Latest / Miss Understood with Rachel Uchitel / Mentalist Oz Pearlman from America's Got Talent Mystifies Us With His Skills!

Transcript

Mentalist Oz Pearlman from America's Got Talent Mystifies Us With His Skills! · Miss Understood with Rachel Uchitel

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  Speaker 1: real conversations in a new language today. Welcome back to Misunderstood.
• 1:29
  Speaker 1: This is Rachel, you could tell your host. You might
• 1:32
  Speaker 1: recognize Oz Perlman from his appearance on America's Got Talent,
• 1:35
  Speaker 1: but he's also a decorated endurance athlete who has won
• 1:38
  Speaker 1: the Chicago Marathon and the New Jersey Marathon multiple times.
• 1:42
  Speaker 1: This guy is so unique and interesting. He's not only
• 1:45
  Speaker 1: a magician, but he is a mentalist. And I spent
• 1:49
  Speaker 1: time with him and had the most interesting interview, and
• 1:52
  Speaker 1: he totally floored me. I thought I was going to
• 1:54
  Speaker 1: be one of those people that threw him off his game,
• 1:56
  Speaker 1: that he couldn't get anything past me. And wait till
• 1:59
  Speaker 1: you listen to the episode because it's really fascinating. I
• 2:03
  Speaker 1: can't wait for you guys to hear Oz's story of
• 2:06
  Speaker 1: where he came from, how he got to where he
• 2:08
  Speaker 1: is now. So sit back and relax and listen to
• 2:10
  Speaker 1: our next episode.
• 2:11
  Speaker 2: Enjoy.
• 2:14
  Speaker 1: So we were just talking about your name. You go
• 2:16
  Speaker 1: by Oz, and people, I think, would say Oz all
• 2:20
  Speaker 1: the time. How'd you get that name?
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  Speaker 2: It's an Israeli name, so it means brave and strong
• 2:24
  Speaker 2: in Hebrew. So in Israel, it's not as weird of
• 2:26
  Speaker 2: a name or pronunciation. But here, first off, now I'm
• 2:29
  Speaker 2: kind of like a mentalist and a magician. So you're
• 2:31
  Speaker 2: leaning into the Wizard of Oz thing. So I have
• 2:33
  Speaker 2: so many things going against me. It makes sense for
• 2:35
  Speaker 2: it to be Oz. I was born. My mom can
• 2:38
  Speaker 2: only have twins. I'm in a very strange condition, so
• 2:40
  Speaker 2: I have twin sisters. I was a twin, but my
• 2:42
  Speaker 2: twin died at birth, which I found out later in life.
• 2:45
  Speaker 2: She actually didn't tell me for a while. But what
• 2:48
  Speaker 2: was interesting is because I was going to have a
• 2:49
  Speaker 2: totally different name, but since I survived, they changed my
• 2:52
  Speaker 2: name to be, it means like brave and strong. So
• 2:55
  Speaker 2: that was the name.
• 2:56
  Speaker 1: That's unbelievable. Was it a twin boy or girl?
• 2:58
  Speaker 2: Twin boy. And I always, this is the weirdest thing
• 3:01
  Speaker 2: because I am not a psychic. It's not like supernatural
• 3:03
  Speaker 2: what I do. It's a skill that you can learn.
• 3:06
  Speaker 2: But I always had this intuitive thing forever when I
• 3:08
  Speaker 2: was a kid that I kept saying, I have a twin,
• 3:10
  Speaker 2: I have a twin. And it freaked out my parents
• 3:13
  Speaker 2: because I don't believe in ghosts or anything, but I
• 3:14
  Speaker 2: really felt as if I too had a twin. And
• 3:17
  Speaker 2: only when I was about 11 did my mom tell me, hey,
• 3:19
  Speaker 2: you had a twin.
• 3:19
  Speaker 3: Wow.
• 3:20
  Speaker 2: And I was shocked.
• 3:21
  Speaker 1: Had they named him?
• 3:22
  Speaker 2: I don't remember. It's a great question. I don't think
• 3:25
  Speaker 2: they did. You know, in like Judaism, you don't really
• 3:27
  Speaker 2: name the kids before they're born. It's a little superstitious,
• 3:29
  Speaker 2: but I think they had other names for us.
• 3:31
  Speaker 3: Right.
• 3:32
  Speaker 2: And so... I don't know what the names would have been,
• 3:34
  Speaker 2: but it definitely wouldn't have been my name.
• 3:36
  Speaker 3: Right.
• 3:36
  Speaker 2: Okay. So maybe my life would have been a different trajectory.
• 3:38
  Speaker 1: Yes.
• 3:39
  Speaker 2: It was destined.
• 3:40
  Speaker 1: It's a perfect name, obviously, for you.
• 3:42
  Speaker 2: Worked out.
• 3:43
  Speaker 1: So tell me the difference between a magician and a
• 3:46
  Speaker 1: mentalist for people that are confused.
• 3:47
  Speaker 2: We get paid more. No, I'm kidding. No, but truly
• 3:50
  Speaker 2: a mentalist is a specialist. So within magic, and I
• 3:54
  Speaker 2: always tell people, you know what a magician is visually, right?
• 3:57
  Speaker 2: You could think of somebody on stage who makes like a,
• 4:00
  Speaker 2: something float or cuts a woman in half and card tricks, right?
• 4:03
  Speaker 2: It's visual. I'm going to do something fast with my hands.
• 4:06
  Speaker 2: That's going to trick your eyes. I don't have props.
• 4:09
  Speaker 2: So I could go do a show for five people
• 4:11
  Speaker 2: or 5,000 people. I am the show. What I do
• 4:15
  Speaker 2: is I've learned how people behave. I know how they think.
• 4:18
  Speaker 2: And it's a lot of things that have to do
• 4:20
  Speaker 2: with misdirection the same way a magician does. But instead
• 4:22
  Speaker 2: of me telling you, pick a card, I say, think
• 4:25
  Speaker 2: of a card. And now I can figure out what
• 4:27
  Speaker 2: you'll think of before you even do, or I can
• 4:29
  Speaker 2: guide you in a certain direction. It's a mixture of
• 4:31
  Speaker 2: kind of light bits of hypnosis, influence, behavioral analytics, good
• 4:36
  Speaker 2: old fashioned, you know, trickery. And it gives the illusion
• 4:39
  Speaker 2: that I can read your mind.
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  Speaker 3: Okay.
• 4:41
  Speaker 1: But you're saying illusion. It is an illusion. It's not
• 4:44
  Speaker 1: like you can see into something. Like, can you read
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  Speaker 1: people's minds?
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  Speaker 2: I can. So a great question. Am I doing something
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  Speaker 2: that can't be explained within the laws of science? No. So,
• 4:56
  Speaker 2: but does it sure as heck look that way? Yes.
• 4:59
  Speaker 2: So a lot of things I'm doing, here's the simple solution.
• 5:02
  Speaker 2: A lot of people think if I told you to
• 5:03
  Speaker 2: pick a number one to a hundred, there's no way
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  Speaker 2: you could do that, right? How could you know that?
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  Speaker 2: But what you're not realizing is what if I've already
• 5:09
  Speaker 2: done this to 10,000 other people? And now I realize
• 5:12
  Speaker 2: certain people go for this number, certain people go for
• 5:14
  Speaker 2: this number. And what if the same way, if you're
• 5:16
  Speaker 2: in a casino, you could tip the odds in your favor.
• 5:19
  Speaker 2: I can do little things that will guide you in
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  Speaker 2: the way I want. And instead of it being one
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  Speaker 2: in a hundred, it's one in five or one in
• 5:24
  Speaker 2: three or one in two. What if literally I could
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  Speaker 2: know exactly what you're going to do before you did it?
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  Speaker 2: And it's science. I've learned to do that. So it's
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  Speaker 2: done under the guise of entertainment, but it's not mind reading.
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  Speaker 2: It's a science. It's a skill you can learn.
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  Speaker 3: Right.
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  Speaker 2: Okay.
• 5:39
  Speaker 1: That's interesting. So do you believe in what psychics do?
• 5:43
  Speaker 2: I don't really see psychics in me overlapping, if that
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  Speaker 2: makes sense, because I'm not really pretending to be a
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  Speaker 2: psychic or doing it, but I can do what a
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  Speaker 2: lot of psychics do better than them. Yeah, 100%. Like
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  Speaker 2: if I didn't have the ethical or moral compass where
• 5:57
  Speaker 2: I would feel okay, again, I don't want to say
• 5:59
  Speaker 2: scamming because I'm not saying psychics are scamming people. I
• 6:03
  Speaker 2: can recreate what they do legitimately. So I know how
• 6:07
  Speaker 2: the elements of cold reading, warm reading, you walk into
• 6:09
  Speaker 2: a room, you can observe people. You can observe so
• 6:12
  Speaker 2: much about them and instantly judge a book by its cover. Also,
• 6:15
  Speaker 2: if someone goes to a psychic, they'll usually have one
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  Speaker 2: of four topics they're interested in, right? Love, money, my future,
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  Speaker 2: some sort of an issue, health problems. And just by
• 6:24
  Speaker 2: feeling those out, you can watch their body language shift
• 6:26
  Speaker 2: and you know you got a hit. Suddenly, oh my God,
• 6:28
  Speaker 2: we're talking about health. And you can just feel, is
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  Speaker 2: it their mother? Is it their daughter? Is it somebody
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  Speaker 2: in their dad's side? And just little feelers, you can
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  Speaker 2: get a sense of who it is. And somebody will
• 6:36
  Speaker 2: be like, oh, my God, I walked in the psychic.
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  Speaker 2: He knew my dad was going through chemo. How could
• 6:39
  Speaker 2: he have known that? Well, because you're in your 40s.
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  Speaker 2: They know your parents are older. They see the way
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  Speaker 2: you're shifting. There's all these tactics that you could learn
• 6:47
  Speaker 2: that you could utilize. Does that make sense? And so
• 6:49
  Speaker 2: that's why I say I could do it better than
• 6:51
  Speaker 2: them because, quite frankly, I'm better trained than most of them.
• 6:54
  Speaker 2: It's kind of like a Navy SEAL. It's probably better
• 6:57
  Speaker 2: at playing video games like Call of Duty than a 12-year-old.
• 7:00
  Speaker 2: Do you know?
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  Speaker 1: It's... So how did you get the training for this?
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  Speaker 1: Do they have classes?
• 7:05
  Speaker 2: No. University of Michigan. Find it in the syllabus. I
• 7:09
  Speaker 2: started as a magician, and most mentalists are magicians, where
• 7:14
  Speaker 2: you learn magic first. And once you ditch the props,
• 7:18
  Speaker 2: think of it as stand-up comedian. Stand-up comedian is the
• 7:20
  Speaker 2: purest art form because you stand up in front of
• 7:22
  Speaker 2: a group and you have nothing. You just tell jokes.
• 7:25
  Speaker 2: You tell stories. You tell your life. And people laugh,
• 7:27
  Speaker 2: and that's your fuel. So my fuel is laughter, but
• 7:30
  Speaker 2: also amazement. Just wow. Memorable moments. So I started getting
• 7:35
  Speaker 2: rid of the props when I did magic. I'd go
• 7:36
  Speaker 2: and instead of like a card trick, great parallel, instead
• 7:39
  Speaker 2: of picking a card before someone even picked the card,
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  Speaker 2: I'd be like, this guy's going to pick a seven
• 7:43
  Speaker 2: of diamonds. He'd pick it. I'd be like, how, how
• 7:45
  Speaker 2: is that happening? How am I getting that? Because I'm
• 7:47
  Speaker 2: learning little things about this person. I'm trusting my intuition.
• 7:51
  Speaker 2: And you start to do quick, impulsive, like body language reads.
• 7:55
  Speaker 2: You figure out what people are going to do. And
• 7:56
  Speaker 2: then you learn books to get better at it and
• 7:58
  Speaker 2: better at it. And it's, It took a while to
• 8:01
  Speaker 2: just stop doing magic because it's a crutch. Magic tricks
• 8:05
  Speaker 2: work every time. If you practice them enough, they're going
• 8:07
  Speaker 2: to work. Mentalism doesn't work every time. I've screwed up
• 8:11
  Speaker 2: countless times. I screw up less and less now because
• 8:14
  Speaker 2: I do this for a living and I've gotten better.
• 8:16
  Speaker 2: But if it worked every time, it'd be boring. It
• 8:19
  Speaker 2: would be boring. It's fun to watch because you don't
• 8:21
  Speaker 2: know what's going to happen.
• 8:22
  Speaker 1: Right. So tell me about your background for a minute.
• 8:24
  Speaker 1: How did you get started in this? How old were
• 8:26
  Speaker 1: you when you started magic?
• 8:28
  Speaker 2: I was 13. I had my bar mitzvah. I had
• 8:31
  Speaker 2: never really done like, we didn't have a big party.
• 8:33
  Speaker 2: I lived in Michigan at the time. My folks had
• 8:35
  Speaker 2: gotten divorced recently. It was kind of like a really tumultuous,
• 8:38
  Speaker 2: bad time in my life. And I think looking back,
• 8:41
  Speaker 2: like a little psychoanalytic, I saw a magician. I went
• 8:44
  Speaker 2: on a cruise ship instead of a party for my
• 8:46
  Speaker 2: bar mitzvah. And I saw this magician. I was blown away.
• 8:48
  Speaker 2: And this filled this void. Instead of dealing with all
• 8:51
  Speaker 2: this trauma and stuff going on, I just became obsessed
• 8:54
  Speaker 2: with magic. And so I started buying books, videos. My
• 8:58
  Speaker 2: parents are Israeli. I was born in Israel. So they're very,
• 9:00
  Speaker 2: you know, you want to buy more of these? Go work.
• 9:03
  Speaker 2: It was very much a pull yourself up by your bootstraps.
• 9:06
  Speaker 2: So I got a job when I was 14 doing this.
• 9:09
  Speaker 2: I'd been doing this for less than a year. I
• 9:10
  Speaker 2: started in kids' birthday parties, got little business cards printed
• 9:13
  Speaker 2: at Kinko's. And I just started doing this as my hustle.
