Dominic Reyes caught up with magician and magic creator Jeremy Hanrahan (inventor of the international hit ‘ENTITY‘ ) to find out more about him and what he has planned for the year ahead.
Dominic: Please tell our readers about yourself.
Jeremy Hanrahan: I Live in Hamilton Ontario Canada and am married and have a gorgeous 3-year-old daughter. I run Underground gaffs, which deals mostly in off brand specialty card gaffs. I perform on average three times a week and love to hang out at Morrissey Magic in Toronto. I am laid back and like jamming with other magicians to see what ideas come from these sessions. I have made a lot of friends from around the world as a direct result of magic and would not change my life for the world!!!
Dominic: What do you like about developing your own magic tricks?
Jeremy Hanrahan: I would have to say being able to perform effects that others can’t be a good feeling. I love fooling magicians more than spectators, and enjoy being fooled by magicians myself more so. Also, seeing other magicians perform my magic tricks is really humbling, makes me smile whenever I see a haunted deck in sealed bag being performed lol.
Dominic: You have a growing range of effects out, which is your favorite?
Jeremy Hanrahan: It’s hard to say, as the three magic tricks I have out now are so different from each other. I like the visual aspect of my Coin through bottle called Untouchable which is no longer available.
Dominic: Will you re-release it?
Jeremy Hanrahan: Possibly later this year as a download. It has the most visual penetration of the bottle I have seen and it is real easy to perform.
Entity is my baby though, I love the trick because it enables the magician to do the things we are supposed to do, moving a card just by a magical gesture or cutting a deck in a sealed bag while not using Invisible thread is truly a joy to watch. And the reactions from spectators are over the top. Tapout is a crazy visual sandwich effect that has three phases, each phase more impossible than the last with a nice little kicker at the end.
Dominic: How do you come up with your effects?
Jeremy Hanrahan: I picture the type of effect I want and then work backwards. Once I get the general feel I work out a routine so that all actions seem natural and fluid. Once that is finished, I test it out on magicians and spectators tweaking it and improving on the method if need be.
Dominic: Do you then use a ‘test group’?
Jeremy Hanrahan: Yes. Once all these are taken care of, I teach the effect on workers and they take it to the people so to speak. I collect feedback from them if any, and improve or update the handling even more. I then look to see if there are any effects that are similar. The reason why I do this last and not first is because I do not want to be influenced by other peoples work. Ideas and methods will always be rehashed and improved on, but it’s the routines you can come up with using different methods and tactics that can make a mediocre effect and turn it into a giant!!! I don’t have dreams of magic tricks and they do not come to me in visions lol, I create to add signature pieces to my act and create to really make people think what they are seeing is real magic. I always say to myself after a creation, “Does this look like real magic”? If the answer is no then it gets dropped on the floor with the hundreds of ideas that feel before.
Dominic: Who are your favorite magicians?
Jeremy Hanrahan: Performing magicians I would have to say Greg Frewin. His dove act is aces and his stage presence is strong and masterful!! The first magician that has influenced my magic the most is by far Michael Ammar. I like his style and the way he talks to spectators. He always has insightful information in his training videos, and has a way about him that makes learning effects easy and enjoyable. Others include Paul Harris (no brainer), Marlo and Bro John. More recent influences come from Steve Haynes, Jason Messina and Luis Castro. These guys always have the time to talk magic and help me get my ideas from my head to the performance. I have also started to dabble in card flourishing and have had the chance to befriend Huron Low from Virtuoso who has given me some much needed advice and teaching that I can not believe I flourish the way I do in such a short period of time. Thank god for good teachers lol.
Dominic: What do you have planned for this year?
Jeremy Hanrahan: Shock and Awe. The most visual and devastating magic trick of mine to date that will be released thus far is planned to release late May. I don’t want to let too much out of the bag, but you have seen it, maybe Dominic, you can tell your readers about it lol. I just don’t want people to think I am biased and that I am exaggerating lol.
Dominic: Yes, readers, more information about this will be released next week.
Jeremy Hanrahan: I will say this though; everyone will want to perform this. It’s so visual it’s crazy!!!
Dominic: If you could only perform three magic tricks, what would they be?
Jeremy Hanrahan: Hard question, I would have to say Invisible Palm Aces, Your signed card and Bizarre Twist. All three are visual stunners and get the reactions I look for in all my magic. Not to mention that all the effect seems impossible with only one explanation, Magic!!!
Dominic: On an average, how long do you practice?
Before my daughter was born on average I practiced for 5-6 hours a day. If I wasn’t practicing a new trick I was playing with a deck of cards, or reading a book or watching a DVD. When my daughter was born I cut back a bit to 4 hours and slowly realized that there is more to life than magic. As with everything in life, it should be done in moderation.
Dominic: So has your passion for practice decreased?
Jeremy Hanrahan: Well, yes and no. Why waste time getting a move down 125% when 100% will do the job. My point is that you don’t need to learn or know how everything is done. Just pace yourself or you will burn out like I almost did. My wife saved me from this when one night I was working on the Spring Board Double by Lee Asher (which I still have to master lol) and my lovely wife walked over to me with our beautiful daughter in her arms, removed the deck of cards from my hands, placed our newborn daughter in my arms and kissed me. Enough said? There is more to life than magic friends. Don’t be a spectator in life, be an actor friend.
