man indeed, so it's really exciting to have him here. He is another big friend of alakazam. I know that we've had lots and lots of his items in stock. We've actually had him here for an academy as well, and I was actually just saying to him how much I enjoyed some of the effects on that. They are so direct, they play massive, they're really commercial and they're all really clever effects, which is pretty much like everything I've ever, ever seen from this man. So I'm not going to tease anymore. You would have seen the name in the title anyway. Today's guest, of course, needs no introduction. He is Mr Luca Volpe. Hello.
Speaker 3:Luca. Hello everyone. Hi Jamie, thank you very much for having me here.
Speaker 2:Now, it's a pleasure to have you on here. Well, like I I say we're very lucky to pin you down.
Speaker 3:By the sounds of it, you're very, very busy, man well, there are many flights going on here, so the next months will be crazy. But yeah, it looks like it.
Speaker 2:You've got to really enjoy airplane food to do what uh luke is doing.
Speaker 3:That's what it is well actually they recognize me in the airports. In fact you know, when you normally go in the airport with the job we do, we have all sort of weird things in our bags. So you know, at the beginning of course they sometimes they stops you, but now they actually recognize me. They say oh, he's the magician, let him go that's really nice.
Speaker 2:Yeah, that must make life a lot easier. I'm sure that many performers listening probably have some excellent horror stories of things that have been in their bags at airports.
Speaker 3:Well, yes, actually there's a friend of mine. I will not say the name, but he had with him the sword of monte cristo. You know the routine yeah, yeah and uh as a hand luggage, and you don't want that, especially if you go in places where you can be arrested. So you know there's a big story about it, but you know you need to be careful what you bring with you on the plane yep, I agree, uh, but I'm very excited to hear what your list is.
Speaker 2:Um, luca is surrounded by books, so I'm guessing that was going to be a very difficult choice. Um, but we always allow honorable mentions, so you are allowed honorable mentions as many as you like. But in case you haven't heard before, uh, the concept of the podcast is we are going to whisk luca away. In fairness, we don't need to. Looking at his um, his schedule, uh, he's going to be whisked away to a desert island. When he goes, he's only allowed to take eight tricks a one book and one non-magic item, particulars like where the island is, who's on the island? Does he have audience or not? That sort of stuff it doesn't really matter. This is about his ultimate list of tricks, that if he could perform them for the rest of his life, that's what he would take. Now, normally, I have a guess. Luca is obviously very famous for his mentalism, so I'm going to guess that this is going to be a mentalist heavy list, which I love personally.
Speaker 3:Yes, it is, but there is a mixture, I would say, of everything, not only mentalism and not only magic, because it doesn't mean that we need to do magic with magic stuff. We can do magic with something else too.
Speaker 2:Oh, very nice. Okay, I'm intrigued already. So let's whisk you away, Luca. Let's take you to your island and find out what's in your first position.
Speaker 3:Yeah, first position. I know it's a little biased, but it's not, because it's like an interview. But you need to know that my everyday wallet from I don't know years I don't even know how many years is the Stealth Assassin wallet and it's something that I have and Peter knows. Actually, when we meet I always have this wallet with me because it's my actual everyday wallet and actually I have the first Alagazam Stealth Assassin, but it's still the branding of the made in UK, made in England wallet, which was one of the first ones.
Speaker 3:And it still works very well, actually, you know, I know, people cannot see it, but it's actually here, you see, wow, you can see People know because they're only here. But this is the actual stamp see, uh, a stamp of a genuine leather made in england. I think this was one of the first one. It still works really well, still my favorite wallet and I I can do like a 20 minutes show with it okay.
Speaker 2:So we've had this a lot and I like to be devil's advocate, so I'm gonna be devil. I'm going to do what I've done with all other guests. If you could only perform one routine with your stealth assassin, what would that one routine be?
Speaker 3:Well, I will personally do a drawing duplication routine, but taking the spectator in a different journey. So I will simply ask him to make a drawing, to hide the drawing in a wallet and then we will proceed to a journey. Because for me, as I say, it's not the reveal, it's the destination, it's the journey. It's not the destination, it's the journey you want to have with the spectator during a routine. I think this is the most important thing, something that suddenly I don't see today, especially in young magician and mentalists that try to go directly to the point. I always think, okay, if you have real powers, what do you do? You know you do by steps, right, and honestly, the thing is that because you know you, we know what the spectator has drew, why not to do it for real? Why you don't really try to push yourself and try this for real? Because you still have a baker, but then you know what it is, but why you don't actually try to understand and feel what the spectator is feeling.