• 9:16
  Speaker 2: This was my business since I was 14. Wow.
• 9:19
  Speaker 1: So I would assume that magic is hard to learn
• 9:22
  Speaker 1: at that age. Like how are you actually learning tricks
• 9:24
  Speaker 1: that people haven't seen or that adults can't call you
• 9:27
  Speaker 1: out on and be like, I know what you're doing.
• 9:29
  Speaker 2: So I think you learn at a certain point. It
• 9:31
  Speaker 2: was great for me as a stepping stone, which is
• 9:33
  Speaker 2: you think, how do you learn this stuff? You know what?
• 9:34
  Speaker 2: You can learn anything. I think it's an excuse when
• 9:37
  Speaker 2: people think they can't learn stuff. And this is going
• 9:39
  Speaker 2: back 30 years ago for me where there was no internet.
• 9:42
  Speaker 2: You know, there was like dial up AOL. Sure. I
• 9:44
  Speaker 2: went to the library. I checked out every book. I
• 9:46
  Speaker 2: went to Borders. I bought every book. Right now, you
• 9:49
  Speaker 2: can go on YouTube and learn anything in the world.
• 9:51
  Speaker 2: So I think you find mentors. I found out there
• 9:54
  Speaker 2: was a magic store a half hour drive for me.
• 9:56
  Speaker 2: So I would, you know, just drive my mom to
• 9:59
  Speaker 2: the point of insanity, take me to the magic store.
• 10:00
  Speaker 2: I was 14. I couldn't drive. And I'd found when
• 10:03
  Speaker 2: I got there, I met, you know, older people that
• 10:05
  Speaker 2: were mentors that like, Hey, can you give me a
• 10:06
  Speaker 2: ride and start learning from other people? Find a way
• 10:09
  Speaker 2: to ingratiate yourself to them. If you don't have money,
• 10:12
  Speaker 2: you can't buy them something, pay them compliments, you know,
• 10:14
  Speaker 2: find something you can give them as a gift. Find
• 10:17
  Speaker 2: people that will open doors for you. I learned that
• 10:20
  Speaker 2: at a really young age. And I think I just
• 10:22
  Speaker 2: learned how to network and communicate with others. And that's
• 10:24
  Speaker 2: honestly the biggest skill. Right. And I just kept learning
• 10:27
  Speaker 2: and learning from other people, from books, from videos. I'm
• 10:31
  Speaker 2: all self-taught. I never went to a class or a
• 10:33
  Speaker 2: camp or anything like that. Uh-huh.
• 10:35
  Speaker 1: Do you have like a hero or somebody you've always
• 10:37
  Speaker 1: followed their path?
• 10:40
  Speaker 2: I've always admired certain people. Like David Blaine, when he
• 10:42
  Speaker 2: came out, was kind of a big time for me
• 10:44
  Speaker 2: because I was- Itching.
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• 11:05
  Speaker 2: Teenager, I was about 16 when his first special dropped,
• 11:08
  Speaker 2: and he changed the game. He's just an icon, a legend.
• 11:11
  Speaker 2: I was on the tail end of David Copperfield. He
• 11:13
  Speaker 2: was still very popular, but I loved his stuff, but
• 11:15
  Speaker 2: I wasn't I never got drawn into those big illusions
• 11:19
  Speaker 2: because I, I don't know, it wasn't me. I like
• 11:21
  Speaker 2: close up. I like being close to an audience and
• 11:23
  Speaker 2: feeling that energy versus a lot of his stuff is grandiose.
• 11:26
  Speaker 2: It's a spectacle, which is cool in its own right.
• 11:29
  Speaker 2: And then there's people within my craft who you wouldn't know.
• 11:31
  Speaker 2: They're not famous, but they're kind of visionaries. There are
• 11:35
  Speaker 2: people that, you know, you stand on the shoulder of
• 11:36
  Speaker 2: giants who kind of created mentalism because it's relatively new.
• 11:41
  Speaker 2: This really started a hundred years ago.
• 11:43
  Speaker 1: Wow.
• 11:44
  Speaker 2: Before that, you know, Not like a joke. You'd be
• 11:46
  Speaker 2: burned at the stake. Like anybody who could do what
• 11:48
  Speaker 2: I do 200 years ago would seem like a witch.
• 11:49
  Speaker 1: Yeah, right, right, right. So, okay, talk to me about
• 11:52
  Speaker 1: then you go to college and you have a corporate job, right?
• 11:55
  Speaker 2: Full on. I moved, I think some of our paths align.
• 11:58
  Speaker 2: I worked at 78th floor of the South Tower of
• 12:02
  Speaker 2: World Trade Center before 9-11. I had an internship. I
• 12:05
  Speaker 2: went back to school. So that's insane. It was a
• 12:08
  Speaker 2: company called Martin Progressive and I worked there, which is
• 12:11
  Speaker 2: just bananas. And so I worked on Wall Street. I
• 12:13
  Speaker 2: had internships there. And then when I graduated college, I
• 12:16
  Speaker 2: came here like, you know, I didn't really know what
• 12:18
  Speaker 2: to do and worked on Wall Street, worked for Merrill Lynch.
• 12:21
  Speaker 2: It wasn't my calling, but, you know, making good money.
• 12:24
  Speaker 2: I have an older sister, two older sisters. She's like,
• 12:26
  Speaker 2: get a job on Wall Street. And so I kind of.
• 12:28
  Speaker 3: Right.
• 12:28
  Speaker 2: Do what I'm told.
• 12:29
  Speaker 1: And so did you like that or you still were
• 12:31
  Speaker 1: doing magic and mentalism on the side?
• 12:33
  Speaker 2: I was always doing it on the side.
• 12:34
  Speaker 3: Okay.
• 12:34
  Speaker 2: And it was never with this purpose of I want
• 12:36
  Speaker 2: to do this. You know, when people are like, I
• 12:38
  Speaker 2: have a dream, I want to be an astronaut. I
• 12:39
  Speaker 2: didn't know this was an option.
• 12:41
  Speaker 1: Okay.
• 12:41
  Speaker 2: Literally.
• 12:41
  Speaker 1: It was just a hobby.
• 12:43
  Speaker 2: It was a hobby, but it made money. But I
• 12:45
  Speaker 2: never thought this was something you could actually do.
• 12:47
  Speaker 1: Right.
• 12:47
  Speaker 2: You know, it seemed silly. It seemed like being, I
• 12:50
  Speaker 2: want to be a pop star. How do you do that?
• 12:51
  Speaker 2: There's no playbook.
• 12:52
  Speaker 3: Yeah.
• 12:53
  Speaker 2: So I was doing this on the side, but I
• 12:54
  Speaker 2: was always doing this as a way to network, but
• 12:57
  Speaker 2: also in life. This was my method of, I don't
• 13:00
  Speaker 2: want to make it sound like lame, but to meet friends,
• 13:02
  Speaker 2: to meet girls. I'd go to a bar with my friends.
• 13:06
  Speaker 2: All of us are getting free drinks that night.
• 13:07
  Speaker 1: Right, of course.
• 13:08
  Speaker 2: You're the life of the party. You have a superpower.
• 13:11
  Speaker 2: How do I get my job? When you go to
• 13:13
  Speaker 2: an interview and your resume... It says professional magician last
• 13:16
  Speaker 2: seven years. I guarantee you a thousand percent on my life.
• 13:20
  Speaker 2: My kids like, there is no way that interview is
• 13:22
  Speaker 2: not going to ask you, what do you mean you're
• 13:23
  Speaker 2: a professional magician? It's the most interesting thing they've heard
• 13:25
  Speaker 2: all day. Sure. Resume, resume, resume. So now at the
• 13:28
  Speaker 2: end of it, you entice them. You say, oh, at
• 13:31
  Speaker 2: the end of the interview, if we have time, let
• 13:32
  Speaker 2: me show you a thing. Let me show you one trick.
• 13:36
  Speaker 2: The poor person after me, that trick turns into three tricks,
• 13:38
  Speaker 2: turns into them hooting, hollering. The next person gets 15
• 13:41
  Speaker 2: minutes of their interview eaten up.
• 13:43
  Speaker 1: Right.
• 13:43
  Speaker 2: And they're like hitting me on the shoulder, shaking my
• 13:45
  Speaker 2: head like, you'll hear from us because you've just won
• 13:47
  Speaker 2: them over.
• 13:47
  Speaker 1: Right.
• 13:48
  Speaker 2: I've been in countries where I don't speak the language.
• 13:50
  Speaker 2: I've performed in over 40 countries. I don't speak the language.
• 13:53
  Speaker 2: I can walk up to anyone, kids, adults, elderly, and
• 13:56
  Speaker 2: I have this power to just make them smile, to
• 13:58
  Speaker 2: warm them up, to instantly create a bond and rapport.
• 14:01
  Speaker 3: Yeah.
• 14:01
  Speaker 2: It is a superpower. Yeah. And so you're able to
• 14:05
  Speaker 2: open doors that you could never open otherwise.
• 14:06
  Speaker 1: That's amazing. So at what point did you, were you
• 14:10
  Speaker 1: able to quit your, you know, day job, so to speak,
• 14:12
  Speaker 1: and make this your full-time job? How did that happen?
• 14:15
  Speaker 2: It happened in steps. Like if you look back, you know,
• 14:17
  Speaker 2: whenever you hear people, it always sounds easy in hindsight
• 14:20
  Speaker 2: when you're like, oh, you left my side hustle and
• 14:22
  Speaker 2: now I'm making all this money. And it always looks
• 14:24
  Speaker 2: easy in hindsight, but I was there for two and
• 14:26
  Speaker 2: a half years and I wasn't doing it with a purpose,
• 14:28
  Speaker 2: but I just kept getting so busy that At the time,
• 14:31
  Speaker 2: I worked at a bunch of restaurants on the Upper
• 14:33
  Speaker 2: East Side. Okay. T-Bar, which shout out to Tony and
• 14:36
  Speaker 2: Arthur Bacall if they hear this, great guys. And a
• 14:39
  Speaker 2: place called Nino's, which was on 72nd and 1st. And
• 14:42
  Speaker 2: I got into these places, Permola, all these places where
• 14:45
  Speaker 2: you had corporate expense accounts. You had kind of all
• 14:48
  Speaker 2: the real housewives, all these various people that were in
• 14:50
  Speaker 2: the fabric of the Upper East Side and big corporate
• 14:53
  Speaker 2: decision makers. I learned these restaurants had people that were influential.
• 14:57
  Speaker 2: They would see me. And I'm not really making money,
• 14:59
  Speaker 2: but it's a long-term play. The money will come. First,
• 15:02
  Speaker 2: establish that you're great at something and have people know you.
• 15:06
  Speaker 2: And I'm giving out 50, 60 business cards a night,
• 15:08
  Speaker 2: and suddenly it's like pushing a snowball down a mountain, right?
• 15:12
  Speaker 2: It gets bigger and bigger, and everyone knows you. I
• 15:14
  Speaker 2: became a very well-known local act. And it got to
• 15:17
  Speaker 2: the point, I have kind of a story that says
• 15:21
  Speaker 2: it all, is I was doing something at Merrill Lynch internally.
• 15:24
  Speaker 2: All the event planners knew me. within the company because
• 15:27
  Speaker 2: they heard about me. I'd do happy hours. And so
• 15:29
  Speaker 2: they hired me to do something for the CFO at
• 15:31
  Speaker 2: this meeting with like 20 big wigs. And I did
• 15:34
  Speaker 2: more magic then. And I did a trick where I
• 15:35
  Speaker 2: would turn $ 1 bills to hundreds. Works great on Wall Street, right?
• 15:39
  Speaker 2: Who doesn't? And I did this in front of them.
• 15:41
  Speaker 2: And a guy named James Gorman, he's the CEO of
• 15:43
  Speaker 2: Morgan Stanley's there. He's Australian. And I take ones from everybody.
• 15:46
  Speaker 2: I go, watch this. Snap my fingers, 500s. They're all laughing.
• 15:50
  Speaker 2: They're like, we got to get this guy working here.
• 15:52
  Speaker 2: And I go, sir, I do work here. And he
• 15:54
  Speaker 2: thinks I'm telling a joke. What do you mean? I'm like, no, seriously,
• 15:58
  Speaker 2: I work in your GTS division. He goes, he looks
• 16:00
  Speaker 2: at me and I can see it vividly to this moment.
• 16:02
  Speaker 2: He looks at me and goes, what the hell are
• 16:03
  Speaker 2: you doing working here, mate? He's an Australian guy. And
• 16:06
  Speaker 2: it's almost like a switch flips. And this guy is
• 16:08
  Speaker 2: my boss's boss's boss. You know, he didn't know who
• 16:11
  Speaker 2: I am. He can't believe it. And it's like, what
• 16:13
  Speaker 2: am I doing working here? Like it was a real
• 16:15
  Speaker 2: existential thing. And I just kind of thought like, this
• 16:18
  Speaker 2: is it, you know, go for it. What's the worst
• 16:20
  Speaker 2: that happens? I'll find another job. And so that set
• 16:23
  Speaker 2: wheels in motion. About a month later, I quit. But
• 16:25
  Speaker 2: I had no kids. I wasn't married. You know, there's
• 16:27
  Speaker 2: so many things that can hold you down. It was
• 16:29
  Speaker 2: perfect timing.
• 16:29
  Speaker 1: Yeah. So nothing was holding you back.
• 16:31
  Speaker 2: And I had money saved up. You know, everything can
• 16:32
  Speaker 2: hold you back. Everyone can have an excuse. But it's
• 16:35
  Speaker 2: easy to say go for it when you have like
• 16:38
  Speaker 2: you can.
• 16:38
  Speaker 1: Put food on the table. But no one was counting
• 16:39
  Speaker 1: on you besides yourself.
• 16:40
  Speaker 2: Exactly.
• 16:41
  Speaker 1: Yeah.
• 16:41
  Speaker 2: So I think get your ducks in order if you're
• 16:43
  Speaker 2: going to do something like that.
• 16:44
  Speaker 3: Plan.
• 16:44
  Speaker 2: Make your luck. Don't just wait for luck to happen.
