Latest / The Magic Guys / How to Approach Spectators Like a Pro #274

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How to Approach Spectators Like a Pro #274 · The Magic Guys

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  They're guys. They do magic. They are the Magic Guys.
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  Ladies and gentlemen, what's up? Welcome to episode 274 of the Magic Guys,
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  where today we have four Magic Guys.
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  And today, I'm Josh Norvito, like most days, but next to me right now, I've got Doug Kahn.
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  And above him, we've got Nick Kay. Hello, friends. I'm Nick Kay, and next to me is...
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  I am Adam Axford. Good to see you all. Thanks for coming back, buddy.
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  Again, thank you so much for being on last week's episode, filling in for our sick cats in the game.
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  We had a lot of amazing feedback about it, and your opinions and thoughts are
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  always deeply, deeply valued.
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  So thank you again for being here, because friends, today's episode is about how to approach groups.
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  And if you were listening to last week's episode, you would have taken it upon
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  yourself to see Adam Axford's social media and how he's on an amazing journey
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  to approach and do a thousand different videos on how to approach groups.
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  So he's more than qualified to speak on this. But first, we want to start the
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  episode the same way we do every episode. Josh, we have speak pipes, you?
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  We got some speak pipes. You guys piped them in with your words,
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  and we're going to play one right now from, I'm trying to be a wordsmith like Adam here, okay?
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  I'm trying to say the words elegantly, and our first speak pipe, super pro.
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  See, how could you do this? It's eloquent, my friend. Oh, eloquent.
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  Me, not so good, but me try hard. First one is from Gautam, and he's put in
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  a speak pipe, which is very pertinent, considering we have a mentalist here. Thank you.
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  Let's go. Gautam, give us your question. Hey Magic guys, thank you so much for doing what you do.
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  I really love your show and my question is twofold here.
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  Number one, as an industry, we have been able to figure out two macro pseudo explanations.
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  Like for example, as a mentalist, one is the likes of Derren Brown,
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  Oz Perlman, like we read body language, we have studied psychology for years.
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  Then there are likes of Louis Lava, Luke Jeremy who rely more towards maybe
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  readings, star signs like it's the same effects but with a different packaging,
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  so what do you think like is there any other pseudo explanation we can develop,
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  other than these two like these are the two most prominent ones my second question
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  to you is like in the context of magic versus mentalism do you believe like
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  of course if you're doing magic or mentalism only for entertainment purposes,
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  I think they can be clubbed.
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  But let's suppose you want to maybe, again, it depends on your character as
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  well, but maybe let's say you want to depict something else.
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  Or maybe if you do, let's say, a Spongebob routine and then afterwards you guess
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  a name they are thinking of, does it reduce the credibility of me guessing the name because,
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  people know in their head that the Spongebob routine was just a magic trick?
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  Like, the orientations or the chronology of the routines depends on how you are perceived.
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  Right right let's let's let's break that down and
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  let's break it down in two questions for the groups the first thing is with
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  regards to the pseudo explanations for get for getting a divination from somebody
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  whether it be looking at someone's twitch in the eye or the way that they burp
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  every time they say the word something or other
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  adam i think you're the most ex you know,
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  experienced to be able to speak to this what are your thoughts on these pseudo explanations,
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  uh yeah i've got a unique one i don't see anybody else brandishing the moniker
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  wordsmith and it seems extremely apt our ability to communicate use words and
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  language to express our internal thoughts and processes and put them out into the world
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  so yeah it's still communication based so we could be looking at things like
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  facial gestures and tonation of talking though we're layering it in the fundamental
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  magic ability that we have to communicate using our mouth which is essentially telekinesis
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  and the medium of transfer is small sound waves that move through the air and reach our eardrum
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  so we all want to have psychic abilities we have them we hear
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  we hear the things that are said,
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  and some people just want to take the mouth out of that to make it more magical i guess wordsmith,
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  nice i want to throw and i think that's so beautiful one other possibility is
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  that it's like a coincidence or like luck somehow.
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  You know we can get massive reactions from doing a pin code divination for example,
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  right someone's pin code you reveal it but you know what's interesting is,
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  sometimes i just got this straight from ozzy wind he would do it but through
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  cards so he would collect the info and then he would have them be the ones to
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  cut the deck into four piles,
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  and turn each card over and each number represents you know their pin code and
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  so they react it the same way it's the same effect he figured out my pin code
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  but like the answer is i don't know you did all the cutting like this is,
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  i can't read your mind you just what a coincidence you know,
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  so there's like a different angle where it's like,
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  you're the luckiest person in the world kind of vibe,
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  synchronicity yeah it's a beautiful thing to capture that's yeah that's what
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  i was gonna say but i thought i'd let you say it being the words.
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  You're so kind josh thank you for laying out the carpet for me there yeah it's like,
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  i was gonna say hijacking natural phenomena you know like we do have coincidences
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  and synchronistic moments these are the things that feel like real magic for
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  us in our actual realities
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  these magical realities that we are actually in and everybody wants to dismiss
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  the chance of real magic within it despite us being made of energy condensed
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  slow vibrations or we call that atoms it's absolutely bonkers we are a living
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  breathing miracle of a thing,
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  and we don't know what reality is and the best we can do is replicate the uh,
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  the mechanisms right to try and give the illusion of that that sense of of connect
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  being connected to something far greater so synchronicity and coincidence man
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  brilliant brilliant thing to bring up josh,
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  oh you're welcome and you know even though we don't rehearse this podcast somehow
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  we still manage to finish each other's,
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  sandwiches turn fuck all right let's what was the next part of the question
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  can you do sludge balls and then mind reading and it still makes sense,
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  Let's be clear. You can do anything as a magician. There's no rules.
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  It's fricking magic, right?
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  Bring the vision to life. Be yourself. Sometimes it's sponge ball mind reading.
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  Yeah. I just think that if you're going to coin yourself as a certain thing
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  that you do put restrictions upon yourself, look, restrictions are a good way
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  to create. I've always taken that from Bizarro's teachings where,
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  you know, it's better to create within a confine.
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  Now, if your character and you as a person you want to put some restrictions
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  upon yourself and say i'm a mind reader,
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  and then do things outside of that realm you could be discrediting the title
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  you afford yourself the title i afford myself is professional mind blower which
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  means i do whatever the hell i want as long as i blow your mind and that's one
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  of the things that i love but,
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  you know or you could just be like what are you i'm josh that's it josh just
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  josh what does that mean josh come and experience it.
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  I'm thinking about our Kreskin episode. You're thinking about a guy like Kreskin
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  who was able to, you know, mix the two, two high levels of success.
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  I think that's living proof you can do something like that.
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  You got to make good choices. I agree with that. If you sell yourself as a mentalist,
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  you need to be in that ballpark, but you can wade in the kiddie pool, do other stuff.
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  It also might be worth saying that the boundaries are arbitrary and we see them
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  because we're studious in this game, but other people don't know the difference.
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  And the way I see this, not to be too crass, but like the sponge balls are the
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  foreplay before the mind F, you know, you got to mind F someone,
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  you might want to warm them up a little bit, right?
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  And sometimes if you be layering and be like oh let's try this and then we go
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  you maybe want to layer the sponge balls as a
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  an optics or an attention focused thing you know and show it and be like look
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  look how simple it is for us to hijack our attention and where it goes with
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  something so simple and innocuous as a sponge ball
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  now let's try this on a higher level i'd like you to think of a friend you haven't
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  connected within years but you'd be happy to speak to again
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  write their name down don't show me so this is the transition you can do and
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  go from sponge balls to like blowing their minds and justifying it completely and seamlessly,
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  look at that that's beautiful.
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  Right there that's the fucking shit and also we we keep,
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  the other thing too is like we keep talking about sponge balls as if it's some kid's trick like,
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  sponge balls blows spectators minds so all you're doing is going from blowing
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  their minds with something visual to now blowing their minds with something
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  cerebral and our buddy mike tyler one of,
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  australia's busiest corporate guys he opens with sponge balls all the time and
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  even though i'll never touch them i think partly is because i watch him do it
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  and he just murders with it and then he'll definitely do wiki test in that same gig and there's no,
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  question about the two being in the same thing so.
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  I think, yeah, go for it and yeah, slay.
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  Yeah. I think what's important is that if you're going to do whatever routines
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  you do, do it in the flavor that is you.
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  Like I will always do things in, it's in the flavor of Nick K.
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  But if you are going to be someone who is like a cover band type magician,
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  where you're going to perform it exactly the way that personality does,
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  and then emulate another person's personality, because you're a cover band,
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  it's not going to be coherent.
