Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] Speaker A: Doctor Todd here. Before we start the interview, I just wanted to remind you to, like, comment and subscribe so you never miss another episode. There's lots more on the way and we can't wait for you to be a part of it.
[00:00:10] Speaker B: This is Rachel Wax and you are listening to the Magicians Workshop podcast with dentist Dr. Todd.
[00:00:29] Speaker A: I recently got a chance to sit down with Rachel Wax, an absolutely fantastic professional magician in New York. Her story is amazing. She's amazing. So here is the interview that we had with Rachel Wax, professional magician. I'm going to introduce you and then I'm going to ask you some questions, if that's okay.
[00:00:45] Speaker B: Amazing. Me and Kiwi are here and ready to answer.
[00:00:48] Speaker A: I'm so excited. All right, on today's episode, we have Rachel Wax and Kiwi, the most adorable pug of all time, and they're going to talk to us about magic. Yay. Thanks for coming on.
[00:01:01] Speaker B: Thanks for having us. We're both so excited to be here.
[00:01:06] Speaker A: I want to talk a little bit about your origin story. What's your earliest memory of magic?
[00:01:13] Speaker B: Cool. So I got into magic a little bit later than some other folks. I got into it when I was like 15.
So my dad does magic.
He does magic professionally now, but he always did it on the side. He was doctor and he always did it for my friends and stuff. And I was never that interested in learning it. And then we were at a wedding and he was doing magic for all these people at the wedding and they were all like screaming and laughing and having an amazing time. And I was like, I want some attention. So he taught me like a self working card trick and I turned around and did it, I'm sure, terribly. But that is like what kind of had me hooked was that after that wedding I was like, oh, this is great. And it was always like a side thing for me until. So I was in fashion, I went to school for fashion and I worked in fashion for a bunch of years.
And then two years ago, I quit fashion to be a full time magician, which was definitely the right choice, albeit a very scary one.
But yeah, that's kind of my origin story.
[00:02:32] Speaker A: Wow. And what was your. What kind of doctor was your dad?
[00:02:38] Speaker B: He was a pediatric cardiologist.
So he would, he would specifically do catheterization on babies.
[00:02:50] Speaker A: So I can see why he wanted to become a magician instead. That sounds very stressful.
[00:02:56] Speaker B: I've definitely seen him get very stressed about going to a gig. And I want to be like, how, how is this like, just comparatively like, that's so goofy. Like, you saved babies for 30 years. And he's like, what if this trick doesn't work?
[00:03:12] Speaker A: And I'm like, who cares, yo? What if they see that pass? What am I gonna do?
[00:03:18] Speaker B: Relax.
My dad had a really big collection, has, I mean, he still does a really big collection of books and, and DVDs and stuff. And he would teach me things. And again, it was really like a side hobby for me. I wasn't, I wasn't doing any super deep dives into magic at the time because I just. Fashion was really my main focus at that time. But I really got the performing bug.
I think I probably had it, but I, that really is what I clung on to.
[00:03:58] Speaker A: What, what got you into fashion.
[00:04:00] Speaker B: So I, I've always been artsy. Like, I always was drawing a lot as a kid and painting and I was always into arts and crafts. And my mom, in her very Jewish manner was like, okay, how does this, how is this a job though?
So I don't know. I think maybe it was that she taught me how to sew and I really loved sewing. And then maybe that turned into fashion. I think it like kind of spiraled from there. And I was good at. I mean, I really loved it and I. She sent me to all the like summer programs at different colleges and got me a sewing teacher. Like, really went hard and I went to college for it and I really loved it. And I worked in fashion for a couple years and yeah, great. Like, I loved working in fashion. It just, it's not, it's not a good industry long term.
Like, it's really.
There's not a lot of upward mobility and all of the jobs kind of suck.
[00:04:58] Speaker A: And is it like Devil Wears Prada? Like, is it, is that legit?
