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.
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To find out more about the team behind Desert Island Tricks, please visit: www.alakazam.co.uk
Desert Island Tricks
Nikolas Mavresis
Nikolas Mavresis, one of magic's most inventive mentalism creators, opens up about the effects that shaped his journey from magic skeptic to prolific innovator. This conversation reveals the fascinating truth behind his creative process and how he approaches method selection.
"You have to put yourself in the spectator's shoes and think like laymen," Nikolas explains, pinpointing why some magicians dismiss powerful methods that laypeople find utterly baffling. This philosophy of prioritising audience experience over magician preferences has guided his approach to creating memorable magic.
Nikolas walks us through the eight effects that would accompany him to a desert island, starting with John Bannon's Twisted Sisters, the packet trick that showed him how eight cards could create an unforgettable miracle. From Simon Aronson's Shuffleboard with its escalating series of revelations to Joshua Jay's Inferno that feels "real" to spectators, each selection reveals another facet of Nikolas’ mentalism approach.
When discussing his own creation, The Collector, Nikolas shares a fascinating insight into his method design: "When you combine two different methods together, one method cancels the other, making it impossible for people to backtrack." This strategic layering of techniques has become a signature element in his work, including recent releases like Card At Any Role and Nostalgia.
The conversation takes an unexpected turn when Nikolas connects his music background to his magic creation. "It's like writing a song," he explains. "Magic needs good timing, nice flow... it's a way to express what's inside and connect with others through the things I build." This cross-disciplinary approach might explain the rhythmic, emotionally resonant quality that makes his effects so powerful.
Whether you're a fan of Nikolas’ work, a mentalism enthusiast, or a creator looking for inspiration, this episode offers rare insights into the mind of someone who has mastered the art of creating magic that genuinely connects with audiences. Discover why Nikolas believes his Desert Island book selection, Practical Mental Magic by Theodore Annemann, remains essential reading for anyone serious about mentalism.
Nikolas’ Desert Island Tricks:
- Twisted Sisters
- Shuffle Bored
- Inferno
- Memorised Deck
- Killer Elite Pro
- The Collector
- Snaps
- Anniversary Waltz
Banishment. Drama and Negativity
Book. Practical Mental Magic
Item. Musical Instrument / Music / Guitar
Find out more about the creators of this Podcast at www.alakazam.co.uk
It's their lack of putting themselves in the spectator's shoes. You know, you have to put yourself and think like laymen. We often think like magicians. It's magicians thinking, but that's not how people think. You know, if this principle is done correctly, you have nowhere to go. No one can backtrack it. If it's made correctly, you know what I mean. I mean, everything is laid in front of you. Here's the reveal, that's it. I'm really disappointed when I see people talking about that and they ditch a method because of that. But that trick especially, you know, made me realize how powerful structure and scripting are, because that's a great hook line story and when these things are paired, you know, with a smart method, then you have a great trick.
Speaker 2:Hello and welcome to another episode of Desert Island Tricks. Today we are going all the way over to sunny Cyprus because today's guest is an absolute prolific creator of magic. At this point, very, very clever mentalism a lot of the time, but not just mentalism. There are some really really cool tricks by the time this podcast goes out, his latest one with us at the time of recording of course, if you're listening to this in the future it won't be which is nostalgia, which is a brilliant mentalism trick with a really quirky reveal. Now he's had some incredible tricks out over the years and we're talking things like cinemental, which was the first one that I ever saw of his and I thought it was just ridiculously clever.
Speaker 2:Um, the collector, which seems to be an absolute firm favourite with not only just the team here at Alakazam but from the Alakafam in general, zenomatch Destinations, and he's not slowing down. There are so many tricks. He just seems to churn out absolute hits after absolute hits. So I'm sure we're all going to be interested to see what his list consists of. Of course, today's guest is the wonderful Nicholas Mavresis. Hello, nicholas. Oh, jamie, how are you? I'm very well now that you're here, nicholas.
Speaker 1:Oh, that's kind of you, and thanks for the kind introduction.
Speaker 2:Well, it's true, you've had so many hits over the years and you know, we've had a card at any role. We've got nostalgia. We've got other ones that we're working on, a very, very cool one with a colored deck of cards. So we've got all of these tricks that we're still working on.
Speaker 1:It seems like you just don't stop working, nicholas you know, it's a true passion of mine creating magic and creating music as well, basically, you know, anything that has to do with creation. I love doing it because you know it fills up my heart. Uh, it's a way to express myself and, yeah, I'm really grateful that I can do that with two mediums magic and music.