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  You do have the ability to interpret ways that's meaningful to you and that
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  comes through with your flavor on it that's the best way to say it you know
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  that mean paul anchor will sing a song one way elvis presley will sing a song another way,
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  it's their songs same song but they own it and you should do the same and also
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  just with regards to these pseudo explanations,
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  it's more about understanding what type of information there is if you haven't
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  read radic hoffman's book the art of revealing, this could help shed some light
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  on understanding the type of information you are getting from a spectator and
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  obviously the healthy way to reveal it.
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  So I implore you, give that a read or listen back to the episode in which we
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  interviewed him. I think that about wraps up that question. Moving on to the next?
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  Moving on to the next, baby.
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  Yes, we can move on.
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  Thank you. You can push the button and do the thing.
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  All right. Yeah, great. All right, people strap in. Here we go.
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  We're going to do everything. We're going to start the episode again and we're
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  going to now we're going to play on. So the real question of today is how to approach a spectator.
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  Nick's going to take us through some different avenues that you might be having
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  to approach and maybe different circumstances, beginning with the first one.
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  So friends, we put this call out some while ago, and we've mentioned this loosely,
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  but I've decided that we need to put all this into a perfect compilation and
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  talk about how to approach audiences.
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  People see this as some of the most daunting ways to actually approach a table
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  like it's a terrifying thing.
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  Now, I've been asked to cover things like how to approach it at a residency,
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  at a corporate business meeting, and how to break down big groups.
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  We will cover all of those things. Okay. So firstly, let's, for the sake of
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  context, keep it in such a way that you've been hired for an event and you need
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  to approach a table just to begin with.
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  Do you guys want to share your methods or do you want me to spit out my script?
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  You're on the edge right there, Nick. We can't hold you back right now.
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  All right. So here's what I do, friends. Because I perform in residencies,
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  what I do is I make sure that they understand that I am part of the business.
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  I say hello and welcome to Holy Moly. My name is Nick. How are we all doing? Wonderful.
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  Guys, it is my job to show you magic. Is now a good time or am I interrupting conversation?
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  And they will say whatever they want to say. And then what I'll try to do is
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  I'll try and find either the noisiest person, the person who's got the most
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  alpha energy, the person that I need to control.
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  And I will address that person first. And I will say, what is your name,
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  friend? And that person will say, Doug.
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  And I'll go, this is my buddy, Doug. Everyone say, hey, Doug.
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  And they go, hi, Doug. And I go, Doug, you're in charge, pal.
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  What do we do? We can do card magic. We can do coin magic. We can do stuff with
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  borrowed objects or my award-winning stuff. What do you want to see?
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  And then doug says award-winning stuff that's a good choice doug let's get into
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  it yeah at that point you've established a lot of things you've established that you work there.
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  The main three things i try to cover is a teaching from max maven which is who
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  are you what are you doing why are you worth my time,
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  so in that opening script i establish that i work here what am i doing i'm doing
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  magic and why am i worth your time i just established that i have all these
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  routines and I'm award-winning,
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  so in that script I established those three things so,
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  with that being said not every magician out there performing is award-winning.
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  So with the final question, you might not want to say you want to do cards,
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  coins, or borrowed objects or whatever.
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  You might only give him two options or three options, depending on the environment
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  you're in, or you might want to change it entirely. And you might want to say
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  something to the effect of, all right, do you guys want to do something crazy or something fun?
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  And that's something that Dom Chambers would do. My buddy, Pierre Ulrich will
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  say, do you want to say something crazy visual or something crazy mental?
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  Like he'll give him a couple of options.
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  The reason it's good to give them options is because sometimes when you're performing,
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  people will think that you are a one trick pony, that you go there,
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  you do this one trick and you bounce.
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  The good thing about explaining that you have more than one thing in your repertoire
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  is that someone will book you for an event.
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  They will go, I want to see the coin stuff and the card stuff.
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  Or they'll say, I want the award-winning stuff.
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  And then I want to see the stuff of the coins. And then what will happen is
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  at the end of the gig, they'll go, Hey, before you go, what are you doing November 3rd?
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  And I'm like, hopefully working for you. What do you want? Careful.
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  What do you do on November 3rd? I say, hopefully working for you.
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  And it's like, great, because I saw the close-up stuff or I saw this,
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  I saw the award-winning stuff. I saw the coin stuff.
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  Just give him a second to compose. There we go.
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  He'll say, I saw the coin stuff. I saw the award-winning stuff,
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  but I want to see the other stuff. So we're booking you again.
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  And that's one of the strongest things you can do by approaching it this way.
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  Establishing who are you? What are you doing? Why are you worth my time?
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  Okay. So if that's now the end notion circling back, one of the things that
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  people are scared about is that when you approach a group and you say,
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  is now a good time or am I interrupting conversation?
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  That phrase super important. The reason being is that sometimes at these corporate
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  events, they invite certain clientele.
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  These clientele are people that they are trying to close business with.
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  Let's say that you're on a roll with a particular client, like you,
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  the businessman and you're about to have this guy shake hands and close a deal
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  and then your clumsy ass just stumbles in and all of a sudden,
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  ends up ruining the momentum you had to close the deal and they get distracted
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  and then all of a sudden somebody comes over serving or does and now it's time
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  for the speeches to start and you ruin all this momentum,
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  you don't want to be responsible for that that is not your job so it's okay
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  to ask for permission and,
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  for anybody who is afraid of the rejection when they go, no, thank you.
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  You don't need to feel the rejection because what you're doing is you're going
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  forward. You're saying, hi, is now a good time for magic? Am I,
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  am I interrupting conversation?
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  And trust me, you don't want to be performing in a situation where there's a
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  bunch of girls that got together that night because one of them just like got
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  divorced and she's upset.
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  Don't get involved in that. You know what I mean? Like maybe,
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  maybe they don't want you to get involved in that. So it's okay to walk away
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  from it. But more importantly, If they say, yeah, not right now,
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  you just walk away and say, no problem.
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  If you guys change your mind, just give me a web. It'd be my pleasure to show
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  you something. All right, you guys have a fun night and walk away.
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  The important thing about that as well is that if at the end of the night,
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  the person who booked you says, did you see the magician?
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  They could say, yeah, he did. He came over, but it wasn't a good time. So I sent him away.
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  But what won't happen is they will go, I didn't even see me,
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  didn't even come and approach me. It didn't even try to show me magic.
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  Because the last thing you want is if someone's hired you, but you're too scared
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  to approach someone and they go, what was I paying you for?
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  You're walking around the party, not even showing people magic.
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  But the fact that you attempted to makes it a good thing. Does that make sense?
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  Nice. Nope. Yeah. Now, another good way in the corporate phase.
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  Another note, another good way to approach a corporate group is that if you
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  know who the ceo is if you've met them,
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  approach the group and say let's say the ceo was called tim,
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  you can go oh hello friends my name is nick k i'm your magician this evening
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  uh tim asked me to come and show you folks specifically some magic is now a
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  good time am i interrupting like oh tim sent you here yeah like he's hired me
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  he wants me to entertain you guys and i'm like oh,
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  oh if tim sent us here this is a gift from tim all of a sudden now in that approach,
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  you are now making Tim look really good for hiring you.
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  And it's making it look like, oh, Tim wants us to experience this lovely gift of magic.
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  And that's something that allows those spectators to now receive the magic in a much better way.
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  So as far as that approach goes, it combats so many things.
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  It combats that if there's anybody who doesn't want to see the magic,
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  if you're interrupting you needn't fear any of that people have the permission
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  to walk away from a group because someone was asking how do i leave a group
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  i'm like well that's a great way to leave the group,
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  and then once they've asked to see the magic that's fine now you don't just to be clear,
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  you don't have to ask them what they want to see sometimes you go this is an
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  opportunity for me to do this one routine i have to do this and just jump straight
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  into it by all means but the fact that you're giving people options does work
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  in your favor now before i go any further,
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  any questions to the group just yet or have I kind of covered it pretty good?
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  That's been an amazing podcast, guys. Thank you very much. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
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  I was going to say, there are little nuances that I will say,
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  but in terms of what you've said, there's no follow-up questions to that because,
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  if anyone was just to follow that, they would have a great career and it'd be no worries.
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  And more importantly, it's a blueprint. It's for you guys to approach it in
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  your own way, with your own sayings and your own thought process.
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  It's okay to walk up to a group and go, hey guys, I'm the house magician.
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  It's now a good time. Wonderful. now you know so one of the things i like to
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  do is if there's a bunch of like rowdy folks and or a difficult couple for example
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  right what i might do is i might say.
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  What is your name madam and they go blah blah and i go wonderful and then i'll
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  team up with the guy and i'll say well seeing that we are a gentleman we would
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  love for you to make the choice do we do card magic coin magic or my award winning stuff,
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  and you know and and so what you're doing in that moment is you will say we're a gentleman,
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  what would you like to do? Which means he's going to behave like a gentleman.
