Latest / The Magic Guys / Damien O'Brien’s BGT Moments & TV-Magic Secrets #243
Transcript
- 0:01They're guys they do magic they are the magic guys.
- 0:12Ladies and gentlemen you know the deal welcome to episode 243 of the magic guys
- 0:18to my left we've got nick k hey guys i'm nick k and also joining us this week
- 0:24is dog con nakakomodichi sayonara Oh.
- 0:31I love, I love this version of Doug. This is when Doug's coming in hot.
- 0:34I'm happy to be here. I'm back in the saddle. I got the real mic going and a new co-host.
- 0:40Eric Stevens is not in the house. So we have Mr. Bunny today.
- 0:45We, we hope to have Eric back again at some point, but it's great to bring your hair to the episode.
- 0:50Yeah. right guys and as
- 0:53well before we kick on with our amazing
- 0:56guest today we have a giveaway to do we as you
- 0:59know we released our new shirt trust the
- 1:02slight tee which is available through the links of this this
- 1:05episode but we said we'd give one away so in the
- 1:08comments we got you guys to tag each other by the way
- 1:10thank you to everyone who has actually gone and purchased one
- 1:13of these six shirts already this is building the
- 1:17community and it's really cool to see and also i'll
- 1:19not i i went through on a few flights this
- 1:22week and I was wearing the shirt under my jacket and it
- 1:25got quite a few little looks like people trying to figure out is he
- 1:29a magician is he like it got some it'll give you some street credit is what
- 1:33I'm saying so I'm gonna just gonna scroll through the people that commented
- 1:37and we're gonna pick a random one I'm not using any force apps right we're gonna
- 1:41use oh yeah great okay let's do this again I'm gonna go with this one.
- 1:47Lucas mueller 7770 i'm
- 1:52gonna screenshot it my friend you are the new proud owner
- 1:55of a trust the slight t i can see you doing a card spring
- 1:58in your profile photo this is amazing
- 2:01lucas mueller you got a shirt coming to you
- 2:04soon winner winner chicken dinner
- 2:07trying to get yeah so guys we
- 2:10we're so fortunate when we have um guests from other
- 2:13parts of the world especially when they're willing
- 2:16to stay up late for us which is a real honor and this
- 2:20gentleman coming up we i personally i've
- 2:23been watching him since i think it was like one of the first seasons
- 2:27of penn and tella fool us and i
- 2:30remember watching this guy perform and i was like damn it
- 2:33he's so calm cool and collected doing epic
- 2:36magic with like this street magic-esque feel
- 2:40in a in a show where everyone's coming on in their suits and trying
- 2:42to be you know this prolific performer he
- 2:45just came on with his cap which i i really uh
- 2:48related to and just like smashed it and ever
- 2:51since then i've been following his journey and he's just
- 2:54been going up and up you know he recently a finalist on britain's got talent
- 2:59he now has this wonderful show we're going to talk about that's um slowly taking
- 3:04over the world and and and you guys and we're going to talk about a few other
- 3:09things he's he's releasing soon or appearing in soon.
- 3:12But gentlemen and ladies and wizards, please help me in welcoming.
- 3:17Once I get the cue right, Mr. Damien O'Brien.
- 3:38That was an entrance that was an entrance that's right damien o'brien welcome
- 3:42to the magic guys podcast please tell our friends who are you and what do you do.
- 3:46Obviously my name is damien o'brien as you just announced and i'm a magician
- 3:51and and also a gamer as well a gamer man how do you have time to enjoy gaming
- 3:58first of all that's got to be a,
- 4:01you you've got to make time it's like anything you find real passion for you
- 4:05you make time right so So I try and give myself two to three hours a day of
- 4:10gaming at some point for it all.
- 4:12Usually in the chilled hours when I'm like, right, this is when I can switch off for a bit.
- 4:17And I find that's just like my little escape from reality and I can just switch off.
- 4:23What are you playing specifically? You're doing like role-playing stuff,
- 4:28your online Fortnite sort of combat things.
- 4:31What's the vibe? so fort fortnight is a big
- 4:34one especially with the simpsons seasoning at the moment i'm
- 4:37loving that battlefield 6 i'm a huge battlefield
- 4:406 fan so i've been playing that but i do like to
- 4:43play a lot of everything um if i'm on my switch i'll be
- 4:45playing like donkey kong or mario kart to you
- 4:49know i'm always open but i do love story based games as well
- 4:52so things like spider-man 2 or the last of us
- 4:54and things like that which really just you know like immerse you
- 4:57into it they're great games yeah what about asteroids i'll play that i'll go
- 5:04into the arcade and play that that's fine that's fine what about my money has
- 5:09to go a 12 year old dougie would go dump his allowance into the arcade ah yes.
- 5:16That's crazy i appreciate the gaming i'm a
- 5:19gamer too digital collectible card games currently but
- 5:22real-time strategy and i'm an og unreal
- 5:25tournament player so i go back a couple of 30
- 5:28years for first-person shooters that's right
- 5:32that's right building one game
- 5:35at a time we've got a big resurgence now like i got my my
- 5:39buddy's son he was like he plays it for like 12 hours like
- 5:42straight it's massive those people
- 5:46could do that it's crazy the people who can play for like
- 5:4812 hours straight but i've got friends who
- 5:51stream for like they will do sometimes like marathons where
- 5:54they go for like two days like two full days without
- 5:58sleep and i'm like oh my how i get
- 6:01too hot with all the lights on the heat coming from the
- 6:04pc i'm like done i gotta
- 6:07take a break like after a while so they're like with fortnight there's a big
- 6:15resurgence with it happening with the simpsons and i was at my residency the
- 6:19other day where we have like a various types of golf like themed golf course
- 6:23sort of thing for the mini golf and one of which is the simpsons couch.
- 6:27And we were trying to round up all the kids take a photograph and we go all
- 6:30right on the simpsons couch and the mom turns to me and she goes you know these
- 6:34kids don't even know what simpsons is,
- 6:36and i just said then you were failing them as a parent like
- 6:40i didn't even think once and i realized how helpful that
- 6:43sound and she was like i go like this simpson should be taught at university
- 6:47like i think it's one of the most important things in pop culture great yes
- 6:51i agree but she said she goes it's not that it's just that like when you're
- 6:55five and six and it's not playing at 6 p.m every day after school or before dinner time,
- 7:01It's like, when are they going to watch it? And you're like,
- 7:03it's so true that to think there's a generation of people not watching that.
- 7:07I wonder if people felt the same way about like, oh, there's people out there
- 7:10not watching the Flintstones. I wonder.
- 7:14Well, it's all streaming now, right? So like, you've got to go on to that,
- 7:18you know, Disney plus stream Simpsons and stuff.
- 7:20So I know it's still on certain channels in the UK, but you know,
- 7:24everyone's going to stream it now.
- 7:26And it's like, oh, when did I find time between this series I'm watching or
- 7:29that series or I want to watch this movie.
- 7:31And so it's like, what takes priority in these things now?
- 7:35So, but yeah, I grew up in the Simpsons. I remember my, my sixth year,
- 7:39my sixth birthday, my sixth birthday, I had a Bart Simpson cake.
- 7:43Like, you know, that's 34 years ago.
- 7:47So like, I had all the Bart toys and everything. I loved Simpsons, man.
