7 Best Podcasts for Magicians
+ 2 Bonus Podcasts
Podcasts have really taken off over the past several years. There's one for almost every interest and hobby. As a magician, I'm taking a look today at the seven best podcasts for magicians (in my opinion), plus I'll highlight at least one episode for each that I think is required listening.
And spoiler alert, I'm going to be including my own podcast in this list too. There aren't many podcasts for magicians, so I thought that I would create one too, in order to help share my experience with others and to help them improve both their performance and their business.
Plus stick around until the end and there are a few bonus non-magician podcasts that I think are equally relevant podcasts for magicians.
OK, let's jump into some magicians podcasts and see what we can find. Here's the list.
- The Magician's Podcast
- The Magician's Advice Podcast
- Conjurer's Coffee Break Podcast
- Two Magician's One Mic Podcast
- Shezam Podcast
- Magical Thinking Podcast
- How Magician's Think Podcast
Bonuses
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The Magician's Podcast
If you're after the big names, then this is one for you. There are interviews here with the likes of Derren Brown, Piff the Magic Dragon, Teller (from Penn and Teller) and David Copperfield.
These in depth one on one interviews are usually about 40 minutes to 1 hour long, and offer a fascinating insight into the careers of some of our industry's top professionals.
It is left up to you to extrapolate the learning from those podcasts, but these are entertaining and informative episodes.
Danny Buckler is a comedian who used to do magic, he still does magic from time to time however his real talent lies in the unplanned. Some people have gone as far to say that Danny is the UK version of David Williamson, even David himself bought Danny a coffee many years ago to talk about his style and future. On this Podcast Danny tells us all about that encounter with Williamson, his time performing on BBC1 on Saturday nights and the heart breaking story of the dream gig that got away.
My comment: If you ever get the chance to see Danny live, do it! You won't regret it!
The Magician's Advice Podcast
The similarly named Magicians Advice Podcast is run by two magician friends of mine, Phil Taylor and Ian Brennan. It also includes interviews with magicians, but these tend to be UK based magicians, with a few international guest stars sprinkled throughout. Plus there are some episodes featuring just the hosts giving their opinion.
The episodes are I think perhaps slightly more suited to someone breaking into professional performing, but there are certainly episodes that I've taken a lot from, and I do listen to this podcast regularly.
Rob talks about how he has progressed in his career and is now stepping out of Close Up Magic and looking to the future in other avenues. Listen in and find out the highs and lows of close up magic, and more about why Rob is changing his direction and moving off in different ways.
My comment: Definitely a lot of things I associate with in this episode!
Conjurer's Coffee Break Podcast
I've taken a different direction for my podcast. As they often say, when others zig, zag! Instead of longer form interviews, this is just me giving some "Jumping Off Points" (hey, what a great name for a magic lecture!) I describe it as ideas, opinions and advice all in the time it takes to take a coffee break. My episodes are usually 7 to 10 minutes long.
Are you performing magic or doing tricks? What's the difference? Which are you doing? Why do I think, one is better than the other? (Spoiler alert: It's magic!) And how can you achieve that higher level of impossibility and MAGIC in your routines!
My comment: From the initial run of episodes, this is one I'm really proud of, and has a message I definitely think is worth sharing.
Two Magicians, One Mic Podcast
This is one of the podcasts for magicians, that I only recently started listening to. I seemed to have missed the ship, first time round. That's an apt analogy, because listening to these episodes have taught me so much about a world, I only knew very little about - cruise ship magic. If that's a market you want to explore, then you 100% need to check out this podcast. It's hosted by Nick Pope and very often features, Simon Coronel who with a major in psychology, often takes the conversation into intellectual offshoots. I really enjoyed finding out more about a subject, and it reminded me about what I mentioned about the web of learning (i.e. how everything is connected).
I also really appreciate their openness about performing magic as a livelihood. Alongside the mundanity of packing a suitcase for overseas travel, they also talk about failure, depression, being wrong, and when performances don't match the standards you set for yourself. It's refreshing to hear that when so much of magic can often seem like bravado.
In this episode Simon and Nick have a ceremony to commemorate The House of Magic closing it’s doors, discuss more about China, gigs you do for pleasure vs. gigs for money, cruise ship gigs, zen philosophy, business side of magic vs personal side, hating the phrase, “Do what you love and never work a day in your life”, Rick and Morty season three, fandom culture, adjusting to an audience’s energy, taking compliments, YouTube criticism and much more!
