Keith Barry

A quiet moment in an airport turns unforgettable: Keith Barry shares how a simple card change became a first clear memory for a child recovering from eye cancer and why that reminder of wonder still guides the way he builds every routine. From there, we dig into the material he trusts most, the frameworks that make it bulletproof, and the choices that turn effects into experiences people carry for years.

We start with the Invisible Deck and why Jay Sankey’s X handling solves the “you just flipped it” theory. Keith walks through clean stage adaptations, then shifts to his corporate powerhouse: a three envelope test inspired by Bob Cassidy’s 4DT, rebuilt with double blind structure, historical framing, and a ping-pong rhythm that delivers 25 beats from business cards and envelopes. He explains how premise, protocol, and pacing remove false solutions and keep spectators engaged without confusion.

Keith also lets us in on a surprise: despite being a self-proclaimed technophobe, he’s getting ridiculous reactions with iCons by building an influence narrative that yields two hits from one search. It’s part of a broader philosophy of growth, cold plunges, virtual studio builds, and doing the uncomfortable thing to stay sharp. That shows up in personal pieces too: carrying a deck for joy and creativity, and a harmonica routine that reveals Hey Jude as a quiet tribute to his father.

We cover wallet workflows, his red envelope routine that consistently produces authentic emotion, and why comedy-first staging with Steve Bedwell’s In Over Your Head can supercharge a theatre. Then there’s Smash and Stab: Keith breaks down safety as a mindset, the role of sound design, and the mental reframe that prevents catastrophe. He even makes a case for retiring the Omni Deck, then points to overlooked alternatives that reward originality.

If you want stronger mentalism, better framing, and routines that mean something, this one’s for you. Listen, share with a friend who loves magic, and leave a review with the routine you’d add to your forever set.

Keith’s Desert Island Tricks: 

1. Invisible Deck 
2. Three Envelope Test 
3. Icons 
4. Deck of Cards 
5. Harmonica
6. JAKS Wallet
7. In over your head
8. Smash and Stab

Banishment. Bad Ego’s / Omni Deck

Book. The Klutz Book of Magic

Item. Photograph with family 

Find out more about the creators of this Podcast at www.alakazam.co.uk

Chapters

• 0:00 Airport Magic And A Life-Changing Moment
• 1:39 Introducing Keith Barry And Format
• 3:23 From TV Mentalist To Speaker
• 4:32 Hypnosis Returns For Unhinged Tour
• 6:22 Desert Island Setup And First Pick
• 6:22 The Invisible Deck With Sankey’s X
• 9:02 Taking Invisible Deck To The Stage
• 11:19 The Three Envelope Test Framework
• 15:09 Crafting Presentation And Double Blind Framing
• 18:06 Tech-Shy But Using Icons For Influence
• 22:05 Comfort Zones, Virtual Studio, And Adaptability
• 25:24 Pure Deck Of Cards And Human Impact
• 28:33 Harmonica As Emotional Reveal
• 31:36 Wallet Obsession And Real-World Routines
• 35:09 The Red Envelope Peak And Tears
• 38:15 Comedy First: In Over Your Head
• 41:00 Smash And Stab: Safety, Sound, And Mindset
• 46:08 Banishment: Retiring The Omni Deck
• 49:09 One Book And One Personal Item
• 51:24 Plugs, Books, And Closing Notes

Transcript

SPEAKER_02: 0:00

I was uh traveling to Birmingham, I don't know, maybe three months ago for an event. And I was sitting in the airport. The flight was delayed, and I was but I was kind of on my own. I wasn't looking for any attention. So I've actually found a place that nobody not that I couldn't be seen, but I was away from everybody. And I was just sitting there and I was just playing with a deck of cards. And there's this woman who was with this kid, and the woman recognized me, she knew me, she was Irish, but she was too polite to come over. So then I went, What the hell? I'll go up to her. I said, Hi, how are you? She goes, Oh my god, thank you for coming over. Can we take a photograph? Yeah, and I said, Yeah. I said, What's your kid's name? And the kid was like eight at the time-ish. And uh she said, Rachel, I said, Does Rachel want to see a magic trick? And I just did like a simple card change or something. I can't even remember what the trick was, but her mother started crying and I was like, Why are you crying? And she was like, Well, you don't really understand. Rachel has eye cancer, and that's why we were in Birmingham. And this is one of the first things she's ever seen properly. She's just got the all clear. And that was kind of a beautiful moment that it reminded me of the impact that we can have as magicians, as opposed to, yeah. I mean, look, we can go to weddings and we can perform and uh go from table to table, but don't underestimate what people are going through in the background and that moment of escapism that you're giving people. I know that that kid will remember that for the rest of her life.

SPEAKER_01: 1:39

We are in for a treat. This guest, no lie, uh, this is not me exaggerating. We've tried to get him on five times now. Um, so I'm very excited that we finally got him on. This is another video podcast. So if you have free time, go to YouTube and check this out. We're doing more of these video ones recently, uh, so do go and watch it on YouTube if you want to see today's guest in person. So I'm gonna give you a little rundown of today's guest. Now, I will say this episode's gonna be slightly quicker than most of them because we've only got him for a very, very short time. His schedule is absolutely incredible. So I don't know how he's even taken this time. So it's gonna be a little bit of a quicker one, but I promise we won't rush through it too much. Now, today's guest has uh been on so many incredible shows, including the Ellen DeGeneres show, uh Jimmy Kimmel, close encounters with Keith Barry. I've sort of just given his name there. He also consulted on the Now You See Me films. Uh, he's known as the Brain Hacker, he's a motivational speaker. Do go check out his socials as well. I follow him on socials, and he's always putting out really inspirational nuggets of advice, which are really, really good. And you also get to see, he did just say there's only about a third of what he gets up to on there. So uh so do go check those out. He's also got some books, so he's got Brain Hacks, he's got the children's book Mind Magic, and he's got Sleep Hacks. So I think today's list is gonna be really interesting. He's probably Ireland's most famous magician. Uh, I have known about him for many years. I've watched lots of his stuff, so I know we're gonna be in for a treat. Today's guest is, of course, the wonderful Keith Barry. Hello, Keith. Hey, how are you? Good to see you. Good to finally have you here.

SPEAKER_02: 3:30

Yeah, it took a bit of juggling schedule-wise, but here we are. And uh yeah, it's great to have a chat.

SPEAKER_01: 3:35

It is, and I'm very excited to see what your list is. Now, I did say we don't have you for particularly long, so we're not gonna preamble too much, but how did you find putting your list together? Because you've been in magic for such a long time.

SPEAKER_02: 3:50

Yeah, so for me, look, you know, I just I love magic, I love mentalism. I mean, more now, I'm just a speaker, so I'm not even performing uh tricks or anything really. It's just a lot of talking and a lot of motivational work. Um, but the kid is still within me, so ultimately, you know, casually I'm still performing all the time. Even last night, I performed at a charity event locally here, and ultimately at that charity event, yeah, I just picked some of my kind of favorite things to do and perform there, you know.