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  And here's the thing. If sometimes I'll say, seeing that we are a gentleman,
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  I can call these, can call him that, right? And she's like, and you're like, whoa.
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  And then I go, he's only halfway through his beer. He's a perfect gentleman.
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  No, no, he is a gentleman. And because we are, we're going to allow you to make
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  the choice. Your majesty, what would you like to do?
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  And then I'll allow her to make the choice. And that guy, all of a sudden, we're a team now,
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  you know but no matter what she says i'm going to team up with him you know
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  like he's a jump he's a perfect gentleman exactly and because we're a gentleman
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  you're going to choose like either way it's a there's little manipulations that
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  i have which i won't get into the nuances because i'm not going to teach my full lecture today,
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  but those things i'll just little tiny ways where you're hired for an event,
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  that you can approach and you can just get the group under control so,
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  So the next way to control the group is through routining.
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  Any questions before we move forward?
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  If I might just add just a sprinkle of other little options for people,
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  because it is great what you're saying already.
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  And I might even just start doing what you're doing. But little tiny differences
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  is sometimes I will just take the peacock approach in that they see me already,
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  and then they're excited for me to come over.
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  Sometimes I will just do that because if it's a residency, I'm probably not
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  going to, because Nick is at the same venue every week. He's got it down to a T.
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  Whereas if I'm hired for a corporate event and, you know, it's the first time
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  me being in that space, I'll take the easy way out for sure.
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  And I'll just have little balls of flash paper on me.
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  And right before I get to the group, I'll throw the flash paper in the air.
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  They will turn around being like, what the hell was that? And I'll be like,
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  oh, I'm just warming up. Hey guys, I'm your magician tonight.
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  Are you in the mood to be magished?
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  Or I'll say, you know, I'm here on behalf of blah, blah, blah company.
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  Would you like to see something? I'll just like use the peacock approach of
• 21:35
  throwing fire in the air.
• 21:36
  They see it and other people see it too, which is wild because later on they'll say.
• 21:42
  We saw you do fire for some other group, but we didn't see fire.
• 21:46
  But they're just talking about when I threw it in the air for no reason to get people's attention.
• 21:50
  Or otherwise, if it's a stand up cocktail event, I will just literally stop two people walking.
• 21:56
  I'm like, wait, wait, wait. And I'll just from my foot, apparently pick up a
• 22:00
  car that was on the floor with my hand, just in palm, like, oh,
• 22:03
  now you're fine to go. And now they're like, what the hell is that?
• 22:06
  I'm like, oh, I'm your magician's night. Do you want to see something while
• 22:09
  you're here? And it feels like spontaneous.
• 22:11
  And that a lot of the time will be how I'll get to intro into a group.
• 22:16
  And then the opening line I sometimes use that will tell me who is the alpha,
• 22:22
  in the group is I will say, because everyone has a drink in their hand,
• 22:27
  I'll say, look, they put on a lovely spread for you tonight.
• 22:29
  Who's been drinking the most so far? Like who's having a good time?
• 22:32
  I always say who's having a good time because I just to kind of reword what
• 22:36
  I'm asking, but I'll say who's been drinking the most and they'll have this
• 22:39
  fun game where they'll all start pointing to each other or there's like one obvious person,
• 22:43
  and it's a bit of fun i'm like well you're just going to enjoy this the most
• 22:46
  okay and now it like lets me know the dynamics of the group and i'll typically
• 22:51
  do like my sharpie routine where it's behind my ear and blah blah blah,
• 22:55
  because i would have said look that was just i only asked that question because
• 22:58
  it kind of segues into this game which is.
• 23:01
  How you know if you need an uber to get home or not a little observation and i'll do this thing,
• 23:06
  and I'll quickly tell the dynamics of what's going on and if they're not into
• 23:10
  it because maybe I did interrupt that trick only goes for 30 seconds and then
• 23:14
  I'll be like hey you guys have a good night find me again later I've got so
• 23:17
  much to show everyone in such little time so please find me again
• 23:20
  and then I'll move on but they're just a little extra tidbits I throw in sometimes I'll just,
• 23:25
  you know walk up to a group doing a spring and then it's obvious and by the
• 23:29
  the fourth time you've done that everyone's seen out of the corner of their
• 23:33
  eyes and fire go in the air or an audience reacts and then halfway through the event people,
• 23:38
  already know you're the magician and they've probably been waiting for you to
• 23:42
  come over so now they're like oh you're here finally all right great and then
• 23:46
  it's there's no more approaching,
• 23:48
  so for a corporate setting they're the only little differences that i might
• 23:51
  do and hopefully that helps someone,
• 23:54
  i like it Yeah, I think it's so cool when you get to a point where people are
• 23:58
  like, oh, we've been waiting for you to come over.
• 23:59
  Like if you are peacocking, that's one of the things that you get out of it for sure.
• 24:04
  I want to flick things on their head in a minute on the approaches.
• 24:08
  What's the real work on the fireball? How much do you use and how do you ignite it?
• 24:13
  Oh, it's very small. It's not a whole sheet.
• 24:16
  It's like, I want to say half of a playing card worth of flash paper.
• 24:21
  That's a lot. With a lighter. I always have a lighter in my right pocket.
• 24:24
  It and it's literally just lighting it throwing it straight in the air and I
• 24:28
  and I look and I watch it go up so that by the time I bring my eyes down I'm
• 24:32
  looking at whoever was also just looking at it yeah and then that's it super simple,
• 24:38
  but let me be honest let me be clear this is for a corporate gig where I'm booked
• 24:42
  to be there this is not I'm not on the street throwing fireballs in the air
• 24:46
  okay that's not gonna really get the same attention that's just in that setting,
• 24:52
  a quick little tip on the lighter you get one of those little zippy things like an id card comes on a
• 24:57
  yeah a reel so you can get them they're like five for 12 bucks or something
• 25:02
  on amazon for lighters so get that hook it on the the belt loop just to the
• 25:06
  back of whatever hand you use
• 25:08
  and i reach down i grab it in an instant i spark i let go of it and the light is gone
• 25:12
  it just saves a whole lot of hell of looking for your lighter and figuring it out you know,
• 25:17
  there you go that's the that's the stuff i was looking for right there.
• 25:23
  Yeah yeah right there yeah zippo holders they're like a little lighter leash
• 25:28
  or lights are real yeah yeah exactly yeah there you go you'll find it on amazon quick,
• 25:33
  if you're performing on stage they're a must-have because the last thing you
• 25:36
  want to do is be looking for your lighter on stage and you can't find it,
• 25:42
  yep so amazing i think so once we've got them right one of the questions that
• 25:45
  we're asked is like how to break down big groups.
• 25:49
  So what I like to do when I have a big group is I think this is so important.
• 25:54
  And this is one of the routines I do teach in my lecture. I call it the NK-47
• 25:59
  multiple card select because it's like the AK-47.
• 26:02
  And if you're not familiar with what that weapon is, it's a machine gun that
• 26:06
  works in every, it works in mud, water, anything. It's a get out of jail free
• 26:10
  card. It'll never let you down.
• 26:11
  And I have a version of it that I created that just helps you get through it.
• 26:16
  With no issues right like it and the intention of it is a multiple card select
• 26:21
  i do it with four cards in which i force the four aces,
• 26:25
  they go in the deck and we find them in the routine i have,
• 26:29
  four choices made which gives me opportunities to cut up the group into quarters,
• 26:35
  so if you have a table of 10 a table of eight typically it's like couples couples
• 26:39
  couples you can then break up those conversations and stop people from engaging
• 26:45
  with each other to ask them to participate and choose a playing card.
• 26:49
  So a multiple card select in that scenario is a really good way to get control
• 26:53
  of the group because now they're invested and now they're under control.
• 26:56
  And then on top of that, because in my multiple card select,
• 27:00
  they will choose four aces, for example.
• 27:03
  I then get to celebrate them for finding the best cards in the deck.
• 27:06
  I'm like, you guys nailed it. Give yourselves a round of applause.
• 27:08
  And everyone's like, that's so cool.
• 27:09
  How do we do that? And then, And it's funny because sometimes dumb people,
• 27:13
  and I say this specifically, dumb frigging people will go, no,
• 27:18
  no, I was not in do that. And it was just like, no, man, you're brilliant.
• 27:21
  And they'll go, no, I'm not. And I'm like, God, you're a dick.
• 27:24
  Like I'm trying to give you praise and say, well done. You found them.
• 27:27
  You're the genius. You're special.
• 27:29
  And those people with the ego will go, nah, no, it wasn't. I didn't do that.
• 27:33
  I didn't choose that. I'm like, yeah.
• 27:35
  And that's fine. You've just spotted the biggest dickhead in the group.
• 27:38
  It happens seldom. I'm just letting you know that it does happen.
