Desert Island Tricks

170 Episodes

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Stranded with a Stranger: Walt Falconer

2026-11-0624:41

He opens with a joke about sending us a bill, then drops the number: $1,325 spent on books, tricks, downloads and masterclasses sparked by recommendations from the podcast. Meet Walt Falconer, a Houston-based card guy whose “desert island” list turns into a masterclass on how a real-world close-up magician chooses material that actually gets used. We start with a banishment that hits a nerve: laziness in card magic. Walt’s story is a reminder that progress isn’t always about buying the newest...

Larry Hass

2026-10-3001:16:01

A Halloween special that goes way deeper than spooky props: Dr. Larry Hass joins us to talk about what makes magic feel like real mystery instead of a clever trick. Larry is known as the Philosopher Magician and you hear it in the way he thinks about perception, theatre and why a performance should have texture, structure and emotional movement, not just a string of effects. We also get a moving inside look at Eugene Berger’s legacy. Larry shares how Eugene secretly arranged two posthumous bo...

SOS: Andy Smith

2026-10-2301:00:19

A four-year-old “vanishes” a toy car so perfectly that a grown magician tears apart a couch looking for method. That story kicks off a return visit with Andy as we reopen his desert island list and ask the question every working performer eventually faces: what actually deserves a permanent place in your case when your standards change, your venues change and your taste gets sharper? We walk back through the routines that still hold up under real audience pressure, from Three Fly and ri...

Emilio Lander

2026-10-1656:54

A beginner magician walks into a magic shop and gets overwhelmed fast. Now imagine he works there. Emilio joins us from the Alakazam team to build his Desert Island list: eight tricks he’d keep forever, one thing he’d banish from magic culture, plus the “book” and everyday item he’d take to keep performing anywhere. We talk through why practical close-up magic staples still dominate in the real world. Emilio breaks down why Triumph remains a perfect crowd-pleaser, why a strong sandwich routin...

Doug Gorman

2026-10-0959:50

A lot of people think magic is something you either start as a kid or you miss your shot. Doug Gorman blows that idea up. He started at 45 after a Las Vegas moment hooked him for good, spent years performing classic close-up, then made a sharp turn into storytelling magic and bizarre magic that feels like real theatre, not just “watch me do a move.” We talk through the turning points that shaped his style, including the influence of Ed Solomon and the late Eugene Burger and why Doug believes ...

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