SPEAKER_01: 4:25

Okay, so maybe we're gonna get a mix of magic, mentalism, maybe hypnosis, because you're known for your hypnosis as well.

SPEAKER_02: 4:32

Yes, I've done a lot of hypnosis in the past, but weirdly, on stage, I haven't done hypnosis in about eight years. That's all going to change because my latest tour, which is called Unhinged 25 Years Inside Your Minds here in Ireland, I've got 30 dates on sale for next year, and I'm doing a full half of hypno again. Um, and interestingly, I think in the kind of worlds that we're in, I re I remember reading years ago Bob Castle's work, and I got to be very friendly with Bob. I worked with Bob on some of my uh US shows. I hired him to work with me on those, and I remember speaking to him about you know doing a full half of hypnosis and a second half mentalism. And still to this day, I've never seen anybody do it, except I did it a number of times on tour. Um, and maybe there is people in the UK doing it, maybe there's people in the US doing it, I don't know. But I've never seen somebody doing it, I've never come across anybody doing it. So, yeah, my ladies' tour is going to be a full half a hypnosis again, and then and then the other half will be uh full-blown mentalism act. So it's kind of two acts in one, you know.

SPEAKER_01: 5:33

Wow, that's amazing. So if you're in Ireland, go and see it. Hopefully, you'll venture our way one day and we get to see one of your live shows.

SPEAKER_02: 5:41

Because that'd be maybe it just comes out to scheduling and timing and stuff like that. But look, I'd love to tour the UK and I'm in talks now about doing some stuff down there in South Africa of all places, so I could randomly turn up there early next year.

SPEAKER_01: 5:52

There you go. Keep an eye out for that. So let's get into the concept. If this is your first time listening, the idea is we're about to maroon Keith on his very own magical island. When he's there, he's allowed to take eight tricks, banish one thing, take one book and one non-magic item that he uses for magic. Particulars, who's there, what's there, all of that good stuff. We do not mind. It's in Keith's own imagination. I'm guessing there's going to be a cold plunge pool there, knowing Keith from his social media. Um, so let's go to your island now and find out what you put in position number one.

SPEAKER_02: 6:22

Do you know what? This will come. I so I could get all artsy about it, right? And I could tell you that it's it's something that, you know, perhaps is very little known, or maybe something that is you know, I designed myself and I've designed many things myself. But actually, weirdly, the invisible deck, I I just love it. I I've been in love with the invisible deck for I mean, I'm 49 now, so I'm guessing I've been performing the invisible deck for 31 years, and I just love the invisible deck, but I do it a very specific way, and um I don't mind sharing it, uh, even though I know like this is a public platform, so I'll I won't speak in code, but uh I'll I'll just mention something went under the radar in the Magic World many, many moons ago, and I was only talking to what was it? Taylor Taylor Hughes about this the other night. And and I said to Taylor, have you ever seen anybody uh do the invisible deck this way? And he was like, No. And then I've mentioned this to a bunch of other people in our world, and none of them have seen anyone do it this way. So ultimately, let's just say I've got my own presentation with it. I use it as if I'm doing like I don't do walk around anymore, but if I do uh like a like last night, I was at a charity event. My opener is this version of the invisible deck, and ultimately it's Jay Sankey's version with an X. There you go. Go dig it out, go find it, because it gets the craziest reactions ever. And ultimately, weirdly, it solves the only problem with the invisible deck. And the problem with the invisible deck is that spectators will believe that you're an expert sleight of hand artist, even if you're only a mentalist and you're not using sleight of hand in your set, they will believe that you just flick that card over. Not everybody, but some people will. And his ex solves all those problems or that problem. And for me, yeah, I still love doing it casually and just uh at uh any event where I'm and generally just a charity event for me. I mean, I get about two close-up gigs a year, so I do about two a year, that's it. So nothing when these people who's out there said, I do hundreds and hundreds of close-up gigs a year. I do maybe two. Um, and besides that, some some charity work as well, and I always open with that version of the invisible deck.

SPEAKER_01: 8:47

Amazing. Now, have you ever thought about trying to find a way to do invisible deck for stage?

SPEAKER_02: 8:52

Yeah, I've done it in the past. So there's um obviously you can you know make up a jumbo uh version, and I've done that, and I've done, but I only do with the X version. Um and then Cody Fisher has an Invisible Deck presentation. I think it's Cody Fisher. Um, it is Cody, yeah. Cody's uh version of the Invisible Deck is really good for stage. I don't do it myself, um, but look, I like I'm a nerd. I still, even though I don't perform magic, uh I suppose that bleeds across magic and mental magic and mentalism, but ultimately um I bought it from Cody. Uh and again, I just did it at some charity events. It's not something I would do in my touring act, um, but then I taught it to uh one of my friends who subsequently then bought it off of Cody and he uses it all the time. So a comedy magician here in Ireland uses that stage version of the invisible deck all the time. So, in my opinion, for a stage version, Cody's can't be beat. So he's got a beat where uh three paper balls are thrown into the audience. He does the invisible deck, he actually uses just a small invisible deck, but I I changed it to use a jumbo invisible deck with the X on it, so that's a bit of a difference. But ultimately, um uh uh the kicker ending is when the three paper balls are open in the audience, they spell out the name of the card, so whatever King of Hearts. So it turns out it's been in the audience the whole time. So for a stage version, that can't be beat, it's not something that I do myself. Um and then another way of doing a stage version that I have played with in the past, but again, I don't use it. So anybody out there uh who hasn't thought about this, I mean it's not r necessarily original or unique to me, but just getting somebody up on stage to phone somebody anywhere else in the world and they name the card. It seems obvious to us as magicians and mentalists, and it seems like, you know, does it actually make a difference? I can tell you, having done it a couple of times in the past, it makes a huge difference to phone somebody on the other side of the world and have them name the card. It just feels different to the audience, it feels different to the person on stage, and ultimately then um you can also create like some kind of a kicker ending if you want, because that person on the other end of the phone can also name a word then that you can um, without talking about method, you can use any amount of method to then reveal that word as well, you know.

SPEAKER_01: 11:13

Amazing. Well, that's uh heavy hitter in at number one. So let's go to number two. So, what did you put in your second spot?

