Latest / The Magic Guys / James Diamond time travelling Magician #209

Transcript

James Diamond time travelling Magician #209 · The Magic Guys

0:01
They're guys they do magic they are the magic guys.
0:09
Oh ladies and gentlemen welcome to episode 209
0:13
of the magic guys to my left we've got nick k welcome to the show friends and
0:18
to my right i have the amazing josh nabito who's high and dry uh thank you my
0:24
friend yes we uh we did have some weird cyclone-age uh here in brisbane Australia.
0:30
My fellow Australian podcast listeners will know all about that, but we're fine.
0:35
Look, the studio is still here and all things are all well.
0:39
It's nothing like a Doug Conn cyclone because that's who I went to the moment
0:44
I knew we might have an issue here in Brisbane. We haven't had one here in 50 years.
0:48
So I hit up Daddy Doug and I'm like, Doug, give me the 411. What am I in four.
0:54
I sent him the info and he's like, oh yeah, a hundred kilometer winds.
0:58
You're fine. We normally just have a party when it's a work shutdown for that kind of cyclone.
1:03
Yeah. He actually said, oh, wait till this category three, then get back to
1:06
me. But he did have really good advice. Things like fill up the bathtub with water.
1:11
So you have fresh water and have reserves and so forth. So thank you,
1:15
Daddy Doug, for the good advice.
1:16
Unfortunately, he is not joining us on this episode this week because he's currently
1:20
in transit he's as you guys know he's making the big move to vegas and basically
1:25
doing the last of his bits going from new orleans all the way to vegas so he
1:28
should be joining us very soon poor guy's been flat out trying to organize everything.
1:33
He was saying how fun it's going to be to travel with the three
1:36
cats uh stuck in a car for several hours across the
1:38
country so when all those exploits are done i'm sure
1:41
he'll tell us all about it but in the meantime we've got someone else
1:44
to come and join us on today's episode yeah and
1:48
unlike yeah tell us about i guess unlike doug
1:51
this guy has so much hair and so
1:54
you know he's really going to put him to shame on that front
1:57
but this guy look i've been a professional magician now in brisbane for i don't
2:04
know over a decade and although i've never met this gentleman in person i've
2:09
always seen him on the forefront of events and gigs in his hometown in perth in Australia,
2:16
which is just on the other side of the country.
2:19
And both myself and Nick have chatted with this guy a lot, but he's just like
2:25
sort of head down doing his thing, just owning that part of Australia.
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This is a rare time that we all are free to actually chat and catch up in person.
2:35
So get ready to hear some professional tips and some interesting stories,
2:40
no doubt. I can't wait to hear what gig stories are like in Perth.
2:45
So, ladies and gentlemen, please help me in welcoming the magician and occasional
2:50
time traveller, James Diamonds.
2:55
I don't know. You took me on. In Perth.
3:00
I think, Josh, I was joking before, it's been a while of us trying to put this
3:03
together. I think I was saying Nick before, I think we've loosely discussed
3:06
that for a good three years, perhaps.
3:08
And then life gets in the way. And I keep saying, I think you've sent me that
3:12
calendar invite nine times. I think after nine, which is good.
3:16
Well, it's good to have you, buddy. So for those who don't know who you are,
3:19
James, for those that don't know who you are, buddy, please tell us who you are. Tell us what you do.
3:23
Yes, I'm James Diamond. I'm a Perth-based magician.
3:27
I've been doing this professionally for about 15, 16 years,
3:33
and yeah, that's it it's a small pool
3:36
here but it's a rewarding pool it's a great pool and without getting all kind
3:41
of soppy and cliche it's just the people I've been able to meet along the way
3:45
and the doors that this has opened and everything that goes with it it's incredible
3:50
I couldn't see things any other way it's the best we're just so lucky to be doing what we're doing,
3:55
Well, one of the things we should probably explain to the visitors here as far
3:58
as locale goes, Perth is a very different place, I feel, compared to most other places in Australia.
4:04
There is, let's just say, there's almost like a semi-very big abundance of wealth
4:08
because there is such a large portion of it as well as the mining industry and so forth.
4:13
The cash flow game there is very interesting.
4:17
Perth in itself, as far as a city goes, is quite large, but not a very tall
4:21
city. Like the tallest building you have is like six stories,
4:24
but it's long and vast and wide.
4:27
So it's a very interesting town. And I'm curious, in a town that's built like
4:33
that, which is so beautiful, it's kind of by the east.
4:38
Yes. No, west. West of Australia.
4:40
It is in Western Australia. It's by the shore. It's beautiful.
4:44
It's sunny. The weather is fantastic.
4:47
It's almost like the sister of Queensland in a sense.
4:51
You know like as far as climate goes minus the
4:54
cyclones what's it like navigating through that
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realm what clientele do you perform for and what do you enjoy like most as far
5:03
as all the gigs go yeah yeah so funnily enough there was you know like everyone
5:06
else we're slogging it out we're doing our thing we're grinding over years and
5:10
you don't really have your niche you're doing everything from the 18th to the
5:13
70th to the library show to the whatever yeah.
5:17
Every time a magician comes to our club, our WOSM, the West Australian Society
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of Magicians, for me, it's never about the tricks.
5:23
It's chatting to them afterwards and getting those little nuggets of info that,
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you know, help get to that next level.
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And one of them just said, you just can't be the best at every demographic.
5:34
You just, eventually, you have to maybe focus fire.
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And for me, that happened maybe, it was just prior COVID.
5:43
In the grand scheme of 15 years, I'm talking only five years ago,
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I had an event for a certain plastic surgeon in Perth.
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I haven't gone there, but he exists. Well, you look great.
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This webcam, everything looks good in 720p bitrate on this laptop.
6:01
It was the first event I had to sign an NDA for. It was a pretty big deal.
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Anyway, long story short, but none of my stories are short.
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So I got to this event and it was clearly all the wealthiest of wealthiest of
6:14
Perth, all the personalities, all the kind of, and by luck, maybe,
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it was just such a well-received gig.
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Like for the first time ever, I'm not reaching out to people.
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They're all just adding me the next day on Instagram or just like, it was big, you know.
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As I'm leaving the party, one of the wealthiest of wealthiest people in Perth
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rocks up with his Miss Universe kind of fiancé.
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And everyone had already seen something. And I'm like, oh, what do I?
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And she's like, oh, you've got to show them something.
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She had her hand on her other hand kind of on her lap. And I'm like,
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well, let's just do a quick little ring flight. And then I'm on my way out now.
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And she lifts up her hand. And this nugget was so big.
6:54
It's basically because half the building's in Perth, you know.
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So I was just like, I freaked out.
7:00
And I've got another ring flight story later. But I freaked out.
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But I'm just like, I have to do it now. because everybody's filming.
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There's just TV names here. Everyone's here. This is the place.
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We're on a rooftop overlook.
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It's just, it's insane. Like the views are insane. Everything's, this is the moment now.
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I've done the ring flight. Everybody loved it. Next day, just the amount of
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story shares and Insta ads and everyone's just like, you know,
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they referred to me as the big man loved it yesterday.
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And I was just like, long story short, that became the niche. That became the angle.
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And so my niche is kind of, you know, kind of in and around what they call the
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golden triangle of Perth, which is like along the water, the very kind of,
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you know, high disposable income. And it's got its benefits.
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I mean, you're not back and forthing on price and having to prove your worth and they're not...