• 27:41
  So that is the way that I control and break apart big groups that I need their
• 27:46
  attention from. Does anyone else have a method for breaking that down?
• 27:50
  I like to throw fireballs at specific people to get there.
• 27:56
  Yeah, for those guys, use a full card's worth of flash paper.
• 28:01
  Now, if someone is a dick, first of all, you don't get them to do,
• 28:06
  like, the important stuff in a routine later on if you're doing something that
• 28:10
  requires a bit of audience management. You obviously don't pick that person.
• 28:15
  And just manhandle them a bit, I guess. Over the years, you just do it subconsciously,
• 28:19
  I think, right? Like, we just sort of, like, all through a little.
• 28:23
  Not about taking care of dicks, but just how to, like, break up.
• 28:26
  Group and how to control the group yeah,
• 28:30
  yeah yeah i'll like i'll have no problem repositioning people if it's a stand-up
• 28:34
  event right so that i can be in the middle there's like two people here that
• 28:38
  i know will help like to hold my wrist in a thing if something's vanishing or.
• 28:43
  I suppose i'm just more focused on can everyone see and like that was the next
• 28:49
  point i wanted to make it's really important for me that you but if you engage
• 28:53
  with people and say can you see it okay like and just by doing that like,
• 28:57
  and then could you move aside so that person can see a bit better come closer
• 28:59
  and just by me doing things like that it just makes everyone know that i've
• 29:03
  seen them and they're acknowledged because
• 29:04
  if you don't engage with that person so for example if i get a whole group of
• 29:08
  people and i have a spectator chosen and they're spectators to my left and i'm
• 29:12
  just doing this the whole time,
• 29:15
  they're going to start disengaging like if i'm if i'm not engaging with every
• 29:18
  other person in the group making eye contact you need to make them feel like
• 29:22
  they are included and it helps you to control the group.
• 29:26
  Before we go further on that, I know Adam was about to mention something about
• 29:30
  the approach. You said, I have something completely opposite.
• 29:33
  And I think we should cover that as well. Absolutely. What do you got?
• 29:37
  So like, firstly, kudos to, you
• 29:38
  know, we're all pros here and we've all approached thousands of people.
• 29:42
  So we find our own ways and we do find ways that eventually become in the can,
• 29:46
  right? It's like a can opener, a can sort of go to methodology that we deviate
• 29:51
  from a little bit, but we go there.
• 29:53
  So my thing is i want to cut through the bs of pleasantries and i want to get straight to the human,
• 30:00
  inside i don't care about their job their role their title their suit i don't
• 30:04
  care about none of that as a
• 30:05
  human being inside there and this is what i'm going to create an experience
• 30:09
  for so for me to come up too much and oh hey ladies and gentlemen is everything
• 30:13
  okay oh how's the thing like i ain't speaking in this little.
• 30:16
  Up here nasally thing i want to keep this energy and how I'm speaking with you right now.
• 30:22
  So I'm going to point you all towards watching a 10-minute YouTube clip in a
• 30:26
  moment by a woman called Patsy Rodenberg.
• 30:29
  It's called Third Circle.
• 30:31
  Now, I'll give a quick rundown. She suggests that there are three circles of
• 30:35
  energy when communicating.
• 30:36
  The first is like a little bit like introverted energy. And she said it's like
• 30:41
  of the past. It's a sort of chat that someone might be talking to you in this
• 30:45
  energy. And you could just like walk away mid-sentence without feeling guilty
• 30:48
  because they're just kind of murmuring to themselves quietly.
• 30:51
  Then we've got, ladies and gentlemen, good evening tonight. It's so good to
• 30:54
  see everybody here. And oh, you've got the same suit on as last year,
• 30:57
  but that's fine. It's in the same venue. We've got the toilets at the back.
• 31:00
  This is third circle energy. This is outward energy. This is of the future in some capacity.
• 31:06
  But the circle of energy we really want to be operating in is the second circle.
• 31:10
  So the second circle is here right now. It is date energy. It is not of the
• 31:14
  past. It is not of the future. It is present.
• 31:18
  I want to be present and I want to connect with you in this present moment.
• 31:21
  So my presence of being there, that means I've got to be observant.
• 31:24
  I've got to be on the ball. I've got to be recognizing the group dynamics in the real time.
• 31:28
  So when I approach a group, I'm going to enter like that. I want to speak to
• 31:32
  the same level as the person who farts in their pajamas at home on the sofa, right?
• 31:37
  Like this is who we really are. So how do I cut through all of that BS in some
• 31:41
  corporate event and then connect with the real people on this way?
• 31:44
  So I'll try a multitude of approaches. It could be like, literally,
• 31:48
  I'll circle a small group as they sort of standing there in a cocktail group
• 31:52
  and making eye contact where possible before eventually inserting myself in.
• 31:56
  And I'll be like, I just circled you like a shark.
• 31:58
  Now, here we go. I'll just jump and make something up or I'll just nudge them
• 32:01
  over. I'll be like, you've got room for me then? And I'll just like barge them
• 32:04
  over and be like, what's up? How are you doing?
• 32:05
  I actually is a perform magic for you guys. What's up? Hey, think of a country.
• 32:09
  Don't say what it is. I just get straight into it, mate. I ain't here trying
• 32:12
  to give them options to ask and things like this.
• 32:14
  I'm going to drop them into the experience, which is a gift for them and a gift
• 32:18
  for me to be able to share.
• 32:19
  And so quickly we cut through all of that nonsense, that BS.
• 32:22
  Yesterday I was at the bank paying in some money for rent day.
• 32:26
  Don't we all love rent day? And hello, sir, how are you?
• 32:29
  Have we got money to pay? Have you got the account details? Thank you.
• 32:31
  How much is that? And I pay it all. And I ask, thank you, sir.
• 32:34
  Amazing. Anything else? Okay. Have a lovely afternoon.
• 32:37
  And like, sure, she's being polite, right? I ain't hating on this person. But what the F was that?
• 32:41
  I'm a living, grieving entity. Talk to me like a person. I'm one of your community
• 32:44
  members. I'm a customer here at the bank. I'm dropping a grand in the account.
• 32:48
  Speak to me like a person. Instead, she's here and she's in an NPC role.
• 32:52
  So I'm going to cut through the NPC. I'm looking for the player characters,
• 32:55
  the main characters, and I'm going to connect with them on that.
• 32:59
  So that's my two cents.
• 33:02
  Yeah.
• 33:07
  So I think that that pretty well covers it.
• 33:11
  On how to approach things within residencies, corporate events,
• 33:14
  private and same type of thing where you just, the key takeaways I think is
• 33:19
  you can sprinkle out your own little ways of identifying things with the great
• 33:22
  advice everyone's given.
• 33:23
  I think that, you know, establishing who you are, what you're doing,
• 33:26
  why it's worth your time, all very important things.
• 33:31
  How to break down the big groups, how to be conscious of interrupting.
• 33:35
  All those things have been covered.
• 33:37
  The one thing that I think that me personally, that I haven't done in a very
• 33:41
  long time is to approach on the street.
• 33:44
  And I think that between Doug's street performing and getting people to stop
• 33:51
  is one way of maybe drawing the approach, so to speak, as well as Adam's approach
• 33:56
  in where he actually walks straight up to people.
• 33:58
  His most recent video who's performing for police officers like you're going
• 34:02
  to people with guns to show them stuff like that's pretty brave.
• 34:06
  Would you guys like to speak?
• 34:08
  I can't give him an option. Scott, hey mate, I'm reading minds.
• 34:11
  I'm shooting mind reading right now.
• 34:13
  Think of any country and I'll read your mind in less than a minute.
• 34:16
  You got a country in mind?
• 34:17
  But I ain't giving them a yes, no, maybe. Let me think about this.
• 34:20
  I'm just, they're in it. They're in, they're straight away, they're in it.
• 34:24
  And the rejection drops dramatically.
• 34:26
  I firmly agree with that. You take the question out of the equation and then
• 34:31
  your success rate, at least as far as introducing yourself, or in the case of
• 34:36
  working the street, if we're just directing people what to do as opposed to giving them choices,
• 34:41
  then they're going to be on board more readily, you know, without having to
• 34:45
  think about it. Hey folks, watch this trick.
• 34:49
  Yeah, exactly. Adam, I've noticed you've streamlined from watching like day
• 34:55
  number one to day number over a hundred now of experiences with people.
• 35:00
  Your approach is so fluid now where like in three seconds, people know what you're doing.
• 35:06
  You're like, Hey, I'm showing what, what is the light? It's like,
• 35:10
  I'm giving a thousand experiences of magic to people.
• 35:12
  Can you be one of them today? It's like something like that where people like, Oh, this is a thing,
• 35:17
  that's recurring that's special and i want to be a part of it rather than in
• 35:22
  the first ones it was like hey would you like to see some magic whereas it's
• 35:26
  such a different question to,
• 35:28
  i'm sharing magic with a thousand people can i you know.
