Desert Island Tricks
Each week we invite one of the biggest guests in the world of magic to maroon themselves on a desert island. They are allowed to take with them 8 tricks, 1 book, 1 banishment and 1 non magic item that they use for magic! We discuss their 'can't live without' lists and why those items were chosen.
Episodes are uploaded every Friday and are available via all Podcast service providers!
To find out more about the team behind Desert Island Tricks, please visit: www.alakazam.co.uk
Desert Island Tricks
End of Season 2 Special with Peter Nardi
Use Left/Right to seek, Home/End to jump to start or end. Hold shift to jump forward or backward.
355 different tricks. Only six people sharing the single most popular pick. And a top item that only three guests chose. Season two ends with the kind of recap that every magician, mentalist, and close-up worker secretly loves: the real numbers, the real patterns, and the real reasons behind what performers actually keep in their pockets.
We’re closing with the official season two rankings plus the moments that made the year. A Deck Of Cards takes the top spot, with PK Touches and Invisible Deck right behind it, followed by classics like Cups And Balls, Coins Across, and Sponge Balls. We also unpack the tied cluster of powerful “worker” effects that share the lower spots, plus what the spread teaches about originality, overexposure, and choosing material that actually suits you. We round things off with the season’s top banishment (yes, it’s ego), the most loved magic book (The Mind and Magic of David Berglass), and the surprisingly revealing “non-magic item” choices.
The Season 2 Top Tricks:
1. Deck of Cards - Beau Cremer, Steve Gore, Keith Barry, Joel M, Marvin Berglas, Alan Rorrison
2. PK Touches - Vince Wilson, Jamie Daws, Christopher Taylor, Looch, Kay Dyson
3. Invisible Deck - Harry Marlin Piper, Steve Gore, Keith Barry, John Archer
4. Cups and Balls - Erik Tait, R Paul Wilson, Nikola Arkane, Michael Ammar
5. Coins Across - Erik Tait, R Paul Wilson, James Brown, Ben Williams
6. Sponge Balls - Nikola Arkane, Kay Dyson, Roddy McGhie, Mark Bennett
Joint 7 & 8. Double Levitation - Harry Merlin Pipar, Rodney James Piper, Russ Stevens
Fork Bending - Rodney James Piper, Neil Henry, Phill Smith
Destination Box - Craig Petty, Jon Allen, Noel Qualter
Multiple Selection - Tom Bolton, Ben Hanlin, Daniel Chard
Double Cross - Tom Bolton, Luke Oseland, James Brown
Toxic + - Tom Bolton, Jamie Daws, Harry De Cruz
Card Under Box - Daniel Chard, James Brown, Neil Henry
Q&A - Looch, Marc Paul, Daniel Chard
TOP BANISHMENT - Ego - Tom Bolton, Ben Williams, Dave Loosley, James Brown, Leo Smetsers
TOP BOOK - The Mind and Magic of David Berglas - Rodney James Piper, Marvin Berglas, Tony Antoniou, Neil Henry
TOP ITEM - MUSIC - Nikolas Mavresis, Oliver Tabor, Matthew Pomeroy / WIFE - Chris North, Michael Ammar, Jonathan Goodwin
Season 2 Stats: 355 Tricks named - 48 Banishments - 46 Books - 46 Items
Find out more about the creators of this Podcast at www.alakazam.co.uk
Season Two Stats And Diversity
SPEAKER_00How many different tricks just in season two were named across all episodes?
SPEAKER_03So that's eight times fifty two is four hundred and sixteen, I believe. So four hundred and sixteen possibilities. Some will be duplicated. Um, I am gonna say two hundred and ninety-five.
SPEAKER_00Close, but not quite. So it was three hundred and fifty-five tricks have been named this season. Wow. Which is a lot. We've had 48 banishments, 46 books, and 46 non-magic items.
SPEAKER_03It shows you how diverse it all is. When you sort of think about it, you know what everyone's doing this trick. No, they're not. Not everyone is doing it, and you can see from this list, you know what the most popular item we had for this season had how many people?
SPEAKER_00Only three people.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, it it does show that you know we're we're all sort of unique in our tastes, and that that's a very good lesson as well. And and once again, just because someone says to you, you know, that this is a great trick, think about it and and think about one, whether you can use it, whether you be able to perform it, give it what it needs, whether it suits you. But you can see from the amount of votes these tricks are getting, or not votes, but what people are saying, is it is really diverse. People think about what they're performing, they choose tricks that are right for them, and they make those tricks their own. And that's why it becomes part of their aim.
SPEAKER_00How mad is that? Two whole years uploading every week without fail. Yeah, it's been a task, but we've loved every minute of it. Of course, I'm joined with uh the person who well, the podcast, the whole company wouldn't exist without it, is of course Mr. Peter Nardi. Hello, Peter.
SPEAKER_03Hello, Jamie. How are you?
SPEAKER_00Very well, thank you. Excited to talk through the end of season two.
SPEAKER_03Yes. What a season it's been as well. I mean, you I I've got a give it to you, mate. You've got some brilliant names on this season and last season.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, we were just going through them, and uh the the thing is when you're doing a podcast like this, things do kind of merge into one after a little while. So just going through those names a second ago, we've had some incredible, incredible names this season.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, no, 100%. And also, how many episodes have you recorded so far?
SPEAKER_00So over the the entire thing. So, including SOS, Desert Island Tricks, and Stranded with a Stranger, we're approaching 150 at the time of recording.
SPEAKER_03Wow, because I I know when we were going through the list on here, um you mentioned a couple of names, and I was going, surely that was season one. You know, there there's so many, um, so many great ones. Well, they they're all great, and they're all great for one reason, and that is the fact that they not only tell you what their tricks are, which is not neither here nor there, because it's interesting to know, but the thing that's really interesting is why. And that's different. You could have uh twenty people that choose exactly the same eight tricks, but their stories behind why they chose that trick will be different. And and that's the thing that's that I love about this podcast is what draws that person to that particular trick. Because we can both like the same trick, but for completely different reasons. It could be nostalgia, the first trick we saw, could be something we've got the best reaction on, could be something we've never done before, but we've always loved the premise, could be absolutely anything, and I I love listening to these stories, and there's usually a little sort of anecdote that goes along with it as well, which is pretty good.
SPEAKER_00Well, we're gonna do what we did with season one, and we've actually got the top eight tricks of season two. Um, so we're gonna go through all of those in a minute so you can get uh a full rundown of season two. We haven't got a full list of one and two together, but that's because we are working on a website, a resource for the podcast that you can go to and you can see an updated list of every single trick, every banishment, every book, every item that's ever been said on the podcast. You can see where it is on the rankings, and you can see who said it. Um so hopefully this is gonna be a resource which we get up in the the next few weeks. Um, obviously, we have to populate it, which is what's taking the time at the moment. Um, but that's how we actually got this list. So we inputted everybody's list, the new website sorted all of that out, and we have this list. So it's gonna be interesting to see what the top eight were this season, very, very different to last season.
