Desert Island Tricks
Each week we invite one of the biggest guests in the world of magic to maroon themselves on a desert island. They are allowed to take with them 8 tricks, 1 book, 1 banishment and 1 non magic item that they use for magic! We discuss their 'can't live without' lists and why those items were chosen.
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
Neil Henry
Neil Henry, master of viral magic videos and unforgettable pranks, invites us into his world where play isn't just entertainment, it’s a pathway to possibility.
From his early days selling tricks at Covent Garden's Magic Cave to creating videos seen by half a billion people, Neil shares the philosophy that's guided his creative journey. "When a non-magician is asked to make someone fly, they immediately say 'I can't.' But a magician asks, 'What would it look like if I could?'" This simple shift in thinking, Neil reveals, has applications far beyond magic tricks, it’s how he manifested his dream house against seemingly impossible financial odds.
The heart of this episode explores Neil's eight desert island magic selections, each revealing different facets of his performance style. There's his viral exploding snake that launched his online career, the alphabet spaghetti routine he used to propose to his wife (generating 20 million YouTube views before being accidentally deleted), and the classic torn and restored transpo that demonstrates his appreciation for masterful technique. Each choice offers glimpses into what makes magic meaningful for both performers and spectators alike.
Perhaps most valuable is Neil's candid advice about navigating social media fame. Drawing from years of experience handling both adoration and criticism, he offers wisdom that will resonate with anyone putting creative work into the world: "You will never get hate from anybody who is doing better than you." His practical approach to managing online comments, blocking negativity without hesitation, empowers creators to protect their creative energy.
Whether you're a magic enthusiast, a social media creator, or simply someone looking to bring more play and possibility into your life, Neil's insights offer a refreshing perspective on how shifting your mindset can transform seemingly impossible challenges into achievable realities. This conversation isn't just about tricks, it's about approaching life with the optimistic curiosity of a magician.
Neil's Desert Island Tricks:
- Exploding Appearing Snake
- Card Under Box
- Alphabet Spagetti Routine
- Torn and Restored Transpo
- Appearing Brandy Glass
- 100 Dollar Bill Switch
- Fork Bending
- Liquid Spectrum
Banishment. Clicking Fingers
Book. The Mind and Magic of David Berglas
Item. A piece of elastic tied around a wedding ring
Find out more about the creators of this Podcast at www.alakazam.co.uk
Before we get into today's episode, for any of our younger listeners, there is a little bit of bad language throughout, but we didn't want to take away any context or take away from Neil's wonderful enthusiasm. This is such a wonderful episode, full of incredible stories, advice and, of course, some amazing desert island tricks. So from this point on, you have been warned Enjoy this wonderful episode from a truly fantastic performer and creator. Let's go.
Speaker 2:Anyway. But the second time he got us was genius. Do you remember those little brandy glasses we used to sell which had? Inside the wall of the brandy glass there was brandy? So it looked like it was full of brandy, but you could tip it upside down and nothing would come out. So we used to sell tons of these. There were five pounds. We used to sell it.
Speaker 2:Everyone used to come and get it, so we had tons and tons of people going past and of course, you've got to get their attention right, because you've got the street performers right there who are, you know, masters of attention, and so what we used to do is try and get people's attention by doing silly things. So what I used to do is I used to stand there with this brandy glass and, as people would go past, I go morning and, just as if I've oh no, and spill it on them like this, and then they go whoa, oh, oh, oh, that's cool. How much is that? That's so cool? And then I've got them. Oh, yeah, that's cool. But have a look at this. You know, time to everyone, because it worked nearly every single time I'd at least stop and be able to show some stuff, and even if they don't buy. Then other people come.
Speaker 2:This kid had noticed this Back to the kid, remember so he had noticed that I'm doing this. Well, he's done the most ingenious thing I've ever seen in my life. He's got a little carton of apple juice I did not see this, I didn't see this and he filled up the glass up to the line with apple juice. Ok, so then I come with the thing and this, and this lady, lovely lady, walks past and I said like an older, an older lady, and I went hello, how you doing? Oh no, oh no, what, oh no.
Speaker 2:And I spilled apple juice and quite a lot of apple juice all over over her like a direct hit. And I was like oh no, no, I'm sorry, it was meant to be a prank. She's like what kind of a prank is that? What? Throwing apple juice at me, that's going to stick in her, you're going to pay for my thing. I'm like no, no, no, you don't understand. It's a joke. There's nothing jokey about throwing apple juice all over a stranger. I shall be reporting this to the management. Well, the management thought it was the funniest thing in the world.
Speaker 1:Hello and welcome to another episode of Desert Island Tricks. We have someone who I've known for a very, very long time. In fact, it was Neil Lee Hathaway Angelo Carbone were the three first magicians that I met when I was 16, when I was much, much younger in Covent Garden, and lots and lots of magicians used to meet up there. I'm guaranteeing that you can find a good few magicians with stories from that store, and it was always such a joy going down there and seeing them.
Speaker 1:Today's guest is so charismatic and seeing him back then he was really good. I remember he was very good with different languages, so he would talk to different people in different languages, which was always amazing. They used to always have French and German students there all the time, so he was really, really good at talking to them and seeing where he is today not only is it incredible to see where he's gone with his career today are always really, really good and, of course, his incredible proposal video, which was so much fun to watch. So, of course, today's guest is the wonderful Neil Henry. Hello, neil, hey, how you?
Speaker 2:doing. Jamie, I love that. I have such amazing memories of that. When you were giving that intro, I was like, wow, they were. They were incredible times.
Speaker 2:Jamie used to come up to us. You used to come up to us when we were there and every time you came there it was always like we kind of had three just for those people. I didn't know. It was called the magic cave and it was something that Lee Hathaway and I started up and it was.
Speaker 2:We really were selling, you know, public domain tricks, Svengali decks and tricks to a layman, and also loads of pranks and jokes. But we also, under the table, had loads of secretive, really cool tricks that we used to get. But the biggest reason why we did that was not for the profit, because really we sold those I mean not at a loss, but we didn't make money on that at all. Like, the profit margin on magic tricks is stupid and we didn't. We were so competitive just because we wanted to attract magicians. We wanted to be surrounded by creative, amazing people, which I guess is what what suckered you in because, uh, what? What you say used to be great, so you'd have a whole different range of people coming there.
Speaker 2:You'd get all the tourists, which would be that's where the money came from right, the tourists.
Speaker 2:So they'd come and they'd buy tricks, but mainly pranks and stink bombs and stuff, and and then, and then, and then they'd be like sort of like kids with their fathers out to, okay, son, I'll, uh, let's see if they've got a trick pack of cards, you know, and, uh, and then so they bring those, and and that would be that. But, um, but you've very firmly fell into the third category of no, no, I know what I'm doing, what you got under the table, and, uh, and you always had the thing I remember to show me, and in fact I seem to remember didn't we end up selling one of your tricks that you invented, or more than one, and that was before you were with alakazam, I think, although I think it was put out by alakazam. But, yeah, it was always really nice when we had, you know, a proper magic lover like yourself come to the stand, because it would be like, okay, now I can take a breath and just uh, chat about what we're passionate about with someone who is as well, you know they're good terms, man.
Speaker 1:Yeah, it was so good. I always distinctly remember like a little Alakazam crossover was when you guys had dice man for the first time. Oh, um, what a trick. And I remember you. Uh well, there are a couple of tricks. So angelo had a great vanishing deck out at the time. Oh, humbug, humbug, which was superb. He had a great trick where he penetrated his finger through a bill um, which was called poke. Brilliant, which was superb.
Speaker 2:Um, like it was like a finger version of misled timothy wanks. Misled isn't it and it's so good.
Speaker 1:It's still one of my favorite carbone tricks that he's not publicly released of other than then, sadly. But I remember that you would just show me these tricks and I it would just absolutely fry me every single time. You've never changed your persona, so you were always upbeat and bubbly, um, and I always remember you're very observant.
Speaker 2:Oh, you have to be man because, um, I mean, even though covent garden is is is policed by its own private army jamie, you're laughing, but it's serious Like they are a private security force, which means they are bound because it is private property. Did you know that that square in Government Garden is private property, which is why they are allowed? I don't know if you've seen anyone like a shoplifter get caught. They lift them up with these massive South African bouncing bounce, bouncing bouncers, uh, security men who, by the way, I were so lovely, all of them. We made friends. They used to hang out and watch us do magic at the store, um, um, but they, um, but you know, if, if, if, someone was caught stealing or something they would, they'd be lifted up, manhandled and paraded through the thing and then taken out, and then police would be taken. We called it. Yeah, it was, it was crazy, but the point is that they, yes, they were there because and you know, it is a stall and it is in the middle of London and, yeah, there are, there are naughty people, um, so, yeah, I did have to. There was we.