- 7:54You know, Simpsons for life. We have a question.
- 7:58With I was about to say I was going to say like with the amount of pop culture
- 8:00that you're sort of consuming I kind of feel it's really good and especially
- 8:03in like a mentalist realm to be aware of like what's happening in pop culture
- 8:06whatever else is there anything with regards to pop culture that you feel influences your magic,
- 8:11um oh maybe like
- 8:15you know especially when you do stuff with older crowds
- 8:18and you're doing sort of something where you're saying i'll think
- 8:20of uh whether it's like like a a film something
- 8:23what stands out to you maybe it's a quote or a line and you know all these different
- 8:27things whether it's like from an indiana jones movie a star wars movie uh stuff
- 8:33like that like then like all gremlins like crazy little things like they all
- 8:37jump out so like and i loved all those movies and I watch all of those stuff.
- 8:42So yeah, like you can always use that for your advantage, especially it's like
- 8:47whether it's doing a prediction sort of reveal whenever I think,
- 8:50you know, using techniques, what we do is, and it makes me go, oh yeah, cool.
- 8:55I wouldn't have thought that. Oh my God. Yeah, I remember that.
- 8:57And then it actually like refreshes people to start thinking about it then strangely
- 9:01they're like, ah man, I haven't seen that in ages.
- 9:03Let me go watch that. If you're going to do like a deja vu type effect,
- 9:06you couldn't reference the movie Groundhog Day and expect a younger generation
- 9:09of people to understand what that is. And I'll put it in the group right now in the chat.
- 9:14Like, if you know what Groundhog Day isn't, because I hope that's a shorter
- 9:17list, be like, never heard of it.
- 9:19But like, how many people don't know that? And like I see Doug just going like,
- 9:24that's sacrilege that people don't know what that movie is.
- 9:26Doug's still just pissed people don't know what the Flintstones is. That's what's going on.
- 9:33Someone is asking, can we get your Twitch handle?
- 9:36Twitch i i'm gonna be honest i don't stream on
- 9:39twitch anymore just tiktok so but if if
- 9:42you want the twitch handle it's damien magician
- 9:45it's still the same all my social handles
- 9:48are the same damien magician okay you're streaming
- 9:51magic on the tiktoks um i
- 9:54stream gaming i stream gaming so i can't
- 9:58like my thing is like i i got a lot of time
- 10:01for those guys who love streaming magic on tiktok if
- 10:03they're doing it to people and stuff like but there's a
- 10:06lot of it i just find that's so draining dudes i want
- 10:09to film for people next to me i want to you know
- 10:13that's how i started magic was performing to real
- 10:16people i do social media content for
- 10:20the fact that you know we kind of got you right to sort
- 10:22of build these things and keep it going but like i love that
- 10:26if i knew people are going to be dead the whole time of gaming is so much
- 10:29easier to because you're just immersed in the
- 10:32game people come in they want to follow the story with you or
- 10:34they played it and they want to talk to you about the story too yeah you
- 10:37get i find people who come and go oh can i join your game and
- 10:40they start chatting to you and they're following your stream at the same time while
- 10:43they're gaming with you and it's so much easier yeah it's
- 10:47way more relatable especially if they play the game as well and they're watching
- 10:52you passively do something it's like they're hanging out with a mate rather
- 10:55than like yeah watching a watching a trick through a screen and your job is
- 11:00to directly perform to them that's interesting that's interesting.
- 11:05Okay, so back in the day, it sounds, it's so funny to say back in the day,
- 11:10but it feels like yesterday when I first watched your clip on Fool Us.
- 11:15That would have been, was that the first season?
- 11:18I feel like it was like one of the earliest memories of watching it.
- 11:22It was Ben Earle and Damien O'Brien.
- 11:24It was the original season. So what actually happened was there was a pilot episode before that,
- 11:30which originally had ben l john
- 11:33archer i can't remember everyone on
- 11:36it and that was so michael vincent it was a few people
- 11:39and um i was originally on the pilot episode
- 11:42and a trick i'd done i'll
- 11:45be sure i'm honest it was garbage and we
- 11:48was like okay look we're not going to use that broadcast i wasn't
- 11:51happy with what i'd done either and it
- 11:54was fine but whereas i at that point they kind of knew
- 11:57that it was going to go for a season after and there's like
- 12:00we want you to come back and do the season so then
- 12:02season one officially kicks off right now i
- 12:06go back in with something a bit better like a bit more screwed up
- 12:09as well understand what the situation is about
- 12:11and i remember like because obviously everyone auditions first with to make
- 12:16sure you know it's you're not going to perform so awful on there or what's someone
- 12:22else is already doing and i remember doing this thing for Angelo Carbone and
- 12:28he was like one of the consultants at the time.
- 12:31He's it was just like it just fooled him straight away and he was like yeah
- 12:36that's for like remember Mark Oberon in the background like that's fooled me
- 12:40and then yeah so it gets there but like when I look back at our performance
- 12:45I'm like I still can actually see very how inexperienced I was for TV,
- 12:50you know like i don't feel like when i look at that i'm like man
- 12:53i look so awkward like i feel like i was over projecting my voice to
- 12:56being i don't know like not as maybe more myself more relaxed out like how i
- 13:02am now like you know obviously we grow as performers and that was you know maybe
- 13:0716 years ago nearly now so yeah was that the first time that you had done television.
- 13:14Magic no i i had done
- 13:17like this very short thing but again
- 13:21it was a series on bbc northern ireland
- 13:24and it was loads of really great musicians myself
- 13:27dynamo there was pete laura london samuel hurst
- 13:31and the idea was it was called magic house party where
- 13:34we would go into these pupils house and we'll help create a party
- 13:37around them with a famous uh irish dj
- 13:40and we did magic with their things around their
- 13:42house right but that was fine because
- 13:45it was i was doing close up and i'm just in my
- 13:48element it didn't bother me a camera being there while i'm doing a
- 13:51close-up trick or even some like illusions sort
- 13:55of with stuff because i'm like this is fine this is normal but
- 13:58going on to pen and tell it was a different beast you knew
- 14:01half the magician sorry half the audience was going
- 14:04to be magicians watching this like coming into
- 14:07you've got two of the best magicians judging
- 14:10you and i was like oh my god
- 14:13like this is like you also don't know where camera
- 14:16angles are going to be like properly like you you forget a lot of stuff and
- 14:20it was like it was a real big one you know because it's went on our main one
- 14:24of our main channels in the uk itv so that was a big thing as well knowing that
- 14:29this is going out on prime time with millions watching in and out of ZSA.
- 14:35That's a great point. And for you, what was the after effect of being on such a watch show?
- 14:44In the uk i think the one of the greatest
- 14:46things was was learning like watching the pros
- 14:49like you know i i got to watch teller performed
- 14:52silverfish from like literally feet away
- 14:56and like the preparations i got to see a bit of stage and stuff was going into
- 15:00this and it was like it's just so inspiring and all that made me want to do
- 15:05was get better i think every experience you learn from right you take it in
- 15:10and you get better and better each time so for me obviously it was my,
- 15:15foot in the door for next projects and
- 15:19to use again then for when I'm pushing
- 15:22myself to brands and advertisements so I'd already had a couple of brand deals
- 15:27at that point with new era caps and Nike at the time so it was then okay cool
- 15:35I've just been on the show here from this I've obviously I've worn their brands.