Michael Amar And Powerhouse Routines
SPEAKER_03Yeah, and I I will say as well, I'm gonna start off by talking about this one particular list, which I've got written down here, and when you look at this list and you understand that this magician performs each of these effects regularly, and then you understand how strong each one I mean, this is a powerful list. I mean, you could literally survive the rest of your magic career only knowing these eight tricks, and they would be pretty hard to top. Right? And the person I'm talking about is the legend Michael Lamar. So we were lucky enough um to be approached by Michael last year or the year before to help him arrange his lecture tour. Now, I've known Michael for a few years, and when I got back into Magic at the age of 20, I think, 20 or 21, Michael and Daryl were the two main teachers really in Magic because they were the two that had all the BHS tapes out. So I learned magic again by watching Michael and Daryl Martinez, and um we spent some time with Michael while he was over here. He done an academy. If you haven't checked that out, go check that out. That's great. But Michael's list is just super strong. So he's got cups and balls. Now, I'll be honest, I've never really got into cups and balls. I do a very basic version, but it's never really been something for me. But I've got, you know, I've I know how it's done, I see people do it, I see amazing reactions, but I've never been in a situation where I would perform that effect. Um but the other items on here, card on ceiling, probably one of the most powerful card effects you could ever do. Coins through silk, which is just a beautiful, poetic piece of magic. The hundred dollar bill switch, which is the most incredible close-up effect that looks totally impromptu. Um shadow coins, once again. The first time I saw this, it blew my mind. Bill in Lemon. So a bill in uh an impossible location that to me summarizes a good magic trick. When I think of magic, I think of things like Bill in Lennon. That when I started doing Bill in Kiwi, had to, you know, prep the Kiwis, everything else, I started to think to myself, I'm a proper magician when I do this trick. It it's just got that feeling about it. The elbow card, which he does and explains on the academy, which literally freaks everyone out in the studio, absolutely brilliant, and cannibal cards, which once again I've never performed, but I know Andy does it, and Andy's done it to me quite a few times, and I remember learning it off uh easy to master card miracles, um, and it's a phenomenal trick. That to me is a really hard if you're if you're if your list was just powerful tricks, I don't think you can get much better than that.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, I think uh if I remember rightly as well, he spoke about doing the Cardon ceiling at the Louvre um in his episode, and tourists just started walking along looking up and thinking it was like an art installation and taking photos of it and stuff like that, which I thought was uh really interesting. But yeah, when he came to um do his lecture as well, you could just see everything was so so deeply thought through. Obviously, where there are years and years and years of thought that have gone into those routine routines, and I'll give him an honourable mention. Watching him do silk through um mic stand as well was really, really cool. Um, and coins his coins through silk that was the first time I'd seen that up close, and it just looks mad good, it looks absolutely incredible.
SPEAKER_03Yes, beautiful, beautiful piece of magic, and he he's just an incredible magician. But Michael's only one of the big names you've had on this season.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, well, we we kicked off the season with Matthew Pomeroy, who, if people don't know Matthew Pomeroy and Natasha Lamb, uh have a show in Las Vegas, and they are currently on tour with the Now You See Me show, which is coming to London at the time of recording, um, which should be really good. But what I really liked about the way Matthew spoke about performance was he's all about the immersion. And I remember him talking about a routine on there that he said he hadn't done yet with candles, and you know, lighting up the entire venue with these candles everywhere and really immersing the audience uh in this sort of world, which you know I really like the performance side of magic. So that was a big interesting one for me.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, um, both of those uh are just Matthew and Natasha are just really lovely, kind, genuine people that really they they really love what they do, really love what they do, and I I'm so glad they've got well they had a show in Vegas. That show closed, I think they moved on. But I heard they had another one sight in Vegas, but now the next thing I've heard is Matthew's over here, so I'm not sure what's happening because he's now you're right, he's doing now you see me.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, they're they're a thousand miles a minute, both of them. They've got so much going on all the time. Um, but they just really love the performance side of everything. Um, so I can't wait to you know see what they have going on. But do go listen to their episode, it's really good. We are still trying to get Natasha on, but obviously, because they're so busy, uh, we're still trying to get her on. But another great name that we had this year, who I've been a massive fan of ever since I was little, is John Archer. Uh, it was an absolute joy and privilege to have him on. I don't think he knew how much of a fan of his I was um when we had him on, but I think what was really interesting about his episode was you kind of get a different side to John. I think in that episode you understand how deeply he thinks about what he's doing. Um, and sometimes what you see him do on stage because he's a comedy performer, maybe may be misconstrued as larking around for wants a better word. But as he's talking about the the tricks that he's chosen and performance, you really understand everything is so nuanced and he does everything for a reason.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, he does. I mean, I've obviously known John for a number of years, uh, a long, long time. And um I remember years and years ago, John rung me up in the shop and said, Oh, can you get hold of this prop? And I went, yeah. And he said, I might be interested in one of those. And I went, okay. He said, Yeah, yeah, I really like it, really like it. But I need to know what I'm gonna do with it. You know, when he buys a trick, he will buy the trick when he's worked out exactly how he's gonna present it. And I know me, even though I've been doing magic a long time, if I buy magic, I don't look at something and say I will only buy it if it suits me. I I will know that you know, I'll I'll just see something and go, oh, that's clever. I'll get that. Just to play with, just to mess about with, just for me. Um but John really does think about one can he make the effect suit him? Because he has got a character. John has got a character. I haven't really got a character, so anything within effect will I I could probably do, and it wouldn't affect me as a person. Whereas John is very particular, he's got he could probably do everything, but he needs to know how he can so it doesn't break who he is as a character, if that makes sense. Am I just rambling?
SPEAKER_00No, no, I think that that makes perfect sense. Yeah, yeah. He's got to really consider whether it suits his character um to make sure it carries on the the the legacy.
SPEAKER_03So when he buys the trick, and that's what really impressed me about John, is when he bought the trick, he already knew everything about it. He knew the script, he knew the timing, he knew this, because he had studied it and studied how he would perform it before he even bought it. Very, very clever way of doing it, and it it's uh it shows that he understands who he is as a performer, what his character is, what his character can do, how they would do it, everything else. He he truly uh thinks about every aspect, but he's also a lot of people sort of have this feeling about um maybe comedy magicians that do a lot of comedy and the odd magic trick and everything else. Maybe they're not such great magicians, maybe they're more comedians, which is in most cases completely wrong. You know, they're great magicians, and they just perform it in a comedy style. You look at people like Matt King, brilliant magician, you look at John Archer, great magician. The the comedy's just their presentation doesn't mean they can't do, you know, the the strafe stuff. They can, they just put the comedy twist on it. It's still incredible magic, and they're incredibly uh talented and yeah.