SPEAKER_02: 11:19

So I would take um my three envelope test. That's what I would take. Because that's my go-to for every act that I do in the corporate world. I use my three envelope test everywhere I go, and ultimately it just destroys an audience, and all I need are literally um I say three, but there might be slightly more than three envelopes, um, but uh, and then uh like 20 business cards, right? That's it, and a couple of pens. And I can do like a half an hour act with that. And it it came the genesis that came from 4DT. Again, I worked with Bob Cassidy a lot. I got to be very good friends with Bob Cassidy. Um, and then I developed my own version of four dimensional telepathy, but I didn't like the stuff that was going on in the pockets and things like that. So ultimately I streamlined it. Um, I remember I talked to Drew Back and Stoss about it, he helped with it as well. Uh, and ultimately um I ended up with my own version of the three envelope test that's so streamlined, uh again, I can get like about so I counted it before I came on this call, about 25 beats of mind reading from three envelopes and a couple of business cards. And and and I use that in a very specific way though. So I don't do it as one act, so I'll do the start of it, which will be a drawing dupe, but then I do what's called ping-pong mind reading with the audience. So with the audience, I'm ping-pong mind reading throughout throughout the act, but that's all unbeknownst to them, actually. It's all been owned, uh, it's all part of my three envelope test. So at that point, they don't even know it's part of the three envelope test, but then I go back to act one, act two, act three, and I've done lots of variations of that in the past. I think that the problem with these things is very often people don't think of unique presentations, right? And for me, for years, I don't really do it this way anymore, but for years I used to pin it on uh actually, give me a second, I have the book over there. Um that took me a second, fine, fine. Um so I pin I pinned my presentation, my stage presentation on Wolf Messing, um, the true story of Russia's greatest psychic. So I would talk about Wolf Messing, I would talk about the fact that he got tested in a court of law ultimately to prove his psychic abilities. Uh, I would also talk about Eric Jan Hannison, and I would do the three envelope tests stating that he got tested in a court of law using three envelopes and three pieces of paper to prove his psychic ability. And then I would explain that to the audience, and then I would say, I'm gonna do the exact test that they gave this person to prove that he was psychic in a court of law, and I'm gonna do it in front of you, and you're my jury, and so on and so on. And I found that that really like worked with an audience, it really resonated with them because I'm giving a piece of actual, somewhat true history. Um, I'm giving my opinion on psychics, which I won't get into for the purposes of this conversation, but I'm talking about my opinion on psychics, and and ultimately then I do the three envelope tests. So I've qualified everything. And the good news for me then as well, on top of it, is I'm actually a scientist by trade. So I would then talk about a double blind test, what that means, uh, and then I would put a double blind test into my three envelope test. So it all contextually made sense. So um, so yeah, that that would be my go-to. Like I'll I'll be doing it today at an event today, three envelope test, every time. Because it fits in my pockets, I could travel anywhere in the world with it, and I get a full half hour out of it, you know.

SPEAKER_01: 15:03

Now, is this something that you've taught anywhere? Is there is there a place that people can learn this if they want to?

SPEAKER_02: 15:09

I've never shared any of my material uh anywhere. So no, it's not something that's uh that I've shared. I mean, look, maybe down the line, I don't know, maybe down the line I'll I'll write like a uh somewhat of a biography specifically for magicians and mentalists, because I've got a lot that I could share. Uh, but right now it's still that's still in my working act. So no, it can't be got anywhere.

SPEAKER_01: 15:32

Okay. Well, uh something for us to look forward to. I'm a huge fan of three envelope tests. So um, yeah, I'll be keeping it in.

SPEAKER_02: 15:39

But just to help people out there, though, because I I like helping people like Scott Creasy's got a good version, uh Bob Castle's is it like I always say to people, go to the original and then uh so I always go to the source of everything, right? So source the original and then just like do that so much that you identify all the problems with it and then solve the problems yourself. Um and I've done variations of the 4DT over many, many, many, many years. Um, so yeah, that's that's what I would say, you know.

SPEAKER_01: 16:10

Amazing. Well, that's a great one in at number two. Let's go to number three. So, what's in your third spot?

SPEAKER_02: 16:16

Yeah, like you know, we all know enough tricks, but I decided to put something in that I just I'm having a lot of fun with like right now, right? I'm completely and utterly a technophobe, right? So I've avoided technology for years, some magic technology, right? And uh, and even in my stage shows, I don't use any tech. Um, I used to years ago, and I just I'm so bad with it, I would break these things and uh and they would wouldn't work. And and sometimes it was the tech that wasn't working, but sometimes it was me, right? Sending these things things up wrong. Um, but something I'm having a lot of fun with, like just right now, is uh icons by the I think it's the French twins. Um so thanks to Philo, big shout out to Philo. I actually um I decided to to hire Philo to help me with the tech stuff because I'm a technophobe and and I'm not even sure, honestly, if I'll ever use any of this stuff in my professional work, right? Like I'm not using it in my professional work, but I'm using it every day to fry minds, and I can't believe the reactions this stuff is getting. So uh so I would bring that on a desert oil with me just to kind of a push my own boundaries because uh it scares me every time I do it that it's not gonna work because I'm such a like not good with tech. But yet, every time I do it, the reactions are insane, like literally insane. When people like so the way I do it is um I get two beats out of it though. So because I use I'm not gonna name because uh any apps or anything like that, but ultimately um somebody in their so the way the the beat is somebody in their own phone, they search for something, but then they delete that and then they search again. So it's the second thing that ends up in the icons, but now I also have the first piece of information too. So I get two beats out of it now, and I make it all about influence. So, for example, true story, charity event that I was at yesterday, I was like, this is great because if it goes wrong, it doesn't really matter too much to me. Um, I always have an out, by the way. I always like would have like a uh one ahead or whatever or one behind, whichever you want to call it, right? But I'm always ready for if the tech doesn't work. But yesterday at the event, it was perfect because the first thing that the person searched for was square, and the second thing, and they deleted that, the second thing then was tractor. So just so everybody knows if they're not familiar with icons, that ends up being spelled out uh on your phone. I might even be able to show you here because I know we're on video, so like the last one, I'm not sure what the last one was. Uh ah, there it is. It's actually tractor. So as you can see, it says on my phone, think of tractor. Okay. And there it is there. So, but ultimately, um, because he thought a square to begin with, it gave me a great thought explanation for the fact that I told him at the outset that I was going to influence him. And then I explained to him that I when I was actually when I was gesturing and so on, that I actually made the uh the shape of a square. And he actually just ran away and started screaming at that moment. Such a simple thing, right? But it's just it's a it's a freebie as I call it. And then when I show him, I think a tractor on my phone, the fact that I've influenced him. And the interesting thing is I always again like context, right? What's the premise? What's the context? And and ultimately, we all know that we're being influenced and infiltrated. And people now finally are, because there's so many documentaries on you know social media experiments and the fact that we are actually genuinely being subliminally influenced, it's fantastic because because now people are educated. Years ago, when you or I would say, 20 years ago, when we were talking about subliminal influence, people would be like, really? But now there's documentaries everywhere on this stuff. So people are there's a buy-in. And because you have that buy-in, uh, I show them my icons first, of course. And the way I do it is so I go into uh the icons, sorry, I went to the wrong app there. Uh, but when I go to the icons, what's really important is um you show them the top ones, but I always talk about positioning because I always say to the person, okay, look, the top left I've got Tesla, and then I've got Facebook, and then on the next page, I've got like Angry Birds. So I'm pointing to them and I'm talking about influence and so on. And then, but then when I take the phone from them, because as we know, you kind of have to take their phone at one stage. When I take the phone from them, I uh what's great is, and I haven't seen anybody doing it kind of this way, I just say, Do you know? I've just shown you, and I know the organization of my icons. Do you know what's top left on yours? And there's and most of the time, actually, they won't, just so you know. Um, and I'm like, and I'm showing it to somebody here, but then I'm coming back and doing the business. So it's very casual. And and then when I go back and show the icons the way they're stacked, it just gets a bigger reaction than I ever thought it would. Um, so I love it. I love playing with it, and it's just more the kid in me. Um, because again, I'm not comfortable with this stuff. Like all these young kids, um, I can never pronounce his name, Kevin Ham Dam, and all these other guys who are in their 20s and 30s. I mean, they're fantastic and they're using loads of tech. Like, I'll never use loads of tech. So that one piece of like tech kind of really gets me gets me giddy every time, you know. So yeah.