- 15:39So now I can pitch that to the next brand.
- 15:42Look, on TV. We don't know when I'm going to be on TV again next week.
- 15:46Whatever that's going to be. I was like, why don't you hook me up here?
- 15:50I've got a few more eyes on me now.
- 15:52Let's do this and let's do that. And then I was very lucky that I was performing
- 15:57at a lot of events where celebrities were and stuff like that and media opportunities.
- 16:02And yeah, but it was a break to get a lot more eyes of people who was working in TV magic to come,
- 16:11and notice me you know working on
- 16:14projects you worked on you know shows like killer magic
- 16:16we had to create a lot of tricks yeah what is
- 16:20that experience like like what sort of constraints and
- 16:23time restraints do you have like how
- 16:26does it's there's so many questions for me surrounding that can we talk about
- 16:29that for a bit yeah 100 dude so killer magic that was that was one of the most
- 16:34fun projects i've ever done in my life i loved every bit of it you know we were
- 16:39we started down in London and we was on this project for about.
- 16:46Six seven months and we
- 16:49was very very fortunate our first episode which
- 16:52is should we call it the pilot episode or it came we
- 16:55had some great people who's in as our writers and our
- 16:59team we had steven lung and ian sharkey who are writers for derren brow and
- 17:06like consultants and creators you know so we've got the best and we had andy
- 17:09nyman come in and help we had our producing director was Anthony Owen who produced
- 17:15all of Darren Brown's stuff, Objective Productions.
- 17:17So it's like everyone you needed was there and they saw magic in such a special way.
- 17:24And then we took it up from the pilot from London up to Glasgow,
- 17:30which was their base for nearly five months there.
- 17:32And we would be in the office. So we was always working on five days a week.
- 17:37We'd be in the office from 9am on Monday morning and we'd
- 17:40be sitting there creating content with do mood board
- 17:43software being like right okay what things can we create and
- 17:47we'll be right down like let's think about money gaming
- 17:50or you know whether it's something to do shopping or anything
- 17:54and we're like thinking what can we do and so like you've
- 17:57got a bunch of magicians in the room now like you
- 17:59know ben hart is insane creative like
- 18:02and he's uh we're just bouncing ideas the christopher
- 18:06chris cox jazz we're all just coming up with these
- 18:08crazy outrageous ideas and then at that
- 18:11point that's when we also had our magic consultants come in with no
- 18:14core who's an incredible magic consultant himself
- 18:17and creator so we had so many things and it was just so cool watching this stuff
- 18:23come from a text to life you know like watching the art department lot build
- 18:29these props for us and then like we'd be like right okay the specs need to be
- 18:33like this we need to change this or building custom props.
- 18:37And even the film days, there was a couple of mine.
- 18:42Did not work at all when we're in rehearsals and we're
- 18:45like building the props we're like this is just gonna bomb
- 18:48this is terrible and on the
- 18:51day one of them is like i'll tell you which one it was uh one
- 18:54with the fruit machine where it was like it lands on the
- 18:57three oranges and then three oranges come out of a fruit machine instead of
- 19:00money right and we was
- 19:03like every time we rehearsed this it did
- 19:06not work like it was on the wrong dials it
- 19:09was like completely wrong we're right so the
- 19:11idea and i was not right the idea is if that happens just making
- 19:15it like you get angry you shake the slot machine and
- 19:17uh we've been like give me my money back and then the oranges will
- 19:20drop out and it worked it hit
- 19:24perfect the oranges came out and we
- 19:27could i could see everyone in back behind the camera
- 19:29it's going yes and like so when i'm
- 19:32dreaming going yes we won for it my reaction was genuine like it was genuine
- 19:38like i'm so freaking excited because this has worked so there was some great
- 19:44moments like that at the right time yeah it's always the way what was the overall
- 19:50concept of this show killer magic.
- 19:53So killer magic was each week you had five magicians competing against each
- 19:58other and you had to do a trick based on a theme, whether it was money or toys
- 20:04or, you know, food, stuff like that.
- 20:07And we would score each other out of 10 and whoever had the lowest score had
- 20:12to recreate a trick that either injured or killed magicians in the past.
- 20:16So we did things like bullet catch.
- 20:19We done Russian roulettes, buzz saws and all kinds of stuff like that.
- 20:23And it was actually like i used to say to the
- 20:26people like if they was lizards like gotta look at it in a good
- 20:28way you get to one you get more airtime you
- 20:32also get to create a pretty awesome illusion
- 20:35or trick and that's part of your show rule now the
- 20:39life that you're doing that so that's a cool thing like
- 20:42because one of them was got the other's like why do i
- 20:45keep losing why do i keep and i'm like don't worry
- 20:47like it's good it's just so yeah all right the trick didn't
- 20:50come off as great as you wanted because sometimes you know our reactions
- 20:53are like through the roof like and
- 20:56then other times they're like okay cool that was great
- 20:59yeah oh wow like it's like it's nice they're sort of happy but they're
- 21:02not like it's static screaming running away the
- 21:05magicians judged each other correct yeah yep
- 21:09we judged each other so our scores counted no one the producers was not involved
- 21:14to say like you have to give them this score that score no it was whatever we
- 21:19wanted to gifted so we we all got i think all of us got a bit of the up once
- 21:25was someone got a 10 was like.
- 21:27Really it was like because we we all felt like this would have to be like so so so special.
- 21:34To be a 10 of like this would have to be like it fooled every single magician
- 21:39none of us know what this is what have you done and also like the reactions
- 21:43had to be wild through the roof to get.
- 21:46And it was it was like it's like we all know how this is done like and all you
- 21:52think is the other the other three magicians who scored because like you know
- 21:56it's four scoring total right and we all gave it like similar things like it
- 22:00was a good trick we're like cool that's an eight like and there was a nine and
- 22:03there was another eight and it was like ten and it was like.
- 22:07Did they just say and we're like wow it was
- 22:11like some remember there was a really tough one with bending like a
- 22:14basically like an ice bar and he
- 22:18was in his boxers this crazy sleight of
- 22:21hand with an egg and like you know he's like
- 22:23this it's everyone else is like in those big jackets to
- 22:27stay warm and so the things he
- 22:29was pulling off that was mind-boggling i
- 22:33mean you guys know how hard it is to do magic in the cold horrible horrible
- 22:37we've got a viewer asking is that still available
- 22:40to stream anywhere to watch killer magic i
- 22:43would say try and hit up on youtube because it used to be on bbc iplayer in
- 22:49the uk but i think they took it down not long ago actually so uh hit up killer
- 22:55magic episodes i think i know i've got a full episode on one of my youtube channels yeah.
- 23:01Guys was there any near death experiences there
- 23:04did anyone almost die from doing killer magic
- 23:07so not one
- 23:11of the magicians but one of
- 23:14the people behind the scenes a little
- 23:17bit hurt from one of the illusions but one of our illusions as well was like
- 23:22it was the buzzsaw one i'm surprised that didn't kill anyone because like the
- 23:28barb was holding the buzzsaw was like bowing and like this thing was swinging
- 23:32right like that and there was no kill switch on this or anything oh no,
- 23:37we were like where so when we got this we're like this is not good we're just
- 23:42like we're terrified now yeah we were like very very very nervous that must
- 23:48have been the episode where you all got tens Scores.