7:48
It's there's meat on the bone it's actually and that and
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that just became my so that organically just because
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of one event kind of has become my niche
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now so i'm very happy to you know
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again it just we're a small pool i refer that the events that
8:02
aren't quite my fit and likewise you know
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fellow magicians that i'm close with pierre so
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on they do the same and it's just that that's become my niche now it's
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just the kind of the kind of personality kind of
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the launch parties the brand launches the the billionaire
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parties that's that's become the thing and it's i guess
8:22
in a way the marketing and the branding has slowly adjusted in the last four
8:26
or five years to adapt to that i will say that's one of the strongest things
8:30
you have as far as a performer goes you are someone that our agency omegan and
8:35
and i've put a few things through over the years that we've we've known each
8:38
other and funny enough this is the first time i've actually had a proper hangout,
8:42
Because I've only ever known you by reputation, and it's because your marketing
8:46
really does solidify the strength you are as a person.
8:51
Through what knowledge are you so good at this? How did you learn to be so good
8:55
at this marketing realm?
8:56
Yeah, I mean, look, I don't actually think I am good at it, but I did have a
9:00
previous role doing some marketing work in other industries. That kind of helped.
9:05
And I think one of the big things was the very first, whilst in the Society
9:08
of Intervention, the very first meeting I went to, was because Oz Perlman was
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attending. This was in 2006.
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Hell yeah. I had been lurking the society for years like a creep from afar and
9:20
then – because it was really far from home from where I was living at the time.
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Oz came. I joined the society that month.
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Long story short, I caught up with Oz afterwards. I had the benefit of driving
9:32
Oz to the hotel and airport.
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That's just like, man, I couldn't believe it.
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Those moments were invaluable. They really are.
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And the big thing I asked him in the car was, you know, I just said to him,
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like, you're in your most isolated city right now in Perth, but you come from
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a city with 30 million people.
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Like, there must just be magicians on every block. I know you've got more population,
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but you've also got more of you.
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And it's just how do you stand out in a city of 30 million people?
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And his big thing was you have to have them love the magician before they love
10:00
the magic, and that all comes down to marketing. It's all landing. Best advice.
10:05
Best advice. Yes. Best one.
10:09
Even back then like young 24 year old james was
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like it's true in a way like because we hate
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to admit it sometimes perhaps but to a lot of people there's no
10:19
difference between us and maybe getting a plumber or an electrician or or anything
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else it's just like they go to google there's 12 on the maps or 15 on the maps
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or whatever it is for that area and they just start they just start texting
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and it's just a price game or it's just a whatever game so eventually you know
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and pricing Seems a whole separate thing, but like...
10:39
I never do Google sponsored posts. I never do Google. I never do Instagram.
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I never sponsor my posts or go for Google AdWords. I don't even worry about
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the SEO because that's what people are looking for a magician.
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Yeah. And based on what Oz told me, it's like, you don't want people looking for a magician.
10:53
You want people looking for, oh, you know, you always say that to me.
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And I'm like, oh, man, this is, but it's true.
10:58
It's just like, because if you're looking for a magician, that's going to be
11:00
a hard sell because my quote's probably going to be, it's just, it's just tough.
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It's just everyone's doing their own thing and that's okay. But it's,
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it's a really tough game to win.
11:07
But if you've already got them in, you're there. you know
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definitely you know the way i sort of word it and i'm happy to
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say like i would love to know your thoughts on this josh like my mentality is
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like you can get a cover band you
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can get someone who sings songs but if
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you want pink you have to hire pink
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if you want bruno mars if you want britney
11:27
spears there is no there's no substitute like if
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you want a singer we'll get you a singer no problem if
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you want nick k there's only one if you
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want to there's only josh nabito but if you
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want a magician then there's a
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price that does kind of reflect that which is not always about
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the money but it's just one of those things you need to sort of keep in mind
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you can price yourself at a point like if you want a magician i'm a magician
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here's my magician price point if you want josh nabito i'm josh nabito here
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is my price point way up here so it's that type of thing josh what do you don't
12:02
do you think there's a lot of strength in that Oh, of course.
12:05
I mean, two things come to mind. Number one is I was just reading this book.
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I think it's The Diary of a CEO, Stephen Bartlett's latest book.
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And he basically says like, people want the best...
12:18
Service for what they can afford so if their
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budget is whatever or they the other problem
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we have as magicians is no one knows like there's no
12:27
framework for what a magician is or an hourly rate so they
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just kind of pick an amount they think is what they would pay for a magician
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and then they just try to find a magician like the best one at that price and
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then so that's where like our problems start because they're just looking for
12:45
someone who has the title of a magician and fits within, you know,
12:49
that price they've just made up in their head that maybe has the most Google reviews.
12:54
And so that's where that game that we're all talking about doesn't really work
12:57
for us that have been in the game for a long time.
13:00
The other thing I'm reminded of is in one of Steve Collins books,
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he says, if you want to get the $20,000 gigs,
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you'll never get them if you can't let go of the two thousand dollar
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gigs yeah it's big which is
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i mean twenty thousand dollar gigs come on that's insane but
13:19
but but the principle the principle of it yeah
13:22
absolutely if you can't let go of that game you're
13:25
not going to get to the the real game and so
13:28
yeah it's it's it's tough absolutely you
13:32
have to sell the person right let me throw this out there boys
13:35
let me throw this out there how many okay just
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just take a quick mental reference of what the experiences were
13:40
like for your personal enjoyment for entertaining a group the group that you
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were charging 600 bucks or a thousand bucks for versus the ones you were charging
13:49
three thousand dollars for i don't sometimes i think we could for me i'll speak
13:56
only on my behalf a three thousand dollar gig doesn't make it better than a six hundred dollar gig.
14:01
Usually, they're a better client to deal with, first of all,
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and typically, they enjoy the magic better because there's a more perceived
14:09
value of what's going on as well.
14:12
I think the perceived value and the perceived worth is a big,
14:17
because they've put more, I mean, you look at the ultra elite and the wealthy,
14:22
like their Rolex doesn't actually tell the time better than my iPhone.
14:27
And for day-to-day use, the Ferrari in the garage isn't that much better than
14:30
my 15-year-old Beaver and Selper, but it's that perceived, you know, so it's just like, yeah.
14:37
I mean, they'll talk you up to the clients when you come in and you arrive at
14:41
the house because they've paid that outlay, you know.
14:46
Do they enjoy it more? Did they actually enjoy it more than the person who spent
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$500 on a midweek last-minute filler job?
14:54
Not necessarily but the
14:58
perceived you know is a pretty big it's
15:02
all perception it's all yeah I think
15:04
it's it's the same reason why there's a
15:08
clip of David Blaine performing ambitious card to Jeff Bezos yeah and he's losing
15:13
his mind because it's David it's um David Blaine performing ambitious card as
15:20
opposed to the million other magicians they could have had in that room doing it Yeah.
15:25
And I just had something else on my brain as you were talking,
15:29
James, and now it's gone from my head. So I'm going to wait for that to pop back in.
15:34
Another one that's become quite big, and this is actually just only happened
15:37
in the last few months, which is really strange.
15:39
You know, I remember listening to a lecture from John Archer and he said,
15:43
you should be able to put all your props away and just talk to people for five minutes.
15:47
And if they're still hanging on every word you say, that's when you've made
15:51
it. Long story short, the last few months, not many, at least maybe five or
15:57
six in the last five months,
16:00
they've paid me to just be there because I'm James and we're not even doing
16:03
magic. And that's a great spot.
16:05
I had a rooftop party for, you know, I won't mention names because Perth's tiny.
16:09
There's only nine people that live here.