Speaker 2:There was lots of times where we, I think we got, we got stuff stolen from us, but it was normally, like you know, a pack of fun snaps, cause we always kept the things that didn't really cost us much on the front, you know, um, so a pack of fun snaps which I think is about two pence. If you buy it, we sell it for 50p. Wow, um, um, but, um, you, you know. And one, one thing I do remember do you do you know what a fart bomb is? So, not not a stink bomb, a fart bomb. So it's a little pack. In fact, I've got this is a boom bag, it's the same thing, it just a bang. I've been having a lot of fun with these recently. Yeah, so what you do is for those people who don't know it's just a little sachet and if you squeeze it, this little thing inside pops and then you wait for like 20 seconds and then it goes bang and stinks Like awful, awful, awful stink, and it goes everywhere and you can't control where it goes because it goes on your clothes and then you stink and then, and then it'll probably get inside your nose and then your nose stinks, which is like the worst place, worst thing to stink is your nose. Uh, I mean it smells already, um, but then then, but there was this.
Speaker 2:We used to leave the fart bombs open in their box with the little, you know, the little display box, used to leave them, fart bombs open in their box with the little, you know, the little display box. We used to leave them there on the side because, again, they were really cheap things and we used to sell them singly. And you know, we used to have kids come and mess us up. Some kids would like, because a lot of times the kids would just stay there and stand and just watch, right, right, and I learned pretty early on that not to get rid of them because quite often they'd be their mums or dads would have put them there. Stay at the magic stall, we'll come and get you in 20 minutes or something like that, and they'll be staying there. And the more I can demonstrate in that 20 minutes, the more he gets on his list to tell his mum to buy and she gets back. So so I used to just be like working on this imaginary shop shopping list.
Speaker 2:But but sometimes they, they, they were naughty and there was this one kid who got us twice right. The first time he got us he was there and I saw him out the priff of my eyes. I knew it was there and I had my eye on him, so he wasn't going to nick anything. He was a nice guy, ish Right. Anyway, he got a fist and went bang and punched in the box of fart bombs and exploded loads of them. I was like no, no, no, no. I grabbed the whole box and lifted it and threw it, but it still splashed me in the face. I got it away from the stall so the stall didn't suffer, but I suffered, but it honestly, honestly, it was such a funny gag I had to hand it to him. Like you know, I, I, I didn't ban him, I was like I was found it so funny. Look, if you're going to be running a prank stall and a magic stall, you gotta take it once, or?
Speaker 3:twice, you know what I mean.
Speaker 2:And uh, and also, you know I do this because I love it, right, and uh, if I got cross at that then, um, I don't think I'd probably love it anyway. But the second time he got, he got us was genius, right? Do you remember those little um brandy glasses we used to sell which had inside the wall of the brandy glass there was brandy, so it looked like it was full of brandy, but you could tip it upside down and nothing would come out right. So we used to sell tons of these. There were five pounds. We used to sell it. Everyone used to come and get it and as far as I knew, I didn't see it anywhere else. And actually you can get them on ebay, but they're so old now the brandy is now yellow or even like water, like liquid inside that.
Speaker 2:Um, but yeah, anyway, there's a great little illusion. Um, also a great production prop. I did use that. Sometimes it was a. Obviously we get a lot of through traffic at covent garden and and in fact, interestingly, covent Garden a little sidetrack here, a little quiz for you, jamie Covent Garden is actually the UK's third, or at least it was back then, seven or so years ago. 10 years ago it was the third. It's the UK's third biggest tourist trap, right? So what is number one and two?
Speaker 1:Maybe it's got to be something curvebally like the lego store? No, not at all. Oh wow, um, london I, london. I is number two. Oh okay, so what would number one be?
Speaker 2:by the way, a definition of a tourist trap. A definition of a tourist trap is something where they get in and are kept there and it's difficult for them to go. It's difficult for you to leave the London Eye because you're there in a queue or a mile in the air or whatever you know.
Speaker 1:And we're talking biggest in terms of footfall in terms of people, in terms of people going there. You want a clue? Yeah, go on, it's a shop.
Speaker 2:Harrods yeah, that's mad, isn't it? Biggest tourist trap. So we're the third biggest tourist trap, and so we had tons and tons of people going past. And of course, you've got to get their attention right, because you've got the street performers right there who are, you know, masters of attention, attention, and uh. So what we used to do is try and get people's attention by doing silly things, or, or I mean, it wasn't good enough to say do you want to see a magic trick? Right, um, um, because the answer invariably, is no, um, um.
Speaker 2:So what I used to do is I used to stand there with this brandy glass. Back to the point, just stand with brandy glass, and, as people will go past, I go morning rah and just as if I'm oh no, and spill it on them like this, and then they go whoa, oh, oh, oh, that's cool. How much is that that's so cool? And then I've got them oh, yeah, that's cool, but have a look at this, you know. And then I'm in, right, and I used to do it all the time to everyone, because it worked. Nearly every single time I'd at least stop and be able to show some stuff, and even if they don't buy, then other people come right.
Speaker 2:This kid had noticed this Back to the kid, remember so he had noticed that I'm doing this and I'm on every time. Well, he's done the most ingenious thing I've ever seen in my life. He's got a little carton of apple juice. I did not see this, I didn't see this, and he'd filled up the glass up to the line with apple juice. Ok, so then I come with the thing and this, and this lady, lovely lady, walks past and I said like an older, an older lady, and I went hello, how you doing? Oh no, oh no, what, oh no? And I spilled apple juice and quite a lot of apple juice all over her like a direct hit.
Speaker 2:And I like, oh no, no, I'm sorry, it was meant to be a prank. She's like what kind of a prank is that? What? Throwing apple juice at me, that's gonna stick. You know you're gonna pay for my thing. I don't know, you don't understand. It's a joke, joke, like there's nothing jokey about throwing apple juice all over a stranger. I shall be reporting this to the management. Well, the management thought it was the funniest thing in the world. But um, yeah, this kid what. I'm sure he would have done more if I'd been there longer I wonder if that kid is still out there doing pranks.
Speaker 2:Maybe I hope so and if you're listening, kid, get in touch with me or my. Just send me a message on my Instagram because, dude, I want to shake your hand. He'd probably be about, I guess, 27, 28. Now, that's probably a good guess.
Speaker 1:When we think about what you do now. You do a lot of pranks and I mean you do lots of magic as well, I've seen over the years but you do lots of jokes and practical jokes and stuff like that. Is that something that you've just always enjoyed? Then you just always enjoy practical jokes and stuff like that. Is that something that you've just always enjoyed? Then?
Speaker 2:You've just always enjoyed practical jokes, jamie when I was a child, there were two things that I would immerse myself in. You know how, you see, how you know you hear all magicians talk about or even joke about, had no social life because of practicing cards and stuff like that. That for me didn't really come. I wasn't properly serious about learning card moves and proper stuff till I was about 13 or 14. But in my young young, like from age six to 12 or whatever the thing the two things that I was obsessed with was magic tricks. And I'm talking like the Peter Eldon Pocky Book of Magic, which is, you know, I love that, but I used to read that book on the loo all the time. Either that or joke books, joke books. Like I knew every single joke. I had prank books, pranks. For me, pranks do the same thing. It's the same thing, right? I was saying this the other day on something that we were filming for something. And you know, when you say something and you go, oh shit, that's, that's really incisive and I really, really agree with myself. So I'll say it again now. And you know, you know, in Paul Harris's the Art of Astonishment, right, which is like one of the greatest books I think I have ever read about magic. One of them it's not my Desert Island book, though, but he says, for those of you who haven't read it, he says in there, like, in fact, on the front cover, it's right next to me On the front cover it says it says the art of astonishment pieces of strange to unleash the moment. Right, that has got to be one of my favorite things that anybody has written about magic or the magical arts. I just. It inspires me every time I think about it. And, uh, you know, paul Harris has given us some of the most creative, innovative work on, on existing effects and brand new effects. I mean, what a man, what a man. I'm such a fan of his but the, in my opinion and I know I pretty much pretty much everything published by him I've either read or learned and um, but I think the greatest thing that he's come up with is that sentence pieces of strange to unleash the moment.
Speaker 2:And then he goes into this big parody. The prop preface is all about what that's about. And uh, uh, it's. It's the whole reason why I do this, right, why I do pranks, why I do magic, why you do magic, and I'm not talking like, do a little trick, that's cool. I'm not talking like, do a little trick, that's cool.
Speaker 2:I'm talking about you know, and any magician out there would know this feeling and or, hopefully, would know this feeling Maybe you might want to rethink your career. But the feeling of when you do a trick not not the kind of trick that makes someone go, oh, clever, clever, not that kind of thing the one where you go, what, no, no, no, no, no, no. Where you go, what the no, no, no, no, no, no. Do that again. You know, when you get that and you feel that and when you are mature enough as a performer not to take that as an ego thing, not to take that as a praise, because I'm telling you now, it is not and they are not praising you. They are praising, they are not praising, they are adulating this moment that has been unleashed by a piece of strange, it is not a worship moment, right?
