Latest / The Magic Guys / Mortenn Christiansen on Winning FISM Twice! and Crafting Magic #266
Transcript
- 0:00They're guys. They do magic. Magic. They are the Magic Guys.
- 0:10Ladies and gentlemen, step right up to the plate today. We have episode 266 of the Magic Guys.
- 0:18We're bringing it live. We're bringing it fast. And to my left, we have Mr. Nick K.
- 0:27That's right, friends. I'm Nick K. And that guy talking to you earlier was my
- 0:30good friend, Josh Nubitu.
- 0:33Oh, I went to hit that.
- 0:36This sound effect, but I like it. We're coming to you strong live from Australia.
- 0:41Doug is busy making bank at Trick Supply today, but it's okay because we have
- 0:45replaced him with a two-time FISM award winner, which we'll get to shortly.
- 0:50We're glad to see you guys in the chat as well. Feel free to,
- 0:54as always, if you're here live, drop your questions and we can control the conversation
- 0:59depending on what you want to actually hear about.
- 1:02Nick, your head's looking extra smooth today. How are you feeling?
- 1:06Feeling good, buddy. Got up early, did a workout, got all pumped and ready to
- 1:10rock out with today's guest.
- 1:12How are you doing? That's what I like to hear. You got, that's,
- 1:14you know what, clean, precise, I like it.
- 1:18I think there's no more to say other than what the people are actually here to see.
- 1:23What do you reckon we kick on? More importantly, it's who they're here to see.
- 1:27Because friends, our guest is returning for their second visit.
- 1:30Why have we allowed him to return for a second time?
- 1:33Because this cat has won another, not one, not three, well, not yet,
- 1:39but definitely two FISM Awards.
- 1:42Friends, he's one of the favorites of the pod and one of our most favorite people
- 1:45ever. We've had the pleasure of interviewing him before.
- 1:48He's got an amazing new product coming out. It's an amazing new deck shell.
- 1:51And we're here to talk all about it.
- 1:53So please welcome back our friend and yours, Mr. Morton Christensen.
- 2:12Woo! Woo! Woo!
- 2:17Morten Gridenson, welcome back to the show. For folks meeting you for the first
- 2:21time, please tell them who are you and what do you do?
- 2:25I do magic and I'm pretty good.
- 2:28And now you can say it. Now it's verified. It wasn't a fluke.
- 2:33If people don't know me, which would be most of them.
- 2:37Yeah, I've done a few competitions and it went well.
- 2:41And so if people care at all about fism
- 2:44then i'm pretty good and if they don't give
- 2:47a shit that makes sense it's actually
- 2:51funny because even when when morton and i first met we actually
- 2:54met at a it was penn and teller's show
- 2:57in vegas and with there was a whole bunch of vip seats and
- 3:00whatever else and so i'm walking past like all these other folks and then on
- 3:03a separate little couch by his loans and was morton and we had the pleasure
- 3:07of sitting next to him and i'm looking at this cat being like you look familiar
- 3:11dude and so i'm trying to strike up conversation and be polite and morton's
- 3:14just being like yeah i i do some magic like it wasn't even like yeah you know,
- 3:19and i'm like didn't you win fizz and he's like yeah and
- 3:23then yeah then we set up a friendship and he came into the podcast for the first
- 3:27time and now he's here back here for a second i think it's just very danish
- 3:30of me to be like yeah yeah i did something and yeah like yeah so in danish In
- 3:38Danish terms, is that actually considered bragging?
- 3:41Like if you actually admit to being semi-decent?
- 3:44Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Full on, you'll be like, okay, calm down, calm down.
- 3:49Yeah. Well, let's just take a quick second. Let's just take a quick second because
- 3:52we spoke about it before the pod.
- 3:55Let's just let people truly appreciate what the accolade means.
- 3:59So firstly, you are the first Dutchman to win a FISM award in how long?
- 4:06I'm the first magician to win FISM, first place at FISM twice in 40 years.
- 4:15So yeah, nobody has won FISM twice in 40 years. And then I am the first magician
- 4:20to win FISM back-to-back in two different categories, stage and close-up.
- 4:28And again, two first-place trophies. Everybody can get a trophy. You guys have a trophy.
- 4:33Everybody can get a trophy. But first place.
- 4:37Yeah, but we are exceptional. So, you know. Yeah, we're pretty good.
- 4:43So, yeah, that's the thing people might know me from Because the thing is,
- 4:48I feel like I was a pretty decent magician four years ago, before all of the
- 4:53success, air quotes, success.
- 4:57But FISM really helped me get people to notice me, so I got to do fun stuff.
- 5:03So since then, I've done a few products, done Fool Us twice.
- 5:11I'm always surprised when people say, I've been following you for five years. You shouldn't have.
- 5:19It makes sense if they've been following you now for a couple of years since FISM.
- 5:23But when people are like, I've been following you since before FISM.
- 5:26Okay that's creepy yeah that's fine
- 5:30so that's it so look so
- 5:34i i definitely want to talk about like the product eventually but
- 5:37there's just so much more to you than just releasing awesome products one
- 5:40of which i i purchased i have your uh the giant uh giant jumbo card routine
- 5:44which is just brilliant you know it's a pack small play enormous sort of effect
- 5:47yeah but more so if we're going to focus on what you've done with vism and competition
- 5:51acts competition acts is just one of those things We were having a conversation
- 5:55just before the show about competition acts in general.
- 5:58And I was sharing a story about hanging out with one of our FISM winners in
- 6:03Australia, which is Simon Coronel.
- 6:05The goat. And I'm the goat. And he had politely said to me that like,
- 6:10you're not made for competition, Nick.
- 6:11Like competition acts are a totally different beast.
- 6:14You belong doing stuff like this, this, this, but not competitions.
- 6:17And it was honestly some of the best advice I ever had. And so there's,
- 6:21that's worth leaning into.
- 6:23And now that you're a two-time champion what's your advice on this on putting
- 6:28together a competition hat if you can if you don't have to do compositions then
- 6:36don't like the same thing as simon told you like like if you don't need it then don't do it like.
- 6:43But for me, it helps because it put my name out there and I fit in that venue.
- 6:49I like making an act.
- 6:52I like going above and beyond to full magicians.
- 6:56But again, if you're just a standard, not to sound like, oh,
- 7:02it's shitty and normal and whatever, but if you're just a standard magician,
- 7:06you don't need a competition.
- 7:07You can make money and have a career without needing that.
- 7:12And if if i had gotten a little
- 7:15more traction without competitions i probably wouldn't have done
- 7:18it because but if for me it was a good way to like
- 7:20get my name out there to do those things i wanted to do
- 7:23so i don't know if
- 7:26i have any advice like don't do it because
- 7:29it's a waste of time is that is that a
- 7:32good like i don't know well i i
- 7:34think if we were going to explore just a little bit genuinely isn't
- 7:38there are certain categories that you must keep in mind in order
- 7:41to knock out yeah and that's the thing like making
- 7:44a competition act is like almost
- 7:48useless unless you know like what what
- 7:52venues that's going to play in because as a normal like gigging magician having
- 7:57a fism act is going to be worthless because you make an act that fits in that
- 8:02fism or competition like arena where you make an act that earns points in these
- 8:09different categories that you might not care about.
- 8:12Like, because it's like your skill level, your originality, your magic atmosphere,
- 8:17like all these things that might not be worth it, like for the just standard working magician.
- 8:27And for me, the competition card was always just like a side hobby in magic,
- 8:33that that was a place to make stuff that might not be really practical,
- 8:39but was like improving on the art or whatever you want to call it to then impress magicians.
