Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] Speaker A: Welcome to the Magician's Workshop, the show where we dive into the minds and hearts of the world's most captivating magician. Today's guest is a true trailblazer. Jade is not only an award winning magician, but a powerful performer who brings grace, emotion and cultural depth to her work. She's the first woman and the first Asian magician to win the IBM Gold medal of Magic and has inspired countless performers worldwide. She's won the prestigious Mandrake Award and Slate magazine has called her probably the most famous female magician working today. Jade, welcome to the show.
[00:00:32] Speaker B: Thank you for having me, Todd.
[00:00:34] Speaker A: Oh, it's a pleasure. I'm kind of a little bit of a fanboy and I can really quantify it in what I like. What I've always liked is I love theater.
[00:00:46] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:00:47] Speaker A: When you perform, really, your movements are so theatrical and so graceful that it really stands out.
I watched on the Craig Ferguson show, the Late Late and Penn and Teller, you just are so, like, your performance is so clean and it's really, really good.
But thank you. No, thanks for coming on again. I know you were just at Magic Live in Las Vegas. I want to first ask, what was that like? I'm kind of jealous.
[00:01:19] Speaker B: All right. Well, I did not stay the whole time. I was just hanging out with the friends and reconnecting, you know, that's. I realized, going to FISM and Magic Life, that the best part of a magic invention, other than seeing amazing magic and learning new things, the best part is to connect with the people worldwide. They are all from all over the world coming here to Vegas.
So that was super fun. Same thing in fism. What I remember most is, oh, the times we had dinner and we laughed and we had these jokes and the things that we saw. That is what culminates in my mind about the experience other than being totally fatigued by 9pm but you gotta keep going because it goes till midnight.
[00:02:07] Speaker A: That's crazy.
[00:02:08] Speaker B: I know.
[00:02:09] Speaker A: Yeah. I hear magic inventions. I have, believe it or not, I haven't gone to one yet, which is my great shame. Yeah, My first one's gonna be in December. No, I'm sorry. In a couple weeks. And D.C. they're having one magic whirlwind and it's gonna have Chris at.
[00:02:25] Speaker B: Okay, sure.
[00:02:26] Speaker A: Yeah, it's. I'm really excited, even though it's really small. But I think for me, that's gonna be good because it kind of gets me into it a little bit. It's gonna be a little bit easier to dip my toe in with.
[00:02:37] Speaker B: Not so many people Yes, I totally agree. And you know what? Small, intimate conventions are actually a whole lot more fun. You get to slow down.
It's not so frenzied. And connect with the people and ease yourself into being a convention goer.
[00:02:57] Speaker A: Right. Oh, good. Okay. So I'm making the right decision. Cause I was like, oh, man, I'd love to go to Magic live, but that is a lot for me.
[00:03:04] Speaker B: My God. No, I remember last year when I went. I skipped out on one of the shows. I said, nah, I just can't. I'm gonna skip that show. It was Ben Seidman's show. And then everybody said how great it was, and then I banged my way back to it the next day.
[00:03:20] Speaker A: Awesome.
[00:03:20] Speaker B: Yeah. You just can't miss out. It's so hard.
[00:03:24] Speaker A: Yeah, yeah.
Let's talk about you.
I would love to know. Now, I've read your bio, but for anyone who hasn't gotten a chance to yet, I want to know. What was your very first encounter with magic?
[00:03:37] Speaker B: Believe it or not, it was when I started working at the magic shop.
I was 17, and I thought it was time to find a job. Originally, it was the world of the unexplained museum, and I was a teller. But like three or four months into the job, they said, oh, the museum's closing. It had become the Guinness World Records. But the magic shop that you come out of will still be open. Do you want a job?
And I thought, yeah, I want a job. I didn't know anything about magic until then. And they gave me the cups and balls, the ball and vase, and the hot rod to practice at the till when I was at the museum. And that was the first time, really. You know what?
Oftentimes I look back and I think, what if I never got my job working at the museum into the magic shop? What if I never did that? Where would I be today? Or was it just fate that I would end up being a magician? Nobody ever dreams. I don't know. Maybe you did, but I never dream.
[00:04:44] Speaker A: I dreamed a lot of things, but I don't think that was one of them.
[00:04:46] Speaker B: I certainly never thought anything of that sort. I thought I would grow up and have a quote, unquote, real job nine to five, like everybody else. And, you know, I did go through college and got a degree in case magic didn't work. It was an insurance just to show, hey, I'm really smart enough to do this job. Look at my degree, all right? It's one of those things that I would encourage my children. Just get a degree.
It may look like it's all glamorous and fun and adventurous. And at the same time, there are times when you're hungry because the calls aren't coming in, and your check depends on those calls coming in.
So it's a very iffy, iffy existence. And I'm just happy looking back, how wonderfully lucky I was to have had all these opportunities. So, anyway, that's my answer. I have. It was just working at the magic shop and my first job, basically.