16:11
But we had a rooftop party for a certain person that had about 250,000 followers on Insta.
16:18
And we changed it up that night. That night, I'm just there as James.
16:21
I'm still dressed in black, but not necessarily the velvet blazer and the whole
16:25
thing. Just well-dressed.
16:27
I'm literally just there talking and networking for about, an hour,
16:30
an hour and a half, which is what they paid for.
16:32
And then I just said to him, at one point in the night, because I know all your
16:36
people there have all got hundreds of thousands of followers,
16:39
it's just that little niche of Perth, I said, we're going to do one spot that
16:43
makes it look impromptu,
16:45
but this is the moment that everyone's going to come and film. And so we had everybody.
16:49
It was honestly, it was the most simplest thing ever.
16:52
It was invisible deck, but I've got it in a sealed bag. I've got certain jokes
16:57
I won't get into which work with that crowd.
16:59
I had someone ring someone up who's on the other side of Australia to get the
17:03
card detail, like name the card and this and that. Everybody's pulled out their phone and filmed.
17:08
And that was the moment. And the guy whose birthday was just nodded.
17:11
He was just like, when I left, he's just like, dude, that's exactly what I wanted
17:16
to not like. And that's it.
17:18
So you're there for an hour. You're literally just networking.
17:21
You're not even there being like trick boy.
17:23
You're like, that extreme bird. And he's like, just, you just sit back.
17:26
Like, I've got a glass of drink in my hand. I don't even drink,
17:30
but I'm just there trying to look cool.
17:31
I'm just holding that the whole time, chatting, and then one trick,
17:35
and that's it. We've been doing that a little bit lately, and that's been quite good.
17:38
It's just that whole thing of like, again, it's not the magician now.
17:41
It's just a brand. It's just like...
17:44
People say, oh, are you performing tonight? And I'll say, I mean,
17:47
not officially, but we'll see how it goes, you know.
17:49
And then they're waiting for it. They're waiting. And then you wait for the right moment.
17:53
The DJ's kind of turning their music down a little bit and you just create what
17:57
they think is, I shouldn't even be doing this right now, but should we just
18:01
try something real quick before I go?
18:02
And everyone's, hey, guys, can you pull your phones out for a second?
18:05
Everyone's pulling their phones out. I think we've done like a group Toxic as well.
18:09
And that's it. And it's just, and I give the birthday boy a big hug,
18:12
shake his hand and just leave on that high note just leave you
18:15
know and that's that's the moment that's what they paid for
18:17
you know so you've made it exclusive like an
18:21
exclusive moment that they shouldn't have seen almost yeah
18:24
you know and I think that perception thing as well is it's like sometimes
18:28
it goes the other way I felt bad the other day I had I had someone ring
18:31
up for a birthday and it's just
18:34
like oh James look I know it's probably not the type of event you do it's
18:37
probably not and I'm thinking you know it actually is but i
18:41
just don't brand that you know because work leads
18:44
to work and so even if i did do a public show at the library that's not going
18:48
to make the wall because that's not jump pushing but but it's a bit hard when
18:53
you hear it sometimes you know you hear them oh it's probably it's probably
18:55
not in your league or it's probably just a little thing but you think no that
18:58
there's still people that there's still everyone's like it's not even that it's
19:02
just sometimes maybe the.
19:05
You know, but again, work leads to work, you know. So it's just like that branding
19:08
is that look. But, yeah, for every glitzy kind of personality party you see
19:12
on Insta, hey, don't get me wrong.
19:13
We've got to eat food. We've got to pay our mortgage. There's still two or three
19:17
on the back burner that you're in the little, the windy little alfresco area
19:20
like an hour from Perth in the backyard and the music's loud and it's dark and
19:25
the dogs walk around everywhere.
19:26
And, you know, people are stopping you're ambitious to pat the dog.
19:29
And, you know, we're still doing that.
19:32
Yeah. Was there a, was it a conscious choice to, in amongst your branding,
19:38
to not have video of your work?
19:41
Is that part of the birth analogy, as you call it?
19:45
Yeah, it's two things. One is, look, one is I just don't have that much material,
19:50
especially in the close-up. It's like the same eight tricks again and again.
19:53
You know, the Parlour stuff's got its own stuff as well.
19:57
But sometimes when you put the video there, it's just you ruin that element of surprise, perhaps.
20:02
Or perhaps ideas might get lifted or borrowed perhaps or just a number of things.
20:09
I just thought, you know what, less is more sometimes.
20:13
Just keep it to a minimal. I mean, it's sort of as played. I mean,
20:17
I'm on obviously the other extreme.
20:19
I'm putting out somewhat too much video, but it definitely works in your realm
20:25
because I guess if those people that want to feel exclusive, feel elite or whatever,
20:31
people can only see what you do if they come to your
20:34
their party and see james they can't look
20:37
up your show anywhere else yes super interesting yeah
20:40
does that ever put you in spots where
20:44
you don't have work for a while because there just aren't those parties happening
20:47
but like you know the other magician game is running yeah things definitely
20:53
come in waves and especially in winter in perth everyone just uh stays home
20:58
and watches netflix and youtube and I get it,
21:01
you then have to take on work you normally wouldn't take on.
21:04
And it's as simple as that.
21:06
Whether it's a residency, whether it's whatever it is, you know,
21:10
and there's nothing wrong with residences.
21:11
I still believe, you know, I was telling some of the guys here,
21:13
like Pierre, like Paul, Robbie, back in the day, we all said,
21:19
like any new person that joins society here, I always, all the young guys,
21:24
you know, I was telling like Dom and all these guys, I say, I actually believe
21:27
everybody should do a six-month residency, even if it's like free.
21:32
Just load the ropes because it's invaluable.
21:37
Like I've lucked out a little bit. I've got a beachfront. It's called the Left
21:41
Bank down in Fremantle, like palm trees looking over the water,
21:44
incredible, awesome aesthetic.
21:46
You know, I do it at a really cheap rate, but it's invaluable to bring in new
21:51
material, to keep the chops fresh. Like, you have to have, like,
21:55
just working that noisy environment, hearing people that are a little bit on the drink.
21:59
It's just a numbers game. You do that thing a hundred times, you can...
22:03
Yeah. There is a question here with regards to price point from Tim Askin,
22:07
and it says, do you only put half the effort in for cheaper shows?
22:12
No, absolutely not. Absolutely not.
22:15
No. Absolutely not. Yeah.
22:17
We just switched to the queen slipper cards. That's all. Instead of the symbols.
22:21
Yeah. It's just little things like that that I tend to make an adjustment for. I have several suits.
22:26
I might wear an older suit as opposed to
22:29
one of my more newer suits because every time i perform at 36
22:31
in dry cleaning for example i might go i might
22:35
you know i might not wear the tailored pants i might just put chino pants on
22:37
instead you don't have to worry about the dry cleaning bill
22:40
like there's my there's little things like that that i might do but ultimately as
22:43
far as what i give i pretty much give.
22:46
It my all and i might i might save a couple of things
22:49
that do require a bit of effort there are some effects that you do
22:51
that do cost you money to perform it might be like
22:54
it might be something like like a perishable like
22:57
a card that you have to tear up and destroy or or give
23:00
something away you might save those for the higher end
23:03
stuff i i've mentioned this in podcast prior
23:06
i say to people when i give them the price i say here
23:09
is my normal robe or my premium robe is
23:13
what it's interesting a little bit more for you sort
23:16
of cut out the premium stuff is is what i
23:19
would do but just always keep
23:22
in mind that no matter what the price point is every performance is
23:25
an audition pro tip wow that's good
23:29
yeah 100% yeah 100% you're
23:31
always there auditioning as to
23:34
why you should be booked again or by someone else yes there
23:38
I mean that's the name of our game right yeah the other thing is and the other
23:41
thing that's real quick is that you not that it should matter but you at that
23:45
500 gig there might be that 500 gig might be best mates for the ceo of the 500
23:51
million dollar oil and gas company Yeah. And he's there as well.
