The Magicians’ Podcast Network

Clips and highlights from the 3 weekly podcasts on The Magicians' Podcast Network. Subscribe now on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/7xg2q4upJTun4iXw0rPgIP?si=kqeoaY9URzivEjl0JclwPg Subscribe now on Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/channel/magicians-podcast-network/id6461308453

The Magicians' Podcast is back on a new feed as part of the Apple and Spotify subscription models: Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/channel/magicians-podcast-network/id6461308453 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/7xg2q4upJTun4iXw0rPgIP?si=kqeoaY9URzivEjl0JclwPg

The Magicians' Podcast is back on a new feed as part of the Apple and Spotify subscription models: Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/channel/magicians-podcast-network/id6461308453 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/7xg2q4upJTun4iXw0rPgIP?si=kqeoaY9URzivEjl0JclwPg

The first of our trio of interviews looking at the David Copperfield brand sees Richard sitting down with Homer Liwag, David's Co-Director. Homer has worked for David for nearly 25 years and he designs many of the stage props, lighting and video in the show. He grew up in Cincinnati, Ohio and is the son of an artist. Homer has an incredibly artistic eye which shines through in his magic and cinematography. In this interview Homer shares the story of how he went from a working close-up magician working in a themed magic restaurant to sitting on the stage in Las Vegas surrounded by all of David Copperfield's props in a matter of hours. Homer also gives us an amazing insight into one of the teams real secrets, their attention to detail.

One of the worlds greatest living magicians takes to the podcast hot seat to discuss his incredible life. Teller discusses in detail some of the duo's most famous pieces and also talks about how important chat shows were to their rise to fame. He also speaks candidly about their special relationship with the UK, how he feels about modern day Las Vegas and he also shares his thoughts on exposure and The Magic Circle. Also he faces the difficult talks of choosing some of his favourite acts who have appeared on Fool Us.

Mac King's contract at Harrah's on The Strip in Las Vegas began in January 2000, his show is the longest running magic show in a single venue in Las Vegas history. In this episode Mac tells us why he thinks he has had such a long uninterrupted run, he shares the techniques he uses to stay in the moment in every show despite the relentless repetition. He also talks about his friendship with Lance Burton and how two Las Vegas headliners came out of the same magic club in Louisville, Kentucky. Mac also talks about his deal with Harrahs and how his show survived the recession in 2008.

Las Vegas Headliner Nathan Burton takes to the hot seat for an insight into his longevity on The Strip with his comedy magic show. Nathan's show is rare for something so large in Las Vegas in that it is still to this day a family run business. He gives us an insight into the creation of two of his most famous illusions the toilet illusion and the microwave of death and also discusses his experience as a contestant on season one of America's Got Talent. He also discusses his first trip to Vegas, how the tiniest details can make the biggest difference to your show and how after many years of working non stop he is now finally finding the perfect balance of work, family and good health.

Wayne Dobson takes to the podcast hot seat to discuss his incredible rise to fame, his encounter with Tommy Cooper, the Royal Variety performance and his three TV series for ITV called A Kind of Magic. Wayne also talks candidly about the bitter blow his career took when he was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis at the peak of his run and why he decided to hide the diagnosis for as long as possible. He also gives us a sneak peak into his autobiography which is nearing completion and also shares one of his legendary practical joke stories.

Kevin Quantum is a Scottish magician from Edinburgh who was the subject of a Channel 4 documentary called Faking It. He was studying for a PHD in Physics when he was set the task of faking it as a magician in front of a panel of professionals. Kevin succeeded and was bitten by the magic bug deciding shortly after to put his PHD on hold and try a career as a professional magician. Initially he took the logical route into professional magic of performing close-up magic at corporate events and weddings however having the Edinburgh Fringe on his doorstep took him to the stage soon after. In this interview Kevin discusses why he thinks performing close-up magic was bad for his mental health, how he took his stage shows from Edinburgh to the Adelaide and Perth festivals in Australia and also discusses his passion project The Edinburgh International Magic Festival.

The BBC discovered Keelan Leyser’s talents at a young age, he was the subject of a documentary aged just 14 and was hotly tipped to win The Young Magician of the Year. In fact he didn’t make the final and in this interview he discusses how the hype around his talent at such a young age was a detriment to his progress. He went on to forge a career as a quick-change artist with his girlfriend Charlotte and in this interview gives an amazing insight into this corner of our industry that so few perform. He also discusses the difficulties of working with your partner and what he did when the bubble burst and the act stopped being booked. He also talks in detail about his new foray into technology and iPad magic and his recent move across the Atlantic to Las Vegas. Donate to the Anthony Owen Family Fund: https://www.gofundme.com/f/anthony-owen-family-fund

Gary and Paul (AKA The Twins) began their professional careers working as illusionists and spent many years working on cruise ships. They were once tipped to win BGT by Amanda Holden and in this episode explain why their involvement in the show fell through. After this they diversified their careers into supplying special effects to theatrical shows and pantomimes and have built up an incredible portfolio of enormous special effects that wow over 35 panto's each Christmas in the UK at the largest theatres including The London Palladium. Most interestingly they have also developed a practical and safe way of flying celebrities, double decker buses and a horse and carriage over the heads of the audience in the stalls, in this interview they provide a sneak peak into the development of this spectacular illusion. Also this week Richard talks to The 2019 Young Magician of the Year Adam Black minutes after he is awarded the title at The Magic Circle headquarters.