• 16:47
  Speaker 2: You got to get yourself in a position for that
• 16:50
  Speaker 2: type of luck to occur and then go for it.
• 16:52
  Speaker 3: Right.
• 16:53
  Speaker 1: So after that, did you really hone in on being
• 16:55
  Speaker 1: a mentalist or you still were doing a lot of magic?
• 16:58
  Speaker 2: I was still doing magic. And it's funny because it
• 17:00
  Speaker 2: takes 10 years to be the overnight success. And I
• 17:02
  Speaker 2: was doing this on the side. I was building up,
• 17:04
  Speaker 2: building up, getting really known in and around New York.
• 17:07
  Speaker 2: I made a kind of a branding decision. I was
• 17:09
  Speaker 2: doing a lot of mentalism. But in 2015, I did
• 17:12
  Speaker 2: America's Got Talent. And that was kind of like the
• 17:15
  Speaker 2: blow up moment for me. That show, I got third place.
• 17:17
  Speaker 2: The year before, a magician had won the show. Oh.
• 17:20
  Speaker 2: So I knew that you, and also, he kind of like,
• 17:23
  Speaker 2: we all, I don't want to say look alike, but
• 17:25
  Speaker 2: he's like a white guy. He's in his 20s. I'm
• 17:27
  Speaker 2: in my 30s. We're the same height. You know, it's like,
• 17:30
  Speaker 2: we look on TV, on mute, a lot of people
• 17:32
  Speaker 2: will be like, I saw you. I'm like, you didn't
• 17:33
  Speaker 2: see me. You saw him. So I need to differentiate.
• 17:36
  Speaker 1: Yeah.
• 17:36
  Speaker 2: You really know your lane that you've got to make
• 17:38
  Speaker 2: yourself set apart and you've got to stand out. You've
• 17:41
  Speaker 2: got to do something better than anyone else or different,
• 17:43
  Speaker 2: unique than anyone else. That's got to be a unique
• 17:45
  Speaker 2: selling proposition. So, I said, I'm going to be the mentalist.
• 17:48
  Speaker 2: And that's when I decided to be always the mentalist.
• 17:50
  Speaker 2: Kind of like go with it. That's my social media.
• 17:52
  Speaker 2: That's everything. And I decided at that point, cut the magic.
• 17:55
  Speaker 1: Right.
• 17:56
  Speaker 2: Okay.
• 17:56
  Speaker 1: So tell me about getting on America's Got Talent. You
• 18:00
  Speaker 1: tried a couple of times, right? Yeah. How did that
• 18:02
  Speaker 1: work out?
• 18:02
  Speaker 2: And the first time I tried, they call it like
• 18:04
  Speaker 2: a producer call-in. It's kind of like the red velvet
• 18:06
  Speaker 2: rope at a club. We open it up, walk right in.
• 18:09
  Speaker 2: So for that one, producers call you in. I didn't
• 18:12
  Speaker 2: wait in line for like 10 hours with other people,
• 18:15
  Speaker 2: like in a pier. They did it at a pier.
• 18:17
  Speaker 2: in Central Park on the west side. It's like being
• 18:19
  Speaker 2: on a football field with thousands of people waiting and
• 18:22
  Speaker 2: they give you a number. It's a mug shot in
• 18:26
  Speaker 2: the best of ways. Some of those people I met
• 18:27
  Speaker 2: that day to this day I keep in touch with.
• 18:29
  Speaker 1: Oh, that's great.
• 18:30
  Speaker 2: It's amazing. A guy, if he hears this, it's amazing,
• 18:33
  Speaker 2: Josh Orlean. He was on the season before me. He
• 18:35
  Speaker 2: was a comedian. Look him up. Funny kid. I met
• 18:39
  Speaker 2: him and his dad there to this day. Great friends.
• 18:40
  Speaker 1: I'm sure there's so many talented people there.
• 18:42
  Speaker 2: There's so many.
• 18:43
  Speaker 1: Yeah.
• 18:43
  Speaker 2: Also, there's people that are absolutely not talented, but they
• 18:46
  Speaker 2: are so sure of themselves. It's amazing. So here's the moral.
• 18:49
  Speaker 1: Confidence can be the best.
• 18:50
  Speaker 2: I got the producer call. I went and did it. Bombed. Now,
• 18:54
  Speaker 2: it wasn't really my fault. I don't want to throw
• 18:56
  Speaker 2: any on the bus, but if you're a mind reader,
• 18:57
  Speaker 2: they bring me in a room. Like, imagine a room
• 19:00
  Speaker 2: like this, and there's no one there, and there's a
• 19:02
  Speaker 2: camera person. And I go, well, I read minds. I
• 19:03
  Speaker 2: need someone's mind to read.
• 19:04
  Speaker 1: Yeah.
• 19:05
  Speaker 2: So they didn't know that. They thought I was just
• 19:07
  Speaker 2: going to do my thing like a singer. And so
• 19:09
  Speaker 2: they bring someone in, a PA with like a headset
• 19:11
  Speaker 2: who's super distracted. They're in the middle of my act.
• 19:14
  Speaker 2: They're not paying attention. How am I going to get
• 19:15
  Speaker 2: a good reaction from them? So it bombed. Two years later,
• 19:20
  Speaker 2: I came back. Howard Stern was the judge. I loved Howard.
• 19:24
  Speaker 2: All my friends love Howard. And you know what? Those
• 19:26
  Speaker 2: two years proved pivotal because I probably did 500 plus
• 19:29
  Speaker 2: shows those two years. I was seasoned. I was much
• 19:31
  Speaker 2: more like it was the right time, right place. Right.
• 19:34
  Speaker 2: Cattle call. I went in there with thousands of people,
• 19:36
  Speaker 2: waited all day, killed it. And so that was my time.
• 19:39
  Speaker 2: One year, I don't get in. Two years later, I
• 19:42
  Speaker 2: get in and make third place.
• 19:43
  Speaker 1: And how did you decide what, do you call them tricks?
• 19:46
  Speaker 1: How do you decide what tricks to do that are
• 19:48
  Speaker 1: most impressive that people haven't seen before? Right.
• 19:51
  Speaker 2: I mean, that's really it. So I did something which
• 19:55
  Speaker 2: worked for me in hindsight. I never planned more than
• 19:57
  Speaker 2: one round ahead. I was so in the moment, like,
• 19:59
  Speaker 2: you know, that mindfulness, I would never even think of
• 20:02
  Speaker 2: the next round because I What I've seen is that
• 20:04
  Speaker 2: when people start planning ahead like that, you know what happens?
• 20:06
  Speaker 2: They don't even make it through this round. You start
• 20:08
  Speaker 2: thinking about what you're going to do after you catch
• 20:10
  Speaker 2: the ball. Like, I'm going to run. You don't even
• 20:11
  Speaker 2: catch the ball. Football, like parallel. So I just did,
• 20:15
  Speaker 2: for the first two rounds, I did things that I
• 20:17
  Speaker 2: knew I could do perfectly. In my sleep, I've done 10,000 times.
• 20:20
  Speaker 2: Literally shake me awake at 3 a.m. I could do
• 20:23
  Speaker 2: this routine. It's my signature. Things I created. Then we
• 20:27
  Speaker 2: got to later rounds. Nothing like pressure. for a creative burst.
• 20:32
  Speaker 2: If you told me right now I could be in
• 20:34
  Speaker 2: TV in six months, plan for it, I'm going to procrastinate.
• 20:37
  Speaker 2: Talk to me a day before and I'll get my...
• 20:39
  Speaker 2: If you tell me you're going to be on national
• 20:41
  Speaker 2: TV in 24 hours, I'm going to have the best
• 20:43
  Speaker 2: burst of my life. I'm going to go for a
• 20:44
  Speaker 2: three-hour run. I'm going to be in the shower. I'm
• 20:46
  Speaker 2: going to put my phone down in D & D.
• 20:48
  Speaker 2: And that's when I need it to be forced. That's
• 20:51
  Speaker 2: when I get my best. Itching, burning, soreness.
• 20:55
  Speaker 3: When you know it's thrush, you want it gone. Treat
• 20:58
  Speaker 3: the cause, not just the symptoms, with Caniston Combi, Ireland's
• 21:02
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• 21:05
  Speaker 3: contain cotrimazole.
• 21:06
  Speaker 4: Always read the label. Number one based on volume sales data.
• 21:09
  Speaker 4: To verify, contact info.ireland.bayre.com.
• 21:12
  Speaker 2: Ideas.
• 21:13
  Speaker 1: Okay, and do you come up with them out of nowhere,
• 21:15
  Speaker 1: or these are ideas that you've heard of and people
• 21:18
  Speaker 1: have done before you?
• 21:19
  Speaker 2: So everything is kind of like packaging. It's kind of
• 21:21
  Speaker 2: like I've never read a book, self-help motivational book, that
• 21:24
  Speaker 2: isn't something repackaged from a decade or 100 years ago.
• 21:27
  Speaker 2: But it's how do you put your own spin on it? Okay.
• 21:30
  Speaker 2: So to answer, yes. I create most of my stuff. Okay.
• 21:33
  Speaker 2: The way you think of like a Jimmy Fallon, he
• 21:35
  Speaker 2: has a team of writers that write for him. And
• 21:38
  Speaker 2: a lot of the people you've seen on TV, they
• 21:39
  Speaker 2: have a set of creators for them. There's a rare
• 21:43
  Speaker 2: group that are creator performers. Like I create kind of
• 21:46
  Speaker 2: like a singer-songwriter, like a Taylor Swift. Most of what
• 21:48
  Speaker 2: you see me do, I've created. Yeah. It's not like
• 21:50
  Speaker 2: something else. I make up the things I do. But
• 21:53
  Speaker 2: I always create from the ending backwards. Okay. So I...
• 21:57
  Speaker 2: I just like to think what's the coolest thing I
• 21:59
  Speaker 2: could do. If I went on TV and I'm doing
• 22:00
  Speaker 2: stuff for, I did stuff for a bunch of football
• 22:02
  Speaker 2: players this year on NFL. I go, what if I
• 22:05
  Speaker 2: could go up there and what's the ultimate thing that
• 22:07
  Speaker 2: a football coach wants me to do? Forget tricks, forget
• 22:10
  Speaker 2: card tricks, forget all this crap. What if I could
• 22:12
  Speaker 2: tell you what the other coach just told his player
• 22:14
  Speaker 2: to do in the play? That's worth a billion dollars, literally.
• 22:18
  Speaker 2: You know what they're gonna do before they do. So
• 22:19
  Speaker 2: I told the coach, go get your playbook from upstairs
• 22:22
  Speaker 2: and flip through any one of your playbooks, pick any
• 22:24
  Speaker 2: play you want right now. And then I literally told
• 22:27
  Speaker 2: him the play that he thought of. And he's freaking out.
• 22:29
  Speaker 2: So I like to create things that, and that's never
• 22:32
  Speaker 2: been done before. I made that up because I just said,
• 22:34
  Speaker 2: this will appeal to this audience, to this viewer. Versus
• 22:37
  Speaker 2: if I go on a show that's about cooking. we're
• 22:39
  Speaker 2: going to do something all about your best recipe that
• 22:41
  Speaker 2: you made for somebody in your family that you love
• 22:43
  Speaker 2: that you haven't seen. Like, I like there to be
• 22:44
  Speaker 2: an emotional hook.
• 22:45
  Speaker 1: Yeah. But how could you really plan on that? And
• 22:48
  Speaker 1: for people that, you know, I've seen some of the
• 22:50
  Speaker 1: stuff you do, you're, you're picking out things that they're
• 22:52
  Speaker 1: thinking of way earlier and you have a t-shirt on
• 22:56
  Speaker 1: underneath or whatever it is of what they're going to say. Like,
• 22:59
  Speaker 1: how can you make them say that?
• 23:01
  Speaker 2: That's the million dollar question, right? How? But no, there's,
• 23:04
  Speaker 2: there's a bunch of tactics and skills and it's kind of,
• 23:07
  Speaker 2: Think of it, it really is like a chef who
• 23:10
  Speaker 2: knows how to make a recipe 10 different ways. So
• 23:13
  Speaker 2: I have so many different ways to get to the answer.
• 23:16
  Speaker 2: And from your perspective, it looks impossible. And that's what's
• 23:18
  Speaker 2: keeping me in business, right? I'm screwed. You know, chat
• 23:21
  Speaker 2: GPT will take my job. But that's the skill is
• 23:23
  Speaker 2: knowing how to, I don't like the word manipulate, but
• 23:27
  Speaker 2: that's what it is. How do you get someone? to
• 23:30
  Speaker 2: do what you want them to do. Even when they're
• 23:32
  Speaker 2: out of their way trying to be unpredictable, how do
• 23:35
  Speaker 2: you still make them predictable?
• 23:36
  Speaker 1: Because most of those people I would think are skeptics, right?
• 23:38
  Speaker 1: They're like, he's never going to figure out.
• 23:40
  Speaker 2: I'm the biggest skeptic of all. The biggest skeptics turn
• 23:43
  Speaker 2: into mentalists. Like I've had these hedge fund guys that
• 23:45
  Speaker 2: hire me who they're like, oh, I want to know how.
• 23:47
  Speaker 2: But I had one guy who literally decided he's got
• 23:49
  Speaker 2: more money than he needs for 10 lifetimes that I'm
• 23:52
  Speaker 2: going to spend the next year learning how to do this.
• 23:54
  Speaker 2: And I actually came up and gave him lessons that
• 23:55
  Speaker 2: he was a legitimate, legitimately interested person. It went past
• 24:00
  Speaker 2: like a passing context of, oh, this is cool. He
• 24:03
  Speaker 2: really wanted to know. And it's funny because it's only
• 24:06
  Speaker 2: going to fall into two camps. Once you find out
• 24:08
  Speaker 2: how I do it, you're either going to be supremely disappointed.