Speaker 2:So if you think that, get that out of your head and it will also free you up way more and you'll enjoy your art much more, I feel. But when you get that moment, it's such a special moment and it's why I love magic and it's why I love jokes, because if you catch someone out with a punchline, you know that's so good, or a prank. That's why I love fart pranks. Fart pranks are fantastic because they're so harmless and it is the funniest noise in the world. And, dude, in three years I'm going to be 50. Tomorrow I'm going out to do another fart prank. This is what I do. Um, but um, but fart pranks right, so that's what they are that you see all these people walking down the street doing their boring thing, going to their one, to the other and living their life with no play, you know, and when you, when you do a fart prank or a magic trick or anything like that, you're giving them a piece of strength to unleash the moment. Why is it important to unleash the moment? Well, you get that excitement that I was talking about, that adulation, that worship of the of the moment. And it's because, when you unleash the moment, what that means is you are now living in the now. And why is that important everyone always talks about. Why is important to live in now? I'll tell you why it's important to live in the now, because that's all there is. And when you live in the past you worry. And when you live in the future, you are either excited or you worry. Right in the, in the present. There's none of that. It's all irrelevant, right, because it just is. And the fastest way to get to that point there is through play, through true play. I trained as a clown at the Clown College in London and that's the biggest thing that they taught me there. And you know, incredible things happen through play. I mean, there's a guy called, uh, richard james. He was called he's not magician, he was a naval officer in the late 1940s in america and he was working on a. Um, do you know? You had richard, you know I'm talking, okay. And uh, um, he was working as a engineer on a, on a boat, right, and his job was to come up with some crazy system to be able to make tables stable on choppy waters. So he was playing around with all these different types of springs and putting them in different places and then he put it in a particular place and it fell off the table. But it didn't just fall off, it kind of walked off and fell down the stairs and then he started playing with this thing and he found it so funny. He took it home to his wife and they were pissing themselves about this little spring. That was just going mental and from that the world got slinky Isn't that mad? And this happens again.
Speaker 2:I've got countless of these stories of times when times when play, when breakthroughs happen with play, because you know that's, you know that's what nature does. And then you know nature plays. That's that's the universe. When we're not playing, when we're not in the moment it's, it's all pretend, it's not real and and magic, play, pranks, it all is a fast track to the moment when I'm on my own. The way my mind works is I feel like I'm, I do kind of chat to the universe and to nature around, and sometimes things happen sometimes and I feel sometimes that the universe or nature is playing a joke on me. You know, sometimes mental coincidences happen and I'm like no, now you're having a laugh. Do you know what I mean? Like, and yeah, that is kind of like a prank in, not the real, do you know, maybe?
Speaker 1:Well, I mean it's still the real world.
Speaker 2:Yeah, that's a really good point. You Maybe Well, I mean it's still the Real World.
Speaker 1:Yeah, that's a really good point, jamie. Yeah, well, there's a great podcast. We've got a podcast overlap and I promise everyone listening we'll get onto the concept of this podcast in a minute. But there's a wonderful podcast called we Can Be Weirdos, which I've referenced a couple of times elsewhere, and they have something called the soft rock and the idea with the soft rock is it's something that is impossible, it it cannot happen to you, is it is physically impossible, but it did happen to you. You know it happened to you. So it's completely impossible, but it happened.
Speaker 1:And a lot of the time this crosses over between um ghost stories quite, quite often. Uh, pete spoke about his ghost story, his soft rock, a few weeks ago on one of the lives, but the other one is, uh, synchronicity or coincidence, and a lot of people talk about um, they will say something or imagine something. A lot of the time it's numbers, so they'll see a number everywhere and that on the gate, what they're going to do in the day, um, but there are always these sort of weird coincidences. So what would your soft rock be then? Coincidences.
Speaker 2:Jamie, they happen every single day and they happen more and more. Thing is when you vote. Oh, you wanted an example. Okay, an example that happened last week was we were looking at a house that was unbelievably beautiful and, um, way out of our um, or so we thought out of our budget, and um, I literally said the words and, by the way, by the way, this is true, right, I literally said the word, like when I say it's out of our league, I mean it was like four steps out of our mortgage bracket, right? So I don't know, and I've been through the mortgage advisor, who's fantastic, and he'd gone. No, no, no, no, that that's, that's not for now. For you, right, there is no company on this planet that will categorically give you that amount of money. Right, it was ridiculous. Um, um, and I just went. I just said I don't accept that. That is impossible.
Speaker 2:I like, like, as a magician, I there must be a way to at least make that look like it's possible, like a magician, you know. And I said that there must be a way. How do I make that look like it's possible? And I didn't even begin to think about it, I just laughed to myself by thinking how funny is that? Because I can come to the. I can contextualize that later. I was just laughing but I wasn't even thinking about it and my phone rang right then from my mortgage advisor, after I'd spoken to him for a week and a half, right After we'd got this this mortgage appraisal or decline and he calls me up straight away. He went Neil, I've just been thinking actually we might be able to do this and I'm like that is just mental. I just made him Like that is just mental, I just made him do it, and he came up with the most incredible idea that is unbelievable. It doesn't just make it seem like it is, it is bloody possible and it's doable and it's haveable and it's like incredible. And to contextualize this and we'll kind of inform you of everything that I've kind of been saying is I'm actually writing a course about this at the moment, about, um, not about manifestation.
Speaker 2:It's not that, although although you and there will be people that liken it to that, but it's not that as a magician and I spent a long time being a magician, a magic consultant, uh, illusion consultant for for the rsc and for TV and stuff like that, and so I've done a lot of that and my job has predominantly been to make the impossible possible. And I've come up with all these different things that I consciously or unconsciously use when creating a magic trick or creating an illusion for a stage show, whatever, or even just performing magic and trying to create the illusion of impossibility. I've got a formula of things that I do that I pick and choose, subconsciously or unconsciously, that create this moment of impossibility. And it occurred to me this was about six months ago it occurred to me that every single one of those is applicable to real life. Right, so I can take those principles and I can make, rather than making the impossible possible, seem possible. You can apply that to your life where maybe your goals or your dreams or, in this instance, your dream house, it feels like it's impossible, um, like like it's out of reach, but by applying these things it suddenly becomes possible and doable. And and you then, when you start to do that unconsciously in your life, when, when you do it enough, it becomes like a habit, um, using these things, um, and you just live that life where things just land at your feet. It's like this is an example I use this if you say to a magician and a non-magician right.
Speaker 2:You say you say you. You say right, make me fly, right. The non-magician immediately goes I can't. And and this is no aspersion cast on non-magician immediately goes I can't. And this is no aspersion cast on non-magicians. This is a non-magician's way of thinking. It's fine, but it's a logical way of thinking, which is great. Science, physics says that gravity is this, this, this, no, no, that's impossible, I can't right. And immediately you're stopped. Right, that's it, that's the end of the road. But the magician doesn't say that. Well, the illusion consultant does not say I can't, because that's there. If he did, then that wouldn't be his job.
Speaker 2:The magician says something else. He says well, what would it look like if I could? Right Now, when you say I can't, you've got loads of like negative things you've got. Well, I, I can't do that, I don't have time, I don't have enough money, I'm not a good enough speaker, and blah, blah, blah. There's all this, all this negative things. We should bog you down. What would it look like if I could? Everything negative is completely irrelevant. What would it look like I could? I don't have enough money?
Speaker 2:well, that's irrelevant right, what would it look like if I could? All I want from you now is for you to tell me what it looks like. Just imagine it. And now, okay, what happens from that is you then build from that and you create and, and that, because now you're moving, you're getting somewhere and you're not stifled by the fact that it is actually a physical impossibility. You're not trying to do that. What you're doing is you've got rid of the word can't and you've got yourself in a place where you're making it look like it can. You've turned the can't, can't into a can, right, and then, when you've got, when you've done that, you then come up with an amazing illusion that makes you look like you're frying. Yay, okay, the, the, the. You do this illusion.
Speaker 2:Everyone claps, everyone goes wow, wow, that's amazing. The, the. But the non-magician goes wait, wait, wait, wait, wait a second. Very good, I've got no idea how you're flying right now, but you're not actually flying. You know, you're not flying, you, it's an illusion. Okay, and, and that is where I think they're missing the magic, because, because the magic isn't that he's managed to fly, the magic is that he's now living a limitless from a limitless, uh, mindset. And you know the, the, the magic is that he doesn't stop himself by saying can't. And if you do that enough, as magicians and magician consultants would know, right, if your instinct is to jump to, well, what would it look like if I could? Or what if you know? If your instinct is that imagination kickstarter, what if? Then your life is lighter? You live in play you and, and as we've already chatted about, when you live in play, incredible things happen breakthroughs happen.
