Desert Island Tricks
Episodes are uploaded every Friday and are available via all Podcast service providers!
To find out more about the team behind Desert Island Tricks, please visit: www.alakazam.co.uk
Desert Island Tricks
Tom Mullenger
Tom Mullenger, an all-round magician from the Midlands, unveils his magical journey, starting from the pivotal moment he was introduced to the enchanting world of magic by the late Keith Pearson. Discover how Tom's initial dream of becoming an edgy street magician transformed into a thriving career with routines that truly pay the bills. He opens his magical toolbox to share his Desert Island Tricks, reflecting on how traditional routines like rope magic pay homage to his mentor and continue to captivate audiences.
The episode takes a fascinating turn as we navigate through the art of crafting signature routines. Tom shares the secrets behind his crowd-pleasing performances, such as the mesmerising multiple card find and his unforgettable fork bending routine. Tom offers a behind-the-scenes look at the psychological strategies that make these tricks resonate. He also recounts a personal milestone of performing alongside other magicians, pushing his skills to new heights.
We are treated to a treasure trove of magical tales, including Tom's experience with the "What If" lottery prediction trick, stories of acquiring unique props, and the transformative impact of the pandemic on his craft. Learn how personalising performances with non-traditional items can connect with audiences on a deeper level. The episode concludes with a sneak peek into Tom's passion for stage magic and his appreciation for the mentors and magical tools that have shaped his career. Whether you're a magic enthusiast or just curious, this episode promises a magical experience that leaves you spellbound.
Tom's Desert Island Tricks:
- Fibre Optics
- Multiple Card Find
- Fork Bending
- To The Max
- What If?
- Cody’s Comedy Booktest
- Silk to Egg
- Cards Across
Book) Leading with your head Gary Kurtz
Item) Security Tag
Find out more about the creators of this Podcast at www.alakazam.co.uk
When I first got into magic I was 27 years old and I started to reach out to magicians in the local area. There was a gentleman named Keith Pearson who phoned me when it happened to be my birthday, which was lovely and he told me about the Leamington and Warwick Magic Society. He said I'm not going to try and charge you for lessons. Come to the magic club, meet like-minded people. And I nervously went. The first time I met Keith and that was the first step into me becoming a magician.
Speaker 1:One day Keith said to me Tom, it's about time that you started doing magic with three bits of rope. I want to be Jester Stiles. I want to be an edgy street magician. I want to be like Dynamo, like David Blaine, this absolute classic of magic that I'd been ignoring for so long, because I didn't think it would suit me. And I started to put the moves together and then, unfortunately, we lost Keith Pearson to COVID in lockdown. So when we went back out into the real world, I took this rope with me and every time I work it and I'm holding it up and putting it away to a round of applause or reaction, I just whisper a little thanks, keith.
Speaker 2:Hello and welcome to another episode of Desert Island Tricks. We've got a guest in the wings Now. This guest is someone that we've known for quite a while now. He's from the Midlands and he is known sort of as an all-rounder working magician. He's incredibly, incredibly busy. And he is known sort of as an all-rounder working magician. He's incredibly, incredibly busy. In fact, he's just said to me how tired he is because of the workload he's had over the weekend, which is a really good problem to have.
Speaker 2:It's also going to be interesting to see where his list goes, because we've not had someone yet who necessarily bills himself as a mystery artist by the time this one goes out. Of course, we did have luca volpe, who had quite a few mystery items in his set, so if you've not heard that, go and listen to that, because I think you'll enjoy that. If you enjoy this or what I presume this is going to be, um. So, with that being said, today we have mr I'm not allowed to use his stage name tom mullinger. There you go. Hey, tom, good morning. How are you? Very Good morning. How are you Very well, thank you. How are you?
Speaker 1:I'm very well, thank you. Yeah, keeping the stage name off, things like this is a lesson that I've learned from putting things out into the magic world and then going and doing a booking and people be like, oh, I saw that you made a trick with Lego and I'm like, ah, let's keep that down. I am going to let you down today. I think, jamie, okay, why so? As you said, mystery artist. I mean, that intro was lovely. Thank you very much.
Speaker 1:But we know, realistically, most people that listen to this are not going to know who I am, and if you do, it would be for two things either being a wedding and corporate performer or, from my bizarre slash, halloween stuff that I put in almost as much effort into as you. But we did this desert island thing and I couldn't focus too much on the desert island theme because I know I'll hyper focus on that and I'll think, oh, what tricks can I do with food, with water? How would I survive? But you also said the tricks that you couldn't live without. So what I've brought to you today is a list of tricks that literally pay my mortgage.
Speaker 1:These are the things that I do thousands of times or hundreds of times. So I've stepped away from my shared interest with a bazaar and stuff and gone mostly for things that I do every day that I'm out working. But yeah, I'm glad you put a nod to that. I class you as a friend now, but before you were a friend I was a fan. I've studied your work. You have definitely inspired me, so I didn't want to go forward without saying thanks for all the inspiration, mate.
Speaker 2:Ah, that's really kind. I know that we do have a mutual interest in sort of the bizarre things, and I've seen a lot of your halloween stuff as well, and I'm obviously a big fan. So I'm really interested to see where you're going to go. I wonder if this is going to be sort of working routines or if it's going to be aimed towards like a wedding scenario. It's going to be an interesting one to see where it goes. So, if this is the first one that you've ever listened to, the idea is that we're about to jet tom away to his own island. When he's there, he's allowed to take eight tricks, or one book and one non-magic item that he uses for magic. Particulars like who's there, how the island looks, all of that sort of things are the animals that are audience. We don't really mind about that. It's all about the top eight tricks that our guests could not live without. So, that being said, let's go to your desert island and find out what you took in the first position.
Speaker 1:So for the first position, I'm going to start with a bit of a story. When I first got into magic, I was 27 years old and I decided that I wanted to learn magic and I started to reach out to magicians in the local area. I mean, I was definitely annoying, but I was emailing people saying do you do lessons, how do I learn, how do I get into it? And for one reason or another I didn't get much responses back. I need to put a shout out to Paul Martin and Jamie Raven, who were extremely kind with me. Very early on, however, there was a gentleman named Keith Pearson who phoned me when it happened to be my birthday, which was lovely, and he told me about the Leamington and Warwick Magic Society. He said I'm not going to try and charge you for lessons. Come to the magic club, meet like minded people, and I nervously went. The first time I met Keith and that was the first step into me becoming a magician. One day Keith said to me Tom, it's about time that you started doing magic with three bits of rope. And I remember looking around the room at all the old boys in the corner thinking they do magic with rope. I want to be Jester Stiles. I want to be an edgy street magician. I want to be like Dynamo, like David Blaine. And he said well, okay, but let me show you three bits of rope magic. And he showed me a professor's nightmare slash, fiber optics or a mashup in between and I thought, ooh, do you know what that is good. So I took my three bits of rope that he gave me, I took them home and I put them in a drawer and didn't think about them again. And then, a few weeks later, I met Craig Petty and we got talking and he said I'm going to lend you this fiber optics dvd. Thanks, craig, I'm going to take this home, I'm going to learn it. I went home, I put it on my shelf and I left it.
Speaker 1:Then lockdown hit and many years later, many, many years later, and I was like, well, if it was ever a time to learn a routine that I can do to camera, now is the time. So I put on the DVD of fiber optics, this absolute classic of magic that I'd been ignoring for so long, because I didn't think it would suit me, and I started to put the moves together and after a while I felt like I had the ingredients but not the recipe. I had all these moves, but I just couldn't work out how to make it into a routine. So I reached out to Owen Strickland, amazing worker, and he sent me a video of his routine. I was then able to put that together into a routine that suited me. So suddenly this classic of magic that I've been ignoring was in my hands and I could do it. And I'd made it personal to me.