• 24:11
  Speaker 2: Or you're going to be absolutely like shell-shocked. There's no
• 24:15
  Speaker 2: way that you were on live national TV with 15
• 24:18
  Speaker 2: million people watching live and you did that. He goes,
• 24:19
  Speaker 2: that could have gone wrong 20 ways. And I go,
• 24:21
  Speaker 2: that's it? He goes, that's insane. And it's funny when
• 24:23
  Speaker 2: you hear it because it only is those two. It's
• 24:25
  Speaker 2: never a middle ground. It's either the simplest, most ridiculous
• 24:28
  Speaker 2: solution or... you cannot believe that you would actually have
• 24:31
  Speaker 2: the balls to do that. Pardon my French, because it's
• 24:33
  Speaker 2: so risky. It's so risky, but it works. And if
• 24:37
  Speaker 2: you've got to believe in yourself.
• 24:38
  Speaker 1: These skills, like for somebody you're talking about, like that
• 24:41
  Speaker 1: must be really good in business.
• 24:44
  Speaker 2: Yes and no. So it would be great in certain contexts,
• 24:47
  Speaker 2: but it's done in, like think about a director of
• 24:51
  Speaker 2: a movie, right? You think they're displaying things in a
• 24:53
  Speaker 2: certain way. They get to point the camera where they want.
• 24:56
  Speaker 2: Does that make sense? Like if you're guiding an interviewer,
• 24:58
  Speaker 2: You get to ask the questions you want. So when
• 25:00
  Speaker 2: I'm doing my show, I get to do things in
• 25:02
  Speaker 2: a certain way. For example, if you thought of a
• 25:05
  Speaker 2: card and I guessed the card, you go, why don't
• 25:06
  Speaker 2: you go in the casino? Because when you're playing poker,
• 25:09
  Speaker 2: I can't say, stop, look at me. Think of it's red.
• 25:11
  Speaker 2: Think of it's black. Now, hearts, diamonds, repeat after me.
• 25:13
  Speaker 2: People aren't going to do all that. There is a rhythm.
• 25:16
  Speaker 2: There's a way that I do it. A doctor can't
• 25:18
  Speaker 2: diagnose you over the phone. They got to look at
• 25:20
  Speaker 2: your body. They got to check things. That's how I am.
• 25:23
  Speaker 2: I need a certain procedure to get to the answer.
• 25:27
  Speaker 1: Mm-hmm.
• 25:27
  Speaker 2: That's why during the Zoom era, during COVID, all of
• 25:30
  Speaker 2: us who did this, we reinvented. We were out of
• 25:32
  Speaker 2: a job. We kind of reinvented how to do this
• 25:35
  Speaker 2: over Zoom. It was so much harder because when you're
• 25:38
  Speaker 2: not in the room with somebody, you can't impact them
• 25:40
  Speaker 2: the same way. So I reinvented my show.
• 25:42
  Speaker 1: Or you can't read their body language or something.
• 25:44
  Speaker 2: You can't control things. You can't forget body language. I
• 25:47
  Speaker 2: can't even see anything but your face.
• 25:48
  Speaker 1: Yeah, right.
• 25:50
  Speaker 2: So it was funny. I reinvented my show over Zoom
• 25:52
  Speaker 2: and it became kind of wildly successful. It wasn't fulfilling.
• 25:55
  Speaker 2: I felt like kind of like, I was like a
• 25:57
  Speaker 2: webcam girl. I'm like, I want contact.
• 26:00
  Speaker 1: You're like on OnlyFans.
• 26:01
  Speaker 2: Big time. Because it wasn't the same. Like there's nothing
• 26:04
  Speaker 2: like being in the room with people and that energy
• 26:06
  Speaker 2: is electric.
• 26:07
  Speaker 1: Right.
• 26:08
  Speaker 2: And when it's muted, everyone's muting. You can't even hear
• 26:10
  Speaker 2: somebody being amazed. I feel like I'm in a room alone.
• 26:13
  Speaker 2: But anyways, I don't know if I missed your question.
• 26:15
  Speaker 2: I was rambling. But you kind of, you can use
• 26:19
  Speaker 2: it in certain ways.
• 26:20
  Speaker 1: Yeah, if it was like helpful for negotiation.
• 26:23
  Speaker 3: 100%.
• 26:23
  Speaker 2: For me to negotiate certain things, I can tell when
• 26:26
  Speaker 2: people are lying. I can tell when people are uncomfortable.
• 26:28
  Speaker 2: I can tell when people aren't listening. So it does
• 26:31
  Speaker 2: give me a technical advantage. But do I think I've
• 26:34
  Speaker 2: gotten the ultimate lowest offer on a real estate deal
• 26:38
  Speaker 2: that I wanted? Maybe I was within 5%. It definitely
• 26:40
  Speaker 2: gave me some edge.
• 26:41
  Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah, yeah. Do you ever go to magic shows
• 26:46
  Speaker 1: or like watching David Copperfield or something and you're like,
• 26:48
  Speaker 1: I know how he did it?
• 26:49
  Speaker 2: Pretty much always. Really?
• 26:51
  Speaker 3: Yeah.
• 26:51
  Speaker 2: For David Copperfield, it's a little different because I don't
• 26:53
  Speaker 2: really specialize in illusions. Stage illusions are more, there's maybe
• 26:57
  Speaker 2: a set of 20 principles that you can learn them all.
• 27:00
  Speaker 2: And you're always going to hear like smoke and mirrors,
• 27:02
  Speaker 2: but literally some of it will be like how to
• 27:04
  Speaker 2: use a mirror. I don't want to give stuff away,
• 27:05
  Speaker 2: but there's a lot of tactics and things, how they're built,
• 27:08
  Speaker 2: how you do it.
• 27:09
  Speaker 3: Yeah.
• 27:10
  Speaker 2: The problem for me with that is when you watch
• 27:12
  Speaker 2: somebody do a trick, like the proverbial saw a woman
• 27:14
  Speaker 2: in half, you know, in my mind, I think if
• 27:17
  Speaker 2: I had those props, could I do that trick? It
• 27:20
  Speaker 2: feels like a puzzle. I know that they're doing this somehow.
• 27:23
  Speaker 2: I know they didn't really saw a woman in half, right?
• 27:24
  Speaker 2: I'm not silly. So I know that somehow you're doing
• 27:27
  Speaker 2: this and you have a secret that I don't know.
• 27:29
  Speaker 2: I still appreciate the craft, but with mentalism, what I
• 27:32
  Speaker 2: like and what I think a lot of people like,
• 27:34
  Speaker 2: people after my show will say, I don't like magic,
• 27:36
  Speaker 2: but I love what you just did, is it's cerebral.
• 27:40
  Speaker 2: And they realize that there's a skill and that it's
• 27:42
  Speaker 2: not supernatural. So they're watching some of it. They'll figure
• 27:45
  Speaker 2: out a little bit. They're like, I know that when
• 27:47
  Speaker 2: you guessed the card, I did something. So you knew
• 27:50
  Speaker 2: it was red. And then you saw me do something
• 27:51
  Speaker 2: with my body that was diamond. But how you got
• 27:53
  Speaker 2: the six of diamonds, I don't know. But they love
• 27:55
  Speaker 2: being a part of it. Sure. You like being behind
• 27:58
  Speaker 2: the scenes. There's nothing more fun than getting kind of
• 28:00
  Speaker 2: tipped off to a little bit of how something works. Yeah.
• 28:03
  Speaker 1: Is there someone or a type of person you can't
• 28:05
  Speaker 1: read and you can't work with them?
• 28:07
  Speaker 2: I mean, when people are really drunk, it can be difficult.
• 28:10
  Speaker 2: You know, sometimes they're even more fun. But certain things
• 28:13
  Speaker 2: are challenging where if you can't maintain people's focus and attention,
• 28:17
  Speaker 2: it can be difficult. Some people are very introverted and
• 28:19
  Speaker 2: they don't want anything to do with you. And it's
• 28:21
  Speaker 2: your job to build rapport and open them up.
• 28:23
  Speaker 1: Yeah.
• 28:24
  Speaker 2: But, you know, maybe they had a bad day. Maybe
• 28:25
  Speaker 2: you don't know what just went on at home.
• 28:27
  Speaker 1: Yeah.
• 28:27
  Speaker 2: You know, I learned early on when I was 14,
• 28:30
  Speaker 2: like a shrimpy little kid, me, walks up to you.
• 28:33
  Speaker 2: You got a babysitter. You're out to dinner. You don't
• 28:35
  Speaker 2: want me bothering you. Yeah. That's the hardest thing to
• 28:38
  Speaker 2: approach people at a restaurant where they don't know who
• 28:40
  Speaker 2: I am. I'd walk up to your table and be like,
• 28:42
  Speaker 2: I want to be entertained. So I started learning body
• 28:45
  Speaker 2: language then and how to see who's the right person,
• 28:48
  Speaker 2: what's the right time to walk up to them, and
• 28:49
  Speaker 2: how do you diffuse tension. How do you de-escalate a situation?
• 28:53
  Speaker 2: It's kind of like what a police officer does. You
• 28:55
  Speaker 2: walk in, someone's hot, how do you cool them down?
• 28:58
  Speaker 2: You don't meet their energy at the same thing. That'll
• 29:00
  Speaker 2: just get kind of a pissing competition of who's tougher
• 29:03
  Speaker 2: and who's this. I go into it in a way
• 29:05
  Speaker 2: where I don't want Think of what I'm doing. It's creepy.
• 29:08
  Speaker 2: If you could read my mind right now, that's a
• 29:10
  Speaker 2: super creepy breach of privacy. So you either have to
• 29:14
  Speaker 2: go down the path of this is fun. And at
• 29:16
  Speaker 2: the end of my show, you want to share a
• 29:17
  Speaker 2: drink with me. You want to have a beer with me.
• 29:18
  Speaker 2: I'm that kind of person you like. Wow, I want
• 29:20
  Speaker 2: to hear more about you. Or you're kind of scared.
• 29:23
  Speaker 2: And there's two paths of mentalists. If you watch other
• 29:25
  Speaker 2: people's shows, you'll see what I mean very quickly. Their
• 29:28
  Speaker 2: character and demeanor is one of mysterious or you're a
• 29:31
  Speaker 2: little bit on edge. I want to be likable. I
• 29:34
  Speaker 2: want to be somebody who you feel comfortable around.
• 29:37
  Speaker 3: Yeah.
• 29:37
  Speaker 2: And so I made a conscious decision with that where
• 29:40
  Speaker 2: I kind of let you in a little bit on
• 29:41
  Speaker 2: how I'm doing it. I show you while I'm doing
• 29:43
  Speaker 2: it how it's done.
• 29:44
  Speaker 1: Oh, that's great.
• 29:45
  Speaker 2: Not tipping everything. I'll show you a little bit and
• 29:47
  Speaker 2: then I'll up the ante and do something just a
• 29:49
  Speaker 2: little more. You're like, how'd you do that one? I'm like, well,
• 29:51
  Speaker 2: I got to keep some secrets.
• 29:53
  Speaker 1: Is there something you could tell listeners about how to
• 29:56
  Speaker 1: easy things about how to read body language that might
• 29:58
  Speaker 1: help them in certain situations like relationships or dates or.
• 30:02
  Speaker 1: Whatever it is. I mean, I know I have my
• 30:04
  Speaker 1: master's in forensic investigation. And when we were learning that stuff,
• 30:07
  Speaker 1: we had to take a body language course.
• 30:08
  Speaker 2: Sure.
• 30:08
  Speaker 1: It was a small amount of our studies. But, you know,
• 30:12
  Speaker 1: it was the way people fidgeted or looked or, you know,
• 30:14
  Speaker 1: if they would look to the left or the right.
• 30:16
  Speaker 1: Are there things that people can learn from you right
• 30:18
  Speaker 1: now about it?
• 30:19
  Speaker 2: Totally. So, I mean, there's things that are hard and
• 30:22
  Speaker 2: fast rules, but they don't apply to everyone. So when
• 30:24
  Speaker 2: you tell somebody, you know, if they're pausing, itching their
• 30:27
  Speaker 2: nose and looking to the left, they're lying. You can't
• 30:29
  Speaker 2: do that for everyone because some people just doesn't, they
• 30:32
  Speaker 2: don't have the same body language reads. Right. It's kind
• 30:34
  Speaker 2: of like testing somebody for steroids. You have to first
• 30:36
  Speaker 2: see their blood type and see if, you know.
• 30:39
  Speaker 1: What the level is.
• 30:39
  Speaker 2: The level.
• 30:40
  Speaker 1: Yeah.
• 30:40
  Speaker 2: Because some people have naturally high testosterone.
• 30:41
  Speaker 3: Yeah.
• 30:42
  Speaker 2: So the same thing applies where there's not one rule
• 30:44
  Speaker 2: fits for everyone. Otherwise I would tell it to you. Yeah.
• 30:46
  Speaker 2: I have to watch somebody for a little while and
• 30:48
  Speaker 2: then I get their benchmark and then I get a sense.
• 30:50
  Speaker 2: Because some people do opposites.
• 30:52
  Speaker 1: Okay.
• 30:52
  Speaker 2: It's really funny. I'll get the first thing wrong. Like
• 30:55
  Speaker 2: I have something where I'll tell somebody, get out your phone,
• 30:56
  Speaker 2: look through and pick anybody on your phone. Yeah. itching, burning, soreness.
• 31:01
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• 31:04
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• 31:08
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• 31:11
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• 31:13
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• 31:17
  Speaker 4: at bayer.com.
• 31:18
  Speaker 2: Known for this. I'll say, look, pick anybody out of
• 31:20
  Speaker 2: your phone. Our mutual friend, Adam Weitzman, he challenged me.
• 31:22
  Speaker 2: I'm like, get your phone out, pick anybody. You know everybody, Adam.
• 31:25
  Speaker 2: Pick anybody out of your phone right now. Yeah. And
• 31:28
  Speaker 2: so I will be able to always tell if it's
• 31:30
  Speaker 2: a male or female based on reaction. But sometimes I'll
• 31:32
  Speaker 2: get that wrong the first time. I can show it
• 31:35
  Speaker 2: to you.
• 31:35
  Speaker 1: Even if people are like trying to make sure they
• 31:38
  Speaker 1: don't react.