[00:05:02] Speaker B: You know what? Some of the high end companies kind of are and like, so if you work at one of those lower end companies, you have a better work life balance. But you know, they're always firing people, they're always reorgang, they're. It's just, it's just kind of a nightmare and there's not really any creativity in it.
Like, I feel like most of my creative juice was going towards magic and I was starting to actually make a living at it. And I was like, okay, if I can actually support myself doing this, I will, I will try. And it was the. Definitely the best decision I ever made.
[00:05:37] Speaker A: What kind of jobs are you getting?
[00:05:40] Speaker B: So at that time, I was basically burning the candle at both ends on the sides, just mashing it into the fire. And I I just hit a point where I was like, first of all, something bad is going to happen to my body. And second of all, I'm not growing in either field at this point. I'm doing fine in both.
And if I want to excel at one of them, I kind of have to drop the other.
And. And I, you know, fashion also, it's, it's really stagnant. It can be really stagnant income wise and whatever. And I, you know, I'm very lucky to be part of Speakeasy Magic. It's a huge reason why I was able to make the jump to full time magician.
But it was great. And once I quit, I was able to like, work on so much new material and learn more and practice more and all that jazz, which I definitely wouldn't have been able to do if I hadn't quit fashion.
[00:06:45] Speaker A: And what is, what is Speakeasy magic?
[00:06:49] Speaker B: So Speakeasy is a show in New York City.
It's produced by the same people who produced Sleep no more at the McKittrick Hotel, if you've ever heard of it. Fabulous show. It just closed after like 13 years. Really amazing immersive theater.
So that company really brought in the high production value of Sleep no More to create Speakeasy magic. And Speakeasy is a show where you get to see a few different magicians. I don't want to give away too much, but you get to see some different types of magic. And not only is the magic great, and they've really curated us as a cast because we all have very different styles of performing, but outside of that, it's a really beautiful experience. Like, they're really good at creating vibes, if you will, and making it immersive and cool and interesting and having every moment be sort of surprising and exciting and attractive. And it's also very secretive. You know, you can't take photos, you can't take video. It's really word of mouth based because people leave and then they go, oh, my God, I have to tell everybody. And people come back again and again with their co workers, with a date, with friends, and that's so special. I mean, that's really like such a.
Just amazing that it's been created and it's still. It's been going for about. About six years.
[00:08:28] Speaker A: Wow.
[00:08:29] Speaker B: Yeah. Which is kind of crazy. I don't know that anyone thought it was gonna last this long.
[00:08:35] Speaker A: Is that long in New York?
[00:08:37] Speaker B: Yeah. I mean, you know, Sleep no More also, I think they thought was gonna be a couple weeks when they started it and ran for 13 years.
There's lots of wonderful, wonderful shows in New York. Some have lasted a very long time. Some are sort of short lived, which isn't even necessarily a bad thing.
But there is definitely like, there is some staying power to it. And I think part of that is because it has.
Is because you can come back multiple times and you get a slightly different experience and you bring your friends, you bring your co workers in a way that maybe a Broadway show isn't. You know, how many times will you see the same Broadway show partially where the staying power comes from and just the quality being high.
[00:09:25] Speaker A: Do you, do you, how often do you change your act when you, when you perform there?
[00:09:31] Speaker B: So none of us change our acts drastically because we all, we can't have overlapping material.
And we also have very much built our acts to be great in that room.
It's a, it's close up, but it's not really formal. It's really rowdy. You know, every audience group is different. So we've all really built our acts and a lot of our acts play off of each other.
So when, when I do make a change, a lot of thought goes into it. It's not just like, oh, here, this new trick came out, I want to try it. You're going, okay. Is anyone else doing anything similar to this? Does this fit into the timing of my act? How does this affect the other routines in my act? Like, it really, we really take a lot of time to think and discuss with each other when someone introduces something new into their. And my act has changed a lot. I mean, I don't think I'm doing any of the same routines exactly that I did at the beginning of the show, but those have been slow changes over time.