Speaker 1:I had to do Zoom shows, and then there was a weird loophole in lockdown where they could open Santa's grottos Me being me managed to get a gig at Santa's grotto where I dressed up as Jack Frost and performed behind plexiglass. So I can't really interact with people. It was a character role, but I could put ropes and glitter and perform that trick hundreds of times a day. So by the time that finished I'd absolutely worked it in. And then, unfortunately, we lost Keith Pearson to COVID in lockdown. So when we went back out into the real world, I took this rope with me and every time I work it and I'm holding it up and putting it away to a round of applause or reaction, I just whisper a little thanks, keith. So that's why it's number one Fiber optics Professor's Nightmare, and there's other names for it, like Two Ropes and a Baby or something.
Speaker 1:But that routine where you have three bits of rope which change size and then change back, is my number one pick, a classic of magic. Why? Why is it so good? Why is it a classic? I think it just comes down to the fact that when you perform it, you're automatically in the best performing position. You're stood up, it's at head height, it's arms out in front of you.
Speaker 1:When people watch it, they have to follow. Even if they don't want to follow, they have to follow. They get intrigued by it. People that watch it from across the room watch it in a way like oh well, I bet if he did that in front of me I'd get it. So then they call you over straight away after him. Can you do that thing with the ropes again? And as a worker? It resets itself, it goes in a pocket, it stays there, it plays to two people or like 100 people. Um, if you've got kids I'm not a kids performer, but there's loads of kids at weddings and if you can get the kids on side, the parents think you're amazing. So if you've got that kid that's bored and you go over. Do you want to help me with this? Can you just check out this bit of rope instantly? You're in with a family. That's a hit. Uh, so that is number one great choice.
Speaker 2:it's one we've had quite a few times and no doubt we will have many times more, but I think it's just such a versatile piece of magic as well. It's the fact that it can be played in. I mean, Megan Swan, who is the former president of the Magic Circle, has a great version to do with the environment. I know there was someone who we had as an apprentice, who did their audition, and their version was about the different parts of the UK and the sizes of the UK, which was really interesting as well. So it can be played in so many different ways and, like you said, so many magicians who I've spoken to I'm not sure if you've had the same thing they go. I never have a trick for kids. If I'm at a restaurant or I'm at a wedding, I never know what to do. Just do a trick. That translates well to kids as well.
Speaker 1:That's the perfect trick. I always say just do your normal stuff, but do it a bit slower and get them involved. And you've got them in. I actually did this hyperoptics in my magic circle exam and I opened it with the story of Keith telling me and me arguing with him and him showing me the trick, and then we go OK, that is quite good. And so, yeah, it's going to stay with me anywhere, everywhere that I go.
Speaker 1:Obviously, me being me, I use purple rope. I got it branded. If you're wondering how why prop dogs sell prop dogs sell purple rope, that's because I messaged Dave and went you've got no purple rope. And Dave Bonsall, being Dave Bonsall, was like give me a week. And then I know it's arrived in my perfect branding colors. So big shout out to Dave as well.
Speaker 1:But yeah, number one, three bits of rope a trick that I never thought I'd do, and now I would. If I got to a booking and it wasn't in my bag, I'd really be worried In fact I'll say that about everything on this list. If I got all the close-up stuff, if I got to a booking and didn't have it, I would panic. I'd be like, oh, that's so many gags and timings worked in. The other good thing about this, just to finish, is you can do it in so many ways where, if you saw me perform it when I was doing Mix and Mingle and I've got 90 minutes to kill the 100 people, if you see the speed that I do when I perform it that way, or the change of pace that I do, if I'm performing at a table and I've just seen the food come out of the kitchen, you can speed it up, you can slow it down, you can stretch it out and make it shorter. Excuse the pun, it's also a nice way to test the water. Sometimes you'll know this from working in restaurants.
Speaker 1:Some people, they just don't care, they're not into magic or they've got other things to do, um, especially at corporate events where actually they just want to impress their boss. If you're doing this and you get a vibe halfway through that they they're a bit bored. You can just end it. You can just make it, make it back. The only concern I ever had with this trick is it and this is the sort of thing that I think about heavily is it it? Look at me, look how clever I am with this rope. So I had to script it in a way where I'm not quite sure how it's working or going on, which is especially great when you've got kids to get involved with. They're doing it and they're cutting the rope, so you can make it your own and you can really stand out with it, even though everybody does it. So there we go.
Speaker 2:It's a great opening trick and again it's it's one that we're going to have in the future because it's just so good. But that does lead us into your second item. So what's in the second position?
Speaker 1:so I didn't want to be that guy that comes on and goes. Well, it's my version of this and my version of that. Um. But number two is a multiple card find. Now I've been doing multiple card finds for over a decade and this is a routine that I have grown as I've got a better performer, as I've got more confident, as I've learned more stuff about psychology. This routine has grown with me. I used to do two people, then I did three, now I do between two and eight.
Speaker 1:And this is going to upset people. People are going to scream at their, their speakers when I say this, but genuinely, this is my opener in mix and mingle up to eight cards, eight card sign. Now I know that we are told that your opener should be flashy, should be quick, and I fully understand that. But for me, I've opened with this thousands of times and it is a lot of dead time, but you can learn to use dead time and I'm putting this in a lecture. But, yeah, multiple card find and sometimes this will be the only time that they'll see me do a card trick. So inside this routine there is a bit of ambitious. There's a card at any number there card trick. So inside this routine there is a bit of ambitious, as a card at any number there's cards of pocket. I've been doing this so long that I've now got the psychology down where I can take one card off and just ask somebody who's they want it to be, and it'll be their card.
Speaker 1:And just when I think that I've got this routine to where, though, I want it, I come up with a new, a new bit to add on. And I can't wait to see where this is in 15 years' time. If I'm doing a really big corporate event or a really big walk-around festival or something I will probably only do multiple card find and three ropes and that'll be it per group, just to get around. So there's nothing else I can say on that. That's just my baby, as many people as I can get signing cards and doing tricks with the best, and it just makes you jazz. It makes you want to find new ways to bring them out.
Speaker 1:And when I'm really feeling it, when it's like day six of a 10-day run and I'm a car in the way to the booking, I'll be like what can I do? I set myself little challenges like okay, of getting out of my pocket, why don't I get it inside the card box in my pocket and then bring out the card box and then they can open it and you think that'll be much better. And then you learn stuff like actually pulling a card out of a pocket is a wow moment. Pulling a card box out of your pocket that they then have to open and they pull the card out the wrong way around, it's just dead time and it really helps with me building routines and I'm like, okay, this on paper is better, but in reality it's better just to be able to grab that card and take it out your pocket rather than lose your pace.
Speaker 2:So it's, uh, it's, it's, it's my multiple card find there are different schools of thoughts when it comes to opening routines, so some people think that it has to be quick and snappy. Some people think that the audience should get to know you, so a little bit of script is interesting there. And some people like the idea of getting the entire audience involved. In fact, um, it was uh bill abbott in his one. He talks about macro and micro effects and he says he wants to get the entire audience involved straight away. This is sort of like the close-up version of that. It's a way to get everyone involved straight from the get-go, and there are lots of different versions of it. I know Matthew Wright's got an excellent multiple card find. John Graham recently released Encore, which is a book all about multiple revelations and stuff like that. So it's it's a big effect that plays in so many different situations, but the idea of having it as an opener, I think, is really, really interesting you made a good point there.