Speaker 3:I I think this is a good exercise in general and you know there is also people that does like contact, mind reading, pseudo contact, mind reading routines, and I always say you ask the spectator to choose a card. They're lost in the deck and you know which is the card. But now you do this kind of fake contact mind reading, but why not to do for real? Why not to really learn? You know how to do this kind of fake contact mind reading, but why not to do for real? Why not to really learn how to do this? And there are people like Richard Osterling and many others that they do really well, so it's all a matter of training.
Speaker 2:So, as I say, use wisely all these methods and try to actually do it for real and make the spectator leaving the journey with you to the mind reading yeah, amazing, so I think you are completely right a drawing duplication with what it feels really, I've seen some people that use, um, that sort of thing for the reveal of, like a playing card or something that it feels too limited. What's the point when you can literally make someone think up anything in the entire world? Why? A playing card.
Speaker 3:Yes, exactly, especially if you make the drawing mean something to them. So I normally say you know, imagine you are in a museum, but in this museum there are no pictures, there is only one blank canvas. And imagine that you start to make a paint. You take a, you know, make a paint. You can do black and white, it can be with colors, something simple, but something that represents your life in this moment, something that has a meaning for you. So do you have in mind?
Speaker 3:Good, okay, now you know, as albert einstein said, we need to put on paper what we think, so that we can reach our dreams and desires. So please, take a piece of paper, write it down, make the drawing, because this now is a physical proof of what you're thinking. Okay, so we hide this away so that I cannot touch it. You cannot touch it. Now, give me your hands and take me with you in this beautiful, beautiful, you know museum and let's have a look together the picture that you just drew in your mind. So, as you can see, now, everything changed. Now, the pieces of pieces, paper, the wallet, that doesn't mean anything. It's just a physical proof of what they think. Even now, what is really is the moment it, what is the routine now, is basically the journey that you're living with them with that, with that imagination. So at the end they, they will remember this. They will even forget that they actually did the drawings, you know.
Speaker 2:Yeah, amazing, absolutely. I hope that you never go to my museum because those paintings will not be very good looking.
Speaker 3:No, mind you, I'm not great. You know to draw anything, but we will leave me messy in my drawings.
Speaker 2:Superb first start, and that brings us on to your second item. So what's in his second position?
Speaker 3:well, uh, to be honest, it's my nyx deck now, and I tell you why because this is my baby. I've been, uh, designing this deck with phil smith that we all know is a genius, so designing playing cards and all his systems. Okay, because we cannot say exactly what it is, but you know how Phil is on this kind of thing. We've been working about maybe eight months there's almost a baby, I would say and I think this I try to create a deck of cards that you can actually perform anything, because every card has three elements there's a word which is a motivational words, and we actually I collected the best motivational words that you can use when you do corporate performances. Um, because I this is my main job, I do a lot of corporate shows all around the world and you know there are words in English that are always used most of the time. So I try to use a collection of 52 motivational words that are internationally recognized, and then every card older than the word has a number from 1 to 52. And also, the other corner has a playing card, the corner of a playing card. So, basically, you can do anything. You can do tricks with cards, you can do tricks with numbers so you can predict the lottery numbers, lottery tickets, you can do motivation routine, and everything comes with other than the full video download. I actually wrote a book where I explain a full mentalism show that you can do straight from your pocket, only using this tech.
Speaker 3:On stage there is a beautiful routine that I do all all the time. It's called words. I do this in my corporate shows and it kills. I mean, it's an incredible routine, very strong. I mean, if you have this, this wire on a desert island, you have this on you. There is audience or not, whatever it is, but you can perform a full mentalism show with nothing else than this deck. And it took me months to go through all the design. This is why I really care. It's always with me. It's one. I will say an emergency show, that's it. Your flight goes on, that's it. Your flight goes on a desert island. Your luggage is lost. What do you do? But you have the next deck in your pocket. You can still do shows and perform.
Speaker 2:Yeah, that sounds amazing. It sounds like the ultimate pack.
Speaker 3:Small plays big, especially if you're doing it for big people. With the time I will try to go. I think my next step is to go and travel with nothing. Basically, just go on stage, the people, and that's actually a very important point if you, if we can have a minute, because you know all the tricks we talk about and everything else you take with you and beautiful things you know. But at the end of the day, what matters in those the tricks, tricks, it's you.
Speaker 3:So I always think that a good performer needs to be able to perform without anything, just with this presence, with this persona, with this speech. You don't need to be a comedian to entertain people. You can just talk and listen. I mean, if you see the greatest psychic entertainers, if you would talk also professional psychic entertainers like John Edwards, for example John Edwards is a famous psychic entertainers if you would talk also professional psychic entertainers like John Edwards, for example. John Edwards is a famous psychic entertainer. He's not a mentalist at all, but he goes on stage and he starts to talk with dead people, if you want to say it like this. But if we see beyond that, we need to understand the techniques behind it. He just talks with people. He entertained them answering questions, okay, talking with dead people or whatever, but there's nothing else. There are no pieces of paper in play, there is no pens, there's nothing. It's just him and the people.
