Summary
➡ The speaker discusses their experiences as a performer, highlighting the importance of always seeking new material and the nerves that can come with performing, especially when being recorded. They also talk about their experiences with the Magic Castle, a club for magicians, and their disagreement with the board of directors who don’t make a living from magic. The speaker emphasizes that they’ve been a full-time magician since they were 19 and believes that exposing magic in a fun way doesn’t mean you’re against it. They started magic at seven and also played the accordion due to their Ukrainian background.
➡ The text is about a magician who started his career by performing at children’s birthday parties. He learned to market himself and create unique magic acts, such as using CDs instead of traditional props like cards or coins. He also learned pickpocketing for entertainment purposes and can escape from handcuffs. He admires other performers and magicians, including Fred Astaire and Cardini, and enjoys being surprised by new magic tricks.
➡ The magician in the text talks about his experiences with magic and the reactions he gets for revealing magic tricks. He mentions that some magicians are upset with him for exposing tricks, but he argues that teaching a trick is also a form of exposure. He also discusses the hypocrisy in the magic community, where famous magicians who have exposed tricks are celebrated, while he is criticized. He concludes by saying that he doesn’t believe in any boundaries in magic and will continue to expose tricks.
➡ A magician was kicked out of a magic club for revealing magic secrets in an entertaining way, despite other magicians doing the same. He argues that he’s done a lot for the magic community and the club, including helping other magicians and contributing to charities. He believes the club is outdated in its thinking, as magic secrets are widely available online. He suggests that magicians should focus on being entertaining and personable, rather than just performing tricks, to keep audiences interested.
➡ The speaker believes that real magic is found in everyday life, such as watching a sunrise or seeing a garden grow. He views his own work as a magician as skill-based, not supernatural, and doesn’t believe in psychic abilities. He expresses awe at the process of human reproduction, considering it a form of magic. He also mentions his belief in a higher power, though he doesn’t specify a particular religion.
Transcript
Kind of like Lucy and desi, not Lucille Ball and desi Arnaz, you know, um, if we. I did serious magic as a very cheesy magician, which I’m not far off. And, uh, and she’s as hot blonde, which she is. And she just kind of busts me on me being magical. And I just thought it was funny and it took off. I did over 70 million views. So a bunch of other people apparently thought it was really entertaining as well, except for about 20 magicians. I am intrigued by this. It’s, it’s, it’s phenomenal. So first, folks, get your noble gold.
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noblegoldinvestments.com. Right now. You investing in gold, Murray? I do, actually. It’s so funny. A little bit ago, I just started investing and I got some bars in my safe, which I kind of have, you know, and they’re great gifts for people. Like, say somebody graduates or somebody has something really big. They bought a new house or whatever. Instead of buying flowers or like a mat or something, you can, you know, you can buy gold at $100 or 1000 or whatever, and you give somebody a gold bar and it’s kind of a cool gift that actually increases value, you know, and it’s, it’s a cool keepsake and you’re gonna make money off.
Do you play with crypto at all or not. I don’t. I’ve looked into it, and I just don’t know enough about it. I’m more real estate, you know, I like to buy land old fashioned, like, to buy land to see it grow. And I kind of. I’m happy about that. You know, the crypto thing, I just. That invisible money, I don’t know. I’m the. I’m in. I’m in the same boat as you. I don’t really trust it. It’s just such a big gamble for me. Anyway, folks, let’s get to this, because this is, this is. This is fantastic.
I love this shit. You’re exposed. You were exposing magic, and now you’ve been kind of. You got caught. A lot of backlash. Have you been blackballed by, like, the magic community? Is there even, like, I mean, did you, like, break the code of ethics of magic or. So this just. It sounds cheesy, bro. I’m just gonna say it sounds ridiculous. Like, I wouldn’t be able to take this serious. No. Well, that’s a problem. I have a very hard time taking it seriously just because the world’s changed. You know, like back in the 1920s and thirties, even before television was invented, magic was really hidden.
You know, it’s pretty hard to believe these secret. A lot of things were hidden, to be honest with you. Everything, you know, go across the board, you know? And as tv and Internet obviously came around, a lot of things were disclosed in life. We’re not talking about just magic. We’re talking about politics and how things are made in other parts. The great exposing is happening right now with everything. With everything, not just magic. So, you know, just because we have a viable source, you do as well. If something happens in the streets, I videotape it, upload to Fox News or CNN or whoever you watch, it’s now.
It’s really happening now. We never had that capability. So you can share things, but we as citizens and people can actually share own things and almost go against what’s being said, what’s truth or not. So in magic down the line, that’s happening as well. So, you know, people are saying, I think a lot of people who are diehard magicians, and I call them Pierce, you know, I think they still want to believe that the genie is really in the bottle still, you know, and we know how now how to get her out of the bottle, you know, and I think just because you know how to get something done doesn’t mean it’s not entertaining.