Speaker 1:By the end of this routine they will know my name, they'll know that I'm from coventry, that I can steal stuff. Um, they get my character across. There's a lot of jokes in there. There's something that I've got in which we'll discuss later, which the which comes. So you do this brilliant effect and everyone's on edge, and then you need something that makes them take a step back and breathe. So there's a bit of silliness in there. And then it hits them hard with a card at any number and it it's like you say. For me it does everything, ticks every box, and I'm proud of it and I'm really excited to see where I take it next. And maybe I need to read a book called Uncle.
Speaker 2:Very good. So that brings us to your third position. What's in your third place?
Speaker 1:Nice, and simple, the trick that honestly pays my mortgage, the one that people remember, the one that gets me more bookings, and that is fork bending. I do so many taster routes, taster events where people just will come up to me and go I've still got your fork from. When we met you six months ago, we knew we had to book you or I'll get a message on Instagram. People were like I've just found this, just just tidying my wedding box and found this. Uh, to me, fork bending suits my style. It is a mystery, it's not, it's, it's just everything that I want to have as a performer. Um, it suits my sort of, my powers, my casting of spell. It just works. I have streamlined it. Uh, there's so many many moves, so many routines that you can do. I probably do one of the shortest fork bends out there, but it happens with me a few times and ends in their hands. It's just. I mean, the only problem with fork bending is carrying the forks and buying the forks. Uh, but you know that's that's what we do. It's a sacrifice that we make.
Speaker 1:I love performing it and I just really believe if you perform something that you love performing, your audience is in the vibe with you, uh, when I'm bending this metal and fort bending is one of those things where you have to, in that moment, believe that you are bending this thought with your mind, or I think it shows, and I've watched other performers bend metal and I'm like you don't believe you're doing that, you're, you've got an acting background, right. You must, you must back this. I like the way you're nodding at me on a podcast. That's good audio. Um, yes, so when I'm in the moment bending forks, I believe that I am bending the fork and then I believe that they're bending it. And then I'm surprised that they've done it.
Speaker 1:And again, going back to what we said, if you've got a kid at the table, they can. If you've got the kids getting to stand on the chair, bend that fork in their hand. The kid gets the biggest round of applause. But everyone else on all the other tables think that magician's good, he's getting loads of applause. The photo opportunity they're filming it on their phone because it's their kids.
Speaker 2:It's just oh, I mean, it's just brilliant yeah, I thought bending's one of my favorites as well. My question is what were the inspirations for your your fault bending routine? So where did you get the knowledge for your routine?
Speaker 1:so it actually started with teaspoons and it was D Christopher. Like yourself, I was a D Christopher fan before I became a friend and I watched D Christopher do Quicksilver, which is his double teaspoon routine Absolutely brilliant. Teaspoons were cheaper than forks. I could get them in Asda and I could practice it. And I got the moves down and I was like I love this, love this. I genuinely, genuinely love this.
Speaker 1:And for some reason, fork bending seemed like it was going to be harder, it was going to be difficult, but I thought, when I got better as a performer, I thought you know what? I'm going to give it a go and I picked up psychokinetic silverware I believe that's what it's called which is good because that teaches you to bend any fork. You don't have to have a specially material fork. You don't want to have to be scouring looking for ones you can bend. You could use anything. So when someone hands you a fork off the table and says, can you do it with this one, you say I can, but you need to pay the deposit on the for the venue, which is a great line to get out of that. But sometimes the uh, the book, uh, if you're you've done restaurants, sometimes the book, but I'll bet you can't use one of mine, so that, get out there working it. And then I I went down the line that everybody went down where I was like, well, let's, let's get these liquid metal forks. And I got the liquid metal dvds and you know what I have to say. If you just want to get into metal bending, if you just bought the liquid metal forks and david penn puts a routine on the box, comes with it, comes with the forks. It's not as in-depth as a legendary morgan strebler one, it's not as in-depth as some of the others, but to get you out there working, it will do. So. I just took everything that I, that I'd learned from different places, put them together into a routine and I thought right, and I practiced. And it's one of those things that you practice on your own and you're surrounded by these forks and you know that these forks are costing you money every time you do it and you want to go out there and work, but you forget when you do something so often.
Speaker 1:But at the beginning it's a difficult trick to master because it's so different to anything else. And then I had a booking come through from an agent and the agent phoned me like two days before the booking and said, oh, we've had a change, we'll have a bit more information. In there's four magicians. I was like, okay, cool. And they said they've got, we've got some guy from spain doing coins. So I was like, okay, yeah, cool. And then we've got I don't know their name, but it's a woman with red hair and apparently they're doing loads of really good card and gambling tricks. I was like I can guess who that is. So we were wondering if you could do anything different and I remember thinking, yes, I will, I will bend metal. You know when you say yes to stuff and then work out how you're going to do it. So that was, that was what made me step over the line and I couldn't just practice this. I had to go and do it and again, once you've done it, you fall in love with it and I look forward to performing it.
Speaker 1:Every time it's my table opener. One of the best things about it is a table opener. If I walked up to a table and banged cutlery on the table to get everyone's attention, that's rude. That's a big no-no. If I hand it to someone else to bang it on the table to check. It's real, the people that may not have been watching, or maybe on their phone, or maybe speaking to someone else on a different table. Well, they're gonna look then. That's not rude, that's intriguing. That's money.
Speaker 1:That table is now watching this guy bang a fork. Why is he banging a fork? Why is this guy here? Why is he writing his name on the back of the fork? And suddenly, even if they haven't noticed that you're there, even if you've not been able to do your table approach and sometimes people aren't interested you can do the best table approach in the world. You can walk around the table, you can make eye contact. Some people don't care or they think that you're not going to be very good. They think that you're going to do a card trick like their uncle does, where you make piles of cards on the table. Suddenly someone is banging a fork on a table and they're writing their name on it. I don't care who you are. That's interesting, even if they then go oh, it's magic, I don't like it, but that is money. So, people, it happens in their hands, gets people's attentions. They keep it, they remember. You Find me a better trick for a table.
Speaker 2:It's find me a, find me a better trick for a table. It's also one that if you're in a loud environment, which sometimes we find ourselves in, it's one that really doesn't need much explanation. You can go straight into the routine and even if it's loud, people know what's happening. The amount of times I've gone into the effect, place the fork on my hand, just allowed it to start bending, and they fill in that gap. They're the ones that say, oh my god, it's bending, and then somebody says what, where? And then they create the drama in themselves. You don't need to do anything, it works itself.
Speaker 1:It's one of those beautiful things where people misremember it as well. But he barely even touched, he put it in her hand and then and it's just when you hear people talk I love hearing how good my audience misremembers me being I'm like if I could be that guy, like it's, it's a lovely. The only problem we're using is an opener, a table, and I just roll with it. I just take it as a, as a something that you know you have to live with. Sometimes you bend the fork and then you try and do something else and people are still passing the fork around and you're like, oh, now I need to re-get your attention. But you know what? I'll take that because they're engaged and they'll remember it. And then suddenly they're, they're ready to.
Speaker 1:I tend to lead into um card in the box after that. So really there's a bit of faff of getting a card found and explaining the difference between what magic and misdirection or whatever your pattern is, and by the time the fork's gone back around, people are focused. So you just have to be mindful. It's a difficult trick to follow, but it's a damn good one.
Speaker 2:Yeah, it's a great choice and it leads us to your halfway point. So what's in your fourth position?
