Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] Speaker A: Welcome back to the Magicians Workshop, where we dive deep into the lives and minds of working magicians from around the world. I'm your host, Dr. Todd, and today I'm joined by a magician who brings modern magic with a classic twist, Chris Hannah. Chris is a Las Vegas based magician who's performed everything from intimate sleight of hand sets to large theatrical shows. He's known for combining comedy, storytelling, and skill to create unforgettable moments for his audiences. If you're a magician dreaming about performing in Las Vegas or just curious about what it really takes to make it in one of the toughest and most magical cities on earth, you're going to love this episode. And hey, before we jump in, make sure you hit that subscribe button so you don't miss interviews with magicians like Chris and many more from the world of magic. So let's get into it.
Thanks for joining us, Chris Hannah.
[00:00:44] Speaker B: Thanks for having me.
[00:00:46] Speaker A: Yeah, this is the kind of chaotic energy I like. When I was texting you, I was like, oh, yeah, this guy gets it.
[00:00:52] Speaker B: He's.
[00:00:52] Speaker A: He's, he's excited.
[00:00:54] Speaker B: Yeah. No, this is like the third podcast I've done, so.
[00:00:58] Speaker A: Really? Which other ones have you done?
[00:01:00] Speaker B: I don't. I'm not magic related.
[00:01:02] Speaker A: Oh, really? What? Yeah, I'm still curious. What other kind of. What are you into?
[00:01:07] Speaker B: I have no idea.
So you just, you don't. They're. They're friends and.
[00:01:12] Speaker A: Okay, so you didn't even know why. They're like, hey, come on. And. And, yeah, okay.
[00:01:17] Speaker B: Joe Rogan. So if it was Joe Rogan, I would have remembered. Yeah.
[00:01:20] Speaker A: I was about to say, I, you know, you've got. You'd have to go all the way to. To Texas for that. He doesn't. He doesn't leave. Well. Well, I. I guess I'll ask the. The quintessential magic question is, how did you first get into magic?
[00:01:32] Speaker B: I think the typical way every other magician gets into it. Five years old, you get a magic kit as a kid and for Christmas.
And then I just got addicted to it, and then I got out of it for a long time.
And then I think probably like in junior high and then a couple years in high school, you know, you think you're too cool for it.
And then I think David Bland, Criss angel. That's when they became popular and magic kind of got brought back alive. I think. I think those are the two guys. I'm, you know, whether you hate him or not or love them, I think those are the two guys. Who really brought it back.
I remember I was.
I had a friend over and I found an old drawer of magic and I started doing things for him and his reactions were amazing. And I'm like, oh my God, this is. I want to get back into magic. And I got into it hardcore. I spent all my money on magic. I went to the Hollywood Magic. I used to live in California. I went to Hollywood magic every weekend. Spent hours and hours there.
Just got addicted.
[00:02:31] Speaker A: So is that where you grew up? In California?
[00:02:33] Speaker B: Yes. And I've been in Vegas for 13 years now.
[00:02:36] Speaker A: Thirteen years. Okay. Are you full time magician out in Vegas?
[00:02:40] Speaker B: I am full time. So I'm the resident magician at the Wynn.
[00:02:43] Speaker A: Great. Okay.
[00:02:44] Speaker B: And so that, that's where my, like whole life changed, is getting that.
[00:02:51] Speaker A: Yeah, let's, let's talk about that. I've talked to, you know, street busking magicians and corporate magicians, and you're the first person I've gotten to talk to that is a. Is a full time resident magician for a casino. And I, I've been to the Wynn. I think it's an absolutely fabulous location.
The buffet there is insane.
[00:03:08] Speaker B: Yes. I love the buffet.
[00:03:11] Speaker A: Do you get special deals at the buffet for, for working there? Just get. Walk in and eat or.
[00:03:15] Speaker B: So I'm not an employee of the Win.
[00:03:18] Speaker A: So you're. Are you a contractor?
[00:03:20] Speaker B: Yeah, I'm a contractor. So. But occasionally, you know, like a host will throw me some free stuff for some people, you know, but I don't mind paying if I have to. It's not the end of the world, honestly.
