The Insider

To end the current season of the show, here's a very special round table discussion with Joshua Jay and the team that made Six Impossible Things, well, possible. Starring: Joshua Jay, Matt Szat, Jason Silberman, Kevin Kapinos and Cassandra Nemzer

FISM-winner Mortenn Christiansen joins us today to talk about, well, winning FISM, call backs, Danish things, and his upcoming appearance at The Session convention in London. At the time of writing this, there are less than 50 tickets left. If you want to come and see Mortenn's act, don't delay! https://www.vanishingincmagic.com/magic-conventions/the-session/

Craig and I continue our chat. We discuss his tricks, travelling back in time to meet Dai Vernon, and much more.

In an incredibly open and honest discussion, Craig talks about the mistakes he has made - and what he has learned from them.

Math genius Art Benjamin chats to us about magic squares, James Randi, what he'll be performing at The Session and even does a live trick on your host!

On this horribly sad day, we thought re-uploading this 2019 interview with Max would be a fitting thing to do. Let's remember what he gave us, not what we have lost.

Homer is back for part two. Come for the magic, but stay for the amazing iPhone photography tips, how to stand out, Homer's admiration of David Williamson, him tipping his restaurant act. What JJ Abrams said when he saw the show, what challenges him today, what he's teaching in his Masterclass and how he'll explain how to improve your lighting with no budget! And his favorite movie.

We're honored that Homer Liwag is giving his first ever lecture on Vanishing Inc. Masterclass in November. Homer was also kind enough to record this interview where we talk about pushing yourself, taking risks, lighting, David Copperfield and the CGI nature of his coin magic. As explained in the intro, you can buy Homer's Vanishing Inc. Masterclass for $75 here: https://www.vanishingincmagic.com/masterclass/homer-liwag-masterclass/ Or, if you want to save yourself $25, subscribe to VI Monthly and get all of Homer's lectures, plus access to VI Studio (our curated streaming library), plus free shipping with no minimum spend: https://www.vanishingincmagic.com/vanishing-inc-monthly/

Welcome back to part two of this fascinating chat with Pete McCabe. We talk in detail about character, comedy and more.

Pete McCabe, author of Scripting Magic 1&2 sits down to discuss, amongst other things, scripting magic! IKR! He also tackles head on people's biggest misconception about scripts in magic that will change the way you think about scripting forever.

Harry De Cruz has a fascinating story to tell already, and he is only about 14, or something annoying. Listen to tales of Dynamo, Edinburgh and his own journey to be a performer in his own right.

John and I chat about self-working tricks, his book recommendations and what is wrong and right with the state of magic today.

To celebrate the launch of 52 Explorations, Andi Gladwin remembers his friend, Jack Parker.

A fascinating chat with the incredible Richard Turner. Find out about how he got started, how he met The Professor, sessioning with Jennings, Cervon, Charlie Miller and more. We discuss practising, performing and of course, playing cards.

Kyle Purnell joins us to chat about creativity, his process for working, his new release, and we test how quickly the mythical George responds to email.

Welcome to part two of our amazing podcast with Marc Paul. We chat about the impact Covid had on his work and how he used it to his advantage creating brand new acts, that famous Parkinson appearance, mentalism things he would banish to Room 101 and more.

We chat about how Marc got started, the London scene in the 90s, his friendship with Andy Nyman, a very honest story about pretending to be a "real" psychic and what books he'd recommend.

Part Two of the amazing Andy Nyman. As with part one, there are swears, so parental guidance if listening around small children!

To start Rune Klan week, here's a revisit of the amazing live interview he kindly gave at The Session 2020. In it, he talks about creativity, tricks, and his show Barnløs, which we have just realised as a digital download: https://www.vanishingincmagic.com/stage-and-parlor-magic/barnlos/ We'll be doing The Insider live at The Session 2022. Who will be the guest? Come and be part of the live audience this July: https://www.vanishingincmagic.com/magic-conventions/the-session/

It's Andy Nyman! What else do you need to know? This is part one of two, and this is marked as explicit because there are plenty of swears in it. Do not listen if small kids are around!