Speaker 1:So, I've got two left at a close up and then we're going to go to Parler. So number four to the max by Kieran Lefevre, kieran Johnson, kieran the Mighty I'm not sure what name they go. This is just magic Taking a ball of fire and turning it into ice. I mean, that's magic. That is Jester Styles in full effect. And I know that this trick was very popular a few years ago and, thankfully for me, it's died off. No one does it.
Speaker 1:I create so much theater out of this. I'd love to show you what I do, but it involves this very David Blaine inspired my routine at the moment. If I do it at a table, because I'll sit down and just generally using that glass is that water? And I'll take the drink, I'll swivel it around my mouth and everyone's like what's he going to do? And then I realized that if you breathe cold air onto ice, you actually get a bit of an effect from the ice anyway. So I've got this moment of theater where it's like a big ball of fire and then a big block of ice, and the block of ice I use is huge. I've got big hands, I get lucky. I mean, there's nothing else to say. You take fire, you turn it to ice. You can do it on a hot day. You can do it when you've been there for hours. You can do it when you've been with a group for 20 minutes at a parlour show and then you suddenly predict you can't have that on you that time. It's again something that I look forward to performing. It's something that I always am. I'm ready to do a booking. I'll do two, three, four big blocks of ice throughout the day and I worked in saturn magic when when they were creating more ice magic and I've road tested and helped release card in ice, ring in ice. But you know what. They're good, but the classic of just a big block of ice is just, I just love it. I look forward to performing it.
Speaker 1:I save it for a special. I know when I'm going to do it I'll get people around. I'll get them holding a glass or I'll be sat at the table. I'll get them on. It's a brilliant photo opportunity. I try and keep it off my socials, so the photographers will send over um photos after an event and they'll be like oh, I've got some great ones of you with that ice and I'm like no, I have to try and get the build up. So if you looked on my instagram, there's a lot of photos of people holding together with a handout, with a wine glass on it or something, and it's like something's happen there. But I don't try and give that away because it's just, it's the last thing they expect.
Speaker 1:One thing that happened to me twice is I've been in a really hot venue this is months apart, years apart and twice someone said well, if you're a real magician, you can get me some ice and my drink. And that has happened twice, and that's money. You get me some ice for my drink. And that has happened twice, and that's money. That's just the perfect storm. But yeah, to the max. Creating ice out of fire is just. If you could do magic, what would it look like? Would you make a card, come to the top, or would you control the elements? And maybe I grew up watching too much X-Men, but card tricks are cute. But controlling fire, shaping the elements, that's magic.
Speaker 4:When I perform at gigs, I look at effects that tick these three boxes. Is it super strong and powerful? Yes, will it last with your spectators for a lifetime? Absolutely, and does it leave them with a souvenir that perfectly captures the moment of magic? If that all sounds exactly what you're after, look no further than the liquid forks. These forks have been custom designed to be able to bend right in front of your spectator's eyes. It's so easy to perform, it's so visual and, trust me, they will honestly keep this impossible object because they've seen it morph in front of their eyes. It literally does the impossible.
Speaker 4:Not only that Liquid Forks comes with 50 of these forks in each pack and it comes with the full Liquid Forks routine taught by the world famous David Penn. Not only that, we have a subscription service. If you guys love these forks and you get through them at your gigs, we now offer a monthly subscription where you get sent a box through every single month at a 10% reduced fee. Like I said, you guys are going to be loving these. You're going to be performing them every chance. You can Trust me, the reactions are second to none. So, guys, head over to alakazamcouk, pick up a set of Liquid Forks. You will not regret it. Easy to do, leaves them with a killer souvenir. And, to be honest with you, it's not cards, it's not coins, it's not mentalism.
Speaker 2:It's something beyond the beyond belief. Check out now, guys, the liquid forks, superb choice. And that takes us over your halfway point now. So we're on number five. What's in your fifth position?
Speaker 1:This is actually an Alakazam release. This is one Alakazam product that's in there. This is my top table trick and has been since it was released. There was a predecessor to this trick that I work so often that when this was released I actually got a message from Peter Nardi himself saying we're just about to release this. I'd like to send you a copy. And he sent me the double pack on the day of release. And, peter, if you're listening to this, I've now worked it so much that both packs are grubby. So if I could get another care parcel, that would be amazing. Because this is what? If by carl, if by Carl Twitchton.
Speaker 1:I want to say it is a lottery prediction trick, but rather than you know the lottery numbers, it's that you've predicted the numbers that the lottery that their friends and family will pick. So it's it's. It's no gimmick, it's no electronics, it's a game that you play. The whole routine is based around the novelty ways that you used to pick your lottery ticket numbers with, and I remember this stuff. I remember going into shops when the National Lottery first came over to the UK and there was loads of novelty ways to do it. So you have this game Because it's a game. The game has a list of rules, which is actually the method. So you get someone up I use a bridesmaid um, to come and read the rules out, and while they're reading the rules, they're telling you what to do to perform the trick, which is great after. So I always find january, february, I have to think about this routine, and once I'm back in wedding season, I don't.
Speaker 1:But you deal out cards. You could do this hands off. The only reason I don't is I find that if you do it hands off, it takes a lot longer for people to deal cards, or they're not mindful of, you know, the jam on the table or the wines and they'll just deal into that. So I control the cards, but other than that, it's hands off. They then you end up with piles. They then tell you which pile you want to. They want to get rid of. There's no equivote. There's no. Oh, do you want this one or this one? They give you a number. You get rid of that pile. So on the top table you've got seven piles. Well, that's normally father of the couple, two fathers of the couple, two mothers of the couple and the couple right. So that's six. Then you're left with one pile. So it pays brilliant on the top table.
Speaker 1:They then turn those cards over. They put them in numerical order. You've predicted the colors of the balls, which is quite good, and you've already said out at the beginning that the odds of winning the national lottery are one in 14 million. So you're not going to be able to do that. Oh, unless, unless the thing that they're reading from is an envelope which, when they open, it is a real lottery ticket, and if they've got married on a wednesday or a saturday, it's a real lottery ticket for that day. If not, it's the next draw. But they end up with a real lottery ticket which you can then give them to keep, with the numbers on it picked by their family. I mean, that's a moment. Uh, I have.
Speaker 1:The biggest fear I have about this trick is one day and it's going to come soon the nationaltery are going to stop selling paper tickets. Of course they are. It's going to be all the apps. So until that day comes, I'll be working this. I have honestly done this over. It's got to be close to a thousand times. So how much money I've spent on lottery tickets, I hate to think, but you know it's worth it. One thing that did happen with this is somebody I have had a winner, but what actually happened was they won a lucky dip on the ticket that they got from me. They then put the lucky dip on and won a lot of money and they sent me a little bit. So that was quite nice. That was quite nice.
Speaker 1:But yeah, what if is in my top table set? It has been overlooked. One of the things, one of the downsides is it's a lot of dealing process at the beginning and it is worth it for the payoff, but you have to be good at managing that dead time. But you're only performing it really to the top table. You've got the bridesmaid or someone giving the rules out, you've got normally the best man's there and if they've made a speech or they're about to make a speech, you can say, oh, it's a bit of a long game, why don't you tell another joke? Or why don't you have a like let's you just get through that dead time and it is worth it, and they forget it ever happened. But I think that's what maybe people look at and go. I don't. I don't want to be dealing out cards in front of people if you're good at controlling silence or maneuvering bedtime.
