SOS: Dean Leavy

If you work gigs for a living, you know the quiet fear: doing the same “sure-fire” routines until you start performing on autopilot. Jamie sits down again with UK magician Dean Leavy to find out what actually makes a trick worth keeping for life and what gets cut when you’re performing corporate events, weddings, trade shows, and parties week after week.

Dean walks us through the real reasons a professional close-up magician updates a working set, starting with repeat clients who want to see something new. We dig into the practical choices behind swapping Extreme Burn for a hard-hitting chop cup routine, why Ring Flight Revolution still gets reactions people talk about years later, and how a wallet can be more than a prop when you treat it like a utility device for impossible locations. We also get nerdy about routining ProMystic MD Mini as believable “psychology,” not just a reveal.

Then we get into the surprisingly smart business side of magic: Liquid Forks replacing phone-based tricks when reliability matters, leaving spectators with a souvenir that keeps your name alive. Dean shares a brutal performance mistake from Phantom Cutout and what he’d do differently now, plus his banishment choice for the magic community, his dream guest, and the one show he’d rewatch forever.

Dean’s Desert Island Substitutions: 

1. Extreme Burn for Chop Cup

2. Digital Force Bag for Liquid Forks 

3. Billiard Ball Manipulation Act for Floating Table

Banishment. Magicians Ego 

Guest. David Blaine 

Memory. Performing at the Young Magician of the Year

Horror. Revealing the wrong celebrity 

Show. Showman

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

Transcript

Why Pros Rotate Their Material

SPEAKER_03 0:00

Well, I think the first thing is that if you do get repeat bookins from some existing clients, then they want to see new routines. So if you're doing like the same four or five routines, maybe at a corporate event in the early part of one year and at the end of the year, say for a another corporate event, a Christmas party for the same company, if you're performing the same four or five routines, people are going to remember what you did last time. So that's a really important point to make sure that you're constantly adding new material. I think if you do perform the same four or five pieces of magic at you know however many gigs you have in in a week or a month, you can just be going through the motions, which isn't necessarily a good thing when you're performing at you know high-end uh events or weddings, you know, someone's big day. So it's always good to come up with new new ideas or even you know adapt existing routines so you can maybe perform it in a slightly different way with a different routine behind it. I think that's always good just to keep it fresh.

SPEAKER_02 1:18

Hello everyone, and welcome to another episode of Desert Melon Tricks SOS. We've got another guest that we're gonna revisit today because he's been on his island for over two years now, I should think, um, or certainly coming up to that point and at the time of this going out, because this is gonna be out a few weeks after we're recording it now, and I can already tell you with absolute certainty that his list will change because he is very active on social media. Now I'm gonna big him up like I did in the first podcast, but all of it is true. This is not me just trying to be overly kind, these are facts. He is an incredibly busy working magician in the UK. If you follow him on social media, you will see every single week he's posting videos of him at different events, different gigs, at trade shows, at weddings, he's at parties as well, he often does wedding fairs, he does hosting now of weddings as well. It goes on and on. He is absolutely rampacked with gigs and bookings, and through all of those videos, I get to see that he has changed his set because every now and again you see a sneaky picture of something and you think, I don't remember you doing that, but you are doing that now. So I reckon we're gonna have a couple of changes here. Now, if you don't follow him on social media, make sure you do. You'll understand what I mean when you see all of his content. Uh, he's very, very good with getting that content out there. So I've talked him up enough. Uh, we are revisiting the island of Mr. Dean Levy. Hello, Dean.

SPEAKER_03 2:59

Hello, Jamie. Thank you very much for joining me. It's been uh it's been a lonely two years here, so I'm glad that uh someone's finally come to visit.

SPEAKER_02 3:05

Have you had any guests on your island? Has anyone like jumped off a boat onto your island?

SPEAKER_03 3:09

No, no, you're the first. You're the first. So I'm glad you're here.

SPEAKER_02 3:13

Wow, that's that's aiming low, really, isn't it? Um if you if you've had no one, I guess, yeah, I I would be impressive if you've had no one for two years. So when it comes to your list, my prediction is a lot of it is probably changed because you are a huge fan of exploring different tricks and different ideas and changing up your set to make it interesting.

SPEAKER_03 3:36

Yeah, it it is. It's really difficult. The first time around about two years ago, like you said, to try and limit down just eight tricks that I could perform forever was really, really difficult. And I thought at the time some of these tricks I would perform forever and ever, but I have performed them for for many, many years now, especially on this island, uh, to the to the same audience. So I think it is you know time to to change, and I've got a couple of really good new pieces of magic that hopefully are going to be added into the list as well.

SPEAKER_02 4:09

So there's this school of thought when it comes to gigging magicians, that you have a set of tricks, and those are the tricks that you kind of perform for the rest of your career. And I'm not discounting that. I think that that is 100% a route that some people can go down. However, for me, I've always found that when you are gigging often, you have to keep it interesting for yourself because otherwise you end up in this situation where you are just a robot and you're just doing these things over and over. So for you being so busy as you are, what prompts a change in your set?

SPEAKER_03 4:52

Well, I think the first thing is that if you do get repeat book ins from some existing clients, then they want to see new routines. So if you're doing like the same four or five routines, maybe at a corporate event in the early part of one year and at the end of the year, say for another corporate event, a Christmas party for the same company, if you're performing the same four or five routines, people are going to remember what you did last time, as long as you're obviously making a memorable impression on them. So that's that's a really important point to make sure that you're constantly adding new material. But then, like you say, it's always from my point of view about keeping it fresh for myself because I think if you do perform the same four or five pieces of magic at you know, however many gigs you have in in a week or a month, you can just be going through the motions, which isn't necessarily a good thing when you're performing at you know high-end uh events or weddings, you know, someone's big day. So it's always good to come up with new new ideas or even you know adapt existing routines so you can maybe perform it in a slightly different way with a different kind of routine behind it. I think that's always good just to keep it fresh and uh it keeps you uh it keeps you definitely on top of your game. That's that's something that I love to do.