- 23:52Yeah. I do not want to be under this thing. Yeah. Oh, my God.
- 23:57That was terrified, Cedar.
- 23:58There's got to be a weird idea trying to fool...
- 24:02Magicians because if if the goal is to fool magicians it's
- 24:05not necessarily a good trick like there's was
- 24:08it to fool them or was it just to present
- 24:11great i think it's it's too i feel
- 24:14like it was to present a great routine with
- 24:17something that you're not used to doing right so
- 24:21for like the food one i i made someone's sign
- 24:24card end up inside a battered piece
- 24:28of cod inside their box of fish and chips and you
- 24:32know so a classic trick of where usually a sign card
- 24:34ends up in a wallet or pocket or something like that but this
- 24:37is taking it to another level and reactions
- 24:41were like through the roof like the guy's screaming
- 24:44he like you know he literally lost his
- 24:47mind he was like yeah we could have
- 24:50made a show just from his reactions like he was
- 24:52going off about 25 minutes after the camera's cut like he's
- 24:55cooked so so i
- 24:59felt like it was that like if they're entertained as well and they're laughing
- 25:03they've enjoyed it i've done a good performance felt like that should always
- 25:07add to the points that we're at the end of the day you've got to treat us almost
- 25:11a bit like the people you're performing to as well like your spectators that
- 25:15we want to be just as entertained.
- 25:18Were there any ideas that were left in the cutting room floor or that probably
- 25:21didn't make it to even conception phase that you had like a great idea you really
- 25:26wanted to do, but they went, no, that you're willing to share on the pod?
- 25:30There was, there was a fair few, to be fair, because we was,
- 25:33as I said, we was always in mobile.
- 25:35So we're creating, there was like themes, which never happened, of course.
- 25:38And one of the ones I remember
- 25:41thinking about I would really have loved to have brought to light was this idea
- 25:45that we was in a bar and someone pours a pint and beer's there and you talk
- 25:52about the tap where it's like we see beer taps and they're frozen up right and
- 25:57it's like the extra cold beer,
- 26:00basically was going to touch the glass and the whole glass was going to freeze
- 26:04and the entire beer was going to be like a solid block of ice like it could come out,
- 26:09and another idea was to make the
- 26:12beer just suddenly an empty glass so you see this beer completely
- 26:15fill up like this glass and we figured out a method to do it so it was proper
- 26:20so it came up properly with the head and everything like that it would have
- 26:24cost an absolute fortune to make it work and so there was a lot where it was
- 26:29like you know we were working with a tight enough budget as it was and i was just like.
- 26:34Can't do this can't get that in and it's like okay it was like even if you look
- 26:40at the slot machine i use it's it's a very old like it wasn't very like fresh
- 26:47and new looking where it's like.
- 26:49Today's like this looks like it's been in the pub since the
- 26:5280s it was kind of that like look but
- 26:55we made it look right and i think that's
- 26:58the thing how you dress a lot of tricks up as well you know what let's do
- 27:01a thought experiment for like the next three to five minutes
- 27:04okay making magic the theme is using
- 27:07the men's room go okay cool changing
- 27:11the sign where it says men changing it
- 27:14into the same way it would be a joke and it'd say dinosaurs so the voice is
- 27:17when you go yeah i would do no like tear no tear toilet paper where like you
- 27:25wait for someone to get to the toilet next to you and you're in the other one
- 27:27and you go like sorry man there's no toilet paper can you just tear me off some,
- 27:30and he's trying to take it, but he can't tear it.
- 27:32And then it's like, I can't tear it. And you're like, oh, okay, keep going.
- 27:36And it's like, no, pull, pull. And then he always stopped for a sec and then
- 27:39go, just when you think in your mind, tear. And then it tears.
- 27:42Nice you know what i mean and so like you make
- 27:45this gimmicked tear no tear sort of toilet paper i think
- 27:47that would be a pretty fun idea i got one you
- 27:50do professor cheers comedy rope trick with
- 27:53toilet paper so you're walking out of the bathroom piece of toilet paper hanging
- 27:58out of your leg you start pulling it it comes all the way out it hangs up on
- 28:01the arm it comes out of the arm then it's on the other arm and then the boxers
- 28:06come out toilet paper instead of rope what about like
- 28:12a levitation where everyone, your back is to the guys in the toilet,
- 28:17but you're standing up at the trough.
- 28:20You're peeing and then you start meditating off the ground while you're peeing. That's a banger.
- 28:26Oh, man. I'll give some looks.
- 28:30Okay, so you go to the men's room and there's a line and then a guy dressed
- 28:34like Jesus walks in and he's like, oh, is it busy?
- 28:38And he's like, oh. And then he
- 28:39sees an empty wine glass. So he just cowers over. He's moving to a wine.
- 28:44Oh, no.
- 28:47Jesus.
- 28:49Oh, that would be great. That would be great.
- 28:53I love all these funny ideas, but I'm curious of what's actually happened at
- 28:59some of our events. So I think, Nick, I think we should roll into...
- 29:03A little gig story segment let's do it so gig
- 29:07stories is a section of the show we talk about little magic moments either
- 29:10while working being on telly or perhaps our day-to-day lives
- 29:13and we'll share our stories starting with our very fine
- 29:16guest mr damien okay so you're
- 29:21like you want the dirt right okay yeah um we
- 29:24want it so i currently work
- 29:27at like do we have a show in london called the
- 29:30magician's table it's an immersive magic experience
- 29:33right so people come in they have a few drinks down
- 29:37at the bar first and see some magic downstairs before the
- 29:40show begins then they come up we have like 10
- 29:42tables which seat 10 people or 12 people
- 29:45i can't remember and it's basically supposed to be a
- 29:48memorial for a famous magician called dita rotterberg who has passed away and
- 29:53it's hosted by his wife who's a widow right and uh so the show goes on and we're
- 29:58performing in memory of detail and so each table will see five magicians throughout the night okay and,
- 30:06every now and then of course we're going to get magicians in our audience who'd
- 30:10love to be there they come watch sometimes they do that typical magician thing
- 30:14where like instead of like you know having fun they just sit there like this
- 30:19and uh are very awkward for the table and stuff,
- 30:23this particular guy he was just doing this after every trick it was to his partner.
- 30:29So he was like okay and the first magician who went to the table said.
- 30:34If you want to wait till I'm gone to explain the tricks that'd be great so he
- 30:38just sort of told him like in a friendly way,
- 30:40then i i've gone over to their table next similar thing
- 30:44i feel like i sort of tucked him up with one of the things
- 30:47i've done like near the end i was like yeah you didn't catch that and
- 30:50then i've got backstage and the curtains between
- 30:53the backstage and their table you could hear everything and
- 30:56then suddenly he's explaining stuff to the table i'm like really you
- 30:59dirtbag and during the show there's
- 31:02a bit where it's almost like a break where they have to read a
- 31:05letter that's on their table every table has it and that's
- 31:08one of the magicians of our team has walked out he's suddenly
- 31:12performing the vanishing bird cadence cage illusion
- 31:15well what but he brought
- 31:19it with him he brought in a vanishing bird cage illusion right we're like this
- 31:25is not like some simple setup like you know your magician you know how extremely
- 31:31complex that is and it's like why would you just perform that Another magician's show.