It just means you have to figure out a more entertaining. Way to be entertaining and entertain people. You know, if you see my stage, I’m not very serious. Look at me. I look like I should be on fraggle Rock, let’s be honest. Are you competing with Garrett top? Yeah. Lily lives four doors down for me, is actually a dear friend. You. So, like, I. I was at a David Copperfield. I. Dude, I just went to this, what? Last year? And I got to give it to you, man. These. How many do you perform every night? I do, yeah, I work almost every night.
I mean, I’ve had a couple days off. I’ve been on the road for about two months because, you know, the Tropicana for twelve years here on the strip for 22. We’re moving properties. I’m moving with the laugh factory, which is a big comedy club on the west coast. So we’re having a hiatus now. Meaning they’re looking, they’re looking at four or five hotels in town to move their club to, but they’re very picky, so I’m waiting for that to happen. And so while that’s happening, I’m on tour. So I work almost every night, so I’m very lucky.
Yeah. Because when I saw David Copperfield, I was like, man, dude, he just looked tired. I know he was doing, he’s been doing this for a long ass time. And the way when I was looking at him, I was kind of, everyone was watching the magic, but I was just like, I was really just focused on him because I was like, man, he just looks like he was going through the motions. Like, oh, that’s it. And I just noticed, like, man, if you do this shit every night, every night, it’s got to be taxing, bro. I mean, are you to the point now where you’re kind of like, I’m waiting to retire? Are you still enjoying it? Like, where are you at with your career right now? I really still love it, you know? Yes.
There’s those days where you work every day and you’re doing the same crap every day, but, you know, it’s the audience that kind of makes it more interesting to me. So if you do walk into a show and the audience really isn’t that excited or they’re not reacting, that’s a bit of a chore because you’re doing this stuff you’ve done for 2030 years to an audience that’s liking it, but they’re not, like, losing their mind over it. And that happens, you know, and I never blame the audience. I blame it on me, you know, but, but usually, audience makes the show, so I look for things.
If somebody yells out something, which I don’t encourage, but there’s something funny in the show, I’ll change the show, because for me, it’s entertaining, you know what I mean? So you don’t, you don’t have people yelling stuff out? You don’t, like, plant them? There’s no. No. They’ll do the odd time I don’t like because you have a certain routine. It’s kind of like, you know, you watch a good, you know, person that does great monologues, like Kevin Hart, he’s getting into his stuff, and all of a sudden, somebody jumps in the middle of that story. You know, it took him years to get that story right, you know, or, you know, all those guys out there, Chrysler or, you know, Tom Segura, and you work really hard on this bit, and all of a sudden, you know, waitress drops a tray in the middle of your set or a baby cries it, you know, everyone’s with you, and they’re waiting for that punchline, and now you got to reorganize the goddamn joke to get it right.
So I try to. If they do, I have all the comebacks. I’ve been doing it for a long time, and it makes it more interesting, you know? So for me, performing as an informer, I always look for something new. Or when I’m doing a new tv show, which I’m really lucky to do a lot, I always try to go on tv with a new trick that I’ve never done before because it’s just more entertaining for myself. So I’ll drop that into my show, and it’ll change the show a bit, you know? So you always got to look for new things.
It’s like, even singers, they got to sing their top 15 hits because they’re on the road, but they’re always looking for that next hit. They always drop two or three new ones in the middle, you know, that’s really more for them because the audience is like, what the hell are they singing? You know? Right. 100%. Do you still get nervous? I mean, when I was fighting, I mean, I. I had, what, 40 fights, and I got nervous every single one, you know, I was nervous. The only two that I lost were the ones that I was, like, not nervous about.
That’s. I find that fascinating as well. Do you still get stage dinners? Do you still get out there and be like, get the adrenaline going, the nervousness? Or are you just so used to it now you’re just like, just another show? Yeah, it’s weird because, you know, when I’ve been doing this material forever, so when nobody’s in the audience, I know that’s important, you know, or, like, trying to impress or if it’s a tv crew or we’re doing. So I’ll just do my show and it’ll always be amazing. You know, I won’t double check things. I’ll just go on stage and do it.
But then when I noticed the tv crew there, we’re shooting something for a special or whatever, it’s really weird in your head, you’ll over think things and you’ll not do things, at least in your head as well as you could have done them, because you’re overthinking it. You’re almost, like, watching yourself, watch yourself do the act that you know that you’re doing. Like, it’s the weirdest thing. Whereas if you go out there and bang it out, you don’t think anything. Evidence becomes a great show. So it’s really funny how you overthink things. I think we all do that sometimes, but usually when the pressure’s on, I do step plate.
But as I’m performing, I’m still in my head. Watching me perform, that’s in what I’m doing. The worst thing to do, man. You have to be. I’m sure as a fighter, you have to be at the moment in there, straight on. You can’t be watching you watch something. You know what I mean? Yeah. And I remember when I used to walk through the tunnel into the ring, I remember I used to think, man, I can’t even feel my legs. Like, how am I going to stand up? The nerves and adrenaline was going. So I’m like, how am I going to take punches from this neanderthal? I do this right now.