SPEAKER_00The thing with John Archer as well is I think that there's there's something about certain performers that you can tell that they're they've been around. I'm not saying he's old, I'm saying that he is very well experienced. So you can tell that some performers have just been around a long time. It almost reminds me of one of the old school comedians when they say they've worked the circuit. You can tell that they've worked their way up through through the ranks, and I think John Archer is one of them, but also Mark Paul. I think Mark Paul, who we also had on this season, is the exact same. You can tell that he's just done the cruise ships, he's done the nightclubs, he's done every environment, and he's honed his skill and is an absolute genius with it now.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, yeah, and and those two that you mentioned there probably had more flight time than anyone else. You've got to remember people like well, take John Archer, for instance. Not only is he a very busy performer in his own right, he's also the the sort of warm-up for Tim Vine's touring show. So he's got more stage time than probably anyone else in the UK. Um Mark Paul uh you know, I'm a big fan of Mark. Once again, I've known Mark. The first time I met Mark was at my very first convention as a magic deal, which was in Paul Daniels' back garden. That's where the convention was. I had a little dealer's table there, um, and Mark Paul had just been on Paul Daniels Secrets, I think. Um you know he he just was the nicest guy then, he's the nicest guy now, and everything he does is just he's another one a bit like Nick Einhorn's another one. Everything they do is effortless and smooth. That's who we need to get on the podcast as well, Nick Einhorn.
SPEAKER_00So I spoke to him Friday uh and he's coming on.
SPEAKER_03Brilliant. Yeah, uh like Nick's another one, it's just like everything's just effortless. Just I I I love it. I'll be very interested to to hear Nick's that's gonna be another powerhouse list, I think, as Nick's another worker. Um, so Mark Paul. I I mean I've listened to all of these as usual. Mark's, I was extremely interested in because obviously I love mentalism as well. Um he had once again a really strong list. And the good thing is they're all workers, you know. Everyone we've had on the list, they've all been, you know, pretty much good workers that are well within the grasp of everyone.
SPEAKER_00I think the the range of different performers we've had this season as well is really interesting because you know, we had Jonathan Goodwin on, who the experience that he's had, obviously he's done an awful lot of TV magic. He's been around TV magic for the majority of his career. Again, a lot of these people are people that I've grown up watching over the years, and I I used to watch him and Barry and Stuart and Pete Furman. Um I used to watch all of them on TV. So, you know, to talk to him and obviously uh the incident that he had uh during one of his stunts going wrong, which has unfortunately left him uh paralysed. But even him talking about that on his podcast and talking about the the stunts that he does, and you know, uh I know that without giving too many spoilers away, his book was one of the most highlighted on this season as well. Um, and it's literally his entire life's work, everything that he knows, all in one book.
SPEAKER_03Well, I I remember when Harry and the boys were on BGT, uh Jonathan was on the same year, and he did his crossbow routine. This thing had me on the edge of my seat, let alone the lay audience, because there's one bit and it's the ending, where I think he just grabs a book and puts it in front of his chest, and within a millisecond, there is a bolt shot out of the crossbow straight into the book. It's either a book or a picture. I can't remember what it is, it's got to be a book because it's a it's a bolt going through. And I'm watching it and I'm thinking I don't care how much money you paid me, I would not be doing that. I'm scared of getting paper cuts doing an ambitious card. Let alone.
SPEAKER_00I remember us talking about doing smash and stab, and you were like, no, I would never do smash and stab. I'll never do it.
SPEAKER_03I've only ever done one version, which is my version from uh No Chance that I know I can't go wrong with. Um but yeah, it don't interest me. Danger is not my middle name.
SPEAKER_00I don't blame you. I think uh, you know, he's a phenomenal performer, Jonathan Godwin. He really is, but I think what's amazing about where he's at now is he's able to focus on uh the development of tricks, and he he seemed to be just as enthused and excited as that side of the industry than being the performer. Um, and I think that's because from what he was saying on his podcast, both of those have gone in hand in hand. He's always been a behind-the-scenes guy, as well as being on screen.
Horror Stories And Hard Lessons
SPEAKER_03Yeah, yeah, and he is a great creator when you see that. I mean, that crossbow thing I think was his creation. And it's incredible when you watch it, everything about it, the danger, the suspense, the timing, everything is is beautiful. That absolutely and as far as a routine goes, I don't think there's anything I could have sat there and went, Yeah, let me give him some notes on this. You know, you can't, it was just perfect, absolutely perfect, and yeah, uh such an incredible guy, and once again, it's such an incredibly interesting podcast. Because the like I said, it's the stories that make the Desert Island Tricks podcast, and I'm really happy that these everyone that appears on them is so open with their stories, even if their stories don't show them in the best light, if that makes sense, because there's a lot of people that will quite openly say, Yeah, the first time I did my show, I don't, you know, I I died, you know, no one clapped, no one done this, no one done that. There's no ego on this podcast. It's people tell you it as it is, you know, this was a bad experience I had with this, and this was this. And I find that very, very interesting to hear.
SPEAKER_00Well, we had some um we had some horror stories this year as well. Um one of the ones that stood out for me was Ben Hanlin when he said, you know, they'd hired out this uh aeroplane hangar and they were gonna make this car disappear. It was gonna be like a DeLorean-y sort of thing, back to the future thing, and uh they had to set everything up with uh if it would yeah, it was for a TV show, and uh they had one chance at this, and without giving too much away, um he had to reflect on it a lot, and when he went in the next morning, uh he couldn't reflect on it because everything was a bit warped and it didn't look the way it should do. Um, so it was kind of all hands on deck, and they had to try and make it work basically.
SPEAKER_03Air dryers and stuff, wasn't it?
SPEAKER_00Yeah, that was it. Yeah, so even people like Jonathan Goodwin, um Ben Hanlin, we also had Joel M, who of course is the current um Blue Peter presenter. And again, for someone so young, he's just achieved so much. We've had a lot of incredible talent this year as well, like younger folks that have just achieved some amazing things.
SPEAKER_03Yeah. And you know, the the other one that I enjoyed all of them, but the other one that stood out to me purely because it was just extremely crazy was Neil Henry.
SPEAKER_00Yeah.
SPEAKER_03I mean, you know, trying to to listen to that podcast was like having a sugar rush.
SPEAKER_04Yeah.