Speaker 3:So I think we actually I think mentalists and magicians they need to work on this, on being able to really go on stage and say to people okay, look, I'm a mind reader, I'm a mentalist, I have a special connection with people. I would like each one of you to think of a question. When you have a question in your mind, just say out loud. For example, gentleman there, tell me which is your question, I will try to answer with my inner intuition. And that's exactly what you know. Great psychics in the past, they were doing Just this. You know most of the time that, if you think about the shamans, that's exactly what they were doing. They were going in trance, answering questions, that's it, nothing else. So I think we really need to say, okay, we have tricks, we have a lot of tricks. They're beautiful, we all do, we all buy things, but we need to work a lot of on ourself, on our persona and how to be able to entertain without anything yeah, amazing, amazing, very, very true, and I bet the motivational wording on those as well.
Speaker 2:That aspect of it must make it feel so much more unique and genuine.
Speaker 3:Yes, exactly, exactly.
Speaker 2:So that brings us on to your third item. What's in your third position, Luca?
Speaker 3:Well, it's a gimmick that we all know, that is normally used on our hands. Okay, I think you understand what I'm talking about, and now we've been using that. Maybe it's one of the first things we learn when we start magic. Okay, and suddenly it's one of the things that magicians now and even mentalists. They don't use, because there are incredible applications to mentalism too. In fact, there are mentalists of the past that have been using for predictions, like a prediction in the block of ice, for example.
Speaker 3:There was a beautiful routine using this method only and nothing else. I imagine how powerful it is. You have this tube inside a block of ice, in full view for through all the show, and then the spectators tell you various things, or maybe they tell you words, and then you have these people breaking the block of ice. You take the tube, you show your hand empty and from inside you take one single piece of paper and take exactly that word. That Spectator was thinking Now, look how strong is, how clean is, and because the method is very simple, we kind of forget about it, right? But in reality, if you don't use it to make I don't know a silk disappear, okay, well, the people don't know about it. The audience don't know that exists.
Speaker 3:So there are so many other applications. If you are on a desert island, you can make sand appear, or sand appear from paper or whatever it is. I mean, there are so many applications. The limit is only your imagination, and especially in mentalism. It's not an item that's been used very well. In fact, I'm working on some project now on how to actually work more with this tool in mentalism performances From, I don't know, it can be predictions, it can be, you know, a bank night routines. I mean there are many applications you can use this and I'm working on a project that will be in the future because I don't have time, but I'm writing down various ideas on how to use this tool. So I think this is a must have on the desert island.
Speaker 2:I agree. It's one of those things, just then as well, where, if people didn't realize what you're on about at the very beginning of what you just said, as soon as you said to make a silk disappear, everyone suddenly worked out what you were going on about. But yeah, you're right. But just because it's synonymous with one thing, it doesn't mean that it can't be used in other ways.
Speaker 3:Yeah, because lay people buy the box of magic and they get these with the silk. So that's the only way they use it right, if they use it, because normally a lot of people buy magic to know how something works and they don't even use anymore. So, as you say, it's a powerful tool used in the right way.
Speaker 2:Absolutely A little bit devil's advocate with you, just a tiny bit. If you could only do one routine using that item, what would it be?
Speaker 3:prediction routine no doubt prediction routine, because it's not used as a prediction tool. Uh, I told you maybe it's been used, it's been written about that, maybe in the old books you know from anderman and you know the very old ones, maybe Robert Nelson too and stuff like this. But that's the use I will do.
Speaker 2:Amazing. And that already brings us to your halfway point, luca. Great choice so far, as predicted, very mentalism heavy, which I'm loving. So what's in your fourth position?
Speaker 3:Well, I will bring here that's another mentalist tool. Something that I used in my FISM Act is the Griezmann log. Now, the Griezmann log is a combination log which is very simple in use. It's not electronic, nothing. But that's another thing that, if used well, it opens incredible potential. I created my FISM act a few years ago when they did a FISM Italy and I was actually the only mentalist doing a very intimate act in front of 3,000 people I mentioned. The light went down. Actually, that is on YouTube.
Speaker 3:If you go to Dream Act or something like this, luca Volpe, you will find the full Fiesmacht there and it was really emotional. It was nothing else than a rose, the lock and a diary. That's it. I mean you can expect on Feastman, like this huge production thing, and I was totally the opposite.