- 31:37That's like any one of us turning up to David Blaine's thing and suddenly performing
- 31:43in the middle of the theater, right?
- 31:45We're like, really? And he didn't do it once. He'd done it four times.
- 31:52And we're like, well, and I couldn't hold it in.
- 31:55And at the end of the show, I went up to the table and I was like,
- 31:58so did you enjoy the magic, what you got to see at the tables,
- 32:02or did you enjoy the exposure?
- 32:04And like one of the guys who's so polite he was
- 32:07like oh no we preferred the magic you know that was a lot
- 32:10better and we just couldn't get over this guy because
- 32:13like we told him sort of at first i i seated the
- 32:16guy and i was like oh you're going to play in card pin badge you know and i'm
- 32:21like okay straight magician could tell it a mile away and i was like oh nice
- 32:24to meet you man we hope you enjoy the show now most magicians are great when
- 32:28they come to the show they're just like they cheer they support like you know
- 32:32and it's like you know this ain't the way to.
- 32:36Get good reputation in the industry right it's
- 32:39like this is the worst like and
- 32:42we thought what did he think he was doing did you think he
- 32:45was going to come down and audition and be like we're going to go that vanishing
- 32:48bird case trick man yeah you've got to be part of our show okay yeah
- 32:52like what was going on in his head like by him
- 32:55explaining how the tricks worked did he
- 32:59think that that meant people thought oh he's so smart and he's he's above this
- 33:05show could you describe him was he an elderly man was he senile no dude he was
- 33:12young as i would say he was mid to late 20s,
- 33:16like so it's not like the sort
- 33:19of thing what he done is what you expect a 12 year
- 33:22kid to do at a party come running up because they've learned
- 33:25a trick right and they're just super excited to like show it off and well we
- 33:31just couldn't believe it from now on jack rhodes you are banned from all magicians
- 33:36tables jack rose is fine we like jack rose we love jack rose.
- 33:45Just kidding but that's yeah that's wild you know
- 33:47what because i i bet this was there also a point where you
- 33:51were like should i just go out there and tell them how the
- 33:54bird the vanishing cage works just so he feels that feeling or no I just to
- 33:59me it's like you know then you'll see you're no good as him right and I'm just
- 34:03like you know because it's a beautiful illusion but I'm like at what point does
- 34:08like the table suddenly think he wasn't sitting there in a bird cage with you before,
- 34:12And why you got a birdcage on you for the first year in one,
- 34:17like who walks around with an empty birdcage?
- 34:20Like it makes no sense.
- 34:23Yeah. It's just like, there's nothing there. It's not an impromptu effect. It's not a walk around.
- 34:29And also it's not justified for people to just see you walking around with a birdcage.
- 34:36Yeah. And what was funny after the show, I've come out, I've gone out,
- 34:41I've left building quickly.
- 34:42And there's just like a shot opposite and i was like right let me grab myself
- 34:45some water and uh and bits to head backstage because we do like a double show
- 34:50each time so we have two shows,
- 34:53and i've walked past and i've seen him and i was about to
- 34:56approach and be like hey look man i'm gonna give you a little bit of just friendly
- 35:00advice because it's and he was doing it so somewhat like another big group out
- 35:05there who just came in watch the show another do you know like he's a lost cause
- 35:08I ain't offering I'm just like I'm walking off I'm like I can't do it but it's wild,
- 35:14sometimes you gotta put those ones behind you man that happens yeah we yeah.
- 35:19My residency happened the same sort of thing this guy rocked up and I remember
- 35:23because he was I was performing it's like oh you got another magician working
- 35:26on the other side of the venue and I was like,
- 35:29who like i know everyone in this and i see
- 35:31this cat i don't know this guy right and i
- 35:34know everyone in this town like straight up because they typically
- 35:37work for me and so i'm looking i'm like that's just some cat like doing his
- 35:41thing and he was he went out that day he was like i'm doing magic today and
- 35:49he was like i'm gonna wear my my fedora hat it's gonna have the cards in it
- 35:54i'm going to wear my full suit,
- 35:56even though it's 42 degrees outside,
- 35:59probably like 98 Fahrenheit.
- 36:01He's like, I'm doing it. And like, he was just, he's doing his magic.
- 36:05He's showing people stuff.
- 36:06He's sweating. He's there with his kid and his partner. And it's like,
- 36:10just all hyper autistic behavior.
- 36:13And I was like, I'm going to let him, let him be and just do a thing.
- 36:18And then I go over to the table and I say, hello.
- 36:19And he was like, and I started doing my stuff because I'm not a magician.
- 36:23And I go, yeah, I know you're not.
- 36:25And he was like yeah i'm not and i go i know you're not well you know if you if you were,
- 36:31one you would know who i am two you would
- 36:34know better than to be performing in another man's realm
- 36:36but he's paid to be here so i'm
- 36:40totally aware you're not a magician and it was
- 36:43a nice interaction well very polite but then his son fired up
- 36:46with his like crazy level of
- 36:49tism and to the point where like everything was grabbing
- 36:52me and like his wife's trying to literally hold this eight-year-old back
- 36:55and i'm like let him he was one of my cards i want
- 36:58them because mine were blue and his dads were red and i'm like take him take
- 37:01him take him just calm the kid down like there's people here eating and stuff
- 37:04so it's gonna happen and you try to accommodate and make sure they have more
- 37:08time without making them feel ostracized because they are a guest in your venue
- 37:11at the end of the day but like in the same breath have some freaking decorum people.
- 37:17I agree i agree yes yeah
- 37:22crazy my only um notable gig story from last week was performing on a on a yacht
- 37:28like a yacht party and uh it's always an interesting thing and i'm curious of
- 37:34your thoughts damien when you
- 37:35get booked for a gig that only has say 40 people but you're on a yacht so,
- 37:41you're stuck on there for four hours you know there aren't actually any hidden
- 37:46spaces really to to not be seen so you're kind of the magician the whole time
- 37:52with nowhere to kind of hide.
- 37:54But what I will say is this audience was very fun they like they all enjoyed
- 38:00their own partying so there was like a mini dance floor on the main deck that
- 38:04they would mainly be at and I would just sort of,
- 38:08come in and out between the top deck and the bottom deck and but i
- 38:10definitely in advance took like all the
- 38:13things i would enjoy performing that can't blow away and i
- 38:17would just like pick one prop like spend
- 38:20that that 30 minutes showing everyone that
- 38:23prop if they wanted to see it like a ruby skew for example then i
- 38:26put it away then i bring out like my blank double blank
- 38:29cards and i do like some ambitious with signing the card
- 38:32and stuff just that and then i'd come back
- 38:35and now it's like rubber band time and it was like a very
- 38:38unusual way to perform yeah
- 38:42um but it was a fun exercise but how long how long was the trip it was four
- 38:48hours four hours but surprisingly the time did go quick and the first you know
- 38:5415 minutes in the last 15 minutes is like them leaving the dock or just getting
- 38:58to the dock so you're not doing anything,
- 39:00but but it certainly was a thing where i had i couldn't just do like my normal
- 39:04three sets right to everyone i was like this is gonna require some more thoughts on performing but also.