SPEAKER_03I mean, if you don't know Neil Henry, I mean he's huge on Facebook or YouTube, he he's a huge sort of um uh YouTube star. But before that, and we've known him for years, he's a great magician, very, very funny, and he used to own a magic stall in Covent Garden in the centre of London, and there's one story he tells during that podcast about a little kid that used to stand there and watch him every day, and then the kid played a prank on him. I'm not gonna spoil it, but it's brilliant, it it's really, really good. But yeah, there's so many, many good podcasts or so many uh good episodes on this season.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, there are. Well, we we also diversified this year and we had our first female guests. So we started off with Kay Dyson, which was brilliant, and it's so nice to get a different perspective because um obviously, knowing female magicians, I know that they have they have different wants and needs in terms of performance, you know, even things down to pocket management. I know it's a massive thing with um female magicians because they don't have pockets, um, essentially. So they have to come up with different um different ways of managing their pockets. But one story that I loved in hers was she, you know, she spoke about being female, she can get away with being a little bit more cheeky and and getting around things. And she spoke about doing her vent mask routine, but with French Kiss, which I thought was really clever. It was a really fun way to get around uh the awkwardness.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, yeah. Her podcast, Kai's podcast, was um was really good because she she's one of the ones that gives you a real insight about turning professional or doing your first gig because um she talks about I'm trying to remember, I'm trying to remember if she was she met a magician called Ben Woodward. I know Ben. Ben's a fantastic magician, pretty much under the radar in the magic community, but a very, very good magician, uh, four-time pro. Um and she met Ben, if I remember rightly, at like Formula One or something. Ben was doing the magic, and I think Kay might have been a model, was she? Like one of the girls that that was around the F1. Um and then when she met Ben, I don't know if she wanted to learn a few magic tricks or whatever, and Ben taught her, and then they put a show together to do somewhere, and but she tells you how awful it was. Like she quite openly says it was terrible, the show was terrible, but it's really good to hear that because I I think psychologically as magicians, we all want to be the best we can possibly be. No matter what you do in life, you want to be the best you can be. Um but it does take time to get there. It does take time to get there, you know, and hearing other people, people that you respect, people that you know that are out there doing it, doing it for a living, to hear those people say, Do you know what? I I remember John Archer saying to me, you know, and at this point, John is a homed axe, you know, he's a homed axe, he knows what he's doing, he knows how to get a crowd, he knows how to keep a crowd. And he said to me a few years ago, he says there's still the odd occasion where I'll go out there and for whatever reason, whatever that reason is, it just don't hit that night. That's show business. That's it. You know, it's a big fear that we've all got. Um and sometimes it's nice to know that it happens to the best of us. Do you know what I mean? And I I think that's that's another thing about these podcasts, especially that I get from it, is I I sort of get a a bit a bit of a sense of calm because you you do sort of think, right, okay, well, this this sort of stuff, not that I go out and I dine dying all the time, but it it sort of makes you realise that we're all human, things are not always gonna work out perfectly every single time, and that's all right. And and the fact is the more you do something, the better you get at it. You're never gonna walk out on stage the very first time and be Darren Brown. That isn't gonna happen, you know. It it took Darren's time to get where he is. Um yeah, so that there's a lot of information within these podcasts that it's not just the A-Tricks.
SPEAKER_00No, it's the story, yeah. There's there's so many interesting stories, and you know, we can't go through everyone, but we've mentioned a couple here. But you know, we've had um Ian Bailey, Roddy McGee, we had Null Quarter, who is one of the funniest human beings you'll ever meet. Um, Bill Smith, Luch, Oliver Tabor, we had Russ Stevens, Nicola Rkane, Leo Smetz, Chris North. Uh, you know, we had some incredible guests, and of course, we ended um this year with the back-to-back episodes with Rodney James Piper and Harry Merlin Piper, uh, which I think was the best way to round out the year.
SPEAKER_03So I just want to throw in another one, and then um you said Marvin.
SPEAKER_00Um Marvin Berglass, yep.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, we also had Mark Elsman, and the thing that's the thing that's interesting about Marx is uh if you know anything about Mark Ellsden, you will know he's probably the most knowledgeable guy in magic now, as a magic historian sort of thing. Um and uh Mark's choices will usually be something you've never heard of before. Um I can't remember what was on his list this time, but Mark knows more magic and sees more magic and reads more books, and so he will have tricks in his mind and in his arsenal that we wouldn't have heard of. They might be 50 years old. It's not like the latest and greatest. Mark's got such a knowledge, and that's why I was really interested to listen to his. I and whenever Mark speaks, I I do listen. Um but getting on to Rodney and Harry, they were two great episodes. I mean, I I love both of them. I've known Rodney for many, many years, and I've known Harry since he was a a little kid, and what a what a guy he's growing up to be. Not only super talented, but just a lovely, lovely guy. And you done a very good thing. Uh the same thing you did with Young and Strange as well, where you had them try and guess each other's lists, which was good. I like that.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, they they both did really, really well. Um, and you know, again, at the time of recording, it was only about a month ago, maybe oh, just over a month ago, that he was on Star Search. And I think seeing the excitement and the joy that he gets out of everything that he does is is just amazing. But I just wanted to say their dynamic with each other. I think that's what's so lovely. They're they don't seem like father and son, they literally seem like best friends. Um, and you can see that Harry looks up so much to um his dad, and you know, all of the knowledge that he's getting. Uh, I I just think that their dynamic with each other was lovely.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, no, really, really good. And you you've got to sort of understand as well that Harry Merlin Piper has been on stage since he was like five years old. He he's like born and bred on a stage. It it's it's incredible, absolutely incredible. And and Rodney, you know, when I first met Rodney and went over to the house of Illusion, um it was great. It was a lovely venue, great car upstairs, really, really nice. We had a phenomenal night. It was me, Jenny, and the kids. I think Harry was only four or five because I remember Wayne Goodman used to work there at the time, and Wayne got Harry up on stage and was doing some tricks with him. Um but now I mean I think Rodney owns half of Salute, you know, with different shows and clubs and this, that, and the other, and you know he's an incredible, incredible person. I I love Rodney the bits, and the thing the thing I love about people like Rodney is they have zero ego. You know, uh ego's a big thing, and I think we hear a lot about it on The Banishman as well. Magician's ego, magician, let's get rid of it. And it is true, you know, a lot of magicians have got an ego, but you tend to find that people that are sort of up there have got nothing to prove, they don't need the ego, you know, and uh um yeah, both of those. I mean, for someone that's as young as Harry, I think he's 15, 16, done what he's done, come second into a worldwide talent contest that was aired all over the world. You know, he's a stage performer. There's not one ounce of ego in that boy. He he's, you know, just a lovely, lovely kid. Lovely, talented kid. Yeah.
Listener Lists And SOS Updates
SPEAKER_00It was the perfect way to take out season two. Now, let's move along to the top eight uh of this. Actually, before we do go, I just want to say thank you to every stranded with a stranger that we've had as well. Um we've been really lucky to actually have more lists. So we're key we don't have loads, unfortunately, but we do have um lists. We had a lovely chap in last week who actually bought my first written one. So I've actually got the envelope here um for for an episode in the future. Um so if you did do that, thank you so much. If you haven't done it yet, please do send them in. It's it's so cool to see everyone's uh list. It doesn't just have to be the guest that we have on.
SPEAKER_01Explain to them what they have to do.