Speaker 2:Well, I think that anyone playing Nicholas Mavretis' bingo I think there's going to be one or two of your creations at the very least in here, so I have an idea of what I think at least one of them would be, but it'll be interesting to see what people playing Nicholas Mavresis Bingo have put in there. Did you find putting your list together easy or hard?
Speaker 1:It wasn't easy for sure, and I only put one item of mine in the list because you know, if you asked me to do a Desert Island tricks every month for a year, I could probably come up with 12 completely different lists. But you know that couldn't be fair because I would look back to it and think, oh, I don't like this trick now. So I didn't add the latest releases or the hottest, most hyped tricks right now I found out that I always go back to the classics, so I chose the routines that really shaped me. You know the ones that hit me so hard when I first saw them. They made me fall in love with mentalism and eventually wanted to create magic, because I didn't grow up loving magic.
Speaker 1:I got into magic in my early 30s, late 20s, and by mistake, you know, by watching a mentalist doing his act and specifically a lot of type of effects, and I was baffled. Other tricks, the cutting the lady in half, and I always found them cheesy. You know it's not the right word, but I knew the methods and when you know the methods to a trick, you know you're not impressed, whereas mentalism I had no idea and it fooled me badly when I saw it and that made me fall in love with much in general, you know.
Speaker 2:Okay. Well, if this is your first time listening to this podcast, the idea is that we're about to maroon nicholas on 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, what's there? All of that good stuff we do not mind. This exists in nicholas's own imagination. So, with that being said, I have got my nicholas maveresis um bingo head on, and you said that you've only got one of your own tricks. So I'm gonna go out on a limb and say I'm gonna say I think it should be the Collector, but we will find out. So, nicholas, what did you put in your first position?
Speaker 1:Okay, so first one is Twisted Sisters by John Bannon. Now I was thinking either the Royal Scum by John Bannon or Twisted Sisters, and of course I went with Twisted Sisters. If you don't know this effect it's basically three effects into one. The magician or mentalist takes, actually, makes two thought of cards, switch places, then the thought of cards have different color packs and all the other cards are black. I mean, imagine witnessing this for the first time in your life and I had no idea what packet trick is before that. So that was actually my first real introduction to packet tricks and it absolutely floored me, hooked me here.
Speaker 1:The fact that you can carry just a few cards and blow someone's mind right away. I mean that opened a whole new world for me. It taught me that simplicity doesn't mean sacrificing strength. You know, it was a big aha moment early on. My wife is a psychologist, by the way, and she she taught me the aha moments. They call them insights, but basically the aha moment is when something suddenly clicks in your mind and that trick did it to me. I mean it never leaves my wallet and that says something you know.
Speaker 2:Yeah, well, when I think about nowadays, we have this trope, the EDC everyday carry, and for me I feel like Twisted Sisters was one of the original everyday carries. It was one of the ones that everyone had on them in their wallet.
Speaker 1:Yeah, without knowing it, it was a great EDC. It still is. You know it stood the test of time, you know, and it gets it always gets great reactions that way, and it's only, you know, eight cards, I mean. It ticks all the boxes for me and it doesn't mean, you know, I mentioned it. The list that I'm going to mention it's not, you know, going from best to worst or something like that, it's just a random list, but it deserves to be on that list.
Speaker 2:Well, that's a great choice. Anything by John Bannon is going to be pretty good. So what is in your second spot, Nicholas?
Speaker 1:Before going to the second spot, because you said it, john Bannon is a great creator. One thing that didn't make the list but I was considering adding is John Bannon's color-changing deck Stranger's Gallery, I think it's called and again, my first introduction to a color-changing deck Another great one. But let's not waste time on that. I just wanted to mention that. You know, john Dunn is basically a great teacher.
Speaker 2:That was the first colour-changing deck I learned, and it's another example of John and Bannon's excellent thinking in which he, a bit like Twisted Sisters he seems to get so much out of so little, and I think both of those routines achieve the same kind of thing. It's this ultimate impact from very little work on the behalf of the performer.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, absolutely, absolutely, yeah. Same goes for the Royal Scum, but again I was considering adding again eight cards. Um, the cup, the colors of the bugs change their faces, change a lot. Lots of magic, oh, with just eight cards, and I haven't seen that anywhere else before, you know, and I feel really inspired by his magic and I only understand it now when I'm creating effects. And you know, sometimes I think you know I should never get credit for anything I do, because if it wasn't for all these great magicians, I wouldn't have created anything really. You know maybe one or two tricks, but you know what I mean. I look at my magic now and I think that I'm so grateful about all those giants before us, you know.
Speaker 2:Yep, I agree. Well, that leads us very nicely into number two. So what's in your second spot, nicholas?