[00:05:48] Speaker A: Wow. And about what. At what point did you. Were you all in? Were you. Pretty much soon after. You're like, I'm gonna do this professionally. I'm gonna. I'm gonna go around the world and do magic.
[00:05:59] Speaker B: I think when I won the gold medal, which was not it, when I went to compete, it was not to win it, but to see where I stood among the magicians.
And by surprise, I won the gold medal. And there's a. Here's a little bit of a back history on that, because a friend of mine that was in the quote, unquote, war room when they had to decide if Jade deserves first place only or the gold medal. Because even now, in the, I think, 25 years since it started. No, wait, hold on. 1980, Lance Burton was the first one.
[00:06:36] Speaker A: Wow.
[00:06:36] Speaker B: So it's been a long time.
[00:06:38] Speaker A: Yeah. It's prestigious, though.
[00:06:40] Speaker B: And so only a handful of gold medals have been passed out.
[00:06:45] Speaker A: How do they know? They know when it's going to be a gold medal versus just like is.
Are they just decide on the spot, like, okay, this is going to be a gold medal performance.
[00:06:55] Speaker B: Right. So here's what I heard. So Blackstone was one of the judges.
Blackstone Jr. Was one of the judges.
And there were other people. I don't know who the other people were, but my report from my friend that was in, quote, unquote, the war room, they were all saying, yes, but she did all the classic magic.
But Blackstone Jr. Said, yes, but have you seen them done as well as she had done? And he said all that, say, yay. They all said yay. So I got the goal.
[00:07:28] Speaker A: That's amazing. Wow. What an honor.
[00:07:30] Speaker B: I know.
[00:07:31] Speaker A: That's nuts.
[00:07:32] Speaker B: I know. And so to hear what had happened inside the room when they had to decide, is it worthy of a gold medal or is it just first place?
That's a tough call.
And I think in some ways, in my mind, is that they weren't expecting a woman to come along and do the things that I did. That and also maybe the magic I Presented. Were presented in a way that has always been performed by men.
So it looked different. So I had. I danced, I moved. I didn't just present magic. I moved on stage. So the gracefulness and the motion. Why am I doing a motion? There was always a reason.
And Jamie Swiss gave me the best compliment. He said, you have to. You moved. You moved minimally to accomplish what you need to do with grace and elegance. And so I. Wow. Thank you, Jamie.
[00:08:37] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:08:38] Speaker B: Yeah. He's very critical if you know how Jamie is.
[00:08:41] Speaker A: Yeah. I've never met him personally, but I've watched a lot of his books, and I've listened to a lot of his.
And one of his mentees I've interviewed. Yeah, he does not. He does not give out praise willy nilly, that's for sure.
So.
[00:08:53] Speaker B: Yes, I know. So that meant a lot to me. So, anyway, so that's when I won the gold medal, the award. One of the rewards for winning it was to make an appearance on NHK television in Japan and Tokyo.
[00:09:08] Speaker A: Wow.
[00:09:08] Speaker B: So they shipped me out there, and I remember asking Max, hey, is it all right? You know, he says, oh, don't worry about it. They all speak Japanese. He lied. No, no, he said, they. No, they all speak English.
[00:09:20] Speaker A: English.
[00:09:21] Speaker B: He said, they all speak English. Don't worry about it.
Yeah, no, nobody spoke English. It was.
Yeah, I had a translation way back then. It was 1990.
I had to use the dictionary to do translations and try to communicate with people. We didn't have the.
What is it? What is it? A trans.
[00:09:43] Speaker A: Yeah, like instant translation.
[00:09:46] Speaker B: Yeah, yeah, the trans. Google Translate. We did not have that back then. Yeah, old style. So those were fun times. And after that, I thought, hey, this is great. I'm gonna do more of this. And so one thing led to another. Remember, I was working at the Magic Castle, and Veronin was working as well with me in the Palace Theater. And I said, hey, Veronan, you know, I. I really would like to do more shows, and I love to go work in Europe. He gave me a list of his contacts, agents. And I remember after I won the gold medal in 1990, I went and competed in FISM 1991 in Lausanne. And the truth is, I didn't place at all in Lausanne.
But one of the agents in Verona's list, I faxed all these agents, and only one responded. And he says, I remember you. I saw you at fsm and I thought, are you kidding me? There were like 300 contestants.
He must have sat through. Luckily, my part of it.
Anyway, he booked me all through Europe. And I had years of performance like that. And so it was one thing from Japan and then to Europe.
And then I remember thinking, you know, I already did. Started to do corporate shows. So I had a few magic illusions. And then I thought, well, why don't I just do some cruise ships?
And out of the blue I get a call from. I forget, could be NCL or one of the cruise ships.
They said another magician recommended you. Would you be interested in doing, I don't know, three months?
It was in the Hawaiian Islands. It would cruise. It was. I know. And I said, absolutely. So that was my beginning. Just funny how things work out.
[00:11:37] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:11:37] Speaker B: One thing led to another. Yeah.
[00:11:40] Speaker A: Wow. How much of your. This is just a follow up question, but how much of your gold medal act was. Was it a silent act? Was there a lot of talking? Okay.