- 8:48And then luckily I make stuff that also works for lay people and works in the real world.
- 8:55Because all my stuff goes through my normal show in a comedy club where it's
- 9:01funny enough and it's good enough magic.
- 9:03And then I sprinkle on it a little bit of the magicians, almost making it more
- 9:11impractical to be better for magicians.
- 9:16So because in a competition of course everybody's in the front
- 9:19so in comedy clubs the angles are bad
- 9:22but in a competition i can control everything so i
- 9:25can make some stuff that i would not do in a regular gig because
- 9:28i know literally where everybody's sitting because it's
- 9:31part of the competition so yeah what
- 9:35i find interesting about your magic for someone who's had the
- 9:38pleasure of seeing you perform live is that everything you do looks so
- 9:41effortless and i've always been curious how much
- 9:44of the engineering made it
- 9:47simple or is it actually hidden complexity
- 9:51like how does it like what is it i'm assuming it's one
- 9:54of the two yeah what i i just it's playing to my strength that i'm that they
- 10:04the the fisimax from 2022 is all misdirection based which was fertile because
- 10:09I'm pretty decent at choreographing that,
- 10:12but also it was a way of not necessarily having the best pass or whatever.
- 10:17Not that I do that in the act, but if I cover everything in misdirection,
- 10:21I don't need to be that skilled technically.
- 10:24But if I choreograph it well, that is even a better technical skill.
- 10:30And then, of course, method-wise, I want to go above and beyond to make the
- 10:34best methods because I want to fool everybody.
- 10:37I want the methods to either be so fooling that people, like magicians and elite
- 10:42people, so fooling that they don't know or if they have a guess,
- 10:48it should be impressive or interesting enough for them to be like,
- 10:51oh, he could do this, but that's not possible.
- 10:54Or would you do that? Oh, that seems impractical. Or nobody would do that.
- 10:58I want them to like, be curious like and
- 11:01think about no really almost to
- 11:05where like it sounds like almost to where like you yourself
- 11:08are content with the method yeah that
- 11:12even if someone figured it out it's still
- 11:15impressive like if the most advanced you know knowledgeable magician figured
- 11:19out they're like oh wow that is new and that's impressive so it's almost like
- 11:24either scale is gonna enjoy it but the funny thing with layman is you know I
- 11:30think we talked about this with someone the other week like there's kind of a scale where like.
- 11:35A layman just has to either be fooled or not fooled like there's
- 11:38no like real ratio yeah and so usually what my experience is that lay people
- 11:44judge the magician on like oh the trick worked oh he must be good right that's
- 11:49all they see oh the trick the trick worked he found the card or I'm fooled he
- 11:53must be good and they don't see the
- 11:55the skill behind it or the interesting methods
- 11:59or the thought that's put into it or even the performance like
- 12:02yeah they don't they don't see that we're just we're
- 12:05the trick and not the perform performer and i
- 12:09want all of that to be interesting like if you took the magic away
- 12:12from me i think i'm still funny and entertaining and and even the if you could
- 12:18do my act and tell people right afterwards and i think they will still they'll
- 12:22still be like oh he was really good where if they see Invisible Deck and afterwards
- 12:28you tell them like, oh, they're stuck together and back to back.
- 12:31Oh okay then there's nothing left where i think you can still tell them all
- 12:35my secrets and they will be like
- 12:36wait did did he get away with that and we didn't see it and the like yeah.
- 12:42So i think it comes across in sorry
- 12:45last thing i think it what it does though is it does come across
- 12:48in your energy like somebody could
- 12:51do invisible deck or vanishing bandana
- 12:55right to a late audience and they technically would
- 12:59laugh and say it's funny and be fooled and then also
- 13:02think your act is funny and be fooled and and be
- 13:05amazed but the difference probably is like i think
- 13:08they can tell your energy and how enthusiastic you are
- 13:11yeah and i truly believe the fact yeah because
- 13:14of the fact that you're so into it i think that shows
- 13:17and that's probably a reason why you would do that and not
- 13:20the standard 10 commercial tricks you
- 13:23know yeah i truly believe if if uh like
- 13:26i never force playing cards because it's
- 13:29not a method i'm interested in i think that that is
- 13:32yeah i'm just not interested so having like a
- 13:35named card just name a card or think of a card and i think they can feel that
- 13:40that is fair because of my attitude the way i the way i presented i feel like
- 13:47they can feel that that is more fair than pick one so stop yeah so.
- 13:55So I think, yeah, they can feel when it is genuine or when it's more fair or whatever.
- 14:00And yeah, and I like that.
- 14:03You know, you said that you want to fool everyone, and that's magicians and audiences alike.
- 14:08But I'm curious, because you've had so many opportunities to perform for magicians,
- 14:13have you ever created something,
- 14:15perhaps a phase in a routine in which it fooled the magicians,
- 14:18but for whatever reason, like it didn't land with the reactions you wanted from a lay audience?
- 14:24Yeah, I'm sure I've done that.
- 14:26Do I have an example? I remember with the misdirection FISM Act.
- 14:31If it's not for the right audience, like if they're not into magic or for whatever
- 14:38reason, some of that misdirection stuff literally goes over their head because they don't see it.
- 14:44And then if they're not invested enough, they miss it because they don't realize an effect happened.
- 14:51So that's sometimes... Misdirection stuff is great for magicians because they
- 14:55all know that, oh my God, got us.
- 14:58Yeah. Are you talking about almost like a red herring? Like you'll do things
- 15:01that magicians think you're about to do a move, but then you shouldn't.
- 15:04No, no, I would never, I would never like play into that.
- 15:09But like just the idea of misdirection, magicians will, will know that they were fooled.
- 15:14Because like they, they, yeah, they, they were following along and they know,
- 15:19oh, okay, that shouldn't have happened.
- 15:21I must have looked the way where sometimes lay people, again,
- 15:25if there's not the right audience, they could sometimes just like sewn
- 15:29out and be like oh i must have missed it and they
- 15:31see it not as a as a magic misdirection trick
- 15:34they see it more like oh i must have missed it off like it's
- 15:38nothing special for them but i have i'm sure i've made some like methods where
- 15:43it is way more complicated technically just to fool magicians and i could do
- 15:48i have so many tricks where like again it's not a force it's a named card but
- 15:54it could be it could be a force and it would be the same thing.
- 15:56Like my, the Fism Act I won with last year in Power of Magic, the whole act.
- 16:02Could be done with a force or with an instant stooge
- 16:05and it would look the same but it's an act where
- 16:08any card is freely named freely
- 16:12named and i i have predicted that card like 10 times like wait like a big amount
- 16:19of places that card is just oh this is in my pocket here it's in my pocket here
- 16:23and like that it's confusing for magicians that it's a free choice but for many
- 16:28people, it could just be like, ah,
- 16:29he must have planned it. Like, ah, he forked it, or whatever.
- 16:33And I remember at FISM, people came up to me, like, and were like,
- 16:37oh my god, it's so good, I'm so fooled, unless it's an instant stooge.
- 16:43Because, again, if I had just instant stooge my spectator, this would look the same.
- 16:49And I think it was easier to think that this big dumb guy probably just instant
- 16:54stooge somebody instead of having what I think is pretty clever methods to get
- 16:59away with this being a freely named card.
- 17:02So I was actually very worried after this. I'm like, do the judges know that I'm better than...
- 17:08It's an interesting question we just have had in the chat here from Scott,
- 17:13which is, do you think if it's too impossible, people lose interest?
- 17:17I don't know if they lose interest, but the too impossible thing is always worth thinking about.