Speaker 1:Second position is Shuffleboard by Simon A Owenson, great magician, again Shuffleboard. Let me explain the deck again. A spectator freely mixes the deck. They end up with a random mix of face-up and face-down cards. What comes next is incredible. The magician can still predict things like how many cards are face down, the number of black cards and how many suits you have.
Speaker 1:You know lots of things going on and I remember watching this and thinking wait, is there more? Oh and more oh, there's more. And you know it's a power powerhouse of every team. It's hit after hit, after hit, and then you have the final kicker ending, which is the the magician in trouble scenario. You know which, again, I haven't seen before and uh, I I was, you know. Oh, the trick went wrong, but it, you know, it doesn't. So it was a master class in how to build a routine. And, uh, I try adding that final kicker in my own creations because I saw how strong it is, you know.
Speaker 1:And same goes with movies, for, for example, some of my favorites are Fight Club, the Usual Suspects, oldboy, the Korean one, not the American one the Invisible Guest another great Spanish movie, anyway. So that's the reason these movies are great, you know. They have that great kicker twist ending. I'm not going to spoil the real for you, but uh, you know what I mean. Uh, that's why it's there again. I was blown away watching this routine because because of the of the hits you know, and there's more, there's more, there's more, and then the kicker ending. So there's more, there's more, and then the kicker ending. So it deserves to be on my list. I keep saying in my list. It's on my list, right.
Speaker 2:Well, I think that's a great choice. Now, shuffleboard is one that, if I'm entirely honest, I'm surprised we've not had on the podcast more, because I feel like the shuffleboard method was great. But the standout thing to acknowledge when it comes to shuffleboard really was it was the format of the trick which sort of carried it through, and I think that it almost defined a new genre of trick. There's been so many versions of shuffleboard since which don't use cards, but they have that same uh system, so it's the same. There are x number of them in there and from there x number are this or x number of that, and so many people have sort of created their own version. I think that's the real strength of shuffleboard. It's that, that format and that system, that systematic way of putting together the, the routine, which really made it a big deal.
Speaker 1:You're absolutely right. Uh, you know I have my versions of most of these tricks that I'm going to be managing now, but, out of respect, you know, I I cannot, I simply cannot, but my version where I wouldn't have created it if it wasn't for Simon Aramson. You know what I mean. That's the core idea. That's the first trick I saw that made me want to create similar versions. Or you know something different, using parts of that trick aspects, and you know touches of tricks. You know touches of tricks. So you know, if I was going to go to an island, I would bring with me the original versions, the ones that started it all you know.
Speaker 2:Well, that is a great entry in at number two and leads us nicely into number three. So what's in your third spot?
Speaker 1:This is another great EDC. I consider this a modern classic and it's Inferno, by Joshua J so a thought of cards which has been clipped to a paper clip inside a matchbox. That's been in view the whole time. It's been predicted. That's the description of the effect.
Speaker 1:I hope I didn't mess it up, but that's how I can describe it. You know, the spectator can hold the thought of cards which is clipped to a paper clip. They get down to one simple card and they can open the card. Or I open the card and I unfold the card and it's the thought of card so a burnt card inside the matchbox. I don't use the matchbox myself but again, the spectator is holding it the whole time. You know, it feels real to the spectators. Having performed it so many times I can see it feels real to them. It's such a beautiful piece of mentalism, with minimal props, you know, and very direct. It made me rethink how physical objects can create lasting memories in magic. Method-wise it's also great. Now I know I'm not going to, I cannot talk about the actual method, but what can I say is Joshua Chase's way of getting down to one card is very, very clever.
Speaker 2:So my question is you mentioned that you don't use the matchbox. Is there a particular reason for that?
Speaker 1:Yeah, I carry this in my wallet, so I don't have space space for the matchbooks. That's. That's the only reason I I do it that way got you, but you still do.
Speaker 1:The inferno, uh, the burning of the card, sort of yeah, of course yeah, and if I happen to have a lighter with me, I use it. Or maybe they have a lighter, or you know I I use fire if I can get near to it, if I can. You know, maybe they have a lighter, or you know I use fire if I can get near to it, if I can. You know, maybe it's a candle where I'm working. Or you know, I can just things up, I can improvise and make you know a different, you know presentation, but the core presentation I use is the original Inferno presentation. You know, because everything is in their mind, it happens in their mind, it's a story that unfolds in their minds. I mean, yeah, it's great. Again, as I said, it feels real to them.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I think that's a great choice. And you're right, the way that the routine is structured is incredibly clever and the props as well. Very, very well made. Trick as the props as well. Very, very well made. Trick of the set as well. Yeah, it's a great, great choice.