[00:11:48] Speaker B: No, no. Yeah. That's how became. That was why it was international because it was only eight minutes silent.
[00:11:56] Speaker A: Wow. Yeah. But that's crazy because, you know, if you do a silent act, you can perform anywhere.
[00:12:02] Speaker B: Absolutely no language barrier.
[00:12:06] Speaker A: What. What was so magic being. And I, I think the statistics are maybe 7% of magicians are women. How did you, did you feel welcomed into it? Was it an uphill climb? What did. What about kind of was different for you? Was in your experience different?
[00:12:24] Speaker B: I certainly didn't have a role model. I didn't know that.
So, of course my beginning outfit when I first started doing magic was pants and a short jacket.
Kind of like the guys, but pants. You know, it took me a while to figure out, hey, I'm a girl, I don't have to wear pants if I don't want to.
And I could be all feminine if I want to. But I also realized that after a while, I had already started doing.
I kept going to the Magic Castle to refine my act. And it was after about three and a half years or so of me performing at the Castle and then I competed at the IBM that I realized if I hadn't dressed the way I did, which was a traditional Chinese outfit that covered me from my neck down to my toes, I knew what the guys would be saying if I won anything.
[00:13:25] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:13:27] Speaker B: It was not because I had any talent, but it's because I showed off my assets and that's how I would get it. That's kind of got that feeling that's what would be coming towards me. So I did my act covered, not covered, but, you know, my traditional dress, there's nothing to see. I'm not showing. It's not tna. It's just, it's an act. Focus on the act.
[00:13:53] Speaker A: And like your. Was that like what you wore during the Late Late Show?
[00:13:58] Speaker B: Yes, correct. Correct.
[00:13:59] Speaker A: Okay. So by the way, you can find that on the Internet. It's a really great act. May. I'll talk about it in a bit. But yes. So you. That's that kind of that blue dress from your neck to your toes.
[00:14:08] Speaker B: That's right. That's right. And the quick change that you saw came about because at some point in my career, early on, after I won the gold medal, the Canadian tour was taking place. It was happening. And they said, jade, you have a 20 minute act, don't you? And I said, yeah, BS. No way. Did not have a 20 minute act.
But this is what magicians always say. The answer is always yes.
[00:14:34] Speaker A: I've heard that so many times where it's like, yes, of course I do. And it's not even close.
[00:14:39] Speaker B: I know. So what I realized is I thought I don't have another three and a half years to put into another, you.
[00:14:47] Speaker A: Know.
[00:14:49] Speaker B: Whatever, to make it 12 more minutes. It's too much time. So I thought, well, I have to talk.
Well, how do I talk in my Chinese dress? I can't do that.
That doesn't fit, you know.
So I thought, I have to do a quick change and I have to figure out how to do a quick change. Because back then there were notebooks and no one would tell me how to do one.
[00:15:11] Speaker A: Wow.
[00:15:11] Speaker B: No one would tell me.
I had to figure out a way to make mine work.
And Kevin James was very kind and we were working at Wizards at Universal Studios. CityWalk back then doesn't exist anymore. But I said, Kevin, I need to have cover for me to do my quick change. He says, use my bag. He uses this bag that he kicks up like you see in the, in the Late Late Show.
[00:15:38] Speaker A: Yes. That looks so cool.
[00:15:40] Speaker B: Yeah, that was his. And he's a very generous man, Kevin. He still is. Love him to death.
My highest respect for this guy.
Great thinker and performer.
[00:15:52] Speaker A: Anyway, yeah, I love everything about all of his performances are so amazing.
[00:15:57] Speaker B: I know, I know. Exactly. So all in all, the way to expand anything is to be fearless. Just say yes and figure out a way to make it work. That's what I got to say.
[00:16:09] Speaker A: Did you take, did you ever have dance classes? I mean, how did you learn how to have to do. Have the poise that you have? Is that just something that's innate or is that something you trained?
[00:16:19] Speaker B: No, no, it.
So if you talk To a real dancer, they will say, I'm not a dancer. And because I'm not, however, I can move well on stage.
And I did take ballet, just beginning ballet, well, this is during college.
I took jazz ballet, free dance, freestyle, and then I took also theater, which helped a lot. And at the same time, when I was trying to figure out what I wanted to do and get a degree in, I changed my major three times.
And finally ending on mass media.
What that meant was I decided, okay, if I can't find, if magic doesn't work, I will be an on air journalist. And that's kind of like performing. You're in front of tv, you're reporting and talking about something.
And so from those classes, I learned how what happens in the TV setup the cameras, who's calling the shots and where do you need to look? Because there are multiple cameras and then there's gonna be the host or somebody else. So that was all interesting that I chose that because it helps me now when I perform in a short advertisement for a show I'm gonna be doing somewhere or just an appearance on tv. I'm aware of what happens. I'm not so out of the loop. It was like, oh, what happens in a theater or studio?
So I'm very thankful for that.
[00:17:58] Speaker A: Wow. Yeah.