• 31:39
  Speaker 2: They're even better. The more they try the actual, it
• 31:42
  Speaker 2: actually goes against what you think, because the more tense
• 31:44
  Speaker 2: you are, the more you are showing it off. It's
• 31:47
  Speaker 2: like if they're actually super loose and don't care, it's
• 31:50
  Speaker 2: the same way somebody can pass a polygraph. People that
• 31:53
  Speaker 2: are almost like sociopaths can pass polygraphs because they don't even,
• 31:55
  Speaker 2: they believe their own lies. You know, like pathological liars
• 31:58
  Speaker 2: can tell stories so much that they actually believe something
• 32:01
  Speaker 2: that didn't happen. Okay. You know, and they can, they
• 32:02
  Speaker 2: can pass polygraph.
• 32:03
  Speaker 3: Yeah.
• 32:04
  Speaker 2: Their body doesn't have tension that everyone else's does when
• 32:07
  Speaker 2: they lie because they fooled themselves. So it's, you can
• 32:10
  Speaker 2: look it up.
• 32:11
  Speaker 1: What do you mean by tension? What does it look like?
• 32:13
  Speaker 2: Oh, tension is, it's not, no, no, it's not. It's internal. Ah, okay.
• 32:16
  Speaker 2: So your body, like your breathing shifts, your perspiration shifts
• 32:20
  Speaker 2: and your blood pressure shifts internally. You're like stuff you
• 32:23
  Speaker 2: cannot control. That's how they do a polygraph. Yeah.
• 32:25
  Speaker 3: Right.
• 32:25
  Speaker 2: It's, You can't control it. It's autonomic. It's like the
• 32:30
  Speaker 2: same way right now if somebody burst in here with
• 32:31
  Speaker 2: a gun, your adrenaline system would fire before you even
• 32:34
  Speaker 2: knew what happened. You're a fight or flight. It's thousands,
• 32:37
  Speaker 2: millions of years of DNA and evolution. So the same
• 32:40
  Speaker 2: thing applies where here's stuff that you can use. Listening.
• 32:44
  Speaker 2: You can tell when people are listening versus waiting for
• 32:47
  Speaker 2: their chance to speak. You can always see it in
• 32:49
  Speaker 2: their eyes. Where their eyes open, there's things that people
• 32:52
  Speaker 2: will do where you just said something and now in
• 32:55
  Speaker 2: their brain... they're now thinking of something which means their
• 32:59
  Speaker 2: brain has turned to switch and they're not really listening
• 33:01
  Speaker 2: to what you're saying anymore. Most people forget your name.
• 33:05
  Speaker 2: I can tell when somebody heard my name if they
• 33:06
  Speaker 2: remembered it, heard it, or didn't just by looking in
• 33:08
  Speaker 2: their eyes instantly because if they were thinking of what
• 33:11
  Speaker 2: they were about to say, they're not going to hear
• 33:13
  Speaker 2: your name. One of the best tricks I have It's
• 33:16
  Speaker 2: not even a trick is I will remember everyone's name.
• 33:18
  Speaker 2: I meet at a party each night and at night
• 33:21
  Speaker 2: I met a hundred people. I'll know everybody's name.
• 33:23
  Speaker 1: How do you do that? I don't remember anyone's name.
• 33:25
  Speaker 3: Right.
• 33:26
  Speaker 2: Which is, is you always say, Oh my God, I've
• 33:28
  Speaker 2: seen about a million things. That's the exact problem. Your
• 33:30
  Speaker 2: brain is like your phone getting a hundred texts. Oh
• 33:33
  Speaker 2: my God, what's my daughter doing later? What am I
• 33:34
  Speaker 2: getting for dinner? What's you have all these other thoughts
• 33:36
  Speaker 2: that are competing. If you can find a way to
• 33:39
  Speaker 2: quiet your mind for just that one second, when you
• 33:43
  Speaker 2: look at them, you have to make your mind a
• 33:45
  Speaker 2: blank and it's, There's certain moments that are a blank.
• 33:48
  Speaker 2: Like a lot of time right before you go to sleep,
• 33:50
  Speaker 2: if your mind is quiet or right when you get
• 33:52
  Speaker 2: in the shower, right when you sit on the bathroom,
• 33:53
  Speaker 2: I know it sounds weird, when you're brushing your teeth,
• 33:55
  Speaker 2: certain people have moments where your brain gets quieted. Take
• 33:58
  Speaker 2: your mind and right when you're about to hear their name,
• 34:00
  Speaker 2: repeat their name.
• 34:01
  Speaker 3: Okay.
• 34:02
  Speaker 2: Don't think of anything else. Be like, oh my God,
• 34:05
  Speaker 2: what's your name? Brandon. How do you spell it? Is
• 34:06
  Speaker 2: it Brandon with an O or an E? Repeat the name.
• 34:10
  Speaker 2: If it's a name that might be misspelled, always ask
• 34:12
  Speaker 2: how it's spelled. That's going to help you remember. Oh,
• 34:14
  Speaker 2: you go Brandon with an O. Got it. And now
• 34:16
  Speaker 2: if you say that and you look them in the
• 34:18
  Speaker 2: eye and you're not thinking of anything else, it will imprint.
• 34:21
  Speaker 2: It's like taking a snapshot and you will remember it.
• 34:24
  Speaker 2: Minimum short-term memory for the next 30 seconds to five minutes.
• 34:28
  Speaker 2: If you repeat it one more time or you pay
• 34:31
  Speaker 2: them a compliment, like be like, oh my God, Rachel,
• 34:33
  Speaker 2: I love this camouflage jacket. You just say it again
• 34:35
  Speaker 2: with some sort of reference point.
• 34:37
  Speaker 1: Right.
• 34:37
  Speaker 2: It will stick in your mind. End of the night,
• 34:39
  Speaker 2: you'll be like, that woman, Elena, I know her. And
• 34:41
  Speaker 2: oh my God, that guy's kid's name is, oh, his
• 34:43
  Speaker 2: dad's name is Tim. You'll shock yourself. You'll do this
• 34:46
  Speaker 2: the first time. And in that night, instead of barely
• 34:48
  Speaker 2: remembering one name, you'll know six or seven and then
• 34:51
  Speaker 2: practice it the next time. Okay.
• 34:53
  Speaker 1: I'm going to do that.
• 34:54
  Speaker 2: Try it. Try it. Just try to really repeat the
• 34:57
  Speaker 2: name once. If you can pay them a compliment. It's
• 34:59
  Speaker 2: a little awkward if you meet six people at once
• 35:01
  Speaker 2: because it's a lot to take in. You know, when
• 35:03
  Speaker 2: you get those lines of, oh, I'm John, I'm this.
• 35:05
  Speaker 2: That's tough because you can't really repeat everybody's name. Oh,
• 35:08
  Speaker 2: John with an H. Bianca, how do you spell it?
• 35:10
  Speaker 2: It looks psycho. But if you can just slow your
• 35:13
  Speaker 2: roll there and go, John, great to meet you. Hey, Bianca,
• 35:15
  Speaker 2: you guys, John and Bianca, how do you guys know
• 35:17
  Speaker 2: each other? Like just anything to slow down the flow.
• 35:19
  Speaker 1: And associate it with something.
• 35:20
  Speaker 2: Associate. It's not a mnemonic because that's a different thing
• 35:23
  Speaker 2: where you try to make somebody outlandish. You can create
• 35:27
  Speaker 2: lists in your mind. That's a different skill. This is
• 35:30
  Speaker 2: quite literally listening. Uh, but also in negotiations, you're with
• 35:33
  Speaker 2: your boss or you're with your spouse and you're trying
• 35:35
  Speaker 2: to find out, you can tell people can have a
• 35:37
  Speaker 2: sixth sense with their spouse. Like, are they mad at
• 35:39
  Speaker 2: me right now? Did I do something wrong? You can
• 35:41
  Speaker 2: feel it. And it's an instinct and it works in
• 35:44
  Speaker 2: a lot of other parts of life, but we don't
• 35:45
  Speaker 2: trust it. A lot of people be like, uh, I
• 35:49
  Speaker 2: sense this and this about that person. What do you think?
• 35:50
  Speaker 2: I go, you're probably right. Like you just are talking
• 35:53
  Speaker 2: yourself out of it.
• 35:54
  Speaker 1: That's interesting. So has anything ever gone wrong when you're
• 35:58
  Speaker 1: in like a public scenario?
• 36:01
  Speaker 2: Like shows?
• 36:01
  Speaker 1: Yeah.
• 36:02
  Speaker 2: I mean, yeah. I try to shoot for things to
• 36:04
  Speaker 2: go wrong very frequently, but not like if things go
• 36:07
  Speaker 2: wrong over and over, because I try to do things
• 36:10
  Speaker 2: that are pushing the boundaries.
• 36:12
  Speaker 1: Okay.
• 36:12
  Speaker 2: Kind of like a comedian who tries and tests out
• 36:14
  Speaker 2: new material. Jokes are going to bomb. So the same
• 36:18
  Speaker 2: thing applies where I will try and do things that
• 36:20
  Speaker 2: are on the cusp of beyond my, like, I'll just
• 36:23
  Speaker 2: reach for stuff. And if it hits, it's huge on TV.
• 36:26
  Speaker 2: It's way worse because on TV it's amplified by millions. Um,
• 36:30
  Speaker 2: I've had definitely things go wrong. Like I had one
• 36:33
  Speaker 2: on EGT where I just guessed something wrong, but hopefully
• 36:36
  Speaker 2: I'm moving through it quickly and I'm. going to an
• 36:39
  Speaker 2: alternate ending. I'm troubleshooting. I always have things planned where
• 36:43
  Speaker 2: if something goes wrong, I pull another card out of
• 36:45
  Speaker 2: the sleeve. Like you won't even know it goes wrong
• 36:47
  Speaker 2: in certain instances. I'll be sweating bullets, but I'll have
• 36:50
  Speaker 2: something else planned.
• 36:51
  Speaker 1: Oh, so you can make them think that wasn't the
• 36:52
  Speaker 1: end of the trick.
• 36:53
  Speaker 2: Totally.
• 36:54
  Speaker 3: Got it.
• 36:54
  Speaker 2: Okay.
• 36:55
  Speaker 3: All right.
• 36:55
  Speaker 1: But has it ever happened to you that you couldn't
• 36:57
  Speaker 1: get out of a scenario that you couldn't figure out
• 37:00
  Speaker 1: what they were thinking?
• 37:01
  Speaker 2: Yes. I mean, I've had like a finale kind of bomb.
• 37:04
  Speaker 2: And that's the worst because you don't want to you
• 37:06
  Speaker 2: leaving somebody on a terrible note is the worst feeling.
• 37:08
  Speaker 2: I had a TV appearance. This is kind of way
• 37:11
  Speaker 2: back when I think it was on CBS Morning News.
• 37:13
  Speaker 2: where I was guessing a celebrity, somebody was thinking of.
• 37:15
  Speaker 2: And I think straight up, I guessed John Travolta. And
• 37:18
  Speaker 2: she just goes, no. Oh, no. And I'm like, who
• 37:21
  Speaker 2: was it? And I can't remember who she said. It
• 37:22
  Speaker 2: was somebody else. It was pretty close, actually. And it
• 37:25
  Speaker 2: was like, she looks Al Pacino. I'm like, you're killing me. Great,
• 37:28
  Speaker 2: you know, great, you know, Italian actors. It was just,
• 37:31
  Speaker 2: it was brutal. But there was no real, you couldn't unwind.
• 37:34
  Speaker 2: If I had had another minute, if, you know, if
• 37:36
  Speaker 2: it wasn't live TV and they said, I would have
• 37:38
  Speaker 2: had one more minute before we go to commercial break.
• 37:40
  Speaker 2: I bet I could have done something cool to kind
• 37:42
  Speaker 2: of pull myself out of it. But you learn from those.
• 37:45
  Speaker 2: You learn from those moments of how do I, what
• 37:47
  Speaker 2: should I have done different?
• 37:48
  Speaker 3: Right.
• 37:49
  Speaker 2: And how do I plan better next time?
• 37:50
  Speaker 1: So where do you come up with most of these tricks?
• 37:53
  Speaker 2: When I'm running, I run a lot. I run like
• 37:55
  Speaker 2: marathons and ultra marathons.
• 37:56
  Speaker 1: Yeah, I was going to ask you about that.
• 37:57
  Speaker 2: It's kind of my side passion. And so if I'm
• 37:59
  Speaker 2: out running, like tonight I'm probably going to go run
• 38:01
  Speaker 2: with some buddies. I know it sounds ridiculous, but five
• 38:03
  Speaker 2: or six hours. I'm going to go run like 30
• 38:04
  Speaker 2: or 40 miles tonight.
• 38:05
  Speaker 1: I can't even run to the corner without getting bored
• 38:07
  Speaker 1: and tired. That's amazing.
• 38:09
  Speaker 2: So I'll have great ideas during that. I listen to
• 38:11
  Speaker 2: podcasts or I just zone out.
• 38:13
  Speaker 1: Okay.
• 38:15
  Speaker 2: And I'm in the shower. Honestly, certain places where I
• 38:18
  Speaker 2: have no electronics, no screen, I don't have to do
• 38:20
  Speaker 2: it with kids or wife or family or just like
• 38:23
  Speaker 2: Places where your mind can wander and be quiet. Daydreaming.
• 38:27
  Speaker 2: Like when you were eight years old and I didn't
• 38:29
  Speaker 2: have a phone or iPad or any of that.
• 38:30
  Speaker 3: Yeah.
• 38:31
  Speaker 2: Just let your mind wander and suddenly just things come
• 38:34
  Speaker 2: to you. Right. So that and when I have pressured situations.
• 38:37
  Speaker 2: I have a lot of TV stuff coming up and
• 38:39
  Speaker 2: so I'm just constantly just in my mind. Something sets
• 38:43
  Speaker 2: it in motion.
• 38:44
  Speaker 1: Are you working on a new trick right now?
• 38:45
  Speaker 2: Oh, I'm always working on new stuff. I think it's
• 38:48
  Speaker 2: like a comedian, like a Jerry Seinfeld's always writing on
• 38:50
  Speaker 2: a notepad, you know? I have raisins. What did I
• 38:52
  Speaker 2: write about raisins? So I will, I had an idea
• 38:54
  Speaker 2: the other day that came to me just literally, I
• 38:57
  Speaker 2: was just talking to a magician friend and I just
• 38:59
  Speaker 2: thought of it and I just thought of something that'd
• 39:00
  Speaker 2: be amazing for NFL. And it's, it's already, it came together.