You know what I mean? It’s just crazy. But you pull through, you come through. It says here the Academy of Magical Arts is investigating complaint. Investigating. Okay. I don’t. I mean, what are the replica? It’s definite, very serious. So what is a punishment? I mean, okay, you can’t do magic at the magic castle anymore. I mean, what. What is. What is a crime here? I don’t understand. Like, I mean, and you got massive views from this. So this only helped you. So if they’re investigating you, they investigate you. And then what? Yeah, my bookings after this triple just because I think people wanted to see what all the hype was about.
And then also, it put me on the map for a lot of people that didn’t know me. And then when you see my stuff, you realize I actually do real magic. I’m not a serious magician. I just can’t look at me, and I just can’t do serious magic because I’m not that style, you know, and I could. Yes, I could do a bunch of tricks to really shock you and surprise you, but it’s just not my character, and that’s not my brand or anything. So, you know, Magic Castle is this really old institution back in Hollywood that still there started in the early 1960s, and the owner just passed away.
Milt Larson, and the other owner, Bill, had passed a long time ago. So all the old regulars that used to really make that club what it was have gone, you know, and it’s more of a corporate world now. It’s a lovely club, and I still love it, but it’s definitely not the club that I was at when I started in my early twenties there. You know, like, you know, they’d stay open later than they should have. You’d see these great magicians hanging out just because they wanted to be there. And now it’s really become this kind of club.
It’s a bit more of a, you know, people who are hobbyists that do magic on the side. I mean, the club’s full of lawyers and doctors and people that really make their money from other sources, not magic, you know? And the ironic thing is, the people that made these complaints on me and the board directors, most of them do not make their living doing magic nine to five, which I found was very interesting how this board of directors who do not pay the mortgage and drive the mercedes or bmws solely outperforming magic, they actually are. They have a nine to five job.
Even when I went into the meeting, I wanted the meeting at noon. I actually flew to LA for the meeting to meet them in person, and they wrote me back saying, I’m sorry, but, you know, most of the board members have a nine to five job, and they can’t be available till 07:00 when they’re done. So unfortunately, we’re going to have to do it after on 07:00. And I was. I wrote back saying, I find this so ironic that I’ve done this since I was 19 full time, and I’m gonna go talk to six board members that I have to wait till they finish their nine to five job to talk to them.
Why I should stay in a magic club as a magician, doing magic every day of my life to this board that’s judging me on my practices, that I’ve done I think pretty well for the last 40 years. So I thought it was very ironic. But I wanted to share. The main reason I did this and made it so public is I wanted to share the fact that just because you’re exposing magic in a fun way doesn’t mean you’re against magic, doesn’t mean that you can’t be a good performer as a magician and do good for a genre of entertainment.
You know what I mean? So, yeah, it’s like weird Al Yankovic, you know, making fun of other people’s songs. Like, he’s actually a very good musician and a smart man, but he just found a niche and it worked. You know, nothing’s wrong with that. You know, nothing is wrong with that. I agree with you 100%. How old are you when you started doing magic? I mean, everyone I know that’s really great at one thing usually start when they’re five, six years old. I started boxing at five years old, you know, and then I grew into it.
So, like, how old were you when you, like, realized you even wanted to do this? Yeah, I was around seven. You know, you get that magic kit that somebody buys, you know, if you’re a kid growing up as a boy, you get the matchbox car, you get the. The bike, you get the skateboard, you get the. You know, you get the magic kit and all, and maybe a tool set. And I guess as your girl, you’re growing up, you get a Barbie and a whatever the heck you get, you know. I mean, nowadays, I’m sure it’s changed, but it’s another conversation.
But. But, you know, so that’s what I got. So I liked it. You know, I also danced professionally. I played music. I also played the accordion. Can you believe that? That’s crazy. Is that in your act? Yeah. Is it in your actual. I mean, you can’t write this, but I played the accordion because my background is half ukrainian, right, so Ukrainian is eastern european. So they played the accordion. And my dad was. Loved the culture, you know, he’s gone now. And my mother was scottish, so here I played the accordion and did magic. What are the chances of me ever getting laid before 20? None.
I was gonna ask, how well did this go over with the ladies, bro? Like, the bar tricks? I mean, did you had to make the panties disappear pretty quick. Oh, dude, nothing disappeared very quick. I’m the one that disappeared. I couldn’t get. And I was also introverted, which I still am, believe it or not, because I hide behind the hair and the glasses and that. But so my biggest joke is I say I played the accordion for eleven years and then I quit a girlfriend, but it’s just what it is. But anyway, so I was always in the public eye that way because I did, like, the energy and the attention and all that.
And then I found magic and I thought, man, that’s pretty cool. And so I kind of dropped the music and the dancing and all that and stuck with magic. And then in my early teens, I started doing birthday parties. So that was an easy way to make money. And I could do a kid’s birthday party for half an hour for like $50 back in Vancouver, Canada, where I’m from, and $50 for half an, half an hour when you’re like 14 or 15 years old. Awesome. And a lot of money. Yeah. So I started learning how to market myself and put flyers and like rec centers on the wall.