Speaker 1:This is such a winner. I honestly don't know why most people don't do it. I'm hoping that people will check it out. There's no video on the website for this, so maybe that's why. So I'm going to put a Jester Styles stamp of approval on this. If you buy it from Alakazam and you genuinely don't like it, I'll probably buy it off you because I could do the spares. But what if? Is my top table trick and has been since its release.
Speaker 2:Effects with lottery always do incredibly well anyway. It's a universal thing, right, because everywhere has a lottery, pretty much, and they all work pretty much the same way. There's not really much difference, other than maybe how many balls are being played, etc. So it's a really, really powerful effect. And it's also a tool, right. It doesn't have to be used in the way necessarily it's taught. It can be used in various different ways. If you just put your little thinking cap on on, I'm sure you could come up with different handlings for it sometimes it's twice.
Speaker 1:It's been in my bag and I've been asked to do something big at the end for everybody. It's been like a corporate event or um. I remember I used to do a lot of work for birmingham children's hospital. I was very lucky to get on their team and do magic at Birmingham Children's Hospital, which was life-changing. And once they were like oh, we've got some of the nurses in, can you do a little stand-up show? At the end and I thought, yeah, yeah, I can. I only had close-up stuff with me but I was like actually, they've got a whiteboard in here and if I just, we'll just have a number prediction out of these in the random so you can step it up and play it bigger.
Speaker 1:The other reason that I like this as a lottery prediction is it's not me saying I've predicted the lottery. Easy to lose, that one, one in 14 million. You're not going to get that right. No, no, no. What I've done is I've predicted the numbers that their family will pick. Did I influence that? Maybe I did. Does that fall into my magical powers that I've already shown? Yes, it does, because, again going back to it, if I could really predict the lottery, would I go to someone's wedding and do it? Or would I sit at home and just cash my lottery ticket every day? So it's not me predicting the lot, because it's the same. This is why there's things are missing off this list that people often talk about like extreme burn. I don't be the guy that produces money and then puts it in my pocket. That's not magical, that's being smug. So I don't want to. Sorry to everyone that does that trick, that's just my opinion. But again, I don't want to say that I can predict the winning lottery tickets. No, no, no. I want to say that I can predict the numbers that their family will pick. So that's why it suits me. Can I make two honorable mentions? Of course you can, to end the close-up set.
Speaker 1:One of these is another Alakazam product, and one of the reasons it's not on the main list is because I'm on the trailer and I didn't want to be like oh yeah, it's so good that I'm on the trailer, but it has to be. Look sharp Now, look sharp. When I first got into magic, I saw it and I remember thinking, oh, that trick's brilliant, but I'm not good enough to do it. I remember thinking I'm not that skillful and then I remember seeing it again a few years later. I think Wayne actually I think Alakazam did a deal with them and Wayne came with Peter and the minute that I saw it through workers eyes, I was like I need that and I need it now and I need it to work it tomorrow.
Speaker 1:And then so for a time it was difficult to get, it was expensive. You've got like three gimmicks for X amount of money and you couldn't give them away. They get battered and I think I might've been the only person that was still working it for a long time, cause I remember at Blackpool they didn't take it. But I phoned the shop before and it was Dave and he was like we're not bringing it with us, mate, but we've got some in a bag just for you, and I have this collection of gimmicks that are slowly building up. And then, out of the blue, he and I was like we're re-releasing it, we're selling it in a set of 52 gimmicks. Um, can you, can you send us some footage of you working it? And, as we've said before, when Pete and Adi asks you do, but look sharp is.
Speaker 1:For anyone that doesn't know, the card that they are thinking of is now the Sharpie marker that they were holding, and I don't mean that instead of the word Sharpie it now says their card. No, they look at the Sharpie that they've been holding, they realize that when they take the lid off it's actually a folded up playing card and it is their card. I mean, that's powerful enough. However, think of having it when you're doing a multi-card selection and you've got six or seven cards in play and somebody else comes over, they come back from the bar, or someone drags their partner over and you're like, actually, mate, can you just remember that one? I don't get to sign it. We'll take your time. You've got a callback.
Speaker 1:Then, if you've got card to wallet and you open the envelope and I have five or six cards in my envelopes, when I do so, there's six cards and I'm like God, that's brilliant. So yeah, but we're still one missing. You've still got a card in mind and someone said yeah, yeah. Someone say yeah, yeah, I have, I thought you forgot. And then you've got all the signed cards.
Speaker 1:Pick one, pick a number between one and six, and then you then I do it that way hand the card over. They tap it with a pen. Oh sorry, that's my fault, I didn't mean the card would change, I mean the pen would change. They've been holding it the whole time they open it. You just there's no backtracking from that. Uh, a lot of people do omni deck and say, oh, there's no way to finish to be at the top of Omnideck. I don't do Omnideck, but if I did, you'd still have that as a bonus after. With the cards that are still there, it's zero pocket space. It's now more affordable than ever and you can give them away. It's so affordable. So an honorable mention to Look Sharp by Wayne Goodman and talking on that cards, a wallet, harry Robson, the how wallet.
Speaker 1:I have used this, uh, for longer than I've been a pro. It was the one of the most expensive products that I ever bought when I first got into magic. Um, because I'm in a, I'm in a bit of a best blessed position. I know you are now too. When we get, we get given a lot of stuff right, people will send us. I get a lot of. To make me sound really big headed, I'm not, but I'm blessed enough that I get a lot of prototypes sent to me, or I've helped people with releases, um, so just road test them. So when it's released. They send it to me Whenever you're given.
Speaker 1:When I tried to use it, I was disappointed because I thought it's not as quick as I want it. I just it was I don't know. But because I'd spent the money on it, I worked it and I drilled it and I got quicker and I stood in my bedroom at the time like a cowboy just loading and unloading, and loading and unloading. And now it's just, I wouldn't work without it. I actually have a custom-made one by a leather designer, but I've gone through two and then I was like I'm going to make my own, but it's an actual wallet that looks like the sort of wallet that I would carry, that Jessa Styles would carry. It's nothing against the bigger JOL, but you know, when you look at me, I'm not a guy that's going to carry a big wallet.
Speaker 1:The card to wallet is just the beginning as well, once you get used to what you can do ring to wallet, credit card to wallet. People don't carry coins on them anymore or cash. So I was like, what can I do? Credit cards? What can I do with a credit card? Oh, that can go in my wallet. Uh, also, it's a great way to get your business card out and you can do it. If you need to do it quickly, or you need to do it often, or you need to do it for 300 people plus bookings, you can do it without the envelope and it's just as good. So, harry robson's how well there's many other wallets that do the same thing on the market. They're all great, but the how well? It is a personal one for me. That, uh, that has to be on the list as an honorable mention great honorable mentions.
Speaker 2:Very good choices. Look sharp is fantastic as well, and that brings us to your sixth position. So what's?
Speaker 1:in your sixth place. Let's get. Let's get on the stage. This is a weird one, but this is the trick that made me want to transition from close up to stage. It was back when I was working at Saturn magic and I'd come into to do reviews. That was my job to watch stuff and talk about it and review it. And we sat down and we watched Cody's comedy book test and the second that it finished I said can I, can I have one of those? And Mark said you don't, you don't do any stage. I said I don't, but I want to cause, I want to do that routine.
Speaker 1:Cody's comedy book test is just. I mean, if you do it as it's sold, word for word, you've got absolute gold. It's word, you've got absolute gold. It's um, it's a thought of word from a book. It's then a dictionary slash, word slash combo, very derren brown-esque. I don't know who to credit for that. I don't know where that originally comes from. But then you've got wayne. Good, wayne dobson's sex test is kind of in there. It's's easily 12 minutes of good, strong magic with good jokes. You get people, you end up with somebody on stage but you make them look good. I don't know if anyone hasn't seen it, but Cody Fisher's Cody's comedy book test was the trick that got me on stage.