• 35:32
  What like what was that evolution for you so the big difference is right when we're
• 35:36
  a paid corporate gig or something it's like oh yeah i own the room i'm getting
• 35:40
  stacks to be here right now and i ain't got to justify my presence to no one
• 35:43
  i'm part of this event i am creating this moment for everyone just like,
• 35:47
  the event organizer and just like the the people handling the the canapes right
• 35:52
  we're all part of this mechanism that's making this event awesome so then i
• 35:56
  go out on the street and i'm approaching strangers and i'm like ah like
• 35:59
  where's my backup plan so for my first like few weeks of doing this i would
• 36:03
  meet up with friends go for a little walk and i would like utilize that as a
• 36:07
  then there's my moral support as I would approach groups of strangers.
• 36:11
  So I didn't feel like this weirdo with a backpack, a camera,
• 36:14
  glasses, little light flashing, approaching strangers.
• 36:17
  I've overcome that hurdle now. And now I am going out on my own at certain locations.
• 36:22
  Sometimes people come and meet me halfway through.
• 36:24
  But now I just got through that awkwardness.
• 36:28
  So firstly, that was a mental barrier. Oh, I'm paid to be here so I can approach
• 36:32
  without an issue. Now I'm not being paid because I'm on the street and there's a difference.
• 36:36
  The difference was in my head. So I've overcome that.
• 36:39
  And also the approach, Hey, everyone, I'm realizing that I'm trying to placate
• 36:43
  and be too pleasant and be friendly in order to like win them over,
• 36:47
  which ain't like my main personality.
• 36:50
  So then I've got a switch from, Hey guys, how are you? Oh, I'm shooting some
• 36:53
  magic. Oh no, it'll be fun. I won't cost you anything.
• 36:55
  And then I've got to suddenly get into like, like put the base in my voice and
• 36:59
  start being like real and connect with them. So there was a disjoint there and it'd be too hard.
• 37:03
  So now I just kind of go in straight out hey what's up guys i'm shooting a thousand
• 37:07
  magic tricks for strangers think of any country or think of any movie and you
• 37:12
  know and i'll get straight to it and people just do it and then after they have
• 37:15
  you got one in mind yeah cool write it down oh i'm adam by the way what's your name
• 37:19
  and that's it i'll get the introduction while they're already locked in so the
• 37:23
  difference i found is uh in the uh pickup artistry community that i remember
• 37:27
  reading about 20 years ago when the game came out they have a thing called a lock-in prop hey kitty,
• 37:34
  there's a cat on the screen for those who are not watching.
• 37:38
  Glad we're seeing the front of the cat now okay.
• 37:41
  So a lock-in prop is the idea that you would hand something to somebody and
• 37:45
  they would lock them into their
• 37:47
  communication so i hold my scarf or hold my drink or hold my bag or something
• 37:51
  and then people are there you can use the same concept
• 37:54
  to lock them in with committing to writing a prediction down to picking a playing
• 37:58
  card the easiest is going up with a deck or a blank deck as i use and i hey
• 38:02
  what's up guys i'm shooting street magic and i spread it take one
• 38:06
  and that's it and the moment they reach and take one that is consent they are
• 38:09
  in the journey they have accepted the side quest and this has been the biggest
• 38:15
  thing realizing lock them in give them something give them an envelope with
• 38:19
  a prediction and give them a,
• 38:20
  a dice in a shot glass and you know straight away and they're there they're
• 38:25
  in it they're a player now.
• 38:27
  Yeah try this at the gigs too walk up what's up guys here we go i've got a dice
• 38:30
  here just hand it to someone thrust it in someone or i walk up and i'll just
• 38:33
  take their drink out of their hand and i'll hand them the glass there we go you hold on to that
• 38:37
  like dominate the situation i'm in charge but not because i want to be an authority
• 38:41
  figure because i'm going to hold space to make sure that this goes as best as
• 38:44
  it can and once they see that you're not trying to control them you're controlling the situation
• 38:49
  everyone just falls into the flow of what you're creating and any moment you
• 38:52
  get like a dick like nick mentioned someone who's trying to like run it offline
• 38:56
  I'll be like, we could try it your way or I've done this 10,000 times, I mean, we'll see.
• 39:01
  Or I'll make a joke, imagine how well I'd do at your job if I come and sat at
• 39:05
  the desk and crunched in numbers.
• 39:07
  No, I'll let you get all the numbers, don't I? I'm going to handle this.
• 39:10
  So I'll make a silly joke like that.
• 39:14
  I think what's also worth noting is this is how Adam is off camera.
• 39:20
  So what he's allowing himself to do is be his real self.
• 39:26
  What we're not saying is for, you know, Scotty P to now adopt this character,
• 39:33
  of a big energy commanding the group.
• 39:36
  Like I'm not saying to Scotty P go and take someone's drink off them and give them an invisible deck.
• 39:42
  I say that because yeah when you know when i catch up with adam for coffee which,
• 39:47
  we've only really been able to do once but,
• 39:50
  he will speak in the same manner he is right now so this is not we're not saying
• 39:55
  choose a character we're saying like whoever you really are try to be really
• 39:59
  you and not this npc overly polite person,
• 40:04
  and also what adam's saying is so true as well people love when they can see
• 40:10
  you're in control and they love to be a part of that experience.
• 40:15
  Like the older I get, the more I realize I can control an audience and make
• 40:20
  them sit over here, put their drinks down. I used to be so polite and not do
• 40:25
  tricks that needed both their hands because I always had a drink in one hand.
• 40:29
  And now I always say, I'm like, all right, we're going to need both hands for this.
• 40:33
  So just scull your drink quickly, do it or pass it to that person.
• 40:37
  And they will always pass it i've never ever had someone not put their drink
• 40:42
  down because they want to be in it and experience it and you shouldn't be afraid
• 40:46
  to command people a little bit because they freaking love it.
• 40:51
  That's all. There's also a lot of comfort that you bring an audience when you
• 40:54
  do have this level of control and you do have this level of command over a group,
• 40:59
  because one of the things that some audiences fear is that, oh, I'm scared.
• 41:03
  I'm going to ruin the trick and it's going to make me look silly in front of
• 41:06
  everyone. All the magicians going to blame me.
• 41:08
  But you can also bring a lot of comfort to that group knowing that like,
• 41:10
  you've got this, trust me, I'm going to talk you through it and you're going to be amazing.
• 41:14
  You actually have that beautiful energy exchange as well.
• 41:18
  Yeah that's yeah that's completely true,
• 41:22
  They want to know that you're in control and they can't, they can't do anything
• 41:25
  that's going to embarrass them. Right. Yeah.
• 41:28
  And don't get me wrong. You will be challenged on this as well.
• 41:30
  Some people will think that, you know, like I performed for 35.
• 41:36
  Plumbers on Saturday and they are like by nature coming up right in,
• 41:43
  in their careers, they all start off as apprentices
• 41:46
  and by nature, uh, the apprentice is going to be like put through the ringer
• 41:50
  and they're going to be tested on their, you know, whether or not they can,
• 41:52
  they can take a bit of crap from the authorities.
• 41:55
  They are going to approach you in the exact same way in this country.
• 41:58
  So it's just a cultural based thing where you've got to earn your stripes.
• 42:02
  But at the end of it, if you stick around, you let them talk over you a bit,
• 42:06
  you let them, you know, you do a bit of crap, you give a bit of crap back at
• 42:09
  the end of it, you're handing out business cards and you're going to see them
• 42:14
  at the Christmas party now.
• 42:15
  Like it's, it's, you know, there, there is certain dynamics that do happen in a group.
• 42:20
  You know, you can walk into a group of a bunch of alpha males who think that they're all top crap.
• 42:24
  You can also walk into some people that, you know, that you've got to crush
• 42:27
  a little bit. And these are all different.
• 42:30
  It is a whole different subject, but we're talking about how to approach that.
• 42:33
  So once you're in the game, these are things you'll figure out as you go along.
• 42:36
  But as far as getting to them, it's fine. You know, you've asked for permission
• 42:39
  to perform or you've demanded the applause or you've demanded the attention.
• 42:44
  That just creates a lot of control. And I think control in the group is probably
• 42:47
  the next bit because somebody was asking how do you leave a group?
• 42:52
  And I would like for you guys to speak to that.
• 42:56
  Great, great point. Mine is short. Mine is nothing clever or thought out and
• 43:01
  it probably should be, but I will simply say,
• 43:05
  guys, I could literally stay with you for this whole event, but I am contractually
• 43:10
  applied to like spread the love.