Speaker 3:You know two people on a big stage with beautiful light and very emotional connection. It was incredible because you can, it was so silent. You know you have 3000 people just fully concentrated on you and this person and their dreams, because the idea was that she was able to find the combination to unlock her dream. And then at the end, I didn't reveal the dream, I just gave him an envelope, a red envelope with the rose and I told them look, inside this rose there is your dream, but you're not able to open yet. You will only open this envelope when the last petal of the rose will fall. So it was very poetic, very romantic. You see, poetry. Mentalism is another thing that is not around and I talk about a lot in my book. You know emotional mentalism and the other ones. It's how to connect with people with mentalism, and the Griezmann lock, again, is a metaphor on how we can unlock our dreams in finding the combination.
Speaker 2:Wow, that sounds incredible. I've not seen that, but I'm definitely watching that tonight. That's definitely what I'm going to do as soon as I get back. Yeah, that sounds incredible. There are lots of trick locks available nowadays that tend to work in a very similar fashion, other than sort of the more modern electronic ones, without going too much into it. But what I love about them and I mean Derren Brown famously used a lock opening trick in his very first stage show many, many years ago, and I think it's actually part of the opening routine oh no, so he gives her the case.
Speaker 3:It's a closing routine and that lock was built by the late Mick Henslick.
Speaker 2:Oh, wow.
Speaker 3:Mick Henslick built that lock for Darren Brown.
Speaker 2:But what's amazing about it is it can play. Like you just said, you used it on stage in an intimate performance. But they're excellent close up, they're excellent parlor and they're excellent stage. And it's just a tiny lock.
Speaker 3:But the fact that it's used to illustrate a larger item, like locking a box or unlocking a dream which is even more powerful with, with the power of your uh, you know your mind, your intuition. You are able to find the number. Because I tell her, I said look, your job is to overcome your self-limiting belief, finding the combination that opens the lock. If you don't find the combination, you will never reach your dreams. So is a. And then when she finally opened the lock because I give the lock in her hands and the end, when she opened the lock, they say you see she? She smiled, not because she find the combination, but because she overcome the limit. You know she, at the beginning she said I will never be able to find the combination, but now that you overcome the limit, you know that anything is possible. So you know that you can reach your dreams yeah, that's amazing.
Speaker 2:Um, I think lots of people are going to be looking that up. Uh, hopefully everyone's going to your youtube, not now wait for this to finish, but go straight there after there. Um, so that brings us to your fifth item. Over your halfway point, what's in your fifth position? Luca?
Speaker 3:a pendulum. Now, the pendulum is an incredible tool. I actually wrote the show and this also book that came out like a few times a few weeks ago. It's called the pendulum act intuitive. So basically, you with a pendulum, with just a simple pendulum, you can actually create incredible moments. Now, again, this is one of those things where you say, oh yeah, that's just a pendulum swinging the people in my hand, what do I need to do with that? Well, you're wrong if you think this, because a pendulum is a fantastic tool that the people, again are not used to it. So the pendulum, when the pendulum starts to swing, when you tell the spectator look, hold the pendulum and tell the pendulum to move in circle, and the pendulum actually starts to move in circle, and then you say, okay, now move back and forth, change the position, and the pendulum will change position, change movements. Well, this is incredible. I mean, the people go crazy when I do Closer Magic. Sometimes I just spend my time at the table because the people want to actually try the pendulum in their hands and I don't have time to do anything else. So it's really, really powerful.
Speaker 3:It can be connected with your intuition. You can find the playing cards, even the simplest routine. When you ask the spectator to choose a card, they place it back in the deck. You spread the deck on the table and you move the pendulum around the cards and you find their cards, maybe holding their hands. I mean, it pushed the routine to a completely different level. It's not anymore you find a card, you choose a card. I find it Now it's all different. Now it's connection, it's intuition. Find it, now it's all different. Now it's connection, it's intuition, it's completely, totally different. So the pendulum is an incredible and I have a collection of pens where you don't, maybe you have no idea. I have all the kind of pandas with with witness. You know the one that you open you can place a piece of paper in it. I have some handmade ones. I mean every kind of pendulum you can imagine I have.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I agree, I think a pendulum is something that's really overlooked. We actually had a guest on this recording obviously that they're going to be released at different times, but just a few days ago who I'm not going to mention because I'm not sure when his episode's going out but we had a long discussion about pendulums and the fact that it becomes something that's not about the performer at all, it's all about the audience and it's all about their experience and their control over this thing, and sometimes the things control over the person, because you know it can go either way, it can be reframed in different ways. For people.
Speaker 3:Yes, exactly. But even if you have like just literally five business cards and only one they wrote, they write their name or their dreams or whatever and you tell the, you give the panel, say, look, now we're going to try to find your dream with the user, with use of your intuition, and you literally need nothing. I mean good mentalism. I always say elegance is minimalism, okay. So more minimalist you are in the props you use, more elegant you look, and this, I think, is very important. Also, when you go very elegant with a nice suit, you know at the table, or you do like an intimate show and you take a beautiful pendulum from your pocket, it's changed completely the look, the atmosphere, the perception that the people have of you.