SPEAKER_01: 21:32

What what pushed you over the line then? What what pushed you over to to finally do a tech trick?

SPEAKER_02: 21:38

Do you know I I I I just quite like pushing myself out of my comfort zone because, like, you know, I've done like for example, you mentioned ice bats, right? I do ice bats every day to push myself out of my comfort zone. I uh start doing keynotes years ago, and now I'm doing a leadership keynote, and now I'm doing uh a keynote on how to redefine the impossible on a daily basis. That like that's all pushing myself, and I see myself like so. To answer your question, I for years I've seen myself like a chameleon, right? I'm shape-shifting and changing as the world changes. So a good example of that is when uh the pandemic hit, uh, early doors, I decided to flip online while everybody else some people did flip online fast, like I'm talking about in our world, but then everybody else is like wondering, is this gonna work? Is it not gonna work? I I don't think like that. I think gov. Pull the trigger, gov. I've been wrong loads of times, have failed loads of times, but I always pulled the trigger. So for me, like I set up this virtual studio that I'm in now straight away at the start of the pandemic. And like, truth be told, without lying, like I was definitely in the top 10, at least, in the world with regards to being busy at it for two years. Uh, and that's because again, I didn't know anything about how to set up a virtual studio. So I hired somebody to do that for me. I paid him well to come in, set this whole cabin up in my back garden. And and and I learned Zoom and I learned all these different things. But ultimately, uh again, I just like pushing myself into areas that make me feel uncomfortable. So I was not comfortable going online. I was not comfortable with taking a financial risk at that time and setting up all this whole virtual studio. Like this is a fully tech'd out space that I'm in now. I mean, I've got you plugged in, but let's see, can I show you a little bit? So I've got like a full like overhead cam, another cam there, but I've got full lights up in the ceiling. Back here, I've got a pull-down green screen, I've got more lights back there. Um, and then uh then we went at it. But ultimately, back to what you were asking, like I was just looking at some of the reactions that other people are getting with this tech stuff, and I was like, I just wonder, should I just push myself into that space for a minute? Um, and the interesting thing is I'm just thinking real slow. So really icons is the only thing I do right now. Um, and then like I'll go back to Philo. The agreement with Philo is just like I have to perfect it and make sure that it's working all the time first, and then maybe I'll do another app. Uh, but again, these are not things for me that I'll be doing professionally at all. Like you'll never see me doing these on TV or anything like that. Um, but I just love doing them. Do you know what I mean? So yeah.

SPEAKER_01: 24:23

Amazing. Well, let's go on to number four then. So, what's in your fourth spot?

SPEAKER_02: 24:27

Fourth spot, I think, would most likely be like just uh a straight deck of cards, right? Um, I know it sounds perhaps bland or boring, but um, you know, maybe, yeah, like I think just a straight deck of cards, because at the end of the day, a lot of people don't know this about me. Like again, I'm 49 now, but you know, I moved to Dublin when I was 21. So 28 years ago, all I did was close-up magic. Like my background is a close, a working close-up magician, right? So I was making a living. Um, I moved to Dublin when I was 21 and I started performing semi-professionally. I had a day job. Um, but then when I was 23, is when I jumped into magic full-time. And actually, when I was 23, I bought a thousand decks of cards from the US playing card company because I I got a deal on it, right? And uh and I bought them wholesale. But like I was living in it, like a crappy little apartment at the time, and I had a thousand decks of cards around me because I was burning through about three decks a day between rehearsals and then gigging as well, right? Um, but that's my background. So at the time, all those years ago, I was actually very proficient with a deck of cards, and uh and the and the kid is still in me. So I just think there's so much you can do, right, with a deck of cards. Um, and for me, like a good example is I was uh traveling to Birmingham, I don't know, maybe three months ago for an event, and I was sitting in the airport and I was just bored. The flight was delayed, and I was but I was kind of on my own. I wasn't looking for any attention. So I've actually found a place that nobody not that it couldn't be seen, but I was away from everybody. And I was just sitting there and I was just playing with a deck of cards. I don't use cards professionally at all anymore. Um, but I was just playing around with some ideas and concepts, and uh, and ultimately I noticed uh that there it was we were three hours late, and there's this woman who was with this kid, and the woman recognized me because she knew me, she was Irish, and but she was too polite to come over, so then I went, What the hell? I'll go up to her. I said, Hi, how are you? She goes, Oh my god, thank you for coming over. Can we take a photograph? Yeah, and I said, Yeah. I said, uh, what's your kid's name? And the kid was like eight at the time-ish. And uh she said, Rachel, I said, Does Rachel want to see a magic trick? And I just did um like a simple card change or something, I can't even remember what the trick was. But her mother started crying and I was like, Why are you crying? And she was like, Well, you don't really understand. Rachel has eye cancer, and that's why we were in Birmingham. And this is one of the first things she's ever seen properly, because she just got the all clear. Um, and that was kind of a beautiful moment that it reminded me of the impact that we can have as magicians, as opposed to say, yeah, I mean, look, we can go to weddings and we can perform and uh go from table to table, but don't underestimate what people are going through in the background and that moment of escapism that you're giving people. So for me, I know that that kid will remember that for the rest of her life. Um so uh, and the kid in me always wants to have a deck of cards with me, even though you know uh more often than not I wouldn't even pull them out to do something for somebody. So for me, to uh bring a deck of cards on a Desert Island is more for me than anything else, right? It's just uh and it'll kill the boredom, right? You're gonna be sitting there uh creating card tricks the whole time. The only problem is with the with the deck of cards on the Desert Island, they are gonna warp. So there's that problem, I guess.

SPEAKER_01: 27:42

We'll give you really good quality plastic ones.

SPEAKER_02: 27:47

And like just because I said a deck of cards, and I know there's gonna be magicians listening going, well, uh, you know, they want to hear about tricks. If I was to pick like a card trick that I was gonna do with that deck of cards, it would require uh an extra deck, so maybe I'd bring three decks, okay. Uh but still to this day, my favorite thing to do is David Williamson's Tore and Restored card. I've been doing it since I've been doing that since I was like, I don't know, maybe 15, maybe 14. Whenever I got the VHS tape from International Magic, uh, and that was one of the first tricks I learned. I still have that VHS tape. I could run in, I know exactly where it is. I have a still a VHS player, so I still play those tapes sometimes. I purposely kept one. So David Williamson's Torn Restored would be the trick that I would do, my number one trick uh with the deck of cards.