- 39:13I'm limited a little bit because i'm on an unsteady vessel and lots of wind and you know,
- 39:20i'm just rocking a a a vest because i can't
- 39:23really wear a jacket on this yacht where it's going to be stinking
- 39:26hot otherwise but um yeah
- 39:30is that a situation you had to
- 39:32be put in before do they do you guys have yacht parties in
- 39:35the uk or strangely we have like obviously we have
- 39:38these things we have river boats which go up and down the thames and
- 39:41they're huge and people rent them out all
- 39:44the time for parties and i think we actually
- 39:47have uber boats as well now in the uk we'll
- 39:50go up and down to thames yes and but like
- 39:53these um like fancy boats which people host their
- 39:56parties on similar situation right i'll be booked for
- 39:59two hour gig but you're stuck there
- 40:02for four hours because i sometimes be
- 40:05longer because it's like all right we're docking at midnight and it's
- 40:07like and they want you on there at like quarter
- 40:10to seven okay five hours and
- 40:14these stairs sometimes it's like a lower little escape bit you can go and hide
- 40:18you can have some food you can rest for a bit come back up but it's agreed it's
- 40:23like once you've gone around this boat you've done magic for everyone you're
- 40:26like don't want to make it feel like overkill where it's like this is too much,
- 40:32and and one of the things that i've started doing when i do this now i just
- 40:36sort of go up to where the captain is to a bit of magic for them and i chill
- 40:40and chat with the captain and the crew.
- 40:43And it sort of like gets you out of the way and you start talking to them about
- 40:46normal things and it allows you to switch off for a little bit,
- 40:49maybe like desensitize or whatever and then maybe go back down going,
- 40:52you know what, let me try saying kills now. Now I've like got away from that,
- 40:56party for a bit i can go back down and yeah
- 40:59but like to me it's like if i'm sort of chilling thankfully i've
- 41:03never been on a situation where it's just i'm the only performer there's always
- 41:06been something like a caricature or maybe some
- 41:09band members are playing as well and they
- 41:12obviously take breaks and we kind of sort of try and
- 41:15put our stuff into one little corner and we
- 41:18will just chat there and we sort of hide there together people
- 41:21usually are quite polite and they're like okay let them
- 41:24do that or if they want to see one more they'll be like hey like my.
- 41:27Friend didn't get to see something earlier because maybe there was that on
- 41:30this end or there was upstairs it's like and yeah
- 41:33i will do that but yes like you
- 41:36i've dragged out some routines for so
- 41:39long like and i'm like i will literally milk
- 41:43it and then i will let them do ask all the questions so
- 41:46how did you get into magic so what made you want to be a magician and
- 41:49okay i'm like well let me tell you my life store on karen uh and
- 41:53i i will uh milk it like that as
- 41:56well it took it some of the time so i'm saying the
- 41:59thing is luckily like you never know sometimes
- 42:01that's like the person who's hired you as well so like you have
- 42:04that full interaction where you're really giving them your time and like talking the
- 42:07way to them they're like that's great i had a great conversation with the
- 42:10magician of why it's imagine but look
- 42:13people like that though it's part of the gig in my
- 42:16opinion is to spend some time you know socializing with
- 42:19the clients of course where there's also that thing
- 42:22right as they say sometimes of there's the under charge and
- 42:25over deliver so it's like you give them more of
- 42:28yourself each time where they're gonna be like that was amazing value
- 42:32for money let's get that guy again let's get
- 42:35them in again because they're gonna be fantastic value
- 42:39everyone loved them really friendly really good stayed
- 42:42longer they weren't watching the clock thinking all right okay boom off like
- 42:45soon as the dotcom like you're throwing like women and children over ball so
- 42:48you can get off the phone first so you know that's i've been having flashbacks.
- 42:53During this conversation on my worst gig ever i've told this story before but.
- 42:57I was on a riverboat on christmas eve.
- 43:01There are like a three-hour float up the Mississippi River.
- 43:06They do bonfires to attract Santa Claus. It's lovely.
- 43:10It's lovely until you go back to the dock where you left, and the boat is unable
- 43:15to dock there where all of the cars are.
- 43:19And it's 11 p.m. on Christmas Eve. And you've already done magic for the whole boat.
- 43:24And they inform you it's going to be two to three hours before we get to the
- 43:28next spot where buses will meet us.
- 43:32Oh, so I very much was in that conversation mode for a couple of hours.
- 43:36And I wish I had that captain's trick.
- 43:38You just said back then I sure would have gone to hang out in the captain's room.
- 43:44Oh, honestly, it like that works so well. Like when you realize there's actually
- 43:48quite a few bits of career, they'd like.
- 43:50Get it with them. And I was just like, oh, do you need this?
- 43:53Jordan this? Jordan this? Oh, that'd be very nice. Thank you very much.
- 43:56I'd like to complimentize about it. Want to drive the boat? Yes,
- 43:59I do. That'd be fantastic.
- 44:01Yeah yeah so it's it's really cool yeah
- 44:04if i could share a couple of stories from from like that realm
- 44:07as well like it's so we do like two laps
- 44:10of the bay here in melbourne we call them
- 44:13booze cruisers you get on a boat you get pissed so booze cruisers we have a
- 44:17couple of different mobs to do it and yeah it's so they'll either do like one
- 44:21lap and then it's like we're going to kick you off and then we're going to go
- 44:23back out and do another lap and come back and that's pretty good that's like
- 44:25a two-hour kind of experience but more times than not i get ready to say goodbye,
- 44:30And they're like, do you want to stay?
- 44:32And I go, I got to invoice you though. They're like, yeah, that's fine.
- 44:35I go back and just tell the captain, I'm like, I'm staying on bro,
- 44:37like to the bitter end. Let's just keep going.
- 44:39And there's been other times where they can dock at another location because
- 44:43sometimes they start at one spot, do a couple of laps, then stop at another
- 44:47point, then go to that restaurant. So...
- 44:51That can logistically be a bit of a pain in the butt. But thankfully,
- 44:55I typically ride an electric skateboard to events like this,
- 44:58especially if it's good weather.
- 44:59So I just skate up to the gig on board, put my board in like with,
- 45:04I was going to call it a cockpit, but that's called a wheelhouse. Yep.
- 45:08Into there, do all my shtick. And then I just skate home along the river. Like it's so good.
- 45:14Think about logistics when you're doing gigs like this, kids. It's a pain.
- 45:18Yeah. Yeah, because what you just said there about the dock,
- 45:20we'd have the same thing, like we'll leave one dock and sometimes it stops at
- 45:25a completely different end.
- 45:26So like of like the Thames, you're like, that is like nowhere near that.
- 45:30But obviously, thankfully with London, we have the underground,
- 45:32right? So it's like there's always a chief station like within,
- 45:35you know, a five minute walk, thankfully.
- 45:38But it is, you're 100% right. you have to take all that into consideration of
- 45:43like suddenly like if that adds a lot more time on you getting home,
- 45:48you've got to really read that fine print because they throw that at you like
- 45:52last minute blow oh by the way we're docked down here,
- 45:56what do you mean you're not going back to where like we started i planned my
- 46:00journey i mean for real it's christmas eve and my car is over there,
- 46:07it's already 11 and i've got three kids you know was they like krampus must have him.