• 39:04
  Speaker 2: And within a minute I started buying a prop or
• 39:05
  Speaker 2: two because the key with mine is visuals. I'm constantly
• 39:09
  Speaker 2: revealing information that's impossible for me to know. Yeah. Either
• 39:13
  Speaker 2: I'm influencing you to pick something or telling you something
• 39:15
  Speaker 2: about your life or your past that I couldn't know.
• 39:17
  Speaker 1: Yeah.
• 39:17
  Speaker 2: How do I do that? Like you said, that t-shirt
• 39:19
  Speaker 2: reveal is crazy. Or how do you make something on
• 39:21
  Speaker 2: a billboard? Or how do you do it visually? Like
• 39:23
  Speaker 2: with fire? with, you want to do it in a
• 39:25
  Speaker 2: cool way that captures your attention. Right.
• 39:28
  Speaker 1: Okay. So do you practice this on your wife or?
• 39:31
  Speaker 2: She's so over it. She is. No, I mean, like
• 39:35
  Speaker 2: still loves me. I'm pretty sure it's her birthday tomorrow.
• 39:37
  Speaker 2: Happy birthday, honey. But, but this is not, she is
• 39:39
  Speaker 2: a tough critic in a good way, but she's been
• 39:42
  Speaker 2: through it. I've known her for like 13 years. She's
• 39:44
  Speaker 2: not really I don't practice. I practice on audiences. My
• 39:48
  Speaker 2: practice is my work now. Interesting. That makes sense. Yeah.
• 39:52
  Speaker 2: You know, my kids are too young to get it yet.
• 39:55
  Speaker 2: They're on the cusp. Like I'm still kind of cool
• 39:57
  Speaker 2: to them.
• 39:57
  Speaker 1: Right.
• 39:58
  Speaker 2: I do magic shows, but that's different doing a magic
• 40:00
  Speaker 2: show for. I did one for my four-year-old and six-year-old's classes.
• 40:03
  Speaker 2: First graders love me. In like three years, I'll be
• 40:06
  Speaker 2: a total loser and nerd to them, but I'm really
• 40:09
  Speaker 2: in this finite zone. But that's different. Kids will bust you. Also,
• 40:13
  Speaker 2: kids don't know. That age doesn't know what mind reading is.
• 40:16
  Speaker 2: So I do more like big, slapsticky, funny. You pull
• 40:21
  Speaker 2: a bunny out of a hat, they're in heaven. You
• 40:22
  Speaker 2: tell them the name of their best friend, they're like,
• 40:24
  Speaker 2: that's not cool. They don't realize what's amazing yet.
• 40:27
  Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah, yeah. Is there somebody that you've performed for
• 40:32
  Speaker 1: that you thought was like the coolest?
• 40:35
  Speaker 2: So many people. Honestly, that's kind of one of the
• 40:37
  Speaker 2: perks of the job. I've met so many heroes. I mean,
• 40:40
  Speaker 2: when I met Steven Spielberg, I'd spend time with him.
• 40:43
  Speaker 2: Like Larry David is on my Mount Rushmore. I got
• 40:44
  Speaker 2: to hang out with him. It's just certain people. I
• 40:48
  Speaker 2: like to be around people that are, it's not always
• 40:50
  Speaker 2: entertainment or people that are the most famous. I like
• 40:54
  Speaker 2: people that I'm drawn to that are just very insightful,
• 40:56
  Speaker 2: successful people. I'm doing an event next week with Warren Buffett. Like,
• 40:59
  Speaker 2: that's somebody I can't wait to meet. Just people that are,
• 41:02
  Speaker 2: they've just created things and they're, that have broken. Itching, burning, soreness.
• 41:08
  Speaker 3: When you know it's thrush, you want it gone. Treat
• 41:11
  Speaker 3: the cause, not just the symptoms, with Caniston Combi, Ireland's
• 41:15
  Speaker 3: number one thrush treatment brand. Caniston Combi, pastry and cream
• 41:18
  Speaker 3: contain cotrimazole.
• 41:19
  Speaker 4: Always read the label. Number one based on volume sales data.
• 41:22
  Speaker 4: To verify, contact info.ireland at bayer.com.
• 41:25
  Speaker 2: Through in certain ways. Yeah. You know, just, Not always
• 41:27
  Speaker 2: about money or fame, but just I'm drawn to success
• 41:30
  Speaker 2: or people that have pushed boundaries and continue to for years.
• 41:33
  Speaker 2: Richard Branson, I met him. I went to his private island.
• 41:36
  Speaker 2: Unbelievable person. Just somebody who never... is constrained, always innovating,
• 41:40
  Speaker 2: always like went to space. It was so cool.
• 41:43
  Speaker 1: And that must be such a cool thing that you
• 41:45
  Speaker 1: are impressing people like that, that are so impressive, you know,
• 41:48
  Speaker 1: that everyone else wants to know and impress. And here
• 41:51
  Speaker 1: you are, they're mesmerized with you and they think you're
• 41:53
  Speaker 1: the ultimate.
• 41:54
  Speaker 2: So it's a lucky thing I've stumbled into and just,
• 41:57
  Speaker 2: you know, it's a unique craft. And quite frankly, it's
• 41:59
  Speaker 2: a weird thing. Cause I get to see them in
• 42:01
  Speaker 2: a way that most people don't because I'm not selling
• 42:04
  Speaker 2: anything to them.
• 42:05
  Speaker 1: Right.
• 42:05
  Speaker 2: It's not like somebody I work for them. And I'm
• 42:06
  Speaker 2: also not, uh, They get to be like kids again.
• 42:10
  Speaker 2: It's one of those weird things where I get to
• 42:12
  Speaker 2: do something where people are okay opening up in a
• 42:15
  Speaker 2: certain way, kind of being vulnerable. Because you're at that level,
• 42:19
  Speaker 2: how often are you getting to go, oh my God,
• 42:20
  Speaker 2: and just kind of allowing yourself to just be wowed
• 42:23
  Speaker 2: and impressed and let yourself go? And there's not a
• 42:26
  Speaker 2: lot of instances where you can do that. A lot
• 42:28
  Speaker 2: of these people are very serious. It's just like a
• 42:30
  Speaker 2: great moment to kind of see people be kids again. Yeah.
• 42:33
  Speaker 1: And not a lot. It's so true because not a
• 42:35
  Speaker 1: lot of things are surprises anymore.
• 42:38
  Speaker 2: Think about that. How often do you see something that
• 42:40
  Speaker 2: you can't explain?
• 42:41
  Speaker 1: Yeah. And that's a really fun thing because I think
• 42:44
  Speaker 1: everything's planned. You can find everything on the Internet. You
• 42:46
  Speaker 1: kind of know what to expect when you get into it.
• 42:48
  Speaker 1: a situation with anyone these days. So it's really fun to,
• 42:52
  Speaker 1: as an adult, almost feel like a kid again, where
• 42:54
  Speaker 1: you're like, there's no way this is going to happen.
• 42:56
  Speaker 1: And then you're just like overwhelmed with what you see.
• 42:59
  Speaker 1: I think that's a very cool thing about magic or
• 43:01
  Speaker 1: what you do.
• 43:02
  Speaker 2: You and me are New Yorkers. We've seen it all,
• 43:03
  Speaker 2: done it all.
• 43:04
  Speaker 1: So when something moves the.
• 43:06
  Speaker 2: Needle, and that's my favorite audience. I truly like the
• 43:09
  Speaker 2: people that will walk up to me and they're just like,
• 43:11
  Speaker 2: no chance, buddy. This isn't going to impress me. I'm like,
• 43:13
  Speaker 2: all right, let's do it. Let's dance. Like I like,
• 43:15
  Speaker 2: I will tell people in my show, I go, I'm
• 43:17
  Speaker 2: the biggest skeptic here. That's why I became a mentalist.
• 43:20
  Speaker 2: I thought none of this crap is possible. So I
• 43:22
  Speaker 2: pushed myself and say, what can I do? Is this really,
• 43:25
  Speaker 2: there's no way anyone could read minds. And so I go,
• 43:27
  Speaker 2: I don't read minds. I read people.
• 43:29
  Speaker 3: Right.
• 43:29
  Speaker 1: So do you have a favorite trick? Like I'm a
• 43:31
  Speaker 1: skeptic sort of, I don't really believe in stuff like this.
• 43:34
  Speaker 1: I feel like you can't read me. I'm going to
• 43:36
  Speaker 1: make sure you can't. Is there something you can do
• 43:38
  Speaker 1: on me that.
• 43:38
  Speaker 2: We can see if you do it? Let's do this.
• 43:40
  Speaker 2: Let's go as skeptical. And I want it to be
• 43:42
  Speaker 2: right now in this moment. So I want people to
• 43:44
  Speaker 2: know that like, if I told you right now in
• 43:46
  Speaker 2: this exact moment to think of somebody that you're going
• 43:51
  Speaker 2: to talk to. It could be family. It could be friend.
• 43:53
  Speaker 2: But I want you to think of somebody that you'll
• 43:54
  Speaker 2: probably call in the next two or three weeks. Could
• 43:57
  Speaker 2: you think of someone?
• 43:58
  Speaker 1: Yeah.
• 43:59
  Speaker 2: Now that seems impossible, right? That I could know who
• 44:02
  Speaker 2: you just thought of. Do you agree?
• 44:03
  Speaker 1: I totally agree.
• 44:04
  Speaker 2: Did you think about it even before this one second?
• 44:07
  Speaker 3: No.
• 44:07
  Speaker 2: So you didn't even know what you were going to
• 44:08
  Speaker 2: think of. So it's like, how could I know?
• 44:09
  Speaker 3: Yeah.
• 44:10
  Speaker 2: But now if we put on our hat and start
• 44:12
  Speaker 2: to be really cynical, like think of a private investigator.
• 44:15
  Speaker 2: I knew you were going to interview me. So what if,
• 44:18
  Speaker 2: and everything's on Instagram now. We all post like a
• 44:20
  Speaker 2: million things, stories every day. You probably have an inner
• 44:22
  Speaker 2: circle of tops, 20 people. Most of us do. Favorites
• 44:25
  Speaker 2: in your phone and people you're going to talk to.
• 44:27
  Speaker 2: And I'm like, could this be your daughter? Could this be?
• 44:29
  Speaker 2: So you don't realize it, but I just limited you
• 44:31
  Speaker 2: a lot more than you think of somebody that's in
• 44:34
  Speaker 2: your inner circle that you might talk to soon. So
• 44:36
  Speaker 2: how about this? Let's make this more impossible. Okay.
• 44:38
  Speaker 1: But I was going to say, I figured that you could,
• 44:41
  Speaker 1: because I'm a skeptic, think you could investigate or look
• 44:45
  Speaker 1: into me. So I just purposely picked somebody that I
• 44:48
  Speaker 1: know I need to call that you wouldn't know that
• 44:51
  Speaker 1: I'm even friends with.
• 44:51
  Speaker 2: I love that. I might go to that next, but
• 44:53
  Speaker 2: I want to go to something that's going to fool you.
• 44:55
  Speaker 2: So before you even walked in this room, somebody you
• 44:58
  Speaker 2: had not thought of in years, somebody you grew up
• 45:01
  Speaker 2: with or somebody that you have no connection with. Am
• 45:03
  Speaker 2: I right that you thought of that you had not
• 45:06
  Speaker 2: thought of in years?
• 45:07
  Speaker 1: Yes.
• 45:08
  Speaker 2: And we had never met before I walked in this room,
• 45:09
  Speaker 2: had we?
• 45:10
  Speaker 3: No. Never.
• 45:11
  Speaker 2: Never spoken. Let me ask you a question. You could
• 45:14
  Speaker 2: have thought of a boy or a girl, but somebody
• 45:16
  Speaker 2: that would anyone in your family, like parents, siblings, good friends,
• 45:22
  Speaker 2: would anybody know this person that you thought of or nobody?
• 45:24
  Speaker 1: Nobody.
• 45:25
  Speaker 2: Okay. So watch this. This is how we break it down.
• 45:28
  Speaker 2: And just so I know, is it a boy or
• 45:29
  Speaker 2: a girl?
• 45:32
  Speaker 1: Can I change who I picked originally so that it
• 45:35
  Speaker 1: makes it more.
• 45:36
  Speaker 2: Sure.
• 45:36
  Speaker 1: Accurate for me.
• 45:38
  Speaker 2: Boy. A boy. Okay. Okay. So you thought of a
• 45:41
  Speaker 2: girl and switched to a boy.
• 45:42
  Speaker 1: Yeah.
• 45:43
  Speaker 2: How did you know the boy?
• 45:45
  Speaker 1: How did I know him? Yeah.
• 45:46
  Speaker 2: What's the connection?
• 45:47
  Speaker 1: I knew him 20 years ago.
• 45:48
  Speaker 2: Okay. Okay. Hmm. Think of his name.
• 45:51
  Speaker 3: Okay.
• 45:52
  Speaker 2: And see, I like when we go back and forth.
• 45:53
  Speaker 2: Think of the girl's name. Think of the boy's name.
• 45:55
  Speaker 2: Think of how many letters are in each one. You
• 45:58
  Speaker 2: don't have to count, but just kind of go through it. Okay. Okay. Yeah. Yeah.
• 46:04
  Speaker 2: The girl's name was shorter. Is that right?
• 46:06
  Speaker 3: Yeah.
• 46:06
  Speaker 2: I saw it. See, how can I know that? She
• 46:08
  Speaker 2: just literally changed her mind in the middle. The way
• 46:11
  Speaker 2: you were counting over here, it took you longer to
• 46:12
  Speaker 2: count on this side. If it's longer, go back to
• 46:15
  Speaker 2: her name. Go to this girl's name. Okay. And I
• 46:16
  Speaker 2: want you to mix up the letters in her first name.