[00:03:31] Speaker A: That food's worth it. Like.
[00:03:32] Speaker B: No, it's amazing. 80 bucks for like, you can't go into one restaurant there for 80 bucks and get that good food, you know.
[00:03:39] Speaker A: I remember the one thing I remember the. When I went there, I went. When they had the show Reverie, I think was the Rev. Yeah, Rev.
[00:03:49] Speaker B: Yes.
[00:03:49] Speaker A: And my dad loved Larev, so every time he'd go out there, he'd take anyone that was out there to Le Rev and we, and we'd go to the buffet. And I remember just the, the dessert bar, the dessert section. It's literally bigger than most buffets. I mean, it was insane. So what, what brought you to Las Vegas?
[00:04:09] Speaker B: So I wanted to move to Vegas since I was a kid, and it had nothing to do with magic. I remember coming out here as a kid because, you know, my parents would come here and I didn't get to go do all the fun things. But there was just something about Vegas where I was like, this is cool. It was, it was small at the time and I thought it was very interesting, the whole UFO history and like that. And I was like, this is a cool place and I love the way the desert looks. I just, I'm a desert person.
And so I was like, I'm moving to Vegas and I made it happen.
And then the thing about Vegas, it's a lot like going to Hollywood to become an actor. If you're a magician going to Vegas because there's a million magicians here, it's very cutthroat. And it was a lot of years of struggle. But like I said, the win is what really changed it. And the reason that happened is my good friend Shimchi, he was the resident magician there for 12 years and he moved to Florida during the pandemic. So we worked out a deal and I took over for him. And it's been, it's been amazing, but it, it was a lot of work. It wasn't like, oh, here, here's the win. You know, there was a lot of work behind the scenes. And yeah, to get there.
[00:05:22] Speaker A: I'm imagining that's probably a pretty coveted position. I mean, how many other than. So say resident magician. Let's talk about what your what, what.
[00:05:32] Speaker B: So I performed for their VIPs, I'll do their events, I'll do celebrity events, and that's pretty much what it is. So I don't have a show there. David Blaine performs there once a month. But I don't know, maybe one day I'll do a show. But I like the intimate ness of doing close up magic and I make a living at it. So it's not like I, I don't need a show, but it shows. That's my goal. So I have a show. Nothing major though. I don't want, I don't want a huge stage show. I want more like a sweet show. Kind of like what Steve Cohen does in New York, Something like that. Yes. 100 people or so.
[00:06:08] Speaker A: Chambermax.
[00:06:09] Speaker B: Yeah. You still get the intimateness of versus a stage show.
[00:06:14] Speaker A: So take me how, Take me how you, you, you get the, the call. Like, how do you know when your events are going to be?
[00:06:22] Speaker B: So if I perform for the VIPs, what I do is like the steakhouse, I'll go there. And that's where like I spend majority of my time. And then the manager's like, hey, this guy is this, this guy's that. And they bring me over, they introduce me. So it's not like, hey, I'm the magician here I am. Because I don't. I think that takes away from what the win is, especially when you get introduced. It's. It's a lot more special and people are going to pay attention. Sometimes I just get a phone call, hey, can you come in? Right now we have this person.
If it's further events, whatever department, the entertainment department, sales department, catering department, whatever it is, that's how I get the bigger events. So every. There's a different department for everything.
Mm. So. But I can go in there any night I want and perform anywhere I want. If I wanted to approach people, I could, but it's not my idea. Like, I don't really do that. Hardly, Hardly ever.
[00:07:12] Speaker A: When you have that, that status, they. They want to introduce you because that you're some random magician. I did, I did restaurant magic and I was on my own. I, you know, they, they called me. I, I got the job and they said, okay, go do, do stuff. And it was my first magic thing that I done, you know, outside of birthdays.
[00:07:32] Speaker B: Yeah. No, restaurants. People, you know, they're like, oh, restaurant. But that's the best place. It's the most networking. You're gonna get a group of all kinds of different people.
And the other thing too is like, I started doing restaurants when I was 19 years old. My first restaurant was Buffalo Wild Wings. I did three of them, three different locations in California.