SPEAKER_02 6:04

How much of your original list did you remember?

SPEAKER_03 6:07

I remembered most of it because I do stand by some of the effects that I am changing. I still still perform them, but I just maybe don't perform them as much. And it could be because I'm kind of rotating my set a little bit as I want uh to keep things fresh for me. And there also have been some pieces of magic that I maybe didn't perform before, or new pieces of magic that I'd never seen before that I'm performing now, which I believe are even stronger than what I already had in my original list. So I think that's also something to remember. There are always stronger routines out there that you probably don't yet perform, which you can always put into your your app, which will make you better, which is definitely something we should all do as performers.

Extreme Burn Becomes Chop Cup

SPEAKER_02 6:46

Okay, well, let's get into it then. So, in your original list, the first one, which I remember it was your opener, I'm not sure if it's still your opener, but it was Extreme Burn.

SPEAKER_03 6:57

So I know that you've you've seen me perform at a few uh live events, and it was something that I did pretty much at every kind of walk-around drinks reception table, and I still do perform it, but this is one that I'm actually going to change. I think it's such a strong piece of magic. If if you're not aware of Extreme Burn, it's where you can turn pieces of paper, lottery tickets, or drawings of of money into cash, into money. However, I you know my list is is quite strong already, but I did need to put what I'm about to put in there, and that's a chop cup routine. So I've I've now put in there in the last couple of years, I've been developing a chop cup routine, and I probably would say that that is probably number one or two in the in the most strongest pieces of magic that I perform today. So I'm gonna switch extreme burn for my chop cup routine.

SPEAKER_02 7:50

Okay, so have you put this chop cup routine in as your opener or or do you have something else in place of extreme burn as your opener?

SPEAKER_03 8:00

So it depends on the environment. So if I was performing just at tables, chop cup is my opener, it's the first thing that I perform at a table. I think it's a really strong opener as well. Uh sometimes it could be too strong for uh for an opener, but I I put that there. And if I'm walking, doing doing a walk-around kind of drinks reception, then it wouldn't necessarily be something that I necessarily perform. Um, so yeah, that's that's kind of how it's changed in in that regard. And I probably would go back to Extreme Burn if I was doing a walk-around drinks reception as my opener. So it's it's still a great effect, and it's really hard to take it out, and you know, I feel bad for taking it out because I've performed it for for many years, but um, yeah, chop cup has to go in.

SPEAKER_02 8:42

Okay, well, when you mentioned about walk around, there is quite a popular walk around chop cup routine by Joel Dickinson, um, which uses the whole thing is stand-up, so the whole thing is designed for walk-around as opposed to having a table. So there could be other options there if you were to do that. What avenue did you go down with your chop cup routine then? Where were your inspirations for that?

SPEAKER_03 9:07

Well, I thought you may ask me this, and I think one of my favourite pieces of uh magic of all time was Paul Daniel's chop cup routine. So I I had his DVD that he did with uh Luis Dematos, and he kind of you know talked through the whole process of how he kind of came up with a routine, and I'd watched his performance on f from um a clip that he did on his one of his TV shows over and over again on YouTube. So when I was initially learning the chop cup, that was something that I just looked at for inspiration. But there's so many good performances of the chop cup out there, all very different, very very different styles, and I just think it's such an engaging piece of magic that you can really involve, you know, you can do it, you can do it one-on-one, it's it's not ideal one-on-one, but the more people that are watching, I believe, the better. So it's just you know, it involves absolutely everybody, it really gets people going. Um, but if I was to say that there was one particular routine that I love, and I'll I'd never do it justice myself, but Paul Daniels is for me definitely the best.

Ring Flight That People Remember

SPEAKER_02 10:10

Okay, well, I think that's a great exchange. We've started early as well. We've gone straight with number one, Jimmy Al. Let's go for number two. So, in your original list, you put ring flight revolution. Are we keeping it or are we ousting it?

SPEAKER_03 10:24

We are keeping that. That's still one of my favourite effects of all time. I can't ever see me not performing this. There's there's pieces of magic that you think, okay, maybe in a few years, the way that you know technology's changing and things are advancing, you might not be able to perform as much. But everyone's always going to have a ring with them. You know, wedding rings aren't going anywhere anytime soon, or pieces of jewellery. And I think that an object to an impossible location is arguably one of the strongest pieces and premises in in magic. And when it's something that's super personal or significant to somebody, like a ring, like I think I mentioned in the first time we spoke about this, it it's it's one of the the strongest pieces of magic I perform, and it gets an amazing reaction, it really does. And I also think that it's one of the tricks that people will remember you by. And uh when I um when I'm out performing, if if someone says, Oh, I've seen another magician at another event, I've seen a magician, I always say, Well, what do they show you? Because it always to me is a good way of understanding what they remember. And one of the most commonly um spoken about things by audience members is that someone has taken their ring, they've moved it from here to there. Sometimes it's ring flight revolution, sometimes it's you know to a different location, but they always remember that because it's their ring that they you know wear every single day and carry with them. So, yeah, ring flight revolution definitely has to stay for me.