• 43:11
  So I'm going to walk around and do some more magic, but I have so much to show
• 43:14
  everyone in such at all times. So please find me again, but have a great night
• 43:18
  and I'll leave it at that.
• 43:19
  And I'm kind of saying you were so fun to be with in this moment.
• 43:24
  There's so much more I could show you.
• 43:26
  And now I'm leaving. I'm basically saying that, but that's pretty much how I'll
• 43:31
  leave it. Like I'll make a joke that I'm contractually obliged to not just spend
• 43:34
  my whole hour with you, even though I could, but there's more to show everyone
• 43:38
  find me again. That's it.
• 43:41
  Tim Askin said you should do a smoke bomb. That's a great idea, Tim Askin.
• 43:45
  Doug, how would you walk away from it? You know, I like to maybe,
• 43:48
  as I'm departing, suggest that if the guests enjoyed the time,
• 43:52
  that maybe they find the powers that be and let them know.
• 43:55
  You know, and I don't do that all the time, but if, you know,
• 43:58
  if the people who saw the magic tell the event planner or, you know,
• 44:02
  the CEO or, you know, the higher ups that it was appreciated,
• 44:07
  maybe that locks in your appearance next, next year,
• 44:10
  and just let's you know,
• 44:12
  buy and know that their money is well spent good call yeah absolutely oh sorry
• 44:17
  there's one last little thing i forgot to mention now that we're talking about
• 44:21
  marketing and branding for getting rebooked the very last thing i'll do is,
• 44:26
  whatever prop i've been using like they've written something down or we've done
• 44:29
  a can't thing i would just say look i'm not famous but as an artist i do like to sign my work,
• 44:35
  and then i'll write my name down like this is so you remember who did this crazy
• 44:39
  stuff when you're thinking about this tomorrow and i'll give them that and then
• 44:42
  i'll say that line about so much to show everyone hope to see you again you
• 44:46
  know find me find me later then i'll leave so at least they have something now with my name on it,
• 44:51
  they can find me on all the social pipes i forgot to mention that because that
• 44:54
  is that's good quite important that's a good that's a good approach too without
• 44:58
  like directly handing out a business card which it can be taboo in a lot of
• 45:01
  situations so i like that a lot.
• 45:04
  Like A lot of the times where I'm getting reveals written on a business card,
• 45:07
  either they'll write it themselves and they'll be holding on to that,
• 45:11
  or I'll be using it to write down as I discern what it is that they're thinking.
• 45:16
  And then once we get the final moment, the revelations there,
• 45:19
  they're reacting, I'll have this in my hand.
• 45:21
  And the same way as I'll hold my hands to bring it in for a handshake,
• 45:25
  I'll do that and then people just get their hand and I'll handshake with the card.
• 45:29
  And I'll leave it with them. And I'll like, there we go, brother.
• 45:32
  Like, you know, your trip has already begun. Like, message me when you get to
• 45:36
  Peru or whatever it is. I want a selfie when you get there. Or something.
• 45:39
  Yesterday I had a moment. I did the same thing. He wanted to go to Namibia.
• 45:43
  And he was so moved by this. Like, he was still for ages and couldn't quite process the reading.
• 45:49
  And then I was like, there we go. Enjoy your trip, friend. I just want a selfie
• 45:53
  when you get there. And he went, okay. I went with a lion. And then I laughed and walked away.
• 46:00
  I was like enjoy your safari you know so uh sometimes a little bit of humor
• 46:04
  to kind of break up the vibe but i just had a thought earlier as well so like
• 46:08
  ways i've approached and how there really are no rules i was filming on piermont bridge
• 46:13
  a while back and so we had a camera person there and it wasn't too over the
• 46:17
  top but people walking through they can see what's happening
• 46:20
  and i would like bulldog like
• 46:22
  this kind of game where you're like moving left to right as the person you know
• 46:25
  when you're walking towards someone in a hallway you both step the same direction
• 46:29
  i would like play that game.
• 46:31
  And then i'll get them like that and it would be humorous or there was times
• 46:34
  where i have literally rugby tackled and i'm talking about miming it at five percent intensity
• 46:40
  but when i can see the energy with the person is there look come on how do i
• 46:43
  stop them and i'll like reach in local sort of pseudo grab and wrestle the person
• 46:48
  on the street to stop them and like it's all in humor and we've already communicated
• 46:52
  in some capacity with our eyes beforehand so
• 46:55
  it's definitely not for everyone but it really shows that you can just connect
• 46:58
  with strangers and we as magicians have what a doctor would also have as unearned
• 47:03
  proximity actors will speak about this when they've got to perform a
• 47:08
  love scene let's say and therefore they are have a proximity with another person
• 47:12
  that they haven't earned through the natural process but then you go to a doctor
• 47:17
  and you'll do the same you'll be like showing them parts of the body and different
• 47:20
  parts of yourself and opening up about truths because they have this unearned proximity.
• 47:25
  We as magicians, within a few moments, I'm grabbing someone's hand,
• 47:28
  holding up here, lifting this, loading something under their watch,
• 47:31
  moving them around, grabbing their.
• 47:33
  My authority and how I hold myself denotes whether or not I'm qualified to be
• 47:38
  manipulating them in that way. And then they will fall straight away into that frame.
• 47:43
  So I'm setting the frame and then we create a picture within that.
• 47:47
  Okay. So if I could speak to how I leave a group, I like to just say,
• 47:53
  well, friends, I'm only here a short while and I have many more friends to make.
• 47:56
  So thank you for having me.
• 47:57
  You know, and I go, and then I'll just say like, goodbye. That's it.
• 48:00
  And I go, oh, great. And what I might end with by saying like.
• 48:03
  Again, you know, I'm only here a short while, but I have many more friends to
• 48:07
  make. But if you guys get bored, just give me a little wave. I'll know what it means.
• 48:10
  You know, thank you very much. And good night. It's a nice way to leave the
• 48:12
  group as well as to celebrate someone like on the way out well friends i need
• 48:17
  to move on to the next table but before i go let's give blah a big round of applause,
• 48:21
  for their birthday for doing a great job for you know if you celebrate somebody
• 48:25
  in your routine it's a nice way to end with celebrating someone else because
• 48:29
  people don't always remember what you said or did,
• 48:31
  they will remember how you made them feel and if you make that person before
• 48:35
  you leave feel special that's a nice way for you to end your interaction with
• 48:38
  that person so and when sometimes what i like to do is when i'm leaving i'll
• 48:42
  say hey don't tell the others,
• 48:44
  you guys are my favorite and then i walk away just with that,
• 48:48
  and they'll go yeah we're the favorites and they clap themselves but no you
• 48:52
  probably start to every table and i go only my favorite ones and i just keep
• 48:56
  walking you know and this because walking away should be a lot easier than what
• 48:59
  it is i mean look at what dynamo and blaine do they just like,
• 49:03
  do the reveal and just dawdle off like just literally pinging off the screen
• 49:07
  you know what i mean so you can do the same and sometimes it's cool guys don't
• 49:12
  watch explosions sometimes i'll leave a revelation on the table and i'll go.
• 49:16
  Enjoy that and i'll just walk away and then with my back turn i'm you just hear
• 49:21
  this what the you know so yeah those moments are fun so that's a good way to
• 49:25
  leave the group as this episode draws to a close,
• 49:29
  there's one thing that patrick brought up on the discord that i want to put past you guys.
• 49:34
  The question is what do you do when you're in a roving event and your approach
• 49:41
  goes so well that you end up having this kind of cling on person that follows
• 49:46
  you from group to group to group to group,
• 49:49
  Mm-hmm. Is this a kid or is this an adult? Let's go for both.
• 49:54
  Let's go for both. It's a child adult. Yeah.
• 49:59
  If there is an adult that is just so infatuated with it and they come to a few
• 50:05
  groups, which does happen,
• 50:08
  there's probably like three so i know that they can come to at least two more
• 50:13
  groups and not repeating the same full set if they still follow again,
• 50:21
  and i'll probably i'll usually drop a few lines that will sig signal like hey
• 50:25
  you know this has been fun this is kind of the end but if for some reason they
• 50:29
  do i will just literally be honest and i'll be like hey,
• 50:33
  i'm gonna do pretty much the same thing you've just seen me do so don't give
• 50:36
  away the surprise to this group if you're going to come and watch but just know
• 50:40
  i'm going to do like you're going to see me do like pretty much this very similar thing.