Speaker 3:And this, I think, is a very important point. You know we need to be able to look at these things in another way. We know we all buy things. You know we like to buy stuff because, of course, it's important for our growth. You know, because we learn from other people. But at the same time, let's have a look how we can be minimalist and create impossible things. I mean five business cards and a pendulum and the stealth assassin wallet and a lock. If you want to put this together, you literally have now a show on you that has an incredible impact on the audience, very powerful, and they will never forget it one.
Speaker 2:One of the things that I quite liked is so some performers don't use pendulums because they're worried that they won't quote-unquote work right this is just fear it is absolutely fear, um, but one way that I thought of getting around that last year was um, if it were, if there was maybe not as much of a reaction on stage, if I had five participants up and there wasn't one that reacted as well, I would simply walk up to them, ask them to open up their hand, put the pendulum in their hand and say try this when you get home. I think something different will happen. If it does, please contact me. And then I sit them back down. Now the interesting thing is they go home, they try it and you get a message a couple of weeks later of people saying oh my, my God, how did it work at home. It was amazing. And you know you can talk them through whatever you want, but it's a great way to get connection after your event as well.
Speaker 3:Yeah, exactly. But at the end of the day it's all about confidence and you commanding the audience, having you know, and and also it's important in the choice of your participant. You know, at the end, at the beginning, I always do some tests to understand how the people react and stuff, and that the, I think, is also experience, because you know, once you do this job from 35, 40 years and you do all shows everywhere for any kind of people, you start to find patterns and you know which are the one that works better for one thing, which are the one that work better for another one, which are the one that work better for another one. You know so for sure you don't want to do the pendulum in a bar, somewhere where the people are already drunk. You know you don't want to use the pendulum. So there are tricks for specific places, you know.
Speaker 2:Absolutely, and I don't want this to turn into a podcast just about pendulums, but one of the ways that um like just as a option for people if they want to get into it. Asking people if they've had a spiritual experience or a ghostly experience will automatically make have people on stage that you know are going to be yeah, asking this question.
Speaker 3:It's better because you like, you say you. Basically they tell them like the hypnotist does. If you don't say, okay, who has been hypnotized before here? And then, of course, if you raise your hand, they call you hello guys.
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Speaker 2:But that brings us on to your sixth item. Luca, what's in your sixth position?
Speaker 3:Yeah, from Pendulum we move to another thing which is very connected to pendulum tarot deck. Because the tarots, again just a major arcana, I will say, um, not all of it. Um, tarots is not a, not a thing that is really not very much used by mentalists or magicians. And I think that, uh, first of all they create curiosity because, again, if you're a magician, especially you do a trick with tarot cards, it suddenly becomes something different. Now it's not anymore finding five of hearts, even if playing cards has meanings, but it's finding the wheel of fortune, for example, or finding the cards of the fool or the magician or whatever it is. So you actually can transform with the Tarots, a simple trick in something a lot more meaningful. And also the people that normally don't believe is inevitable, but as soon as they see a Tarot card or a deck of Tarots, they say, oh, please, can you read me? You know, can you tell about my future? So you suddenly become also their, you know their readers, a psychic reader or whatever it is.
Speaker 2:But so, again, tarot cards and a pendulum together, then incredible weapon, incredible weapon and it's also a completely different market that you can tap into that I don't think magicians think of um. Earlier on you said you know, one day you hope to be able to just travel with nothing on you, or seemingly nothing on you, and a tarot card, a deck of tarot cards, and something else that you just said is the major arcana. I also think that the major arcana is sort of all you need um number one, because that's what's most represented in in the public's opinion and their, their minds. They don't really understand tarot beyond that aspect of it, and also it becomes a little bit convoluted in terms of the amount of everything that's going on. You want it to have some sort of simplicity to it, otherwise it just gets overwhelming for everyone and a pendulum and let's say you can go on stage asking people questions.
Speaker 3:They, the people can ask questions. Use a pendulum, finding a, a card, and you turn the cards, you give the answer. Let's say I did my theater tour in italy uh, it was funny enough, was called secrets. It was long before then and brown come up with his uh show. Um, it was a show which I wrote with Luke Germain. He helped me out to write the show and we did a tour in Italy with this show and actually I had a full section of question and answer where literally I was on stage with the questions into this big bowl and I was moving the pendulum on that and answering people's questions. There was a mixture of it. It was people asking open questions and it was also me answering thought of questions. So it was a little bit of a mixture of it.