My comment: I wasn't expecting this to be the episode I chose, but there's so much gold in here to seek out. The idea of a short iteration schedule is something I can draw parallels with stand up comedy. So many in that field get up and perform weekly, purely to get through the stage time as quickly as possible. Also, towards the end of the episode, Simon talks about finding the right energy with the audience. This is something I've heard described before as a facet of zen (ie. a state where the performance is neither strained or restrained). Something to aim for, I'm sure.
Shezam Podcast
The podcast that hopes to make itself obsolete! That's how hosts, Kayla Drescher and Carissa Hendrix describe this podcast. We all know that females in magic are in the minority, and so this podcast looks to highlight them, plus others who need to be advocated for. That's a great thing, and I hope they soon achieve their goal of not needing this podcast. Hopefully one day we won't have to say "female" magician, and can instead just say magician.
This podcast mostly takes the interview or chat format, and as well as highlighting specific performers, they also offer some incredibly useful advice. One word of warning, most episodes are what I would consider long, an hour and a half or more. Maybe line up one or two of these for a long road trip.
Kayla and Carisa have seen a lot of magic in the last few months and the same scripting problems keep coming up again and again. We’re sharing them here on this episode to help make your show better.
Most magicians perform routines that involve the use of audience volunteers. Considering how common this is you’d think we’d all be a little better at it, but alas, often we make mistakes. Here are five Kayla and Carisa have seen a lot lately and how to avoid them.
My comment: Lots to learn here, especially surrounding things that you might have picked up from other magicians and thought was OK but actually makes someone else feel uncomfortable. I also want to point you towards this page https://shezampod.com/lets-make-it-vanish/ which has a written list of words that should be switched out for something more appropriate.
Magical Thinking Podcast
This is another interview format podcast, and some of these are really long. The Steve Cohen episode is 3 hours and 34 minutes long! That's a long road trip if you're going to listen to it all in one go. I haven't had time yet to dive fully into this podcast, but here are a few episodes I'm excited to listen to, and just going off the names, I know will be crammed full of useful information.
How Magician's Think Podcast
Now this one is a little different. It's a podcast about magic, made for the general public. Joshua Jay delves into a variety of topics, from how magic works, to why we keep secrets. My only criticism would be that sometimes they repeat the same audio clips from previous episodes, which was disappointing in an other obviously high quality production. However, one thing I have to give credit for, is that these episodes are clearly well researched. I really enjoyed listening to these and would encourage you to check them out, and why not also share them with your (non magician) friends and family too.
When you see a great magician, it all looks so smooth and elegant. It’s what you don’t see that fools you. Often magic is just science in disguise. Joshua speaks with Professor of Public Understanding Richard Wiseman about the benefits of magic. Then Susana Martinez-Conde and Stephen Macnick share precisely what happens in our brains when we’re fooled. Finally, Jay explores how science is helping magicians create better miracles.
My comment: A fascinating look at how magic works at a scientific level. There's also some useful tips here that every magician could use to improve their show.
And here's the bonuses! While these aren't podcasts for magicians, I believe that there are some episodes within these podcasts that are relevant to what we do as magicians. Check them out. They are definitely worth having a listen to.
Here we go with the bonuses.
Comedian's Comedian Podcast
There's a lot to learn here from an art form that in many ways is very similar to magic, but also goes about things differently too! I've been exploring stand up comedy recently, and enjoyed noting the similarities and differences between magic and comedy.
The Daily Interaction Podcast
This might have been the first podcast I got into seriously listening to, and I can't remember how I found it. One thing is for sure, I've learnt a lot from these episodes. Many of them are focussed on business and life, and the balance between the two, and there are some things which are irrelevant to me (getting a promotion at work, for example) but I would recommend you listen to the highlighted episode below and then if you find that useful, explore all the others here:
https://www.prolificliving.com/prolific-living-media-official-page/
So there you go! Wow, that's a lot of listening content to keep you going for a while.
- Have I missed any great podcasts for magicians or on other topics?
- What are your favourite episodes from the podcasts listed?
- Also, where do you listen to podcasts? I tend to listen while I'm cooking, or on a long road trip.
Let me know your thoughts in the comments section below.
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