SPEAKER_00Okay, so if you want to be a part of the stranded with a stranger, the idea is that you are gonna send in your list of to us. So, of course, you're gonna write down your eight tricks, your one banishment, your one book, and your one non-magic item. In your banishment, please don't include a name. We don't use the banishment to be unkind, just to get people thinking about things from a different point of view and a different perspective. Um, of course, include the reasons behind those routines, any stories that you have, anecdotes, they always go down well. Um, and of course, include a little bio about yourself at the very, very beginning. Uh, let us know a little bit about you, who you are, your background. We've had so many interesting Strandy with the strangers so far this year. Uh, lots of people from different backgrounds. So the more of them we get, the better it is uh for all of us. It's so fun for me to read them out and to go through the lists and to discover other people from all walks of life. So what's also lovely is it doesn't matter where you are in the world, you can send in your list. Just send it to sales at alakazam.co.uk. Include uh in the buyer uh in the subject line, sorry, my desert island list. That way it comes through to me. But yeah, it's been great for stranded with a stranger as well.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, I once again I love them, and it's the stories behind them. That's what say if you are gonna do the stranded with a stranger, please make sure you put in the reasons behind your tricks.
SPEAKER_00Yep, please do. And of course, this year we introduced SOS. Um, and SOS came about, me and Pete were having a conversation, and we literally said, I wonder if people are actually keeping to this list. I wonder if it really is their desert island list, or if after a couple of years they've changed it. And we thought, wouldn't it be interesting to go back um after two years to some of our early entries and see whether they have changed their list? And it turns out maybe your desert island list isn't your desert island list because we've we've had people change it every time so far.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, yeah. I I'll tell you what, I think the one I would guarantee I would bet money on it, probably would never change, is Amars.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, that's true. Maybe Bill Abbotts as well, because Bill Bill sort of went through his show.
SPEAKER_03He did, but he does add new stuff to his show.
SPEAKER_00Oh, okay.
SPEAKER_03But we all have we all have these sort of diehards, don't we? We all have these die hard routines, but then there's always one or two that are sort of they're our flavour of the month. We're out there doing it. So if I go out and do a gig, I've sort of got my act, and there's a couple of them that I think, yeah, this this is just always in it. Chicago Opener, Sharpie Through Card, they're just always in it. But I'll always throw something gluing, and then because of that, something will come out and everything else. Um but I do think with um Amar, I can guarantee we could interview him in 10 years, and that list will be the same, I think. I think he's been doing those tricks for pretty much 30, 40, 50 years.
SPEAKER_05When a performer gigs, I look at effects that tick these three boxes. Is it super strong and powerful? Yes. Will it last of your spectators for a lifetime? Absolutely. And does it leave them with a souvenir? Check out now to the liquidity.
SPEAKER_00No, you're doing great. But let's go into those eight tricks. No, um, I've literally just as you were talking then, I've just looked over year one. Um uh the top eight from year one and cross referenced them to year two. There are some overlaps. So there are some that were in year one that are still in year two. So uh just to tell you, the top eight of the first season were a deck of cards, thumb tip, coins across, professor's nightmare, sponge balls, extractor, or e2, stealth assassin wallet, and diabolical. The book was notes from a fellow traveller. Um, the item was a notepad and pen, and we didn't have the banishment on season one, so that's not in there. Now, some of these, Pete, cross over into year two. So, which ones of those do you think cross over?
SPEAKER_01Uh deck of cards.
SPEAKER_00Okay. You can't just name the ball, just so you know.
SPEAKER_03Oh, right, okay. How many have crossed over? So give me a number.
SPEAKER_00Um, let me have a look. So that's three.
SPEAKER_03I am going to go sponge balls.
SPEAKER_00Okay.
SPEAKER_03And I'm gonna go for stealth assassin.
Season Two Top Tricks Revealed
SPEAKER_00Oh. Okay, we're gonna find out. All right, I'm not gonna tell you anything more than that. Let's go to the top list. So this list is only season two. This is a tot up of all of those tricks from season two.
SPEAKER_03Oh, is this every trick mentioned, or we go these are the top eight tricks?
SPEAKER_00These are the top eight, kind of. I'll explain why in a minute. Um, but these are the top eight said. So we're gonna go from the most said trick down to number eight, which will be the least said trick from those eight, all right. So the top eight overall, starting at number one. Number one was said by Bo Kramer, Steve Gore, Keith Barry, Joel M. Marvin Berglass, and Alan Rorison. And it was a deck of cards.
SPEAKER_03There you go.
SPEAKER_00So you've got the first one. Um, I haven't categorized that by the what because obviously we always play Devil's Advocate and we make them say a trick. So we've just said a deck of cards because that's literally what they started off with. Um, and we haven't subcategorized, otherwise, I'll be there for even longer trying to sort these lists out. Um, but yeah, I think a deck of cards was number one on the last list last year, number one on this list now.
SPEAKER_03It would be, wouldn't it?
SPEAKER_00Yeah, it would be weird if it wasn't.
SPEAKER_03I think for season three, um, deck of cards is as red. So everyone gets a deck of cards.
SPEAKER_00Oh, you reckon we should just give them a deck of cards.
SPEAKER_03If you've got a deck of cards, you can only do one trick with it.
SPEAKER_00Okay, all right. Maybe that could be our addition.
SPEAKER_03Give them a deck of cards in their Welcome to the Island pack.
SPEAKER_00There we go. With their slippers, their their bathrobe, uh, everything else. So we had number one, deck of cards. Yeah, number two this year is a really interesting one. It was said by a Vince Wilson, me, Christopher Taylor, Luoch, and Kay Dyson.
SPEAKER_02Oh, can I guess?
SPEAKER_00Go on.
SPEAKER_03PK Touch.
SPEAKER_00It was PK Touch is his number two, yeah. Which is really unexpected.
SPEAKER_03Yeah. Yeah. But it's a it's a solid trick. I mean, yeah. I mean, I I love watching you perform it. I love watching Harry perform it. It it's solid. It's a solid piece, totally impromptu.
SPEAKER_00I will say, from from my little visit over to America this year, I do think the PK Toucher seems to be a bigger thing in America than it does in the UK. So it feels like there are less people in the UK doing it, or well, certainly lots of people want to do it, but there seems to be something stopping people from doing it.
SPEAKER_03I tell you for why. When you were in America, was the age a lot higher, without being rude. Was the age of the registrants higher? Because you've got to remember PK Touches as a routine came out around about 25 years ago, 30 years ago. So a lot of those, and that was a big thing. When when PK Touches come out with Banner Check, it was a manuscript. I remember picking up a copy. Everyone was doing it. And it's one of those things that unless you're in the know, you probably don't know nowadays, because it's not a big thing. If that makes sense. So if the age demographic was slightly higher in America, I would say that's probably why most of them were doing it or a version of it.
SPEAKER_00There we go. So that could be a reason for it. Um, let's move to number three. Harry Merlin Piper, Steve Gore, Keith Barry, and John Archer said number three. What do you think they said?
SPEAKER_02Invisible deck.
SPEAKER_00How did you do that? Yeah, it's invisible deck.