SPEAKER_01: 28:34

I mean, that's a great trick, a great choice if you're gonna do one. But what I love is that regular listeners, as soon as you said a deck of cards, were holding their breath because they knew what was about to happen, but you have just saved yourself. So normally with a deck of cards, devil's advocate pops in and uh makes you pick a particular card trick. But you've done it already, so we don't need to get the devil out, he can stay where he is. Uh, let's move on to number five then. So, what's in your fifth spot?

SPEAKER_02: 29:00

I think it would be a harmonica, um, which is similar to your um guitar that you mentioned earlier. But I say harmonica because I've got a piece of magic that's very uh close to me, or mentalism that's very close to me. Um, and ultimately I just learned a harmonica in the last kind of two years, right? Um and I'm still not very good at it. But the one thing that I can play on it is uh uh the beats from Hey Jude. And and what happens is I get a person, whether it's so sometimes I've done this on stage, not with a huge audience, but I'll do it on stage up to like two, three hundred people. And ultimately, everybody's thinking of a song, and uh I pick somebody at random, I say, What song are you thinking of? Uh, and ultimately uh it ends up being hey dude. And the reason uh now I could lie to you and say I can play lots of different songs, and it ends up being different every night. I'm not going to do that. The reason I say hey Jude is because my dad passed away in January this year. And I wanted to do a piece of magic that reminded me of him. So weirdly, I don't even mention him when I do this. But the one song that he used to sing at every party we would ever have, uh and weekly merely, I'd hear him saying, Hey Jude, like that was his favorite song. So I do that in honor of my dad, but at the gigs, I don't lean into that too much. I just do it um straight. But it actually gets an amazing reaction. And then I was thinking, like, if I was stuck on a desert island, I could definitely develop a lot more um mentalism pieces with just a harmonica, right? Um, and the great thing is you can carry it in your pocket. That was the other thing I was thinking. So um, and even now I carry it in my pocket. So when I'm stuck in traffic, I whip out the harmonica and I'm practicing Heyju, and I'm starting to practice other songs as well. Um, but as a piece of mentalism, it destroys an audience, like literally destroys them. So yeah.

SPEAKER_01: 30:59

Well, I think that's a really interesting choice. And I mean, we recently had a marketed trick called the Invisible Harmonica came out, uh, which was a really interesting.

SPEAKER_02: 31:07

I know the one I have it. I bought it, I haven't used it yet, but I actually have it inside.

SPEAKER_01: 31:11

Well, you don't need the invisible one, you've got the real one. Um, but I think I think it's a great way to reveal stuff as well. And I remember going to see Asse Wynn's show last year in London, and he had a brilliant revelation with some bells, which I loved. I thought it was so good. Uh, I won't say anything more than that.

SPEAKER_00: 31:35

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 road, 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 gonna have four incredible lecturers performing throughout the day, including one person who's gonna 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. 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 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 gonna 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 gonna wanna 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 Alakazam Coda.uk. See you guys soon.

SPEAKER_01: 33:26

But I think that's a great choice. Uh having a harmonica in there, I will really look out for your show because I just want to see that now. I want to see how how you would do it. Let's move on to number six then. So, what's in your sixth spot?

SPEAKER_02: 33:38

I think people probably magicians can relate to this, or maybe some of them can, but if I showed you three drawers inside, they're full of wallets. I'm a wallet fiend. Like a fiend. And it's ridiculous because, like, literally, obviously, I don't use 99% of these wallets, right? But I have them all. You name it. I have them, right? If you named a wallet right now, I have it. I've got your stealth assassin wallet, I've got the luxurious one. I have them all, right? Um, and and the reason I would bring that to a desert island is here's an insider story that I've never told before. Um, I used to buy a lot of stuff off Mark Mason back in the day. And um in JB Magic, I bought my first wallet off Mark Mason, which was a Jax style wallet. And I landed my CBS special, Keith Barry Extraordinary, by using that Jax wallet. And I literally just did a mind-reading piece in a boardroom in LA for the head honchos and CBS, got in the think of a movie, used the Jax wallet, and ultimately there and then landed my CBS special. And that was back in 2006, so 19 odd years ago. Um and then I I just became addicted to wallets because of that, I guess. So um, so P so uh we won't give away the names too much, I guess, but um here's one that I carry with me every day. So ultimately, this is my actual wallet that I use every single day. And uh and you can see there's all my stuff, right? So it's actually real wallet, carries other tricks. There's a trick that I use again casually, I love it. So the rainbow. Um, but back to the wallet. Uh, this is Jared Carney's wallet. So uh, and this is a Jack's wallet again. Uh, and I think it's lovely because like right now I'm doing like there it is, and I'm doing the peak as I'm closing it up. Like I've just got the peak, and I I don't even have to look at these anymore. Like I can actually peak peripherally, so I don't even need to look at the wallet as I'm closing it up, and I can just hand it off to somebody or put it back in my pocket, whatever it is. So Jared Carney, um, and I just bought another wallet off him yesterday, which I may or may never use, the Virtuosa wallet. He just released it like a couple of days ago. Um, and I bought it from him, but uh yeah, so a wallet. And if I was to be pressed on what wallet, honestly, it would be a flip-up between the stealth assassin. I'm not saying that because of this podcast, uh, but I I've used the stealth assassin like lots. So, as an example, last Friday night I was flown to Vilomora in Portugal to do uh performance in the house. So it was a stand-up performance in a house, and I had the stealth assassin with me. And um, and the reason I had it was I was doing because it was just a small performance of just like 30 people there, uh, I was using um Hook by Eric Ross. Uh, but my kicker on that, I never liked the fact that you can't like not that you would want to hand out something that's been in your mouth, right? But ultimately, they can't really look that close because uh of what's going on, shall we say, right? At the end. So my kicker on that is always stealth assassin is open. I show them a piece of paper, close it up, and I have stickers on the ends of the strings for hook. Um, sometimes I use numbers, a lot of times I use colored stickers. Um, and ultimately, let's just say yellow is left. I open up the wallet, I take out the piece of paper and I give it to them, and it oh, they open it up and they say, I it says, I will influence you to avoid yellow. So that's the kicker. So then the heat's off the hook, um, there's no heat on the wallet, so it all kind of combines together for a nice routine. But I've used the Self Assassin a lot over the years. So shout out to Self Assassin or Jared Carney's work on.

SPEAKER_01: 37:32

Amazing. Now, Devil's Advocate has come out. So we avoided it earlier, but he's out now. If you could perform only one trick using your Jack's wallet, what would it be?