Speaker 1:Well, I think this is, uh, a great segue into your episode, because we may end up with some of these pranks in there. I don't, I don't want to know just yet. We we may end up with maybe some of the video tricks that you've done over the years. We could go absolutely anywhere, and what I think is really interesting with you is because you are so eclectic in what you do. Like you just said, you've done stuff for the Royal Shakespeare Company, so you're attuned to stage illusions, but you're absolutely incredible at the Sven deck and dynamic coins because of your Demin days, and you have such a diverse array of tricks that you have to use for your videos. I'm guessing you're surrounded by hundreds, like most creators are, so genuinely we've got no idea where this could go, so this could be a good one.
Speaker 1:Now, if it's your first time listening to the podcast, the idea is that we're about to whisk Neil away to his very own magical island. When he's there, he's allowed to take eight tricks. Banish one item, take one book and one non-magic item that he uses for magic Particulars, like who's there? Are there fart bombs there? Who knows? This is in Neil's own imagination, so let's go there now and find out what Neil put in his first position.
Speaker 2:OK, so the first thing I would do is not really a magic prop at all. It's my favourite prop but, as we've talked about, it is the ultimate piece of strange that unleashes the moment, and that is my exploding experience. Exploding, appearing snake. It's what I made my first massive viral video from and it's what kind of launched my career. Um, it's uh, it's a little spring. There's a long, fully sized boa constrictor. Um, very, very realistic. You put that in front of someone. They think it's a snake, but it also collapses down and fits slightly larger than your fist. So you can, in a very, very clumsy palm, hide it and you can just make that explode out of anywhere. And it's the funniest moment, and especially on a desert island where there probably is snakes.
Speaker 1:So my question is when you have a prop like that, so you have this snake you've seen it, you know that you want to do something with it. How do you construct some sort of scenario or some sort of routine with this prop to to film for your videos? How do you come up with that?
Speaker 2:I can tell you exactly how I came up with that.
Speaker 2:Um, there were scenes where which I wanted in my head. I was very, very clear in my head what I wanted. This thing was I. I tried out doing it in public by just doing it, and I realized it wasn't scary enough. So I scream and that is uh and yeah. So there were scenes I wanted.
Speaker 2:There were two in particular scenes that I really wanted in my head, and one was I go up behind someone with a full glass of full pint of beer and I go and a snake appears and the entire for this vision to be realized, the entire glass of beer needs to go all over him spectacularly, and I I've got to say I nailed that shot better than I ever could have wished. Um. And then the other one was I go up to somebody eating an ice cream and I do it to them and they get such a jump and I do it just as they bring the ice cream to their mouth and I was hoping that the natural instinct would be for their hand to cover their face, to protect their face, like that is the natural instinct, I thought. Although I discovered actually it's not, it's the other way. You kind of go away like that, um, but doing enough times, uh, we did find someone and it did go bang in her face and it was very funny. Those were the two.
Speaker 2:So, yeah, there's that. But also, you know you, you play around with it. It's the play thing again. You know, you just mess around. It's a fantastic prop that I get so much joy out of man and and and yeah, just so I'd go around with the cameraman. Julius Dean filmed a lot of it to start with, and he came up with some fantastic ideas, like there's one where I appeared underneath a bench while someone was there and I just put it at their feet and it never occurred to me to use it as a snake without exploding it. But I'm really good, julius, I gave me that idea and it's a great idea. Um, yeah, yeah, so these it's play, but often it's. I've got a particular moment that I really want.
Speaker 1:Amazing. Well, that's a great one in number one and leads us very nicely into number two. So what did you put in your second spot?
Speaker 2:All of these. By the way, this is not in any particular order, although I have kind of higgledy-piggledy in style, ok, so there's going to be some conventional ones and some unconventional ones. The next one, I'm afraid, is a conventional one. It's not my favorite card trick because that is also in this list, but I think it's Sorry. It is my favorite card trick. It's not the one that I do the most, which is also in here, okay, but I think it is just the most. It's had the most incredible effect on me and that is a very good card under the box routine. Now when I say very good, I'm referring to the one that James Brown taught me a while ago. I don't know what he calls that, but just look up James Brown. Card on the box.
Speaker 2:The first time I saw card on the box was not actually James Brown. First time I saw it was back when I was working for Marvin's Magic at Harrods and I was on a break and Lee Hathaway showed it to me and I'd never seen it before and he did it under a pint glass rather than a box and he did it numerous times. Like I do it now. I do it three times. I've got. I've got a routine I stick to. Sometimes I jazz around a bit, but I don't normally go more than three.
Speaker 2:He went on loads, um, loads and loads, and I just thought it was the most exciting thing to do, whether you can play with someone's direction so blatantly while telling them that you are and it's just, and you know, and it's relatively easy to do. That's the great thing. It's relatively easy to do and it makes you feel like you are in control of their mind and and which is exactly what you are. And the, the feeling when you get it good, uh, I'm sure you've done it once or twice or more or lots, but that feeling isn, isn't that? It's just wow. And when you see that double take, they do huh, what when?
Speaker 2:When I saw Penn and Teller fall, as the other day, someone I don't know who it was Someone did a three fly effect I think they were English with these colored coins and he did the moment across. Oh God, he was so good, the timing was so good, the timing was so not, but then, but then, of course, then I did a we, we produced a project, uh, for darius ziata bari, called the crystal method, uh, which was a um, uh, a trick with, uh, transparent cards and uh, one of the routines on there was with james brown and we were filming at my house and he showed me his card on the box and I was like, well, he says that's just, that's just so doable, I love it so much. And yeah, james, if you're listening, man, I miss you. Give us a call sometime. He's, he's so good he's so good.
Speaker 1:yep, absolutely, and I think that's a great, great choice. Stark contrast to number one as well We've gone from an exploding steak and then we're going to take another turn for number three.
Speaker 2:Oh great, which is not again not in order. Number three is something that I created which is kind of like my little pet thing, and one day I will put this out for people, and that is my alphabet spaghetti routine, where I eat an entire tin of cold alphabet spaghetti and then eat a piece of string and then someone in the audience will name a word and I will regurgitate that word in alphabet spaghetti threaded through the thread. It's also what I proposed to my wife with. I regurgitated the words will you marry or no, marry me. A lot of people in the comments when that went online said she should have replied by putting one out of her own mouth, saying maybe we should see other people. But yeah, so I mean, getting Charlie in my life is the biggest magic trick that I could have dreamt of. So that's amazing. But I did it on Britain's Got Talent as well. Um, and it's, it's. That is the ultimate example of play Like I.
Speaker 2:The reason why that came about that trick is because I was doing a. Uh, I always wanted to do the needle swallow. Always wanted to do it. I was just such a cool trick, isn't it? And um, I swallow, always wanted to do it. It was just such a cool trick, isn't it? And um, I was doing a lot of stage shows back then and uh, I was like right, just, uh. I learned that I did it really well. And I was like, um, I was like right, let's bang it in the show somewhere. And it was just like it just didn't like the whole show.
Speaker 2:I don't know if you've ever seen one of my stand-up shows. They all flow, they've all got a message and and it flowed, but this one particular one. The whole show was great, but then it got to the needle swallowing. It was like a sort of interval. It was like a break, like like okay, this is me being serious. Now let's pretend to be dan sperry, you know? And um, and uh, let's be chris angel, and it's um, and it just, I just realized what I was doing. You know it got round of a plot.
Speaker 2:I did it really well, jamie, and you know I know that sounds a bit wanky to say, but I did, uh, but it never. It never inspired me or an audience, no one was. It never got big whoops or anything. It was like, well done, that's great, that's pretty good. And no one ever talked about I was trying to work out why. That's how I realized, oh, I know why. It's because it's not my trick at all. It's nothing to like. That is just not me. It's not me.
Speaker 2:Whereas my entire show always started from me, I wasn't. That was the only trick that I've ever done. Where I go, that trick I want to do, let's work our way. I always started from the other way and that's why I didn't fit. So I sat down with a really close friend of mine with an amazing magic mind, a guy called Tim Willoughby. Um and uh, we were just playing and out of the play and the fun and pissing around about it. That routine came and it served me so well. I've done it hundreds of times. I've got a fat belly because of eating so much pasta because of it. And yeah, and it's one of my favorite things to do, particularly because you know it was not something, it was something that I, or we, me and him- created.
Speaker 1:You know, I think we've mentioned on this podcast before about tricks that define a person, so you can't not necessarily imagine someone else performing it, but when you think of that trick, you think of that person like that's, that's their trick and this, for for me, is the one that I think of you. Uh, we always talk on this podcast about bingo as well. So if we did neil henry bingo and if everyone was playing along at home, they may have come up with the spring loaded snake. But, before we started. This is the one.
Speaker 3:I was like I really hope this is on there, because it's just so good.