And, and you know, I got paid for it. And I made decent money for being 19 years old right out of high school. And I got a lot of experience and a lot of practice. And I look back now, I'm like, I can't believe the tricks I used to do. Like, so embarrassing. I couldn't even imagine doing them today. But there's nothing wrong with doing a restaurant.
[00:08:11] Speaker A: Do you, do you have any examples of the tricks that you did at the Buffalo Wild Wings?
[00:08:16] Speaker B: Oh, man. Like hot rod. You know the hot rod stick with the.
[00:08:20] Speaker A: Yeah, yeah, yeah.
[00:08:21] Speaker B: Colors like that.
Man. I gotta, I gotta think like some probably some really lame card tricks that I wouldn't do today. But, you know, you gotta, it's like comedy. You gotta go up on stage and suck. And it's the same thing with magic. You have to have a place to not do well. And, and Buffalo Wild Wings is a perfect place because, you know, it's kind of. It's not super high end where you have to be impressive to people or they're gonna be like, why would this restaurant have a guy like this walking around?
Yeah, but I've had good Mentors.
John George was my first mentor and he, you know, he made his whole living doing restaurant magic. I mean, it's literally the best. Where else are you going to go and do magic in network, Right. I mean, an airport maybe. Want to be bad, but they're not going to let you in.
[00:09:14] Speaker A: Yeah, Las Vegas airport. I wouldn't be surprised if you could get, if you could job being a sterling magician at a.
At that airport. That's where I've had friends win the most money at the slot machines.
[00:09:23] Speaker B: Really? And they have the worst odds there.
[00:09:25] Speaker A: It's. I know it's weird, but I've had two people that have actually won good amount of money on their way out.
[00:09:32] Speaker B: That's too funny. Oh, you know what? This makes me think of something. I met this guy through a friend. Not anything to do with magic.
He's a salesman, I believe, for private jets. And he does magic to help his cells. Interesting. What he did is he joined those, like the Delta Sky Club because it, you know, costs a lot of money and usually get better clientele. So that's how he would strike up conversations with people, is do magic for them and meet them and then he can talk about his sales because magic's a great icebreaker. You know, I. Yeah, my dad was a salesman and he wanted me to do sales. And I was like, I'm not doing that. I don't want to be anything.
Any part of it. But everything I do today is what I learned from him. All the sales techniques. You got to build relationships with people, you got to be likable and you're selling yourself. So.
[00:10:23] Speaker A: Yeah, I was, I was thinking, I was like, it kind of is. There is a good amount of sales. I mean, I think in almost every, every job you selling yourself. But I think magic especially so because, you know, if, if you, if you just suck, it doesn't matter how good your. Your top palm is. Yeah, like, no one's gonna care.
[00:10:41] Speaker B: You know what, though? If. If people like you, it doesn't matter. I mean, you can't be doing like horrible stuff. But being. Being likable is I. Top of my list. Being likable, establishing relationships. And then the magic is third.
I don't put magic number one.
[00:10:58] Speaker A: I think that's. If that. If there isn't anyone any takeaway from anyone watching this, that is. I absolutely 100% agree.
For example, what most people tell me and I agree with is the greatest card trick of all time is the invisible deck. And you could buy it for 10 bucks.
So that's not, you know, it does not take. You know, it's. You can get some amazing effects, but if you suck as a person, it doesn't matter.
[00:11:25] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:11:25] Speaker A: Like, nobody's going to care.
[00:11:27] Speaker B: Yeah. So one thing that Bill Malone mentioned in his dvd, and I live by it, and I, I mean, this is something I learned really young, is never have an ego. And ego is the worst thing for you. Because if you, if you think you're the best, how are you ever going to get better? You can't. That's. And, and there's a lot of egos and magic, which I get because people, oh, my God, you're the best magician I've ever seen in my life and all this stuff. And like, I take into account I'm probably the only magician that a lot of these people have ever seen. So, of course it's like when you go to Russia, oh, my God, this is the best food I've ever had. That kind of stuff. So you just have to be being humble goes a long way.