• 46:19
  Speaker 2: Just mix them up. It's an interesting name. My right's
• 46:21
  Speaker 2: a weird name. You look like it's a challenge. I
• 46:23
  Speaker 2: want you to stop. Don't say it, but just grab
• 46:26
  Speaker 2: a letter out of her first name. Just grab a
• 46:28
  Speaker 2: letter out of the middle of her first name and
• 46:29
  Speaker 2: just think of that one letter in your brain.
• 46:30
  Speaker 1: Okay.
• 46:31
  Speaker 2: You rolled your tongue. Watch. The same way when I
• 46:33
  Speaker 2: say your name, Rachel, you thought of an R, didn't you?
• 46:36
  Speaker 3: No.
• 46:37
  Speaker 2: Is there an R in her name?
• 46:38
  Speaker 1: Yes.
• 46:38
  Speaker 2: But you switched. You switched from the R to something
• 46:40
  Speaker 2: else you want.
• 46:40
  Speaker 1: I did switch, actually. That's so funny.
• 46:43
  Speaker 2: You rolled your tongue. See, this is how you told me.
• 46:46
  Speaker 2: Does it work with everyone? No, but I can always
• 46:47
  Speaker 2: tell as I'm going what I'm picking up. Okay. Are
• 46:51
  Speaker 2: most people going to be listening to this? On a podcast, audio,
• 46:54
  Speaker 2: or are they also going to be seeing it?
• 46:56
  Speaker 1: They will also be seeing it. I think most people
• 46:58
  Speaker 1: listen to it.
• 46:59
  Speaker 2: Listen to it. So I'm going to tell everyone so
• 47:01
  Speaker 2: you can hear this noise. This is me writing down
• 47:02
  Speaker 2: on a marker, on a pad of paper what I wrote.
• 47:06
  Speaker 2: I think you have not talked to this person in
• 47:08
  Speaker 2: more than 20 years. Like you don't even know why
• 47:09
  Speaker 2: she popped in your head. You're like, oh my God,
• 47:11
  Speaker 2: she's got a weird name, but I don't know why
• 47:12
  Speaker 2: I thought of her. Sarma, isn't it?
• 47:15
  Speaker 1: How the fuck did you do that?
• 47:19
  Speaker 2: Just for everyone who can't see, I just wrote that
• 47:21
  Speaker 2: down on the paper and turned it around.
• 47:22
  Speaker 1: After the fact. I was thinking in my head, he's
• 47:25
  Speaker 1: never going to get this. I'm going to be embarrassed
• 47:27
  Speaker 1: for him.
• 47:27
  Speaker 3: Right?
• 47:29
  Speaker 1: I was nervous about how I would like talk you
• 47:31
  Speaker 1: through this. That's incredible.
• 47:32
  Speaker 2: You have not said this. You have not written this
• 47:34
  Speaker 2: down anywhere. You have literally not done anything. You thought
• 47:37
  Speaker 2: of this person for the first time in decades.
• 47:39
  Speaker 1: Is that right?
• 47:39
  Speaker 2: No, I'm like going to pass out.
• 47:40
  Speaker 1: That's amazing.
• 47:41
  Speaker 2: And wait, wait. The boy, the boy you haven't talked
• 47:43
  Speaker 2: to in 20 years, not the same boy. You know what?
• 47:45
  Speaker 2: I think you got like, you were like misgivings because
• 47:47
  Speaker 2: you're like, oh, I don't want to do him. Did
• 47:49
  Speaker 2: you have a crush on this boy or not related?
• 47:51
  Speaker 2: Somebody you had a crush on and you wanted, you
• 47:53
  Speaker 2: thought of him, but you're like, it's too easy of
• 47:54
  Speaker 2: a name. Yes. Michael, was that your first crush?
• 47:57
  Speaker 1: That was. That was so weird. There's no way. But
• 48:04
  Speaker 1: I'm not doing anything for you to know that.
• 48:07
  Speaker 2: I mean, that's what everyone says.
• 48:08
  Speaker 1: See, but you're a psychic then. You're not. I've had
• 48:11
  Speaker 1: so many people at the end of the show come
• 48:12
  Speaker 1: up to me and be like, I know.
• 48:14
  Speaker 2: You're psychic and you're pretending you're not.
• 48:16
  Speaker 1: There's nothing in my body language that would get you
• 48:20
  Speaker 1: to that.
• 48:21
  Speaker 2: I love when people that are skeptical, like Sarma, super
• 48:23
  Speaker 2: common name, totally would have gotten Sarma. I know so
• 48:26
  Speaker 2: many Sarmas.
• 48:27
  Speaker 1: I don't know any, I don't think anyone knows a Sarma.
• 48:30
  Speaker 2: Except for Sarma, who's going to hear this.
• 48:31
  Speaker 4: Yes.
• 48:31
  Speaker 2: I feel like I've been misunderstood this whole time. There
• 48:34
  Speaker 2: we go.
• 48:35
  Speaker 3: Plug.
• 48:35
  Speaker 1: That's amazing. Oh my God. Okay. So I don't even
• 48:40
  Speaker 1: know what to say after that.
• 48:41
  Speaker 2: That's why we do the trick at the end. I
• 48:42
  Speaker 2: never open a podcast or an interview with a trick.
• 48:46
  Speaker 2: Cause I'd be like, I don't know what to say.
• 48:47
  Speaker 2: I forgot all my questions all gone.
• 48:48
  Speaker 1: Okay. Wait, can you do another one?
• 48:50
  Speaker 2: I got to leave you wanting more. That's my big ending.
• 48:52
  Speaker 1: Oh my God. That's amazing.
• 48:53
  Speaker 2: Thank you.
• 48:54
  Speaker 1: All right. So I think that everybody should hire you.
• 48:56
  Speaker 1: I think that's like, I'm floored by that. I'm going
• 48:59
  Speaker 1: to have to, I'm going to end up thinking about
• 49:01
  Speaker 1: this forever of how you got that.
• 49:03
  Speaker 2: I hope so. That's literally my job. It's not to
• 49:06
  Speaker 2: fool you. It's not to entertain. Those are side effects.
• 49:08
  Speaker 2: If I do my job right, it's to give you
• 49:09
  Speaker 2: memorable moments. I like it where people, if somebody walks
• 49:12
  Speaker 2: out of my show, apathy is the death of me
• 49:15
  Speaker 2: and they just forget about me and they never mention
• 49:16
  Speaker 2: it to anyone. That's the worst. If you figure out
• 49:18
  Speaker 2: every one of my tricks, I don't mind. I want
• 49:21
  Speaker 2: you to leave and be like, you are not going
• 49:22
  Speaker 2: to believe. Hopefully you remember my name because it's a
• 49:24
  Speaker 2: weird one. But you go, this guy owes. Oh my God,
• 49:26
  Speaker 2: he guessed my friend from 30 years ago. I just
• 49:28
  Speaker 2: want a moment that you will take and it will
• 49:30
  Speaker 2: stay in your brain somewhere nestled in there forever or
• 49:33
  Speaker 2: at least for a few months or years. That's what
• 49:35
  Speaker 2: I do.
• 49:36
  Speaker 1: Oh my God. You guys, you have to, um, you
• 49:38
  Speaker 1: have to go look at this guy's Instagram. You have
• 49:40
  Speaker 1: to look at what he does. It's amazing. You have
• 49:42
  Speaker 1: to hire him.
• 49:43
  Speaker 2: Okay.
• 49:43
  Speaker 1: I have a quick lightning round for you.
• 49:44
  Speaker 2: Is that okay?
• 49:46
  Speaker 1: Um, best moment in your life.
• 49:50
  Speaker 2: Best moment in my life when I married my wife.
• 49:53
  Speaker 1: Um, the best advice you've ever gotten.
• 49:56
  Speaker 2: The best advice I've ever gotten. There's a lot of
• 50:00
  Speaker 2: good ones. I'm trying to think what is the best one. Uh, Honestly,
• 50:04
  Speaker 2: I think it's a little cheesy and hokey and mindfulness,
• 50:08
  Speaker 2: but you never know what's gonna happen tomorrow. I think
• 50:10
  Speaker 2: a lot of people think they do. I think you
• 50:12
  Speaker 2: really have to find ways to enjoy that moment. Like
• 50:15
  Speaker 2: I've taken, I can't remember where I read this, but
• 50:17
  Speaker 2: they say take your life and just create little slices
• 50:19
  Speaker 2: of joy. And I take and I just sit there
• 50:22
  Speaker 2: and like when I'm with my kids, with my wife,
• 50:23
  Speaker 2: and when I'm kind of bitching about certain stupid stuff,
• 50:25
  Speaker 2: I just try to stand back and just think, this
• 50:28
  Speaker 2: is amazing. Like to be alive is such a gift.
• 50:31
  Speaker 2: Never forget it. And even when you feel like crap,
• 50:33
  Speaker 2: And there's always things to complain about. And you know,
• 50:35
  Speaker 2: my life is very blessed and I know, but just
• 50:38
  Speaker 2: if you're alive, it's a real blessing. Like remember that.
• 50:41
  Speaker 2: Think about it.
• 50:42
  Speaker 1: Success to you means?
• 50:45
  Speaker 2: Success to me means honestly getting to be my own boss,
• 50:49
  Speaker 2: getting to be with my family, getting to chase my dream.
• 50:53
  Speaker 2: I've been so lucky in life. I mean, having certain
• 50:57
  Speaker 2: things like obviously money, material possessions, things like that are
• 51:01
  Speaker 2: great because they create a certain like I don't know,
• 51:05
  Speaker 2: they give you freedom in life. But the biggest blessing
• 51:08
  Speaker 2: is just having my family and getting to do what
• 51:09
  Speaker 2: I love. I think that's been success.
• 51:12
  Speaker 1: Right. Failure to you means?
• 51:15
  Speaker 2: Failure to me is just being, is losing ambition, losing drive.
• 51:21
  Speaker 2: Whether that means for me with running where I like
• 51:23
  Speaker 2: to race and challenge myself, I have to challenge myself.
• 51:26
  Speaker 2: Whatever that means in life to be better, to do
• 51:29
  Speaker 2: something different. Failure is kind of giving up. and not
• 51:33
  Speaker 2: striving for new things in the future.
• 51:37
  Speaker 1: Someone you would like to perform for or read.
• 51:40
  Speaker 2: Barack Obama.
• 51:42
  Speaker 1: Ooh, that's a good one. Um, something I haven't done
• 51:44
  Speaker 1: that's on my bucket list is.
• 51:48
  Speaker 2: God, my wife's going to kill me if I say this,
• 51:49
  Speaker 2: but one of my good friends right now, this guy's
• 51:51
  Speaker 2: running across America for scum style, William Gouge. I've been
• 51:54
  Speaker 2: tracking him on Instagram, 3000 miles. Shout out to William.
• 51:57
  Speaker 2: You guys should donate. Uh, He is just, it's been inspiring.
• 52:01
  Speaker 2: I've gotten to know other people that have done it,
• 52:02
  Speaker 2: but I'm watching him every day. He posts it on Instagram.
• 52:04
  Speaker 2: They have these amazing videos, the Audacious Report. It's making
• 52:06
  Speaker 2: me want to do it, but my wife will divorce me,
• 52:09
  Speaker 2: so I'm not doing it. But God, I'm so jealous.
• 52:11
  Speaker 1: Wow.
• 52:12
  Speaker 2: I love just these crazy running. I ran last year
• 52:14
  Speaker 2: from Montauk to Manhattan. Oh, God. And I broke the
• 52:17
  Speaker 2: record as the hottest day of the summer. I ran,
• 52:18
  Speaker 2: I'm the fastest crossing of Long Island ever.
• 52:21
  Speaker 1: How long did it take?
• 52:22
  Speaker 2: Just over 21 hours.
• 52:23
  Speaker 1: Oh.
• 52:24
  Speaker 2: So I still.
• 52:25
  Speaker 1: Sometimes that's not much longer than the traffic.
• 52:27
  Speaker 2: Exactly. Especially 27 when it's one lane. So I just
• 52:30
  Speaker 2: like these challenges. I like to do things that I
• 52:32
  Speaker 2: don't know if I'll, I'll be able to pull it off.
• 52:34
  Speaker 2: If I know I'm going to pull it off, it's
• 52:35
  Speaker 2: not exciting. I want to know if you asked me
• 52:37
  Speaker 2: if I like to fail, I like to have that
• 52:39
  Speaker 2: feeling of failure. It's a possibility. Otherwise it's not exciting. Right.
• 52:44
  Speaker 1: Favorite sports team.
• 52:46
  Speaker 2: Favorite sports team. Oh my God. If I say something,
• 52:49
  Speaker 2: not New York, I'm going to eat in the live. Um,
• 52:52
  Speaker 2: I'm going to go ahead and say, uh, For World
• 52:56
  Speaker 2: Cup soccer, Argentina, who just won. I was cheering them.
• 52:59
  Speaker 2: I've been cheering them on since I was six. So yeah, vamos, vamos.
• 53:02
  Speaker 2: That was very, it was awesome when Messi won. Okay.
• 53:05
  Speaker 1: Favorite binge-worthy show right now?
• 53:09
  Speaker 2: Succession.
• 53:09
  Speaker 1: I love that.
• 53:10
  Speaker 2: Please don't spoil it for me.
• 53:11
  Speaker 3: I won't.
• 53:11
  Speaker 2: I'm only four episodes in. My wife almost spoiled for
• 53:14
  Speaker 2: me the huge thing that happened. I was so mad.
• 53:16
  Speaker 1: You're four episodes into the first season?
• 53:18
  Speaker 2: No, like current season.
• 53:20
  Speaker 3: Okay.
• 53:20
  Speaker 2: Current season. Yeah.
• 53:21
  Speaker 1: So good.
• 53:22
  Speaker 3: Yeah.
• 53:22
  Speaker 1: Um, okay. Your mantra or your life quote would be.