[00:10:46] Speaker A: Is that where you do Nightmare with the chords? I saw that on the Internet. I love what you did with that track.
[00:10:54] Speaker B: Thank you. Yeah, I. So actually when I started at speakeasy, I was just doing regular Professor's Nightmare with ropes and some moves from fiber optics.
And I just sort of felt like it didn't, it didn't really fit my character. I really love rote magic and my dad does rote magic and I remember watching it when I was a kid and being mesmerized by it, but there's no reason for me to have rope. It's just, it doesn't really fit and it opens the door for like a lot of really misogynistic comments and whatever.
So I was kind of like, how do I do this trick without doing.
[00:11:36] Speaker A: This trick for anyone? Listening. Who doesn't know what professor's nightmare is? You have three lengths of rope and they become one rope. Then you separate it. It's a classic, but it makes no sense out of context because who carries around pieces of rope, right?
So what you did is you took something that we all recognize, chargers for cell phones, and you did that act with it. And I watched it and I was like, yeah, that makes sense. I wonder what you can do with linking rings, because those still make no sense to me.
[00:12:07] Speaker B: Totally. I mean, totally. And it took a long time to develop the prop too, because they can't be regular phone chargers because they. The silicone or the rubber doesn't slide together. I mean, there's a million reasons, but it definitely took a long time to develop. But I. I love doing it. I have so many jokes built into that routine. It allows for so much audience play.
And that's what I really love when I work on a routine is like building a really strong foundation that I can play on top of.
[00:12:38] Speaker A: I don't know how you would describe your character, but it fits with what you're doing.
[00:12:43] Speaker B: Yeah, the act I did on Penn and Teller, that routine I still do all the time. It's a different setup now. It's a better setup. I think it was a setup that I offered to them and they didn't think it was quite right for the show. But I am that sort of sassy, abrasive, you know, kind of bitchy, very comedy based type of character. And, yeah, that's sort of what I do at speakeasy. And it's also what I do when I work on stage.
You know, obviously I couldn't really swear for Penn and Teller or, you know, work too blue or have a lot of audience participation. You know, there's a lot of stuff about. About doing magic on tv, which is why it's not really my preferred way to do it. I really love doing and I hated zoom magic for the same reason. I just felt I couldn't really get that same audience connection and audience interaction that I love so much about working live. And I have so much respect for people who had amazing zoom shows. I mean, what a crazy.
[00:13:50] Speaker A: When did you decide to move from doing that routine with cards to using money?
[00:13:54] Speaker B: So I think, and I. I might be mistaken. I believe I was doing with it with cards.
And then they didn't want it. The producers were like, can it not be a card trick?
And so I played with doing it with money. And I worked with some of the folks that I work with. At speakeasy on. You know, I don't know if you know Mark Calabrese. He was a huge help.
[00:14:21] Speaker A: I have his lot. Penguin Live lecture. I am addicted to Penguin Live lectures, and I saw him on there.
[00:14:25] Speaker B: Yeah, he's amazing, and he's very creative about method, so he was able to help me figure out the method for that. So that's when it switched to money. Because of. I think it was because of show. They didn't want more card tricks. And I'm so glad, you know, because now I do it with money, and it's the money gun. And I. I may have even been putting cards in the money gun for a while. It's gone through so many iterations, and I'm really happy with where it is now.
Now I do this. It's like a bachelorette thing, and I dress up the person I bring on stage, and it's really chaotic and goofy. But, yeah, that routine has definitely changed a lot over time.
[00:15:06] Speaker A: Yeah. I recommend watching you on your YouTube page. You get the spectator dressed up. Your. The trick is great, but the performance is really good. I don't usually laugh out loud when I watch Penn and Teller, but when they gave you the code words and you say, yeah, got me. That was the funniest part of that show. That was so good. What. What take was that? Did you know that you take.
