Netflix's New Magic Prank Show

I was lucky enough to spend one week in the writing room for Netflix's newest magic series. From the magic team that brought you Magic For Humans and the production company behind shows like Nathan For You and The Eric Andre Show, Justin Willman is back with a new prank show that pushes the limits.

Stuart MacLeod messaged me a few weeks ago to tell me there was finally an air date for the show! To give you an idea of how small my blip on the show was, he noted that he'd personally spent two years producing magic for the show, and the show itself had been in the works long before then. There's a brilliant team of talented humans Willman has brought together to make his shows.

I cannot wait to watch the show on Monday, and I'm going to channel that creative energy into this article. I'll explore one of Justin Willman's unique qualities and share how you can learn to use the same skill to create entertaining, funny, and charismatic magic (and I'll share this all while carefully avoiding breaking my non-disclosure agreement). Let's get into it.

Justin Willman has great taste.

For the last eight years I've only written on magic TV shows. Before then, I would also help produce the magic and even edit produce the show for delivery.

I made the switch because I found the shooting days to really take their toll on me. I care a lot and would end up working all day and all night, seven days a week, to make the best shows possible.

The decision to focus on writing was also inspired by a minor breakdown I had in an abandoned building after arguing on the phone with a professional hamster trainer. I was trying to book their hamster for a shoot the same afternoon and was repeatedly told that hamsters are nocturnal animals and can be on set during the nighttime. It doesn't sound it, but it was a very infuriating phone call in the midst of a bizarre amount of pressure to deliver a new late-night TV show every night.

Writing is the reason I wanted to get into TV in the first place, much more so than for the magic, and it's also the reason I can just about push out these articles every week. I thrive in the creative environment, and I think my talent lies in being able to adapt within any writer's room and understand magic without compromising the writing (magic very often compromises the writing).

I have written on many shows, and very few magicians have great taste. They're not quite in touch with who they are as performers and, more importantly, who their audience is as spectators.

When you work with magicians who lack great taste, it's like pulling teeth.

What many consultants and writers find frustrating about these scenarios is that they often feel like they've given too much.

Without a clear direction from the talent, you have to throw things at the wall and see what sticks. There are approximately zero ideas I regret saying aloud in a Willman-led writer's room. Still, on other shows, I regret saying many great ideas the performer never ended up using.

In truth, that's the job you're hired to do – give ideas regardless of what gets used, but I think it's naive to ignore that you do end up with a less productive writing and consulting team if they feel their contributions never get used.

I helped write magic for seasons two and three of Magic For Humans on Netflix and was lucky to be a writer after they nailed the format. After watching season one, it is clear to anyone which kinds of magic are perfect for Willman.

In fact, when I submitted a writing packet to work on the show, several of the ideas ended up in the show. This means that without spending time with Willman, just by watching his first season, I was able to hone in on the style of magic that works best for him. This is a testament to his and his team's work, not mine.

"Delete Your Friends" was an idea in the packet I sent.

It ended up becoming an episode's cold open and the first trick in the trailer for season two. Was I over the moon when I saw this a year after I first wrote down the one-sentence-long idea? Abso-fucking-lutely.

A young Rory would have marvelled at the writing process for shows like these, so let me quickly share the exact write-up in the packet I sent over before landing the gig. I named my packet "Magic for Rorys", which I remember deeply regretting until I got the gig and arrived, and everyone already knew my name.

Later, the team of writers built on the idea, ditching the phone to streamline things and adding the structure of blocking and then deleting your friends to make them vanish. This simple structure allows Willman to use "cover" as a method in a justified way, thanks to the context of the writing/humour (blocking your friend by covering them). It also enhances the magic by creating a natural break in anticipation such that the vanish that instantly follows is more impactful.

Willman consistently uses humour to deflate and disarm audiences immediately before a fooling payoff to a trick. It's a comedy equivalent to pretending you got the trick wrong without it being so annoying.

