Stranded with a Stranger: Luke Murray

Luke Murray sends in his desert island list and it is an incredible working mentalism set: strong openings, clean mid-show impossibilities and a closer with competition-winning impact. We also owe Luke a bit of an apology for the “hidden prize” runaround, so yes, that gets addressed too. 

We dig into why Andy Nyman’s “Dead of Night” is such a compelling multi-phase routine, then head deeper into practical mind reading with Banachek’s “Loco Logo” and Peter Nardi’s “ES Perfect” for that devastating blank-ending punch. From there, Luke gets clever with structure by combining Darren Brown’s number transfer idea with PK Touches, then leans into “psychological” presentation with Steve Dimmer’s “Screen Test,” where the framing feels like you’re catching tiny tells in someone’s voice. 

On the bigger-stage side, we talk about Mark Shortland’s Amaze Box as a clean tool for Q&A, why Nyman’s “The Code” works as a utility deck and how Hugo Shelley’s “The Sixth Sense” can anchor an entire performance with a direct, hard-to-beat effect. We wrap with Luke’s banishment, his book pick, his non-magic item and a quick sponsor message for custom-printed playing cards. 

If you enjoy mentalism, predictions, ESP routines, Q&A acts and practical working magic, you’ll get plenty of takeaways here. 

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

Transcript

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Welcome And How To Submit Lists

SPEAKER_01 0:33

Hello, and welcome to another episode of Stranded with a Stranger. This is our spin-off episode where you can send in your list and we'll get one of these recorded for you. Today's guest is Luke Murray. Now, I actually know Luke because he was at the Alakazam convention. And what's interesting is there are going to be some apologies needed in this episode. But before we get into it, if you want to be a part of one of these, then send in your list of tricks. Your eight tricks, your one banishment, your one book, your one non-magic item, and of course, your deck of cards welcome package to sales at Alakazam.co.uk. In the subject line, please put my desert island list that way it comes through to me and I can get one of these recorded for you. In there, put a bio so that we get to know you a little bit more and of course put in your reasons for your selections. The more of them we get, the more of these we can record. We're getting a steady stream of them now. So thank you so much if you've taken the time to put your list together. I'm really enjoying going through them. So keep them coming. Now let's get on today's episode. So

Convention Prank And Luke’s Backstory

SPEAKER_01 1:35

there's gonna need to be a little bit of pretext to this. So you're gonna need to know a little bit first. Luke was at the Alakazam convention, and during the day we had a fun game where we basically hid prizes around the cinema. Now, this would have been any member of the team, so it would have been Taylor, Mikhaila, Emma, Jenny, any one of us was hiding things around the cinema and we were filming it. And then during the day we were dropping the videos online, and then people could find the prizes. The problem was Luke was finding prizes that didn't exist a lot of the time because we were sending him to places where there were no prizes. We were being super mean, we were being super crafty. Uh, but I'm not sure if he actually did find one. I believe he did find one eventually, but that's gonna give you a little bit of context. So even when you come to the convention next year, if we do it again, we may be even more crafty. So let's get into his list. So he says, I was at the Alakazam convention trying to find a hidden prize, and Jamie gave me the runaround, much to his amusement. There you go. Now you understand that comment. He also says, I got into magic again in 2009 after having a childhood obsession, but never really having got the right tricks. After seeing Andy Nyman's name on Darren Brown's credits, I then googled his tricks and found Dead of Night. What followed was a hefty amount spent on magic, and I haven't looked back. I mean, if there's anyone who's gonna get you back into magic, Andy Nyman is a good way to go. He is, you know, someone who I've always admired and looked up to. I believe his DVD set, Get Nyman, is one of the best DVD sets ever created. It's lasted the test of time, and I can't tell you how many times I've watched those DVDs from beginning to end. They're absolutely phenomenal. He's got some great effects out as well. Dice Man, the Hidden Killer Elite Pro, absolute heavy hitters. But it does make me wonder if Luke's list is gonna be heavily mentalism, because he mentioned obviously Darren Brown and Andy Nyman. So maybe this is gonna go down a mentalism route. Let's find out. So