[00:17:59] Speaker B: So I think the answer is taking some dance and theater really helped me, even though it was just preliminary beginning classes.
And I'm aware of downstage right and left, which one is a stronger position to stand and to connect with the audience and just the lingo they have on upstage, downstage, all those things that I'm aware. I sound like I know what I'm talking about when I go into the theater to set up my lights.
[00:18:27] Speaker A: Yeah, that's awesome. Yeah.
Exit stage left.
[00:18:32] Speaker B: Exactly. There you go.
[00:18:34] Speaker A: Well, that's. I loved theater growing up. And in college, it was just like the. The best time of my life was acting. Why I'm not an actor. I. I just, I wussed out. I should have gone for it. But, you know, as you do, if you don't become an actor, go to dental school.
[00:18:50] Speaker B: So in June, that just passed, I spent three weeks in rehearsal in LA for a play and one week of performance. So a whole month. So what happened was in March 2023, I had done a show in San Francisco. And so early January or February, I got an email from this guy I don't remember meeting because that was so long ago. He says, hello, my name is JP and I've come and seen your show in December of 2023. And I want you to know that you've inspired me to write this play.
[00:19:28] Speaker A: Whoa.
[00:19:28] Speaker B: And he sends me, like, an outline what might be happening and the part I would be playing. And he said, would you like to be in this play? I would love it so much if you could, because I've written it for you.
I know. I was so, I was so amazed and impressed, and I, I, I said yes. So I did it. I listen, I'm not an actor, so kudos to you guys that do acting, because the first thing I said is I don't know what to do with my body when I'm telling, speaking a line. What do I. What do I do with my hands and my legs? What am I doing? Because I'm not a trained actor. Although I did take beginning theater, you know, like a semester in college. That was about it. And I think what it is, is you live the words and then it becomes you.
I think that's what happened. And so I, I did the play, had an amazing time. It was a wonderful presentation of a performance slash play. And the writer made it in a. He wrote it in a way that there were five different artists, and we all did our art.
There was a singer, she was the finalist in the Voice in 2024, and she wrote two songs for this play. And then there was a cellist. And then. Anyway, all in all, incorporating all of that together, and then me doing my magic and doing the, the backstage. What happens? Oh, after the show, it's just lighting changes, you know, that was so fun. I want to do more. I' how to do it. A little frightening, I think, but I.
[00:21:08] Speaker A: Think you could make the transition pretty easily, actually. I definitely see you doing more acting. Let's do Broadway, you know?
[00:21:16] Speaker B: Right. Hardest part is memorizing lines. And actually, I'm gonna say this. After I did that play, I didn't think that I could memorize somebody else's lines when I was doing writing script for my performance, my shows. But now that I've done the play, I realized, of course I can memorize somebody else's lines. You know, I would have people that would try to write a presentation of an effect for me. And I thought, well, I don't even talk like that. That's not how I would say it. And surely, yeah, I suppose in a magic show, you would stick to who I. I would stick to who I am because I'm not playing a part.
[00:21:55] Speaker A: So your character when you're on stage is you. You're not a different character. Okay.
[00:22:02] Speaker B: Though it's interesting, when you had your list of questions, I thought, oh, did you see my mom routine?
No, you didn't, right?
[00:22:10] Speaker A: No, I didn't. But tell me more.
[00:22:12] Speaker B: Okay. So during the pandemic, I had a lot of time with my mom.
Much older now, and I don't want to say how old, because then you'll figure out how old you are.
[00:22:22] Speaker A: Yeah, we're not doing that. I've had too many women in my life to play that game.
[00:22:26] Speaker B: Very wise. So in any case, very wise. I observed my mother, and for the longest time, I wanted to work on this mom routine where I borrow a ring that is special to someone in the audience.
I realized I learned early on that if it's not special to them, they don't care if I demolish the ring.
And that's the point. They come up, they put it in a little pouch that my mother has sown. But let's start at the beginning, because I talk about my parents, how helpful they were in my growing up years as becoming a magician. And I show them a picture of my mom.
Dad's gone, so Mom's there.
And I said, well, in a moment, you're going to meet my mom. And so I start putting on things as I'm talking, and by the time I put on the sweater, the sweater slows down, and I start to hunch over a little bit because it's hard to get it on when you're that old.
[00:23:29] Speaker A: Nice. Yeah.
[00:23:30] Speaker B: And. And slowly I turn into my mom.
And once I put the glasses on, the music starts, and I start speaking with a Chinese accent. Heavy Chinese accent.
[00:23:44] Speaker A: Love it already.
[00:23:46] Speaker B: And there's a whole routine. And I realized that when I play my mom, she's a very funny person.
And as graceful Jade, I'm not as funny because there's some sort of a restriction in my mind who Jade is.
So it's really fun to play somebody else. And playing my mom allows me the. I get the license to say what comes to my mind. And some of the lines are so funny that I'm keeping those the next time I do mom again. Right.
I know.
[00:24:18] Speaker A: I love that.