Speaker 1:And that video, please, please, please. If you've not seen the proposal video, go and see it.
Speaker 2:My agent back then posted it on my YouTube. He also sold it to a company, so they owned the rights to it, but they said that obviously I could still keep it. I knew nothing of it. By the way, if you're listening, don't do that, you don't need to do that. But I had no idea, so we just went yeah, yeah, yeah, oh, wow, two grand, okay. I, yeah, I had no idea, so we just went yeah, yeah, yeah, oh, wow, two grand, okay.
Speaker 2:Oh, little did I know, um and um and but uh, then, years later, I got a new agent and new manager, uh, who was looking after my YouTube and um, he went oh, there's a few videos on there that um, not quite sure how you got them there, but I deleted them because they've got copyright strikes. There's one in particular got a copyright strike. It's not yours. So I deleted it. I was like oh, which one did you? I've never posted anyone else's videos. What did you delete?
Speaker 2:And he said oh, it was one with a. There was a guy with spaghetti. I went when you say a guy, do you mean me? I was like, no, he had hair. I was like, yes, that was when I had hair. That was me. You just deleted my fucking proposal, so, and then we got in touch with YouTube and it was too late, it was gone. You know, 20 million views on YouTube with like thousands of well-wishers and hate comments and funny stuff and oh, heartbreaking, heartbreaking. But it is online. It is online, but it's just not on my page. It is on my Facebook page at the Neil Henry. So there you go.
Speaker 1:Wow, that is what a thing to have done.
Speaker 2:I know. Well, it's not his fault. He thought I was an egg. Now, I haven't always been an egg well, that's a great choice.
Speaker 1:In at number three. So let's go to number four. So what's in your fourth spot?
Speaker 2:number four let's go back to the back, to the conventional and say my all-time favorite favorite card trick, or like the one that I pull out if someone says go on in. Uh, and it's, I think, the greatest one for reactions. He plays massive or it plays tiny, um, it's by one of my favorite magicians of all time ever, and I, I think not I think I'm definitely not the only person um, by david williamson, and it is torn and restored, transpo. Um, which is like it's just a master class in misdirection, in some very simple but very effective slights that must be executed perfectly. And uh, there's it's. It leaves loads of room for comedy and banter and using what you've got around you and play. Every time I do it, it's different with different people. You can do it in their hands, you can restore a card in their hands or on the table, or it's great for screen, it's great for the real life, it's just such a great trick.
Speaker 1:Great, a great, great, great choice, I think. Uh, lots and lots of people perform this, and for good reason, and I think what I really like about this is each stage feels like the end of the trick, it feels like it's peaked and then something happens are failures like, like you know, and which, which just further and further heightens.
Speaker 2:There is one downside to it, and that is if you get cut off halfway through it, you're fucked. Right, if you get cut off before the good stuff happens, you have just performed the shittest piece of magic in magic history, right? And I know that. The person who introduced me this trick, which is Lee Hathaway he has a story. I'll let him tell that story. So jot that note down. If you ever have him on the show, tell him to tell you he had doing, torn or restored transport to a CEO. He'll tell you that's his story. But yeah, yes, it's just amazing, amazing trick.
Speaker 2:And by the end of when the real magic happens, when the real magic happens, you've set yourself up to be so rubbish that it just triples how good it is. And even if you didn't, some I have seen some magicians don't do the the sucker part of it and it's not as good for me, but it still is a great trick. Like David Blaine, when he did it, he didn't do the sucker bit, but you know he went for the cool. Personally, I thought he was missing a trick there, but never mind. But yeah, david Williamson, there is a routine by him called whispering coins, hanging coins, whatever. Anyway, there's a trick where he takes a little magic wand and he taps in the air. He says, look, there's a coin there in the air. And he taps the air and you can hear it going ding, ding, ding. You hear it there. And then he reaches into that space that was just tinking and he pulls the coin out of the air and it's such a clever little move but you need to have a wand right, a particular kind of wand to do it with a particular kind of weight. And so I went. It was, I was at the southport magic convention, the ibm magic convention, and we were in the bar and I I bought this, the perfect wand, from colin rose.
Speaker 2:Uh, for this it cost me like 25 quid, but you know, I still I've given it to my kids now. They love it. It's just this gorgeous piece of work anyway. Um, and I was practicing this move, making just tapping the air and making it ding, ding, ding, like this, and whilst we're there, suddenly we had these glasses smash and like this, like all sorts of stuff, and shouting and swearing and people and things flying around from the door. So, of course, being the nosy guy I am, I went to go find out what's going on.
Speaker 2:It was out on the street and a big fight had taken place Right, which began with some people that lived in Southport picking on some nerdy Well, I said nerdy, that's, that's all of us Some nerdy magicians, um, out on the street. Anyway, what we did is we uh, me and a bunch of a few other guys, um, we, including David Williamson, um, uh, there was like five of us we went out there, we rescued the magicians it's very obvious which ones they were uh, anyone wearing a suit, jacket and a lapel thing, anyway, pulled him in, pulled them all in, and, and the other people I don't know what the fight was about they were really aggressive, jamie. Anyway, we slammed the door shut and locked it, but it was really really banging like this, and so everyone had kind of gone by this point anyway. Anyway, he was left this is about midnight, just me and my idol who I'd never met before, david Williamson, there pushing our bums against this wall, just sitting next to him.
Speaker 2:I'm like, well, this is a thing, isn't it? And he was being funny, as you can imagine, making me laugh. Anyway, I went dude, do you know what, since you're here, I've got this. I reach in my pocket, I get out my wand and I start dinging the air. And I've got to say he was really gracious about it. He said that's right, he gave me some tips and over the ruckus of the noise from outside, he did it so loud you could hear those coins ding over all the ruckus. Yeah, anyway, oh wow.
Speaker 1:That just goes to show how good he is. In the middle of a carnage outside, he's still able to do it. Well, that's a great choice. In at number four and leads us to number five. So what's in your fifth spot?
Speaker 2:Well, it's a toss up between two and I'm going to go with my gut and say that appearing brandy glass, because it's just so funny. It's just so funny. It works in a magic show. You can produce it and then spill it on them, and it doesn't. It's funny, it breaks the moment. It's just a perfect moment. It's amazing. And if anybody knows where I can get a hold of one of them because I don't have one anymore I would love you for it. But it's got to be brandy-colored, it's not that yellow stuff. I don't want a pretend glass of pee, I want brandy glass. That joke, brandy glass. Yeah, it's just brilliant. I love it. So, yeah, I've gone for that.
Speaker 1:I feel like someone should produce a set of them different types of glass with different coloured liquids in as a little set.
Speaker 2:Yeah, that's a fantastic idea. That with different coloured liquids in as a little set. Yeah, that's a fantastic idea. That's a really good idea, and if that somebody does out there want to do it, I will promote the hell out of that on my page. That's brilliant. I've got a beer glass one. It's not as good, it's just not as good. If someone came up with a wine glass, wow, that would be great. I mean, obviously there's milk, isn't there? You just get a milk pitcher.
Speaker 3:But anyway, hey guys, harry here from alakazam magic. I hope you're enjoying the podcast. I'm just here to interrupt and tell you a little bit about the alakazam magic Convention. It has taken us 35 years to get to this date. However, may the 9th 2026 will be the very first Alakazam Magic Convention. Now I know you guys are super excited, maybe just as excited as we are. First of all, the venue is a 37-minute direct train from central London. The venue is then literally a 10-minute walk from the train station. There's hotels within a stone's throw, there's restaurants nearby and there's incredible food and drink on site. That's all without even getting into the magic side of things. We are going to have four incredible lecturers performing throughout the day, including one person who's going to be flying over to the very first UK lecture. We are buzzing to announce who those four are. Not only that, there'll be dealers on site and a place for you guys to jam and session and meet new friends.
Speaker 3:Where are the lectures gonna be held? This is my personal favorite bit about the Alakazam convention. They're gonna be happening in one of the cinema screens. That means fully tiered seating, comfy seats, a drink, and there will be a close-up camera on the Jumbo Cinema screen that will be giving you close-ups of all the little nuances that you're going to need to see when the lecturers are performing. There will, of course, be a full gala show to end the evening off. You guys are not going to want to miss it. The great thing is as well, on the Sunday, the day after, alakazam Magic Shop, which is a two-minute drive, will be open. So if you're heading down to the convention, why not stay overnight and come and visit our magic shop? Remember May the 9th 2026. Tickets on sale now at alakazamcouk. See you guys soon.
Speaker 1:That's great. We're back to the the strange and obscure. So we've gone from not for long um exploding appearing snake to card on the box alphabet spaghetti routine. We've got torn and restored, transpo onto the appearing brandy glass and now we're in at number six. So what's in your sixth spot?
