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!)
Firstly Joseph - you have the right attitude! Knowing the secrets to hundreds of tricks, does not make you a magician! Instead it's best to learn a small repertoire of routines that you can do really well. For a beginner, I usually say six to eight routines is a good start. I regularly perform about 15 different routines, with about another 15 as my back up material that I perform occasionally.
There are many books that I can suggest to learn routines from, but that really does depend on what type of magic you are interested in.
For the magic theory, I suggest Strong Magic by Darwin Ortiz. The principles in there can be applied to all types of magic.
For some interesting essays on the philosophical, theatrical or moral issues in magic, I suggest Shattering Illusions by Jamy Ian Swiss (I think it's out of print, but his second book is still available).
I also enjoyed Kid Control by Julian Franklin. That's focused more on managing the behaviour of children at birthday party shows, but... as magicians we are often interacting with people so I found it quite useful across the board.
I've also heard good things about Maximum Entertainment by Ken Webber, but I haven't read that myself.
And lastly, for a real education in magic, don't just stick to magic books! Read about or take classes in drama, public speaking, confidence building, clowning and dancing.
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A magician is someone who creates the experience of magic in another person. Magic is a feeling of fully knowing that what you have witnessed cannot happen, and yet you just did - the only possible explanation for it is magic! You don't have to believe it's sorcery, but you can't step off the fence easily either way.
The important points about my definition of magic are 'no other possible explanation' and 'fully knowing.' Some magicians are happy to tempt their audience by telling them that they are using distraction, fast hands or sleight of hand. This is all wrong if you ask me. If an audience feels as if they have been distracted or that the magician was just using fast hands, then that is not magic. Likewise magic should relate to the audience, they should be clear that what they will witness is impossible, because something similar does not happen in their everyday life.
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I perform close up magic at weddings, anniversaries, family celebrations, corporate celebrations and hospitality events. I also perform my magic as a way to market other's businesses. This is often at trade shows and exhibitions or during an on street marketing campaign. Finally, I provide magic workshops for staff training days.
I perform magic for children at birthday parties, christenings, weddings and family fun days. I am also sometimes asked to provide shows for schools during the end of term.
If you want to see a little of my magic, you may want to look at my YouTube channel by searching for Ed Sumner Magic.
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I had an idea for a trick like that, but I haven't fully developed it yet. Even though I create much of my own magic to suit my use, there are often similar items available commercially. Why not try going to a real bricks and mortar magic shop and explaining what you want? I'm sure someone there will be able to help you out further.
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Well any trick no matter how 'hack' it might can be turned around and made presentable. It just needs a new idea. For example, there's a trick called Six Card Repeat - every magician does it at the start of their show! Most magicians just do it the same way, "I have one, two, three, four, five, six cards and I threw one, two, three away and I still had one, two, three, four, five, six, so I said, NO WAY! How can I have one, two, three, four, five, six cards, throw one, two, three away and still have one, two, three, four, five, six." etc... It's boring!! But others have created something new from it - Tim Ellis has a great rap version, Joshua Jay does a version with credit cards instead of playing cards. And I have a parody version for magicians!
The defining thing about hacks is that they don't have any creativity or originality of their own, so they just copy others, use lines that weren't funny the first time round, "Hold your hand out, no the clean one." etc... That's part of the reason why in my children's show, I don't use a magic wand, even though it's expected. I haven't found a way to make it novel for me, yet.
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Yes, I have worked in other countries, and for different cultures within the UK. Those of Afro-Caribbean descent are often very expressive. Those from Asian descent are usually a bit more reserved. And in the Indian culture they like you to stop after the show to eat with them. That's nice unless you've got another show to get to, and then you have to politely explain.
The differences are minimal really though. The show doesn't change! And certainly no variation in what is impressive. If it's magic, it's magic! Within Europe the hardest thing to overcome is the language barrier.
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I think that you should enjoy the performance. As I have said in multiple other answers - I do not reveal secrets. If you seriously want to learn magic, then I suggest you buy a book and learn it the same way everyone else did. As with anything, it takes time and effort to master it.
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