SPEAKER_02: 37:42

Okay, great. Um, so I personally think like the whole concept of um, you know, first kiss, first cry, it's all been overdone, right? And drawing dupes are great. Um get fantastic reactions, but my go-to with uh stealth assassin are that is my red envelope trick. Um I call it a trick, but ultimately you can see me doing that uh on my Instagram page, right? So ultimately, I don't have a red envelope here, but the way the red envelope works, and without talking too much about method, because I know we have to avoid that, but people out there who are in the know, they'll understand what's going on. Ultimately, um I hand somebody a red envelope, and I say to that person, inside there uh is a message for you, and it can only be for you. The message cannot exist for anyone else, and I'll have evidence that it can't be for anybody else in a few moments' time. So I hand them off the red envelope. Then uh I get them to write something down, and generally speaking, that something that I get them to write down um would be uh a password or a private word that no one could know, but that word needs to have emotional value to them, right? So I get them to write down something, and very often I don't limit them. So I sometimes will say, you can write so very often we'll say, you know, draw something or write down the name of your first kiss, your first crush. Very often I won't limit them at all. Or I'll say a password or something like that. But most often now I say, write down anything, but something that has some kind of unique emotional value to you. So they do that, and then but then there's prerequisites to the red envelope. I say, when you open that red envelope, there's two rules. Rule number one is you can't share the letter with anybody else ever, you can never share the contents. And rule number two is just be truthful when you open the red envelope by letting me know if that's specific for you and only for you. In other words, that it couldn't be relevant to anybody else here. So I'm kind of negating there. I'm trying to get rid of um, you know, the forer effect there, right? I'm trying to get rid of the concept that it could mean for anybody. So ultimately, when they open up that red envelope, every time that I've done this, and I mean every time that I've done this, this is the reaction. And then they start crying, right? Every time they start crying. And that's what I use that for. So without talking too much more about it, people can kind of yeah, uh, pick that apart and put it back together if they want. Although it is unique to me, it is something I've been doing for a long time. So I'm not necessarily sharing that for people to go out and start doing it. Um, but if people want to see it, they can have a look at my Instagram page. You'll have to scroll back a little bit because it's about six months ago, but they are still up there. Um and I actually have done that maybe three, four years ago. I did a version of it as well. And I was inspired by there is if um a piece in the book about Dr. Q that inspired that that actual whole piece that I'm talking about. So if you want to look into kind of just the genesis of that, is it it is in that book by Dr. Q. Um, so there you go. So that's what I use it for, is the miss I call it the the mystery of the red envelope.

SPEAKER_01: 41:14

Amazing. Well, let's go into the tail end of your eight then. So we're on number seven. What's in your seventh position?

SPEAKER_02: 41:21

This is one that that's not gonna be. I was only talking to somebody about this the other day. This is one that again went under the radar. I think it would be a comedy piece, um, because I add a lot of comedy pieces into my stage shows. So I know over there in the UK a lot of people wouldn't have seen my stage shows, but my stage shows are far different than my uh TV work. So my stage shows are very fast, very improv, very much improv, and then also mainly comedy-based, which might surprise some people. So I want people laughing their heads off first and then being fooled badly as well, secondary. So it's it's the opposite of what a lot of a lot of people, especially mentalists, right, uh, might think. But mine is to make people make sure people are having a great time and then be fooled badly. But weirdly, sometimes I'll inject the piece of if it suits the context of the show that I'm doing, I'll inject the piece of uh magic in there. Uh I'm not frightened of being known as the brain hacker, but then also being able to do magic. I don't care about the that whole argument that that I'll let other people argue on the cafe about you can't do magic if you're doing mentalism. Like I can do whatever I want, right? I don't care what other people think in the industry that is. Um I would do, all right, like if I was on my own, this is no use. You need an audience, right? So I always wonder about this desert island thing. Well, you start all these tricks without an audience. We always have to imagine you're gonna be rescued someday and put on a show. That's what I always think about desert dialed, right? Um, I would do Steve Bedwell's In Over Your Head. You won't see any of the younger generation doing it. The reason you won't see any of the younger generation doing it is they gotta read. You can't, you can't you can't get it on a DVD, you can't get it on a download. It's a little pamphlet, right? Little like a tiny little pamphlet. You guys should stock it. You should go run, run fast to Steve Bedwell and ask him, can you stock it? Um for my money's worth, it's an absolute hammer house of a routine. So um, again, without giving too much away, think of it like paper balls over the head, but with a cut and restored rope. So uh absolutely hilarious, absolutely brilliant thinking. I have my own twists and turns on it that I developed over the years. Uh, I did do it, uh I had um I had a tour one time, which was called the Magic Madhouse, and uh that kind of came out of nowhere for people because I'd been known as the brain hacker, the mentalist here for a long time, and then all of a sudden I put a magic tour together, and uh and that routine was in that magic tour. So uh I did that like I don't know, maybe 60 nights in theaters here in Ireland, and I had so much fun with that routine. Uh and even now, if I again I wouldn't do it in my stage show now, especially not unhinged. Um, but sometimes, again, if I do I do a lot of charity work here, uh I'm aligned with a kid's charity called Barrettstown. Uh so very often they've got a full theatre out in Barrettstown, it's amazing. So it's fantastic for me. I can go out there and run in material. Um, but very often if I'm out there, because sometimes there'll be kids in the audience, and uh uh it just allows me to go back to doing that routine again. Uh I just love doing it because I'm smiling, the audience is howling, and the person on stage is having a great time as well. And they're being fooled really badly on stage. But again, uh it doesn't take too much of imagination to understand what I'm saying by think of it like paper balls over the head, but with cut and restored rope.

SPEAKER_01: 44:48

Amazing. Well, I think that sounds phenomenal. Uh it's the only it's the only the second trick that you put on here as well. So obviously, with the deck of cards, you mentioned uh David Williamson's trick, and then here we've got in over your head. So we've only got two pieces of magic, but I like that I I'm not sure how you present it, but do you do something along the lines of perception and them paying attention and stuff like that?

SPEAKER_02: 45:14

Yeah, so with the person on stage, uh yeah, I just talk about the the idea of cognitive reframing if it like if it's if it fits the the audience that I'm doing. So I'll talk about what a cognitive reframe is and the fact that they're looking at something from one perspective, but the audience has seen it from another perspective. But truth be told, very often I just play kind of straight because I'll get a kid up, right? So if I'm in an environment where I can get a teenager up, I'll always use that person. Uh but to be honest, that particular trick itself, it actually kind of works um uh without presentation, weirdly, right? And I don't mean without presentation, obviously there has to be presentation, but it does like I have done it with cognitive reframing, perspective, all that kind of stuff. But ultimately, you don't really even need that much. Um, because people are laughing so hard from the get-go, uh, I've found that over scripting that doesn't work. And I've tried to script it many different ways over the years. Um, so now just because again, because it's for charity and stuff, I just do it kind of straight. Uh, when I say straight, I mean I just do the routine as is, you know.

SPEAKER_01: 46:25

Amazing. Well, there's one for all of us to go and seek out, which is exciting. Uh, but it does lead us to your last trick. So, what did you put in your final position?

