Radio Magic

Hey guys!
sorry, I was unsure about which thread to post this on, so I chose this one.

Ive been invited (in a few months) to be interviewed on a radio station, and they would like it if I had a magic trick that I could perform to the listeners. do you guys know ANY magic trick I could perform like this?
Any help would be AWESOME

Thanks, Matt!
 

Josh Burch

Elite Member
Aug 11, 2011
2,966
1,101
Utah
As far an interactive magic goes Jim Steinmeyer has some great stuff in his books Impuzzibilities, and Further Impuzzibilities. These are interactive tricks created for TV and radio and both volumes are super cheap!

I think it was in Banachek's Psychological Subtleties 2 there's a section on radio and phone magic. He has a really cool version of the Russian roulette that can be performed on the radio with cards.

I know Dunninger made quite a reputation on the radio I bet he has a good resource out there but I don't know his books as well.
 

Colin

Elite Member
Jan 25, 2013
152
22
I have heard The Grey Elephant in Denmark done on radio in the past. Works well especially if you take out a small ad in a local newspaper, or nowadays you could direct listeners to your web site, for the reveal.
 

RealityOne

Elite Member
Nov 1, 2009
3,744
4,076
New Jersey
As far an interactive magic goes Jim Steinmeyer has some great stuff in his books Impuzzibilities, and Further Impuzzibilities. These are interactive tricks created for TV and radio and both volumes are super cheap!

Don't forget Subsequent Impuzzibilites. All great books.

Also, check out Juan Tamariz's Verbal Magic.
 
Apr 14, 2013
36
0
England
If there are any TV competition type of shows that end just before the show you could do some kind of prediction. Like if Australia's got talent ends a week or so before. (I don't know if it's on or not, but that kind of thing). I saw a magician (Ben Hanlin) do this on the radio on England last year, he had a pretty good method (I'm not sure if it's original) there's a video on YouTube.
 
Dec 18, 2007
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Northampton, MA - USA
WAIT A MINUTE!

If you ARE NOT a "Mentalist" don't go doing Mentalism on the radio, please!

There are a number of actual Magic/Card Tricks that can be done on the air OR, to be more accurate, ways of framing certain pieces that actually belong to Mentalism, in a manner that allows them to better fit the idea of a Magic Show.

You may want to pick up the Fulves books on Self-Working ____ (there are several niche areas he ventures into) and also bear in mind that you can get away with a completely verbal description of things you aren't doing at all; prior to making a Lear Jet vanish on national TV Copperfield presented it on Radio (the Glenn Falkenstein Show) in which it was little other than a script. If you are being scheduled months in advance then you have time to tie-in the date to some kind of special event. . . a fundraiser? Car Lot Promo? some up-coming Community Festival?

quite frankly I'm surprised you got the invite without having something in place, that's nearly unheard of.​

My point is, you can exploit this opportunity on several levels and because it is Radio, it's quite possible to get the DJ & Engineer on your side along with producers.
 

Josh Burch

Elite Member
Aug 11, 2011
2,966
1,101
Utah
Craig makes a good point. Some mentalism effects can be transformed into magic effects with a little bit of presentation. For instance the princess card trick could be staged as pure mind reading, or as Lance Burton performs it, and interactive pick a card trick. Banachek and Dunninger's stuff might be a little less suitable for a magician, but Steinmeyer's stuff is fairly magical.

There are interactive effects with purely magical premises as well. There are cards across effects that prove very magical. One classic is the piano card trick as explained in Royal Road and Scarne on Cards could be worked into an interactive cards across with a little work on the script.

The magic I've heard on the radio consists mostly of the magician doing something and basically explaining what's happening as the DJ reacts. One interesting idea I saw was with Ellusionist's shift key. The mentalist put the key in the DJ's hand and as it bent the DJ just explained what was happening, he did all the talking!

I hope that helps, while I don't have any radio experience my mentor has made a handful of appearances on various local stations.
 
Thanks guys!
Craig, the reason I got the gig was because my friend is on the show, and knows me personally.
and its a youth radio station :)

I think I might do an invisible deck routine where i sent it to them in a package a few days before hand, or soemthing like that :)
Thanks for your help guys!
 
Nov 8, 2007
1,238
3
Patrick Redford has an excellent book in his comic series called "Heptagon+". All the effects in it can all be done over the phone or radio. Awesome stuff. Highly recommended if you're looking for that type of material.
 
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