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Rory is a magic writer and producer who has consulted for performers like Dynamo, Justin Willman, Neil Patrick Harris & more.

Perhaps one of the strangest things about magic consulting is the bizarre reasons to stress out. Shoots can get overwhelming and looking back, be totally ridiculous. Here are the three most stressful moments of my life as a magic consultant.

I can’t begin to describe how stressful each of these felt:

Someone’s feet were bigger than expected.
Someone kissed something they were not supposed to.
Z-List Celeb Pat Sharp didn’t believe in ghosts.

1… I remember sprinting across London, sweating, phoning every prop maker in my contact list after being told the contributor* on set had humongous feet.

2…When she kissed the thing she wasn’t supposed to, I turned on the spot and sprinted 200 metres, pushing through members of the public, grabbing my radio and begging every owner of lipstick on the crew to drop what they were doing and race to me.

3…The 40-person night-shoot entirely relied upon Pat Sharp believing in ghosts, and he didn’t, and I’ll never forgive him for it.

* Contributors or “contribs” are the spectators in TV magic shows.

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