Mentalism Picks 1 To 3

SPEAKER_01 3:50

in position one, Luke has put Dead of Night by Andy Nyman. This routine has three stages, each more impossible than the last. It has a five to six minute routine, and before each reveal happens, it's foreshadowed and then delivered. It's not been available to buy for several years, and I don't want to overuse it in case it's not on the market again. I managed to get the Joker signed by Andy himself, which makes it even more special. So this is a brilliant choice in at number one. Now, Dead of Night may be one of the effects that people don't know as well from Andy Nyman. I believe it has been out of the market for a decent amount of time. I also believe that there are plans to bring it back in the very near future. So keep an eye out for it. But it's a wonderful trick where, in true Andy Nyman fashion, the method is super clever, super simple, and requires very little of the performer, meaning, of course, they could just focus on the delivery of the effect and the presentation, which is what Andy does so brilliantly. So it's a great effect in at number one, and considering this is the one that you said kind of brought you back into Magic, I'm glad it's on your list. So let's go to number two, Loco Logo by Banachek. I made up this set after watching it on his Psy Series Volume 1 DVD. I haven't come across anyone else who's made up the set of cards, so to perform it feels very special. It's a fantastic prediction trick. An envelope is shown with one prediction in it, envelope is not gimmicked, the spectator is given a free choice of any logo, and the outcome is predicted. The funny moves are done when the heat should be on, but it flies past the spectators. So we've gone in with a Bannercheck trick. Now, Bannerchek is another one of my favorite performers. If you haven't seen his Penguin lecture, go and see it. It's absolutely brilliant, it's worth its weight in gold. He's a wonderful performer, and I believe that this was like a corporate thing where uh there were different logos on cards. It's a brilliant effect, and you know, Banachek is someone that, if you're into your mentalism, 100% just go and check out his books, go check out his lectures. He's a wonderful performer. He was actually at our hotel this year at Blackpool and I geeked out. I saw him across the room. I did not approach him. I was far too intimidated because he is the Banachek, uh, but he is a wonderful performer, and maybe one day we can get him on the podcast. I think he'd be a great guest to have. So let's go to number three. We've got ES Perfect by Peter Nardi. Easily the trick I've done the most. It's been in my wallet for years. It's one of the first tricks I ever brought when I got properly into magic in 2009. A spectator and magician match ESP cards. When the spectator gives his selection, not only does it match, but they realise any other cards would have been blank. Every time it floors the spectators. I think that everyone should have an ESP routine. It's one of those things that we think as magicians, spectators will be a bit bored about by it. I think we're a bit jaded by, you know, the idea of there's these symbols and they were used at Duke University, and you know, they were used to test for ESP extra, you know, is it tends to be the same script that a lot of us use, but I think that the spectators and the audiences find it quite interesting and quite fascinating, especially because sometimes it's quite nice in your performance to put a story or a context that people can go and research. You know, this is something that people can go and Google, they can find out about it if they want to explore it more, and it just gives some validity to what you're doing. And you know, a blank ending to any effect is always super, super strong. Uh, of course, we have uh Martin Pierce's The Test, which also has that kind of blank card ending. And when we were performing at Blackpool, the reactions were absolutely phenomenal. So, you know, any blank deck ending is always a great way to go. But I would point out that that's the third mentalism trick. So three out of three. So maybe this is going to be a mentalism set. Let's go to number four.