SPEAKER_02 11:53

I think something that you said there is really interesting as well. And even since we started this podcast, I've started to know it notice it at gigs, is there are certain things that are going out of favour. For example, finding cash now, uh certainly coins, uh maybe not so much notes. You can still get notes, but asking people for coins, a lot of the time now it's it's a a no straight away. Whereas you're right, a ring is something that there's always going to be someone in a group of 10 people or eight people that has a ring.

SPEAKER_03 12:22

You're right, and it happens so quickly as well. Like you were saying, with cash, there's so many great pieces of magic that involve coins, um banknotes, etc. And there are certain events now where people just have no cash at all, which is a real shame because there's some real strong pieces of magic you can you can do there. But yeah, as I say, you know, no one's gonna be um without a ring, and more often than not, I don't think I've ever been to a table when there's more than six or seven people where they don't have a ring on them that they're willing to to lend me. So yeah, it's a great piece of magic, and it's something that I do so often. It's probably my most performed piece of magic of all time.

Card To Wallet As A Utility

SPEAKER_02 12:56

Do you know one thing that I think that people won't get rid of, Dean? What's that? Wallets, and that was your third choice, which was the J O L plus wallet. Are you keeping it or are you ousting it?

SPEAKER_03 13:09

Okay, this is so when I was going through my list, I'd changed so many, and I was going to change this, but I'm gonna keep this. I'm gonna keep this because it's such a powerful piece of magic. Similar to what I was talking about with ring flight, you can do impot um you can do card to impossible location, so card to wallet, you can I actually end my ring flight revolution routine with the ring, ended up inside of the wallet, inside of a sealed envelope. So it's such a strong piece of magic. For me, the JOL, some people will say that it's not necessarily a modern looking wallet. Personally, that doesn't bother me. I think it's so practical, so useful, so versatile, and it's it's something that I've probably had now for eight or nine years. Like I've I've had the same wallet. I probably at some point would benefit by refreshing it and getting a new one newer one. Uh, but it's something that I keep with me at all times. And if I can take my wallet out, there's maybe six, seven, eight effects I can do that I keep inside of my wallet as well. So it's a good utility device, but for its sole purpose, card to wallet or an object to impossible location again, then a JOL wallet by Jerry O'Connell is definitely gonna have to stay in there for me.

SPEAKER_02 14:22

Have we not thought about keeping a card to wallet but changing for a different one?

SPEAKER_03 14:28

So I've I had I I do have many other card to wallets. So I have the Rebel wallet by Gerald Kearney. It's fantastic. It's very much a kind of like uh a standard hip style wallet that you would recognise that most most people would have a non-magic wallet. So it looks very kind of discreet. It is just what it, you know, it is just a normal wallet. And I do use that as well. So I use I use both. Um the reason I prefer a JOL is because it's slightly larger, and I probably have about half an hour, half an hour of material inside of that wallet. Um, and I just think the um Regal Wallet by Gerald Kearney isn't it isn't isn't quite that for me, but it's still a fantastic wallet and is going to have an honourable mention there.

MD Mini Mentalism And Presentation

SPEAKER_02 15:19

Okay, alright. We'll let you keep your wallet then. So we've only changed one so far. We're going to number four, which was one of my favourites, the MD Mini. Are we keeping it or are we getting rid of it?

SPEAKER_03 15:31

Now I did think long and hard about this, and I did think that if I took this out of the of my list, you'd probably end the call right here, right now, because I know this is one of your favourites, and it is gonna stay. It's a fantastic piece of magic, it really is. It's it's one of the strongest pieces of mentalism that I perform. It's something that yourself and Peter and Harry encourage me to invest in uh for many years. So ND Mini by Pro Mystic, if you don't already know or haven't previously listened to somebody talk about it, is the um a small miniature Rubik's cube, six different colours on the sides of the cube. You give it to the spectator, ask them to think of any one of the six colours, you got you ask them to hide the cube in it in a way in which you can um come up with yourself by performing it, and you instantly know what colour they're thinking about. And and and again, the limitations to uh the routine are uh are pretty endless, aren't they? So I know everyone performs it slightly differently. Uh Jamie, your routine genuinely is fantastic, the way that you incorporate it with the other ProMystic device that you use as well. Um, so yeah, it's it's definitely stayed in my set.

SPEAKER_02 16:40

Thank goodness for that. Um that was that I think that's a great choice. Now, if I remember rightly, when you first were on the podcast, this was a relatively new to your set. So, how have you found routining it now? How uh uh what have what route have you gone down?

SPEAKER_03 16:56

So the route in which I go down is I actually had a couple of people ask me about this after the uh initial podcast, and I have like a three-phase routine. It's it's it's a routine that that Harry initially kind of taught me when I first got the MD Mini, and I haven't really changed it. Um so it's just just just a way of um explaining a little bit about how um uh psychology and uh and and and body language works, so picking up on like small ticks and tails, like a change in a facial expression, or you know, a reaction to the uh in in the body so that you can work out what colour they're thinking about. Uh so yeah, it's a it's a really good piece of uh mentalism, one that I perform very, very often. I can't take it out of a set.

Liquid Forks Replace Phone Magic

SPEAKER_02 17:41

Great. Well, I think you can keep that one in. I think that's that's good. Let's go to number five. So, digital force bag.

