How to do Magic Tricks

Advice and Support for Magicians

Killer Magic – Magic TV Series on BBC – The Magicians

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Killer Magic TV Magicians

Killer Magic has been commissioned by the BBC

The new TV magic show Killer Magic features five young magicians who will compete with each other to complete a series of challenges. If they fail, they will need to tackle a killer trick that could put their lives in danger. The magicians will score each other, the magician with the lowest number of points being forced to perform on the the most deadly magic tricks in the history of magic.

Magicians Dee Christopher, Jasz Vegas, Chris Cox, Damien O'Brien, and Ben Hart will star in the TV magic series.

It's an exciting project, made more so by the eclectic differences between the magicians. Although the TV show will present some amazing magic, it will also highlight the interaction between a group of five magicians competing for their lives.

The Merchant of Magic team are confident that the series will be well received by the public. Most magic on TV currently highlights a single magician and his back story. Killer Magic aims to show how magicians interact with each other and the mayhem that it can produce. The team of magicians are not only customers of the magic shop, but also friends. Ben Hart has previously been nominated for the Time Out TO&ST cabaret award, we've known him for many years and have a huge respect for his astonishing technical ability. Dee Christopher needs no introduction, his books on magic technique and mentalism have been best sellers at the magic shop for many years, and he has worked on many of the Merchant of Magic releases. Damien O'Brien is a wonderful magician and such a nice person often found chatting with magicians at magic conventions around the country. Jasz Vegas is famous for her excellent burlesque, fire and freakshow act, and gigs around the country performing close-up magic. Chris Cox has won two Edinburgh Fringe awards and performed on four UK tours.

Killer Magic has been commissioned by Zai Bennett and Alan Tyler, BBC commissioning editor for Entertainment. Executive producers are Anthony Owen, who created the format, and Objective chief executive Andrew Newman.

 

Dee Christopher – Is Something Missing in Your Magic Tricks Practice?

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Dee Christopher - Is something missing from magic practice? The traditional advice that Dee Christopher gives beginners is Practice, Practice Practice. But that’s not really the best advice. Practice is vital, and it’s the first step to better magic, but it’s only one part of the process for improving your magic tricks. A better line would be:

Practice, Practice, Perform.

Dee Christopher recorded this short video with his tip for beginners wanting to practice their magic:

Regardless of the advice that many magic books and teachers will tell you, every  secret to performing a magic trick isn’t given to you in magic books and videos. They teach the mechanics and touch on a particular performers style for presenting the magic trick, but that’s only a small part of the magic secret.

A magic book or DVD can never give you the whole story because magic happens LIVE, and live events are not predictable. There is no set pattern for how a spectator will interact with you, or how you will influence and engage an audience. There are too many variables to ever be predictable.

In the magic tricks performed by Dee Christopher, the lack of a set pattern in the presentation of a magic trick is even more evident. His chosen branch of magic is mind reading and mental powers demonstrated to the public. By its nature, mentalism is about interaction.

Dee Christopher can’t follow a simple recipe as the magic is created in the communication between the mentalist and the spectator. Dee Christopher understands this completely. He urges you to perform live as much as possible as that’s the secret of professional magicians. They practice the method to performance standard, but the real schooling happens when the magic tricks are shown to the public and audience tested.