Most Magicians Don't Know About the Mishear Convincer

So, look. As a magic consultant, my job can only go so far. Some magicians find it odd that I believe my role is to produce easy magic with zero risks that will always work. But that's what consultants are valued upon. We aim to deliver reliable, fooling magic that feels unique to the performer.

But, once you had the magic over to the performer (who likely led or co-produced the trick with you), they had opportunities to improve it. And these opportunities tend to be beyond my control.

I can't, for example, force a magician to sit and practice a trick. A lot of the time, there's no time for that, and occasionally the performer doesn't want to anyway. See – this is why you produce easy magic.

But sometimes, you work with brilliantly talented, engaging performers who seek out the risks, especially in television. TV magicians are lucky sometimes in that they can perform a trick several times, knowing only the best will make it into the final cut.

These magicians take risks, and many of them pay off.

Some of these magicians take risks in the real world, too.

Asi Wind is the performer who comes to mind the most when I think of these almost bulldozer performers who take significant risks and plough onwards. Oz Pearlman and Colin Cloud also come to mind.

The odd thing about magicians who take risks is that the risks become less risky over time. This is because the performers get used to it, their nerves calm, and their understanding of the audience changes. They get used to every possible income and get better at reading spectators: their delivery changes, and their confidence increases.

These risk-taking magicians start to rely on more ballsy methods like heavy pre-show and crazier ones like instant stooging and miscalling.

I've written about pre-show techniques and miscalling in the past.

Today, we're talking about something else.