Speaker 1:That got me then saying to people of course I'll do close up. Oh, do you want me to just do 20 minutes at the end? Absolutely Game changer for me. I had to put it on the list, had to be the first trick that I that I mentioned when I get on stage. I still do it now. Um, I don't think the gags or anything have changed it. Just it just works. It's something that I love, love performing. I'll put it in very early in the show because it will get my character across. I've changed one of the books to make it a little bit more, uh, geared towards me and jester styles, but still use 50 shades of gray. It still gets the same reactions as it did when it was popular. You can, you can roll with it. It's, yeah, brilliant, genuinely the thing that made me want to get on stage excellent and like book tests are so good for.
Speaker 2:Pack small plays big. I know it's a cliche, I know everyone says it, but it is one of those things that exactly what you just said. Sometimes you are at a gig I had it at Christmas. I turned up to a gig about to do close up and she says we've got a lot of people who have seen you before. Could you do something to everyone on a stand up scale? Luckily I had a book test in my case. In my boot I had a pop up easel and a notepad and I I was ready to go. I could do a full stand-up set.
Speaker 1:I have to be careful with the material that I pick and I spend probably too long worrying about the material that I pick to match my character, and there's certain book tests that I cannot do and there's certain things that just wouldn't suit me. But also there's certain things that I can't do because I can't spell. Like genuinely I struggle with spelling, so I have to be very careful of the routines that I do, like I can't have someone shout out a word because I probably won't be able to spell it. So this seemed to fix that for me as well. Like I wouldn't have big books or but 50 shades of gray.
Speaker 1:Everyone got it. You can get it from a charity shop, and I throw that that joke in now as well. Like so you remember when this was really popular, I got it in the charity shop around the corner, so it did suit my style. It got me past the, the, the barrier I had of doing book tests, because I don't look like the sort of guy that would, that would read. I mean, I read comics. You can see behind me, my lecture is called why I Don't Do Rubik's Cubes. This is how much I think about this sort of stuff, but this just hit everything. So thanks, cody Fisher.
Speaker 2:Yeah, great choice. Anyone that doesn't do a book test really should, because they are superb. But that does bring us onto the tail end of your eight tricks. So what's in number seven?
Speaker 1:Okay, remember how we started with a trick that was an absolute classic of magic and I ignored it for years. Well, we're going to go back to a classic of magic that I ignored for years and a similar story. This was something that I learned in lockdown when I had to do Zoom shows, but it's a nice memory for me as well. So the trick is silk to egg, and I know what you're thinking. I can see on your face you do not look like the kind of guy that would perform silk to egg, but bear with me, silk to egg. Somebody said and I really should know this. A good trick can be summarized in three words silk to egg. Boom. I ignored it for years.
Speaker 1:When I did work in a magic shop, I was like, like what are these things for? And Mark would be like that's for silk to egg. And I was like that sounds ridiculous. I wouldn't stand on stage with a handkerchief and do that. However, lockdown hit and I had just taken the plunge to join the Magic Circle because I had nothing else to do. So I was able to watch the Magic Circle lectures, and the first lecture I ever watched from Magic Circle website in lockdown was Mark James. I'm sure he won't mind me saying this now. He tried to deny it at first, but by this point Mark James and I were actually friends. I think he was a bit embarrassed and I wasn't supposed to tell anybody, but in lockdown, a few of us had got together and started playing PlayStation together and there was a small group of us that genuinely got each other through the, the terrible things, the terrible situation that we found ourselves in. So I'm watching my new friend and a magician that I've admired for a long time doing this lecture and he gets to silk, to egg and I'm like, oh, like, half not listening now. I'm like it's not for me and I've watched the way that he performs it and I think that's so magical and again, it's so impactful and if you can't hide something, you highlight it.
Speaker 1:So if I was to perform it and I said it's a classic of magic, you know it's a classic of magic because it uses these. Who remembers these? They're called handkerchiefs for those of you that don't remember. People used to blow their nose on these and then put them back in their pocket and wonder how we had a global pandemic like the. The pattern was right in itself. I was like I can do this. So I I did it. I learned it. I imagine that there was a lot of orders of silks and eggs when, uh, when, mark finished his lecture, but I learned it and then I was able to practice it in the safety of zoom, doing zoom shows, and I knew it.
Speaker 1:As I performed it, I felt like a magician, I felt like a wizard, and I do it as a callback in my show, I do it as an end, as a thank you. So I'll finish my show and then I'll do it as I'm going to teach them a trick. And I've done it for family audiences, I've done it for corporate audiences, I've done it for professional sports teams, it doesn't matter, it is pure magic, something that I genuinely look forward to performing. And if I've had a really good show and I've been in flow the whole of the show and I've genuinely enjoyed the moment when you finish your show by cracking an egg into a glass, you can physically relax and that's I noticed. That's when the audience if you ever get a standing ovation a natural one that's when they do it, when they see you go and they physically, you physically relax, and then I was like well, this is so good that I can do it whenever I can do it. When I'm hosting weddings, I can do it at the end of the wedding. If I've got a really good group and it's a venue that I know, I'm like have you got any eggs? Uh, you can just throw it in again.
Speaker 1:I spoke to steve rowe. This time I was like can I, can you, can you make it so I can do it in purple? We'll leave that there, but can you make it so I can do that in purple? That makes sense, right? And he was like yes, of course I can. So it was branded to me and it felt fresh. Uh, I've had some nightmares with it. Doing it.
Speaker 1:I have had two eggs in in wedding situations break in my pocket. The first one, I walked past and the best man grabbed me and was like you've been amazing and I was like, oh no. And the second one, I just walked into a door. But other than that, uh, I've been lucky with it. It's a, it's a classic for a reason. It's don't overlook it.
Speaker 1:You can make it work for yourself or, if you like I said, if you can't hide it, highlight it, point out that this is a ridiculous thing to do now, but it's's a passion, a project of mine, getting something like that in there. So thank you, mark James. And it's funny because when I put the ropes away I do a little thanks, keith, in my head. When I perform a silk to egg and I explain to them the second part of the routine, if you will, where you explain to them how they could perform this themselves, I always say then you go to your friends and you say, hey, friends, I'm going to show you a trick Now that hey, friends bit, not something that I would say, not something I would script, but that was the name of Mark James's podcast that he did every day in lockdown and still does a bit now. So it's just a little nod of the cap to him now as well. I don't know if he knows that, I don't know if he'll care, but it's a little something that that keeps me, keeps me smiling.
Speaker 2:Yeah, we've had Mark James on here as well, so if you haven't listened to his episode, do go and listen to it, because it is phenomenal. And that brings us to the tail end and the very last effect. So what is in your eighth position?
Speaker 1:This is something that I have. This is my routine. The effect, the story is cards across and there are many different ways out there to do cards across. There's many different gimmicks. You can do it with sign cards. You can do it with the cards change color on the back. You can do it with a thing. You can do it where the cards change color on the back. You can do it with a thing that makes the does all the work from you. You can do them invisibly. Then they appear in boxes.
Speaker 1:But this is my take on cards across that I'm very proud of. Uh, no gimmicks, no setup. I've built in an extra kicker. I perform have performed this to three people. I've performed this in audiences of 300. If I'd done a bigger show, I would have done it there.