SPEAKER_03 17:51

So I am gonna change this one. I'm gonna change this one. Yeah, I realised that after being being on the desert island for a day or two, my phone was no longer charged up. So I'm gonna have to uh change it for uh something else. I've actually changed it for a new Alakazam product. It's a product that's been around for a long time. But Alakazam, I believe, are the new kind of stockists, and you have the distribution rights for it, and that's liquid forks. So a couple of years ago when we first spoke about this list, I probably I don't think I was doing any metal bending, but I did shortly after look at David Penn's liquid fork routine, and I thought it was absolutely brilliant. I thought it was incredibly practical and a very workable effect at gigs. So I you know invested in some of the uh liquid forks which Alakazam now produce and and distribute, and I think they're absolutely brilliant, and it's uh it's a trick that I perform at nearly every gig that I that I attend, and it gets great reactions and it also you know you're able to leave an incredible souvenir with people. And I've been performing it now for probably about 18 months, and I've had a couple of people in like the last few months where I've I've seen them at previous events, at weddings and corporate events, and they say, I've still got your bent fork at home as well. And I always tell people about it when they come around, they say, Why have you got a fork bent like that? So it's an incredible piece of marketing as well, if you think about it like that. But it's uh yeah, so it's a routine which is absolutely brilliant. I even get impressed when I'm performing it as well because it's uh it's very visual, and I love the visual element of it as well, and it's the reactions that you get from people as you're performing it, is is fantastic.

SPEAKER_02 19:31

So we asked Rodney this are you a fast bender or are you a slow bender?

SPEAKER_03 19:36

I'm a slow bender. Uh I I am. So David Penn's routine is brilliant, but it's very quick. He's you know, it's uh very quick bends. And I I when I first started, I did go along with his routine and I was I was doing it very quickly, but I did find my personal opinion that the reactions were stronger the slower I went, so I've just slowed it down and and kept slowing it down now, so it's quite a relatively um moderate pace. It's not super slow, but yeah, it's uh just right.

SPEAKER_02 20:07

I'll say so. Something that you just said there about giveaways, it is the only thing like giveaway thing, uh like bent coin signed cards, um, even phantom cards. It's the only thing that I think in my career doing liquid forks, maybe a handful have only ever been left. It's the the the thing that people will always, always take with them.

SPEAKER_03 20:34

It is, yeah, no, you're right. I do often see I do I do quite a few routines, as you say, give giveaways, and some people do leave them on the tables um every now and again, small smaller items, but I've never seen a fork left behind. It's something that people just uh intrigued by. Uh so yeah, this is it's it really is um a fantastic routine.

Bill In Lemon As A Closer]

SPEAKER_02 20:52

Okay, so we've now changed digital force bag out for liquid forks. Nick Einhorn has just been on the phone, he's not very happy with you, but we're gonna go on to the next one, which is Bill in Lemon. Are we keeping it or are we getting rid of it?

SPEAKER_03 21:07

No, I'm keeping that. I'm keeping that. I think that's absolutely fantastic. I've actually incorporated this now in with my chop cup routine. So I I always perform Bill in Lemon, but now I perform, I still perform Bill in Leon, but I perform it now after performing my chop cup routine. So, you know, the the lemon is is produced in a in a very nice and um, yeah, it's just produced in a lovely way, and it just makes much more sense now the way that I perform it. Um so yeah, it's a fantastic routine that I do alongside a Bill Switch as well, which has an honourable mention there, if if you don't mind me mentioning that. So Bill Switch, a chop cup routine, and then the Bill and Lemon. It's about a you know, six, seven, eight minute set, and it's uh incredibly strong. But my it specifically, Michael Lamar's Bill and Lemon routine that he teaches in his uh booklet, I think it's just called Bill and Lemon Closer by Michael Lamar, would be the particular routine and version I'd recommend. To people if you are getting into it and you've you know not got a method at the moment, that would be the one that I would look at if I were you.

SPEAKER_02 22:07

Okay, so without we don't want to go over everything that's in your original podcast because we want people to go back and listen to that if they haven't, but you did just mention there a bill change, which we've not had. So, which build change would you recommend for that?

SPEAKER_03 22:23

So I I initially learnt it on Etienne Pradier's DVD. I think it's his like professional repertoire DVD. So it's it's a DVD, I think it's him and Paul Martin, actually, if memory serves me right. Just again, this is a fantastic DVD if you if you want to be a you know working pro or do any commercial routines at all. Every single routine that Etienne performs there is just absolutely fantastic. And he teaches a good build change there, and it I think he does it alongside his routine, which is um bureau to change as well. So it's like a freely named kind of country or currency is named, and then he can change any current uh any note into any currency in the world. And yeah, I think he's got a very good method, method for that on that DVD, which I probably initially learned the build switch quite like that. So yeah.

SPEAKER_02 23:10

Etienne's DVD, I mean bureau to change my my word. I've seen him perform it so many times, and every time he's so slick, he's so quick, he's so cheeky as well. Yeah, which you know, only Etienne can be, I think.

SPEAKER_03 23:24

And I also think some routines can only be done by certain people. Like I actually did try to learn that routine, and I didn't necessarily give up, but it was such a difficult routine to perform. You don't understand how difficult it is until you give it a go. So Etienne doing it and performing it on his DVD is is fantastic, and I just think no one's ever going to do it as well as he does. So, yeah, I give him full credit for that. But yeah, brilliant routine and and well worth uh getting that DVD as well, just to look at all of the other pieces of magic that he performs there.

Big Stage Pieces That Play Large

SPEAKER_02 23:52

Okay, well, those lemons are still growing on your island, so that's good. We've got two more that you can switch out. So, number seven was Torn and Restored Newspaper.

SPEAKER_03 24:02

I think I'm gonna keep this as well. I'm gonna keep this. I was I was thinking about this. It's such a good piece of magic. It's it's not one that I see many people do these days, but it it's super strong. So Torn and Restored Newspaper. The particular version was Newsflash 2.0. I think I mentioned in the first podcast that I have had many versions, probably every version under the sun, but that is, in my opinion, one of the very best. Um, so yeah, I perform it in in my stage act, and I would perform it in a cabaret for yeah, anywhere from 10 to maybe 200, 300 people. Not that I'm booked for events quite like that at the moment, but it's uh it plays super big, and you know, you can play in an intimate smart uh parlor event as well. So news 2.0, tourner restored newspaper, sorry, is uh definitely staying.

