Desert Island Tricks

Steve Faulkner

Often, it feels like you have total control when performing magic. But what if everything depended on a split second? That’s where Steve Faulkner begins his desert island journey. He’s a British Close-Up Magic Champion, a working performer and the face behind Real Magic Reviews, which means he sees more new magic tricks than most of us could learn in a lifetime, then has to decide what’s actually worth doing for real people. We put Steve on the desert island and build his essential set from the ground up, starting with a straight-up classic from Royal Road to Card Magic and moving through effects that have never stopped “storming” for him: Maxi Twist, Slidini Knotted Silks, Nate Leipzig’s cigar routine, linking rings that still fool even when the method is “known,” and billet work like Acidus Novus that delivers huge mentalism reactions when you’ve got the nerve to commit. We also get modern with Inject and the Legacy QR approach, not as a gadget flex but as a practical way to create layered miracles and leave spectators with a souvenir they’ll actually show people later. Then we get honest about the thing Steve wants to bury: magic dogma. The rule-policing, the “no one would do that,” the opinions dressed up as laws. If you’ve ever avoided a trick you loved because someone said it was “wrong,” this conversation is your permission slip to go try it anyway. Steve Faulkner’s Desert Island Tricks:  Welcome package. Cards Across  1. Maxi-Twist  2. Slydini Knotted Silks  3. Nate Leipzig Cigar Routine 4. Inject  5. Linking Rings  6. Acidus Novus  7. Optix Pro  8. Paper Balls Over The Head   Banishment. Dogma in magic  Book. Talk About Tricks  Item. Kennedy Half Dollar  Find out more about the creators of this Podcast at www.alakazam.co.uk

Guy Hollingworth

A magic classic finally gets its next chapter and the creator is as thoughtful as you’d hope. We’re joined by magical royalty, Guy Hollingworth to talk about More Drawing Room Deceptions, the highly anticipated follow-up to his legendary Drawing Room Deceptions, plus the re-release of the original book with a new chapter that shows how his routines have evolved through real performance. If you care about strong plots, clean handling and material that lasts beyond the hype cycle, this conversation is packed with gold. We also invite Guy onto the Alakazam island and talk about his eight essential pieces of magic, one book, one banishment, and one everyday item he’d still use for deception. Along the way we dig into The Reformation (his signature torn-and-restored signed card), why slowing down can make an effect feel more impossible and how he designs methods like puzzles when there are no obvious “building blocks.” Expect practical talk on cups and balls, coins across, Professor’s Nightmare rope magic, stage manipulation, linking rings, gypsy thread, and even a modern phone-light miracle. You’ll hear behind-the-scenes stories from the Magic Circle, what Guy looks for before he’ll perform someone else’s creation and where to find the Drawing Room Grand Tour details through the publishers at Vanishing Inc and Mike Caveney’s Magic Words. If you enjoy the show, subscribe, share it with a magician friend, and leave a review so more people can find it. Guy Hollingworth’s Desert Island Tricks  Welcome package. The Reformation  1. Cups and Balls  2. Half Crowns & Shell  3. Professors Nightmare  4. Billiard Balls  5. Linking Rings  6. Gypsy Thread  7. Silhouette  8. Luc Apers’ Chinese Silver Banishment.Mutilated Parasol Book. Expert Card Technique  Item. Jacket  Check out all of the details regarding his new book ‘More Drawing Room Deceptions’ here:  https://www.vanishingincmagic.com/magic-conventions/drawing-room-grand-tour/ [https://www.vanishingincmagic.com/magic-conventions/drawing-room-grand-tour/] Find out more about the creators of this Podcast at www.alakazam.co.uk