Speaker 1:Again, I was introduced to that type of card. I I'm not going to name anything more than that, but I I would. It was the first time I was introduced to that type of currency. You know what I mean yep, absolutely.
Speaker 2:That's a great choice in at number three and leads us well. So far we've had four card-related tricks. I wouldn't say they're necessarily card tricks, because Inferno and Twisted Sisters don't really use a deck of cards. They're more like packet tricks, I guess. But where does that take us with number four?
Speaker 1:I've always loved mentalism with cards, you know playing cards, index cards, business cards, you name it. So you know these are pieces I take with me to that imaginary. You know there's violence Because they're part of my let's call it magic DNA, you know. So it's going to be card-based mentalist magic. And the next one is no exception I would take with me a memorized deck. Now I know that you're going to ask me what effect I would perform with that.
Speaker 2:Well, I've got two questions for you. Let's start first off. With. Which version of the memorized deck do you use, and is there a reason that you went for that one?
Speaker 1:uh, when I was introduced to a memorized deck, uh, it was. You know, I mentioned shuffleboard, which I learned from simon aramson. I think it was on his first dvd he produced. He released a three-set DVD Now I think the second one or the third one was dedicated to a memorized deck, to his memorized deck. I watched the effects, I was blown away and I tried learning his stack, but I didn't. I couldn't learn it For some reason. I thought. Thought, okay, it's too hard. Then I got introduced to juan tamaris uh, and you know stack and his work. Then I thought you know what I'm going to, I'm going to learn it this time. And I did learn juan tamaris stack.
Speaker 1:No, the way you learn and memorize stack is exactly the same. You just sit down and you try to. You know, I know people who learned it using Harry Lorraine's system. You know, I didn't use that, I just use pure memory. For example, I'm thinking, thinking, okay, what, what? My favorite number is? I'm asking myself okay, it's 29, the 29 is the eight of uh, diamonds. Okay, from now on, my lucky card is the eight of diamonds and that reminds me of 29. Then I went on to my, my address, my home, my, the number at my house. You know the number, so it's 16. So I know when I think of my house it's going to be the five of space and so on. So I did that and I learned one tamariz's stack, the uh and yo, by mistake. I didn't learn, I didn't have the will to learn, simon Aronson's Year Pack. But then a year later I learned Juan Tamariz's. But whichever deck you want to memorize, you are willing to memorize. Just go for it, because most effects work with any memorized stack.
Speaker 2:Okay, so then let's go back to the other question. So we now know that you used Tamariza stack. What is the one trick that you would do with it?
Speaker 1:I always do mnemonicosis, mnemonicosis, I think that's how it's spelled. It's in his book, mnemonica. You can do it with any memorized deck, which is great. The description of the effect sounds crazy.
Speaker 1:A freely named card or a thought of card is revealed in a magical way. Now you might think, okay, you, I mean you shuffle the cards, you place the deck down on the table. The spectator or the participant names any card and you reveal it. You find it in a magical way. I'll be honest, you really need to be familiar with a main deck to pull this off, uh, smoothly. You know that gave me the push to take it seriously. You know the memorized deck stuff and, to be honest, this wasn't the trick that got me obsessed with main deck work as I mentioned, it was Simon Aronson's DVD but it was the one that gave me confidence to perform with a memorized deck. That trick gave me, you know, confidence to go out there and perform.
Speaker 1:What I love about this routine is how Quantum Aris makes it feel effortless and improvised, but in reality everything is so calculated, you know, it's well thought of. So this trick taught me to be bold, think on my feet, you know, and not be afraid to take risks in performance. But you know, if you go on YouTube and type mnemonicosis, you will not believe that this trick you know works. It's a great one. There are so many effects you can do with a Memoirs deck. It's incredible. You know, I didn't learn it to just be able to perform one effect. You learn so many amazing effects that you cannot simply do with a normal deck of cards. So I strongly suggest learning this because it becomes this powerful weapon that you will use and it's great to be in your toolbox.
Speaker 2:Great Well, I will probe you no more. We've got the Memorize stat, we've got Tamariz and we've got your preferred trick all in one. So that is a great entry at number four and leads us very nicely into number five. So what's in your fifth position, nicholas?