Speaker 1:I have a little bit of a reputation for this. Elliot Bibby, who is an amazing Scottish performer I don't know if you know him does a lot of work in Scotland, has a couple of releases out, he books me a lot for fringe-style events, he's very good at filling a theatre and he's very good at passing out guest spots. And he's been kind enough to let me go and headline and even when I'm headlining the Halloween shows and being a bit spooky. He's like will you do your, will you do your cards across? Um, it's absolutely for me. Plays packs small, plays big. It's a working deck. It's the same deck of cards I've used. I can get into at any point. So at a wedding I'll save it for the top table sometimes and get the best men up. If I'm doing a stand-up show during the wedding, if I'm hosting it, I'll do it then. If not, I can do it around the tables. I can do it with groups. Do it with groups if there's, um, a drink reception. As you know, sometimes you go, you go just to do the drink reception, but it's a nice day and everybody's in the courtyard, so everybody's together at the same time. I'm like oh, I have almost opened with this just to get everybody to see some magic, and then you have to say thank you very much. I'm going to come around and spend some time with all of you on your own now, but yeah, it's, it's, it's my super weapon. Um, it's, it's the main. I'm going to come around and spend some time with all of you on your own now, but yeah, it's my super weapon, it's the main thing I'm going to teach in my lecture.
Speaker 1:The cards change, they go across and then they go. I put an extra kicker in so I could do something with the bride. So you've got the two best men. I'm like, yeah, this is a good way to finish, but what if we gave these cards to the bride and then the best men threw some cards on and then when she counted them, there was more cards there. So that's where I went down with a pen and a pad, like we do, and did some pictures and did some planning.
Speaker 1:And once you've got the confidence to do something like cards across and the method that you need to pull that off and you can do it in front of almost surrounded, you can do anything. Once you've worked out the method, the psychology and the misdirection to get away with that, while you're being absolutely burnt in a horseshoe environment, everything else becomes a little bit less scary. So that's my miss. Of all the things that I've created, that I've come up with, that I've changed, this is the one I'm most proud of, and it's again. I mean it goes. I believe I first read the plot in royal road to card magic and I remember reading it and thinking, oh gosh, I'd never be able to do that. And again it stayed with me and now I'm so proud of it.
Speaker 2:What a great way to close out your list as well. Really nice diverse amount of effects there, you know. We've got cards, we've got ropes, we've got fork bending, we've got fire to ice, we've got a book test, we've got a lottery prediction pretty much everything in there.
Speaker 1:There really is such a diverse array of effects. If we threw in some honourable mentions, if I was to throw in Paul Martin's Mind, yours and the Mystery, and I don't want to mention this. I believe that this has deliberately been kept off some list to keep it quiet. So I'm just going to say Toxic Plus and if you know, you know, and that is probably my pile of show, that would probably be my pile of show from start to finish, in one order or another.
Speaker 2:So yeah, Well, that brings us onto your two curveball items, because we never know where these are going to go. What was in your book position? I don't read many books.
Speaker 1:I'm not good at reading, I don't take information from reading, so, but I can guarantee you will never. You would never guess it, but once I say it you'll be like oh, that makes sense. So the book that I am bringing is leading with your head by gary kurtz. It's a beautiful. It's a beautiful booklet really. I mean it's 60 pages. However, there's obviously a story with this and this is why this book another book never even came into my head. This is the only book that I would think of.
Speaker 1:A few years ago, doc Easton came over and did a lecture, did a lecture tour, and I went to see the doc and I met Ryan, his son, and at the end of the lecture, obviously doc had a table full of people that were talking. And when doc does a lecture, you get a lecture and then, if you can stay, and he's got nowhere to be does a bit of a show, right, because it's it's the duct. But I've got talking to ryan and you know, when you meet somebody and you talk to someone, you're like oh, there's a we, there's a bond here, and we had exactly the same ideas of magic, and we seem to talk about the things that no one else really focused on, like character and costume. And he said have you ever read? Leading with your head? And I said, um, I'm not a reader, I don't read books, I don't take in the information. So, no, I've never read it. And he said, oh, it's only short. And he did say it's written terribly, but you'll have to read it and reread it. It's, it's old fashioned, but I think you should read it. And I said I don't know, man, I'm not sure to read it. So I'll tell you what. I'll give you my copy. I was like no, no way, no way. So I'll tell you what. I'll do you a deal. I'll give you my copy, you read it and when I'm next in the UK or when you come to America, just give it me back. And I was like, okay, I can't say no to that. So he gave me a copy. I don't know if it was his. I'm pretty sure that they were selling them out the day. But that that's, let's not take the magic out of this story. So he gives me a copy and he says next time you see me, give me back. Now, tragically, he is no longer with us, so I will no longer never be able to give this book back, so that's why it was.
Speaker 1:There's never another book I'm going to choose. Uh, this is very special to me. I've read it in dribs and drabs. But I think, to talk about the book itself, it matches what we've talked about in this. There's no tricks in this book, but this book does talk about what misdirection actually is and things that you'd never think about. Like, I mean, you might, you might do you had a stage, stage education. Right, you're an actor, but the difference between moving something from right to left, moving a prop from your right to your left, is different to if you move it from the left to the right, based on the way that we read normally. So if you do it backwards, the brain picks up on it as being something to watch. I never would have known that.
Speaker 1:It also talks about casting the spell in this book. Like, where does your magic come from? And this is stuff that I was already considering and thinking about. Like, where does Jester Stiles' powers come from? When I first got into magic and tried to say it to people, they laughed at me, genuinely laughed at me, and they're like oh, you're a bit keen, you're taking this a bit seriously, but to read it in print by someone that's respected about may well, not only when does the magic happen, but how does it happen and why doesn't it happen and what? What limits can you put on it? Why can you do this? But why can you predict these numbers? But you can't predict the numbers, like making it almost a character sheet in your head, and it just kind of gave me a little bit of a pat on the back when I read it, like yeah, there are people out there that think this deep about this stuff.
Speaker 1:I'd recommend it for anybody. Do you know what? I wouldn't? I'd recommend it for any workers, and the only reason I say that is it needs to be put into practice. So if you read this as someone that enjoys reading magic books and learning in their room as a hobby, you're not going to get anything from this because you need to physically go out and it's about how you stand, how you look, how you talk, when you control silence, when you speed up.
Speaker 1:Um, and I read it. I've read it through twice and sometimes I pick it up and then I wanted to. Uh, well, you reminded me of it when you said a book and I was like I'm gonna go read this, and last night you know what time I finished work last night because I messaged you like I'm gonna try and get some sleep, I'll see you tomorrow, and I thought let me just run through the pages just to remind myself what I'm going to talk about. Well, I read 34 pages last night, uh, about two in the morning. So it's once I pick it up, I fall back in love with it.
Speaker 2:So my book is leading with your heads by gary kurtz, a great one, and again it, like you said, it's more of sort of a theory, but like practical theory, I would say, um, so yeah, it's a really, really good one, and again one that we we don't have a huge amount of theory books that have been mentioned, so it's a great one for people to explore.
Speaker 1:I've never read another book. I've never been never heard of another book like it, although it has been suggested that I check out maximum entertainment. Apparently that's quite similar, but it's a lot more, a bigger investment of time and stuff. So you know, it's on my list. I'm not someone that says that when I say I don't read books it's not because I don't want to, because I want to say I'm cool, I genuinely. Learning from print is not my, not my skill set. I need to get out there and do it and make mistakes and it. I'm not ashamed of that. That is just who I am. But sometimes something grabs me and I'll hyper focus on it, and this book did that and I'm looking forward to finishing it off this weekend or this week what day we are. So yeah, thank you for reminding me that it exists. It normally just sits on my shelf like a little memory, but I'm like, actually I can do stuff with this.