Psychological Mind Reading With Numbers

SPEAKER_01 8:14

Luke said number transfer by Darren Brown. Part of Darren's reminiscence trick involves a thought of number being transmitted to a second participant. I combine this with PK touches and have a 7 slash 8 minute effect. It truly flaws everyone, and it's the trick that I've been asked about the most. I like what you've done there, Luke. You've been crafty because you've just snuck two tricks in. I was actually talking to a magician last night saying, I quite like it when people hack, so to speak, the list and find ways to sneak things in. But you've created a mini routine there, which is two effects. You've snuck PK touches in there as well. And I'm not gonna go on about PK touches. We've spoken about it so often on this podcast. I would be really interested to know as well is is this a stage routine for you or is this a close-up routine? So I think that would be a really interesting question to ask you in a follow-up. Let's go to number five. Screen test by Steve Dimmer. When Alakazam first released this, and I had no idea of the method, I haven't seen one like this before. In this routine, a participant gets a stack of movie card and chooses one without the magician seeing. They read out the list of movies from the back, and something in their voice gives away what the film is. It can be repeated and there are multiple phases. This is one that I remember seeing as well, Luke, and I just like you was absolutely blown away. I'd never seen anything like it at the time. And what I love, and you know, we're talking about um Darren Brown and and Andy Nyman, and often they reference this phosph so this idea of giving something to the audience. Whether that is, you know, I just need to hold your palm. When I hold your palm, something gives uh you give subtle clues away in the way that you're moving, like muscle reading basically, or you know, uh just look at me in the eyes and say out the alphabet, something in your voice is going to give it away. Just something that the audience can go, ah, that's how he's doing it. And this is a perfect example of that. You can really dress this up like you are psychologically influencing them or listening to something in their voice, you know. It's uh a brilliant trick. We've spoken as well on the podcast about movie theme tricks. If you've never done one before, one thing that you'll notice is it always creates a conversation. As soon as you go through films and you say which ones you like and which ones you don't like, everyone has an opinion. It's a really interesting thing. People will often go, oh my god, you've not seen that one. It's a classic. How have you not seen it? etc. etc. So it's always a great thing to latch on to. Uh, any film-based trick is absolutely brilliant, and screen test is a great choice there,

Q&A Tools And A Strong Finale

SPEAKER_01 11:12

Luke. Let's go to number six, Mark Shortland Amaze Box. This can lead to an amazing QA set. This is what I use for all stage performances, is innocent looking and genius. Do you know what? When we started the podcast, I really thought the amaze box was going to be used more. I think it's become a classic prop now, and one that many, many people have. I was actually talking to Emilio earlier, and I actually told him about it because he's not heard of it before, and I said I have several of them because I don't want to get to a stage where they're not manufactured anymore, and I don't have a copy of it because I think it's an absolute dynamite prop. There are so many ways you can use it, it's completely hands-off, it's completely baffling. I think it's about as clean as you can get for a QA set as well. Of course, when you're thinking about QA, there are several ways that you can use the amaze box, but you got to think all of your audience put a piece of paper in. You then open up the box and empty those billets into a glass bowl, which is on stage. And then if you understand what's going on with the amaze box, you then know that you'll be able to know what's on the slips of paper in the glass bowl, so to speak. Of course, we're skirting around what's really going on there, but most people know the amaze box and knows what it does. So it's a great choice in at number six. Number seven, the code by Andy Nyman. Oh, another Andy Nyman trick. Using this amazing deck, you can get the spectator to read your mind. You say you will think of a card and they will select it. They're always correct. You can also show incredible card counting uh skills, it's a real utility, easy to learn and devastating to perform. I'm gonna admit something here. This is one of the only Andy Diamond tricks I've never purchased. In fact, if it's in the shop, I will actually buy a copy. I will buy a copy this week and I will try it out and learn it because I love Andy's stuff. I have everything else that he's put out but this. Uh, and I know a lot of versions of this kind of came out after, but I know a lot of people still prefer Andy's version. I'm not sure whether it just had just the right amount of the thing needed. Whereas I think there were versions after which kind of maybe they overdid it with with other ones, but you know, it's it's down to your preference, really. They're all tools, I guess. But Luke, I will buy this thanks to you, um, and I will check it out. So thank you for reminding me about it. So, Luke, your final one, of course, at this point we know that it's going to be a mentalism piece. This is a full mentalism set with Dead of Night by Andy Nyman, uh, loco logo by Banachek, ES Perfect by Peter Nardi, number transfer by Darren Brown with a sneaky PK touches in there, screen test by Steve Dimmer, Mark Shortland, a maze box, the code by Andy Nyman, and in your final position we have The Sixth Sense by Hugo Shelley. What a trick. I performed this at weddings, and it's such a simple direct trick. I won a magic competition performing this trick, and I think it's such a strong opener. It's hard to beat. Amazing. So this is a really interesting one because uh you know the sixth sense witch hand was one of the first versions of this that ever existed, and obviously there are subsequent versions of Sixth Sense gimmick that allow you to do it, but then after that, obviously other people started to bring out different versions of this kind of gimmick as well. So I think it's great that you're still performing it. I would love to know how you perform it. So lots of people have come up with different ways of doing witch hand routines. Uh, anyone that saw Colin Cloud on America's Got Talent several years ago now, he had a brilliant way of forcing the outcome to different things as well. So I think there are different ways that you can present this. Do you just do this as like a witch hand? Do you predict which hands are gonna be in there on a piece of paper beforehand? You know, whether you're gonna win or you're gonna lose. It would be really interesting, but it's a great way to close out your list.