[00:12:06] Speaker A: Yeah. And I agree. I think, I think that magic really lends itself to having imposter syndrome because you see somebody that does the. You don't know every trick and you see somebody that just blows you away and you're like, oh, I can never be that good. And then they see you and you're like, wow, how did you do that?
[00:12:21] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:12:21] Speaker A: And you just realize it's like, oh, wow. It's not, I'm not, you know, you're not just making this up. You're really good at what you do.
[00:12:27] Speaker B: Yeah. There's so, so it just. Everything brings me back to the Bill Malone stuff. Like his lecture on Penguin has a lot of tips like that because he was talking about he used to work out at this restaurant doing magic, and I think there's a few different magicians and somebody stopped him. Can you send that other magician over here? And he said that was like the most valuable thing that ever happened to him because he's like, well, why do they like this guy so much better? He's like, I'm doing really amazing magic. But they were laughing, they're clapping, they're having fun. And he goes, it's all about having fun. And so my mind just keeps going back to the Bill Malone stuff because I just think there's a lot of great tips there.
[00:13:02] Speaker A: Yeah, I.
He's, he's.
Have you ever met him in person or.
[00:13:07] Speaker B: Yes, yes. He's extremely nice and very funny. He's non stop.
[00:13:11] Speaker A: That's amazing.
[00:13:12] Speaker B: Yeah, he's very, very.
[00:13:15] Speaker A: So that kind of leads me to, like, when you, when you first get to Vegas and you're performing is what were some of other magicians that you kind of, like, connected with is how close knit is that group?
[00:13:27] Speaker B: It's all over the place. When I moved here, when I moved here, I was like, I have to know every single magician. I have to. That's the only way I'm ever going to be able to do anything. And over time, it was the opposite for me. The less magicians I hung out with, like, in here in town, I hang out with one or two magicians. That's it.
[00:13:45] Speaker A: Yeah, I don't hang out with other dentists either.
[00:13:48] Speaker B: Yeah. But I just, I just don't because I, and it's good to hang around people who have the same ambitions as you because it's only gonna bring you up.
I, I don't, I wish the best success for every single person.
I don't, like, want to compete against another magician for a gig. If you want to hire him, hire him. You're not going to offend me. And I know, you know, there's people who are like, oh, no, you have to hire me. This, blah, blah, blah, blah.
No, if you want them, have them. I'm not going to try to, you know, be cutthroat, you know, but it is a cutthroat industry.
[00:14:28] Speaker A: When you're performing and you're making these networkings on these private, do you end up, does that lead to, like, doing other private shows?
[00:14:34] Speaker B: Yeah, that's how, that's where I make my main living. Like, I do, I do make tips. I don't ask for tips. And I think that is the worst thing you can do. I hear some bad stories and it's like, no one is expecting to see you, so I don't expect them to tip me. And I would never put that pressure on somebody. And even though I'm not paid to be there, I say, I tell people, if they ask, like, oh, can we tip you? Or do we have to tip you? I said, that's completely up to you. I said, I'm paid to be here, even if I'm not, just because I don't want anyone feeling uncomfortable. You should never make someone feel uncomfortable.
So I, I, I love tips. And they, I make pretty good tips. But the main business is getting hired for private events, corporate events. I got.
[00:15:21] Speaker A: Would you say, what would you say the, the advantage, the advantages to being a magician in Las Vegas versus any, any, any other city?
[00:15:31] Speaker B: Well, I mean, there's a lot of money in Vegas. That's the thing. And you got people from all around the world. Where else. What other state in the US do people all around the world come from that are from, you know, up to billionaires?
That's true. Yeah. And that's the important thing is if you live in a town, you have to be somewhere where there's people who want to spend money.
Yes. And not every town is like that.
That's the biggest advantage. And it's cool. It's like, oh, this guy performs in Vegas. It's. It's.
It's a facade when people go, he's in Vegas. You know, because I. I have other friends that are phenomenal magicians who don't live in Vegas. And I'm like, oh, you should, you know, my friend so and so could. Oh, but he's not a. He's not in Vegas. But people have this image in their head that you made it if you're in Vegas because they think of David Copperfield, Siegfried and Roy, Criss angel, all those guys, you know, that's where your head goes. So for that, that's the big advantage. People are like, oh, you're a Vegas performer.