- 17:24And like either if it's too impossible because oh
- 17:28it must be a stooge or too impossible like oh
- 17:32that's too magical so we know it must be gimmicked right
- 17:35right like uh for me the which is always the thing i think about in my head
- 17:40the the healed and sealed soda can which is a great trick but i i think that
- 17:46is too impossible too magical so because it is so good and magical it gives
- 17:53it away that that can is gimmicked.
- 17:55And that's so, so that way that's too impossible in my head.
- 17:59And the same thing with clean mentalism, like, oh, that must have been a stooge.
- 18:03That must have been planned.
- 18:05So yes, I think about that, but I don't know if they would lose interest because
- 18:09you, both of the things I just mentioned, you can still do, but you would switch the soda can.
- 18:13You could, you could make convincers that proves that this is not set up or
- 18:18an instant stooge or a stooge or whatever.
- 18:21I don't know if they would lose interest, but I did this thing when I was working
- 18:25on the new FISMAC with the Freelanian card.
- 18:28I did it in Austria for a few weeks. And then the host, it was in a magic venue.
- 18:32And then the host, I didn't ask him to do this, but I think he was fooled himself
- 18:38that he wanted to check with the audience.
- 18:41So he went out after my act and he would be like, oh, what you saw Morten do,
- 18:46raise your hand if you think that it was a free choice.
- 18:49And they would raise their hand. And then raise your hand if you think that some of it was planned.
- 18:54And people, none of them raised their hands when they were asking if it was planned.
- 19:00They were all like, no, no, we know this is fair because I threw out a paper
- 19:04ball and they were part of the process.
- 19:09So again, I feel like they can feel that this is fair.
- 19:14But it was a concern. One of my magician friends did say in that process,
- 19:19like, but it's too fair. Nobody can predict a card that many times if it's not a force.
- 19:26And I'm like, yeah, yeah, but that's the trick. That's why this is worth the
- 19:30FISM award, because I have those methods to make it like a free choice.
- 19:36Yeah, I don't think it'll lose interest. I think that's just about the performer.
- 19:41Like, you could read my mind right now and be like, are you thinking of this
- 19:46and this and this? But if you're a bad performer, I won't care.
- 19:49So that's probably what it's more likely yeah if you're
- 19:52a boring performer they're not gonna you got
- 19:55to make them care and then the effect is the extra thing
- 19:59yeah right the tool yeah i
- 20:02remember someone saying to me some while ago that if you're
- 20:04going to be a roving magician you're guaranteed to ruin
- 20:07at least one person's night and i just went and
- 20:10i went if you're performing for him yes yeah
- 20:14that was my answer to that interesting yeah yeah
- 20:18yeah that's
- 20:21maybe whoever told you that maybe yeah they should
- 20:24look look within themselves and find
- 20:27the problem yeah most definitely now what
- 20:31i'm curious about is comedy magic you are so good
- 20:34at it is the first thing we have to acknowledge pretty sure you ignore
- 20:36for that so we wear that one and you
- 20:39know the old saying goes i think it might have been rich marauder or something
- 20:42that said something to the effect of like typically magician
- 20:45is good does comedy magic is good at neither there is
- 20:49things there's things in that that i have been
- 20:52theorizing for a very long time and i'm just curious what your thoughts with
- 20:57regards to applying comedy and magic and i i started asking myself questions
- 21:02like has the joke ever killed the magic or do you ever find that like trying
- 21:07to balance the funny with the magic is a bit of a challenge in itself. Oh, uh...
- 21:13No, all of this is just, yeah, if somebody wants to do comedy magic or comedy
- 21:22and be funny and whatever, I would just say, yeah, think about it.
- 21:26Like, because I've made specific choices that is, that I want good magic and I want it to be funny.
- 21:33Like, I don't want to sacrifice either of them. And yes, there's that thing
- 21:36of either it's not funny or it's not magical or neither.
- 21:40And and i remember at fism three years ago
- 21:43where it was my first international competition i had
- 21:45no idea like if what i've been working on here was
- 21:48at the level and then all of a sudden i i get
- 21:52this feedback from all of these people that i really admire and
- 21:54they're like they're telling me how funny i was
- 21:57and that that they were actually fooled and that rarely
- 22:00happens with a comedy magician and and that
- 22:04it was funny comedy and funny magic good magic
- 22:07and and that's just what i go for i would i will never
- 22:10sacrifice a trick for the joke i will
- 22:14i don't do like prop comedy magic bullshit
- 22:17like because it's not my style i'm not good at it it doesn't speak to me but
- 22:22that doesn't mean i don't think the amazing jonathan was really funny even though
- 22:26i would never like treat magic the same way for me it's strong magic and funny
- 22:31comedy and then it's yeah I won't, of course,
- 22:35I won't like step on the magic with a joke that I will need.
- 22:39So, of course, I have played it out like I'm funny at this moment.
- 22:43But if there's some process that's important, I will shut up or whatever it
- 22:47is. But I am, if you ask me.
- 22:50When i perform i would i would say i'm a comedian when i perform which i know is weird because,
- 22:58like i am a magician like deep down i'm a magician because that is what i'm showing people,
- 23:04but when i'm on stage my most the most important thing for me is that i am funny
- 23:08or entertaining like and because
- 23:11to be honest i don't think magic is that interesting i think magic is.
- 23:15I fully understand when people are like i don't like magic
- 23:18yeah i get it because it's it's like i know
- 23:21something you don't oh you're so stupid like i
- 23:24get that part of it yeah yeah that's how i open my show
- 23:27actually yeah it's a great line to get them you're so
- 23:31stupid so for me when i perform i'm a comedian it's way more important that
- 23:35it's funny but but i don't want to like step on the magic and i have done this
- 23:41i'm sure everybody's done this i i i'm self-deprecating and i put I put down
- 23:46the magic a little bit, like,
- 23:47oh, yeah, I'm a magician. I know.
- 23:50My parents are so proud. But, of course, I do that with love,
- 23:54and I like what I do, because why else would I show them?
- 23:58And they came to my show, and, yeah.
- 24:03But also, comedy magic-wise, don't do it if you're not funny.
- 24:09But, of course, that's really hard advice to hear if all you want to do is be the funny comedy guy.
- 24:15But it's like, I'm a strong believer in you cannot, like, teach funny.
- 24:20You're funny or you're not. And you'll develop it early in your childhood,
- 24:24like, for whatever reason.
- 24:26But it's like the same thing. I wish that I could, like, be a good mentalist.
- 24:32Because I like the methods. I think it's interesting. But also because that,
- 24:36like, most of the most successful, like, magicians I know are mentalists.
- 24:42Because they're working with a whole other status in the lay people's minds
- 24:48and the way it's portrayed more as real or whatever you do.
- 24:53But I can't pull it off because I'm this big, goofy, dumb guy.
- 24:58You don't believe I can read somebody's mind.
- 25:02So, play to your strength. Don't be, don't try to be a comedian if you're not.
- 25:07Yeah. So. Good advice. We have Alex Boyer chiming in in the chat here.
- 25:12First of all, he said you were instantly likable when he first saw you,
- 25:15but then he's now asking, like,
- 25:17do you think magic is a tool to fuel the comedy or is it the opposite?
- 25:23Oh, that's. Like, do you do magic to enhance how funny your act is or are you
- 25:28funny to enhance how magical overall the act is?
- 25:31But for me, the comedy could stand alone and the magic could stand alone.
- 25:38And I think that is the goal, at least for me, that if you take the magic away
- 25:44from me, I'm still comfortable being in front of people and being funny.
- 25:49And if you take the comedy away and I'm just left with the trick,
- 25:53the tricks are still good.
- 25:55What would you prefer, though? Would you prefer going up, doing no magic, but absolutely...