[00:15:32] Speaker B: I wasn't expect. I wasn't planning on doing that. I wasn't expecting to do that.
I think that what happened was that. So I was not expecting to fool them. A lot of people really talk themselves into thinking they're going to fool them, and some people do, and that's amazing, and that's great. I don't think that that's the number one reason to go on the show. You go on the show because it's a cool experience, and you get to sort of showcase your talent, and you get a great clip. Maybe you get some pull quotes.
And it's a great. And it's a great exercise in figuring out a trick that'll work in that setting. But I wasn't gonna fool them, so I was like, I'm just gonna go and do me.
And, you know, people ask me, like, how I was relax. And, I mean, they make a pill for that. You take a Xanax, like, 45 minutes before. You know what I mean? Like, grow up. But I. You know, I felt very relaxed and, like, what are they gonna do? So they'll cut it. They'll do a retake. But I.
I just I. I slid into the cockier version of my character for a second and then Pen started laughing. So I just kept going.
Like. I wasn't planning on saying that I was, but it just kind of came out.
[00:16:57] Speaker A: It was so good.
[00:16:58] Speaker B: It was really fun. That was the best. Like the whole experience was stressful because I was so nervous. But that was like worth it for all of it.
[00:17:06] Speaker A: Yeah, that was, that was good. That's how you. That's how you actually win the show.
[00:17:11] Speaker B: I think I was on. I was on. I think it was Sunday school or like he had met. I wasn't on it, but he had, he had mentioned it on his Sunday Sunday School podcast and titled the episode Condescension Fetish, which is, I mean, pretty great. I. Yeah.
[00:17:32] Speaker A: When I talked to Brielle, she mentioned that you help her with her outfit. Did you guys know each other or meet or figure that out?
[00:17:38] Speaker B: So we don't know each other well, we.
So she's in Chicago, where I'm from, so we have some folks in common. And she just, she reached out to me and asked. She was like, can I get advice on my. Cuz I had already done Fool Us.
So she was like, can I get some outfit advice? And I was like, of course.
You know, cuz you're. They also they make you send them your outfit because I, I'm sure they've had people come on in ridiculous clothing. So, you know, and she looked amazing and, and whatever. But I, I was happy to offer, you know, any advice and any help I could.
[00:18:16] Speaker A: I guess for, for you, that's. That's really good advice because you have all the, you have all the education to kind of know the trends.
[00:18:24] Speaker B: Yeah. Right. And also just, you know, when it's a TV thing, you don't want it to feel super dated. So you can use the video for a long time and you know, certain things don't look good on camera and whatever.
[00:18:36] Speaker A: Oh, I didn't even think about that.
[00:18:38] Speaker B: Yeah. Like if you wear something super trendy, it looks dated and you want to use that video for a while. Like.
[00:18:46] Speaker A: Yeah. Because you are. That You're Magix fashion expert.
[00:18:49] Speaker B: I guess I would love that. If anyone thought that about me, I would love that.
[00:18:53] Speaker A: Well, I mean, I, I don't know anyone else. I did, I did want to ask because this is something I struggle with is I don't know what to wear. In the beginning you dress like a wizard and then everybody dressed in evening wear and now you wear T shirts. Like how do you know what works?
[00:19:11] Speaker B: My Advice is, is that you can't go wrong with a good and simple suit. No one is going to think anything of if you get a black suit, a navy suit, a gray suit that fits you well, no one is going to think twice about it. I just think there's, you know, if you, if you have really strong preferences, you can, you can follow those, but you definitely run the risk being overdressed, underdressed, etc. And if you can really match that vibe with your Persona, then that's great and amazing. But if you, if you feel lost, go simple. Wear a white button up shirt, go to suit supply, have them do it made to order so that the suit actually fits and call it a day. Like, I just think that overthinking it can create mistakes and also be comfortable. Does it have enough pockets for all of your material? When you're walking around at a gig, is it comfortable? Are you sweating a lot in it? You know, and so I think being comfortable and looking sharp is, is a really good baseline to go with.