[00:16:32] Speaker A: Wow. Okay. Is. There's not as much. It's not as common to have magicians where I live to. It's not as common to hire them to go to events like weddings and parties and birthdays. Is. Is it more common to have those types of. To hire magicians for those types of things in Vegas? Because there is a.
It's known for having that kind of entertainment.
[00:16:59] Speaker B: Yeah. So in America, weddings aren't big for magicians, like, in. In the UK and stuff. It's huge. It's like a huge market. But in America, no. I've only done a handful of weddings here, and people are like, oh, can you do my wedding every once in a while? But that's not my main thing, I think, like, if you live in a town where people aren't used to seeing it, it's good to do events for free and let people go. This would be great for this party. And then it catches on, and then it's word of mouth. Everyone's talking. So you can kind of have an advantage being in a town where it's not popular. And if you're doing an amazing job and you're doing amazing magic, people are going to talk about it, and then you're going to own that market.
You know, I'm not. I'm not sure if that works, but it sounds good. Like it.
[00:17:41] Speaker A: No, you. And, you know, I've talked to a lot of magicians and that is almost the number one advice, especially from the ones do that done really well. Toronto Magic Company. That was, that was Jonah's, Jonah Babin's advice. It was, that's, everyone's given that advice. So it's if, if you're starting out, just do it, do it for free. Just do as much as you can get out there.
[00:18:01] Speaker B: And the power of free pays more in the long run. I remember when I was young and my dad was like, you got to do this for free. And I, I used to get so mad at him and I'm like, I'm not doing anything for free. I'm worth this. And I, and I'm like, I need to be paid. And it didn't, I didn't realize that till I was, you know, probably closer to 30 years old, where I was like, I understand the power of freak. If somebody wants to hire me and they're like, hey, can you do it at a discount? I don't do discounts anymore. I don't want to do. I just, I get burned every single time. I'd rather do it for free.
And then they, because once you get asked for a discount, you're going to keep getting asked for a discount, right? Get burned every single time. They're going to be the hardest people to work for. They're going to be like, they're going to tell you what to do. I have people back then people would tell me, oh, what tricks they're going to be doing. So I could tell you who you're going to do them for. I'm like, what, what? Like nobody's going to go to the dentist and say, hey, you know what, you need to use this tool on me. Even though I don't know what it.
[00:19:01] Speaker A: Does, you know, I'm sure, yeah, that's brilliant.
[00:19:06] Speaker B: But if, you know, if there's an event and you know there's going to be a ton of people with money, do it for free. Because you're handing out your business card.
When else are you going to get that opportunity? Even if they paid you a lot, you're going to make more connections and get more business out of it. You can get two, three gigs or, and it could be ones that somebody hires you every single year for their Christmas party.
So I always think about. And that's another thing in sales. Don't do the one time sale. Don't charge somebody some drastic amount of money just because you think they can Afford it or they can pay you that because they're gonna be like, that's a little much. And they hire you one time versus you have a relationship for 10, 20 years and you're making that money consistently for 10 or 20 years. And it's more in the long run. You know, don't think about the one time deal.
Yeah, so that's another.
[00:19:59] Speaker A: That's, that's interesting. Are there any other tips that you could think of that come from your. Basically your familial background in sales that you use on a daily bas. When you do magic?
[00:20:10] Speaker B: Looking presentable is huge. You know, grooming, like, my beard used to be a lot thicker.
I shaved the other day, so it's growing back in. But that. You got to keep that clean. You got to keep it clean shaven. Like you do. I get a haircut every week, and the reason I do sounds ridiculous, but I have weird hair right here, so I have to keep it short. So I do have hair under my hat, but I have to, I have to keep it short. So I always, I always look presentable. I keep my fingernails clean. I cut them, polish them.
Your shoes need to be signed.
Those are the types of things. Like, even if you're in sales, like, why would somebody want to buy from you if you look homeless, right.