SPEAKER_02 24:52

Okay, well, we'll let you keep that. And of course, you can keep up to date with all the news happening on your really busy island.

SPEAKER_03 24:59

Exactly. Yeah, there's there's there's not much, it has to be written by myself, so uh I'm not sure it's gonna be anything too exciting, but yeah.

SPEAKER_02 25:06

So we got one more, right? Your last one was Billiard Ball Manipulation Act.

SPEAKER_03 25:13

It was so the last two effects were two effects that I performed in my stage act. I wanted to keep it nice and varied in my original list. So I have a few close-up effects and two two two uh stage pieces I perform in my act, and I'm actually gonna change this, okay? It was a hard decision for me to change, but I'm gonna put in there Los Sander's floating table. Such an amazing piece of magic. Before the call, I actually just jumped on YouTube, had a look at Losander doing his um floating table, a few different videos online. If you haven't seen Losander perform this effect, it's definitely something you should do. His floating tables are the best, and it's something I also perform in my my stage act, and when I first saw it, it just completely completely fooled me. I'm just so lucky that I get to perform it as well, because I know that there's you know it's not easy to to come across this as a prop. So I'm very lucky that I have one and get to get to get to still share the magic with it.

SPEAKER_02 26:10

This is also the effect that you performed on uh Blue Peter.

SPEAKER_03 26:15

It is, yeah, no, it is. Yeah, so when I was uh doing Blue Pizza, they asked me to uh well they they encouraged me to perform something that I I know inside out so that there was gonna be no no potential mistakes because it is a nerve-wracking experience. It was my first ever time performing on TV. So I chose to do that because it was something that I just rehearsed and rehearsed and rehearsed, and it went down really well, really well. It's super visual as well, very good for for TV, as you say. So yeah, really enjoyed that.

SPEAKER_02 26:43

Yeah, it's a great effect, and you perform it really, really well. I know it's one of those routines as well that it can be performed very badly, or it can be performed very well. There's not really an in-between, it's either one or the other, and I think putting the time into the choreography, I think that's the most important thing, especially if you were to remove your hands and open up a box. That moment really needs to be slick and smooth. So for you, was it something that you just really wanted to learn and perform, or was it just that you like practicing it, or what what was the reason that you went for that?

SPEAKER_03 27:29

Well, it's the only really kind of it's the largest piece of magic that I perform, and it's it's the only real illusion that I perform, if you can call it an illusion. But I I once when I saw Losander perform it and I had the opportunity to get one of his original tables, you know, I jumped at the opportunity to put it in my act, and it is one that is fun to practice as well. I'll tell you it's a very difficult one to practice for a long period of time without giving anything away. Uh it's very, very difficult. But it's yeah, it's something that I think I'll always perform, I'll I'll always keep uh that that that that initial table, that original table as well. It has lots of uh sentimental value to it as well now. So uh yeah, no, it's such a such a strong piece of magic. And as I say, if you are listening to this and you haven't seen the floating table effect, have a look at it online, but look at Los Anders' original version because no one else can compare to how good it is.

SPEAKER_02 28:22

Okay, so you've got a little table going with you, and that concludes all of the things that you could switch out. So you uh got rid of Extreme Burn and you uh changed it for Chop Cup. You've still got Ring Flight Revolution, you've still got your J O L plus wallet, you've still got your MD Mini, thank goodness. Uh you've got rid of Digital Force Bag and you've brought in Liquid Forks, you got rid of Bill and uh no, sorry, you kept Bill and Lemon. Oh, nearly ousted one for you there. Uh you've still kept Torn and Restored newspaper, uh, and you've got rid of your billiard ball manipulation act for the floating table. Only three changes. Not too bad, not too bad.

SPEAKER_03 29:00

There's there's so many things that I could have added into this list. I could have had a whole new list. Like lots of us I can imagine when we're you know so passionate about performing magic.

SPEAKER_00 29:13

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SPEAKER_02 30:34

That's a great list of things that you've changed. But because you were one of our early guests, you didn't get something. We stopped you from having it. So we're gonna give it to you now, you get a banishment. All right. So I want you to imagine that you're gonna dig a big sandy hole, you're gonna throw something inside, and we're gonna bury it, never to be seen again. What are we gonna banish?

SPEAKER_03 30:57

Okay, so I don't know if anyone said this or thought about this before, but um, I would probably get rid of magician's egos. So I think it is good to have a little bit of an ego so that you can have a little bit of confidence, but having too much of an ego definitely, in my opinion, isn't a great thing, and it's something that is quite prolific in the the magic, magic world and community. And I think if a lot if some performers, there's some brilliant performers, but they have such an ego, if they particularly changed their style so that they were, you know, putting all of the framing of their performance on the audience rather than themselves, I think they'd be even better than what they already are. And as I say, it's good to have a little bit of it because you need to have the confidence to know that you're going to execute the magic and the routines you're performing. But I do believe the strongest performances are the ones where the magician kind of guides rather than becomes the centre of attention, and that's something that I try to do in all of my my acts.

SPEAKER_02 31:59

I think that's absolutely true, and you know, there are lots of I mean, if we go back to Craig Petty's episode where he mentions everyone has to have a bit of ego, and a bit like you just said, uh it's good to have a bit of ego, but I think that there is a level to the ego that you should have.

SPEAKER_03 32:19

Definitely. So is it just one thing I'm allowed to banish or I'm allowed to Wow.