And this is back in the day before the Internet. So I had a yellow pages ad, a little business phone in my baby bedroom to do bookings and stuff like that. And that’s kind of how I started and learned how to get into the business. And I also realized what gets attention. So I started doing magic that people didn’t do. You know, I invented an act with compact discs and cds when they first came in the early nineties, because people using coins and cards and birds, I thought, well, let’s use cds. They’re cool looking and they’re new and flat like a card, and I could palm them and hide them in my hands and bullshit like that.
So I started doing that. And I love watching Rod Stewart and Phyllis Dillard, the old comedian way back in the day. You kind of got the rod Stewart hair. Yeah. And that’s where I got it from, you know, because I wanted to look different than not your typical magician with a black hair, slick back, or mustache and a tuxedo. And so I just started doing these weird things to stand out a little bit. And, and here we are now, you know, talking on your podcast, and I’ve, you know, I’ve made. So how well can you pickpocket somebody? I can do.
I can do it if I wanted to, if I really had to. And that goes against the ethics. Exactly. As long as it’s for entertainment purposes and you give this stuff back. But it’s one of those things where I think people forget that it is entertainment and if I had to pick somebody. Watch your wallet. It’s very easy because the key is to not know. So I had this conversation with somebody recently, if I’m telling you, I’m a pickpocket. Well, I’ve already given myself away, so it’s deadly. Because now you’re going to be looking for what I’m going to touch or grab or pull off you or whatever.
But if you introduce me as, oh, it’s Murray. He’s a landscaper, he’s a lifeguard or whatever the hell I am, then your guards down. So now if I shake your hand or, hey, my friend showed me this cool bar trick. Can I see? If it works on you, then I could do something, because you’re not. You’re like, oh, this guy’s a lifeguard or a landscape or this. Show me a trick. Yeah, you’re not expecting it. Exactly. If I say, hey, I’m a magician. I’m gonna fool you and steal your watch and wallet. You’re like, okay. You’ve never done that? No, I’ve never.
What? Oh, yeah, of course. Well, now people know who I am, what I do. So, like, it’s. I gotta be, obviously use more, you know, couth trying to fool somebody because they’re obviously on guard. They know as I’m talking to them, I’m gonna probably do something, you know? So is there any, like, magic or illusions that you’ve seen that you can’t figure out yourself, that you watching, like, man, how’d that guy do that? How did he do that? Oh, for sure. You know, some of these newer magicians doing stuff, you have to look back, and it’s great watching the first time, being fooled because that’s something really special.
That’s why I got into magic, you know, you sit back and go, holy crap, that looks amazing. And so then after about two minutes or 30 seconds or whatever it is, I’ll sit back and go, oh, that’s great. That’s how they did it. Because, you know, I’ve been doing it magic for, you know, 40 years, so. It’s been a long time. 40 years. Yeah. It’s like going to a heart surgeon and you see him just do the thing in half an hour and put a valve in. You’re like, how the hell did you. I can’t even tie my shoes right.
Yeah. And you go to the heart surgeon. Well, I do it. Do it for 30 years. I do like six. Six hearts a day. Well, you know, I can’t even understand that, but. Right. So that’s same kind of thing, you know, same with boxing. You can watch somebody or fighting or whatever, you know, you see somebody do martial arts or boxing, and you go, how the hell? And, but if you know that, you go, oh, that’s what he should have done or backed off or should have got in close. I don’t know that I’d be down in 2 seconds.
I’m like, hey, how you doing? Done. You know, because I don’t realize you should get that close or be, you know, whatever the hell it is, you know, so. So can you get out of a pair of handcuffs? I can. I can. Is it any pair of handcuffs or just your pair of handcuffs? Usually any pair. If I know the make and the model, you know, I can usually get out of them, you know, but it does help if I know what’s, what I’m going to, what’s going to be put on me, because I can study, you know, that make and model, which I know most of them, but, and I’m not an escape artist, per se.
I’ve done a few, you know, escape shows on tv and that, and I learned a lot about that. So you have to really know what you’re doing. The key is to be, as they say, knowledge is power. So with my style, it’s very dennis the menace. So I come off very haphazard, and that’s kind of my, you know, way of kind of getting ahead or fooling people because they really think I’m maybe not doing something right. And then really it’s actually been done a long time ago. So who do you look up to like, now? Like, who do you look at? Like, you know, like, like, as a fighter? I look at, like, Mike Tyson, Muhammad Ali.
Who do you look at as an all time great illusionist, like a David Copperfield Blaine? Chris, are you friends with Criss Angel? I mean, who do you look at? Houdini is everyone just kind of looks at Houdini, right? I mean, who do you look at? Who did you idolize? Yeah, I mean, I’m friends with all those guys. You know, we don’t hang out every weekend, but, you know, see each other and say hi and have a good conversation. You know, the ones I was, I was really looked up to weren’t just magicians growing up, you know, I was fascinated by Fred Astaire.