SPEAKER_02I'd be an ardent.
SPEAKER_00We genuinely did not plan that, people listening. That was really weird. That was like the best propless mentalism trick I've ever seen in my life. That was great. I thought of one of a list, and you told me what it was.
SPEAKER_03Um and can you get a stronger card trick? Realistically, I mean it's it's phenomenal that it sells for less than a tenner. It means one of the most powerful card tricks you could ever do.
SPEAKER_00I think it's inter not that I want this to change, please never let this change. But I think it's also interesting that it's not one of the ones that's ended up in the public domain as much as something like this Vengali deck or the Stripper deck, you know. Um, it's still stayed quiet.
SPEAKER_03It do you know what? It has, which is quite surprising because I know when I was getting back into magic. Um no, it was before I was getting back into magic. Was it or wasn't it? No, no, it must have been when I was getting back into magic, because I I went to um went to Davenport's and I think probably on my second visit to Davenport's again, I bought an invisible deck. So it was something that is damped to to begin. Like, you know, if you're walking off the street, it is a trick that's sort of dend to you the same as a spengali mental photography and all this. Um I wonder whether it stayed under the radar because it's not as magical looking as a Svengali and a mental photography. If you imagine walking into a shop, you get you're picking a card, it's jumping to the top, put it in the middle, jumps to the top again, now every card turns into your card, then they turn back. You got another trick where the decks the decks blank, then the cards all print themselves, then it goes blank in front of your eyes, then you've got the trick where one card's turned over. Now, as magicians, we know how to present that to make it a miracle. If you've just walked in off the street, your mind is gonna be blown with a Svengali deck and a mental photography because they're so visually appealing. Whereas the invisible deck, although it's a strong trick, is probably not as appealing to a lay person that wants to do magic as it is to us magicians that know how to present it to get the most out of it as an effect.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, I think that's absolutely uh true. It's a great one in a number three, though, but takes us to number four. Now, number four is an interesting list of people, which I think will throw off what this is. So this was said by Eric Tate, R. Paul Wilson, Nicola Arkane, and Michael Amar.
SPEAKER_03I I think I can guess.
SPEAKER_00Because I think it's the the R. Paul Wilson there is gonna throw it off potentially. Yeah, it is.
SPEAKER_03I it's Nicola Arkane and Amar, which would make me. I'm gonna double check. So don't take this answer, but I'm gonna throw, I've made a connection there between Nicola Arkane and Armar, and it's cups and balls. I am gonna say cups and balls. Correct.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, it was cups and balls. Number four was cups and balls by Eric Day, Arpaul Wilson, Nicola Arkane, Michael Omar.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, I wouldn't have put Eric or Arpaul Wilson down for cups and balls. Um, but I know Nicola does have a cups and balls act that she worked very, very hard on. And of course, um Michael Omar, we know, is uh pretty much a legend with the cups and balls.
SPEAKER_00Now, correct me if I'm wrong, Michael Omar's version, wasn't that the spectator does the cups and balls?
SPEAKER_03Uh he has got a version, but he uh Michael Omar had two uh uh two or three DVDs out on the cups and balls. Like just on the cups and balls. So, you know, all the moves, all the different it was a bit like the Encyclopedia of Card Slights, but for cups and balls. But I'm surprised that the cups and balls is in the top eight. Not that it's not a great trick, but I I wouldn't have seen it as one of the most popular tricks. But obviously I am wrong.
SPEAKER_00Well, in in this list of people, it's the most popular. Um so not necessarily wrong, just like I say, in this this group of people. Number five is one of our crossovers. So this was on our last season's top eight as well. It was said by Eric Tate, Arple Wilson, James Brown, and Ben Williams.
SPEAKER_03Right, Eric Tate. I think I think his one was full of curved balls. I don't think I would have ever put anything down, so that's not gonna give me any clues at all. It wouldn't be card under box, would it?
SPEAKER_00It wasn't. So this is our first one on this list where we change to coins. So it is coins across, which was also on our top eight of season one.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, coins across is is a phenomenal routine, phenomenal.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, okay. Number six is also a crossover. It was said by Nicola Arkane, Kay Dyson, Roddy McGee, and Mark Bennett.
SPEAKER_03Extractor?
SPEAKER_00I'm afraid not. It was SpongeBobs. Oh sponge balls, which is also on season one.
SPEAKER_03And once again, a lot of magicians poo-poo the power of the Spongebobs. Until they actually do it, and then they go, Why haven't I done this before?
SPEAKER_00Exactly. And Kay Dyson on her episode has some interesting thoughts on the sponge ding dong as well, um, which was very funny. But yeah, so number six is SpongeBobs. Now, things are gonna get a bit weird from here on in because technically, seven and eight are the same amount of people said them, but they also said the same amount as nine, ten, eleven, twelve, thirteen, fourteen. So technically, seven and eight is several tricks, all right. So I'm just gonna read them out. So um these are in no particular order, but these would all share the seven and eight spot. We had double levitation, which I thought was really interesting. Um, and that was said by Harry Merlin Piper, Rodney James Piper, and Russ Stevens. Um, we had fork bending in number eight, which was Rodney James Piper, Neil Henry, and Phil Smith, which we're all big fans of. Uh number nine, destination box was said by Craig Petty, John Allen, and Noel Quarter. Another phenomenal trick. Uh, number 10 is multiple selection, which I thought was a really good one, which was Tom Bolton, Ben Hanlin, and Daniel Chard. We had number 11 was Double Cross, which was Tom Bolton, Luke Osland, and James Brown, which was one of the ones that when we started the podcast, I thought that'd be in the top eight every time.
SPEAKER_03But everyone was everyone's doing it. I I've never done it. I've never done double cross.
SPEAKER_00Oh, it's just such a phenomenal trick. But I think one thing that I've learnt about the podcast is if a trick is too in favour, I think that puts off some performers from doing it. I think if they feel like it's too used, a bit like uh Omni Deck as well, I think is one of the ones that's come up a couple of times where people think that too many people do it so they don't do it themselves. Um but double cross was in there. Twelve was Toxic Plus, which was Tom Bolton, myself, and uh Harry DeCrue said that. Yeah. Uh phenomenal. 13 was Card on the Box, which was Daniel Chard, James Brown, two of the people that are famous for it, um, and Neil Henry. And the last one that shares the seven and eight spot is QA, which was Luch, Mark Paul, and Daniel Chard.
SPEAKER_03Well, yeah, QA is very strong. Um, all those effects are very strong. All the effects are strong.
Banishment Book And Island Items
SPEAKER_00So the top eight again, technically it's the top 14 because the same amount of people chose them, so you can pick your favourite seven and eight. Well, we had the deck of cards, it was number one, PK Touchers two, invisible deck three, four was cups and balls, five was going to cross, six is sponge balls, and seven and eight a joint, double levitation, fork bending, destination box, multiple selection, double cross, toxic plus, card underbox, and QA. And of course, these are going to be listed in the show notes, so you can go and check out this list and who said them. But we do have a banishment. So this was our first year for a banishment. So we have nothing to go on last year because this was not there. Um, what do you think the banishment was? The top banishment, and it was said by Tom Bolton, Ben Williams, Dave Loosley, James Brown, and Leo Smetz.