Stephen and I discuss: Pitching Sven decks at Thorpe Park, how he met and started working with Derren Brown, their writing process, the history of Hector Chadwick book, Equivoque, what's the most useful piece of advice in the book, what from mentalism he'd put into Room 101, the three things he's most proud of and more. https://www.vanishingincmagic.com/mentalism/the-definitive-mental-mysteries-of-hector-chadwick/

Yigal very rarely does interviews, and we're honored he agreed to do our podcast. Come for the tips on thread work, stay for the insights into Spider Pen X, his beginnings and the real history of Loops. https://yigalmesika.com

Roberto Giobbi stops by to talk about Card College, note-keeping and so much more.

Justin Willman stops by to chat about Magic For Humans, people guessing methods on the internet, his mysterious twin brother and more.

What a treat! The producers of Fool Us drop by to talk about how the show started, what they are looking for in acts, how to apply and some incredible, specific advice on increasing your chances of selection. And here's how to apply: Final Call for season 9. Casting deadline Feb 28. Send submissions to fooluscasting@gmail.com Also some announcements and a little bit of behind the scenes on instagram - @ptfoolus And here are the submission guidelines: Submission guidelines: - Please submit a recording of your routine as you would perform it on our show. Unlisted links to vimeo or youtube are preferred. - We don't require a live audience or a stage, but record the video as if you were performing in front of Penn and Teller / or via remote to our studio. - Professional video is not necessary. Cell phone video is fine with clean picture and sound. - We love original magical acts with novel and clever methods and/or presentation. - Routines should be 3-5 minutes in length. - Videos should be unedited. - Please make sure we can see your face in the video, even for close up routines. - For close up/card tricks, be sure the camera is close enough to read the cards. - Send your trick to fooluscasting@gmail.com - Production May 2-11. - EXTENDED DEADLINE February 28, 2022

Vanishing Inc. Cofounder, Andi Gladwin was just on Fool Us. Join us for a special edition before the next season starts to go Inside Baseball for Andi's recent appearance on Penn and Teller's Fool Us. We chat about getting to America during a pandemic, mysterious George, practise, method, history and much more.

We're going to take a short break for a few weeks and come back in 2022 for Season Eight. You look after yourselves out there. And Happy Holidays.

John Graham joins me to discuss moving your show from close-up to stage or parlour in this fascinating chat.

Ahead of his upcoming appearance at The Session in a few weeks, I grab some Tobias Time to talk light, shadows, creativity, art and more. And as promised, here's the link to Josh's podcast: https://www.audioup.com/shows/howmagiciansthink

Oh my! Jeki and I talk about creativity in captivity, crafting, gimmicks, being married to a magician and more.

Jon Allen and I chat about his book, [Experience: The Magic Of Jon Allen](https://www.vanishingincmagic.com/stage-and-parlor-magic/experience-softback/), about creating magic, about solving problems and about how Jason Alexander was surprised he was good. Jon will be appearing at The Session 2022. Book your ticket here.

Dr Matt Pritchard is a scientist and a magician. In this very interesting chat, we discuss how to make magic more surprising, inclusion, delaying the how and prolonging the wow and of course, his amazing small scale illusions on social media. Matt wants more Instagram followers, so be sure to check him out at www.instagram.com/sciencemagician

David Copperfield has a new book out, written with Richard Wiseman and David Britland. And it is excellent. In this special, extended episode, David and Richard join me to chat about piracy, Houdin and technology, women in magic, Malini and methods to improve every aspect of your own magic. Order your copy of the book here: https://www.vanishingincmagic.com/magic-books/david-copperfields-history-of-magic/ --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/vi65/message

Mat and I chat about how to make intimate magic play on a big stage, creativity, luck, the college circuit and the story behind who really came up with the idea of Mel B's phone being in a seat cover! --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/vi65/message

Guinea pigs, the origin of The Cloak Of Invisibilty, and so much more. As promised, here's Mac King Part Two. Guinea pigs, the origin of The Cloak Of Invisibilty, how to move from a middle act to a headline slot, what Mac finds exciting about magic today and so much more. And here's the link for Josh's new podcast: How Magicians Think --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/vi65/message

I was never here... OK? --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/vi65/message

In part one of this interview, Mac discusses his early days at Mr Caufield's store and magic club, his new theater, who has been in the bear suit, making bits play for adults and kids, how to keep your show fresh, and changing up methods. --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/vi65/message

Ahead of his Masterclass: Live in October, Jason joins us to chat about prop bets, why winning all the time is OK, and more. Join us for his Masterclass: Live: https://www.vanishingincmagic.com/masterclass/ Or, for the same price, join VI+ and get his Masterclass, access to the new streaming library and free shipping with no minimum spend: https://www.vanishingincmagic.com/vanishing-inc-plus/ --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/vi65/message