- 26:01Laughing the pants off everyone or would you rather go up not
- 26:04be funny but do like the most serious bit like just brain
- 26:07exploding act i would i would always choose the comedy because
- 26:10that's the entertaining part again magic by
- 26:14itself is not entertaining magic is a puzzle and i that's why i got interested
- 26:18in magic i like the puzzle of making of making a trick work like how do you
- 26:24how do you solve this thing that should not be possible that's what i like but
- 26:29that's not really entertaining.
- 26:32You need somebody else. So to be honest, the magic and the comedy,
- 26:37in my mind, does not complement each other because one of them is serious and
- 26:43dumb, like I know something you don't, and the other one is,
- 26:46funny and light and whatever so they
- 26:49don't really match and that's why i
- 26:52think a lot of like comedy magic what we think
- 26:55about like silly tricks that is meant to
- 26:57be funny like maybe the the banana bandana or something just feels cheesy and
- 27:04not funny because it is you've tried to blend them in a weird way where i i
- 27:10do strong magic and then i as a person i am funny around that,
- 27:16so the tricks are still good tricks like so
- 27:19strong and then it's just the way i
- 27:22act around that that is the comedy um so
- 27:27but of course a good trick or a
- 27:30good premise fuels the comedy if you
- 27:33have a good premise in play like or having
- 27:36people on stage that of course if they if they're
- 27:40there to help with the trick that is what fuels the conversation or whatever
- 27:43is gonna yeah help so yes it fuels the comedy but you have to know what you're
- 27:49doing and play to that instead of just making a a funny trick where oh look
- 27:55it's a banana instead i'm so stupid.
- 28:00Yeah so you're the you're starting with the
- 28:03effect how devious can i make the effect
- 28:06and now how can i make that super funny as
- 28:10opposed to like what's a funny premise okay and
- 28:12now what magic can i build around it like you're going magic
- 28:16first yeah i i am very much interested in the mat the trick and the method but
- 28:22i will start anywhere whatever interests me but i have made a lot of tricks
- 28:26where they could be played way more seriously or or the method is actually too
- 28:32interesting to put in a comedy context,
- 28:35but then that's just the challenge of how do I make this play?
- 28:40When it doesn't really say comedy when you see it.
- 28:45And then I'll try and write my way out of it. But again, I will accept that
- 28:49there's some stuff that I just can't pull off, that my character or the way
- 28:53I look does not fit with whatever I'm trying to do.
- 28:58And that's fine with me. Like, I don't, it doesn't matter. I make so much stuff
- 29:03that, yeah, not all of it is going to work.
- 29:06And of course, that's also a good way of creating. like
- 29:09just keep creating even stuff i don't need like the
- 29:12other day i looked into dove magic i don't i will
- 29:15never produce a dove and i'm not interested in that but i looked into it because
- 29:18some of the methods are interesting or the the actually one specific piece of
- 29:22choreography i'm like oh wait that would help me in some other way so just not
- 29:26even uh looking at stuff like that not even two ducks i don't i don't want to produce a duck.
- 29:36So you know you said that you create so much stuff and you
- 29:39know it doesn't always work and i'm curious what what's harder to recover
- 29:42from is it harder to recover from magic going
- 29:45wrong or comedy going wrong oh what's harder
- 29:48to recover but what
- 29:51is comedy going wrong isn't that just people don't like
- 29:54oh i didn't like that joke oh well i guess
- 29:57i guess the worst on a scale it'd be like a
- 30:00joke didn't land that's like not so bad but
- 30:03if your catastrophe is like a joke offended that
- 30:07would be a yeah oh but if they're offended they're idiots
- 30:10and no i don't i don't know like comedy wise i'm like anything goes really unless
- 30:18you're like unless it's deliberate hate speech hate speech or you're like being
- 30:23like deliberately offensive to one person but comedy wise anything goes really.
- 30:30Having a trick go wrong would i think would be more awkward but also because
- 30:36of that i know like the way i decide a lot of my stuff is that they can they
- 30:42can survive it going wrong because.
- 30:45I i a trick if you build up
- 30:48a trick for like five minutes and all this process of
- 30:50this the fair selection of this and this happened and
- 30:53this happened and then then five or six minutes later it
- 30:56didn't work that's a lot of time it's just wasted
- 30:59and that's hard to recover from where if it's
- 31:02a shorter piece or there's jokes along
- 31:05the way and then oh it didn't work but we had fun like
- 31:08and that's how i how i would make my stuff that
- 31:11i would make sure that like the trick is not
- 31:14the trick is not the important thing i am on stage to
- 31:17entertain you so it is it is hopefully entertaining
- 31:20the whole way through and then oh something magical
- 31:23happened but even if it doesn't who cares we
- 31:27had fun can we try a little
- 31:30a little experiment here like let's say you were
- 31:33doing healed and sealed like you mentioned how would
- 31:38how would how would the character morton get out of this or be funny and move
- 31:43on if you've just built up healed and sealed for two minutes but the moment
- 31:46you show the crush can and you start to shake it you just see so to start spraying
- 31:50out either side like like as a comedy brain what what comes to mind for you,
- 31:56i think in that case and i think in most situations like that i would just admit
- 32:00what happened and i and i'd heard advice that's completely the complete opposite
- 32:05when i first started magic like don't let them see your sweat don't don't ever
- 32:10admit to anything but but i'm like oh but they saw it like oh.
- 32:15That shouldn't look like that or it it's clearly a mistake or whatever so in
- 32:19most situations i would probably just tell them like oh this was supposed to
- 32:23do this and you would have loved it,
- 32:25but look how clever it is but it didn't work but i wish it
- 32:28did or like just being honest with them like that's probably
- 32:31what i would do in most situations yeah because trying
- 32:34to like oh oh nothing nothing
- 32:37okay like a carton step like that feels
- 32:40like a way bigger mistake yeah so
- 32:44what i like is that you're leading with honesty as well there's something
- 32:46you know when p when the world lacks you know
- 32:50everything being genuine nowadays it's actually quite nice
- 32:53that you were just so genuine and honest and that just went i like this guy
- 32:57he's genuine he's honest but that's like how real life and what i know like
- 33:02uh how i like being attracted with that there's no bullshit like it's a trick
- 33:07or this or that because yeah there's no reason not to just be honest,
- 33:12and especially because magic is so dishonest to begin with,
- 33:16like I like being as honest as I can, I literally like I hate lying and I'm
- 33:20so I don't do it, like even in like simple tricks where like,
- 33:26oh I do a double lift and then so now I say okay hold the two of spades.
- 33:31That is a lie to me because I'm not handing them the two, but so just changing
- 33:37that line of saying, look at this card,
- 33:40could you hold this suddenly i'm
- 33:42not lying i'm telling you could you hold this and
- 33:45then it's it's changed so stuff like
- 33:48that it's i get to be honest the whole way through which means
- 33:52that if stuff goes wrong it's the same way i would act was it because jerry
- 33:58andrews was that was like i never told a lie on stage was that what it was who
- 34:03was it there was a particular magician was i don't know if it was jerry andrews
- 34:06or he was like he never told a lie and even if he did like he was just like he like purposely,
- 34:11like when he performed his magic.
- 34:13But I'm curious, like- I don't think it's necessary telling a lie.