Speaker 3:It's a very difficult piece to pull off on stage because there is just you improvising, because you cannot have stock readings in your brain. You really need to go with the flow and the best way you know what is. Imagine that you're talking with a friend and you're giving advice to a friend. That's the best way to do reading and to improvise as a reader in that moment, forget that you have an audience around. Just imagine that jamie, your friend, is asking, asking a question, and I just telling him what I really feel from my heart and from my intuition. That's it. That is the best way to do readings.
Speaker 2:Amazing. How many times have you come off stage and someone asked you for a personal reading after the show and someone asked you for a personal reading after the show.
Speaker 3:All the time, all the time it depends from the show I do. When I do more corporate, which is more professional, to the point routines, that not always happen they always ask me more about motivational stuff, how to reach goals and stuff. But when I do my theatre show or I do my intimate show, which is called a magical life, which is basically uh the show, where it's my journey from magic to mentalism, it's an intimate uh show for 12 people that I do in specific places and there there is also some pendulum works. And all the time they ask me to do a quick reading for them. And you know what I do. I just tell them open the palm of your hand on top of my palm, I move the pendulum on top of the palm of their hands and, based on how the pendulum move, I do the reading for them.
Speaker 2:No cards needed. Amazing, that sounds incredible, um, so that brings us onto the tail end of your eight tricks. So what's in your seventh position, luca?
Speaker 3:there is my release, it's called the fox. Now the fox folio is really every now that the fox folio 2.0, basically that we did the release few, I think last year or this year, I don't even remember, because we put on so many releases now and the first one it went really well. So basically, the idea of the Fox is a folio. It's not a wallet, is a folio that contains a full mentalism show, four stage, and that fits in your pocket. When I was doing cruise ships, which I did for for 13 years I had the needs of having with me another 45 minutes show that basically was taking no space. So I created a very rudimental, terrible fox where that contains this 45 minute show. Then I spoke with Alan Wong and together we actually created this folio which has so many features which all mentalists knows, plus all routine, all the show written on a book that comes with the Fox, from the opener to the final prediction.
Speaker 3:I mean there is everything. If you learn the show, how it's explained, you can basically take the fox and travel the world with nothing else than a folio in your pocket and this is a perfect tool to take on a desert island because, again, everything is there. You don't need anything else. And again, if you think it, all the items which I talk about today, they can actually be all together creating a show Include the stealth assassin, the deck the Nyx deck that thing I said before the gimmick that we all know the lock, the pendant, the tarot deck and the fox, plus the next one I'm going to tell you in a moment. If you take this list and with a little bit of creativity you put everything together, you have more than one hour show. So what I'm giving to you guys is not only the list of tricks that I will take with me, but it's an exercise in creativity on how to take these eight items today and create a show.
Speaker 2:Yeah, incredible. And all of that packs so small.
Speaker 3:Yes, you can have a pouch with everything we say today, a pouch which is smaller than an iPad mini.
Speaker 2:Wow, yeah, that's incredible. All of that as well. Like an entire stage show in a small bag Incredible. You've already alluded to what your last one is, so I'm wondering where this is going to go. What's in your eighth position?
Speaker 3:Crystals, crystals, crystals. You know, like you can see, you people can only hear, but the people that you, you can see behind me, uh, you can see that there are different crystals. Now, crystals are very powerful tool. Uh, I also got two certification in crystal therapies and crystal medicine therapy. Because I like crystals, you know, I always I studied crystals, uh, and I think they're very powerful tools that help us to connect our minds, body connection. People can believe anything they want, but I think if you want to think on the psychological way sides of things, when you hold a crystal that you know has a specific meaning, that can psychologically help you. In fact, crystals are used also in medicine to help people to overcome some you know fears and self-limiting beliefs. You know there are people that give you specific crystals for specific things you know, because crystals contain specific elements you know, like the amethyst or the quartz crystals and stuff like this. Now imagine this. Imagine that you do reading for a spectator and then you have a bag which is technically called the shaman bag. Okay, you have a leather bag with inside a bunch of different color crystals and you say look, you asked me about your inner intuition. You're worried of things right now, and this is a amethyst crystal. The amethyst crystal helps to open our inner intuition. So before you go to sleep, just place the crystal on your third eye, take a nice step, a deep breath and concentrate, see yourself in thinking on uh, open your intuition, opening your mind, and you will see that new ideas will flow in your mind. And you give this in a little bag to the spectator. That's it, and that becomes an incredible memento they will take with them forever. It's just one crystal. So if you know about crystal which again, you can get so many books or you can go online Buy the main ones you know the citrine, the rose quartz, the crystal quartz, all these main crystals that have a specific meaning. So crystal, rose quartz, with love and relationship, you know Quartz crystal can be like psychic healing or whatever it is. You know you can have all these simple meanings that you will remember and you can do many things. You can give this as a meanings that you will remember and you can do many things. You can give this as a souvenir to the spectator.