Tom Crosbie cut his teeth working for Rodney James Piper and Matt Wright at their venues on the continent. He is one of the lucky few young professional magicians who has very early in his career identified the perfect form of magic to suit his personality and appearance. In this episode Tom talks about his obsession with Rubik’s Cube magic, his recent foray into Cruise Ship gigs, his 3 years at Free Fringe in Edinburgh and why in August 2019 he will do his first paid show there.

Chris & Andreas Ehrlich take to the podcast hot seat eight days before their debut show in the UK at Wembley Arena in London. The Ehrlich Brothers are a sensation in Germany regularly selling out 10000 seat arenas twice a day with their incredible illusion show, in this interview they tell us what the audience can expect at Wembley. They also talk us through how they went from corporate event magicians to household names in their native land and how along that path they nearly sold one of their creations to David Copperfield. Also they provide us with an insight into the development of their incredible motorbike from iPad illusion, the appearing monster truck, bending railway tracks and perhaps their most innovative creation to date The Live Teleportation as well as the reason for their recent expansion into Europe. They also provide us with a sneak peak as to what audiences can expect from their new show coming in 2020 called Dream & Fly.

This week I speak to Troy, perhaps the coolest magician in the UK who has enjoyed success with two TV series on E4 and a Channel 4 television special. From the outside it all looks like a dream career, however Troy talks openly and honestly in this interview about the relentless comparison he gets with Dynamo and how he felt when the Channel 4 television special he put his heart and soul into ran into all sorts of problems beyond his control and was poorly received.

Paul Kieve takes to the podcast hot seat to share his incredible journey from performing conjuror to Broadway magic consultant. In this episode Paul explains how that transition took place and talks us through the amazing shows he has worked on including The Invisible Man, Matilda, Ghost The Musical and the ill fated Groundhog Day. Paul also discusses his friendship with David Copperfield and gives us an insight into what makes the great man tick.

Half of the famous double act Dick & Dom and the 1995 Young Magician of the Year takes to the podcast hot seat to share his journey through our weird and wonderful industry. Dominic discusses his obsessive dedication to winning competitions as a youngster, his dove act and his break onto television and how that led to his expulsion from The Magic Circle. Dominic also discusses why he fell out of love with magic and removed every trace of it from his life. He also discusses the double act that made him a house hold name with Dick and their huge hit show In Da Bungalow.

Andy Nyman returns to the hot seat to discuss his incredible career that continues to skyrocket since his first interview on The Magicians' Podcast back in 2015 (Ep 34). Andy discusses the last new Derren Brown Live show Miracle and also how surprisingly hard he, Derren and Andrew O' Connor found it to create a 'best of' show to take to New York for their US debut. Andy also discusses the journey of his play Ghost Stories from stage to the silver screen and his current role as the lead in Fiddler On The Roof which is about to transfer to the West End. He also discusses why he doesn't like tech magic tricks, the enormous egos of mentalists and also has quite the surprise planned for Richard.

With nearly 30 years of performing experience in the UK Close-Up Magic industry, Nigel Mead has had an amazing journey from performing at tables in TGI Friday's at gone midnight to onscreen TV magician and behind the scenes consultant on dozens of magic TV shows. In this episode he discusses the understated way in which he chooses to perform close-up magic, the TV shows Faking It and Tricked and the new wave of magicians trying to host corporate events. Also Alan Hudson gives a full and thorough review of the 2019 Blackpool Magic Convention.

Richard travels to Amsterdam to interview magic superstar Hans Klok to discuss his incredible life and career. Hans talks openly about his fathers early influences and why he fell in love with stage illusions as opposed to the other forms of magic. He also talks about his on stage assistants the incredible 'Divas of Magic' and how he really feels about them leaving his act to become magicians in their own right. Hans also talks about how he gained permission to perform the Blackstone floating lightbulb, his incredible West End show a few years ago and also what went wrong with his 2007 Las Vegas show with Pamela Anderson ahead of his return to the strip in the summer of 2019 with a brand new show.

This weeks guest is an international award winning magician, Greg Frewin sits down with Richard to discuss his amazing nightly magic show near Niagara Falls which features the largest illusions, spectacular dancers and also incredible tigers. He tells us what it's like to have the pressure of 70 employees to pay and 700 seats to fill every night. He also talks about competing at FISM and how he prepared for it, performing on The Paul Daniels TV series Secrets, NBC's The World's Greatest Magic and Penn & Teller: Fool Us. Greg also talks frankly about the way the world is changing and how having tigers in the show is becoming harder for the public to accept and how he is dealing with that change.