- 34:17Because even like i know this saying of
- 34:20oh magicians are the most honest people in the world we tell you
- 34:23we'll trick you and then we do or something yeah kind of
- 34:26true like but i don't see magic as like like
- 34:29negative in that way that i'm lying to get away with
- 34:32this no no i just i i know a little extra piece
- 34:35of information you don't and i'm honest to
- 34:38you about like i don't want to tell you but watch
- 34:42watch what i can do you know there's a
- 34:45question here about influences obviously we all have so many magical influences
- 34:49you know there would be through tommy wonder or whoever we tend to study but
- 34:53with you being so well versed in comedy we have a question here from the great
- 34:59grandini which is who are your comedy inspirations it's super much like pinpoint
- 35:04one or like something like that.
- 35:08I look at everything and.
- 35:11Like a sponge, I just collect all the things I like and, yeah,
- 35:19what's that saying of, like, you don't steal from one, you steal from everybody,
- 35:26and then you mix it together, and that way it looks original,
- 35:29whatever. That's good advice.
- 35:32So, but, yeah, comedy-wise, it's just, yeah, everything.
- 35:36The reason i ask is like i mean you're a very young guy you
- 35:39know comparative to myself and so like i grew up on things like jerry
- 35:42lewis and so forth and yeah a lot of people me like
- 35:45especially very early in my career they're like you know you have like
- 35:48you're funny like a jim carrey character and i was like right and
- 35:51it wasn't my intention it was just yeah what came out actually and
- 35:54it's because it's what i grew up with i grew up with jim carrey and
- 35:56the guy in ace ventura and steve martin
- 35:59and yeah you know jerry lewis was was
- 36:02my biggest one growing up as a kid like if i was ever running around
- 36:05in in the yard and so forth and i ran past the tv i'm
- 36:08like whoa and it was on tv like it was just sit down
- 36:11in front of the tv yeah you know watch yeah like comedy
- 36:16wise of course there's people i look up to and people i like in certain
- 36:19styles i like and even
- 36:22things i wouldn't like i i would not do but i'm willing to look at everything
- 36:27but i'm yeah again it's it's comedy is most important if you're not funny i
- 36:32don't want to i don't want to see the show or something But like some of my
- 36:36big inspirations are in comedy is Steve Boysen is one of the big ones for me.
- 36:41And then Bo Burnham and then like Jimmy Carr, maybe like just a joke,
- 36:47joke, joke comedian and...
- 36:50And again, even Jimmy Carr, like he seems like it's kind of a character that
- 36:55he is that rude or whatever. But he's really honest about it. It's jokes.
- 36:59And he seems very smart in real life. I haven't met him, but like he knows what
- 37:04he's doing. It's jokes. Like, come on.
- 37:07But like literally the other day, I came home from Switzerland like seven hours
- 37:12ago or something. I was at a convention.
- 37:15Amazing lineup in the show. and after we did the
- 37:17show and this is a show there's 10 10
- 37:21fism winners in this show oh you won't believe this lineup this was incredible
- 37:25like every grand prix fism winner ever was in this show so we did this show
- 37:30great show and i went back to my hotel room and to fall asleep i have always
- 37:35like permanently on my ipad i have on netflix downloaded bo burnham's make happy.
- 37:40Something because i have no wi-fi so i just i watched i put that on and and i'm just like,
- 37:46we just did the show where with all these world champions
- 37:49of of magic and i watched the
- 37:52show i'm like i have no talent and i do
- 37:57that i do that all the time i love i love i love bobertum and
- 38:00i love that show and every time i look at it i'm like why am
- 38:03i even calling myself a performer like and
- 38:07the same with with inside with his that show like
- 38:10i'm like i have no talent like and especially make
- 38:13happy because in that show he's like he was 25 i'm like
- 38:16i have no talent like the way that's put together how.
- 38:20Original how funny that is but of course
- 38:22that also pushes me to be like i have to be better have to
- 38:25be better so yeah comedy wise
- 38:28that's that's why i think bo burnham and steve martin are big influences
- 38:31because they're more than just comedians they
- 38:34have something else bow does the music thing and steve
- 38:37martian did whatever and i
- 38:41really like that there's something extra to show that it
- 38:45feels like there's something like look i'm going to show you this thing and
- 38:48even if it's bad it's like oh okay there is
- 38:51something where jimmy carr would just stand
- 38:54in front of you for an hour and tell jokes and it's
- 38:57great i like that but i i like when
- 39:00there's something to show like oh here's something i've been playing
- 39:03with or working on or whatever and i think that's why
- 39:05beau and steve marston are like some of my big influences because they're they
- 39:10have something and especially steve marston because i remember when i was younger
- 39:14i i was always very much into comedy and of course like learning setup punchline
- 39:19how do you write a joke and all that but it also felt like too like.
- 39:25Like, uh, formulaic that all you have to follow this formula to then all set
- 39:31up, set up, set up, then they laughed.
- 39:33And Steve Marston have talked about this thing that I, that I thought,
- 39:37thought of myself that, wait, what if, what if there's no punchline?
- 39:41What if it's just like absurd or weird or anything until they laugh because
- 39:47they can't like, I don't know, I can't handle it anymore. And they choose when it's funny.
- 39:51And I remember him talking about that in, in his book, I think that just,
- 39:56they will choose when it's funny because if it just keeps being absurd and weird,
- 40:01eventually you're going to crack.
- 40:04So, yeah, Steve Marston's big influence. That's like the, yeah,
- 40:08his great, the great Flaidini act, right? There's no, like, dramatic ending.
- 40:13It's just, like, it just keeps getting weird. Yeah, just the same all the way through.
- 40:16Yeah, and, like, he's playing, is he, like, he plays the guitar for dogs or something?
- 40:22Yeah, that's what I'm doing now. And they slowly leave one at a time.
- 40:26And eventually, like, it's funny.
- 40:29Also, one of my big, like, one of the things I think is the funniest in the
- 40:33world is, Just keep going.
- 40:35Like, the more of something, like, eventually it'll become funny.
- 40:39If you keep repeating the same thing or, like, more stuff happens,
- 40:43like, eventually, like, it'll be funny.
- 40:46Or if smaller and smaller bags keep coming out of the house.
- 40:50Yeah, yeah. Like, yeah. So, I have a bunch of stuff like that where if you don't
- 40:54like it, like, you will like it in two minutes because I'll keep going.
- 40:59So, is that good advice for magicians' ambitious card routine?
- 41:04No, no, because that's the magic that's bad.
- 41:08That ambitious card is stupid and wrong, and nobody should do it.
- 41:14You shouldn't just keep doing it until they like it.
- 41:18Well, speaking of card magic, there is an amazing new deck switching shell on
- 41:23the market released by you, good sir.
- 41:26Please, let's dive into this.
- 41:28Tell us all about it. Oh, what a great segue.
- 41:31Oh, okay. That almost sounded natural. oh thank you for asking Nick yes I do
- 41:37have something put out on the magic market for anybody that is interesting in
- 41:42having a deck shell to switch a deck in performance thank you,
- 41:48yeah I've produced a,
- 41:53deck switching shell and i've called it morden's deck
- 41:56switching shell because i am morden and it's
- 41:59a deck switching shell so that seemed like the best name and
- 42:03also because i didn't want to like i didn't want to try and fool any magicians
- 42:07to be to like oh what is it no this is what it is it's a tool you'll get my
- 42:12hand links for it and a couple of routines i'll use it but but all it is it
- 42:16is what looks like a a box of cards but in reality this is a shell made of plastic
- 42:22that holds another deck that can be switched in.
- 42:25So I can do a deck switch right in front of people. They can shuffle my cards, and I do a silly joke.
- 42:31And then in that action, I have switched the deck they just shuffled for another
- 42:36one, and then that could be set up and stacked or whatever for anything.
- 42:39And I have a couple of routines for it. But the reason why I put it out was
- 42:44because I've added a little extra thing to the design of a deck shell.