Josh is back on the show to chat about Magifest and his new book, How Magicians Think. If you pre-order the book from us, you get an exclusive free deck of cards and a signed bookplate. At the time of writing this (9.13.21) there are just 50 of those decks left (out of 2,000). So act quickly! Pre-order here https://www.vanishingincmagic.com/magic-books/how-magicians-think/ --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/vi65/message

Christian joins us on episode two to talk about Switch One, Level One, jazz, prototyping and fooling the pants off Andy Nyman.

A fascinating start to season six. We discuss Dani's seemingly informal approach to performance, The Spanish School, a lesson from Juan, how to improve your force, the importance of copying your heroes, and what to expect from his upcoming Masterclass: Live which starts this Sunday. (September 5th, 2021). https://www.vanishingincmagic.com/masterclass/dani-daortiz-masterclass-live/

Welcome to part two of the interview with Jason England. We discuss Vernon's Fingerprint Trick, an amazing lesson for us all from Steve Forte, how to practise, how to improve your second deal and what he'll be covering during his month's residency for Masterclass: Live.

Jason England joins us to talk Erdnase, Ricky Jay, his amazing collection of gambling devices and the importance of lists. Part two next Monday. Jason's Masterclass: Live starts this Sunday, August 1st. If you want to learn from a master on how to do seconds, bottoms, crimps and shuffles and how to apply them to magic, you need to be part of this! You can just buy this month, but for the best pricing, you should subscribe. And with Dani DaOrtiz, Jason Ladanye, Kainoa Harbottle and Mike Piascotta coming up next, it's a no-brainer really. https://www.vanishingincmagic.com/masterclass/jason-england-masterclass-live/

Steve Cohen joins us for a second go on the podcast. Join us for a fascinating chat about starting up his show again, practise, Max Malini, why he doesn't do “big prop” tricks, and his rare, upcoming appearance at Magifest. And as promised, the link to the violin player he recommended is: https://www.anne-sophie-mutter.de

In the second part of this interview, we discuss hiding the moves you spend so long working on, how to make your magic better, stories about Gabi and tips from The Jerx.

I know, it's not a Monday, but this is a special treat! Here's an hour of Chris Kenner! Ahead of the start of his Masterclass: Live on Sunday July 4th, here's a special, hour-long episode of The Insider where I talk with Chris about why he doesn't do anything flashy anymore, why he thinks helping the youth is so important, how magicians dress, how movies influence his magic and what part he thinks storytelling has in magic. He also briefly touches on what he's going to be teaching this month in this rare chance to see him lecture. Get your ticket for the Masterclass: Live here: https://www.vanishingincmagic.com/masterclass/chris-kenner-masterclass-live

It's #TonyChangWeek Double VI Points on the downloads we'll be featuring on our socials on #MoveMonday, #TrickyTuesday and #FullPerformanceFriday. In this first part of the interview, we discuss why on earth he works so hard on perfection, the NYC magic scene and angles.

Derek and I continue our discussion about AGT, we discuss how to be funny and how to add humour to your magic and his pivot into virtual magic. Derek will be performing his virtual show for us on July 7th. Get your ticket here: https://www.vanishingincmagic.com/showtime/derek-hughes-vanishing-inc-showtime/

Derek Hughes and I have a great chat about acting and the hugely important lesson the learned from some young teenagers at a restaurant gig, connecting with an audience, scripting and how to make it feel like your show isn't really that scripted, advice from Eugene and AGT. This is part one of a two part interview. Tune in next Monday for more. Derek will be performing his virtual show as part of our Showtime series on July 7th. Book your ticket now: https://www.vanishingincmagic.com/showtime/derek-hughes-vanishing-inc-showtime/ Oh yes, and our Summer Sale is now on. Save 25% on almost every VI product: https://www.vanishingincmagic.com/sale

We talk about his new book, his philosphies about magic, continual refinement and improvement, what excites and concerns him about magic today, exploring potential, magicians he wished he'd had the chance to see. John's book is available exclusively from carneymagic.com

John Carney and I sit down to discuss old magic books, the advantages of doing sleights left-handed, John Ramsey, Charlie Miller and Mr Mysto. Part two will drop next Monday.