SPEAKER_02: 46:34

For me, it has to be the one that loads of guys have gotten wrong, that I've done more for sure, and I can state this with clarity than any other magician in the world. And it's something that is a trick. You can buy it, you can probably buy it from you guys. I don't know. Smash and stab, right? Um, the original version by Wayne Dobson, rest of soul. Um I bought Smash and Stab, I don't know how many millions of years ago in Blackpool, right? So this is the history of this. Um, so it was probably back in 2001-ish. And um I then disregarded uh uh Wayne's routine, not in a bad way, it just didn't suit what I was doing, uh, and then just made up my own routine. So my own routine, it evolves using a spectator's hand. I'd never seen anybody doing it that way before, using a spectator. It was always the magician's hand over to that point, and I spoke with Wade about this, and he was like, Yeah, I haven't seen anybody using a spectator's hand. So I used to use a spectator's hand, um, and then uh over the years, I would then allow the spectator to make the choice as well of where their hand went. So that was a big shift because ultimately knowing how the trick is done, how can you do that, right? How can you allow the spectator to decide where their hand is gonna go? You can't, but I can, right? Um, so I had all those nuances and I did it on TV in 2003, and then I did it at every corporate show. I did it on TV, I don't know how many times I did it on TV. Um, I did it on loads of my TV shows. I did it on my CBS show, I did it on my ITV show, the Keith Barry The Escape live in whatever year that was. Um I did it on more TV shows after that. I did it on my Discovery Channel show. I did it on my showdown in Australia. So I know for sure that I've done Smash or Sab more than anybody else alive, right? I stopped doing it years ago when everybody else started doing it, right? So I completely have not done it in, I'm gonna say I haven't done Smash or Sab now in eight years, maybe, right? I cannot understand how these people get it wrong. Well, I can, but you shouldn't get it wrong. And anybody out there, I've seen all the arguments, right? I've seen all the guys saying, Oh, you know, you know, it's always gonna go wrong one night. Fucking no, it can't go wrong. You can't allow it to go wrong. It's like a pilot on a plane going, well, one day I'm gonna crash the plane. No, do you know what I mean? Like, no. So if you got it wrong, you shouldn't have been doing the trick to begin with. Um, but anybody out there is still doing it that way. And I noticed all the safe versions, right? I have them all up over my head here. Look, storage up there. I've got all the safe ones, right? They do not, in my opinion, have the impact of the original. Uh, when I say the original, there might have been one before Wayne, I'm not sure. Um, but ultimately, just so anybody out there, if they're doing it, I will tell you why you're getting it wrong. Because I know why they're getting it wrong, right? Because I've done it and I've never gotten it wrong. Um ultimately there's a problem. And the problem that needs to be solved by people in their own heads is you're there, spike sitting under one of four cups, without talking method. Generally speaking, the magician may know where that spike is, right? And ultimately, what you're going, what you're thinking is in your head, you're thinking, okay, there it is, there it is, there it is. There it is. Okay, we know where it's there. There it is, there it is, there it is. Uh the problem with that is because people are saying in their heads, there it is, and they know where it is, there it is, there it is, there it is. When they go to smash the hand down, their hand is now attracted to the bloody spike because they're thinking, there it is, and then they go down inadvertently, subconsciously on the spike. That is why these guys have spiked themselves. That is why they've gotten it wrong. It's not that they don't know where it is, it's that they've telling themselves too much where it is. I tell myself where it isn't. That's the difference. It's a shift in mindset. It is like back to what we said. It's like a, you know, it's a reframing. I say, there it isn't. It isn't there, it isn't there, it isn't. I don't care where it is. I want to know where it isn't. Right? It's a very different shift in mindset. I've never gone wrong, and there's a lot of uh presentational problems that people have with it. Like I know people argue to death about should you have something that can really go wrong in your act, you know, is all these kind of nonsensical things. I can tell you, as the person who's done it more than anybody else in the world, it gets one used. I don't do it anymore. Used to get the biggest reaction of anything that I did. Again, just to share with you, part of that is the sound. A lot of people miss this. A lot of people use like um paper cups, right? That they get in McDonald's or wherever they get them or a party shop paper cups. You might as well not do the trick if you're using paper cups. Do not do it if you're using paper cups. Because trust me, the impact comes from the sound. So you have to have polystyrene cups, you have to test the polystyrene cups to make sure that when you do that, that they pop and that pop can resonate through a theater, right? So they're all the nuances that I came up with with Smash a Stab all those years ago. And even though I don't do it anymore, it has a place in my heart. So as a trick trick, smash a stab for sure.

SPEAKER_01: 52:00

Amazing. Well, I'm very aware that we are running drastically out of time. We've only got you for a few more minutes. So let's go back over your list. We started with invisible deck, three envelope test, icons, a deck of cards, a harmonica, the jack's wallet in over your head, and we ended with a smash and stab. That sounds like an incredible show.

SPEAKER_02: 52:21

There's no tricks there, there's loads of tricks there.

SPEAKER_01: 52:23

There are, there are. Well, let's go on to your final thing. So you've only got one each of these. If you were to dig a big sandy hole on your island and get rid of something from our industry, what would you banish, Keith?

SPEAKER_02: 52:35

I get rid of a lot of things. So I have to be very careful what I say here. I get rid of the bullshit egos to start with, right? So I get rid of all the egos and I'd put those down there. But if it was going to be a uh a physical object, I've split my mind between two things. Um okay, I'd get rid of Omni Deck. Sorry. It's a great trick, absolutely fantastic trick. I did it on my RTE show, the second season of Close Encounters with Keith Barry back in 2004. I did it, amazing reaction. We shot it beautifully. Um, and I know even before there's loads of people doing it. So I'm not saying that, you know, I in any way uh uh help promote the popularity of the effect. The problem I have with it is everyone's doing it, right? Like literally everyone in Ireland is doing all the close-up guys, like they're all doing it, and all the guys across the UK and all across everyone's doing omnideck, and that's the problem with omnideck. It's just that everyone's doing it. So I think it's time to bury it down there for a hundred years and then bring it back out. Because I love the trick, but I don't love the fact that everyone's doing it, right? So even when it's when it be so so, but just so people out there have a solution to the problem I'm identifying. Um there are other variations of Omnideck that I haven't seen many people do, right? So um, oh, what's your man's name? Simon Lovell has a version. I'm not gonna touch to say what it is, go find it, right? It's in his books. I changed when I was doing close-up magic all those years ago, I changed to Simon Lovell's version so that people didn't identify it as OmniDeck. And there is an absolutely amazing version of OmniDeck, amazing. If I was doing a version of Omni Deck today, so it's it's not Omnideck though, so it's not the glass, so it's still bury bloody omnideck. I get rid of it, right? But if people out there are looking for a different way to do an omni deck, go to, I just this is crazy. I I only thought about this now. Go to the book that's called The Openers or Openers, right? Um, I think it was by maybe Magic Scene brought it out or something, but it's called Openers. There's a version of an OmniDeck style routine in there, and I'd be and it involves batteries. Let's just say that. It involves batteries, right? Go find that. I rang a friend of mine, just because I don't do close-up magic anymore. I rang a friend of mine, Colin Dawson, Collie Jolly, and I said, you have to make this up. Stop doing OmniDeck, do that instead, because you will be different than everybody else out there that's doing Omnideck. Because they're all doing it, so it's so interchangeable omni deck. Anyway, that's I'm I'm going on a rant about Omnideck, right? I still love, I want everybody out there to know I love magic, I love the trick. Everyone's doing it, so it needs to be buried, it needs to be put away, it needs to be parked. And uh, people might say the same with the invisible deck, but again, I'm not performing professionally, and the X makes a big difference, so there is that difference, and the presentation I have is very uh nuanced. Um, but I would get rid of Omnideck.