Speaker 1:Okay, fifth position, an Alakazam favorite and a classic. I mean, I cannot praise this enough. It's killer elite by andy neiman. Now I'll be honest, I use some of you, I I changed it a bit and use my version now, but again, this deserves to be there, not any other versions that came after that. For me, this started it all. So four cards featuring notorious movie killers, right are laid out, three shots fired, one survivor holding a lucky ponder chip, that's it. So through your story, you've secretly planted the survivor's name in their mind. They name the survivor, you reveal it, that's it. Very intriguing story. And this trick fooled me the first time I saw it and it was the introduction to one of my favorite. You know, I'll say my favorite method in mentalism, which is the mo. I don't know if I can say the cold, the whole word, it's up to you, but uh, I think I know what, what I'm talking about right, I'm absolutely the same as you.
Speaker 2:I love this, not just this trick, but that method, and I think it's really interesting that over the years, magicians and mentalists, when they find out that that method is employed in a trick, almost get upset about it or feel like they've been bested in some way. But but I think it's just because it's such a good method and when we get caught out with it, even though we know how it works and a lot of the time it's quite overtly obvious how it works. But when we do get caught out by it, I feel like it's our reaction to it, is us being upset that we've been bested by it still.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I mean, it's their lack of putting themselves in the spectator's shoes. You know they don't think like you know. You have to put yourself and think like laymen, how you know, we often think like magicians. It's magicians thinking, but that's not how people think they have.
Speaker 1:You know, if this, uh and all principle is done correctly, you have nowhere to go. No one can backtrack it. If it's made, if it's made correctly, you know what I mean. You don't pull things from your pockets, you don't. You don't do no sense. I mean, everything is laid in front of you. Here's the reveal. That's it. I mean, uh, unfortunately, as I said, it's magician's thinking and uh, yeah, I'm really disappointed when I see people talking about that and they ditch a method because of that. Uh, but you know, that trick especially, you know, made me realize how powerful structure and scripting are, because there's a great hook line story into it, and where these things are paired, you know, with a smart method, then you have a great trick. Yeah, I mean, you know, a good mo is when the ending feels inevitable. That's, that's a nice way to put it, I think yeah, it do.
Speaker 2:You know what? It reminds me of the rns, of mentalism. So you know how. In ad copies it says you know amazing trick, no rns. And in mentalism you get the same thing. So incredible trick, no mo. You know it.
Speaker 1:It's the same work, I mean rns is a great method and if you know, when I create methods, I always think okay, what's the best method for that trick? If it's RNS, I will go for it 100%. If it's MO, I will go for it, no questions. I don't care what other people say. If it suits and it serves the effect perfectly, then I will use that and I will not think okay maybe magicians don't like that.
Speaker 3: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 going to be held? This is my personal favourite bit about the Alakazam Convention. They're going to be happening in one of the cinema screens. That means fully tiered seating, comfy seats, a drinks holder 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.
Speaker 2:See you guys soon yeah, well, I'm glad that you put that in there, because killer elite is definitely one of my favorite alakazam releases, or just magic tricks in general. So I'm glad you put that in there. And it leads us to number six now. We haven't had a nicholas mavresse's trick yet, so this is the time great, so we finally find out which one you put in. So what's in your six spot? Okay?
Speaker 1:then your bingo is correct. Here it's the collector. Uh, because again, it doesn't feel like a trick, it feels like um and an eerie story, a ghost story. Uh, when I first created the collector, I wasn't consciously thinking of killer elite. That's why I put it here, because that's the reason, you know, looking back now I can clearly see how tricks like killer elite influenced my thinking. I mean the use of a small packet of cards. You know the dark and engaging storyline, the MO that we talked about employed in my routine as well. There's something else in my routine, but anyway, all of those elements you know are found in 9-months effect, if you think about it.
Speaker 1:Of course, peter Nardi's presentation is, as always, exceptional, and since mentioned names, I also want to give credit to my brother for, from another mother, david Jonathan, who came up with a brilliant idea of placing trophies on the back of the cards. You know that simple addition added a new layer to the presentation and made the whole effect much better. Now I realized that I haven't explained the fact. If you don't know the fact, you present 10 suspects and one of them is the collector. Before jack Jack the Ripper, there was a collector who murdered people and took trophies from the victims and basically you present the 10 suspects. The participant plays the role of the psychic investigator and points out the collector you know and, with an interesting reveal, I show them that you know. The person they named is actually the collector. That's it. So yeah, that's my favorite, I can say, effect of mine throughout the years, and it was between that and Cinemantel, but I went for a collector.