SPEAKER_02 32:23

What what would what would be your your honourable mention?

SPEAKER_03 32:26

There was something that came to mind, right, and some some people might disagree with me on this because I know a lot of people use this, but when people or magicians open up with a card trick and uh they say first thing they say is all the cards are different. Something that personally I I'd never do and I've never really understood because I think you're already just making a you know the audience aware that the cards might not be different, there might be duplicates, there might be more than one of the same card. So when people do a card trick and they say all the cards are different, unless people have said, you know, can I have a look at the cards? You know, there's uh two jack of spades in there. I don't know why people say that. So that that that's something that I always think about when I see trailers or or or or or people performing. It's probably a bit harsh for me, but it's something that I wanted to mention.

SPEAKER_02 33:12

I think that's a fair enough comment if if you want me to be honest. I don't think that's too harsh.

SPEAKER_03 33:16

No, the only reason I said it is I didn't want to jump on the bandwagon with the ego thing. I wanted to be a little bit different, but um yeah, it's something that I personally don't do myself, so uh I thought I would uh just mention that. But yeah, each their own, and I'm sure it works for a lot of people.

Dream Guest David Blaine

SPEAKER_02 33:29

Yep. Well, I think it's a great banishment that's gone. Magicians' egos about the 300th time on this podcast have been gone. You'd think that magicians would get the picture by now, but no. Uh let's find out about your guests. So we're gonna drop a guest, dead or alive, onto your island. Who would you have as your magical guest?

SPEAKER_03 33:47

So, someone that I've never had the opportunity of meeting, I'd love to have the opportunity of meeting them in the future, is David Blaine. I think David Blaine would be an amazing guest on the island. I think he's just an incredible magician. I think he inspired a whole generation of magicians through his TV magic shows and through his you know endurance stunts that he performs. And I remember get getting to see him when he came to London back in 2018, I think it was, and seeing his Real or Magic show live in person, very much like his Real or Magic TV show and his Beyond Magic TV show. But just seeing it in person and just seeing what a brilliant performer he is is is fantastic. And you know, he's known he's known by everyone, he's known by you know the general public, celebrities, etc. I mean, some of his TV shows, some of the big names that he has on his TV shows are just unfathomable. So um, so uh yeah, he he really is a fantastic, fantastic guy. And uh, I think if he was on the island as well, it'd probably you know give me a little bit of a break. I think if he was there, I wouldn't necessarily have to perform as much, so I'll leave it to him, really.

SPEAKER_02 34:54

I think that's another really good choice. He was actually at Blackpool this year as well. So had you have gone to Blackpool, you might have actually had the chance to meet him.

SPEAKER_03 35:02

I know, I was disappointed I wasn't there, I know. But no, he seems, um from what I've heard as well from other people who who know him and have who have met him, he's just a lovely guy. So yeah, I think having him on the island would be cool.

SPEAKER_02 35:14

I think what's really interesting is there are certain performers and magicians in history who will who will just go down in history because you know there's something unique about them or something that they've done that was significant, and definitely David Blaine is one of those people. He'll always go down in history as one of the best showmen that we've had, one of the best performers. I remember watching that first special and watching the pop-up move over and over again to try and work out how on earth he was doing it. It's yeah, he's such uh an influential performer, and I'm sure that there are lots and lots of people who became magicians, probably because of him.

SPEAKER_03 35:55

I think so. I think so, yeah. I think he's genuinely one of the most inspirational magicians out there, and yeah, he he would be amazing. So I think uh yeah, he's definitely he would definitely be my guest on the island.

SPEAKER_02 36:07

What what what is the one trick like if David Blaine was on your island, if he could show you one trick in person from his repertoire, what is the one trick that you would have him perform for you?

SPEAKER_03 36:19

You know the the one where he does like this is it the ice pick or the stake through his hand in his arm? I mean, I've seen it on his TV show. I remember Ricky Gervais, I remember pulling the the stake out of his because he does it in two places now, doesn't he? He does it in his bicep and he does it through the back of his hand. I remember him going to like a doctor having an x-ray as it was through his hand and seeing it physically go through, and then seeing it live in person on his stage show was still something that you know I vividly remember, and I'd love to see it in person. I did see it once in person in his stage show, but up close and personal would be yeah, pretty incredible.

Favorite Memory Magic Circle Stage

SPEAKER_02 37:00

Okay, well, he is on your island shoving picks through his arm and his uh hand. Uh we've got a memory for you, okay? So we want a memory that you could relive over and over again.

SPEAKER_03 37:14

So this was a difficult one because there's so many good memories from performing magic, just generally just performing at great events and you know, performing for lovely people. But I think the memory I'm gonna go for is performing on stage at the Magic Circle during the Young Magician of the Year back in 2017, which is nearly a decade ago at this type of recording, but it's an incredible memory for me because I don't think I've ever necessarily worked so so hard on one particular act, like a 10-minute act, over over the space of a couple of years to just be performing there and then at that moment. Um, so yeah, I'd probably probably say performing at the Young Magician of the Year. And unknown to me at the time, there was actually lots of family members who came to family members who surprised me and came to see my performance as well. Um, so I had no idea that they were in the audience until after I'd performed my act. So I think it's a very that special moment for me, something that I'll always remember and incredibly grateful for as well to have the opportunity to do it.

SPEAKER_02 38:18

Well, I think that's a great choice. Um, is it something that you ever filmed? Did you ever record that act?

SPEAKER_03 38:25

So that act was filmed, and I do have a copy of it. Yeah, it's a brilliant, I've brilliant memory as well to keep.