[00:24:20] Speaker B: So the whole routine is becoming my mom. And then I find the ring in a giant fortune cookie.
[00:24:26] Speaker A: Okay. I was about to ask. The ring disappears. Right. And then where does it reappear? In a fortune cookie that I love it.
[00:24:32] Speaker B: A giant fortune cookie that I have to personally make because you cannot find them anywhere.
[00:24:38] Speaker A: Right. How could you?
[00:24:39] Speaker B: They're the size of my palm, Todd.
[00:24:42] Speaker A: Wow.
[00:24:42] Speaker B: Because I'm Thinking it has to play big.
[00:24:45] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:24:46] Speaker B: And even though the ring is small, they see me. Okay. Part of the funny parts is I use a meat tenderizer, and I have three pouches when their eyes are closed, so they have to use their intuition and figure out which one might have their ring. And whichever ones they don't want, I pound it really hard. So it plays large.
[00:25:08] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:25:08] Speaker B: And that's why my giant fortune cookies have to play large, because they have to see what it is from, you know, far away, and it comes out from a Chinese takeout box, so. Oh, I love that associate all of that.
[00:25:21] Speaker A: Oh, that adds so much to it.
I do a variation where. My favorite is that where it goes in the bag and then ends up inside of a walnut inside of an egg inside of a lemon. It's the. It's the classic version of that. But I love the idea of it being in it. Fortunately, that worked. That works so well for.
For your personality.
[00:25:43] Speaker B: It's perfect.
[00:25:44] Speaker A: It is brilliant.
[00:25:45] Speaker B: I like. I love that walnut and egg and all that, too. That's too much work, though.
[00:25:50] Speaker A: Yeah, it's. It's. What I've. What I've learned is it's. For me, the hardest part is getting the lemon glued back together.
[00:25:57] Speaker B: Yes.
[00:25:58] Speaker A: So annoying to do.
[00:25:59] Speaker B: Yes.
[00:26:00] Speaker A: But, you know, God, I recently. Yeah, I recently found a way around it. Didn't want to. I was having a hard time getting the lemon glued back together correctly. No spoilers. But I decided if I put googly eyes on the lemon.
[00:26:14] Speaker B: Boom.
[00:26:14] Speaker A: Now no one ever notices the cut mark.
[00:26:16] Speaker B: Brilliant.
[00:26:17] Speaker A: Yeah. It's my emotional support lemon. And then when I. For some reason, when I cut it up, nobody seems to care that we're killing the lemon. But it's funny.
[00:26:24] Speaker B: Yeah, that's great. I love that. And that's funny, you know? Yeah. That makes it so worthwhile. Good. Good thinking there, Todd.
[00:26:32] Speaker A: No, I mean, I love the idea of a fortune cookie. How many do you. Dumb question. But how many. How long does it take you to bake a fortune cookie that big?
[00:26:39] Speaker B: Well, I would make a batch of it, and, like, when I work the castle, it's 21 fortune cookies.
[00:26:45] Speaker A: My gosh. Yeah.
[00:26:47] Speaker B: And so it would be like a three, four hour adventure, you know?
[00:26:50] Speaker A: My God.
[00:26:51] Speaker B: Because you can only do two at a time because they come out.
[00:26:53] Speaker A: They have to be, like, folded immediately. Right? Yeah.
[00:26:56] Speaker B: Yes. Yes.
So, yeah, I learned ways to not do it with my bare hand, because that used to hurt a lot.
[00:27:04] Speaker A: No, that is brilliant. All right, now I have a new bucket list. I have to Hopefully I'll. I want to see that someday.
[00:27:10] Speaker B: Okay.
[00:27:10] Speaker A: All right.
[00:27:10] Speaker B: One day you will see.
[00:27:11] Speaker A: Yeah. When you pull out the mom. The mom routine again, I'll fly out to wherever you're having it.
[00:27:17] Speaker B: Oh, you're so sweet.
[00:27:18] Speaker A: Yeah. Todd, I'm gonna do what's called a mid episode call to action, and then we'll ask a few more questions, and then I won't take up any more of your time.
[00:27:26] Speaker B: Okay, sure.
[00:27:27] Speaker A: All right. So I'm loving this conversation with Jade. I'm not ashamed to say it. And if you're listening and feeling inspired too, take a moment to subscribe, leave a review, and check out our merchandise. Supporting the show helps us keep bringing you these deep dives into the art of magic. All right, back to the amazing Jade. So I do want to ask a little bit, and I hate to get heavy, but it's important.
One of my passions is I had Dana Herz, who is always helping me get people on the show every once in a while. She said to me the other day, she's like, yeah, I know you don't normally have, you know, CIS white male people on your show, but so it got me thinking. It's like, yeah, we, you know, I do like to have.
I mean, there's. Let's face it, there's enough old white guys doing magic. I think we can. I think we can, you know, give that a rest for a bit. But I like to have. I like seeing the diversity change. I like seeing different. Different people that don't look like me doing magic. It's amazing. It helps. It moves us all forward.