- 42:49So if anybody's ever worked with that tool before, I've added something very
- 42:53simple, no moving parts,
- 42:55but something that allows the deck shell to be in my pocket with the deck held secure,
- 43:01and then you can bring it out with one hand and be in procession,
- 43:04and nothing needs to be squared up, nothing is going to fall out,
- 43:08and it's ready for a deck switch anytime, anywhere.
- 43:11And it is also, from my research, the only deck shell you can place on the table.
- 43:16With one hand and pick it back up without the cards falling out.
- 43:21But if you want them to fall out, they can fall out. so
- 43:24they can either stay on the table or they can come back
- 43:27with the shell so that yeah
- 43:30there's nothing like if you only buy
- 43:33this product if you need a deck shell for a deck switch and that is why i called
- 43:36it morden's deck switching shell so there's nothing like oh my god what is it
- 43:40it's a shell for switching so if you need a good deck switch this might be it
- 43:46i don't know but i've worked with all the different deck shells that's on the
- 43:49market currently like christian emblem's the cooler,
- 43:52Greg Wilson's cold case, Dean Dill's blizzard,
- 43:55all of these shells, and I think I have fixed some, let's say,
- 44:00problems, even though that's...
- 44:01I don't say there's problems with those shells, but some handling issues I had,
- 44:05and after showing it to, like.
- 44:08Magicians i looked up to they were like oh my god that solves some problems for for them as well like,
- 44:13joshua j and he was he wanted one immediately i might i'll be great if he wants
- 44:17one that that i might be onto something and then paul wilson and a handful of
- 44:23other people were like this is something and then i got a spanish company to
- 44:26produce it so this is available at any,
- 44:29murphy's magic dealer so your local magic shop will have this probably but don't
- 44:35buy it i don't here it's just it's a deck show come on let's be honest nick
- 44:39nobody needs a deck show why would you nick it's it's a deck switch why would
- 44:44you need a deck switch i'm sure you've lived.
- 44:48Anybody listening to this you have you've gotten to this
- 44:51point in your life without a deck show you probably don't
- 44:54need one okay so but if
- 44:57you want one yeah i made these and they're nice and they
- 45:00work and i've got there's a couple
- 45:03of fun routines and i give you my my handling and choreography
- 45:06and i talk you through it and and it's
- 45:09for that it's it's a good product if you need it actually but
- 45:12let's be honest you don't need it actually so you can
- 45:16buy it if you you you if you're interested and
- 45:19you want to support me and you want to watch me
- 45:22for 50 minutes trying to explain this to
- 45:25a camera and i am awful no i'm not but
- 45:29like like right now i'm like how do i
- 45:31explain this to people it's uh it's
- 45:34it's made of plastic and it's good so yeah but like a good example for for the
- 45:41everyday magician might be you want to end your roving set with like something
- 45:45one-off memorable and strong so you might have gathered everyone around and
- 45:50done all of this crazy signed card stuff and Horned Deck and all this stuff,
- 45:54but then you want to deck switch out and do like a story deck routine or something
- 45:58that involves the whole deck.
- 45:59Oh, like literally, I believe this, that this is the best deck switch.
- 46:05On the market. At least something that is, put this in your pocket and you're ready.
- 46:10Of course, you can make a deck switch where you have a secret pocket in your
- 46:13jacket and you release something, but for something that is just can be put in your pocket,
- 46:19I think this is the most practical deck switch that's out there because how
- 46:24I've designed the shell, it holds everything securely, so,
- 46:28even just holding the shell this casually is part of it that,
- 46:33again, people feel the honesty.
- 46:35Oh, he's not holding something awkward.
- 46:39That's not how you hold a closed box of cards.
- 46:43And because of those features, I can place it on the table.
- 46:46So yes, I can, in that situation, just place it right in front of people and
- 46:50not be afraid because it does hold everything secure.
- 46:53So for that situation, I do think it's the best deck switch.
- 46:57And I'm not just saying that because it's my product and I put it out,
- 47:00but I'm also saying it because it's my product and I put it out. So, I don't know.
- 47:06You can't trust me because I think I'm making money off this. I'm not sure.
- 47:12It's a Spanish company that does this for me. And they told me they would give
- 47:16me money, but I haven't seen them yet. So...
- 47:21I'm sure that there'll be some money eventually no if you need a deck show,
- 47:26this works I stand by this if you buy this and you don't like it I'll give you
- 47:32your money back okay I can't say that because again I didn't receive any money so maybe not,
- 47:38well that would be easy to give the money back that you received I really stand
- 47:41by this I don't put stuff out that often,
- 47:45because I don't I worked in a magic show I get a little tired of people that
- 47:50put out stuff just to make money. And there's a lot of those people in Magic.
- 47:56I put out stuff that I've worked with. And right now I put out the jumbo card trick with Van Schenk.
- 48:03I stand by that. That's a good trick for what it is.
- 48:05And I stand by this. This is a tool I use all the time.
- 48:10And then I produce some extra notes myself and everything there.
- 48:13I'm like, okay, this is not just bullshit I'm making up to get money.
- 48:17Also, I'm a horrible businessman, so I sell everything way too cheap.
- 48:23So when this company in Spain wanted to do it, I was like, you decide what you owe. I don't care.
- 48:29And I think that's why I haven't received any money yet, actually.
- 48:34I don't know. So yeah, I'm putting it out to share and then nothing else.
- 48:40So if people are interested, it's fine. If not, okay.
- 48:45Who needs a deck shell? Let's be honest. like who needs a deck show?
- 48:48I think every stack worker, this is something that they should really consider to help strengthen.
- 48:54That's true. But it's also most people that I've shown it to that are interested
- 48:58is people working with a memorized deck.
- 49:01It is to switch in a memorized deck or anything like that. And that's what I
- 49:04use it for. I have it with me. I have two decks.
- 49:08One is in here that is stacked and one I use that's stacked.
- 49:11And then if my first deck is shuffled, either by mistake or anything,
- 49:16thing, I can always switch in for another one. That's what I use it mainly for.
- 49:21Yeah it's but also it's like it's it's interesting
- 49:24that i have this idea and now it's put out again just it's
- 49:27to share and i looked like i researched all
- 49:30the different shells on the market because i didn't want to put anything out
- 49:33that that was just an old idea and like because again i care about the magic
- 49:39community if this existed already i would i would just tell people oh this this
- 49:44thing exists and it's great but it didn't exist so i had to make it and i think it's great,
- 49:49so uh yeah if people yeah yeah we've we've sold a little bit and i'm very happy with that.
- 49:57When we put it out so vanishing had exclusively for the first week i think it's
- 50:02been out for maybe three weeks two weeks three weeks vanishing had exclusively for the first week,
- 50:09and they have like a comment section where people are commenting
- 50:12about it and and a few people are just mentioning oh it's like
- 50:15a cold case is better or whatever is uh something
- 50:18like that or that commenting on the video like oh
- 50:21the switch looks a little like janky or whatever and i'm like yeah but we're
- 50:27filming the move the spectator shouldn't see the move that's done in misdirection
- 50:32so when we're just looking at like i saw it yeah we filmed the video for you
- 50:38guys so but again it's just to be honest with what it is,
- 50:41you see in the trailer how this is handled,
- 50:44and it switches it out, but what I've added is the security of how that deck
- 50:48is held before and after the switch.
- 50:51So, if you look at the trailer, Morden's deck switching shell, you'll see, oh.
- 50:57It just works like that so and i
- 51:01don't want to fool anybody too with all
- 51:04of and look i i'm sold you know
- 51:07i've never i've never worked with a deck
- 51:10switching device before i own one but
- 51:13have never felt like it's going to do the job i need but you know hearing you
- 51:18talk about it for this this period of time convinces me that it might actually
- 51:23be a workable you know solution for what i'm doing which is yeah oh it's definitely
- 51:27workable if it's just if you yeah need it for.