Speaker 2:Well, I think what's clever about the collector and you just mentioned about Andy Nyman's routine and the influence that it had, and I've seen this in a couple of your routines, actually certainly more recently with Carter N any role is. You're very good at combining methods. So you've taken that MO, but you've also mixed it with this really cool word thing, method, which I'm not going to say, and then you've combined it with the storytelling. So I think that's what you're really good at. You're really good at taking different methods and putting them together and creating something much more than the sum of its parts.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I really like that and I am to be aware of that. When you mix two methods, when you combine two different methods together, in most cases one method would be canceled, the other method, so it becomes really, really hard for people to backtrack or figure out how the effect is done. And, to be honest, yeah, presentation is the most important thing, but you also want to fool them. So, in order for you to fool them, maybe sometimes or most of the time, you want to use two different methods but work hand in hand to deliver the final effect. And I do that. Most of my effects do use two or more methods together.
Speaker 2:Well, the collector is great, and that means, guys, that I just won Nicholas Moresse's bingo. So that leads us to the tail end of your eight. So we're in at number seven. What's in your seventh position? Okay?
Speaker 1:this next one was created by David Jonathan and Ben Harlan, and it's Snaps. Again, I cannot praise this enough, and no wonder it became a modern classic because it is, you know, for people who live under a rock. With a Snaps deck or decks, should I say, because you get two you can reveal words, numbers, names, playing cards, esp symbols, you name it. So I remember nice story. I remember being in Blackpool chatting with Sean Dunn from Penguin Magic about an idea I had for a drawing duplication effect, which eventually became Memories. Now he mentioned that Dunn Howland and Dave Jonathan were working on something similar at the time.
Speaker 1:Now, I didn't know david back then, but I later became a big fan of his work and snaps is a perfect example of how creative and clever his thinking is. You know, and, uh, you know, later on we became, uh, really, really good friends and we pushed each other creatively. We created together and you know, that's made all the difference anyway. So, and now with snaps you can do hundreds of routines. You know, and I know that, uh, it, it will soon be released in a jumbo size version so you can do it on stage, which is great for stage magicians, mentalists. This is great and many people have used it in America's Got Talent or other you know British talent. Many people have used this, so I use it in conjunction with a PIC wallet.
Speaker 1:So my go-to is, of course, the Stealth Assassin. So I would pick the name of a spectator's loved one right, then move on to a few other routines without revealing it yet. Later I bring out the snaps cards and have the spectator selected a few images. In the end the pictures spell out the name they've been thinking of. So that serves as a surprising callback and I can tell you the reactions are always really strong they've been thinking of. So that serves as a surprising callback and I can tell you the reactions are always really strong. Again, I cannot praise this enough, but it should be here. I think you know I mentioned Inferno, but definitely Snaps is again a wonder classic in Magic.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I think you're absolutely on the money there. This is something that's been in my close-up case since it came out and it's great. I always get the waiter to find out the name of the birthday person. I will set the cards up. I will find out why they're there, pretend like it's all random, um. Then have each person pick a card and see if the picture on that card relates to the person in some way. Of course, sometimes they do, sometimes they don't, sometimes they're weird, especially the zip one which is odd. Um, and then, um, it spells out the name and then you get that wow moment and it's one of those tricks where people always end up wanting to take a picture of the, the laid out cards on the table when it spells out the name yeah, I mean, it's an incredible uh picture again, the you know the whole picture of cards laid down and spelling, something that they've been thinking of.
Speaker 1:And if someone likes my routine, I didn't mention how I get the cards to spell the name after I pick it and after I introduce the deck as I'm spreading. I'm doing this move where Ian Moran is really good at I think he has a DVD on that the C move. Okay, I don't know if I'm being clear here, but that's how I get the cards in order.
Speaker 2:I think we understand what you mean there. Yes, absolutely. Well, that sounds great and it really is just a phenomenal trick. It's that surprise twist ending even though they've been looking at them the entire time. Well, I think it's a great choice and so far, I think we've had all cards, so I'm going to bet on us having a card trick in our last position. So what is in your eighth spot?
Speaker 1:the last one is no surprise and hard, hard effect. The one that I I couldn't just, you know, not put on the list is the Anniversary Walls by Doc Eason, let's say popularized by Doc Eason. Again, I could have added my take on it Lover's Walls but I wouldn't have created Lover's Walls if it wasn't for Anniversary Walls. So it deserves to be on my list. Every magician should be performing this trick. It's probably the most romantic and strongest trick for a cowl. In my list. Every magician should be performing this trick. It's probably the most romantic and strongest trick for a cowl. In my opinion, it's the kind of magic that people remember for years and years.
Speaker 1:Discovery let's say Discovery Anniversary was led me to the legendary Doc Eason, who is the one who popularized their routine. I mentioned it several times during different interviews, but his three DVD set in Bar Magic is a true masterclass in real-world performance. And it's not about the tricks. I mean there are tricks, great tricks. You know card on ceiling and cards under glass and you know all sorts of tricks, multiple selections and what have you. But it's not about that. It's about how he engages with every person in the room. You know he handles interactions with ease, basically creates moments out of nowhere. It's a masterclass, anyway.