23:56
Yeah. And so. And then he'll want to book you for the 500 bucks as well. Yeah.
24:03
Yeah. 500 yen, even going further. But yeah, it's just never.
24:09
And every show, you just give it your all because you just don't.
24:13
But there's ways to cut elsewhere. Like you said, some of the stuff that's perishable.
24:18
I've been doing Revive a lot lately. I don't remember like Revive,
24:20
Illusionist Revive, which is like a stapled, torn and restored. That then – Ooh, fancy.
24:25
Yeah. It's such – the gimmicks – you make the gimmicks yourself,
24:28
but they're so time-consuming.
24:32
You've literally got to like peel the cards, then you get a Stanley card,
24:36
you're scraping the pulp off the cards. Yeah.
24:40
You put that – You can do this thing.
24:44
I nearly had a heart attack because the shoebox that I have scraped maybe like
24:49
a year's worth of pulp into nearly tipped onto the carpet the other day. But that's okay.
24:55
Long story short, those things take so long to make.
24:58
So whether it's a financial gimmick like a cube in bottle or whether it's a
25:01
time gimmick, you know, on the cheap ones you go, we might not do that tonight.
25:05
We might just go for cards. It might just be ambitious and invisible.
25:09
For phones, it might be this, this, this. For the palace stuff.
25:11
And, you know, because likewise, in terms of the energy and the effort I put
25:18
in, it's still 100%. Strong material is strong material.
25:22
That's the most important lesson about that. It doesn't always have to be perishable, you know.
25:28
Now, we talked a couple of weeks ago, James, about the importance of following
25:33
your clients back on social media.
25:35
Because it's not normally been a thing that you would keep in contact like that,
25:41
you know, normally separated by an agent or by emails or they would just follow you.
25:46
But it sounds like you've definitely gone down that path, like you're pretty
25:50
in touch with. You have to. Yeah.
25:53
It's a little bit like, you know, back then I was just like,
25:56
I spent months designing a business card, you know, months overanalyzing every font.
26:02
You know, even Canvas said, dude, you must pick now. Just save that pen year for it. You're done.
26:09
And then I realized it's not about giving the business card.
26:11
It's about getting one back, you know, because if I give that card.
26:16
It might go on the fridge.
26:17
It might go in the door seal in the car and the next car clean, that goes into the bin.
26:21
It might, anyway, like it's, I realized the real importance was sometimes I
26:26
literally just go, actually, I've got no, I've actually run out of cards.
26:29
So have you got a, and sometimes I'll joke and say, my last show was really
26:32
popular. I've run out of cards.
26:34
Have you got a card by the way? And the real thing is, and of course these days,
26:37
that's maybe been replaced with Insta.
26:38
It's like hey you know are you on insta the whole
26:41
point there is that it's not just you know
26:44
it's one thing for them to follow me or have my card but there's
26:48
an art in very delicately being top of mind by sprinkling stuff back their way
26:55
you know it's not it's just a simple like of a photo and wow looks great that's
27:01
it you know a month later they're down at a winery they're over in Tasmania,
27:06
awesome, looks so good, super jealous, you know, or, you know,
27:10
might have to time travel my way over there. It's just a super light sprinkle.
27:14
It just, before you know it, you know, it's just how it is.
27:18
It's just the amount of times I then get a DM, like, hey, actually I was just
27:21
talking to my hubby, we were just talking about the other, like,
27:24
it's that, it's so crucial.
27:27
It's the new email marketing list. Yeah, yep, yep.
27:32
To me it's just like, and look, I still do my MailChimp, I still do that every
27:35
month and you check this and then, but it's just that.
27:40
And not to come across as salesy, I mean, as soon as there's that whiff of desperation
27:44
or he's trying to sell something or he's trying to spruik his thing,
27:48
literally just show interest in people.
27:51
You know, if you want to go further down that rabbit hole, I've got notes.
27:54
I mean, on your contacts, on your phone, every contact, you can go to the notes
27:59
section of that contact. Put those notes in, you know.
28:03
Last we spoke, he said he was looking to get a new boat. It's not here till
28:05
November. His daughter has just started playing for the local whatever team.
28:10
Because you see them again you just dial it up you're like it's they're
28:13
talking points they're points of interest it's it's makes
28:16
all the difference you know it's and and
28:19
just never push just so as far as
28:22
it goes is if i see they've got an event coming up i wind it
28:25
up a little bit more like if i see them like oh we're planning whatever whatever
28:28
then you can wind up a little bit more and like you know you know as a time
28:33
traveler i've looked to the future turns out it was great having me there but
28:36
um message me so you know kind of and the amount of time it's and they'll just
28:41
chime in oh and how much was it again refresh my memory and you're just like hey
28:44
and that's it it's just an in but yeah it's so crucial to follow back respect that these people.
28:50
They're still professionals they're busy we're just a magician
28:53
at the end of the day don't overstep your mark don't keep sliding into dms
28:56
and sending reels and trying to be be a friend just
28:59
but a short little just just
29:02
tap it in something if i'm ever at a cafe or whatever
29:05
whatever i always stop and make sure i say hi and you know just just let that
29:11
happen it's so it's so crucial to well that's that's like we said before the
29:14
difference between being james diamond and being a magician like they want james
29:17
diamond there because james diamond is the type of guy that'll just call and
29:21
say how's it going or drop into a cafe to be like i was just passing through?
29:25
I had two minutes. You good? Good. Yeah, look, I'll come by for a proper dinner
29:29
sometime. We'll catch up then, but hope you're well. Yeah, it's a proper thing sometime.
29:32
Glad to hear the shop's doing well. Glad to hear this. And that's it.
29:35
Just leave it and then move on. But yeah, it's really crucial. We're so lucky with...
29:40
I sometimes wonder, like, magicians in the 90s. They had it real good. How are they doing it?
29:47
Outside of that ad in the yellow pages, what was going on?
29:50
They had it so good back in the 90s. I can say that much.
29:54
Oh, I've heard the stories. Anyone who's hung out with the Duck Camerons,
29:58
the Tim Ellisers, or the, what's his name, Phil Cassers of the world. The Holy Grail.
30:04
I hear so much about Expo 88. I keep hearing so much about that era,
30:11
how much they made back when that was happening.
30:14
They used to print money. Like, it's just, oh, they had it so good.
30:18
And cats was a thing, you know, cocaine was a thing. Like, it was just nuts, you know?
30:25
There is a question here in the chat, my friend. The question is,
30:29
why is he the time-traveling magician?
30:34
Most things, it just kind of came organically, you know?
30:37
So as a quick side note, like even the hair thing, the hair thing became a joke
30:42
because I was at a party about 12 years ago and the hair was nowhere near this height.
30:47
It was just like a little kind of like 2008 kind of tin tin kind of special,
30:51
just that little bit of, well, that little ledge. Yeah.
30:54
And we're at this party and I made something disappear and I said,
30:57
nothing on my hands, nothing in my hands, nothing under my watch, nothing up my sleeves.
31:01
More importantly, my hands haven't left your sight. You know, that was the thing.