Banishment And A Well-Earned Apology

SPEAKER_01 15:51

Let's go to your banishment now. I read just the first two words and I absolutely freaked out. Okay, so Luke's banishment, Jamie Doors. Okay, he didn't just stop there. He said, Jamie Doors for giving me the runaround at the convention. There we go. So, um yeah, sorry about that. Uh my bad.

The Book Choice And Sharpies

SPEAKER_01 16:20

Let's go on to your book, Nyman's Bulletproof, or the book Pete Anardi hasn't yet written but needs to. Look, I think we're all in the same boat. We've asked Pete to do it. Whether he ever will is a different thing. Several people have been on to him and have even said that they will write things for him and that he just needs to dictate, but that we're still not there. I hope it does happen one day. But your choice of bulletproof is brilliant. Anyone that didn't know this book, it came out several years ago now, and it was a limited edition, and it came with all the props in it. So uh I'm not sure if it was for every routine, but certainly for a good number of the routines that were in there. And that was the first time that I saw his matchstick effect. Uh, I think it was a matchstick, and effectively they would sign a matchstick, it would be dropped into a massive bowl of matchsticks, and somehow you can just retrieve it. Um, it's a brilliant, brilliant book. If you can find a copy, they go for an awful, awful lot of money now. And you know, I'm not sure how often they come up. If you are a member of the Magic Circle, they actually have a reference version of this. So you can go and see the book and have a flick through it in the actual Magic Circle library. So that's a great way to see if you ever get the chance to go. Let's go to your non-magic item, an assortment of coloured sharpies. Now, Luke hasn't given us a reason for that. It may just be that he likes colouring things in, and that's gonna be his pastime on his island, or maybe he has a more magical use for it. But either way, we're gonna let you take a huge assortment of coloured sharpies with you, and I think it's a great way to close out your list. He actually closes his list by saying, They are my choices, and I'm sticking with them. So there we go. Thank you so much, Luke, for uh sending this in and taking the time to write it down. I think it's a brilliant mentalism set, and hopefully we'll see you at the convention next year, and we can give you a runaround again. Uh, if you want one of these recorded for you, please send in your list to sales atalakazan.co.uk. Put in the subject line my desert island list that way it comes through to me, and I can get one recorded to you. I know I keep saying it, but the more of these we get, the more we can do. And I really do enjoy going through these, researching the tricks, and getting these episodes recorded because I think it's so interesting to see what people around the world are doing. So we're gonna be back next week with another episode. But until then, have a great week. Goodbye.

Custom Printed Cards Sponsor Spot

SPEAKER_00 19:03

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