A simple way you can use humour to disarm an audience would be to pretend to place a coin in your hand, then tell your friends, "And if I squeeze like this, it turns into a $100,000 diamond," keeping your fist closed you continue "And if I keep squeezing it turns back into the coin," you smile, "And if I squeeze a little more, the coin vanishes completely." You open your hand, and the coin is gone.

The workflow for "Delete Your Friends" from idea to final product also highlights how Willman rarely chooses to begin from a place of magic. He starts with comedy and storytelling, and magic comes later.

Most magicians let magicians write their shows, and they each take turns saying, "Wouldn't it be cool if..."

Willman, on the other hand, hires professional comedy writers and figures out the magic later. This approach is less restrictive and has helped create his unique style.

If you read the initial "Delete Your Friends" pitch again, your first reaction as a magician might be, "Well, that's impossible!" or "How the hell are we going to do that?" Trust me, I've heard similar things from magic consultants when I work on other shows. Who cares? Let's pull together the best ideas and tell the best stories, and then we'll hone them and scale them back later if we need to.

You can see how the final trick came together in the season two trailer.

Okay, so the question becomes, how can you improve your tastebuds as a magician? People will often tell you this comes naturally with time, but the truth is that you can speed things up, too. It's all about being mindful and asking yourself important questions.

I guarantee 90% of the magicians reading this have never asked themselves simple questions like, "Who is my ideal audience?" and "What trick is the ultimate example of a perfect trick for my style?"

Questions are the answer when it comes to defining who you and your audience are precisely. When you see a magician performing a trick you don't like, actually sit down with a pen and paper and write out why you didn't like it and why you wouldn't perform it. When you see a comedian or a film you love, figure out why.

Create a list of checkboxes for the perfect trick for your style of magic. Tricks don't always need to fit this list, but it's crucial that you at least have the list prepared. All of the most successful names in magic have totally unique styles, and almost all of them have built these styles around what they love and who they are as people.

Why does David Blaine perform different magic to Justin Willman?

The answer is obvious; you might be thinking to yourself, it's because Willman does entertaining comedy magic for family audiences while Blaine does extreme stunts and hyper-realistic magic that blurs the line between real and magic.

Okay, so now it's your turn.

Who do you not perform the same magic as David Blaine?

Why don't you perform the same magic as Willman, Dynamo, or Derren Brown?

The answer cannot simply be because you're not those magicians. It also cannot be because you don't have the funds or the big teams. I promise you that all those magicians are performing shop-bought tricks at their corporate gigs. Blaine's still doing an ambitious card, and I'm sure Dynamo still does doublecross.

Note that the question includes the word "magic" and not "tricks". All of these magicians perform the same tricks, but the magic feels totally unique. Why is it that I can describe a fictional magic trick, and you'll instantly be able to assign it to one of the famous magicians performing styles? Can you do that for yourself, too?

Magicians have different goals, but whether you're aiming to be super famous or entertain the grandkids at the weekend, these questions are worth asking yourself. If you're not considering what suits you and how you should perform magic differently from others, well – it's just going to feel like you bought a trick and are performing it the way the instructions said to (trust me, there's a difference and your friends can tell).

If, before you retired, you spent your career as an accountant, then maybe you should consider performing tricks as if they are feats of memory. If you're a skilled actor like Andy Nyman, then perhaps you should focus on hands-off self-working mentalism effects just like he does so you can really let those acting skills shine. If you're someone your friends know is obsessed with psychology, comedy, or travel, then lean into those things. Are you constantly visiting new cities? Tell your friends your next trick is something you learned on an island in Fiji.

And don't be afraid to lean in the opposite direction. Dynamo knew his small frame made him seem quite timid, which is why he built entire acts around athletes who were unable to pick him up, etc.

Willman became a dad between seasons of Magic For Humans and built this into the show. He opened himself up to new kinds of magic that felt more and more unique to him as a performer.

Derren Brown has written many books about psychology and happiness, and he's found ways to incorporate that part of his personality into his live shows.

So, what about you? Why do you perform the magic you do, and how do your personality and charisma shine through it? Why might I see you perform a trick and believe it to be completely original to you, even if you only just bought it?