Speaker 2:when I was 17, I went I just got my driving license and I drove up for the very first time to this thing that all I was hearing about from people was this thing in blackpool called the blackpool magic convention. It was my first time. I went all on my own. The only people I knew really in magic was people at the stall that I bought, but I hadn't bought it back then. This was back in the old old days, so some people had shown me some stuff there and also people that I had met in Davenport, right, and there was this one guy called Bruce Munton, lovely, lovely guy. I've never chatted to him since, or or for a long time. Uh, he's I, I don't know whether he's. If you, if you're listening to this, bruce, you have no idea the effect on my life you've had. Um, I, I genuinely don't think he has any idea what effect he had.
Speaker 2:We're in the, we're in the gala show. Right, I'm on my own. I don't really know anyone there. It's before I'm really in the scene. And, um, that was back when gala shows were gala shows. Like the gala show. There was kevin james doing his. Is the the whole old school act. There was juliana chen, there was peter marvey doing his um, um, you know the one where he he goes to fly but then shrinks himself, um, um, oh, there were tons. There was the whole thing. The whole show was unbelievable.
Speaker 2:Um, if anyone wants to work it out, that was when I was 17 and I'm 47 now, so that there was that year and um and um in the interval. I just went, I went and got myself a drink and I was just kind of standing around the seats and then, oh my gosh, bruce munton, who I'd met in davenport. Right, he, bruce munton, taught me how to do a false transfer instead of a french drop. Right, he and I was like, oh what, there's more ways to vanish a coin, cool, and, uh, and, and and so that's so there you go. Already he's influencing me. But uh, he said, do you want to see a trick? I went, oh, of course he. Then he said have you got five pound notes? So I gave him, uh, a paper, five pound note as it was then, and, uh and um, he changed it into a 10 pound note, in front of my face, with his sleeves rolled up, with bare hands, and I was like, why, right, there's no other trick that I want to do, like I could see that working in so many situations in my life and I was like that trick is going to be my trick. So now I've tried to teach that to a lot of people and a lot of people take a long time.
Speaker 2:I remember picking it up straight away. I had the special thing that you need in my pocket anyway and I was like no way is it that. I was so surprised that something so amateur can be so professional. And yeah, and from that you know I mean that bill switch, that money change is used. I don't really use it just for doing that change, I use it in so that, but for that change I use it in so many routines for so many different things. I use it in pre-show, that bill switch for videos. Sometimes, you know, I do all sorts of stuff with it. It's a fantastic thing and um, but even if it's just that bill switch, I mean wow, what a trick. I just saw justin willman's fantastic new netflix show. Did you watch it?
Speaker 1:not yet.
Speaker 2:He's coming on to the um podcast as well oh well, dude, he it's, it's brilliant, it's brilliant, it's brilliant, like I'm such a fan of his. But he does that bill switch. He does it three times in that show brilliantly, to great comedic effect, and it's very, very magical as well. But this slow motion, empty-handed, very deliberate folding and then opening of a bill with nothing, nothing there, and it's changed is is not only so magical and so memorable and you can place it. You know, if you think about the Juan Tamari's framing of your face, you know the five points of magic. You know when he talks about make the magic happen here, right there. So they remember your face in that this is such a clever thing. But you can frame that so beautifully anywhere you need. You know. But not only that.
Speaker 2:Now this is going to be quite cryptic because you're not allowing me to say methods. So what it leaves you with is the apparatus to produce the most fantastic bill to anywhere. Because if you have another bill pre-placed somewhere in a lemon, in a book, in a something behind a glass, you can then take that and if it's already folded up, in the action of opening that up you can do the switch. Now, that's not my idea, that's Manuel Muerta's's idea. As far as I know, um and um, but I've taken his idea of using it in the lemon and I've used it for many, many things and um it's. It's a very handy little thing. I hope that sparks some inspiration in some people because, um, it should have done yeah, well, it's a great choice.
Speaker 1:In at number six and leads us to the tail end of your eight with number seven. So what's in your seventh spot?
Speaker 2:uh, fork bending, fork bending, such a mad, crazy, magical moment, um, seemingly off the cut cuff. Well, kind of, kind of, can be off the cut if you, if you've got strong enough hands, um, um, but, um, yeah, I, I, I do it every. Every gig I do I've got it's a great one that you can just riff on. And again, it's different every time I do it. I don't, I don't follow any rules with it, and it's a great way to learn about your audience, a great opener, because it's so difficult, I, I always, I always approach a lot of people and you know and I say you know that thing that where you see a magician and they've got a packet, you know the pack of cards, and they say, take a card, and everyone goes oh, yeah, yeah, I've seen that. I've seen that. All right, yeah, we're not doing that. And I pull out loads of forks and say pick a fork and it's a great way to get into a crowd and it's and it's just so interesting. And I've done it on some big celebrities and I've done it on family and my kids love it. I used to do it when I used to do kid shows. I did it in that it's so weird and I love it.
Speaker 2:And actually Uri Geller, out of the blue, called me up. He called me up because he saw a video I did to a footballer called sergio barras and uh, in whilst I was chatting. During the trick I said you know that you've heard the other guy, yuri geller, who bends the spoons and he goes yeah, yeah, yeah. Well, he called me up and he's, he was so complimentary. He said he said thank you for the name, check. And uh, he said and and he sent me the most amazing video saying I don't know how he's doing this. I don't know how he does it. I really don't. I thought that was very kind.
Speaker 1:I was actually talking about it with a good friend of mine last night and we were talking about the sort of different approaches to fork bending. And we were talking about the sort of different approaches to fork bending. There tends to be sort of quite a rapid version of fork bending and sort of a slow version. Which version do you tend to lean towards?
Speaker 2:Both. Both Depends on what it is. If it's on social media, 100% fast. If they're giving me a lot of attention, then it'll be a slow one If that's what they want All the time. Every time I do it, as I said, it's different to whatever the crowd is really.
Speaker 1:Yeah, well, it's a great choice. I think that the visualness of it as well, and the fact that Yuri Geller actually called you.
Speaker 2:I know, dude, I was bowled over.
Speaker 1:Bowled over Because we've said before the amount of times when you still perform fork bending that people in the audience say, oh, it's like yuri geller, and they still mention yuri geller's name. It's still that prevalent in our culture. Well, that brings us to your final choice.
Speaker 2:So okay, so what was your final?
Speaker 2:selection well, I was gonna do something like sponge balls, because like on a desert island, because you could do that with uh leaves or you know, sand shells or whatever, but but you know what? There's a million things. It's a difficult thing, this jamie, coming up with eight. Right, because I change what I do all the time, right, and I and I've got very high ADHD and if I'm left with one thing I'll get bored of it, right? So I'm going to do something different here for the eighth one.
Speaker 2:Right, I am going to bring something, but I'm not going to perform it. I'm bringing it because it's something that I've been meaning to practice for months, right, and this has given me the opportunity to be on my own with nothing else to do, and I can sit down and just get this right, because I'm not going to perform this. It's one of those ones, you, you're not going to perform it until you do it right, until until it's sorry, until it's good. So I'm going to take this opportunity to take my copy, with all the gimmicks of, of the unbelievably excellent and inspiring tobias, tobias dostel's liquid spectrum, and I'm going to take it out there and I'm going to nail it and I'm going to be able to make things are going to just melt. I'm going to have fun with that, um, I just haven't had the time to and I really want to because it looks so much fun the the ability to make something melt.
Speaker 1:It's just so cool. Someone like you and an effect like that. I think some of the things that you're going to come up with using that prop are going to be so interesting and different and exciting, I think. So, whatever, I'm sure you've already got tons of weird, interesting ideas, so is this going to be something that like, if you do get the opportunity to play with and work with? Is this one of those props where immediately a video idea comes to mind? Because I bet you've just heard it.
Speaker 2:I've already got the video. I've got one video idea in particular yeah, and it's not a magic video either. It's got the video. I've got one video idea in particular yeah, yeah, and it's not a magic video either. It's a prank video. But you know, it honours the magician's code. Obviously I'd rather surprise it. I could say no, I'd rather just do it.
Speaker 2:Yeah, no, keep it as a surprise, I can guarantee you, if I say it, there are tons of people that do it beautifully out there and they will want to do this, so I'd quite like to selfishly get there first are you comfortable?
Speaker 1:do you mind people copying your video ideas after you've?
Speaker 2:got that particular one. Like when you come up with a wicked, like I've got a great idea. I'm going to be very careful not to tip this. I've got a really, really cool idea for a magic trick, uh, video, which is based on something very old, and I can guarantee that when I do this, everyone's gonna go oh you motherfucker. Oh no, I should have thought of that and I love it when I that, when things like that come up, um, but I, I need, I need the right circumstances to do it and um, they haven't presented themselves yet, but I'm ready when they are. But you know, if they pull it out, I will be sad, I would be disappointed. But do, but do I mind people copying once I've done it? No, not at all. It's his ultimate. That is. That is fantastic.
