Ed Sumner
15 Years Experience
Staffordshire, UK
Male, 28
I perform close up magic and stand up magic. I also run a children's magic company called Ready Steady Magic. You can find out more about me on YouTube! =P
As a professional magician and Member of the Magic Circle, I work hard to create incredible events.
Feel free to ask me whatever you wish and let me reveal the secrets of what I do (but not those secrets!)
It's not possible. That's why it's magic! All the best magicians can do this.
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Yep, I wash them and I make sure that my nails are kept short and tidy. Furthermore, I'm very careful with knives (good advice for everyone, not just magicians).
Occasionally I use some hand lotion after I've washed them and when I'm doing balloon modelling (which isn't really magic, but is great fun) I have to use a lotion after about an hour because the powder inside the balloon can really dry out your hands.
I guess some magicians might have insurance on their hands, but I can't name anyone who does.
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In short, no. There are some magicians who play to the audience that it is actually 100% real magic i.e. Uri Gellar, but whether he actually believed it himself, I doubt it. It's an interesting idea though, that I've played around with. I certainly like to think that what I do is magic and not 'just being clever' but there is a line somewhere on how much an audience will believe before it starts to sound too implausible. In magic, even the unbelievable has to be um... believable.
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They squash up really easily!
Just joking, there may be some historical significance that I'm not aware of but as far as I know the reason is simply that they sit quietly during transporting and during the show.
Some magicians use other animals and goldfish are also popular (although they obviously need water when travelling too).
As for whether animals should be used in performance at all. Personally I think that animals should be used less often in magic. Not never, but I wouldn't want to use an animal every week as the travelling can be quite stressful on the animal. I would use an animal, maybe a rabbit, for a one off performance, perhaps for television or for a large stage show, so that many people can have the chance to enjoy it. It seems more justifiable then.
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Help Desk Technician
Are people appreciative when you help them or do they just treat you like a support monkey?
Stand-Up Comedian
Did your career blow up after you performed on the Tonight Show / Conan?
Chick-fil-A General Manager
What's the back-story behind the cow mascot and eat-mor-chikin campaign?
That's a different kind of magic. I don't know much about it, but from the half of one film that I've seen - I think you have to fly around on a broomstick, say expelliarmus, and hang around with some nerds.
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Interesting question. Possibly one that might be asked by another magician? When I started out I did a lot of shows for family friends and friends of friends and other people who I was connected with for just a nominal fee, maybe £20 or £30. Maybe just even my travel.
Now I charge those sorts of people my full fee, which I think is only fair, seeing as I have the experience to provide the full service, and magic is my only income.
For direct family, it's not always appropriate to perform magic and of course having magic at every family event would get tiring, however if I'm asked to do magic for family then I will perform for free and try to fit it around my paid bookings if I can. I tend to find that for any gig that I do for free (for family or otherwise) I will usually get something back in return, even if that isn't my full fee.
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In theory there are no bad tricks. Even the most simple of tricks, the ones that everyone knows could be changed and wrapped up in an interesting and engaging presentation. That's what matters right?
There are some tricks that might be more difficult to adapt to an interesting presentation and if they are very simple it might be difficult to hide the known method in order to make them magical too.
By way of an example I occasionally perform the very very old pulling your thumb off trick. I do it quickly and I doubt anybody is genuinly fooled by it, but for a moment it creates a quick illusion, a double take and it gets a laugh. Not the strongest thing I do, but when the situation is right, I'll perform it.
Another thing to consider is practicality. Some tricks performed by amateurs include very long set ups or counting procedures, like the 21 card trick. The way that I often work, it's not ideal to have to take ten minutes between each performance to reset the trick. Likewise with dealing tricks, you need something to fill that time while you are dealing cards.
Certainly I can also think of some tricks that I would find difficult to work with, but that doesn't mean that someone else might not have a fresh outlook on it.
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