You know, there are some trendier folks who can go more casual and I think that's awesome. But if you, if you are unsure, go with a suit.
[00:20:32] Speaker A: Okay, let's talk about audience management. Where did you learn to control a crowd?
[00:20:44] Speaker B: It's not that I learned in one place, but I think of it more as something that is just you build up over time and you never stop learning. You know, I obviously as a woman I get different sorts of heckling than my male counterparts.
And you know, I've made mistakes in audience control. I, you know, I still make mistakes sometimes in audience control.
Learning how you are perceived is really important.
You know, for a long time I was like very self deprecating and a friend of mine was like, you're like a good looking young person. It makes people uncomfortable when you do that. But that all. And I've also been too mean and people don't really like that from a woman either. And, or you really like men, get away with making sort of flirtatious comments and like if I do that it sends a very different message.
So all of that has been just working a lot and I try to audio record performances so that I can go back and listen to them and just in general try to like look at your audience's faces and how they are reacting to you and trying to figure out how you're perceived is really important, which is something that I'm always trying to figure out, you know, and I think it's something that changes with time and Changes with material and changes with setting. And so I think just practice kind of makes perfect on that. Although maybe it's never perfect.
Even at Speakeasy, all of us handle audiences differently.
[00:22:33] Speaker A: What is your best memory of an audience interaction that went really well?
[00:22:44] Speaker B: Oh, you know what? Can I give you a recent one?
[00:22:47] Speaker A: Absolutely.
[00:22:49] Speaker B: So I started doing this drink production at Speakeasy. It's the. It's a Leonard. It's the Leonard Green. He has an empty glass, and then a cloth goes over it, and then it's full. It's full of beer. And I do it with a cocktail, and I'm doing it for myself. Like, I'm making myself a drink, but at the. At the last group of the night, I make someone else a drink. And so what I do is I try to figure out what people are drinking at the table beforehand so I can prepare, you know, whatever.
And some. It. It's tough because sometimes I go, oh, what were you drinking? And they go, oh, I had this. Or, oh, I don't remember, or whatever. And it's kind of not helpful. But the other day, I said to this guy, what are you drinking? And he said, a gin and tonic. He said, why do you want to give me a refill? And then I gave him the refill, and it was just, oh, God, you can't. It's so. You know, and I try to re. I want. I am constantly trying to recreate that moment, but it was so organic and so easy, and I didn't even have to say, do you want another one? Like, he just. He just went, gin and tonic. Why do you want to give me a refill? And then I gave it to. I mean, that's real magic. That's the ham sandwich thing. Yeah. I could use a hand sandwich right now. And you could snap your fingers and make one appear. That's real magic, right?
[00:24:11] Speaker A: That's as. That's as good as it could ever get. And that's when they pick the.
[00:24:15] Speaker B: Right. Out of the day ordered, you know, it's, like, unbelievable. Oh, that was so good. That was recent, but that was.
I loved that.
[00:24:25] Speaker A: Awesome. So how big are the groups that use. So was that. Is that, like, a pretty small venue when you're able to do that?
[00:24:33] Speaker B: So each group is. Is about 10 people.
[00:24:36] Speaker A: Oh, wow. So it's real. You're real close up.
[00:24:38] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:24:41] Speaker A: What do you have a memory of the worst interaction that you've had with a spectator?
[00:24:47] Speaker B: Maybe like, okay, okay, here's a good one.
It was a couple years ago at speakeasy. There was a couple, and she seemed very. I don't know, she. Like, she felt like since she had bought the tickets, she was owed whatever she wanted. And I sat down, and when I sit down, I say, hi. How are you guys doing? You know, I. I say a few sentences, I introduce myself, and she goes, can you just get to the magic?