31:04
And then this kind of, I guess you'd call him a boomer before we knew they were
31:07
boomers, kind of just said, it's probably in your hair, mate.
31:11
And everybody laughed and not even just laughed, like a real boomery belly laugh.
31:17
Like this guy, it was like the, can you make my wife disappear version 2.0?
31:23
Like, it was just like everybody loved him saying that.
31:26
And I thought, so again, it's just like, you know, when you get a funny line
31:28
from a spectator, you're like, how do I fish for that end without making it
31:32
looking like I'm fishing for that?
31:34
You do it the way Shen Lim does, where he constantly puts his hand through his
31:37
head. Yeah, those wide fingers. Yeah.
31:40
This way of saying nothing in my hair, nothing in my hair. Yeah, yeah.
31:45
So, for example, that's how that was born, you know. So, it got a little bit
31:48
higher, got a little bit more, you know, it's obviously not a full thing now.
31:51
And when I do the handshake, I go, nothing on my hands, I keep them here, so it's framed.
31:56
And eventually people, I mean, now it's a bit on the nose now.
31:59
It's the cats out of the bag. They know that's a thing.
32:01
You know, you get to an event, like, oh, the hair's looking.
32:02
You know, it's just become a joke. It's a running joke.
32:05
And so the time travel was similar. It was just like, I was at an event and
32:09
someone said, it was back when
32:11
every third magician was predicting lotto numbers and I was one of them.
32:15
And there was a phase there where there were so many magicians predicting lotto
32:18
numbers that we could have actually technically won the lotto by now.
32:20
One of us should have actually won it organically. That's a lot of numbers.
32:25
And then again, someone came up, came up on like a parlor show thing,
32:29
about 40, 50 people and someone came up and the person who came up,
32:32
this was back in the old CUPP days, the old, you know, we're waiting for that
32:35
ticket to print and stressing out if it doesn't print and someone came up and said something like,
32:41
oh, like, something like, I can't remember where it was but someone like,
32:45
you just time travelled back and da-da-da.
32:48
And again, it's not even funny but, Everyone laughed at that. And I'm like, okay.
32:52
And so the ongoing running gag, which I close most routines with is,
32:57
you know, so the whole thing of like, you know, I don't normally get into this,
33:00
but I'll be honest, out of all the groups this month, you're by far the most recent.
33:04
Here's the thing. I'm not even actually a magician. It's a front for tax.
33:07
What I am is I'm actually a time traveler.
33:09
And I just, that's just become a thing, you know, it's just become a thing.
33:13
So it's just. It's really nice.
33:15
Yeah. And then you've got things with like, so when I do Revive, for example.
33:20
I have a line where I say, you know, as a time-travelling magician,
33:22
not only can I travel back in time, but I can actually pause and rewind time
33:26
right in front of your eyes. It looks like this.
33:28
And that's when I restore. So it gives you, you know, same thing with the group.
33:33
Toxic, there's ways to – you just shoehorn.
33:36
So when I do toxic, for example, you know, I say, you know, as a time-traveller,
33:40
blah, blah, blah, I say, you know, numbers are endless.
33:42
They're like the stars in the universe. You could count forever, you'd get nowhere.
33:45
And time, even as a time-traveller, time goes so far back that we didn't even
33:49
know when it truly started.
33:50
And so if you think of it in that book, and so you've got all these moments,
33:53
you're just shoehorning that. And then when it gets a bit heavy,
33:56
then you go back to a joke.
33:58
The time, it's just a nice little side avenue.
34:01
It kind of rope, same with ambitious. It's got this thing about time.
34:05
Every trick, you know, but it's just based on someone coming up when I've done
34:09
a lot of prediction and someone says something about the time travel.
34:11
Like, you could just be a time traveler and make millions. And I'm like, that's great.
34:15
Like, we'll use that, you know?
34:18
Yeah. I mean, it's just such a, we all want to believe in time travel too.
34:22
Like it's such a great concept.
34:24
Also helps people anchor to remember who you are. Like who's that,
34:28
you know, that time traveler guy.
34:30
Yeah. And the business card has that. It's actually says magician and time traveler,
34:34
you know, and that's the amount of people, by the way, that are like,
34:38
oh, it actually says time traveler.
34:40
I'm thinking, turns out I can get whatever I want printed on those cards.
34:43
No Yeah, yeah. But, yeah, both of those things derived from,
34:48
they weren't technically my idea. They were just someone.
34:50
But, again, even with the hair thing, it was just like, I only do this because
34:54
I can't grow one of these, by the way. I've been growing that stubble for about nine years.
34:58
Must be nice. Must be nice.
35:02
I would do anything for a beard. But something's just like, someone come up
35:08
with the idea and I'll just take it.
35:09
I remember, again, even just describing people, no one remembers who we are.
35:13
Oh we had a magician oh who was it sometimes when i go
35:16
oh we had a magician two years ago actually oh who and you know
35:19
eventually fish out oh i had a bit of a french accent oh it's pierre i was
35:22
a really tall guy ah robbie or you know you can kind of but
35:25
again this is really this is this is
35:28
really fascinating like i've i've really
35:31
been discovering that as well like we at the
35:34
theater of magic will have repeat customers
35:38
and sometimes i'm like oh
35:41
i i remember that couple i like they
35:44
were in my video for example so i'm like okay i'm gonna change up this this
35:48
and this and it it happened one particular day and i was like this this was
35:53
like a month ago i was like so happy with myself i'm like okay great i've changed
35:56
like 60 of the show and when they got here i'm like hey guys, how are you?
36:01
Welcome back, blah, blah, blah. And she's like, oh yeah, you're funny.
36:04
You did the cheese trick last time. I'm like, nope, that wasn't me.
36:09
That was the amazing Nigel.
36:11
What? They're like, yeah, we loved you. I'm like, oh, cool, cool.
36:14
What do you remember? Like, what was your favorite thing? And they're like...
36:18
Oh it was so good you my phone vanished I'm like nope that was Nick I'm like
36:26
oh I didn't have to change a thing like yeah they,
36:31
liked the magic but they yeah they don't remember they,
36:36
remember how you made them feel right that's the important thing but they could
36:41
not by the way how awkward is it when someone's like you arrive to an event
36:45
they're like oh don't you yeah we had we had him we've seen him before
36:48
We had him before, so he's brilliant. You're thinking, she wasn't me.
36:52
And then you're like, do I agree with how brilliant I supposedly was?
36:57
Or do I just cop up and go, actually, it was something like that?
37:00
It's a weird thing, man. I've done that before.
37:01
They're like, yeah, we had you two years ago. And you're thinking,
37:05
no, it was literally, it was Robbie.
37:07
But I'll, you know, all of a sudden my posture is really good.
37:10
I'm trying to pretend I'm Robbie and trying to be tall.
37:12
But you're just like, no, it's just not me. And so, although we blow their minds
37:18
in the moment, like they, we have to stay on top of mind with them.
37:24
Like we have to get their business card. We have to follow them because they
37:27
aren't going to remember, oh, let's get Josh again.
37:31
Because they might even. The other thing is where you can cheekily throw.
37:35
So obviously you've got the time traveler thing and then the hair thing.
37:37
But then sometimes you just blatantly throw your name in the gig.
37:40
So, for example, when I do the mine, yours, the mystery, you know.
37:44
Jamie Raven and, you know, basically just some double-sided Tybuck envelopes.
37:49
And it's, you know, just, but when I do the, like, one envelope says mine,
37:52
the next envelope says yours, the next person, you know, got the question mark.