• 53:27
  Speaker 2: I say it when I run these ultra marathons, when
• 53:29
  Speaker 2: the good things are happening, when bad things are happening,
• 53:31
  Speaker 2: I go blink and it'll be over. Like every one
• 53:33
  Speaker 2: of those things, when I'm suffering, when I ran that
• 53:36
  Speaker 2: thing across Montauk and I was, you know, heat stroked
• 53:38
  Speaker 2: and feeling terrible blink and it'll be over both in
• 53:41
  Speaker 2: a good way and a bad way. I think life
• 53:43
  Speaker 2: just flies by. Uh, it just keeps getting faster and faster.
• 53:46
  Speaker 2: I like everything you remember just keeps going right. And
• 53:49
  Speaker 2: the older you get, the quicker it goes because statistically
• 53:52
  Speaker 2: that becomes smaller and smaller piece of your life. You know,
• 53:55
  Speaker 2: once you're 70, every year is less and less. Do
• 53:59
  Speaker 2: you know what I mean?
• 53:59
  Speaker 1: Yeah, of course.
• 54:00
  Speaker 2: Versus when you're five turning six, that's 16% of your life.
• 54:04
  Speaker 2: It feels really long. Yeah, yeah. So yeah, you know,
• 54:06
  Speaker 2: you got to enjoy the ride.
• 54:08
  Speaker 1: For people that are wanting to get into this, what
• 54:12
  Speaker 1: would you suggest they start doing now?
• 54:14
  Speaker 2: So I've suggested this to everyone I've ever met, is
• 54:16
  Speaker 2: knowing a few magic tricks, like the way I told you,
• 54:18
  Speaker 2: when I go anywhere in the world, it will open doors.
• 54:21
  Speaker 2: And most people that are magicians are not professionals. They're
• 54:24
  Speaker 2: people like dentists, teachers. You know how many funeral directors
• 54:28
  Speaker 2: are magicians? I know that sounds so funny.
• 54:30
  Speaker 1: What?
• 54:30
  Speaker 2: Talk about a place where you need to break the ice,
• 54:32
  Speaker 2: pun intended. Most of the organizations where there's something called
• 54:36
  Speaker 2: Society of American Magicians and International Brotherhood of Magicians. Sounds
• 54:40
  Speaker 2: really dorky. But those are professional organizations. And most of
• 54:43
  Speaker 2: the people are not professionals. They're hobbyists. And imagine you
• 54:47
  Speaker 2: learn two or three tricks just to know for life.
• 54:50
  Speaker 2: Just imagine you go into a situation and you can
• 54:53
  Speaker 2: do something really amazing. I have something that I've done
• 54:56
  Speaker 2: since I was a kid. Anywhere. I grab a napkin.
• 54:58
  Speaker 2: If I'm at a bar, I can do 20 tricks.
• 55:00
  Speaker 2: But one is I grab a napkin. And I rip
• 55:02
  Speaker 2: it into small little pieces. And this, a three-year-old likes this.
• 55:05
  Speaker 2: And I rip in their hand. I say, squeeze it
• 55:07
  Speaker 2: tight and say a magic word or something. I snap
• 55:09
  Speaker 2: my fingers or we do something. And when they open
• 55:11
  Speaker 2: their hand, they open the napkin and it's restored itself.
• 55:14
  Speaker 2: And I could teach that to my six-year-old. And that's
• 55:16
  Speaker 2: something you could do anywhere, anywhere. And you, the smiles
• 55:21
  Speaker 2: you will get, the moments you will get, and you
• 55:22
  Speaker 2: need nothing. Learning a few of those tricks just to have,
• 55:26
  Speaker 2: I don't care if they're the best or you're the
• 55:27
  Speaker 2: best at doing them. is such a leg up in
• 55:29
  Speaker 2: life that I've told everyone I've ever met, learn a
• 55:32
  Speaker 2: couple of cool tricks. And there's videos, there's a website
• 55:34
  Speaker 2: called penguinmagic.com that I used to do tons of work
• 55:37
  Speaker 2: for and like videos to teach you. But if you're
• 55:40
  Speaker 2: really serious about it, go just look stuff up. Google
• 55:43
  Speaker 2: teaches you everything.
• 55:44
  Speaker 1: I think I'm going to do that.
• 55:45
  Speaker 2: Learn one or two awesome impromptu. They're called impromptu tricks.
• 55:49
  Speaker 2: They might not be mentalism. Learn a couple of magic tricks.
• 55:51
  Speaker 2: And if you really get into it and you felt like, wow,
• 55:53
  Speaker 2: this was so fun. And you got that validation and
• 55:55
  Speaker 2: you love those reactions. You can advance, learn something new.
• 55:59
  Speaker 2: I'm happy to point you in the right direction. But
• 56:01
  Speaker 2: the joy you bring to people around you, to kids,
• 56:03
  Speaker 2: to adults, to everybody, it's really, it's an amazing feeling.
• 56:08
  Speaker 1: Yeah.
• 56:09
  Speaker 2: Yeah.
• 56:10
  Speaker 1: What is next for you?
• 56:12
  Speaker 2: Next for me is just, like I told you, I'm
• 56:15
  Speaker 2: go big or go home. I just keep trying to
• 56:17
  Speaker 2: increase what I'm doing and amplify it. What I see
• 56:20
  Speaker 2: is for mentalism, when you go up to most people,
• 56:22
  Speaker 2: what's a mentalist, what's a mind reader? They don't know
• 56:23
  Speaker 2: what that is. And I think that that's unacceptable. I
• 56:27
  Speaker 2: think that there's a slot to be a household name
• 56:30
  Speaker 2: in this country where if somebody hears that word, a
• 56:33
  Speaker 2: mentalist or a mind reader, I want them to know
• 56:34
  Speaker 2: my name. I want to be the person you think of.
• 56:37
  Speaker 2: And I don't have to knock anyone off to do that, right?
• 56:39
  Speaker 2: I'm not going to be the next David Blaine. I'm
• 56:40
  Speaker 2: not going to be the next David Copfield. I want
• 56:42
  Speaker 2: to be... Because they have their slots.
• 56:44
  Speaker 1: They have their niche, yeah.
• 56:45
  Speaker 2: So what I focused on a lot is just bigger
• 56:48
  Speaker 2: and better, doing things no one's ever seen on bigger
• 56:51
  Speaker 2: and better platforms. So millions and millions of people seeing it.
• 56:54
  Speaker 2: There's a lot coming up with me with sports stars
• 56:56
  Speaker 2: and different athletes and... You know, I'm working on some
• 56:59
  Speaker 2: TV stuff, which, and social media is also the biggest
• 57:03
  Speaker 2: amplifier nowadays.
• 57:04
  Speaker 1: Yeah. Amazing. Okay. So where could people find you and
• 57:08
  Speaker 1: see some of your stuff if they want to, you know,
• 57:10
  Speaker 1: get more information on you?
• 57:12
  Speaker 2: Most of what I post is Instagram and then YouTube, Facebook,
• 57:15
  Speaker 2: all the normal routes. On Instagram, I'm at OZTheMentalist. So
• 57:19
  Speaker 2: it looks like Oz, pronounced O's, but at OZTheMentalist, I
• 57:23
  Speaker 2: post all my tour dates and All my TV clips,
• 57:26
  Speaker 2: if you jump on there, I just put something on
• 57:27
  Speaker 2: with John Cena, Ludacris, a lot of fun ones on there.
• 57:31
  Speaker 2: Our mutual friend, Adam Weitzman, he was awesome. So yeah,
• 57:35
  Speaker 2: I just constantly like to kind of amaze people. And
• 57:37
  Speaker 2: I might be coming to a town near you soon too.
• 57:40
  Speaker 1: Yes, you guys should definitely look at his schedule, check
• 57:42
  Speaker 1: it out, and you should see him in person. It's amazing.
• 57:44
  Speaker 1: Do you read your DMs and your comments?
• 57:47
  Speaker 2: I do. I like to engage with my fans. Write
• 57:49
  Speaker 2: to me if you ask me what the lottery numbers are.
• 57:51
  Speaker 2: I don't know. I wish I could tell you how
• 57:53
  Speaker 2: many times people ask me, what are the lottery numbers?
• 57:54
  Speaker 2: I'm like, if I knew, I would have won and
• 57:56
  Speaker 2: given half to charity by now. I don't know the future.
• 57:59
  Speaker 2: I'm not a psychic. I read people.
• 58:01
  Speaker 1: So you can't predict if somebody's having a boy or
• 58:03
  Speaker 1: a girl.
• 58:03
  Speaker 2: I'm pretty good at that. Oh, you are? Of course.
• 58:05
  Speaker 2: So if people know what they're having, does that make sense?
• 58:08
  Speaker 3: Yeah.
• 58:08
  Speaker 2: So, for example, one of the funny jokes with my
• 58:10
  Speaker 2: wife is when we didn't want to know for our
• 58:11
  Speaker 2: second kid, she wouldn't let me in the room with
• 58:13
  Speaker 2: the ultrasound tech.
• 58:14
  Speaker 1: Oh, wow.
• 58:14
  Speaker 2: Because, you know, the ultrasound tech can know at 10,
• 58:16
  Speaker 2: 12 weeks.
• 58:17
  Speaker 3: Yeah.
• 58:17
  Speaker 2: So even if they say, do you want to know?
• 58:20
  Speaker 2: That doesn't matter. I already know from looking at them. Really?
• 58:22
  Speaker 1: From their body language?
• 58:24
  Speaker 2: Oh, yeah. A 50-50, I hope I can get. Otherwise,
• 58:26
  Speaker 2: occupational hazard. But so I've guessed. And so funny thing,
• 58:29
  Speaker 2: I've done this. I have a lot of couples that
• 58:31
  Speaker 2: have in their scrapbook, you know, first year of life,
• 58:33
  Speaker 2: like the kids' footprints and stuff. they will have a
• 58:35
  Speaker 2: business card or something I gave them that I said
• 58:38
  Speaker 2: to them, I go, you guys know what name you're
• 58:40
  Speaker 2: going to use, right? And they're like, we haven't told anyone,
• 58:43
  Speaker 2: you know, first time parents, especially they're very superstitious. And
• 58:45
  Speaker 2: I said, put this in your scrapbook, open it the
• 58:47
  Speaker 2: day your kid is born. And I will have given
• 58:49
  Speaker 2: them and I will have predicted the name they used.
• 58:51
  Speaker 2: And one of them, they saw me, their kid's 10
• 58:53
  Speaker 2: years old now. It's so funny. And they go, the
• 58:56
  Speaker 2: craziest thing, the craziest thing is that what you gave us,
• 58:59
  Speaker 2: we were sure we were going to use this other name.
• 59:01
  Speaker 2: I think their daughter's name like ended up being Harper,
• 59:03
  Speaker 2: but they thought it was going to be, and they
• 59:05
  Speaker 2: opened up and they were, it was crazy because they go,
• 59:08
  Speaker 2: we were sure we were going to name her something else.
• 59:10
  Speaker 2: And at the last moment we changed to this name.
• 59:12
  Speaker 2: How the F did you know that? And they have,
• 59:15
  Speaker 2: they have my card and it's like, she's now like
• 59:17
  Speaker 2: a person.
• 59:18
  Speaker 1: She's 10.
• 59:18
  Speaker 2: You know, it's so funny. And, and, um, And it's
• 59:21
  Speaker 2: just so funny. I did so many, I've done thousands
• 59:23
  Speaker 2: of bar and bat mitzvahs. That was like my hustle
• 59:25
  Speaker 2: when I was like from 2005 to 15. And so
• 59:27
  Speaker 2: many of these kids are now, you know, 20 something
• 59:31
  Speaker 2: year olds. Some of them are getting married. You know,
• 59:33
  Speaker 2: when you feel old, you're like, I did your bar
• 59:34
  Speaker 2: mitzvah 20 years ago. And so anyway, the funny thing is,
• 59:38
  Speaker 2: is that's what I want. That's what I've learned is
• 59:40
  Speaker 2: I'm not there to fool you. Entertaining. I want to
• 59:42
  Speaker 2: create memorable moments. And that's when I can do that.
• 59:45
  Speaker 2: And you take something and you keep it with you.
• 59:46
  Speaker 2: And like they have that card that I did for them. That's, that's,
• 59:51
  Speaker 2: The biggest joy, the biggest gift that I have is
• 59:53
  Speaker 2: that I get to give that to people. I've lucked
• 59:55
  Speaker 2: out in life.
• 59:55
  Speaker 1: I love that. But I love that also you're honest
• 59:57
  Speaker 1: about it. You can't pick lottery numbers. You probably can't
• 1:00:00
  Speaker 1: decide who's going to be president next year.
• 1:00:02
  Speaker 2: I could tell you who I want, but yeah, let's
• 1:00:04
  Speaker 2: not go there. Yeah, exactly. But yeah, DMs, comments, I'm
• 1:00:07
  Speaker 2: on there all the time. Honestly, my fans are everything.
• 1:00:10
  Speaker 2: They're the people that got me to where I am now.
• 1:00:12
  Speaker 2: So I truly appreciate it.
• 1:00:14
  Speaker 3: Amazing.
• 1:00:14
  Speaker 2: You need people's minds to read them. I'm a job
• 1:00:16
  Speaker 2: that I can't do by myself. I need an audience
• 1:00:18
  Speaker 2: to do it. Right. Okay.
• 1:00:19
  Speaker 1: So you guys make sure you go see him in
• 1:00:21
  Speaker 1: person because he's absolutely amazing. Thank you so much for
• 1:00:25
  Speaker 1: joining me.
• 1:00:25
  Speaker 2: Appreciate it. Thanks so much.
• 1:00:32
  Speaker 1: Thank you so much for listening to our podcast, Misunderstood
• 1:00:34
  Speaker 1: with Rachel Uchitel. Please be sure to subscribe to the
• 1:00:37
  Speaker 1: show and give us a five-star rating and review if
• 1:00:39
  Speaker 1: you like what you hear. You can support the show
• 1:00:42
  Speaker 1: by joining our Patreon at patreon.com. Do you have ideas
• 1:00:47
  Speaker 1: for the show or guests that you want us to
• 1:00:49
  Speaker 1: reach out to? Please email us at infomisunderstoodpodcast at gmail.com.
• 1:00:54
  Speaker 1: Thank you so much, and I can't wait to see
• 1:00:56
  Speaker 1: you next time. Itching.
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