Speaker 2:So yeah, there we go. So that brings us to your last thing your item. So what did you put in your non-magic item that you use for magic?
Speaker 1:so obviously you can get quite clever at this and be like I'll bring my laptop so I can write some booking emails. I'll bring my phone, but uh, the first thing that came to mind was a pendulum, because I do a lot of stuff with pendulums. But I'm not going to bring a pendulum, I'm going to bring a little bit of business. And do you remember when I said about the multiple card selection that I do at the beginning, my opener and I get across my character in it and there's some moments that make people laugh and relax and take a step back. One of those moments is I have a security tag inside my jacket pocket and that first time that I've bought a card, buying the signed card, I place it in someone's hands and I say I am going to steal that. I've said it openly and honestly. But I am from Coventry, I'm pretty good at that and I open my jacket. Everybody relaxes, everybody takes a step back and you've proven to them you're not here just to show off how good you are with cards or to get into their conversation.
Speaker 1:It's a joke and I think the way that that scripted proves that it's a script proves that. I've said it before. I think sometimes you want to sound like it's new, like it's unique. But also I think sometimes when you do something that's delivered well like you've said it a thousand times before I think that sometimes the audience appreciate that because they're like okay, he knows what he's doing, like this is rehearsed. And I think there's a fine line between being like the magic is spontaneous and happening right now, but also that professionalism of this guy knows what he's doing, he's done this before. He's not, he's not an amateur, he's not just someone's guest that he's brought over. And at first I put it in just to be funny and because it suits my character. But then the more I did it, I thought why does this get such a good reaction like this is, I've trained years to do these tricks, but this, but that's what it is. It's that link between you and the audience. People go, okay, this is a show, we're good.
Speaker 1:And when I perform, um, I have a very expensive watch on, I have a designer suit, I have custom air force one trainers on. I look like money, I look professional. But there's something about me that I'm very aware of where you could look at me and go, yeah, he's probably nicked that. I think it's that little bit of cough that stays in me and I can play that up and I can play that down, depending I can mirror my audience and I think at the moment I still get away with it where I'm like he might have nicked it. I don't think for someone like yourself, I don't think it would work because they'd be like he's never stolen anything in his life.
Speaker 1:But if you pulled out a rubik's cube, people are like, absolutely, that is a guy that would sit in his bedroom and fiddle with the rubik's cube um, so that is my, that is my mystery magical, non-magical item.
Speaker 1:It's a stupid story tag that's magnetized into my jacket and, honestly, if I have got to booking and have not remembered to swap it over, I'm heartbroken. I'm like that's, that's a guy, that and that's when I really, when I have done that and I've not done the the I'm from coventry gag the trick hasn't felt right and I've realized there hasn't been that moment to um to make people relax, and I don't know if it's the same when jugglers say or sometimes they drop a ball so people relax or to prove how skillful they actually are. I don't know if it's in there, but there's. There is more to this than just having a little gag in my pocket, and I don't think I'm smart enough to realize exactly what that is, but I am smart enough to know that I can, I need that and it is powerful. So there you go A security tag in my pocket which still works if I walk into Sainsbury's with my jacket on.
Speaker 2:I think that's a really cool non-magic item. Actually, I think that's what I'd hoped from having this in this podcast. I know it's a really difficult thing to come up with, but I did hope that we would discover little bits like that that are put into people's routines, that sort of I don't know, other people might now go out and go. Actually, yeah, I like that. That's a great thing. It doesn't take any more just to clip it to your jacket and it's there.
Speaker 1:No, it builds your character. But also it's something that that I really do think about and I get a little bit annoyed about when people go that oh that's funny, I'll put it in, but if it doesn't suit you, it it hinders you. But I just think that people should be as mindful as their character and their persona, as they are, of what the latest trick is that they're going to do. There we go. That's my advice that nobody asked for.
Speaker 2:Superb. So if people want to find out more about you, Tom, where can they go?
Speaker 1:To see what I do. Instagram is jester__styles. If you are a mountain biker, I am a keen mountain biker and keen to mountain bike with people, and most people that are my friends at mountain bike have real jobs and work. Don't work weekends and work Monday to Friday. If you're a magician mountain biker who happens to have a bit of free time in a week, please message me on Facebook directly and or Instagram and we can discuss that. And I wasn't going to do this. I wasn't going to out myself, because you know I have a certain image to carry, but I'm actually a massive geek and I sell dice. I sell sets of seven dice that are different shapes, so if you know what they're for, if you're as geeky as me, please check out 13-sided dice on TikTok and Instagram. Okay, just outed myself as being an absolute geek, but you know, there we go.
Speaker 2:Normally I'm quite good with what to say. After I don't know what to say, I'm just going to move on swiftly.
Speaker 1:I feel bad because I've basically called you a geek the whole way through and I'm like yeah, by the way, if you need any dice for your geeky games, come and check out my collection.
Speaker 2:I'm not disputing either of those.
Speaker 1:So it's all good, deal, deal.
Speaker 2:You did also say about a lecture.
Speaker 1:So I have been teasing with the idea of lecturing for a while. And then Elliot Bibby, who I mentioned before, great friend of mine, inspiration, phenomenal guy. He's just done the Magic Castle, he's done a big lecture tour. So at Blackpool a lot of people know him and come and speak to him and he did that very nice thing where he introduces me and then the more he had to drink and the more the weekend went on, it went from being this is my friend Tom. You might know him as Jester Stiles. This is Jester Stiles. You should see his lecture.
Speaker 1:So then I thought I'm going to have to actually write one. So yeah, I'm in the middle of writing a lecture. I've promised Coventry Magic Circle that can have it first. It will be my first lecture. I haven't got any products to really sell, so I'm just trying to make sure that there's definitely stuff in there to keep people entertained and knowledgeable. What I will probably do is probably send a talk to you first, you and Pete and be like this is what I want to do. What do you think? Do you think it's good? Pete's been very kind. Things that I use are Alakazam products. I'm able to as part of my working routine. He was like, yeah, just tell people about them. So it should be good. I just want to make sure that I'm proud of it before I do it. So I reckon it's probably ready to go. I'll tell you what I need. I need the agent to phone me and tell me not to do card tricks. I need someone to phone me and book it in, and then it'll be ready.
Speaker 2:So, yeah, I'm doing a lecture on why I don't do rubik's cubes amazing, so do get in contact with uh, tom and see about booking the lecture. But thank you so much, tom, for your time. I know that you're super busy, so I really appreciate you coming on here and uh giving us your ultimate list well, it was a surprise to be asked.
Speaker 1:I'm not gonna lie, I was not expecting to be asked, um, but when peter says do something, or when peter makes a request, you can't refuse. Uh, I got a message from jamie saying peter says you're gonna do our podcast and I was like, okay, yes, I am. What podcast? And when is it? So? My dream is to get down to you guys in person and do a journeys. You call it journeys, yep Journeys interview, and they're on the new streaming service. Right, they are. I want to do a journeys. Then, while I'm there, we could do a little small masterclass thing on pendulums and making them and making spooky magic work in the real world. We could have a right laugh doing that.
Speaker 2:I'm already excited Book that. In'm already excited book that in.
Speaker 1:Let's book it in yeah, thank you so much. Right, thank you so much.
Speaker 2:Enjoy the rest of your week and, uh, yeah, thank you for having me thank you so much for listening again and we will see you next week on another episode of desert island tricks.
Speaker 3: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.