[00:28:26] Speaker B: Yes, I agree.
[00:28:28] Speaker A: I do have a question for you.
How. How do you believe the magic community has changed for women and Asian performers in specifically since you started?
[00:28:38] Speaker B: Well, I think it's been a major overhaul since I started.
I say there's been a lot of amazing, talented Asian magicians. Korea, China, Japan.
So many. In fact, there were a lot at fism.
Awesome.
And I'm very excited about all of this. And so I think the presence of such a big turnout that we are becoming more apparent that we are in the space now, and it's very becoming a more international mingle instead of all white. And I'm glad to see that the diversity is encouraging.
And I think during the pandemic, it's been a big help to encourage the younger people to try doing magic because it's so cool. Whereas before the pandemic where people would have to show up at a magic club, I think there were people that might not have had great experiences or oftentimes it's just a bunch of old white guys doing boring magic, and the young kids don't want to be around that.
So I think the pandemics encouraged them to find their passion. And now the young kids have banded together and they found each other. And I think there's a force that's coming, and I'm very excited about. About what's coming. It's building right now. I sense it. So it's exciting.
[00:30:17] Speaker A: What. What can we as a community do to facilitate that process? Like what. What should we be.
What more can we do? What should we be doing?
[00:30:29] Speaker B: I think. Well, I think Tannen's has an amazing setup. Right. For their camp. Yes, that's really encouraging. And I hear that there are now more women, more young ladies getting involved, which is amazing. I think this is, I think, like I said, residuals from the pandemic, and because of the isolation, they now realize there's this magic thing and there's a group and a place to go. And I think to see more of them so that it's not always the same. Oh, same o.
In the presence, in conventions and lectures, all of that. Everything that we can offer each other.
Think a little diversity to include some of that into the programming would be amazing and encouraging.
[00:31:23] Speaker A: Absolutely. Very well said. So, gonna pivot a little bit. I was wondering if you have a performance memory that sticks with you, like something funny, unexpected, anything that, like. Like pops out in your head. If I were to ask you that question.
[00:31:37] Speaker B: You know, I was just talking with an agent friend of mine, so I'm gonna retell the story.
[00:31:43] Speaker A: Yes, I love.
[00:31:46] Speaker B: So I often perform at the Magic Castle in the parlor. And so you're only allowed at 20 minutes. 15 to 20 minutes. And so I close my show with Double Cross.
You know that trick where you have a mark on the hand?
[00:32:01] Speaker A: Yes. Love it, love it, love it.
[00:32:03] Speaker B: Okay. By itself, it's an amazing trick. You don't even have to tell the story. It's just an amazing trick.
But for me, I tell them that because I'm the baby of four kids, I'm the baby in the family.
And, you know, I have a lot of older siblings. My brother's eight years older than me. So there's always this comparison that happens in our lives, and if anybody in the audience has older siblings or cousins or something like that, they can relate.
And so what it is is that when I was growing up, I would often ask myself three questions.
Am I fast enough? Am I smart enough?
Am I Good enough. And, you know, like, mothers everywhere. I don't know. I think most mothers have this superpower. You don't have to say anything. They just look at you. They see your eyes, they see your face. They know exactly what's going on in your head.
So my mother would grab the biggest permanent marker she could find, and she marks my hand with the number that looks like a cross, but that in Chinese is the number 10.
Yeah, that's what it looks like. The plus sign. Yeah, it's shi. And it comes from the phrase shi quan, shi mei, which means 100% perfect.
And that is what my mother wanted me to remember.
So at this point, I already have somebody up on stage, and I shown. I've marked my hand, and I've shown the audience. And I said, but over time, the number of times that my mother would have to keep writing sh on my hand, it would start to fade. And I would rub it. When I rub it, I pull it off, and it looks like I've pinched it in my right fingers. And I show that the cross is no longer in my hand.
And I tell the person that's helping me, and I say, now, Julia or Todd, you know, I see that you're a wonderful person. You have a great big heart. And you know what? And maybe you never ask yourself this, but maybe there will be one time, one time in your life, and this question pops up and you say, am I good enough?
Well, as a present from my mother and I to you, with my pinched fingers that I had pulled off the X from my left hand, I now throw it towards them. They had their hand into a fist, and they had put it next to your heart. I said, now hold out your hand, your fist towards the audience. And now open your palm. When they open their palm, the audience sees the mark on their hand. Chills. And they applaud.
[00:34:41] Speaker A: Yeah, chills. That gave me literal chills, right? That's so good.
[00:34:46] Speaker B: Then I say, well, take a look. And then they look.
And now let me tell you the story.
The last time I worked the castle, I called this woman up on stage, and she was kind of low energy. Then I thought, dang it, I picked the wrong one. But that's okay. I just kept on, and I go through the story, and I said, now, do you have children? And she says, no. I said, but I can see in your eyes that you have a big responsibility. She says, yes.
And I said, well, I forget her name, but here's what I'd like to wish for. You should you ever have A question.