37:57
When I get to that point, I say, so the first envelope's called mine,
38:01
you know, would your $5 be in the envelope called mine?
38:03
After all, it's mine, you know, or is it in the one called yours?
38:06
Even though it's mine, I hand on how it wanted to be yours. But when I get to
38:08
that third envelope, I say, well, perhaps would it be in the third envelope,
38:12
the mysterious James Diamond patent pending envelope of mystery.
38:16
And again, but every time I introduce that envelope, which is about eight times
38:20
in the routine, it's the James Diamond patent pending envelope,
38:24
you know, because it's that naming thing.
38:26
You know, when I do ambitious card, I say, you know, by the way,
38:29
guys, I hear the whispers, the murmurs, the chit chat.
38:31
People say, James, I bet you got trick cards or James, you got duplicates or
38:35
James, I can't believe we're in your 40s. your hair's so thick.
38:38
But again, it's just like, that's the gag. But the idea is I've said James four
38:41
times. You know, there's this little...
38:44
There's this little thing you can do to make sure your name,
38:46
it's still not going to mean anything, like it might not convert,
38:49
but it's just where you can throw that name in your patter.
38:54
Even on stage, like I like to have, whenever I'm writing on something,
38:57
it's branded on the back and it'll say Nick K.
38:59
So that as I'm writing, I'm actually holding up something that has my name on
39:03
it and then I turn it around for the revelation.
39:05
So little things like that where your name can be seen as much as possible is good.
39:10
I have thought about doing, this is purely a thought, Because we have these
39:14
residences here that we perform in like four times a week. A name tag.
39:19
I feel like it's almost semi-degrading. I've thought about it.
39:23
It was in Jamie Allen's book, The Approach.
39:27
And great book. Great book. That was just like, when I flew back to Magic Live,
39:32
I literally read the whole book twice in the plane.
39:34
I was just like, this is just a bit, you know.
39:37
And some little nuggets there. He recommended getting, like, those event lanyards.
39:42
With literally just having like
39:45
with your photo like or or
39:48
not whatever you want to but just like james diamond magician and just
39:51
having that and it's just like the idea as well so it gave you a
39:53
bit of like a vip kind of like for people
39:56
that had like i think one of these things a lot of people with i remember
39:59
simon coronal had the best thing when he just said roving's tough
40:02
sometimes because we're basically just professional interrupters yeah
40:05
and that can be tough so when you got that lanyard it's
40:08
just like i'm not just some dude who's walking up to the little table
40:12
of three like that's my in but indirectly
40:15
like you're saying because it's like but it's also just got your name on there the whole
40:18
times everybody you know and you bring the height up to
40:21
like chest height you've got this your name's there for a whole hour you know
40:25
god damn it that's so good that's so good and also credit to jackson aces i
40:31
saw he was just doing that over the last uh december period too so i'm not going
40:36
to pretend like this is the first time i'm hearing of it but,
40:39
But I still have never done it.
40:41
But at corporate events, like, God damn it, that is so smart. Yeah, yeah.
40:46
Yeah, yep.
40:49
Wow. Are you working with agents as well or mainly directly?
40:53
I am, yeah. So we've got a few here in Perth.
40:58
I think ultimately, the really big events always have, the agents will always
41:03
have their place, like getting the big ones together, the really big ones.
41:08
Perth's got a bit of a FIFO scene as well, where people go to mine sites and do bits and that.
41:13
Not really my jam, but I'm probably going to be part of my plan for next year
41:18
is to start doing those, just to keep the quiet season of work not so quiet.
41:23
But I think in general, again, with social media, people just reach out direct.
41:29
They just, it's a 24-7 business card. It's your highlight reel of all your best stuff.
41:35
And it's, yeah, the agents always have their place, especially around Christmas.
41:39
They just fill those gaps, don't they? They're just kind of like,
41:42
you do your own, and then you're like, hey, Samsung, quick party here.
41:45
And then, da-da-da, yeah, KPMG. They just fill these gaps. And you're like, this is great.
41:49
But I do wonder if maybe the writing's on the wall, perhaps.
41:55
Maybe like in five years or ten.
41:59
Things are changing all the time. And I wonder if, short of the big,
42:03
big ones, like the casino and the big stuff, the big, like Rio's got their big
42:07
whatever, whatever, maybe.
42:09
But I think. Well, I think AI is going to mess with a lot of this kind of stuff.
42:16
Like you know a lot of agencies are already automated right it's like an automated
42:22
directory like crowd pleaser or bark there's there's a car there's one flare
42:27
all this yep it's all automated,
42:28
and you know there's no human interaction so like why even use them right because
42:35
they're not really helping you just they just put all the people you could have
42:38
found on the internet sort of into a smaller place but you know.
42:43
Already people are talking to their phones to look
42:46
up stuff and it's such a
42:49
short jump before they're just like you know i don't want to say my phone's
42:54
name because it's going to pop off but like hey phone show me five magicians
42:58
in brisbane and it's going to go boop boop boop boop this one has this many
43:02
reviews here's their instagram would you like to call them like that's it and then.
43:07
Game over you're probably saying would you like me to send a
43:10
message to all five who compare their prices and you're like oh okay
43:13
yeah yeah it's getting that way so yeah i
43:16
think like you can already obsolete they'll
43:19
get shake the tree will get shaken quite a bit with how they
43:22
with how they handle going forward yeah i think i
43:25
mean and we don't know what will happen in that essence
43:28
but the thing that will make them valuable again is if
43:31
they are a human helping another human
43:34
back to that human element yep yeah because i
43:37
can already ask chat gbt i mean i do it selfishly all
43:41
the time to see what comes up like show me
43:43
the top three magicians in brisbane i just want to see what it
43:46
shows up with or in australia or in the world or right
43:50
and it already gives you that list straight away and
43:53
that's just going to happen you know more and more yeah all
43:56
right i'm i'm so intrigued to hear
44:00
some gig stories about perth time traveling magic we'll all sort of share one
44:06
as well but let me let me uh introduce the segment yeah great so gig stories
44:12
is a segment of the show where we talk about performances either from our day-to-day
44:15
life or whilst doing events starting this week with our good guest james diamond.
44:21
I've got a recent one that happened, and it's best I don't use names because
44:28
every single person in WA wouldn't
44:33
know who this person is, and I'll just leave it at that. Ooh, okay.
44:35
The nature of the beast, every single person would know who this is.
44:39
Anyway, so I'm at an apartment launch for a certain company that does all these
44:44
big apartment complexes, and I see this person from afar near the pool area.
44:49
So we were doing a launch party it was a two night party one was for the residents,
44:54
who bought who bought and the next one was for all the people that help invest
44:58
and get this off the ground and so on and I saw that a certain person and I'm like,
45:04
okay they have to see something I don't I never I never,
45:08
just broach them and start putting magic in their face they're not there for
45:11
that but I just I always just go to the group next to them and start doing something
45:14
so go to the group next to them,
45:17
do something and then straight away he's turned around, and it's just like,
45:21
oh, you're a magician. I said, hey, nice to, you know.
45:25
Anyway, we've done one trick, and he really liked it. It was extreme burn for
45:29
those playing along, and that was good.
45:31
And then we done another trick, which was ambitious, and he goes,
45:36
all right, go on then, go one more. And I thought, okay.
45:40
I'm prepping the ring flight in my back pocket. I'm pulling that clasp,
45:44
and I always triple check the clasp nonchalantly just to, by the way,
45:49
I've had, yeah, when ring fright snaps, it's debilitating, but we're all ready to go.
45:56
I borrow his ring. I vanish his ring.
