Here are four reasons why your gambling effects suck. On online magic forums, I hear magicians preach that audiences want magic effects and that gambling effects are boring. I believe this stems from these magicians trying out some gambling material and it bombs. So now they have “experience” and therefore, in their mind, their opinion is valid. (And, then there’s […] The post Four Reasons Why Your Gambling Effects Suck appeared first on Jason Ladanye ..read more

In the very end of 2019, I was working a walk-around show and I had a great opportunity to get inside the minds of two spectators. As these are the people we’re constantly trying to fool, it’s a huge advantage to get inside their minds and see what they’re actually thinking. And, what they’re actually thinking may be different than […] The post Whose Card Trick Was Better? appeared first on Jason Ladanye ..read more

When did you realize you knew nothing about magic? I can remember lots of times during my journey through learning magic when all of the sudden I realized that I knew nothing. I started learning magic at the age of seven. I read as many card magic books as I could. I learned about ten to fifteen card tricks that […] The post When Did You Realize You Knew Nothing? appeared first on Jason Ladanye ..read more

As magicians, we operate in two realities: what we are doing and what the spectator’s are seeing. It’s so important to be able to fully understand and comprehend both scenarios to help become a better magician. There are so many performances that I’ve seen that I can tell the performer never really put themselves in the audience’s shoes. Let’s break […] The post Lens of the Spectator appeared first on Jason Ladanye ..read more

I recently did a podcast with Discourse in Magic and one of the many topics that came up was scripting. So, I’d like to share my thoughts on the topic for this blog. By the way, you can listen to the entire podcast here. My first point is that if you want your presentations to be the best they can […] The post Script Your Magic appeared first on Jason Ladanye ..read more

Here we are, almost into the fourth month of quarantine and there’s still no sign of normal live performances on the horizon. I’ve seen quite a few magicians turning toward the new virtual platform. At first, I wasn’t that interested in making the switch. My act is strongest with physical interaction and the energy created by a venue filled with […] The post Virtual Shows appeared first on Jason Ladanye ..read more

First of all, I don’t perform for children. The material I do just isn’t a good fit for kids. That doesn’t mean though that I haven’t been at an event where there are a few kids running around. So, here’s one situation that I’ll never forget. I was hired to perform walk-around magic for a corporate event in NYC. The […] The post Can’t Win Them All appeared first on Jason Ladanye ..read more

I’ve seen a lot of posts on social media posts talking about how to handle your time during the Covid-19 pandemic. I’ve seen posts that suggest that you must be super productive so you come out ahead when this thing is over. Other posts say that you should take a huge break from work and sit back and relax. So, […] The post Covid 19 appeared first on Jason Ladanye ..read more

Here’s a question I get quite often: What do I do about dry hands? I know the issue that some magicians are talking about. You go to do an overhand shuffle and your thumb just slides across the top card like glass on glass. Suddenly, you’ve lost all your magical powers because of your dry hands, what do you do? […] The post Hand Care appeared first on Jason Ladanye ..read more

In the past few years, I’ve performed at quite a few magic conventions, from MAES, Magic Live, The Session, and Magi-fest to The Assembly in Australia and Abbott’s in Michigan. However, my most recent convention appearance was quite different. I had the pleasure of lecturing and performing in the gala show for Scott Robinson’s TRICS convention. This is a smaller […] The post TRICS 2019 appeared first on Jason Ladanye ..read more