And I was like, yeah, in a second. And she was like, I mean, I'm paying you. And it was so cutting and so nasty. Like, it just. It felt like it wasn't playful. Like, sometimes men say sexist stuff and there is playfulness behind it. This felt so malicious and like that. Like, I still remember that years later. It just felt so nasty.
[00:25:43] Speaker A: That's wildly uncomfortable.
[00:25:45] Speaker B: Yeah, right? And then everyone at the table is uncomfortable, and they're all kind of sitting there like, what is she gonna do next? And, you know, it's not great.
[00:25:56] Speaker A: Like, no, that's not. And if you want to hear about more terrible things that people have said to Rachel, make sure to stay tuned. Yeah, so. But you did talk about. You talked on Penn and Teller about your support, the Magnets. Tell me a little bit about that.
[00:26:13] Speaker B: Oh. When I first moved to New York for college, I had gotten a job selling magic kits for Phantasma Magic. I don't even know. I think they still have a website. I don't think they have.
[00:26:26] Speaker A: They exist. Yeah, they do.
[00:26:27] Speaker B: Yeah. I was selling magic kits in Toys R Us and FAO Schwartz, and I met some of the folks who worked for Marvin's Magic, which was, like, direct competitor. So I got. I mean, I got poached, and only because we were friendly, not because I was good at sales, because I was really crazy bad at sales. But all the guys who worked for Marvin's were all magicians who were part of a group called the Magnets. It's run by Eli Bosnik. And it's just. It's just a group of folks who meet up once a week to shoot the shit and talk magic and hang out. And so I started hanging out with them, and, you know, I felt very welcome, and no one was gross to me, and it was really lovely. And I'm still really close with a bunch of them. And. And at the time, they were running a show called A Taste of Magic, which was like a dinner theater show. And it was. It was a. The show was really created to give young magicians flight time, and that's what it did. And I really cut my teeth quite a bit there and gave me a lot of performing opportunities. It doesn't matter who you are or, or how. How much magic, you know, even. Any. Any. Anybody of any level is. Is welcome. And it's a very open space. But if you are making other people uncomfortable, that's it. That's. No, that. That's the only line is, I really.
[00:27:59] Speaker A: Want to talk about Mystify, because that's coming up and you're kind of headlining that.
[00:28:02] Speaker B: Yeah. I'm so excited. I don't know if I'm headlining, but I'm.
[00:28:05] Speaker A: Well, you're the. You're the second page. You know, it's Karissa Hendricks and it's Rachel Wax. Like, those are the. You're the two biggest things on the.
[00:28:12] Speaker B: That is true. That is true.
[00:28:15] Speaker A: That is a headline.
[00:28:17] Speaker B: You are correct. Yes, that is. That is true. Yes.
[00:28:21] Speaker A: Can you can explain to anybody that's listening what the Mystify Magic Festival is?
[00:28:26] Speaker B: Yes. So the Mystify Festival is meant to be the first magic convention that is centered around non white CIS male magicians. It's meant to be the first real, safe space magic convention. If you are not a straight white man, you've probably had an unpleasant experience at a magic convention once in your life, and this is sort of meant to be the total opposite of that. So almost all of the performers are women, and it's run by women. And it's gonna be a very safe and wonderful space. But anybody of any gender is welcome to come.
It's meant to be a very inclusive celebration and festival and convention of magic.
[00:29:13] Speaker A: I think that's crazy that this is the first time this has happened. So where can we see Rachel Wax?
[00:29:20] Speaker B: You can see me at Speakeasy Magic every Tuesday through Sunday, every week, maybe forever.
And you can follow me at Rachel waxmagic. And if you'd like to follow my pug, she is at Kiwi, the Puggy with Underscores.
[00:29:40] Speaker A: So thank you, Rachel Wax, for coming on the show. Go visit her at Mystify. If you can still get tickets, good luck with that. And go to New York just for her. And scene.
[00:29:50] Speaker B: And scene.