Horror Story Wrong Celebrity Reveal

SPEAKER_02 38:31

Well, that is your positive memory, but we've got a negative memory, but you're safe. We're gonna put it in a glass bowl, we're gonna put a cork in it, and we're gonna throw it out to sea. Hopefully, no one's ever gonna see it again. So, what is your magical horror story?

SPEAKER_03 38:46

Well, there's definitely there's definitely been a few, I'll be honest. Um, I think if you're you know performing on a regular basis, you are gonna have the occasional horror story here or there, especially when you're starting out and doing new material. One uh one one that comes to mind is I was performing, this is completely my fault, and I felt terrible at the time. So I was performing at a table. I'm simply going to share it because you know, hopefully, other performers don't make this as fake in the future. I was performing a phantom cutout routine at a table, uh fairly recently, actually, about just just about a year ago. And I'd been through my whole presentation, I've really built it up. It's about a four or five-minute routine, the whole table's really engaged. It was one of the finales of my my whole table set at this uh wedding reception. And for some unknown reason, I'd just the easy, the easiest part of the uh the routine was forcing the celebrity that I was cutting out, and I'd just forced the wrong card. I didn't know if I'd, you know, somehow I do a full shuffle, I'd somehow mix that card into the pack, or I've just not forced it correctly in some way or another. And I normally kind of check whether or not I'm forcing the right person as well on them because it's such a big moment, and I didn't do this. And during my Phantom Cutout routine, um, so if anyone's not familiar with it, I have a blank piece of paper, a small pair of scissors, I'm making some cuts into the piece of paper. Ultimately, I'm gonna produce an image of the celebrity that the the whole table's thinking about. So as I'm going through the routine, I'm asking them questions about this person. I say, Is this is this a man or is this a lady? I said, Lady, okay. So this lady, are they are they British? And they're like, No. And I'm like, Well, I'm sure they're British. I I think my my force um that I was trying to force on them was Queen Elizabeth II, and they said, No, that they're not British. And I went, Are you sure? I was like, Are you 100% sure? And at that moment, I'dn't I knew that I'd kind of got the wrong person, because obviously everyone's gonna know the Queen's uh British, right? Uh and I was like, Oh, I think they're winding me up here. So I carried on anyway. I thought the I thought the table were just like going against me. So I carried on going. I was like, Do you know what this person do? What do they do for a living? They're like, they're an actor. I'm like, no, this is this is the wrong person, and it some somehow I just forced on them Marilyn Monroe, and I was right at the end of the routine, and I was like, you know, who are you thinking about? They said Marilyn Monroe. To be honest with you, at that time, I was dying inside, I didn't know what to do, I didn't know what to say, so I'd kind of opened it up. I was like, Oh, so you weren't thinking of Queen Elizabeth II. And I tried to make a moment of it by you know bringing it back around to try and get somebody to think about uh uh the queen, but yeah, at that moment I couldn't. Um, but yeah, I did loads more magic for them. They loved it, they kind of didn't even remember it. Uh, it's something that I've never made the mistake of again that I've put you know plans into place to make sure that never happens. Um, but I'm sure, I'm sure there's that we've all kind of been there in that situation. It makes me sound like a very bad magician, but when you're doing many performances on a regular basis, you can get complacent, you can forget to check. Um, so yeah, it's something now that I'll never do again, I'll never um yeah, make that mistake twice. Um, but yeah, it was uh it was a terrible, terrible moment for me. I felt awful the time.

SPEAKER_02 42:01

Well, like you said, uh it's one of those things it you can be the best performer, the best magician, prepare the most, but the odds are stacked against you when you do lots of gigs, and because you do so many of them, you're always gonna have these situations where something goes wrong. It is absolutely impossible for things not to go wrong occasionally. But I think something that you said there was interesting. You said that you did lots more magic and they kind of forgot about it, and it kind of reminds me of the the psychic thing where they throw out so many things, and you know, over half of them could be misses, but the audience or the the sitter will always remember the hits, and I think that's the same with magic. We we focus so much about those things that go wrong, but then they're only going to remember those really good moments over those those bad ones.

SPEAKER_03 42:54

Definitely, definitely. And and I think that's all also why having an out for every routine that you perform as well would would definitely that story particularly would would be good. It's very difficult in that routine uh to have to have a different out. Uh, I think you just need to force the right card, to be honest with you, but uh force the right celebrity. Um, but yeah, what I what I might consider is bringing back digital force bags so that I don't make that mistake again. So maybe I shouldn't have struggled that off the list.

SPEAKER_02 43:23

We've gone full circle. So now now that you've had that time though, so now that you've had the the hindsight, right, and you've had a chance to think about it, if you went back to that situation, let's say it played out the exact same way, but you you've had that thought, how would you have got around it, or how would you have done it differently now?

SPEAKER_03 43:46

I I probably would have stopped what I was doing when I realised that I wasn't getting the right hits for you know the right um celebrity, and I would have said something like At the moment, I don't feel the connection, I'm not quite you know in tune with you, I'm getting this kind of Wrong and I wouldn't have done the reveal at the end. Um, but I did also believe at the time that the table might have just been winding me up a little bit because you do get that at events, uh, especially when uh alcohol's involved. So yeah, I wasn't really sure until they said the name of the person. As soon as they did, I knew that I'd messed up. So I was like, okay, there's no getting out of this now. But yeah, going back to it, probably earlier on in the routine, I would have probably just stopped and just said, okay, I'll tell you what, we'll we'll park that idea, we'll come back to that in five minutes. Let's try this to begin with. Do another routine, you know, try and blow them away, and then they might even forget about that or or or say, Okay, I tell you what, we're gonna come back to that even later, and just again, just defer until you get the opportunity to take a deep breath and and work out what you can do there.