Speaker 3:I have a beautiful routine where I give the crystal in the spectator's hands and they imagine to send all the negative energy inside the crystal. And then the hands become heavier and heavier. And do you see the spectator, the hands of the spectator, going down slower, slower, slower. And then I take the crystal. I clean the crystal in the spectator, going down slower, slower, slower. And then I take the crystal. I clean the crystal in the water, I throw the water, so it's a mini ritual. And then I say, okay, now, instead of sending bad energy, you are going to absorb positive energy. And then the crystal become part of them, become a memento. They will always keep with them, forever, you know. So, crystals again, if you put the crystal with the tarot, with the pendulum and anything else we talk about today, this is your exercise, guys. So listen again the interview. Take a piece of paper and a pen and write down all the items I just told you and imagine how you can put them together in creating something that is meaningful for you.
Speaker 2:Amazing. I love the idea of that the crystal and the weight coming down.
Speaker 4:I think that's amazing.
Speaker 2:Now, I've never massively been into crystals, I'm not going to lie. However, one of my best friends is massively into crystals and at the end of last year she took me into a crystal shop in London, in central London, and when we were in there she said I'm going to buy you your first crystal. I was like, ok, excellent. So she gave me this crystal and I said, well, what does it mean? And she said it's for work. So hopefully this will bring you some sort of success in work or in your job.
Speaker 3:The week after that, pete phoned me and spoke to me about working for Alakazam connecting that that happened with peter to the crystal, and you are a magician, so imagine it in the hands of a lay person. Okay, that has no idea of magic, no idea of this coincidence that become incredibly powerful and you haven't make any motorbike disappear in me there. You just give to a spectator a crystal in their hand, so see how powerful it did. They will remember this forever. I do a routine with the keys and the locks and I was doing this on the cruise ship and basically the spectator find the key that opened the lock with their intuition and they overcome self-limiting belief, kind of the one with the numbers with the lock. Um, they said their dream was to open a spa in los angeles. After a few months she sent me a picture of the key framed in a in a in their spa in los angeles wow. And she said this is thanks to you and to that key wow so now, as you can, just a little item can become incredibly powerful.
Speaker 3:So when you go out, I think you always need to leave magic. You need to be a magician. Even when you go out to buy a Tesco or whatever it is, you have crystals, a few crystals in your pocket, because you'll never know. You can meet someone that you see they're a little bit sad or whatever it is. Or it happens that you talk with someone, just give them a crystal and see what happened.
Speaker 2:You know you can really change people's life with a little thing uh, incredible, uh, that crystal is still on my desk as well, so it just goes to show. Um, so that brings us on to our two curveballs. That's because we never know where these ones are going to go. Uh, the book, because you only have one and there are so many incredible books. And, of course, the item, because we never know where that's going to go. Um, so what was in your book position, luca?
Speaker 3:well, actually it's one, but it's part of a series of book. Is the bascom johns the bascom john volumes. I think there are eight volumes or seven. I think eight is the index one. Anyway, there's seven, eight volumes. They're huge, and there is all the mentalism that you can ever find in the world. Okay, now, they're very old techniques, but this is not important, because in the old stuff you find modern stuff, right, and there are ideas from the greatest and also the people that we don't know. We completely forgot. The magic of bascom jones, I think, is an incredible resource for mentalists and magicians okay, amazing.
Speaker 2:Um, the listeners know what's about to happen, though, luca. The listeners know that I'm about to be devil's advocate, because on the island, you're only allowed to take one book, even if it's a part of a series. So if our guests or our listeners were to buy just one of those series of books, which one would you recommend?
Speaker 3:Well, now I don't remember which topics there are in each volume, because each volume covers basically everything. So, remember which topics there are in each volume, because each volume cover basically everything. So there are topics that are repeated, uh, and topics that are not repeated, of course, but I think the first three volumes, one of the first three, that where there is the gold dust in it, you know.
Speaker 2:So I will go with one of the first volumes, so that's one I always enjoy trying to discover things. That's one I'm going to be looking up as well. Do you know what I'm going to read that, as I'm watching your show on YouTube? That's what I'm going to do. That's great. So what was your item? Well, it's this A Victorinox knife.
Speaker 3:Okay, you know because a pocket knife. And this is actually special because see on the back what is written oh wow, the mentalist on the back here. So, victorinox, I always have with me this. You have no idea how many times this little knife saved my life. First of all, you know I have glasses. Sometimes they screw the things and you have to screw in it. Second, you have like you're doing a show and the button fall, or you have some thread that you need to cut, or you need to round cards or anything else you have to do. If you have a pocket knife in your pocket, a multi-tool pocket knife, it really saves your butt from many situations. It's an incredible tool and especially if you are on a desert island, how you can eat the fruit you need to cut with something. So I think this is a very good tool.