46:00
Now, because of who this person is, there's maybe about 30 people around us
46:06
with their phones filming.
46:08
So this was just in like November. There's about 30 people that are all filming
46:12
because of this person. Everybody knows who he is.
46:17
I vanish it and that was fine and i brought it back and
46:20
that was fine and then i do the next phase in the
46:23
wallet in the sealed envelope with the jol wallet and the bonzalopes and all
46:26
that stuff and i give him back the ring and i said an absolute pleasure you
46:31
know until next time you know which is my kind of thing and then he looks me
46:36
in the eye and he goes that was bloody brilliant.
46:42
But it's but that's not my ring though and you know first you laugh it off because,
46:47
sometimes like when you know sometimes you do invisible deck and
46:51
you you'll be like and is that your card and like no i'm kidding it was never
46:55
in cheers or you know what were you thinking of was that your drawing no yes
46:59
it was never laughs and so i just laughed and i said oh yeah if only and i give
47:03
him back the ring again and then kind of just grit my my wrist and said,
47:10
no no that's not my ring and so it just kind of went in slow-mo went look i
47:15
just i felt the room go quiet and by the way it has gone a little bit quiet
47:19
now because everyone's like what,
47:21
and then the lady he was with said listen here darling i'm not sure what you're
47:28
trying to pull here but we're not leaving until he gets his ring back this point
47:35
it just you know when the tone changes.
47:37
It's like witnessing a fight or a brawl. You know, it just happens.
47:41
You go gradually, then suddenly. There's always that thing, gradually,
47:43
gradually, then suddenly.
47:44
It just, it just turned. It just, the night turned. And I said, hey, in all due respect.
47:52
I don't carry like 15 rings, wallets, and mobile phones on the hope that it
47:57
matches one of the two and a half million people that live in Perth.
48:00
I can assure you that's your ring. There's no duplicates.
48:04
Anyway, the way it got really weird was when I'm looking at the ring again. I'm like, wait a minute.
48:09
It's engraved on the inside. There's initials here.
48:12
And I said to him, but it's engraved.
48:15
And then this is when I realized that perhaps maybe they're on on some special
48:21
vitamins or something where I just looked me in the eye and he said but you've
48:25
only showed me it's engraved now,
48:28
I don't know if it was engraved before and just with a straight face like this is like.
48:34
Wow yeah at this point security's come and the security guys I always here's
48:42
a little pro tip I always show someone to security on the way in.
48:46
Great idea. You need to get them on side later on. And so there was one of these
48:51
huge guys who was loving this site.
48:52
No, no, he'd done this last night. It was killer.
48:56
He's trying to defuse it, but this person still wouldn't believe it.
48:59
The owner of the whole company who does all this, he's come.
49:05
Thankfully, I'd done it to his wife the night before, also with the nuggets, all nuggets.
49:10
Anyway, everything left. They just left. I'm just like, I'm not sure what happened. They all left.
49:15
I'm literally now sitting down near the pool. I'm finished now,
49:19
but I'm just like distraught.
49:21
And then the guy who owns the whole company said, buddy, killer job tonight, just like last night.
49:27
I'm not sure what happened before. And he just said to me, at some point,
49:30
I won't mention his name, we'll wake up tomorrow morning and say,
49:33
of course, that's my bloody week. And we left it at that.
49:37
Anyway, next day, I've got a birthday party. And this is where the story wraps
49:40
up. I've got a birthday party the next day. I do a little thing now with the birthday card.
49:46
In the greeting of the birthday card, I put a couple of the forces and outcomes
49:49
from the show. So it's just like, here's the thing with the money.
49:51
The money starts to extreme burn.
49:53
And then in the car, I ran out of birthday cards. I've gone to the newsagent
49:56
the next day. And that person's there.
50:00
And yeah, and I just said, hey, how's things?
50:05
And I just said, still got your ring?
50:10
And he left the newsagent so quick that the girl working at the newsagent was
50:15
like, Like, oh, sir, you haven't taken your – he just walked out and left. Wow.
50:22
I've since seen him at another party, and it's water under the bridge and everything's
50:26
fine. But boy, oh, boy, like I had security come.
50:29
I had the hot – and then 30 people. I'm just like, I've heard so small.
50:35
I just need like, you know, this will be the work in my favor.
50:37
I'll be like, you know, local magician, da-da-da. And then just – but no one
50:41
really – like a few people shared it, I didn't really, thankfully,
50:44
you know, there was no kind of TMZ soul expose, but it was so stressful.
50:50
I literally felt ill. Next day, I opened with Ringfly at that party because
50:55
I'm like, I need to, before the trauma sets in, you know, I've only just like,
51:01
I've only just read again. That took 14 years of trauma for when that's at.
51:05
I had to face the beast straight on, but yeah, it was so weird.
51:08
It was so weird. Wow. What a testament to how good your magic is,
51:13
that he just was convinced there's no possible way that that could be the same one.
51:20
I mean, yeah, if you look at that, it's pretty cool. All props to Dave Bontal
51:24
and all the stuff he puts together.
51:26
But yeah, it was just so freaky. It was so... And for the wife... It just shifted.
51:32
Just the room went silent. The bouncers came. Security came.
51:35
The owner of the car. It's just a lot. It's just...
51:38
Yeah, I was – maybe the first time I've been shaken up in maybe five years.
51:41
I'm literally just sitting down in a deck chair near the pool,
51:44
just like a little bit shaky as well.
51:47
Like you're running on that kind of – Adrenaline. Adrenaline,
51:49
yeah. It's really weird.
51:51
Adrenaline. I got into the car tonight. I'm like, what just happened tonight? Like what?
51:56
And thankfully it was at the end of the night. Like you know these people that
51:58
just come right at the end of the party, that kind of – because I don't know
52:02
if I'd be able to continue that gig. It's a lot.
52:05
So that's that one. That's my story. You literally, his ring was literally signed
52:10
and upon giving it to him, he still didn't.
52:15
And for the wife to get into it and be like, listen here, dear,
52:18
I don't know what you're playing at. Like, that's crazy. You know what?
52:23
Thank God that happened to you now in your career and not like at the start.
52:28
Cause imagine that happening to a newbie and they're like, oh my God,
52:31
anytime you borrow something, they're going to think that it's now a fake, a phony.
52:37
I spoke to a magician the other day, Toby, Toby Z, and his fringe show, he borrows the ring.
52:42
I think that's like the David Regal, like the three rings and that kind of thing.
52:46
He's finished his fringe show. Everyone's walking out of the tent.
52:49
This is fucking January.
52:51
And then she just said the same thing. Like, but that's not my ring though.
52:54
But it's a cool trick, but that's not my. And even her boyfriend was like, babe, like I'm short.
52:59
Like he was trying to just like pacify and she's like no no don't don't it's
53:05
it's not my and even toby was just like he's not doing it now he's just like
53:09
i need a break from rings it was just it's
53:11
i need to jump in i need to jump in for a second because i've experienced this before.
53:16
And i just i need to share this because i can't tell you many times i've done
53:20
something like a ring flight borrowed a ring whatever it might be and they go
53:23
that's not my ring and i just go oh it must be mine then and i just put it in
53:27
my pocket and they go no no no no no and immediately.
53:32
Immediately it flips on its head and i'm just wondering like why isn't anyone
53:36
else going oh it must be mine then i'll keep it and that's brilliant i i i hope
53:43
that i we shared a scary story if you approach it the nick k way which might
53:48
be the wrong way but i think that's the,
53:53
it's not mine oh it must be mine then I'll keep it and they go no no no no they'll
53:57
push back every time and shut on her that's great.