SPEAKER_02It's got to be ego, innit?
SPEAKER_00Yes, it was ego. That was an easy one, I think.
SPEAKER_03No, it has. I do know what I think the banishments are good ones are having because it's also interesting that one week you have someone go, Yeah, I'll banish this, the worst thing in magic, blah ba-b-bum, this trick, I hate it. And it's the next week someone goes, Well, my number one spot, it's horses for courses. It really is, you know. One man's trash is another man's treasure, and I learned a long time ago that my opinion on a trick is not really valid because what I think of a trick, and I I've you know, I've had this before where I've bought a trick and um I've looked and I've oh god, this is terrible. And then someone else goes, Oh, have you seen that trick? And I'll go, Yeah, I don't like it. What do you mean we don't like it? I've been doing it at gigs, gets the best reactions I've ever had. And it is like, you know, we're all different, we all like different things, but um I do think none of us like ego, so that deserves to be banished.
SPEAKER_00Absolutely, I think that's 100%. What about top book? So with narrowly missing out, just an honorable mention was Methods to My Madness, um, which we mentioned earlier on, which is well, I I don't have that book, but it sounds like a phenomenal book. So it missed out just by one person, okay? So it shows you how close the top book was. But there was a standout one. It was said by Rodney James Piper, Marvin Burglas, Tony Antonio, and Neil Henry.
SPEAKER_03Uh the magic of David Burglass.
SPEAKER_00Yep, it's very much a bucket list book for me, but they come up far and few between, and they're very expensive. Yes, I know you've got one. Pete has literally every book under the sun.
SPEAKER_03And uh I haven't, actually. I've got a very small library. It just so happens everything you want. I literally just buy them because you want them. It's just to wind you up.
SPEAKER_00Well, the majority of them are probably gifts from people, and because a lot of them are signed as well that you have. But I actually think that's really lovely as well. That when you're when you go into your magic room and you see all of the books, I think it just shows your career and the way that you've interacted with so many of these magicians. And I think that's why when we were doing the vlogs, we did Pete's bedtime stories, because for years and years and years I've sat with you in various places, and you've just told me the most balmy stories or interesting stories or funny stories, or just you know, about some of the most incredible people in the industry. So it's so cool to see all of those books in your room and just knowing that you know those people potentially gifted them to you because of the work that you did with them or the respect that they had. Um, so you know, it's more than a book to you, really.
SPEAKER_03No, it is one 100%. 100%. I'm glad David's book was the book of this season. Well deserved, I think.
SPEAKER_00Yeah.
SPEAKER_03I'm really excited to see what comes up next season.
SPEAKER_00Well, we still got the top items. So what do you it's a joint top item? So there's two top items. Um, the first one was said by Nicholas Maveressis, Oliver Tabor or Tabor, um, and Matthew Pomeroy, and the second was said by Chris North, Michael Amar, and Jonathan Goodwin. So they're in joint top spot, but what do you think the item was?
SPEAKER_03Uh laptop will be one of them, surely.
SPEAKER_00It wasn't, believe it or not.
SPEAKER_03Music?
SPEAKER_00Correct. So that was said by Nicholas Mavressis, Oliver Tabor, and Matthew Pomeroy. And what did Chris North, Michael Lamont, and Jonathan Goodwin all say?
SPEAKER_01No pad and pen.
SPEAKER_00No, it was their wives.
SPEAKER_03Oh. Yeah, that sort of threw me off a bit. I think you've got to be stricter with this.
SPEAKER_00Why was Jenny not in your list?
SPEAKER_03Um no, it's not that. I think next I think for next season we're gonna upgrade them to premium economy with hand luggage so they can have a deck of cards, but they have to give you one trick. And when they say, Oh, I'm gonna take my wife, no, you're not. We've only got one ticket, mate. We're not having people.
SPEAKER_00Okay, there you go. The boss has spoken.
SPEAKER_03That's a cop out, and I think that decision's made if their wife is standing behind them or not. If they're not standing behind them, it would have been, oh yeah, no, no, I'm gonna take my iPad, I'm gonna take this. Your wife's here to go, oh, I'll tame my wife. That's lovely of you, Peter.
SPEAKER_00Oh dear. Well, I'm gonna play this little bit back to Jenny. Uh, so top banishment was ego.
SPEAKER_03I would obviously tame my wife.
Why Tastes Differ In Magic
SPEAKER_00Oh, she's just behind you. How interesting. Um, the the book was The Mind and Magic of David Berglass, the top item was music and wife. Uh, we'll end on a couple of season two stats. So we've done a couple of stats. How many tricks do you think were named? So how many different tricks just in season two were named across all episodes? So don't forget like things that would have been repeated and stuff like that.
SPEAKER_03So how many episodes have we had?
SPEAKER_00Um, season two is fifty-two episodes.
SPEAKER_03Ooh, so that's eight times fifty-two is four hundred and sixteen, I believe. So four hundred and sixte possibilities. Some will be duplicated. Um, I am gonna say two hundred and ninety-five.
SPEAKER_00Oh, I'll give you an extra guess. It's more than that.
SPEAKER_03Three hundred and ninety-five.
SPEAKER_00Close, but not quite. So it was three hundred and fifty-five tricks have been named this season. Wow. Which is a lot. We've had 48 banishments, 46 books, and 46 non magic items. We've we've gone in depth with the uh the stats this season.
SPEAKER_03It shows you how diverse it all is. And when we when you sort of think about it and with magicians at the moment and we go you know what, everyone's doing this trick. No, they're not. Not everyone is doing it, and you can see from this list you know what the most popular item we had for this season had how many people say it?
SPEAKER_00The top item was only three people.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, only three people out of fifty-two, did you say?
SPEAKER_00Well, even the top trick. So the top trick was uh the deck of cards was said by one, two, three, four, five, six people. Uh then the second trick was five people.
SPEAKER_03So that that's the second trick was probably a trick. I mean, if we all had a choice, we'd all take a deck. But the second trick being an actual trick, only five people out of fifty said it. So that's ten percent.
SPEAKER_00Well, that's also why seven and eight had to be one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight tricks, because three people said them. Um, and then everything under that, I think it's down to one person said for the the rest of the the remaining list.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, it it does show that uh you know, we're we're all sort of unique in our tastes. Um and that that's a very good lesson as well. And and it once again, uh it goes back to what I was saying about John Archer as well. Is just because someone says to you, you know, this is a great trick, uh think about it and and think about one, whether you can use it, whether you be able to perform it, give it what it needs, whether it suits you. Um but you can see from the amount of votes these tricks are getting, or not votes, but what people are saying, is it is really diverse. People think about what they're performing, they choose tricks that are right for them, and they make those tricks their own, and that's why it becomes part of their aim. You know, because the trick feels like a part of them.