Speaker 2:That's great. That's really really cool. I I know lots of magicians as well who, um, especially gimmick makers and people that like making stuff, that have like a little satchel or a little bag that they take with them and it's always got a little multi-tool or a little knife in there, because they're just so handy when you least expect it you.
Speaker 3:You never know. In fact, sometimes you go in a hotel and there is some screw. You need to do it or anything else. You know that you have the pocket knife with you.
Speaker 2:Well, that's an incredible list. So we've gone all the way from Stealth Assassin to a thingy-ma-bobby that you would probably have on your hand, um, to pendulums, tarot decks, crystals we've got the fox folio. What an incredible assortment of tricks. And you're right, that is an entire hour plus show.
Speaker 3:Yes, right there if you put everything together and remember you can take bits of it or you can put all together. And now the exercise is to try to use maybe two or three items and try to create emotion, try to connect with people, because I think that's our goal, especially today, which everything is very modern, very fast. You know, social media, stuff like this. People completely forgot about connections and because we are mentalists, we are magicians, we still have this power that not anyone else has, because today the only way to connect is social media. You know, there is not even more people approaching girls or boys on the street. It's on Tinder or these kind of apps. So people completely forgot about real human connection and because we do this job, we can still have the power to do that.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I think that's the best thing that we can end on, Actually, before that. Luca, if people want to find out more about you, if they want to find you in certain places, where can they go?
Speaker 3:Well, first of all, for Magician Following Us, we have an incredible group on Facebook. It's called Luca Volpe Mentalismo Production, which in reality is not only my production but all the news and live we do with the performers. You know we also normally we show the Alakazam release even long before they're actually released. I will be. I always had the privilege to show people in detail what they get. Also, because it's a private group and we almost have 6,000 mentalists and magicians from all around the world and you know we do live launches and it's a closed group so we can be open about methods because it's only between professional magicians and nothing goes outside that group. So this is very important.
Speaker 3:I appreciate I have people doing reviews on YouTube, but I don't do because I really like to protect mysteries, I like to protect secrets, so I try not to talk in public forums. I always try to do this in my group, which is a closed group, and there there's so much going on. We have special offers, latest releases and with Peter, with Alakazam, we did also some live lounge there. It went really, really well. And then, of course, my website, lucavolpecom that is my nom and my channel my channel youtube channel.
Speaker 3:There is all my live stage shows and everything else you can see from there amazing.
Speaker 2:I know I'll be spending a lot of time on there. Now that I know they're on there, I'll be heading there, so make sure that you find luca wherever you are. Do you do lectures as well, luca?
Speaker 3:yes, I do lectures, I do workshop. I'm actually going around now with a brand new workshop. It's called the pendulum act. The people come to the workshop, they get the limited edition book and they learn a full act that you can do with just a pendulum and two deck of cards. It's an act that I worked uh before covid and beautiful private houses in venice. We did 22 shows in touring this beautiful uh living rooms in these beautiful houses and that's the show I'm explaining. And then, of course, I was also available for lectures all around Europe. So if you have a club they want to have a special lecture for me, just feel free to contact me.
Speaker 2:Amazing. So there you go. If you are part of a magic club, make sure you get in contact with Luca, because I'm sure you will have an incredible evening of magic. So thank you again, luca. Thank you for your time. I know that you're super busy, so it's been a privilege having you on here.
Speaker 3:Thank you, it was fun, really really fun. Thank you very much.
Speaker 2:And thank you guys for listening on this week's Desert Island Tricks. We will speak to you again next week. In fact, before we go, we have a new feature and I don't know when this is going out, so people may have found it, but you can actually now message in your lists to us so we can read these out on future episodes. So all you need to do is to go to the Desert Island Tricks website, which is through Buzzsprout. You can also find it through the Al Island Tricks website, which is through Buzzsprout. You can also find it through the Alakazam website.
Speaker 2:When you're on there it will say or even on the podcast provider so I do believe that Apple podcast has it as well. At the top it says text the show. Tap on that and it will send a message straight to us so we can read out your messages live on air. If you don't want your name read out, then obviously let us know that, but if not, include your name and we can read it out. So once again, thank you all for listening and we will see you again next week on another episode of Desert Island Tricks.
Speaker 1:Goodbye hi peter nardi here and I really hope you enjoyed that podcast. I just wanted to make you know that alakazam have their own app. You can download it from the app store or the google play store. By downloading the app, it will make your shopping experience even slicker. At alakazam, you'll also get exclusive in-app offers and in-app live streams. So go download it now and we'll see you on the next podcast.