Casting Spectators For Street Magic TV

You know, I get asked a lot whether the people you see reacting to magic on television are real people or actors. They're real people, don't panic. But, they're more often than not cast to be on the show, and sometimes, we even pay them.

I recently gave a magic creativity seminar at The Magic Circle for their young magicians. I'm recording an extended digital version which you can access here.

The big group of young magicians asked questions to me and the other great lecturer, Simon Lipkin. It was interesting to see what they wanted to know and which insights the people who will become the future of magic found valuable.

One question: how do you get good spectators when filming street magic?

I'll try to answer this again today in detail.

Are good spectators a thing?

Yep, they are. In the real world, you can show anyone a trick, and they can give any reaction, and they'll still experience real magic. But things are different in the TV magic world. The spectator serves as a conduit for the audience watching at home. And a whole bunch of things matter beyond whether magic tricks easily fool them.

The truth is, they don't need to love magic.

That's not the most important thing, but it's undoubtedly something magicians get confused about. I often see magicians asking for someone who LOVES magic to be the spectator for a magic shoot.

That is a bad idea in my books.

When someone is on TV, what matters most is that they are present, engaged, entertaining and relatable. I often think about the show Gogglebox when it comes to casting spectators. That's a hit TV show in the UK and around the world in which everyday people react to TV shows from the comfort of their living rooms.

These are not necessarily people who LOVE television. They'll often get them to react to shows they hate. But these people are relatable; they're present, engaged and incredibly entertaining. They're the reason the show is a hit.

I think about Gogglebox a lot because the people on that show are professional reactors. And that's what you're looking for when you cast spectators for TV magic. You don't want them always to go "wow" because they love magic.

Some of the most memorable reactions to magic on TV I've seen are from Harrison Ford telling David Blaine to get the fuck out of his house or seeing spectators run away from a magic trick or hide behind a curtain.

But we do need a reaction, and they need to appear trustworthy because they serve as a convincer for the audience at home. Our trust as viewers is in them to convey whether the trick looked the same in real life and was just as fooling.

Blaine changed TV magic by turning the cameras onto the spectator, and it's stuck. It's possible to shoot excellent TV magic without spectators, but this post is all about casting them, so it will read like it's the only way to do it.

Why cast spectators?

I've answered this in a previous post in which I went over the broad strokes of what's essential when casting spectators. Things to remember, like that they'll almost always tell their friends about the experience.

The headline is that shows will sometimes (not always) choose to cast spectators for their performances, and if they do, it's often down to these reasons:

• The location is remote and without natural footfall. The only way to film magic with spectators there is to bring them in.

• To save time and money by guaranteeing good reactions instead of having to perform the trick 100 times. Sometimes it's a trick that can only be down once for reasons beyond money.

• It would be best if you had a diverse show, and the best way to guarantee that is to cast the spectators. You might also want celebs on the show, and so casting makes sense there too.

• You want to do a better trick that needs more background research. For example, you might need a spectator with a specific job, childhood or life experience.

• You want to guarantee the spectator wants to be on television. Whenever I have not cast spectators, I have to suffer the experience of seeing a fantastic reaction and then watching the spectator refuse to sign the release form.

Casting vs Streetcasting vs Winging It

So, this article is specifically for filming street magic. In this case, I recommend against entirely casting for your shoots. In my experience, a "random" spectator on the street will never feel random if you've spent hours throwing them and days or weeks building anticipation for the shoot.

But a lot of shows do a mix of both. They'll cast one or two hero spectators they know will react well for the start of the day and then go on to street cast and wing it for more natural reactions. They'll choose the best or create a compilation for the final video.

I always opt for something called Streetcasting.

This essentially means you are casting on the day and the street. When you rock up in the morning, you do not know who you will shoot with, but you soon do.

The magician can do streetcasting. They might approach or stop people, perform one quick trick, talk to them briefly, and decide to film with them or move along. This isn't usually so cost-effective, but most importantly,, it is not suitable for morale. You want the talent to feel good and not have them dealing with rejection or worrying they'll never find anyone.