54:03
Love that it does happen as Josh mentioned earlier I do a thing where I vanish
54:08
a phone and I can't tell you how many times,
54:11
there's been a handful of times some which involve police reports where they've
54:15
gone he skimmed my phone like he skimmed my credit card,
54:21
And it's happened quite a few times. One time, I was just like,
54:24
yeah, good on you, mate. That was really good. Good. And I'm like, thanks.
54:28
And he was, nah, nah, good. Good on you. Like, I saw what you did there.
54:31
And I was like, thank you. And then he brought out his phone on the app and held up a phone.
54:38
And there was like an amount for like $68 and something cents.
54:41
And he was like, yeah, good on you. And I was like, I don't understand what you're saying.
54:46
And he was like, you skim like 60 bucks off me. And I'm like,
54:50
why would I skim $68 exactly?
54:54
I go, and when was this? And I'm like, this was three minutes ago when you ordered
55:02
the round of drinks at the Muppet.
55:08
I was just like, brother, careful what you say. One, you're going to ruin my
55:13
reputation. Number two, you're going to look really stupid.
55:15
So it depends how you want to do this. And he was just like,
55:18
yeah, yeah, no. and shut his mouth.
55:20
Another cat, like he was saying that like, oh, you know, there was suspicious
55:25
behavior on my credit card and I think that he did it and I was just like,
55:27
prove it, show me where it is, blah, wouldn't do it.
55:30
I lost three weeks of worth. I lost thousands of dollars.
55:33
Yep. And I was like, like we can't employ you until this like police report's
55:39
gone and I'm like, where's the report?
55:40
Where's the report? Find me the, get the police report right now.
55:43
I'll take it straight to my brother-in-law who's a detective and go,
55:46
all right, run what you need to run.
55:48
They were just talking crap the whole time. And then I said to him,
55:51
I go, FYI, it's been three weeks. I'm three grand in the hole.
55:54
If you don't produce what I want in the next three days, I'm going to sue you for loss of wages.
55:59
And now like, Oh, we never, we never said he did that. We never said that he
56:02
did that. We just thought he did.
56:04
We just thought he was like suspicious. And I was like.
56:08
I don't know what you think, bro, but this guy who's a bit like that,
56:15
oh, my gangster, what do you know?
56:16
I'm like, I'm not going to try and target someone wearing filler tracksuit pants
56:21
and go, oh, he must have some money. Let's try and scam him.
56:25
It's just funny that that's the outcome they're going with.
56:32
So the reason part goes like this, and if that's and that, and if that's and
56:37
that, and they go, And so the logical conclusion is you've skimmed $68 off that. Oh, bro.
56:43
I've been at gigs where the power went out and 200 eyes look at me like I did it.
56:49
Yeah. I mean, that's when you can take your credit. Yeah.
56:53
That's my final life. That's called Nick K's Lights Out. I'll see you guys next
56:56
time. You're really good. Yeah.
56:59
That's how I know my time's up. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. So, yeah.
57:03
So these things are going to happen, but yeah.
57:06
It's incredible. thing where you know you need the insurance and a lot of times
57:09
i take a ring and i'll go and you know so if it looks expensive i go is it less
57:13
than 20 million they go yeah good then i'm insured,
57:16
yeah yeah that's what i say you know what i mean and if they gotta go like well
57:20
he's a pro he knows what's going on blah blah blah and sometimes i actually
57:24
have a very very little knowledge of rings and i'll take it and i might say
57:27
something about i'm like you know the shape of this ring what it actually means
57:30
and they go no and i go oh if you wear it this way it means you found love If you're at the other way,
57:35
it means you're looking for love and like, you're serious. And I'm like, yeah.
57:38
And sometimes I just make the shit up. But the point is, so the point is,
57:44
is that like, I'm someone who knows rings and knows this and knows what wealth looks like.
57:51
And because I know wealth, I treat it with respect the same way that I would
57:55
look at a wealthy person's sports collection of watches and cars and go,
58:00
is that a nine 30 or is that the nine, nine six?
58:03
He's like, that's a nine, nine six. And I'm like, that's my dream car.
58:07
I go, can I just poke my head in? I go, sit in it. I don't want to sit in it.
58:11
I don't want to sit. It's pretty nice to sit in, but I would love to just poke
58:14
my head in. By the way, you make a really good point about...
58:18
Knowing it's really important to know just enough about all those things.
58:23
That can be a talking point when you're with those clients because that's what they're into.
58:27
It might not be my jam, but if they're into crypto and they're into investments
58:31
and they're into trading and they're into, then, yeah, I'm going to start reading
58:35
up about lithium and I'm going to start reading up about whatever.
58:38
And I can't afford the Rolex, but I'm going to go, okay, so that's the Submariner
58:41
2 and it's just talking points.
58:44
Well, here's one last thing I'll share about the ring that that'll give
58:47
you some some safety as well when you
58:51
go to borrow a ring you say if anything
58:53
happens to it i'll gift you the keys to my car and then
58:57
i show the keys to my car and in the action of
59:00
putting it back in my pocket i hook up so the
59:02
notion is that i've set a precedent
59:05
now that if anything happens to your ring you take the keys to
59:08
my car and they go well that's a fair deal so there's an
59:11
exchange here of like yeah it's
59:14
my ring not my ring and the thing is they're so dumb they'll say
59:17
like when it's hanging back on the actual key chain itself they'll
59:20
go that's not my ring i go it must be mine then i'll just keep it no no no so
59:23
you've got all these yeah and if they say that's not my ring give me the keys
59:28
to your car you go take it it's 150 gimmick you go buy another one yeah you
59:34
know what i mean and thank you and keep the ring which is probably.
59:40
So those are little things you can do to combat the scariness of that and but
59:46
and As far as the presentation goes, it goes in full circle.
59:48
We should also point out for a magician listening to this, this is like the 0.005% of the time.
59:55
This is the 0.005%. Where there'll be this pressure moment.
59:59
Like that's just because James has done such a good job that this guy has just
1:00:04
believed that he's trying to steal his ring.
1:00:06
But that's not something you're really going to have to worry about.
1:00:10
But we bring it up because one day...
1:00:13
Happen 10 years later james it's been so great having you here thanks guys likewise this chat
1:00:20
we would have had we would have all had this exact same chat even
1:00:23
if we weren't live so we're just going to have to make
1:00:26
a point to have more of these because this is some real juicy stuff and thank
1:00:30
you so much for sharing a lot of except the way that you sort of operate and
1:00:33
things like that look you can find james everywhere but nowhere at the same
1:00:38
time his website is in the description of where you're listening to this podcast.
1:00:44
And we want to end with giving you the final word.
1:00:48
So I'm going to play a little stinger, scope out James's socials,
1:00:52
hire him for your personality party.
1:00:55
And we look forward to seeing you guys next week. We have another guest.
1:00:59
We'll announce him in a couple of days, but James, we're going to leave you
1:01:02
with The final word, let me play this and we'll see you guys next week.
1:01:07
The final word, not too much to say. Just, yeah, thanks for having me on.
1:01:11
Keep in touch on socials. I'm always happy to meet up with other magicians,
1:01:14
catch up, jam over DMs, share ideas. I think through sharing ideas is how we all grow.
1:01:20
Thanks for having me on and I hope we can do it again real soon.
1:01:24
Thanks for listening. It's time for us to disappear now. Disappear now.
1:01:30
But we'll see you again on the next episode of The Magic Guys.