I loved him as an actor, a dancer performer, as a very famous magician that most people don’t know. But in the thirties, forties and fifties, he was famous, named Cardini. And his whole idea was he was a very rich, posh man entering, like, the Plaza Hotel in New York City. That was his image when he walked on stage with an eye monocle and a chain to his, you know, back of his jacket and a pocket wallet. And he’d always come in looking like he had a couple drinks from the bar before he got on stage. And so he’d go to light a cigarette, and he’d take a cigarette out of the pack, and as he took the cigarette out, you saw him take the cigarette out of his cigarette case, and he went to put it to his mouth to light, and by the time it got to his mouth, it was gone.
And so he’d be shocked like you would be, and so he’d reach in again another cigarette, and then three times he grabbed the cigarette, and by the time he got it to his mouth, it would be gone, and then he’d be shocked, and he’d look and put the, put the case away, and all of a sudden, the cigarette would be in his hand again, so. But he’d be reacting, surprise everyone else. Exactly. It was brilliant the way, you know, he knew what he was doing. That’s, you know, then he put it in his mouth, and every time the cigarette would be backwards.
He never got the filter in his mouth. He got the filter out, and then as he went to get the light of light, as soon as he lit the match up, his thing to light the cigarette, the cigarette’s now gone. But the misdirection was so beautiful, and the entertainment was great because you saw him being entertained at the same time you were, and you almost forgot that he’s the one directing the whole operation. It’s a great act. It’s still online. You can find old copies online, but I just love that. That. And his wife and partner was swan was her, her name, and she was, she played a bellhop, the pillbox hat and the old fashioned something you’d see, like, and that was his assistant, you know, like, so she’d come on up and help.
So would he be, when he was he, would it go down his sleeve and then he pull it back out of his sleeve again? All manipulation from hands to sleeves to jacket. Every, every move that a magician would make, he was using, but he never made it obvious because you didn’t know what he was going to do because he looked like he didn’t know what he was going to do. It was really cool. So how many magicians have really turned their backs on you? I mean, how much backlash are you getting for, like, exposing magic? I mean, honestly, most of them don’t care, right? I mean, most of the guys, the big guys at least, are kind of like, dude, whatever, but are there some that are like, how dare you? Could you do such a thing? I mean, honestly.
Well, yeah, I realized the ones that really are against me or can’t stand it, they’re the same people. They’re probably the smaller level dudes. Well, they’re. They’re guys that do hot. They’re hobbyists. They don’t do magic full time. Like I said, the ones that aren’t happy with you, at least the ones vocally, have shared online, and that if you look at their profile, they’ve been a post office worker for 30 years. Nothing wrong with that. But they work for the post office. They have a real job, and they get paid, and they get a government salary, which is amazing.
They’re real estate agents. They own insurance brokers. They’re lawyers. You know, when I talked to another board, the international Brotherhood of magicians, you know, it was a lawyer that was running the board or the Zoom call, but that’s how he made his money. He didn’t have his lifestyle because of magic tricks. And then the other two people on there, which makes perfect sense, they were hoa presidents of their hoas, and I can’t stand hoas. So that’s the kind of people that. That love rules, that love being important and love having a voice and sharing opinion, which is great.
I have no problem with that. And they’re actually all very lovely people, but when they join a club or they join Hoa, they love the rules. Don’t have a weed in your grass. Don’t park your car in the street. I’m like, I’m not that guy. You know what I mean? You want to park your car on the street and you pay for it, you can park your car in the street. You earn that right? You pay your taxes, you know, that’s how I think. But these people, I realized it’s just people that aren’t busy enough, you know, that want to be worried about other things.
And like I said, we did this video on my own channel with me and my wife. It took six. Six minutes to shoot, two minutes to upload, and I never thought about it again until it took off and people started loving it and hating it. And I thought, you gotta be kidding me. Which brought me to talking to you now. And that was it. And it was on my Facebook page, my life in my house. So if you don’t want to see it, don’t even watch my page. So would you say that’s your big. Is that your big breakthrough? Or was it being on America’s got Talent? I mean, what was the big one? I think my big breakthroughs varied.
You know what I mean? Like, when I started doing these videos, I started in 2015 with my YouTube producer, Seth Leach, who’s a dear friend of mine still. We still do all our videos together. And our first video we did was where I was drinking in public downtown Vegas, a big bottle of champagne. And a cop stopped me, said, are you drinking? And I hid it in a bag, and I said, no, there’s nothing here. He said, I saw it. There’s something there. I said, no, no, nothing there. And I said, oh, no, I saw it.
And then I crushed the bag completely, and I stuck in the planter. I said, there’s nothing here. He said, what do you. And I made it disappear. And then I grabbed the bag out of the planter, and as I walked away, I pulled the bottle out again and took a swig from it, and that was it. We shot that in three minutes. It’s all over the Internet. We’ve licensed it many times, and it’s probably done over 110 million views and everything. Yeah. So we start with pranking cops for five or six years, you know, once again.