SPEAKER_01: 55:44

Okay, so everyone out there that performs OmniDeck, Keith has just got rid of your OmniDeck. So they have vanished, but he's very kindly replaced them with interesting versions that are different.

SPEAKER_02: 55:56

So we're the good news is the good news is that the other versions they require effort. So everyone's not gonna put away their omnideck and make these other things because you have to make them yourself. You've got to sit down and actually do some work. Um, and that's what I love about it. Do you know what? Do you know what? As I'm saying this, I'm gonna make up the one from the openers. And and do you know what? I'll put it up just for fun, even though I don't do magic anymore. I'm gonna film it and put up my social media in the next couple of weeks just to show people how brilliant this bloody thing is, you know. I I can't remember who wrote it, but it's in the openers. But anyway, there you go. And I know maybe a few people might do it, but the rest of them are gonna go, nah, omni deck is too easy, and they'll just put the omni deck back in their pocket and they'll go to the wedding and do the close-up and like nah. Um, there you go. Anyway.

SPEAKER_01: 56:42

Well, we're we're all gonna, by the time this podcast goes out, it will be time for us to go over to Keith's socials to check that out. So I'll be there. Now, you've mentioned a couple of books throughout the podcast, so it means that you're a bit of a reader, which is exciting because you're only allowed to take one book with you. So which book would you take?

SPEAKER_02: 57:04

Look, a bit of a reader. I am a voracious reader. Like I just I'm just surrounded by books. Like my whole this is that's just like maybe a tenth of my books. Like if I showed you inside, I've got like two other libraries inside, right? So this is a problem now. I mean, I'm looking at my books. Uh I'm split, I'll tell you what I'm split between, and then I will make a decision, right? Uh, I love the weirdly for the madness of it, the complete invocation. I love it. I was good friends with um Doc Shields. Doc, a lot of people don't know. Doc Shields only passed away maybe a year ago. Um, so I went to his funeral, good friends with the family. So Doc was a mentor to me. Some of his work is in the invocation, so I love that. Uh, the complete magic, again, inspired by Doc. Some of Doc's work is in the complete magic, and they're huge. Um then the first magic book I ever got was the Klutz Book of Magic, um, or Magic for the Complete Klutz. I always get the name wrong, but that I got that in Scotland on a school tour. Uh and then the big Mark Wilson Complete Course. So they were they were the kind of I suppose the books that really pushed and forged me forward. So I think for nostalgia, it would be the Klutz book because that was the first. And so instead of getting philosophical and telling you that I would bring um, I don't know, like an amazing book, The Choice by Edith Eager. I've probably read it 20, 30 times and it I get something new out of it every time. Or I could bring, you know, any one of Napoleon Hill's books. But I think for nostalgia, for me, it'd be the Klutz book. Um, because I still every now and then, not often, but like once a year, I pull it down and I just browse through it, and I remember the feeling that I had when I was 14 of discovering this new world, and ultimately I don't forget what got me to where I am today, and what got me to where I am today is that one book. So, yeah, Glutz book.

SPEAKER_01: 59:12

Amazing. It's one that we've not had as well. So that's an exciting one for everyone to either dig back out or find a copy of. Now, uh, we've got one more thing. I'm trying to get through this because we have just reached your end time. Um, so what would the item be that you would take?

SPEAKER_02: 59:28

For me, it'd have to be uh just a photograph. If I was on my own, a photograph of me, uh, but an anal analogue photograph of me with my uh my wife, my kids, uh, and my parents and my sister and her daughter. So basically a family photograph that we took, and uh a very specific family photograph that we took in uh Miami. Um, because at the end of the day, I know exactly who I don't want to be in life, and I don't want to be three words an absent father. So it's very easy for me. To get caught up in the show biz of it all, and very easy for me, like anybody else, to get caught up in just the busyness of it all. Uh, but for me, it's all about being family first. So if I was stuck on a desert island on my own, I'd want just a visual representation of my family. So I'll just take a photograph of them. Um, because I'm not driven by objects, I never have been. So um, even though I'm I'm a complete wallet fiend and I love things like that, uh, I'm not married to them, right? I could easily let the house burn down and they could go with it. Uh, but if I'm stuck on a desert island, yeah, I have my imagination, but I'd love to be able to look at a photograph of my wife, my kids, uh, and my parents, my sister, and her her daughter. So just a photograph, yeah.

SPEAKER_01: 1:00:39

Amazing. Well, we had invisible deck, three envelope tests, icons, a deck of cards, harmonica, jack's wallet, in over your head, smash and stab, your banishment is bad egos, an omnidex. Your book is the Klutz Book of Magic, and your item is a photograph with your family. That's a pretty awesome list.

SPEAKER_02: 1:00:57

Thanks. Yeah, look, uh, it's been fun, but uh as I said, I'm still a nerd at heart, still looking for the next magic trick. I bought loads of your tricks over the over the years as well. Um, but yeah, look, it's been great. And yeah, if people want to contact me, uh I'm on Instagram and Facebook, always willing to share ideas and uh you know, push people in the right direction, you know.

SPEAKER_01: 1:01:19

Well, if people do want to find out more about your socials and your website and your shows, where can they go to, Keith?

SPEAKER_02: 1:01:26

The easiest one is Instagram. It's at Keith Barry on Instagram, and that's it. Yeah, I'm there every day. And uh and it really is me. I haven't heard some social media guru to do it. I'm still doing it myself in the crazy chaos of my world. I still make time to do it.

SPEAKER_01: 1:01:40

Amazing.

SPEAKER_02: 1:01:41

And your books, people can get them from Yeah, just up on Amazon or um any of the online bookstores. So uh Brain Hack, Sleep Hacks, and Mind Magic, they're the three books.

SPEAKER_01: 1:01:52

Amazing. Well, thank you so much again. I know we've been trying to get you on for ages, so it's amazing that we finally got you on. Um, and thank you all for listening. Of course, we will be back next week. Do go check out Keith's shows. If you can get tickets for one of his shows, then do go and grab those. Of course, check out some of those lists. There's a couple of things on that list which I'm gonna be checking out straight after this, including in over your head, because I think that sounds amazing. So, until next week, guys, have a great week. Goodbye.

SPEAKER_00: 1:02:24

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