Speaker 1:Anyway, going back to the anniversary walls, uh, this trick taught me when the presentation is meaningful, the method completely disappears. It's not about me because you you see people crying over this trick, and it's not because you performed the best, uh pass, or you perform the the best, oh, I forgot I, uh, I'm I'm talking method anyway. So, yeah, method is irrelevant. Presentation is what matters and if it's meaningful, then the trick is great. No, it's all about making people feel something, and also they get to keep a great souvenir that they will keep forever.
Speaker 2:So it deserves to be on that list now, the funny thing about that is it's almost like nicholas that may have inspired one of your own tricks. Now it would be remiss of me not to mention your version, which is Lover's Waltz. So how did you go from Anniversary Waltz to your version, Lover's Waltz?
Speaker 1:Okay. So a friend of mine, a professional magician here in Cyprus Joe Merlin, that's his stage name is performing on cruise ships and he was performing my no sorry, he was performing anniversary walls and we were talking and he said a lady told me the other day that I wish I could put this on my fridge and both signatures show, because you know, the souvenir that you get with anniversary walls is a double-facer, you can only display one side, and that made me think, you know, I'll try and create an effect where both signatures are showing. That was my first goal, and then the fusion of the two cards came by accident. So that's how I created it. A magician friend told me about what a lay person told told him when she received the souvenir, because she said, okay, I want to display this, but I wish I could have, I could be able to display both sides, and she couldn't, of course.
Speaker 1:Um, so yeah, that got me thinking and I I created large walls where they get it's three effects in in one day. You get both signatures on one side, you get both cards pieced together and the back changes. You use a blue deck of cards. The back will be a red one. So I'm really, really pleased with Lover's Walls, but again I thought it wasn't fair to put it on my list because I wouldn't have created it if it wasn't for Anniversary Walls.
Speaker 2:Well, it's a great list overall. That is our only non-mentalism piece as well, because we started off with Twisted Sisters, Shuffleboard, Inferno, Memorized Deck Killer, Elite, Pro, the Collector Snaps and we ended with Anniversary Waltz. There are some absolute killers on that list.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I think every trick that you mentioned, every trick on my list, I'm really proud to be of this list Not that I created it, I created the tricks, you know. But I know for sure, because I have tested all of them, that they get great reactions and I urge anyone that quiz and familiar with any of these tricks, especially the collector, to go out there and buy them well, we gave you eight tricks, nicholas, but we've only given you one each of your final three selections.
Speaker 2:so I want you to imagine that you're going to dig a big sandy hole on your island, you're going to throw something from our industry inside and then you're going to cover it over, never to be seen again. What did you put in your banishment?
Speaker 1:that's a hard one and I didn't realize it till today that I had to banish something, because the last episodes that I listened to there was no banishment, so it was new. For me it's not a thing. I don't know if I can do that, but for me I would banish drama and negativity from the magic industry. I don't know if I'm allowed to say that, but you know, I want to say that magic should bring people together, because it's about, you know, sharing ideas, inspiring younger kids to get involved with the craft, with a craft, and you know, when younger kids look at all this drama and negativity, they won't be interested in this craft. You know, sometimes egos, arguments, online conflicts get in the way of that, you know, and, uh, I think we would all be better off focusing on supporting each other, you know, lifting each other up sometimes and enjoying that we all love.
Speaker 2:You know less drama, more magic well, you can absolutely do that and I think, uh, in terms of our banishment, that is the main thing that we've had. We've we've had, you know, drama, negativity, egos is quite a big one, which which makes me think that maybe this is quite a big one, which makes me think that maybe this is quite a big problem in our industry, then, because this seems to be something that is cropping up more than anything else.
Speaker 1:Yeah, unfortunately. Yeah, I mean, look at my list. I could have added my own versions of all the stuff I created. But people should be humble, you know, and we should not forget that we didn't. Sometimes I think we didn't create anything, you know? Yeah, for me, I don't consider myself as a pioneer creator or something. Again, you know, most of my ideas are based on stuff that you know legends before me created. There are people like Di Vernon, the Tarbell course alone. Almost all ideas are taken from there. So we should all be humble and leave the egos behind us.
Speaker 2:Yep, absolutely A great choice and leads us nicely into your book. So what did you put in your book?