• 50:45
  So just you know keep it quiet that's what i have to do that and then it's fine
• 50:49
  then they kind of like will dawdle off i've never had someone
• 50:53
  for the full 60 minutes or two hours because by that time they've realized okay
• 50:58
  it's you know i've seen it all just yeah they haven't seen it all but i just
• 51:02
  don't want you know that to in a recurring thing,
• 51:05
  and if it's a kid man you kids are hard bro you have to,
• 51:09
  man do you guys have an out for kids i mean it's great that they want to keep
• 51:13
  watching but i'll kind of say the same thing i'll say hey you've seen you've
• 51:17
  seen everything now i'm going to do it again but for this person you've already
• 51:21
  seen it so why don't you enjoy some cake like that's the only thing i have it,
• 51:25
  doesn't always work but i'd love to hear what you guys think yeah i could speak
• 51:29
  to it for a moment like typically,
• 51:31
  someone's going to follow me around like a bad smell and i'll go you're going
• 51:33
  to follow me like a bad smell and i'll tell them they're a bad smell i'm like
• 51:36
  all right cool and then i'll bring him to the next group and i'm like,
• 51:38
  hi everyone this is my bad smell he's soon to be my very young apprentice he's
• 51:42
  going to follow me around for a little while watching me do magic typically
• 51:45
  it's the barmy boy like the bar mitzvah kid or something like that so i don't really mind,
• 51:49
  and then it's like all right now you know the rules right and i like i said
• 51:52
  i just set the tone with the kid all right like look if you're going to watch
• 51:55
  my show and you're going to help me you can't be like you can't be blurting
• 51:58
  things out and ruining it for other people who are seeing it for the first time,
• 52:01
  you know, and then if they break the rules, I'm like, I get.
• 52:05
  You knew the rules, go back to your mom, you know? And I'll send them back because
• 52:10
  that's what Uncle Nick would do.
• 52:11
  The way I treat them, I treat them as like Uncle Nick sort of energy. Yeah.
• 52:16
  You know? Yeah, for sure. You got to let them know there's going to be some
• 52:18
  repeats, for sure. And just let them know, hey, there are going to be some repeats
• 52:21
  here. If you notice how anything's done, I want you to appreciate it and how
• 52:25
  it makes them feel. Watch it unravel, you know?
• 52:27
  So you're giving them a peek behind
• 52:29
  the lens if they notice something by watching it two or three times.
• 52:34
  Mm-hmm. Yeah. And, and then, oh, something like, oh, Hey, I know you've seen
• 52:37
  this one, but he wants to see it as well. Okay. So we're going to do the same
• 52:40
  thing. It's like, cool. But you got to, all right, good.
• 52:43
  And then typically that kid is, we'll see what you're, cause you're setting
• 52:46
  the tone and you're setting some restrictions and kids need these rules.
• 52:50
  Kid needs the restrictions. When they have that, they see you as a leader and
• 52:54
  they'll, they'll follow you and they will behave themselves.
• 52:56
  And if they misbehave, you just send them on their way.
• 52:59
  You just send them away. That's it. It's that simple. You know,
• 53:02
  you're not sending them into banishment. You know what I mean?
• 53:04
  Like you're not responsible for their happiness and to be their carer for that
• 53:08
  time. You know what I mean? That's not what you were hired for.
• 53:11
  But if they want to follow you, let them. It's cute. You know what I mean?
• 53:15
  And then sometimes I might use them for a trick, you know? Because you'll establish
• 53:18
  like, why are you following me? Well, I do magic and I want to learn.
• 53:21
  I'm like, okay, you want to be my apprentice? Okay, if you're going to follow
• 53:23
  me, a couple of rules, you can't give anything away because some people are
• 53:27
  going to see it for the first time and they want to see what you saw.
• 53:30
  Set the tone, make the rules, let them follow you.
• 53:33
  Now, on the other side of that for me if you've got an adult following you around,
• 53:37
  good luck it's not going to,
• 53:39
  because most of those people who don't do follow you if they're an adult they
• 53:42
  will try to follow you in like a very sneaky way they'll kind of like sit at
• 53:44
  the back they'll sit like the back of the group and just kind of like you know
• 53:48
  try to figure out what you're doing,
• 53:50
  and and i'll say this guy's been following me around for the past four groups
• 53:54
  trying to figure this out you know what i mean now if it's in a corporate event
• 53:57
  where we all know each other that's fine.
• 54:00
  If I'm at a residency where I'm going to a new group of people and there's a
• 54:05
  stranger infiltrating this group, they don't need two strangers infiltrating it.
• 54:10
  That's my group to infiltrate, not him. I'm like, bro, like,
• 54:13
  and sometimes I'll say like, Hey, do you know this guy? Like,
• 54:15
  we don't know him. And I go, Oh, Hey, my guy, wouldn't you grab a seat?
• 54:18
  And I'll come, come to you in just a moment. Okay. This is just for these guys right now.
• 54:22
  And I'll just, again, I'll just set the rules, man. Like once you've got the
• 54:26
  command of the group, like Adam said, like you control the outcome you control
• 54:31
  what happens and if people don't want to play that's fine because ultimately
• 54:34
  what you will realize that when you establish your role in the group and whether
• 54:38
  or not everyone's going to be compliant,
• 54:41
  you will do the better magic,
• 54:43
  if a group is compliant and happy to receive everything you're going to give
• 54:46
  them you'll do the stuff where you can trust them to hold the card on their
• 54:50
  hand and not peek it prematurely,
• 54:53
  but if you get a set that they're not going to be compliant and not going to
• 54:56
  play along. You won't do that routine.
• 54:59
  You just won't. Cause you know, if you do, they're going to screw it up for
• 55:01
  everyone. So don't even bother. Don't give them what they don't deserve.
• 55:05
  Just do the stuff that you know, you'll be able to get away with and ensure
• 55:08
  that it represents you in the best way.
• 55:10
  So those are the sort of things you'll learn in that process.
• 55:12
  If they're going to follow you, that's fine. Set some rules.
• 55:16
  And then if they break the rules, you send them on their way.
• 55:18
  That's how i control the klingons.
• 55:23
  Hey doug i'm curious when you're busking you must have people that stick around
• 55:27
  for a few sets what's the go there yeah that's a weird one i guess,
• 55:33
  usually they're derelicts or homeless if they're hanging around like that you
• 55:36
  know i don't find that to be a problem with um,
• 55:40
  with with general populace.
• 55:42
  I i pay off the homeless there's a few bucks get lost.
• 55:47
  I guess if someone's hanging around, I make them more part of the show.
• 55:51
  I try and make them part of the event more than just like maybe...
• 55:56
  Taking up valuable front space do you find that they can help you with your
• 56:00
  next build if they do stick around because they might have missed the first start of the show,
• 56:04
  that's a great point that's always a challenging the challenging part when you're
• 56:08
  street performing starting the next show so if you do have a lolly gagger,
• 56:12
  get the show started with them you know if they're hanging around that's absolutely a win.
• 56:18
  Now, Alex cleverly disguises Adam. I don't know why I just said Alex. Oh, my God.
• 56:23
  It's my elegant, elegant. Elephant.
• 56:28
  It's my elephant deceptions. Adam, from doing all of these approaches to people
• 56:33
  on the streets, what is like, is there like a crazy interaction you've had that
• 56:37
  you could share with the audience?
• 56:38
  Like whether it be profound or funny or weird or what's something you've encountered
• 56:45
  from approaching people? There's got to be something that sticks out.
• 56:48
  Yeah, for sure. The strangest one is when someone will say yes,
• 56:51
  and then they're like fully energetically not in it, despite like jumping in
• 56:55
  and being like, okay, cool, let's do this.
• 56:57
  And they're just like, they've got a zillion better things to do.
• 57:00
  And they're displaying like an utter contempt.
• 57:02
  And like, I even like, sometimes I remember this one person in particular,
• 57:05
  I looked at their friends, I was like, oh, look, we almost got a smile out of this one.
• 57:09
  Like I just created like a minute 30 mentalism routine and in front of the opera
• 57:14
  house or something so sometimes those can be happening and
• 57:18
  uh oftentimes when people just like reject i'll be like hey like never turn
• 57:21
  down magic universe might listen and give you less next time you know.
• 57:26
  That's a little thing like that of course people have got their own bits to
• 57:28
  do so we can't take it too personal,
• 57:30
  but a thought that did come up earlier about approaching is if we approach somebody
• 57:35
  like a heat-seeking missile and walk directly at them and stand in their face
• 57:38
  this can be really confronting so the way i say it is like the emerge merging
• 57:42
  and traffic is a really nice way you can pattern
• 57:45
  find your way and i'll often tilt my head show my neck a little bit like just
• 57:49
  kind of subtle submissive body language gestures to show that i'm like safe
• 57:54
  and i'm approachable and uh yeah so these things can help,
• 57:58
  As for a traumatic approach in the street, nothing too terrible yet, thank God.
• 58:04
  But yeah, other than just being brutally dismissed, it's fine.
• 58:07
  People have got places to go.
• 58:09
  People are awesome. It's one thing I try to remind member is like love the people.