Am I good enough? As a present for my mother and I to you, I toss it toward her and I said, have your hand out towards the audience. Open up your hand. She shows to the audience, they clap. She looks at it. She almost cried. I wasn't sure what was happening there.
And then she left after the show. Her partner, she. And then when it was, you know, that was the end of the show and then everybody left. But before that, her partner came down and said, jade, I just want you to know, I don't know what you were saying or doing up there on stage, but you were reading her mind.
Because that woman is in charge of all the homeless shelters in la.
And even though she didn't have children, those are her children and she has to find shelter for them. And the biggest responsibility, can you imagine? So, you know, he thanked me deeply and left. And I thought, wow, you know, that's what magic should be. Not a trick.
It's that you can empower somebody or move them to give them a message that they, they're good enough.
[00:36:41] Speaker A: Yeah. I mean, what are, what a. I feel like that's the difference between an, you know, great magician and somebody that just does magic tricks. You know, a performer, you're going to reach out and touch people, while a magician, somebody just does tricks, is just going to do some tricks and then pick your card. Here's your card. Not. But, you know, you're telling a story. You are, you're, you are giving. She's never gonna forget that moment.
[00:37:07] Speaker B: Never. Right.
[00:37:08] Speaker A: You know, and I just love the creativity of that. That's amazing.
[00:37:12] Speaker B: Yeah, it's.
And, and you know what inspired that was a director friend of mine. He teaches at USF in the theater.
He came to one of my shows and he says, well, doesn't that plus sign look like anything in Chinese?
And I thought about it, and I thought about it. I said, it definitely looks like the number 10 in Chinese. That's how we write it.
[00:37:35] Speaker A: That's perfect.
[00:37:36] Speaker B: And then I had to, I had to figure out incorporating a story that's so good.
[00:37:42] Speaker A: I can't get enough.
Yeah, that's so good. Wow.
[00:37:48] Speaker B: It's very empowering and memorable.
So when people say, what kind of show is it? You know, sleight of hand.
No, not really. I don't know how to explain what my show is.
[00:38:02] Speaker A: Huh. Yeah. I guess heart, you know, it's just, it's a lot of heart.
[00:38:09] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:38:10] Speaker A: What would somebody be surprised to learn about your kind of behind the scenes process?
[00:38:18] Speaker B: I practice Tai chi.
[00:38:22] Speaker A: Okay.
[00:38:23] Speaker B: But there's. It's not just. See, Tai Chi is for. Most people think it's just that slow movement in the park and it's a dance. But what I'm learning is not a dance. It is a, A little bit like.
Do you, you know what qigong is? Have you heard of it?
[00:38:41] Speaker A: No. Tell me more.
[00:38:42] Speaker B: Qigong, it's like martial arts always require using the qi to connect.
[00:38:48] Speaker A: Got it.
[00:38:49] Speaker B: Yes, yes. Find the power. Yes. Like Bruce Lee used to do that one inch punch.
[00:38:54] Speaker A: Yes, yes, yes, yes.
[00:38:56] Speaker B: You wonder where that power comes from.
The power comes from the ground up through his body. And it's hard to explain, but it's an internal.
[00:39:08] Speaker A: Yeah, the Qi is kind of like the energy that flows through you, right?
[00:39:11] Speaker B: Yes, yes, yes. And it's connected to the brown.
[00:39:15] Speaker A: Okay.
[00:39:15] Speaker B: And so sometimes before the show, I feel, feel it. And you know, I, I. When you're doing performances, it's best not to stiffen up. I try not to. Sometimes it settles in. But before the show, there are some loosening exercises for me to remember to loosen because the power comes stronger when you're loose.
[00:39:37] Speaker A: Got it. Do you, do you ever before a show, you know, take your shoes off and go touch the ground so you can, like. There's actually a name for that now. Grounding. Have you heard of this?
[00:39:46] Speaker B: Grounding? I would. I'm too. I like my shoes and it's too complicated, so I just threw it through my heels.
[00:39:53] Speaker A: Okay.
[00:39:55] Speaker B: But I feel the ground. I feel the connection.
[00:39:57] Speaker A: Yeah. Okay. Because they make socks for that now.
[00:40:01] Speaker B: Do they?
[00:40:02] Speaker A: Yeah, they're like socks that have metal. I think it has, like, metal woven into it so that you can get the electrons.
[00:40:08] Speaker B: No, no, no, no.
[00:40:09] Speaker A: You don't need that too much.
[00:40:09] Speaker B: You don't need that.
[00:40:10] Speaker A: Okay.
[00:40:11] Speaker B: That's just a product selling.
[00:40:13] Speaker A: Okay, good. I won't buy the socks then.
[00:40:15] Speaker B: Don't buy the socks.
[00:40:17] Speaker A: Good to know.
[00:40:18] Speaker B: That's an internal system that I'm learning and it's more than Tai chi. It's hard to explain, but is there.
[00:40:26] Speaker A: Any, like, meditation involved with that?
[00:40:28] Speaker B: It's a little bit meditational effect.