One Show To Rewatch Forever

SPEAKER_02 44:46

Okay, well, that is gone. That's never gonna happen again because we put it in a glass bottle. You never have to relive it again unless you listen to this podcast back. So we've got a show now, a show or a performance, something that you either really enjoyed watching, so you could you wish you could go back and see it again, or even a performance that you never saw. Uh maybe Lance Burton that you wish you could go back and and see again. Which uh which show would you like to go and see?

SPEAKER_03 45:14

So I think for me it has to be any one of Darren Brown's live shows. I think Darren is just such an incredible performer, as as most listening to this will will know and have had the privilege of seeing him perform, whether it be, you know, his his live show that he does put out on online on I think it goes on TV after he taught it. Is that right? Am I right in saying that? Yeah. Uh or if you've had the opportunity, the lucky opportunity of being in the theatre while he's performing, he he is definitely an incredible, he's a master showman. Um, I was actually going to speak about his show showman, but he is an incredible showman, uh, brilliant musician, and he he's also someone who's so highly spoken about, not just inside of the magic community, but outside of it too. So, you know, we when I do lots of events, uh all people always say, Oh, yeah, we've you know the only magic we've ever seen before is Darren Brown in person, or we've we've been to see his theatre show. He's just loved by so many people, and it's just because he's so brilliant in what he does and great at telling stories.

SPEAKER_02 46:14

Well, I don't believe that in an SOS episode Devil's Advocate has come out. So I think this may be the first one, but I'm I'm excited for this. Devil's Advocate's just come out because you didn't actually give us a show there, you've given us a collection of shows. So if I was to hold you to one Darren Brown show, which one would you go for?

SPEAKER_03 46:35

So I Showman. Showman would be the one for me. It would be it's the the one that I've most recently seen. I think he's touring at the moment with a new show that I haven't yet seen. So hopefully you can have the opportunity to see him with that or yeah.

SPEAKER_02 46:51

Amazing, yeah. Showman was brilliant, a brilliant, brilliant show, a great, great concept as well. And I think that's a great one that you you could yeah, keep watching over and over and over. Um was that the one with a fish at the end as well?

SPEAKER_03 47:04

Yeah, I think I think so. Yeah, I've I've seen uh I've seen it a few times now. Um but yeah, I think showman would be the one for me.

SPEAKER_02 47:12

So on your island, there are plenty of fish to make float, so you're you're you're set there. Um but that's a great one. So your banishment was magician's egos. You've got your guests would be David Blaine, your memory is performing at the Young Magician of the Year at the Magic Circle, your horror story was revealing the wrong celebrity, and your show would be Showman. I think that's a really good SOS list. Those are gonna keep you going for years to come, I think.

SPEAKER_03 47:40

Thank you. Uh I'm I'm yeah, glad that I've got a few new ideas and new routines in there as well.

SPEAKER_02 47:46

And you've already just shown me before we started recording that you've got more tricks that you are looking to work into your set as well, which is exciting.

SPEAKER_03 47:54

Always, always. I think it's yeah, I I I love magic as much as I did when I first started as well. So when I'm working a new routine in, it's I don't see it as uh something that's difficult to do. It's something that I really enjoy doing. Super, super passionate about performing magic, and I just love learning as much as possible. And I think um, yeah, there's some amazing magic that's been released recently as well, which is uh yeah, definitely gonna be going into my acts. So if we come back in another two years, the list might be completely different.

Where To Follow Dean Levy

SPEAKER_02 48:22

Oh, there's a tease for you. S-O-S-O-S. So uh Dean, if people want to find out more about you, if they want to find out, you know, your social media, where you are performing, all of that good stuff, where can they go to?

SPEAKER_03 48:35

So yeah, everything will be posted on social media, Instagram, Facebook, mainly uh at Dean Levy Magic. So Dean Levy Magic on social media platforms, and yeah, that's where you'll get to see me performing at real real live events.

SPEAKER_02 48:49

Amazing. If he's off of his island. Well, thank you so much for your time, Dean.

SPEAKER_03 48:53

No, thanks so much for having me on. Uh, I also want to say how brilliant this podcast is as well. I have been an avid listener over the last couple of years, and it's genuinely one of the best podcasts in Magic because you do get to hear so many great routines that people are performing, and I've put lots of routines and tricks that people have recommended from their own sets, from their own Desert Island tricks into my act. So yeah, I'm just honoured to be a part of it. So thank you so much, Jamie.

SPEAKER_02 49:21

Well, it's because we got great guests like you. I will say though, Dean did uh kind of have a bit of a go at me before we started recording because he did say that this has cost him an awful lot uh in buying new tricks as well. Um, and it would be really interesting to find out how many listeners have actually purchased a trick or a book based on the podcast. It would be it would be such an interesting idea to see how many people have actually invested in the ideas that they've heard.

SPEAKER_03 49:49

It would be it would be, and and particularly, I was listening to Peter Peter's uh SOS just before we uh came came onto this one, just so that I understood the format. And as he was going through every single item on there, I genuinely believe this. I can see myself doing and performing. I think that was only one of the items that he mentioned that I actually currently own. So I'll probably be purchasing seven new Alakazam effects in the uh coming weeks and months, which is uh which is always good. But it's uh it's always good to hear what other people are doing as well because you know there's some hidden gems out there that people aren't aware of.

SPEAKER_02 50:23

I agree. Well, thank you again, Dean. And of course, thank you all for listening. We'll be back again next week with another episode of Desert Island Tricks. Until then, have a great week. Goodbye.

SPEAKER_01 50:36

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