• 58:14
  Yeah, there are other problems above them, but the people themselves,
• 58:18
  it doesn't matter where they're from, what their background is,
• 58:20
  99% of people are absolutely awesome.
• 58:23
  And you can connect with them straight away, especially with the gift that we
• 58:27
  are sharing with them. We're offering them something good, you know.
• 58:31
  What about the, because you've approached quite a few police and authorities now.
• 58:35
  What welcoming do you find from them? Are they quite open to?
• 58:40
  It can be hit or miss. I've had ones where I'm approaching, you know,
• 58:43
  now we've got somewhere to be, sorry, chat, like, you know, a few where I've
• 58:46
  got the hello, I've had the handshake, and then, oh, no, sorry, I need to be somewhere.
• 58:49
  And then I've had a few where I've done a trick like Annie, Officer Annie,
• 58:54
  I did a thing for last week and she's done the rounds.
• 58:56
  She's been quite popular online and the comments coming through of the amount
• 59:00
  of people in that community who love her. She's the funniest,
• 59:02
  she's the best, she's the warmest.
• 59:04
  So it's found people who know her. And then after that, I went and approached
• 59:09
  the same two coppers about an hour later.
• 59:11
  And I was like, ah, one for you chat before the sun goes down.
• 59:14
  And I actually, uh, I did a little card transfer in his hand and I stole his watch whilst filming.
• 59:19
  However, I had a sense that he may have noticed it going on and was being polite
• 59:24
  and then that turned out to be the actual case and i was just like ah look
• 59:28
  i'm trying to up my game thank you for not spoiling it but uh you know i need
• 59:31
  to get better uh so we had a really nice moment i give his watch back and it
• 59:35
  was all up and if i see them again i'll be like hey remember me if i ever get
• 59:38
  in trouble like i'll make jokes like this you know.
• 59:41
  The police are for the most part free spectators they're there as public servants
• 59:45
  they are in their role lothian and you can approach them about anything and
• 59:49
  most of the time they're an approach for a problem.
• 59:51
  So to give them something positive, I think most people are going to have two minutes for you.
• 59:58
  And I'm really curious, the last question,
• 1:00:00
  Have you brought anyone to tears yet in a good way from doing a reading?
• 1:00:06
  I've seen how powerful your magic can be, your style in real life.
• 1:00:12
  And I feel like sometimes it can't, with all magic, right? It can't really get
• 1:00:18
  the full effect on video.
• 1:00:19
  So yeah, has that happened yet? Because no doubt it will within the thousand, but. For sure.
• 1:00:27
  I haven't captured tears yet on my POV glasses, though I've definitely created
• 1:00:32
  them a few times through performance.
• 1:00:34
  And it tends to be more so of connecting with a person. So if you get somebody
• 1:00:39
  to think of someone I care about, and you have that moment, and then the visceral
• 1:00:42
  emotions of their feelings for that person will come to the front,
• 1:00:46
  and they'll have some tears.
• 1:00:48
  Though I had pretty close moments, like grown men who turned from stoic to absolute
• 1:00:53
  childlike wonder and believer within 45 seconds of doing an equivocate routine
• 1:00:57
  where they thought of card ends up under their watch
• 1:00:59
  and you'll just see the transformation and this is what i'm beginning to realize
• 1:01:03
  that this project i'm doing of capturing a thousand real moments of magic
• 1:01:06
  is less about the magic and it's more about exposing the magic within the individual
• 1:01:10
  bringing the humanity out in this complete stranger
• 1:01:13
  so the real magic that i am creating and honing is the ability to approach anybody
• 1:01:18
  on earth and within two minutes giving them a potentially transformative experience
• 1:01:22
  that will affect them forever in a positive way and then i'm out of there
• 1:01:26
  i'm like i'm doing god's work without god's name attached you know this is what
• 1:01:29
  the world needs if only more people could be approaching us in this way
• 1:01:33
  to give us some kind of experience that elevates our feeling here on planet
• 1:01:37
  earth yeah that's the real magic.
• 1:01:40
  Well if that wasn't a final word friends i don't know what is,
• 1:01:44
  If you're not already following Adam, his links will be in the description.
• 1:01:49
  His Instagram is already.
• 1:01:51
  Make sure you're following his journey. You can support his journey.
• 1:01:54
  There's links for that as well.
• 1:01:56
  And man, it's so fucking awesome to watch what you're doing.
• 1:02:00
  What has risen above just someone doing like a 365 challenge or a magic every
• 1:02:06
  day in May or whatever it is.
• 1:02:08
  This is like actually something different that I think the world is really going
• 1:02:12
  to enjoy the ride watching.
• 1:02:14
  Thank you so help in any way you can let's see if we can get number 1000 on
• 1:02:20
  a big stage let's get ted to have number 1000 in scotland on the ted stage how
• 1:02:25
  do we make that happen for us how do we make this happen yeah,
• 1:02:30
  and once you hit that thousand will you please come back on the show and tell
• 1:02:33
  us what this journey was like because i think it's like we are
• 1:02:36
  letting everyone know about it and we are all following you and we definitely
• 1:02:39
  want to debrief once you've reached just amazing milestone so please promise
• 1:02:44
  you'll come back once new number who this new number.
• 1:02:50
  I never forget you boys of course mate i can't wait you know what you should
• 1:02:53
  do is you should come back on i mean you're welcome anytime probably we'll call you up next week but
• 1:02:59
  you should definitely come on the the time that your day coincides with our
• 1:03:05
  episode number like we're at 274 right now right so it would be great if at you know,
• 1:03:10
  300 were on the same day, same. I'll come to Spartan. Let's go,
• 1:03:15
  I'm going to wear my red cape and continue to get chiseled in this winter sun. Let's go.
• 1:03:20
  Now we're talking. It's so many possibilities. Like I know we would,
• 1:03:24
  we would like brainstorming about how companies could sponsor specific days
• 1:03:29
  of this challenge. And you know, there's so many, like it's going to be a 420 places.
• 1:03:34
  Yeah. I need a 420. Let's go to Denver. Let's go. Yeah.
• 1:03:38
  Yeah yeah you can come to my apartment for that episode oh it'll be smoke no mirrors let's do it,
• 1:03:45
  absolutely take it international for sure it's it's it's so good so make sure
• 1:03:50
  you're following adam make sure you go and see nick's show at the melbourne magic festival,
• 1:03:54
  nick when are those dates coming up it starts a week from today so on the 30th of.
• 1:04:02
  June is that where we're in yeah yes we're the 30th of june so from the 30th
• 1:04:06
  of june till the 3rd of july four shows only tickets are moving so yeah don't
• 1:04:13
  miss out it's got some of my,
• 1:04:15
  my latest and greatest creations in magic some of which mr axford has,
• 1:04:19
  dispensed his wisdom upon elevating them to all new heights i actually did that
• 1:04:24
  thing we spoke about last week buddy it crushed like yeah i had a guy in the
• 1:04:28
  fetal position in the front row like it was fantastic so,
• 1:04:32
  if you want to experience it and you are at the melbourne Magic Festival, please do scope it out.
• 1:04:36
  Go to magicfestival.com to get your tickets for my show, Pieces of Me.
• 1:04:42
  Yes. You can catch me at the Brisbane Theatre of Magic this Saturday.
• 1:04:47
  I'll be performing there with the amazing Nigel.
• 1:04:50
  Send me a message if you want to come to that. And Doug, we just saw you performing
• 1:04:54
  at Wonderground in Vegas. That's fucking awesome. Where are you popping up anywhere else this week?
• 1:04:59
  Well, I'll tell you where I won't be popping up is Trek Supply.
• 1:05:03
  I am newly unemployed, so I'm enjoying life as an artist again and actively
• 1:05:08
  reinventing myself as we speak.
• 1:05:11
  This week, vacation mode. I'll be taking off to Utah and enjoying some mountains
• 1:05:15
  and getting out of town, something I haven't managed to do in over a year.
• 1:05:20
  Let me tell you how excited I am to be me again, and I can't wait to share my
• 1:05:25
  plans. You're going to have to stay tuned a little bit, but it's an exciting time to be Doug Conk.
• 1:05:30
  Man, I can't wait. Stay tuned, guys. Thank you for watching,
• 1:05:34
  viewing, subscribing, liking, buying.
• 1:05:36
  I saw somebody bought a Magic Guys t-shirt last few days. Thank you for that.
• 1:05:41
  We should really get on the bandwagon for, I think we're due for a new design.
• 1:05:46
  So we're going to have to get your ideas on the Discord. Maybe that can be a
• 1:05:49
  thing. Otherwise, you guys have a fantastic magical week.
• 1:05:52
  We'll see you with a special guest next week.
• 1:05:57
  Thanks for listening. It's time for us to disappear now. Disappear now.
• 1:06:03
  But we'll see you again on the next episode of The Magic Guys. We'll see you again.