- 46:18We've only got a short time left with damien and we can't leave
- 46:21without not touching on one of the big projects that
- 46:24you've done which is britain's got talent britain i
- 46:28can't even hang on i gotta do that better britain's got
- 46:33talent yeah there we go you made
- 46:36it to the finals that's like an insane accolade
- 46:39so i guess so much to unpack there
- 46:42but like what was your thoughts or like your idea
- 46:45going into that show and well
- 46:49thing is i i'd been headhunted for nearly five
- 46:52years they've been trying to get me on there and i was like no no
- 46:55nothing felt right didn't feel right okay that's interesting and a
- 46:59year before i was supposed to do it no two years
- 47:02ago before i did i was going to potentially do it i actually pulled out due
- 47:06to mental health reasons i was like right not right i need to make sure i look
- 47:10after me first did that and then i went back in and was like right i'm going
- 47:13to prove to myself i'm going to do this and like worked as my ideas with Russ
- 47:18Stevens and we come up with this idea,
- 47:21which was, was the metal phone and it had never been seen by anyone before.
- 47:25It just hadn't even been released yet when I did it, which was fantastic.
- 47:29And we added to it with the engraved number on it because I was like,
- 47:32right, it's not just a metal phone. How do we layer this?
- 47:35And at the end of the day, it was like, when you realize you do BGT or AGT or
- 47:39any of those sort of things, really the show is about those four judges.
- 47:44Make it about them, feed their ego. So that's why we made it that,
- 47:47right, this is going to have Simon's day of birth.
- 47:49The main guy, main character, he's going to get to keep this insane souvenir.
- 47:55Like, you know, hopefully our thing was, our plan was to go,
- 48:00by the way, this is a gift, you can keep this.
- 48:01And so we've done that and go, Simon, this is for you.
- 48:05Like a policymaker, when he comes after me, he's like, can I keep this?
- 48:08I'm like, yeah, that's yours.
- 48:10Like, there's nothing to hide there. that is just a piece of
- 48:13metal with your date of birth engraved on it and he
- 48:15generally kept it so but our plan was
- 48:18to always make sure i was being my authentic self
- 48:21being me russ was very very good helping me
- 48:24create stuff that fit to my style my my approach
- 48:28and he really gets
- 48:31the show obviously he understands he has so many different magicians
- 48:35on there and we decided
- 48:39so once i was through to the semi-finals we
- 48:42was like okay how do we top that audition
- 48:45because that was nuts we had like you know a huge
- 48:49sort of thing and now things are very different we've got no audience
- 48:52we're virtual because it was in the pandemic so
- 48:56we was like let's do what no one's done before let's pick
- 49:00up exactly where we left off and we
- 49:03continued the story with the metal phone so it's
- 49:06like I brought it straight back out it was like six months ago when you saw
- 49:09me here I did this and I've done this using things special moments so again
- 49:14we're going to play with this and then we brought different memories from people
- 49:17of different times and stuff what meant to them now we turn the phone back into a real phone.
- 49:24Let's say six months ago this is how i left my phone and now
- 49:27it's with the date of what one of the judges said amanda it's
- 49:30got the screensaver is a wallpaper of a country alicia
- 49:33the singer was thinking of there's a text message from a
- 49:37celebrity who david welliams has wanted and it's
- 49:39like it's got the message on what he's thinking like what the
- 49:42hell be like look and then we upped it again we layered
- 49:45it each time it was layered so it was like i look you're probably thinking maybe
- 49:48this is technology maybe this is something special here then we
- 49:52do obviously the ultimate prediction system so pull
- 49:55out the piece of paper we unfold it now it's all hammering it's
- 49:58like what the hell it's got everything and then
- 50:02the final bit there's just an easel there and we turn it over and that's
- 50:05got the word the last judge had been thinking of
- 50:07and it just frightened because it
- 50:10was each time and even then i was like oh that's
- 50:14not it and i was like and then i turned the easel and they're like what do
- 50:16you mean that's not it like because that's something with the phone as well
- 50:20didn't go i'd done that assignment when it was just their numbers they created
- 50:23was like but that's not it so the audience is like what and x everyone thinks
- 50:27just done there and you just say bomb bomb bomb this and it's just that extra
- 50:33like whoa like sort of moment so.
- 50:36And even in the final even i didn't do anything with
- 50:40that particular phone i still referenced it i pulled out a box because i was
- 50:43talking about my memories my time on bgc and i pulled out i was like the metal
- 50:47phone you'll remember and I sort of put it back in the box and then we still
- 50:52done a trick with a phone so I was like I'm not going to change up now as Sully do I'm not going to,
- 50:58well i don't know we're like a big grand illusion or
- 51:01some sort of uh water tank escape it
- 51:04would make no sense for me and i
- 51:07was very smart way i made sure i plugged my instagram on there as
- 51:10well because it was like we're in a pandemic let's plug
- 51:13my instagram to get some brand work because everyone's going to
- 51:16want to use that so i plug i
- 51:19had to fight like a lot to get that
- 51:21in this world because i was like we don't really want to do this we don't like advertising
- 51:25different things and that's why like when you
- 51:27see it i say like you have social
- 51:30media open it up like i physically wasn't allowed
- 51:33to say the words instagram because the tv rights so
- 51:37so that's why it's like so the judges
- 51:40like they're they're prepared for that bit they get told it's like
- 51:42hey look he's gonna say do you have social media what you
- 51:45need is by his instagram we're not allowed he's not allowed to say it because of
- 51:48this so they get so they don't know nothing about the trick they just
- 51:51know he's gonna say that so my
- 51:54phone went mental from that
- 51:57moment when i was here i mentioned it and there's a piece of
- 52:00her card inside on the phone on my instagram grid
- 52:03from weeks ago and then obviously i changed her phone.
- 52:06Into a bunch of photographs and her phone
- 52:09ends up back in the box on top of the stage with anton deck inside
- 52:12a hundred foot of rope and yeah it
- 52:15was again but what the best thing i can tell
- 52:18you one of the funniest things from bgt was every time
- 52:21i done my rehearsals where it was
- 52:24auditions semi-final and final they all went horrible that i knew they couldn't
- 52:29have gone any worse like really bad was like oh my god this looks terrible this
- 52:35ain't great this ain't great like my semi-final performance actually we the
- 52:40routine changed 24 hours before it,
- 52:43before we performed it no kidding so this seems like a theme damien i'm i'm sensing a theme here.
- 52:50Yeah i have terrible like i figured
- 52:53rehearsals and then i smash it out of heart when it comes i think
- 52:55maybe i need that adrenaline wow we
- 52:59had a question did did you freak when
- 53:02her phone dropped off the stage i'm guessing that is
- 53:05that something that happened that no one knew happened or what tell
- 53:09us that here's the thing i said i told them in rehearsals i was like tell us
- 53:15to put a hand over the glass like this and we'll pull it through with thread
- 53:20the rope through the fingers right so that way with the phone hits it's just
- 53:24going to bounce up the hand and land back in the big glass,
- 53:27it was like we don't like that because that's covering the
- 53:30inside of the glass we really want to see that rope like unraveling the
- 53:33phone i'm like it's a glass you can see
- 53:36for it like like go to a side shot
- 53:39and what happens the phone drops
- 53:42out and i just had to play it cool and like yeah just pick it
- 53:44up i was like i don't care if your phone screen smashed right now we've got
- 53:48to play this cool and i went backstage panicking i was like please don't tell
- 53:52me i broke one of the judge's phones i spoke to she's like oh it's fine i don't
- 53:56care it's great like that was bloody mental how did you do that and i was like
- 54:00i can't tell you so my heart was like.