So if you’re a cop, you probably. Maybe not like some of my videos, because that’s your genre, you know? Yeah, yeah. There’s cops that just love and think it’s fun, because it is. It is all in fun. I’m not, you know, I’m not making fun of anybody. It’s just me being an asshole at times. Yeah. So. So let me ask you this, dude. Like, so every trick really can be exposed? There’s nothing. There’s always a rhyme and reason behind it. No, there’s not. In your mind, is there a boundary you don’t cross? Is there a spiritual realm that you’re not willing to cross? Is there a darker, voodoo type magic that you’re not willing to touch? Does that exist? Um.
You know what I’m saying? Like. Like, you. You can expose. There’s a rhyme and reason to everything. There’s a. You can expose any trick, right. Or is there a fine line? Is there another part of this that you don’t want to go into? No, not at all. Here’s my issue with that. There’s magicians, every magician out there, and especially the famous ones, even some of the ones that have come forward not liking my videos, but then they have teaching videos, so online. I’ve taught these tricks on my YouTube channel for years. And no one had a problem with it.
Nobody had a problem. So I was actually teaching the trick, but I’m still exposing it. Just because I’m teaching a trick publicly doesn’t mean I’m not exposing it. So teaching a trick in magic is still exposing magic, and people can’t get that wrapped around their head. It’s just a different word. But if I’m teaching you how, say I have this coffee cup in my hand, and it’s empty, and now it’s full, and if I just go, here’s how you did it. It’s a sponge or whatever. Oh, okay, now I’ve exposed it. But if I say, hey, guys, come back in 30 seconds, get a sponge, scissors, some water, and a cup, I’m going to show you how to make water disappear.
And then we cut the sponge, we stick it in here, we get it wet so water can accept it, you know, because a dry sponge, it doesn’t sit very well. And then you do the trick and go, and that’s how you make, you know, coffee disappear. That’s acceptable. So I’ve actually gone step by step how the trick is done and taught you, but if I just go, oh, it’s a sponge, and now. But it’s the same thing. I’m still exposing how I’m vanishing water in a cup. So these magicians who are upset about me, I’m going, well, I just found a different way of making and sharing a trick that’s really entertaining, that got a reaction, and people have a very hard time going, well, teaching isn’t exposing like, yeah, it is.
You know, teaching a magic trick to public on YouTube or twitch or whatever platform you use is still exposing magic. It’s just that you’re deciding to teach it properly. But most people fast forward to the end just to see how it’s done and don’t really learn how. Don’t want to sit there and make the trick and go and entertain people, you know, so it’s a very interesting conversation. And the fact that the people that are so upset with me, it’s just interesting to see that they never recognize two things. First of all, Penn and Teller, who are dear friends of mine, I think they’re amazing.
They’ve exposed magic for 20 years, yet literally three weeks ago, they got the fellowship award for performance from the Magic Castle. So how do you explain that? How do you, how can you give this award to Penn and Teller, which I think they’re warranted, they should get the award. I love the guys. I love what they do. I’m not against them. I’m just, unfortunately, using them as an example, because they’re the ones that have done this all their lives, but they’ve exposed magic continuously, and they’re very good at. And they’re very entertaining. But yet the Magic castle gives them an award of fellowship just two weeks ago for being great magicians.
But yet in the same week, I get a letter going. If you take your exposure videos down, you can stay in the Magic club. But you keep them up, we’re gonna have to expel you. I’m like, well, how does that work? Now, I know it’s a private club. So when you’re a private club, guess what? You can make your own rules. Right? It’s a privately owned. Right. So you can play that. It’s not the government that says you got to pay your taxes April 15. You got to whatever. That’s a different story. So when you’re in a club, you can make your own rules up.
But how does that work? In the same week, I’m being kicked out of a club for exposing magic, but obviously being very entertaining. But yet another famous, you know, couple of magicians are being highlighted and supported for stuff that they’ve done in magic doing the same thing. Yeah, you’re like Donald Trump of the magic industry. He’s exploit. You’re exposing magic. And the spray tan. I got the. So what is it? So they’re singling you out, obviously. But what’s. I’m still confused here on what’s the punishment? I mean, what the punishment is that I can’t now spend dollar 460 a year, dollar 500 a year to be a member of the Magic club and get access to the Hollywood magic castle for free.
And as a member of the Magic castle, people don’t realize the Magic castle is a building, right? And it’s owned by Randy Pitchfork and a man that I think he came with GameStop or something, he has a lot of money. He now owns that. But the Academy of Magic Arts is the Magic club within the building. They don’t need to be there. They’re actually going through a big thing right now where, you know, their lease having the Magic club at that place is running out in 2028. So Randy, who owns this magic club now, doesn’t need the Magic club there.
He can just hire magicians like the comedy store, improv, ice house, you know, laugh factory. You don’t need to, and you don’t need to be a member to actually work there. You know, you don’t need. And most of guys aren’t because it’s expensive. They’re not local to LA. So they never use the club, you know what I mean? And they’re spending dollar 600 a year. And then when you work the club, you do like 36 shows a week, you know, and what you make per show and what the amount of shows you do does not equal close to what you should be getting paid.