Oscar Leonard

A cruise ship theatre looks glamorous from the outside but the work is brutally practical: your show has to reset fast, pack down smaller than you want and still hit like a full-scale stage production. We sit down with Oscar Leonard, resident magician on Virgin Voyages for the past three years and newly named an Associate Member of the Inner Magic Circle with Silver Star, to unpack what that reality teaches you about building commercial magic and mentalism that actually lands.    Oscar shares how he got the job, what “guaranteed performance spots” every day does to your material, and why recording shows and chasing the right feedback beats guessing. We talk about the problem mentalists obsess over: making mind reading visual. His solutions include a story-driven Fourth Dimensional Telepathy, a dartboard routine that creates instant intrigue, Liquid Forks for fast visual impact, and a standout ESP experiment staged with lab coats and clipboards to make small props feel huge.    Then we go deeper on craft and ethics: Q and A as a closer, how coincidences become fuel for astonishment and why he’d bury most of a stage camera on his desert island. Cameras can help visibility but overuse can turn live theatre into a movie and we dig into where that line sits for modern stage magic.    If you care about cruise ship entertainment, stage mentalism, visual reveals and building a portable show that plays big, this one is packed with workable ideas. Subscribe for more, share the episode with a performer friend and leave a review with the one routine you’d take on your own desert island. Oscar Leonard’s Desert Island Tricks Welcome Package. Multiple Selection Routine / Mentalism Reveals  1. Fourth Dimensional Telepathy  2. The Dart Lottery  3. Liquid Forks  4. ESP Cards / 4 Lab Coats / 4 Clip Boards 5. Location, Location, Location  6. Three Billet Routine  7. Book Test  8. Q&A  Banishment. Using a camera for the majority of a stage performance Book. The Jinx Bound Collection  Item. Debra Dale Blank Index Card  Find out more about the creators of this Podcast at www.alakazam.co.uk

Michael Vincent

Your magic can be technically flawless and still feel forgettable. This conversation with Michael Vincent hit us like a wake-up call: the real goal is the experience you leave with the spectator, not the applause for your hands. Michael opens up about stepping away from performing to care for his mother, then returning with a new approach built around purpose, discipline, and audiences who choose to be there.  The list becomes a deep dive into close-up magic and parlour magic fundamentals: Vernon’s Triumph as chaos versus order with the spectator doing the shuffling, Linking Rings built on crystal-clear conditions, Slydini’s Knotted Silks as pure visual impossibility, the Invisible Deck as shared fantasy made real, Roy Walton’s Smiling Mule as a lesson in timing, plus coin magic that leans on sound, story, and imagination.  We also go hard on a topic many magicians avoid: reading and research. Michael argues that the best secrets still live in books, that mastery can’t be bought and that a strong repertoire is a reflection of identity. He caps it with two recommendations that shape creative showmanship and resilience: Darwin Ortiz’s Strong Magic and Viktor Frankl’s A Man’s Search For Meaning. If you want stronger reactions, better structure, and a more honest path to becoming great, press play, then subscribe, share this with a magician friend and leave a review with your own desert island list. Michael Vincent’s Desert Island Tricks Care Package: Triumph  1. Linking Rings  2. Knotted Silks  3. Invisible Deck  4. Smiling Mule 5. Coins Through Hand  6. The Slot Machine  7. Marlo’s Repeat Card to Pocket  8. Your Card, My Card, Everybody’s Card  Banishment. Complete and utter laziness  Book. Strong Magic  Item. A Man’s Search for Meaning  Find out more about the creators of this Podcast at www.alakazam.co.uk

Stranded with a Stranger: David Rhodes

A lot of magic advice lives in theory. David Rhodes brings something better: a working performer’s list of eight routines he’d keep if everything else disappeared, plus one book, one non-magic utility item, and one thing he’d banish from the art. David’s story starts with a familiar arc, going all-in on magic in his twenties, stepping away for years into the corporate world, then coming back with fresh eyes and sharper taste. We dig into a lineup that leans heavily toward practical mentalism and audience-first structure: Telepathy Plus as a minimalist billet miracle, a memory demonstration that builds real credibility, and a Magic Square that can turn “confusion” into a perfect closer. From there we get into blindfold work and psychometry, where the impact comes from meaning, not props, plus fork bending with a clear stance on why less is more when you want it to feel genuinely psychic. We also talk borrowed-object impossibility with ring flight, and why the strongest close-up magic often lives in the spectator’s hands. Card lovers still get fed: Out Of This World gets its flowers as one of the most powerful spectator-driven effects ever, and David shares a sneaky multiple selection “cheat code” that lets you weave in favourites like Triumph. We round it out with Interpreting Magic by David Regal for the interviews, a corner rounder as an underrated weapon for short cards, and a banishment that every performer should consider: ditch hack lines that kill connection. Send in your list of 8 tricks, 1 book, 1 non magic item and 1 banishment to sales@alakazam.co.uk Find out more about the creators of this Podcast at www.alakazam.co.uk