- 51:33It's tipped the scale to where now i would use it
- 51:35as opposed to the other ones just didn't quite fit like yeah
- 51:38which one didn't you like roving situation talk to them a little
- 51:41bit which one didn't you like come on come on yeah oh yeah well look specifically
- 51:48greg wilson no no they're all great they are great it's just for for standing
- 51:53up in a roving situation where you have pockets and you don't have a table that's
- 51:57not preset and none of that,
- 51:59I've always just felt a little bit like, ah, well, I could just,
- 52:02you know, get better at my false shuffles and, and, you know,
- 52:06just make it look like a shuffle deck and instead of it doesn't matter and switch it later.
- 52:11But, you know, talking about making, you made this, but I also know like Nick
- 52:17and I have seen like you make a lot of your props, if not all of them, perhaps.
- 52:23Yeah, all of them. And I'm guessing that brings you some joy,
- 52:26knowing that you've made all the stuff you're using. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.
- 52:32Like, I cannot perform anybody's else's material because I feel awkward taking
- 52:37the credit for using somebody else's material.
- 52:40And I feel the same way with just my props. Like, I want to use my own props,
- 52:46like whatever this is, if I can...
- 52:48If I can make it, I'll make it. And I did that since I started Magic.
- 52:52Whenever I bought a gimmick, I would always try and remake it.
- 52:56First of all, to learn about that gimmick. Okay, how does it work?
- 53:00Okay, and to know I could fix it. And of course, that helped that I then taught
- 53:05myself to actually make stuff.
- 53:07So right now, yeah, everything I do is pretty much like, I will just learn how to make it.
- 53:12And a few years ago, I needed a bag for my show.
- 53:16Like we all have a like a prop case or a
- 53:19bag for the show and for the longest time
- 53:22i couldn't find one that i that fit what i wanted and eventually
- 53:25i was like i could also just make it and i'm i'm pretty decent with the sewing
- 53:29machine so i'm like oh okay and i i made like a doctor style bag that opens
- 53:35in the top and my stuff is in that um and i use that all the time and i get
- 53:41so much joy out of knowing that I made that.
- 53:44So what they look at on stage is me and that bag. And even though they don't know.
- 53:50I love the fact that i i know i made that and it
- 53:53that's that then also fits my show because of course it's
- 53:56made in some fabric that fits the my my
- 53:59whole vibe so yeah i will i'll just make if
- 54:02i need something i'll learn how to make that that's amazing
- 54:05and i love i love learning like
- 54:08how to do stuff i don't but and
- 54:11i think that's also just in in life in general but also
- 54:14especially in magic that the idea of um of
- 54:18not letting anything stop you like oh i would love a
- 54:21thing that could do this and this and this and then
- 54:24people would just be like i can't make that learn how to make it
- 54:27like and i live in a fairly like
- 54:30small apartment and for for how much crap
- 54:33i own this is not enough space but
- 54:36then i will just like bring in a
- 54:39table in the middle of my living room and then I'd put a like a
- 54:41saw and like whatever and and I will build stuff and like sawdust over the place
- 54:48and or like whatever it is I'll just I'll make it and then of course clean up
- 54:53because then the day after maybe I need to like make it a sewing studio to make a bag or whatever.
- 55:00And of course I can see that the stuff I made years ago is not as good as the
- 55:04stuff I make now or whatever but just learning how to make stuff,
- 55:08Yeah, I love that. And I think just changing your mindset to be like,
- 55:13oh, I could just learn it.
- 55:15Because you can learn everything on YouTube or just buy a tool and hope for the best.
- 55:21Is there an example that magicians could start with? Like something they could
- 55:26start making their own thing of?
- 55:29Whatever they need. They could also sew their own bag for the show.
- 55:34I know a bunch of magicians that got into 3D
- 55:37printing because it's great you can make your own small little
- 55:40gimmicks and i think every magician should have a 3d printer i think
- 55:43they should have a sewing machine i remember mac king saying
- 55:46something this is like years ago 10 15 years ago saying something
- 55:49like if you don't have a sewing machine you're not a real magician dude the
- 55:55amount of sewing up something this week i kid you not like just just with repairing
- 55:59my suits and so forth all my suits as hell and yeah i like i was just i was
- 56:04walking about and i was trying to sneak by something and a button came off and
- 56:07i was just thing of crap, you know,
- 56:09and then literally my sewing, it was in my closeup bag and I ended up sewing it like before the gig.
- 56:14Like I always have needle needles and thread with me to like do stuff like that.
- 56:18And also just knowing that if that happens, you're not like,
- 56:21Oh my God, I'm screwed. I need to go to a seamstress. No, just do it yourself.
- 56:25So, but I, I see like getting a new tool is amazing.
- 56:30Like, and like a 3D printer sewing machine, a, I have a standing drill press
- 56:34just on my, in the floor of my living room, like a big drill.
- 56:39And it was on my, and it's just been staying at the same place in the corner
- 56:43of my living room. And it's because it's really, it's massive.
- 56:45And it was there for a year before I even used it.
- 56:48But I knew I wanted one because I'm like, I need a drill press because it's
- 56:53smart that it's, it holds the
- 56:55thing. and I can just pull the handle and I just knew, okay, I need this.
- 56:59And it was there for a year before I was like, I need it for this.
- 57:03But as soon as you have the tool, it opens up the creativity and knowing that,
- 57:10wait, I have this. I can make this.
- 57:13So I had another thing like, what's the grinder thing that can cut in metal?
- 57:21See, I can't remember the name of the fucking saw thing. but so
- 57:24now i know okay i can i can i can angle grinder
- 57:27what an angle grinder an angle
- 57:30grinder that's the name of it perfect yes i got an angle grinder a little while
- 57:34back and suddenly i'm like oh my god i can cut anything this is this is the
- 57:39best tool in the world and and yeah so whenever i have a new tool it opens up
- 57:45so much like oh my god i can cut metal i've never been able to cut metal before.
- 57:50So yeah, just getting a new tool is the best.
- 57:54I'm gimmicking a lot of wine bottle stuff at the moment. I'm just tinkering
- 57:57with heaps of different ideas. And so every glass thing,
- 58:01like object that i run out of so like
- 58:04it could be a jar of pickles as soon as it's empty like i wash it and then
- 58:07i put it outside and i've got like a whole box on my balcony of just
- 58:10glass items that i'm accumulating because i need to practice
- 58:13cutting glass and and and
- 58:16it's annoying because like you want to keep the glass cool otherwise it shatters
- 58:19and i've got like and so i'm trying to find places to do it so like i'm doing
- 58:22it in my laundry so it's a very deep sink and then i'm I just close the box and go recycle.
- 58:33Like, there's all these crazy ways I'm doing stuff in that nature.
- 58:37And I've got, like, glasses and, you know, gloves and PPE, like,
- 58:40just to make sure I don't cut myself up.
- 58:42But, yeah, it is that type of thing when you want to be creative.
- 58:47I think these are the moments that really set you apart because you can go and
- 58:51purchase every other gimmick or routine and perform it.
- 58:55And there's nothing wrong with that, but it's just, I've said it in the past,
- 58:58like, you can be a cover band or you can be original.