But it’s a great place to be. It’s Hollywood. It’s an amazing establishment. I’ve loved it for 27 years. I have nothing against it. You know what I mean? I’m not against them at all or, or, you know, or what they represent in the sense of putting on good magic. But they really got to look at the fact that if somebody is exposing magic a little bit in a fun way and they’re really popular and they’re doing good for the world, meaning, you know, I do tons of stuff for dog charities and I put magicians on my stage in Vegas every week that aren’t ready for Vegas.
But it gives them a leg up. They can put on their resume. They can say they played Las Vegas, they might make some more money when they try to book themselves out. So you look at my body of work, I think I’ve done pretty good as a magician and I’ve also given back to the community. So this one video, which did very well for me and was liked by more people than hated, that’s the reason you’re getting rid of me when I can actually, and I have done so many good things for the magic world yet you’ll bring in lawyers and doctors that want to be a part of the club.
They do three tricks well and they become a member who nobody knows. I don’t know if that always is the best thing to put the club in the newest light in 2024. You know what I mean? So I guess they’re really nervous about people just now that they know how the trick is done, they’re not going to watch anymore. You’re going to. Going to lose the audience, right? Yeah, I think that’s the concern. But I think what they forget a lot about is that I think the frustrating thing is I, you know, I am a good magician, obviously, and I’m only saying that because of my body of work.
And some people may not like me and that’s okay, but, but I’ve done magic for so long and given back that way. And I think for them, they were shocked that I did this because they’re like, can’t believe you’re a magician. You’re giving away secrets. But I’m like, for the last 20 years on the Internet, these secrets are given away every day by people who aren’t magicians. And my theory is, if someone’s going to give away a goddamn trick, it’s the guy doing this stuff for a living, because it’s my genre in my world. Like, if I’m going to, I’m going to tell you how to lay cement by yourself.
And I own a cement company that would take business away from me. I do a good DIy video. Well, if any, I’m going to. If I do cement for a living, and I want a YouTube channel on how to lay cement. If anyone’s going to give away how to cement to be laid is me, because I do it for a living. So why is that okay there? But it’s not okay in the magic world to share some stuff like that, you know? And the sad thing is, it’s like one of those things where, like I said, it’s.
It’s like they’re guarding a safe that’s empty. Like they say, murray, I can’t believe you’re doing this. Don’t be a part of our club. Even though you’re really popular and you can really help magic, and you always promote magic in good light, we’re not going to have you because you’re giving secrets away. I’m like, well, everyone else is giving secrets away on the other side of that door. So, okay, I won’t be a part of the club. I’ll still do fun videos. But you’re just losing new and younger and people that are actually in the limelight right now promoting magic in a good way within a club that’s going to be locked in time, you know, with these older guys that are like, oh, can’t give secrets.
I’m like, the secrets already out. So don’t. Don’t let that be your only reason to not include good people in a club have better reasons than that, because that’s out of date. And that was good in 1960 when there was newspapers and magazines, and the only way to figure out something is you maybe sell one or two books at the library, you know, which is how I learned magic from a library book. But now that. That trains left the station 20 years ago, so it’s not me hurting magic, so I’m still doing it, and I work every day, and I love magic, so I’m not hurting it.
So the industry is not suffering from this at all. No. Now, people could say they are, and if they’re suffering because you. You know, I showed a trick that they do every day, and now they’re not going to get booked by it. Well, be more entertaining. Make yourself a bigger star. So they want to meet you, not just see the trick. And they want to have you at their party, right? As you, as a personality, not just a guy that does tricks. And if that’s the reason, then I really think you should work harder on being.
That’s why you got the sunglasses, the hair, the whole thing, man, going for you. I want to see you. And then the magic is like the side act kind of thing, right? 100%. 100%. If you watch any of these stars out there nowadays, you’re going to look at Tom Segura, you know, and Burt Kreischer. They’re funny guys. They’re great. But most of their audience is because they’re podcast, you know? You know, that’s your podcaster. Like, they want to spend an hour and a half with these guys they listen to every day. And sure, they’re funny and they’re entertaining, you know what I mean? And Burt’s very good, but material has been around for a long time, but they’re going to have an experience for an hour and a half to hang out with this guy they listen to every day.
And, you know, that’s. That’s the reason. It’s not because every show is just dynamite, you know what I mean? It’s not, you know, it’s the fact they’re going for a whole package. They like his material, he’s funny, and he’s also got a great podcast that they want to spend an hour and a half with the guy on stage, you know what I mean? And it’s. Yeah, and these podcasts are doing major shows, tosh 2.0 and all this other stuff. They’re coming nuts because the acts amazing. They’re coming because they want to spend an hour and a half with the guy or the woman that they listen to, you know, every day, you know, let me ask you the last question here, and this is a big one.
