MWB Conversations Episode 46: The performance of magic

This episode is sponsored by  www.homelight.com

On this episode Tom Verner and Carlos López sit down to talk about the performance of magic, and how we believe in it’s power and how important it’s to develop it through the magic learning process. We share our 90-10 motto when it comes to performance and how on our education chapters that is taught. Plus we react to one of magics most recent and memorable performances in magic, Derek del Gaudio’s In and of itself. For the second part of the show we are joined by Felipe Costa (Pollo) who got the chance to see the show live and in video.

Podcast:

Video:

Images shared on the show:

Pollo’s article on the show In and of itself

Today I am a Writer.
Derek del Gaudio… Today I am a Writer. It is really hard once you become a magician to enjoy magic in its pure inocent way. I remember being in the David Roth theatre in 2008 with my friend Fernando watching “Fuerzabruta”, one of the craziest ideas in a performance I have ever seen and one of my favorite theatrical experiences. Today in the same theatre, 10 years later, I didn´t get any disappointed at all.
Derek, who I will call in some parts of this article “El Ruletista”, has developed a well thought script , where each act is a flavor of a dessert built on stage and, in  the cherry on top of that sweet plate, his profound words and stories lead our imagination to a surreal and sentimental place.
I am a complete supporter of stories when the magic is being done, but beyond that he takes his audience to a place where just a few have been in the world of magic; the Ruletista mixes the story, the stage, the emotion and, when you really are not expecting it, he dazzles you with a miracle.
From the beginning, his proposal is honest. He lets the audience know that what they are about to see has an explanation but… they will never find out  an answer. And for that to happen you can tell he worked infinite hours to achieve it. 
From the start, Derek did not want to promote the show as a “Magic Show” and, with that as a point of start, the theatrical side of the show is in charge to connect with the audience, to create an environment where the Magic serves the script and not backwards as many of us have been doing it for years and, even though there is not right or wrong when we talk about creative work, I can say that part of his success belongs to the order of importance he gave to Magic in his show and that lead him to a place where his honesty about his life and his stories are the core, the heart of the show. 
His show is a master class in parlor as well as in creativity and in his words I have never seen a magician to whom I believe every story he tells. He has done his homework with perfection and that´s why his results have been extraordinary. 
You might been waiting for me to tell you the miracles he does in the show but… Miracles are better seen in real life, SPOILER ALERT: if you go to see his show, as a magician, you are gonna give a lot of thoughts about what you have been doing with your tricks. 
I ask him for 15 minutes and we talked for a whole hour and, when we stood up the table Max Maven was there to see his show. An unforgettable rainy Sunday it was, Magic happens every day when you believe in it.