I will usually arrive at the location early and focus on groups of people who will be around for the whole day and available at a moment's notice. Ignore the people on the street who will soon be gone forever. Focus on the shops, offices and schools nearby.

I might walk into a bank or a bakery and say that I'm working on a TV show nearby, and I'll ask if they know anyone they work with who would be great on TV.

I do not lead with whether they love magic, but later on, I'll include magic within a bigger list of TV examples. I'll say something like, "I work for a company that makes game shows, magic shows and reality TV for ITV."

Why do I do this? Well, I prefer when the spectator does not know they're about to see a magic trick. I'm unique in this regard; I know many magic consultants who will show a potential spectator a trick to check if they'll give a good reaction – I think that's silly, and the only person doing magic that day should be your hero talent.

Anyway! The question I'm asking, which includes magic within the list, is there to remove the people who HATE magic. Those people, upon hearing it in the list, will always roar that they hate magic. To all the people who love or like magic, they tend to forget you even asked it within the bigger question.

Then, I'll take their number and say I'll call them later.

Oh, another note is that people are always less sure of themselves. I would never ask someone if they would be great on TV. The people who say they would tend to be maniacs. I ask people to tell me who in the office would be great on TV, and it always results in the best person (often someone downplaying themselves).

The best spectator I ever street cast for TV was nominated by her friend at a travel exchange before she'd even shown up to work.

Suppose I'm hesitant about filming ahead of time. I will sometimes call the local college or offices and ask them to send around an email and give me a list of people who'd love to be on TV. There's almost always a good list.

From there, it's down to the director and magician how clued in you want the spectators to be. Sometimes, they'll want them to stand on specific spots (not great directors do this), and sometimes, they'll want everything to be more natural.

In the future, I'll write about prepping spectators for TV. And there is a lot of prep to be done. It's mostly about calming and reassuring them and usually only comes down to four or five sentences you add to your conversation.

The other popular form of streetcasing is known as upstream casting. This is when a magic consultant, researching or casting producer stands upstream of the shoot and finds potential spectators headed their way.

This method will feel the most natural because the spectators were already walking along the right street and in the right direction.

As I said, some magic consultants will show these people quick tricks. Some will stop and chat with them. You must ask whether they'd like to be on TV (You'll notice this was built into the question I ask at local shops and businesses). This is because the fact they want to be on TV is more crucial than whether they give an excellent reaction to the trick.

Some terribly talented casting producers won't say a thing. They'll note how a group or couple are engaging with each other or look at how someone is walking or dressing and decide they're worth filming with.

In this instance, they'll radio the production team and describe the person headed towards the shoot. In my experience, this can be incredible. It creates the most natural dynamic and guarantees you film with the best spectators you could have missed otherwise.

In the past, we've been actively shooting with one spectator and completely abandoned them mid-trick because the casting producer has called in that a better spectator is headed our way or just around the corner. Maybe they just finished a loud phone call or were laughing with friends as they arrived at the location.

The final option is to wing it. As I said, this method is great, but it takes much longer and will not be great for the magician's ego. I've seen it really impact the magicians when they've had to spend 14 hours on the street looking for that one great reaction.

But it depends on the magician. Some magicians adore nothing more than that endless hunt for the right reaction and will happily spend years producing a TV show that most production companies would demand to be shot and wrapped in a matter of weeks.

There are also ways to cultivate the right environments to wing it. You could shoot in an area with a great footfall full of great spectators. For example, a busy tourist area, at a festival or a city outside of London will good for this. Filming in the business district of London or a quiet spot in town will not be good.

When I was filming a parking ticket prank with magician Ben Hanlin, we specifically chose a location with max fifteen-minute parking. We looked at train station parking and school parking and ended up finding a row of short-stay bays on a busy high street in Epsom. This was a perfect set-up for Hanlin to wing it, which he does well. He is good at instantly knowing who will react well.

Due to the location, with a high turnover that we spent days searching for and travelling to in order to scope it out, Hanlin could film with a new person every five minutes for hours. We had many great reactions in a very short space of time.

Do what feels right to you, and never pressure someone to be on camera. It's cruel and never results in a good reaction anyway.