Speaker 2:When people go go, people got to realize, right, you got to realize that social media is about. That's what it's about People taking takes on things and ideas. You know, if you have an idea and you want to go and do something, that you know people are going social media a lot of my posts get seen by half a billion people. What you're going to expect? That no one else is going to try it. You know, get over what you're going to expect, that no one else is going to try it. You know. Get over yourself. You know, do your thing, shoot your shot, enjoy it, enjoy whatever praise or hate or whatever you get from it. Or don't even enjoy it, just move on to the next thing. And if someone else copies it, it's none of your business. No, do you know what, jamie? Actually, the love you get from it and the hate you get from it and the likes you get, none of that is any of your business. The only time it becomes your business is when those likes and those comments help a post to. If you're a monetized page to do better and make more money, then it literally does become your business. That's the only time. It's none of your emotional business.
Speaker 2:These people aren't real. I mean they are real, but nobody. What I mean by that? Sorry, I didn't actually mean that. What I mean is nobody cares, nobody cares.
Speaker 2:And to prove that, you go online and watch a magician and see how much you care as much as I do care. You know I'll watch like Patrick Kuhn do something beautiful online. I love him. You know I'll watch him do something great online and I'll just go oh, wow, yes, I care, you know I will write a comment if I mean it, you know, and I'll say something like dude, that was amazing, yeah, brilliant, I cared at that moment. But I've moved off. It's back to that present moment thing, that moment when I watched it thing. But when Patrick will read that comment saying, oh look, neil said that's amazing, right, well, yeah, I did say that, but I'm not there now, or maybe I am, maybe I'm still thinking about it. But it's like when you read comments, you're reading the past, you're, you're not now, and that's the whole thing about.
Speaker 2:About social media is and all of that kind of stuff is. It does drag you away from the present moment. You know the magic happens when it's happening. That's why live theater and live magic is so much more powerful for the magician, right, because you're getting response. There. You know you're getting immediate, genuine care, whereas online, you know, people are scrolling, they're mindless. You know it's mindless and it's been designed that way.
Speaker 2:For anybody that's in social media and experiencing this, I'll tell you, with 10 years of experience, of experience, right, I've been through it all, I've received it all and here's my advice to you okay, remember what I said about that nobody cares, right. But sometimes it's hard to remember that when someone says something horrible, it's hard to not take offense, um and and that's okay. That's okay that you're taking offense or that you're hurt by it, because you're a human being and you've put your soul, or it's a vulnerable thing putting yourself out online when your page is public and it has the potential to be seen by billions of people. You know, and you know, even if it's seen by 10,000 people my fuck that 10,000 people seeing your magic trick that is fantastic. You know a thousand people. You know, I used to. I used to be overjoyed when I used to sell out a room of a hundred people. You know, look at this. We've got the, the so.
Speaker 2:So you're going to get people to do that. You've got to remember that they want a piece of you. They want a piece of you and want a piece of your mind and your attention by writing these things. And the more attention you get, the more of this people will give you. And the reason is because they seek out pages where attention is and they, if these are attention seekers, they are people behind a keyboard that are safe there. They will never be found, and they can only get their attention by going where the attention is.
Speaker 2:If you're in a playground back when you were at school, right, and you want to behave like an idiot, right, you have to be in front of. You know, you have to go and behave like an idiot in front of loads of people. Now, where are those people? Well, they're all watching the video that's doing really well. So, I know, let's say something that will make other people laugh there. That's where the bullies go, okay, so you've got to remember that for starters, and then remember this and this is key, right, and this is key, right you will never, never, get hate from anybody that is doing better than you. You will always get it from people that are not only doing worse than you, but strive to at least match your greatness. Ok, now that that holds, I want everyone who's interested to think about that. And if you can come up with an example of somebody giving genuine hate to somebody who's not doing as well as them, it just doesn't happen, jamie. So that should fill you with a little sense of, I'd say, sympathy towards these haters, because poor guys like look at you, you've done so well. You're getting hate.
Speaker 2:When I did that snake video overnight, it got over a week, it got to 100 million views, right, I'd never experienced anything like this before. I had people saying oh, you're a narcissist, you're horrible, how could you do that? You know she's got ice cream all over her shirt. You know all of these sort of things. And I was like you know, you know me, I'm like, I like to think I'm a nice guy. You know, I don't feel like I'm like that and it really hurt my feelings.
Speaker 2:And I spoke to my PR manager at the time because I was doing this TV thing at the time and I spoke to her and I was, and it was actually the day before my first baby was born and it should be a really joyous time, but this was really eating me up inside. And I spoke to her and I said look, I'm getting tens of thousands of people hate commenting me. And she said what are you crying about? Do you know how much people pay for that kind of hate? And to see it from that perspective has changed me.
Speaker 2:And I'll tell you something else. Right, we all know, or those who are interested in social media know, that when you post a video. If you reply to comments and stuff, it's going to help your post, which means you're going to have to go through the post to reply to the comments, right? Which means you're going to see those hate things. So then what I want you to do is you do that replying, but you do that dead. You do that dead in your mind, all right, and you can have fun with that as well. So I'm not saying, be bored, you can have fun with playing dead. Just no emotion.
Speaker 2:And what I mean by that is when someone praises you my God, you're good at sleight of hand. Don't take it, because if you take that praise, you sure as hell got to take that hate and the praise will be invariably way more than the hate. But that one hate comment in amongst tens of thousands of love, that was one you'll remember, but you won't remember it. The only reason why you'll remember it is because you've taken all that love on board, right? Don't take that love on board. Don't take the hate on board. It's none of your business. And my final thing I'll say on this, and this is the ultimate piece of advice, and this is where I am now I do this job because I love it. I love spreading just silliness in the world. I think the world needs more of it. I love it and I enjoy doing it and I'm so lucky to be in a position where I can make a good living and support my family doing what I love being silly.
Speaker 2:I don't do it for any negative stuff. There's enough negative. The moment I see something, I don't care who's it from, I don't care if it's from a magician or a family member. I've done this to magicians and family members before. If I do something that brings up a negative and anxious reaction in me, if that comes up in my, in my body, I do not think twice. I block them and delete that comment. Right now these days not many, not much I've got quite thick skin now from doing this. But whenever it does block, delete, buy Dead.
Speaker 2:To me that's what you do. Do that. It immediately empowers you and the evidence of that is not there and that poor guy, that guy who ever did that, doesn't get his attention. He doesn't. But the reason why I do that even more is often do that, often like at the beginning of a post, because if you hit hate right at the start, it often informs the other comments you say oh, oh, oh, look, you're such an attention seeker. He'll say, or something like that Right, well, that informs someone else, other people, people, psychologically, that will change other other commenters. Oh God, people are hating on this. I don't want to give too much love.
Speaker 2:You know what I mean and it works. So you know. Kind of keep an eye on it for the first five minutes. But yeah, there you go. There's my advice on that. I really hope that has helped someone. I suspect it has, and if that's you, then I'm proud of you. Keep going, You're very special.
Speaker 1:I think there's going to be a lot of people listening who want to get into social media and stuff like that, and you know that sort of stuff from someone who's been doing it for so long is invaluable. So yeah, that's amazing. Now we have had eight tricks, but we're on to your curveball items, because you're only allowed one each of these. So let's start with your banishment. What did you banish?
Speaker 2:I don't want to ban it, but what I don't? I do have a gripe right, and I've said this before and I also fall foul of this as well, so you don't need to pull me up on this. Um, and that is I click my fingers, like clicking fingers. Why, why? Why clicking fingers? When you see a magician click their fingers and yes, I know I do it sometimes, but you click your fingers it's I like it really bugs my adhd because I'm like what's why? Why? What's the fingers clicked? What? What is that? What is that? Surely, surely, if you were really magic, there's nothing magical about clicking fingers like this.
Speaker 2:I mean, it's like literally the least magical thing you could possibly do. It's like doing. It's like like it's. No, it's worse than a sniff. A sniff is actually quite magical, like the most magical thing. Do magic.
Speaker 2:It would be a a short, short, sharp blast of explosive blast of energy, right, which all right, in a way a click is kind of like that, but it's not really a burst of energy so like, which is why I made that whole video on sneeze magic. So I and I do this. So for the moment, you know, instead of making click my fingers and a ruby's glute solves, I'll go and it solves. It's also a great misdirection, right. It's a great large movement to cover the small.
Speaker 2:Um, but sneeze, you know, it just makes so much sense, you know, and there are all sorts of imaginative ways you could, you know, pouring water or get over something, getting like. Imagine that like. I only said that because I have a glass of water here. But imagine you did a Bobo coin switch, right, you had a 1p and you switched it to a pound, but before you revealed the pound, you poured water all over your hand and then out of the water. Oh, that would look great. Now, no clicks needed there. You got a proper magical moment. So there you go. Finger clicks go in my room. 101, or whatever you want to call it.