SPEAKER_00Well, there are certain things that if I said them to you straight away, there's someone that you would associate. So if I said someone's item was a ukulele, who who would you say? Yeah, John John Archer straight away. So, you know, there are certain things that that are synonymous with certain performers. Um so you know, I think the diversity of the list is the most interesting thing, certainly this year, uh, just to see how different it is, and who knows what's going to be next year. Who knows?
SPEAKER_03And the the other good thing as well is there's a lot of tricks that you know, oh, I haven't heard of that. And you go on Google and you find it.
SPEAKER_00Oh, well, yeah, it's cost me a fortune, an absolute fortune this season.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, yeah, I bet.
SPEAKER_00It's been an absolute nightmare, especially when it's something rare, like a rare book.
SPEAKER_03Um well, I I remember ages ago we had Nyman on the podcast, and he mentions oh, this nest of boxes. It was meant for I don't know if it was coffee grinds or something, it was this, and and I love a nest of boxes. So I searched everywhere because he I think he said where he bought it from, not available, can't find any trace of it anywhere. I spoke to Nyman a couple of weeks ago and I went, This, oh yeah, yeah, I'll I'll send you the link and everything. You can't buy it anymore, but I'll let you know what it's called. He still ain't let me know, and it's really me.
Dream Guests And Blaine’s Impact
SPEAKER_00Oh dear. Well, I think it's been a great season two. Thank you to everyone who was a guest this year. Um, also the guests that came back and of course stranded with the strangers. It's been uh a phenomenal year, it's been an absolute privilege to talk to uh the guests that we've had on. Everyone's had their unique perspective, and I never know who's gonna be on next season, but let's end by giving your top three blue sky thinking, sky's the limit. If you were to have three people on the podcast that haven't been on, who would you have?
SPEAKER_03Okay, so I think it would have to be I would love Justin Wilman. In fact, I'm gonna try and get in touch with Justin Willman.
SPEAKER_00We've already been in contact.
SPEAKER_03Oh, is he coming on? Or did he say no?
SPEAKER_00No, he did say yes, but he's very, very busy. So it's just a case of getting it to get it booked in, basically.
SPEAKER_03Right, and I will say if anyone has got uh Netflix watch just in the stage show, it's called Magic Lover, it is phenomenal. Um so I would have Justin Wilman. Um I would love to have Chris Kanner, and Chris did actually say he would come on, it's once again, just very busy. Um can I choose four? Of course you can, you're the boss. Obviously PC and we've got a throw in Blaine.
SPEAKER_00Oh, he would be phenomenal. Uh I spoke to his publicist Friday. Right. I mean, no. No, unfortunately. U at the time of recording, um, his publicist said no. So if you're listening to this and you know David Blaine personally, please do put him in contact because the best way to get someone on the podcast is someone that knows someone, basically. Uh, that tends to be the best way. So if you do know any of these people, please pass on that we would love to have them on the podcast and we'll we'll try our best to get them on.
SPEAKER_03And you're probably a little bit who got you into magic?
SPEAKER_00Um, probably Marvin Burglos was probably the reason because I collected Marvin's magic, um, and then really took off David uh Darren Brown. Darren Brown and David Blaine. Those are the three.
SPEAKER_03The person who changed magic and the way it was viewed was Blaine.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, one million percent. He would be a phenomenal guest.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, it it's whatever magic is now and how different it's viewed now, bearing in mind I had I think I had Alakazan. I did. I had Alakazan before Blaine's first TV special, and Magic was viewed as a little bit rabbit out of hat, bow tie. That's how it was viewed before Blaine was on TV. So, you know, magic was it was still, you know, people enjoyed magic and everything else, but that it was quite prim, it was quite proper. I remember going into work, because I had Alexander, I still had a full-time job, going into work the day after Blaine, and suddenly magic was called. Everyone was asking me to see a trick. It it's like that, he changed it. The whole image. And I can guarantee so many people are into magic now, and whether it's directly because of Blaine or because of the wave that started after Blaine, Blaine was the start of that wave.
SPEAKER_00Yeah. And even the the tricks that he made famous, you know, bitten coin, um, the pop-up move uh with Ambitious Card. I even remember I used to love he he done the section where he goes to the like a village uh in an island somewhere, and he basically does sponge balls, but with leaves off a tree. Uh he literally takes one, puts it in his hand when he opens it, it's in their hand. And I just like just the organicness of everything. He just there was just nothing on him. He just walked somewhere, took this thing, done this mental thing, and walked away like it was normal. Um, yeah, he he is phenomenal. He'd be a great guest. So, like we said, anyone that knows these people, then please put us in contact because the best way, like I say, that we can get them on is word of mouth. Um hopefully we can have an even more phenomenal second season.
SPEAKER_02Third season.
SPEAKER_00Third season, sorry. Oh my gosh, yeah, third season. Um, so we should wrap up there. Thank you for joining me with this little uh sum up of season two.
SPEAKER_03You are more than welcome. I really enjoy these.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, these are really, really good. Maybe we should do like a an interim one halfway through season two as well.
SPEAKER_03We'll we'll definitely do a Christmas special one, I think.
Where To Follow And What’s Next
SPEAKER_00Yep, a Christmas special would be great. We'll we'll give people access to the list as well. So as soon as I've updated it with all of the lists, you'll you'll see a sum-up of everything so far. So you'll see the top eight overall over both seasons, but it's just going to take me a little bit of time to re uh to populate the first season with the second season. Um, but as soon as that's available, we'll let you know on one of the podcasts and we'll send it out to uh the email newsletter. So, of course, follow Alakazam on all of the socials. So we're on TikTok, Instagram, YouTube, uh, and Facebook. Make sure that you're following in all of those places. Of course, download the app because when you're uh on the app, you get to see the app lives. We do lots of secret sneakiness on the app that you're only going to see if you are on the app. So make sure you download.
SPEAKER_03Oh, the other thing I will say as well is be sure to join us on Monday, the 27th of April at 7 p.m. BST on YouTube and Facebook for the launch of the very first 1914 Powered by Alakazam release.
SPEAKER_00Oh, and it's a good one to kick off with as well.
SPEAKER_03It is a very good one. Harry's been doing in the shop light, and honestly, that final moment, that reveal, jaws just drop.
SPEAKER_00And we will say, if it's after that date, jump in your DeLorean, head back in time, and you can join us on the live uh for the live launch. Uh, but thank you all for listening. Of course, keeping you off stranded with the strangers coming in. That way we can get these recorded. Of course, we're gonna be back next week with the first of season three. Oh, let's see who we're gonna have. Uh, but for now, I will say goodbye to Pete.
SPEAKER_03Goodbye.
SPEAKER_00And I'll say goodbye to you guys. Have a lovely week. Goodbye.
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