- 54:04Yeah I mean at the end of the day I'm sure she's not worried about replacing a phone you know like,
- 54:12that's probably like you know yeah new shoes today and a new phone also I'm
- 54:18mad from what happened on that phone so obviously like everything what I touched
- 54:22they had to touch they had to like sort of use sort of sanitizer right so it's like,
- 54:27they sort of quickly sanitize their hand so when I've told her to rip the card I'll see you next time.
- 54:32She sprayed the corn of the card with sanitizer before she handed it at me.
- 54:36And I'm putting this corn in my mouth. That wasn't part of it.
- 54:38And I was like, oh, this is going to be gross.
- 54:40And so I'm now putting this corn of the card in my mouth. And I'm like, this is gross.
- 54:45You know, it ain't fun like when you do your routines, right?
- 54:48Where you chew a piece of card. Anyway, it tastes awful.
- 54:52Add some like pure 100% alcohol sanitizer on that.
- 54:57Oh, yeah, it tastes good. That's not good. So people are going to have a chance
- 55:03to potentially learn from you coming up soon, Damien, right?
- 55:07Is that something you can tease?
- 55:09Yeah, so I'm doing my first ever lecture at the biggest magic convention in
- 55:15the world, which is Blackpool Magic Convention 2026.
- 55:19I'll be doing two lectures throughout the four days.
- 55:23And I'll also be performing in the international close-up gala show.
- 55:28Which I'm very excited about.
- 55:30We're working on the routine really hard at the moment i've got
- 55:33something very fun my idea was not getting very similar
- 55:36to like kilometer i'm not going in there to fool the world i'm
- 55:39going in there to make sure everyone has fun and enjoys
- 55:42it but the lecture i think so i have three
- 55:45brand new routines which one i think will sell out immediately oh let's go it's
- 55:55insane real insane and off stream I'll show you guys you can have a preview but with I.
- 56:05The lecture as well i'll also be talking to people how
- 56:08to get those brand deals how how i
- 56:11went about getting collaborations with nike new
- 56:14era to apple and all different
- 56:17kinds of brands coca-cola i've worked with what what's the
- 56:20way how do you approach that what's going on and also a bit of
- 56:23insight into tv magic and how would you
- 56:25prepare for that and what are you going to do so that's like
- 56:29all the gold stuff that that yeah no one's taught anywhere
- 56:32right and yeah we just had sonya
- 56:35benito on a few weeks back and it seems like my bestie
- 56:39yeah i mean it makes sense like you're
- 56:42both repping all the brand deals you know like if you
- 56:44like a brand you found a way to work with them and so that's sure
- 56:48and it's obviously no accident that you both do that if you both spend time
- 56:52together and share these these ideas that that's amazing yeah she's honestly
- 56:56one of the most creative magicians i've ever met in my life she's ridiculous
- 57:01like honestly like what some people have seen like.
- 57:06Is nothing like as she shows
- 57:09me some bits and i'm like what i know is that she ain't even really scratched
- 57:13the surface with that and i'm like this is wild like she's so crazy good and
- 57:19i'm like so i go to her a lot when i'm like working on projects i'm like want
- 57:24you to help me do this want you to be my consultant on this i want you to do that she's great
- 57:28clip it that just the the 2026 sonia promo reels yeah i know right.
- 57:36That's amazing and and last but not least the magician's table we talked about
- 57:40it a little bit but that's where people can come and see you at the moment that's
- 57:45where you're yeah and this is where i'm regularly performing and it's what i
- 57:49love about this it was for so long
- 57:52people could only really see me if they booked me for a private event,
- 57:55whether it was a pro wedding or something like that. Right.
- 58:00And because most of the time it was like.
- 58:02There wasn't anything like that it's like i wasn't really doing stage
- 58:05routines where i was renting out venues and i was going okay
- 58:08cool come check me out here at maybe
- 58:11a fringe festival or something like
- 58:14that i wasn't doing that so then for me to suddenly
- 58:17go get this opportunity with the magician's table
- 58:20it's like oh you can come down we're
- 58:23gonna be here a long time come check us out like you can see me at the fraction
- 58:28of a cost of whatever it would be if you booked me you get a great night out
- 58:32you get to see five different magicians amazing cocktails and it's an amazing
- 58:38amazing venue as well it's so so like,
- 58:43insanely cool like you walk in there you're like this is nuts like it just feels
- 58:49it's cheesy to say but it feels magical right you walk in there you're like
- 58:52this is really cool right for those listening so that to go check that out if
- 58:58you're in the uk and maybe all spread around the world.
- 59:02Also in america now we launched in charlotte this
- 59:06weekend so magicianstablelive.com is
- 59:11currently what's uh showing up magicians table live.com you
- 59:15can see damien on the lineup of great lineup
- 59:18of performers here this is this is it yeah we
- 59:21have we have some amazing amazing performers sonja's
- 59:25also on that lineup a couple of others like yolin who's like you know one of
- 59:31the best carbon players going like that dude is like i love yolin he's such
- 59:37a nice person as well dan ho So Nick Stein is insane.
- 59:42Like his character, the crooked crew here is brilliant.
- 59:47And of course we have Ian Sharkey, the guy who wrote it all.
- 59:50And he is the mastermind again behind a lot of the Darren Brown stuff.
- 59:56But we've had Darren Brown down as well. He loved it. Darren loved the show.
- 59:59So yeah, we've had people like that down, which is to us is such a great,
- 1:00:04you know, to have someone like that give their self-approval.
- 1:00:07It's very high praise. Very high praise. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
- 1:00:10It's nice when you've got that. It sounds like you're in great company over
- 1:00:14there. Like, you're the right people and you just...
- 1:00:18Doing what you love getting these brand deals and you have time
- 1:00:21for gaming i mean this is incredible stuff this
- 1:00:24is groundbreaking stuff damien this time has flown by
- 1:00:27so please please come on again because i feel like we've we've only really scratched
- 1:00:32the like you know the big things people have seen you do but i know there's
- 1:00:35so much under there that we can break down and advice and but go see go see
- 1:00:40and perform at the magician's table go watch his lecture for our for our uk
- 1:00:45audience listening that are going to be heading to Blackpool.
- 1:00:47But look, we're going to end our episode in the way that we always do,
- 1:00:51which is by giving our guest the final word.
- 1:00:55Watching. The final word for me will be just to always, always pursue your dreams. Go for it.
- 1:01:04Don't let anyone tell you you can't do something. If you're passionate about something, go for it.
- 1:01:09Practice, practice, practice. If something goes wrong, learn
- 1:01:12from those mistakes and it will help you
- 1:01:15become a better performer do not let it deter you and uh
- 1:01:19yeah i really appreciate if any of you ever need any help
- 1:01:21ever like just some advice or anything you can
- 1:01:24always just drop me a message on instagram at damian magician
- 1:01:27or facebook any of those places and i'll do everything i can to help you peace
- 1:01:33thanks for listening it's time for us to disappear now disappear now but we'll
- 1:01:42see you again on the next episode of the magic guys.