Because when, when I'm doing my Tai chi set, you block out everything. You just do it and you connect.
[00:40:41] Speaker A: Okay. Understood.
[00:40:43] Speaker B: Wow. Yeah.
[00:40:45] Speaker A: What do you hope your legacy in magic will be? Wow. I know. Loaded question.
The greatest of all time.
[00:40:55] Speaker B: You know what? I honestly never imagined there's any legacy that I would try to create, but I think the only thing I would be happy to see, and I think it's happening right now. Is that if ever a young woman or a young man had seen me perform and thought, oh, that might be fun, I would like to try that. And I've inspired them in some way to not limit themselves, to think I need to get a 9 to 5 job or I am only this because all of you are more than what you think you are. You are more than what you think you are or can be.
So don't limit yourself. Just, just let things happen. What will be, will be yours because you can't stop it.
That's a. I think I became a magician because I think it's fate. I think it's just fate.
[00:41:57] Speaker A: Yeah, I 100% back would back you up on that.
Oh, what, what advice would you give to young magicians, especially you know, those that don't fit the, the traditional mold or, you know, tuxedo wearing, white male.
[00:42:17] Speaker B: Right. Yeah. I think that there are definitely more of you out there than you know.
And there are communities now. Like I said in the beginning when I first started, there weren't so many, but now there are so many pockets.
And I think the young generation are very accepting of diversity. Not only nationality, but sexuality or whatever.
And I think the audiences are becoming to accept it more. Maybe it's only on the east and west coast. I don't know.
[00:42:47] Speaker A: Maybe.
[00:42:48] Speaker B: Yeah. But I think it's always a slow process and I think that just reach out. Don't think that you're alone because there are others that are just exactly like you and would love to have your company and make friends with you.
[00:43:03] Speaker A: Yeah, that's a huge takeaway. Absolutely. You are not alone.
So, you know, there is, there, there are people just like you who love the same things you do. And there's no reason why you shouldn't get out there and do it a thousand percent.
[00:43:18] Speaker B: We want to see you.
[00:43:19] Speaker A: Yes, I want to see you. I want to see everybody. I want to see everyone that looks like everything and loves everybody. You know, it's, it's only going to make, that's just makes our community stronger. Why limit ourselves absolutely. To just one type of person, you know? And then literally last question. What is next for Jade?
What are you up to next? Where can we see you? Give me all the deets.
[00:43:43] Speaker B: Well, the next thing is I'm performing. So I'm in San Francisco. Outside Lambs is a three day music festival that is taking place this coming weekend. So I'll be performing there with Nick Paul and Carl Hein.
[00:43:59] Speaker A: Okay.
[00:44:00] Speaker B: We're all doing close up and some like I Will do double cross, but I will do a shorter, you know, not so long, intensive presentation.
Just playing with magic and being with people is what gives me so much joy. Because when you do close up, it's so much different than stage.
It hits them harder.
[00:44:23] Speaker A: Oh, yeah. Especially when you're right there.
[00:44:25] Speaker B: It's wild, right? Yeah. And then there's some. I'm performing up Lake Tahoe at the Loft in October, and then after that, you know, starts putting in. There's corporate shows coming in, so a lot. Public shows are not that plenty.
But I will keep myself busy.
I'm also okay with downtime, by the way, and I'm not gonna be the one that.
[00:44:53] Speaker A: Do you even have downtime? Like, you are the busiest magician I've ever seen.
[00:44:57] Speaker B: No, no, no, no. I do have downtime, and I treasure it. I treasure it. And you know what?
Life requires that yin and yang. You need to have the balance. Don't overwork. You'll burn out.
I think so. I've seen.
[00:45:10] Speaker A: Oh, yeah, no, I'm. I'm living. I'm living proof of that.
[00:45:13] Speaker B: Yeah. Are you?
[00:45:14] Speaker A: Oh, my God. Yeah. I.
I work four days a week, 10 hours a day, fixing teeth.
See, about.
I have about 15,000 to 18,000 patients that I see. So I keep. I keep myself busy.
[00:45:29] Speaker B: I don't know how you will have time for magic, my dear.
[00:45:31] Speaker A: I am a psychopath, and I just. I.
This is. This is my. My way to unwind is literally just, like, try to find the coolest magicians I know and talk to them for an hour.
[00:45:42] Speaker B: Well, it's been a pleasure. Oh, my God, Todd, I'm so glad you trust me.
[00:45:46] Speaker A: The pleasure has been all mine. Jade. Thank you so much for sharing your heart, your story, and your magic with us.
You know, you're. You're very modest, but you have truly helped reshape what it means to be a magician.
So thank you again. If you've liked. And to anyone listening, if you like this, please, again, make sure to like and subscribe so that we can keep getting amazing, amazing magicians like Jade. Jade, thank you again for coming on.
[00:46:13] Speaker B: It's my pleasure. Thank you for having me, Todd.
[00:46:15] Speaker A: Thank you so much for joining us, everybody. And remember that magic starts with a story.
Sam.