Do you believe that some magic, is there a trick to all of it, or is some magic real? Is there just some. That is an unexplainable, real form? I mean, is there real magic, or is it. There’s. Can all of it be explained? I don’t believe there’s real magic in the sense of my real magic is waking up at six in the morning, see the sunrise, you know, point up a y and see the waterfalls. Like that’s, you know, more of a spiritual magic where you go, how the hell does that, how is that created? You know, I mean, whether you believe in God, somebody higher up, that’s, you know, that’s, I never talk about that because everyone’s whoever you believe in.
Good for you, you know, to me that’s real magic like that. You don’t me what I’m doing is tricks for a living. But when you see a, I don’t know. My wife has a garden, she plants these seeds and now we got tomatoes and cucumbers and that’s amazing to me. Like in three weeks or six weeks, to me, that’s magic. So what I’m creating is all skill and me being one step ahead or one step behind you as I’ve been doing it for a living, you know, it’s like watching a great sax player, guitarist, you know, they didn’t come out of the womb naturally knowing a c chord or a b chord.
They learned a little bit. But then some have a really natural gift and you’re just like, you know, look at the Bruno Mars and John Mayers and all these people, you know. Yes, some people have a natural gift for certain things. You in fighting, you know, naturally built and that’s what you think, like, and some things are forced, you know. So for me, magic, no, I don’t believe that. That really somebody has a power to slide a chair across the floor. I don’t believe that. I can go like this and the light comes on. No one, in my opinion, can do that.
You know, amazing Randy, who’s gone now, he had a million dollar challenge all his life that he was against all it, saying, hey, magic’s great and it’s fun and entertaining. He’s a great magician. That was the seventies, right, with Uri Geller, who bent a spoon that said Yuri had powers, and he doesn’t. It’s a magic. Right. He would, he was gonna give a $1 million prize to anybody who could prove psychic abilities or. Right. Am I on the right feature? Yeah. And they had a power. James, Randy bald, had a guy with a letting that cool beard.
Actually, I met him and Teller’s show probably about four or five years ago. He’s only been gone a couple of years. And he said, look, magic’s great. It’s entertainment. There is a skill set to it, and that’s it. But there’s no way you can look across from that. Flame will light up on a candle or a thing will move across the table just with power. And to this day, no one’s ever taken that million dollar prize because it’s not there, you know what I mean? Now, do I believe people could see things and hear things that my wife says she does? And I go, that’s amazing.
I think if you can do that, that’s unbelievable because I don’t have that skill. I have instincts, you know, and maybe that’s what I have that I try to maybe deny that I have, that I see, you know, I hear things or I know things ahead of time. I think that’s either maybe being, you know, that coincidence or just me looking into things and being right for once or twice, you know? Yeah. You know. Do you believe in God? Yeah. And do I believe in God? Is it the word God or is it Jesus with a long beard or somebody we’ve drawn pictures of hanging out in the clouds? Yeah, exactly.
You know, I believe it’s a higher power, you know, I don’t know how you can have sex with a beautiful woman and your wife or whatever and then in nine months have this kid that looks like you. I’m just. That still blows me away. Yeah. You know, I mean, you know, all this stuff, like I said, planning a garden, you put seeds in four weeks later as tomatoes and beans and stuff growing. That’s. That’s pretty wild, dude. And we have the right climate to perfectly do that. Yeah, I know we have their science and I realize there’s books, how it all happens.
I’m. But the point is that’s pretty cool, you know, I mean, that’s magic. That. Is that really magic? I can’t explain that because I can’t. I just can’t explain that. You know, even, you know, we’re trying to have a kid now, my wife and I, and. And I know we have a kid. It’s going to be like, you know, no one else has a kid and, you know, it’s gonna be amazing. It’s like. And kids, people have kids all the time. But I just can’t believe you have this beautiful moment with your wife, make love, and then nine months later the kid looks like both of you.
I’m like, get out of here. Like, what the hell? Excited about our new iPhones with these watches that talk to us and we can talk to people. I’m like, that is nothing compared to two humans hooking up and then creating something like that. I’m like, I can’t understand that. I’m sure I’ll be the same way when it does happen and I’ll stood beside myself, you know. So you’re more in awe of the magic of life. Totally. And there’s got to be something up there, whether you call it God or as Buddha or Jesus or whatever religion you believe in or nothing.
But I feel there’s definitely something out there that we’re aware of or not aware of that’s definitely, you know, is pretty wild, you know? Murray, man, where can people find you? Obviously you have an enormous YouTube channel, but where can people find you? You can find me on a website, murraymagic.com. or if you put Murray the magician on Google or Murray saw Chuck, you’ll get more than you ever want to know about me. And come see me on the road or here in Vegas, because I’m not going anywhere anytime soon, dude. I’m going to. I’m going to go to one of your shows, man.
I go to Vegas all the time, so I’m going to be out there and go to one of your shows, see a show, or come to the house and have a drink and hang out, man. That’d be awesome, bro. And good luck with the upcoming kid. Right? You’re getting ready to have a kid? Yeah, we’re doing this IVF, and we’re really excited about it. So hopefully by the end of the year, we’ll be. Thank you, Marie. Thanks.
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See more of David Nino Rodriguez on their Public Channel and the MPN David Nino Rodriguez channel.
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