- 59:01Yeah but but again just like
- 59:04you don't have to be the most creative person or the funniest person
- 59:07but but but changing your
- 59:10mindset of how you think of yourself or the process is
- 59:13really useful that that i know like even
- 59:16before i i decided on sewing my own bag i was
- 59:20looking like i because it was easier just to buy
- 59:22if i found a bag oh dude this looks nice and it fits all my props
- 59:25and i knew if i decided to
- 59:28make one i could make one where i think most people would be like i could never
- 59:32make one but as soon as you like as soon as you say that to yourself you have
- 59:37already tricked your brain into thinking you're gonna fail so you won't even
- 59:40try um so just being like oh i can make that sure yeah yeah all the question on the back of that is we,
- 59:48Oh, go ahead. Go ahead. Go ahead. Go ahead. So a few weeks ago,
- 59:52or maybe a couple months ago, in February, I think, I had a friend come,
- 59:58Portuguese magician, Francisco Moussino.
- 1:00:00He came to Denmark just to hang out, and we worked on some stuff.
- 1:00:05And we had separately been trying to solve this problem with a little trick.
- 1:00:10He had a routine for it. I just, I was more interested in the method.
- 1:00:14So we planned he was going to come here and, and he really like wanted help.
- 1:00:19Let's figure this trick out.
- 1:00:21So I talked to him on the phone, like maybe two days before he's arriving in Denmark.
- 1:00:25And I tell him like sort of arrogantly and I'm like, because he talks about
- 1:00:30this, this thing. And I say to him, okay, we'll, we'll solve it.
- 1:00:33He's here for like four days. I said, we'll, we'll solve it.
- 1:00:36We'll, I, I, I will get a method. We'll solve it.
- 1:00:40And if we don't, I'll give you a thousand euros.
- 1:00:43And he's like, yeah, I'm like, no, no, no, we will have a method.
- 1:00:48I'm sure of you. And if not, I'll give you a thousand euros.
- 1:00:52And I think he thinks I'm joking a lot on that.
- 1:00:55And literally, because I was so sure I'm going to find a method.
- 1:01:02And by giving me that extra pressure, because I would have given him a thousand euros.
- 1:01:07Like I found a method literally the day after I was sitting and tinkering with
- 1:01:12this thing and just playing with it because the mindset, I'm sure there is a
- 1:01:17method because it's not like rocket science. It's a little trick.
- 1:01:21And I was sitting with it and I found a method and I then made a video and posted it.
- 1:01:26And he comes back to me and I posted it on Instagram, like a close friend's story so he could see it.
- 1:01:31And he comments, he's like, are you trying to provoke me?
- 1:01:36Because like i just
- 1:01:39told him like the day before i'll solve
- 1:01:42it and then the day after i have a method and he'd been
- 1:01:45working on this for i don't know a few
- 1:01:48years and i just told him um we'll make it and yeah so i just the idea that
- 1:01:54i know i can do it and it's not even like not in an arrogant way but just telling
- 1:01:59yourself and again in life this is a pretty good pretty good piece of advice
- 1:02:03So listen to me now. Now you should listen to me.
- 1:02:06No, but in life, it's a good idea. So just be positive and be like, I can do that.
- 1:02:10And just because I'm saying that doesn't mean I live my life that way.
- 1:02:14I'm very pessimistic and think life is awful.
- 1:02:16But but when it comes to magic, I will always say we can make that,
- 1:02:21of course. But I think it helps in real life as well.
- 1:02:24Buddy, I got a great business proposition where like people come to you and
- 1:02:29I say, I have $10,000 that says that you can't create this. And then you go challenge accepted.
- 1:02:34Then you create it and send them an invoice for 10 grand.
- 1:02:38Yeah, I should do that. Yeah. I'm very bad with money, but yeah.
- 1:02:43No, just the idea that, of course, of course we can make that.
- 1:02:45And a lot of my stuff I've made that way, like,
- 1:02:49as a like a challenge to myself or whatever you want
- 1:02:52to call it like knowing that we can make this and because
- 1:02:56it it's magic tricks it's not like and
- 1:02:59i and i think the same like the way
- 1:03:02my personality is just like i mean i think
- 1:03:05that's quite humble and even when it comes to fism i'm like
- 1:03:08yeah it doesn't matter i'm really proud of my
- 1:03:11my achievements and but i'm also
- 1:03:14like it doesn't matter like for anybody outside of my apartment right
- 1:03:17now they don't care that the world's best magician
- 1:03:20lives here like no no no i did
- 1:03:23some card tricks and other people that also does card tricks like
- 1:03:26them that's what happened so it's not rocket science it's just magic so when
- 1:03:32i told my friend like yeah we can make that of course we can make that it's
- 1:03:36it's a magic trick it's i'm not like trying to like cure cancer or build a car.
- 1:03:42It's a magic trick. Yeah.
- 1:03:45Even though I think I could, of course I could cure cancer. I think if I don't
- 1:03:49do it, I'll give you a thousand euros. I'm sure I can do it. Give me a week.
- 1:03:54Get out the angle grinder. Yeah. Get to work. Let's get this cancer out of you. I'm just like.
- 1:04:00Your next fism performance. Yeah.
- 1:04:06With an ice cream scoop. I'm like, we're getting it out. Yeah.
- 1:04:09We'll solve this. No, but like just having a positive mindset I think is the
- 1:04:14best. What's that style of mentalism called?
- 1:04:17The um surgery surgery yeah yeah it sounds like getting out an angle grinder before we begin okay,
- 1:04:24stay still where does it
- 1:04:27hurt okay yeah yeah don't worry it's not real oh man but we could talk about
- 1:04:33this forever and and i want to but um we're just gonna have to have you back
- 1:04:37the next time you win another fism award is that the only way i get to do this
- 1:04:41podcast okay it's It's going to be tough. Okay, see you in three years.
- 1:04:47No pressure. Yeah, there's a little bit of pressure. Or you give us a thousand
- 1:04:51euros. Yeah, either way is good.
- 1:04:54But everyone listening to this probably follows Morton already,
- 1:04:59but go ahead and all the links to Morton's work are in the description below.
- 1:05:03Of course, somebody just commented saying that your deck shell is already sold
- 1:05:08out on Vanishing Ink. So if that's not a benchmark to say how good it is, I don't know what is.
- 1:05:13But it should be available at other shops. And also Magic will get more.
- 1:05:18That's right. That's right. I'm just saying that's a good benchmark to say how
- 1:05:23good it must be that it's already sold out in the first run.
- 1:05:27Of course, go find it at your local Magic dealer. Check back in.
- 1:05:31They'll have it restocked. Probably maybe by the time you're getting around
- 1:05:34to listening to this. But we're going to end our episode in the way that we
- 1:05:37always do, which is by giving our guest the final word.
- 1:05:42Okay, so this is the time where I say something really clever and you all think
- 1:05:47I'm so, like, smart and I don't know what to say.
- 1:05:51Don't listen to any of what I've said. And don't buy the deck shell. You don't need it.
- 1:05:56Yeah, make your own stuff. But again, who cares? Like, if it works for what
- 1:06:00you do, don't let some artsy-fartsy magician guy from Denmark dictate what you
- 1:06:06do because I'm not rich and successful.
- 1:06:10I just, I need money. send money maybe you should buy the shell that's what
- 1:06:14i'm saying no i don't i'm really bad at giving advice because like you don't
- 1:06:20want to be me i barely want to be me so don't listen to me,
- 1:06:26if you like magic great do read books learn
- 1:06:29more or if you don't want to learn anything don't learn anything then you're
- 1:06:32probably not listening to this at all because again who would listen to this
- 1:06:35so the final word is yeah live your life do whatever if you're happy i'm happy
- 1:06:43for you okay bye-bye thanks for listening it's time for us to disappear now,
- 1:06:53but we'll see you again on the next episode of the magic guys.