Speaker 1:Okay, okay. So clicking fingers is gone. So for you, what would the ultimate magical gesture be? A sneeze.
Speaker 2:With sparks. Dude man, if someone out there can make me a sneeze with Sparks, I'm playing. Oh dude, do you know what I can do it? I've got a really good Funkin' Ring. That's brilliant, Excellent, what a brilliant idea. Thanks, Jamie.
Speaker 1:Yeah, okay. Well, that's one we can all look forward to. I can't wait already. Now that brings us to your book. Now you've actually referenced books all the way through this, so it tells us that you're someone that takes enjoyment from reading books, so I'm guessing this may have been a difficult one for you. Maybe not.
Speaker 2:It still is. I've decided an answer, but I'm now looking at my look. I've got Michael Close's Workers series. You've got the oh there's, absolutely. There's darwin ortiz, got williamson. So there, barry richardson. There's so much great stuff and I'm very lucky to have a very good cupboard. But my mind is made up.
Speaker 2:When I was at the stall, I um, uh, one of my favorite magicians, a good friend who I haven't spoken to, a long time, guy called dan alexander, told me about this book. Uh, he said it's the most amazing book. Um, and I'm not going to tell you anything about it. When you've saved up enough money, go and buy it and you'll discover why. And I was intrigued. And the months went by and then I thought, oh, I know, I'm going to go, I'm just going. I had to add a break from the store. I left it with Lee and I walked to Leicester Square and I went to the Cecil Court you know that little road where the coins are and all that and I went into this little tiny bookshop which I've since learned is actually owned by a magician. Little tiny bookshop, uh, which I've since learned is actually owned by a magician. Uh, anyway, and I know I wasn't actually looking for that book. I just was looking to see what magic books they had, because they always had really interesting ones, and it suddenly reminded me of this book that I'm about to say, suddenly remind. I was like I wonder whether he has it. He has it and I went up and I said, hi, do you have this is a long shot, I haven't seen it here. But do you have a book called, uh by by um, by David Britland, called the mind and magic of David Burglass? And he looked at me in this weird way and I said I said do you have it? And he goes and he looked me up and down as if, like he was judging whether I was worthy, which made the book even more special. It's like never-ending story.
Speaker 2:He goes back and the man comes back with this box, right, he? He did the whole show as well. He put gloves on. He put gloves on and he took, opened the box, pulled out this brand spanking new copy. I've got it in my hands now. I'm looking at it Brand of the mind and magic of David Berger.
Speaker 2:Now I've been told it's like between 500 and a thousand pounds. I said, oh, my gosh, can I have a look? He said no, no, no, no, no, no. How much are you going to give me for it? I said, well, I don't know. How much is it worth? He said, no, no, how much is it worth to you? And I was like dude, I tell you what it's worth. It is worth all the available cash that I have in my bank account right now. And he said how much is that? I said 250 quid. He went go and get that and you can have it. And it was so he must have made a lot on that, but he but that book.
Speaker 2:So you read it once.
Speaker 2:Have you read it?
Speaker 2:Okay, you read it once and it's great. It's a great anecdotal book. There's sort it's not really a magic there is, there's this sort of things in there, but it's kind of anecdotal. Then you read it again and you realize, oh, it's way more than that it's. And then you read it again and now I've read it so many times I now pick it and pick it up and just look at little bits, and every time there's like implied things.
Speaker 2:And you, you are, with the knowledge I have about magic.
Speaker 2:I, the more I know and more I learn about magic, which is obviously an ongoing process.
Speaker 2:But the more I learn, the more I realize what he must to have done in order to achieve this thing.
Speaker 2:And and it just is he that man, and you know I never got to have a chat with him, sadly, but wow, like it's so epic, it's so, it's so like, like, like the secret grail of magic. And I bet there are people out there that have read it who don't see that. So if you do have a copy and you're not feeling what I'm thinking, please go and read it again and just, with the knowledge you have in magic, just imagine the amount of long con preparation that he must have done and, like, go through what, exactly what he did in order to do the things in there not the things that they're explicitly told, but the things that aren't told. And it just fires your imagination off and go and it just makes you realize, wow, here we are doing little card tricks and coin tricks, but this guy is thinking months in advance to create a moment that will be remembered, that will be people's most exciting moment of their life. And you know, and wow, it's just so inspiring, so mind and magic of david burglars by, uh, britland wow.
Speaker 1:So how, how old is that book to you now? Then 15 years yeah, oh, oh.
Speaker 2:Oh. And here's another one of those coincidences. I went to work for Phantasma Magic, my friend's company in America, in New York. He got me to go over there and run FAO Schwartz for him, right, when I did, I left my because I went over there for a few months. So I packed up my house in London and I put everything in storage but it wasn't in a big box storage company, it was in a garage, right, and I put a cloth over it.
Speaker 2:Well, that winter I came back, the entire garage had flooded. The only thing I had I had computers in there. I had all sorts of expensive stuff in there. Most of it was at least tarnishedarnished, at most ruined. Right, I had some magic books I had to throw away, but the only thing that I could think about was that book. I was like, oh no, not that dude, absolutely one of the only things in the entire thing that is absolutely untouched, and it was right there on the edge as well, like how, how, how the book is more magical than we gave it credit for, but that's great and what a lovely story as well.
Speaker 1:Like getting the book. And who? Who did you say the guy was?
Speaker 2:I don't know his name, he's in the magic circle but he owns a bookshop or owned, I don't know on Cecil Court in Leicester Square, a little tiny bookshop and apparently he's in the Magic Circle.
Speaker 1:Very, very cool. Well, that leads us on to your final thing, which is your non-magic item that you use for magic. So what did you put in this position?
Speaker 2:Oh, it's a really boring answer, jamie, but it's true. My wedding ring, I do the finger, the jumping ring from finger to finger yeah, by the way, that's an oldie, but my God, if you do it right, what about a piece of elastic? There you go, then anything can get whisked away. Tell you what a piece of elastic tied around my wedding ring, then I get both.
Speaker 1:A very good choice. So let's go back over your list. We started with exploding, appearing snake. We went to card on the box alphabet spaghetti routine, torn and restored transpo. Appearing a brandy glass which hopefully someone somewhere is producing again a hundred dollar bill switch. Uh fork, bending liquid spectrum. Your banishment is clicking fingers. Your book is the mind and magic of David Burglass and your item is your wedding ring. What an excellent, very different kind of list.
Speaker 2:Good, I really enjoyed that. That was nice. That was a nice brain exercise. Cheers, jamie.
Speaker 1:Well, it's a great list. Now, earlier on, you mentioned that you're putting a course together. I know that you said that it's not fully ready yet and you don't have all of the details.
Speaker 2:Well, it is very nearly ready. I've filmed it, but I'm just working. Like I said to somebody, well, I've done the hard bit, and he was like no, no, no, no, that's the easy bit, the hard bit. And he was like, no, no, no, no, that's the easy bit. The hard bit is the marketing. So, so, uh, that's what I'm working on right now, but, uh, yes, the secret how to do anything, my, my magic approach, or my magic formula, um, and uh, yeah, if you're interested in that, um, um, I would. It's not, it's not aimed at magicians, but I would love to hear some magicians input. So, and I'm not going to make it, I'm not going to price it high at all, it's going to be cheap. So, um, I'm, if you follow me on on my bits and bobs, particularly on facebook that's where I'm most active, um, but also on instagram, I will be um, I'll be when, when it's ready, you'll know about it.
Speaker 1:So, um, yeah, now, if people want to find your socials, I mean it's very hard to avoid them, um, because you've got such massive reach but where are they gonna go to?
Speaker 2:um on tiktok, facebook, instagram and youtube. And YouTube it's the at sorry, it's at the Neil N-E-I-L Henry, the Neil Henry On Snapchat. I've got lots of different shows on there, but my main channel is Magic Neil. Yeah, it's kind of covered it really.
Speaker 1:Yeah, that's great. So, yeah, do go follow him. Thank you so much, neil. It's been so good to have you on here and, like I said, some of the advice that you've given on here is superb.
Speaker 2:Well, I'd like to say thank you so much for asking me. It's a real honour. You get proper magicians on here and to be lumped in the likes of them is a real honour for me. And more than that, dude, you and I go back a long way and it's really nice to have spent a couple hours chatting to you, man really nice.
Speaker 1:Well, thank you so much, neil, and thank you all for listening now. We will be back again next week with another episode. Do go check out neil social so that you can be the first to find out about that course. I know I'll be checking out when it comes out. It sounds super, super interesting, so go follow him on all the socials. Go check out his um very heart-wrenchingly lost video, uh, his proposal video as well, because it is such an amazing video, um, and, of course, we'll see you again next week.
Speaker 3:So until then, have a great week, goodbye 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 3: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, it's something beyond belief. Check it out now, guys the Liquid Forks.