Speaker 1:position. No surprise here. Don't expect a hidden gem or anything, but there's only one option for me, and it's Practical Mental Magic by Theodor Hahnemann. I know that many people might have said that before, but that's the one for me. His work might feel old school now, but the core ideas are pure gold. It's all about principles, the bones of mentalism. I've gone back to this book so many times and every time I find something. I've gone back to this book so many times and every time I find something new. It gave me the foundation and I urge anyone who is serious about mentalism to get this book, if they don't already have it. It's a must have.
Speaker 1:I have to thank Richard Osterlid for introducing me to the book through his six DVD set, because I'm not a book guy, you know. Osterlind for introducing me to the book through his six DVD set because I'm not a I'm not a book guy. You know I grew up watching DVDs, so I watched Richard Osterlind perform many of Aneman's effects and that got me thinking and you know, I thought, you know, I should get this book. This is something special and I did, and I I never regretted it. It's, it's all there. You know so many uh great ideas that you can, uh, still do today with. You know, maybe changing some props and it can be see, it can still be a great effect to this day, any of the effects there?
Speaker 2:yeah, absolutely, it seems to be like a fundamental teaching nowadays. It's sort of one of the ones that everyone says just go there straight away, go there, learn that and then move on.
Speaker 1:Yeah, it's either that and or corindas or both. You know it's the bible of uh ton corindas. Or it's either Doc or Corindas or both. You know it's the Bible of Tom Corindas. It's the Bible of mentalism, I think.
Speaker 2:Well, I think it's a great choice in your book position and leads us to your very last item, which is your non-magic item that you use for magic. So what did you put in your final spot?
Speaker 1:So, I would bring with me a musical instrument. Now I play the piano, but I don't know. It seems like a guitar fits more for an island. So music is a big part of my life and I think it really helps me when I create magic. So I guess it has a connection with magic. You know, it's like writing a song Magic needs good timing, nice flow, you know. So I really love creating.
Speaker 1:Whether it's music, magic or anything else, I'm always searching for a feeling or an experience I want to bring to life. So I guess it's a way to express what's inside and connect with others through the things I built. And, as I said at the beginning, I'm really grateful I can do this with passions of my music and magic. And I think music helps me creating magic as well, somehow in an interesting way. I cannot really explain. It's a weird thing, you know. Maybe it's inspiration, maybe it's when you play something and your mind clears up from other things that's happening in your life. But I truly believe music really helps me with my magic. So I would take with me, let's say, an acoustic guitar.
Speaker 2:Okay, well, we'll take that and put it on your island. For you and you know music and musical instrument we've had. Lots of people say music in magic and lots of people have different reasons. Like you just said, for you it's like an inspirational thing. For some people it's something that calms them and it gets them into the right frame of mind. For some people, they've mentioned about having music in their show and how that elicits a response from the audience. So yeah, I think music or a musical instrument is a hundred percent a great choice. That brings us to the end of your list. Let's go back over it one more time. We started with twisted sister, shuffleboard inferno. Uh, memorized debt killer, elite, pro the collector, snaps, anniversary warts. Your banishment was drama and negativity. Your book was practical mental magic and your item was a musical instrument slash music, slash a guitar. What a great list, Nicholas.
Speaker 1:Now that you summarized everything, it sounds good to me.
Speaker 2:It sounds very good. Now, Nicholas, if people want to find out more about you, about your tricks, about your lectures, all that good stuff, where can they go?
Speaker 2:They can go on my site, which israsiscom, you know, simple and forward okay, so go there, of course, do check out, uh, nicholas's, nicholas's products as well. Alakazam, we've got more things coming out from him this year, so do keep an eye out for them. We've got. I think your next one, at the time of recording, is going to be nostalgia, which is going to be a great one, and people should really keep an eye out for that because it's a superb trick. But for now, nicholas, thank you very much.
Speaker 1:Thank you so much for having me.
Speaker 2:It's been fun and made me, you know, remember what started it all you know yes, absolutely, and hopefully you guys who are playing nicholas maveresis bingo managed to get the collector as well. It'll be interesting to see, if you're listening to this on our youtube video comment underneath what you think nicholas was going to put, um, whether you thought it was going to be the collector as well.
Speaker 3:Of course we're going to be back next week with another episode, but for now, have a great week. Goodbye magic routines. This is video. Performances and explanations. We have card magic, coin magic, kids, magic rope, magic, mentalism, stage parlor, impromptu. We've got you covered. All of this for the low price of just £4.99 a month, and you can cancel at any time. Perfect, if you've got commitment issues. Yes, I'm talking to you, guys. You are going to absolutely love it. If you haven't joined the platform already, what the heck are you doing? Alakazam Unlimited is a streaming platform that you need to be a part of. Not only that, there is also exclusive content only available on the platform. Check it out now. Alakazamcouk Cheers.