If your shirt's wrinkled, you know, your dress shirt needs to be pressed, your suit needs to be pressed. You don't want to make it look like it came out of a hamper. You want, you always want people to think that you're worth whatever you're charging. And in my friend Shimshi's lecture, he talked about, you know, the one in the beginning, you go to the outlets. And that was a huge. Before I met him, I saw his lecture and I saw that, and that was a huge piece of advice, where you're going and spending a few hundred bucks on a really nice suit. Now I get my suits custom made, and I just, I like it a lot better. But I mean, there's. In Vegas, there's more places because there's stores that resell suits that somebody wore one time. And I bought suits from there because I think looking like a million dollars is gonna make you a million dollars. I don't make a million dollars. But I'm just saying, like, you want to look your best.
[00:21:41] Speaker A: Well, and you know, you, yeah, you, you. When you and I, I encourage everybody to go to your, your Instagram page, which I'll, I'll, I'll link to. You're dealing with People that are high rollers and they don't want to have a slob and also win does not want to have a slo.
It's, it's brand. I mean, it's, it's. They're. They're known for luxury. I mean, it's a very luxurious, like, location.
[00:22:05] Speaker B: Yeah, that's especially there. That's why I, like. I up my game of how I dress. And then, like, one thing I did when I started making money, I bought a Rolex because that's important. And it's. It's not like I'm trying to show off. It's. You're one of them. Because there's so many times, oh, I have the same watch. You want that. You want people to be relatable to you in some way. If you, if they play golf, you play golf. You know, that kind of stuff, you. You got to be relatable to people. And that's another sales thing. There was another point I was going to make. Oh, so speaking of that, years ago, I worked through the. I don't really work with agencies. Maybe like two or three. And years ago, this one hired me for a banking event. And the lady whose event it was went to the agent and said, where is the magician? Like, pissed off. She's like, I don't see the magician anywhere.
Then he looks around and he's like, oh, he's standing right behind you. She's like, that's the magician. She goes, I thought he was the CEO of one of the banks. So that's what I. That's what I want people to think when I'm working. I don't want people to think, oh, hey, there's the magician. He's got a top hat and a cape and a magic wand, you know, so.
[00:23:12] Speaker A: Yeah. And I.
[00:23:12] Speaker B: That's important.
[00:23:14] Speaker A: I think that's a huge takeaway because that's everybody. You know, you're. You're really lockstep with. Everything that people have taught me is the kitchen, the, you know, the wearing the, the colorful vest, which, you know, you used to just. That would be something you just assume. Yeah, that's not working. That's not what the actual. The real working pros that I've met, the people that are. Are doing all the corporate. All of the. The professional stuff. They're. They're dressing in. In suits and.
[00:23:43] Speaker B: Yeah. Unless you're a kid's magician, then.
[00:23:45] Speaker A: Right. And then that's. Yeah. If you're silly Billy, like, hey, that's, you know, he's. He's great. But he's amazing.
[00:23:52] Speaker B: He's amazing.
[00:23:53] Speaker A: Yeah. I can't wait to see him lecture.
[00:23:55] Speaker B: But it'll be awesome.
[00:23:56] Speaker A: So I was gonna say, but how.
What do you do to diff. Other than dressing, probably. What do you do to differentiate yourself from other magicians? Like, what. What is your.
What's your adjectives, if you will?
[00:24:10] Speaker B: That's still a hard question to answer, because everyone I remember before people are, what makes you different from everyone? And that's. Even to this day, it's still very difficult to answer that question. I think a big part of it is the way I dress, the way I present myself. I can establish relationships with people. Like, a lot of my clients have become friends.
Like, and they're. They're not really clients. They'll try to hire me every once in a while, and then you're like, I can't charge you my full rate. Like, I feel bad because they're a friend now. I just think I. I get all those boxes where people. They like me.
[00:24:49] Speaker A: Well, I'll tell you right now, like, it's literally just texting you for, like, a couple of days. I feel like I know you. You're extremely easy to get along with.
[00:24:57] Speaker B: Not being approachable is another thing. You don't want to be like, oh, that guy looks like he's not very nice. We'll just use that as a nice word to say.
And you have to do good magic is very. Unless you're funny as Bill Malone. I mean. Right.
[00:25:13] Speaker A: He can also do really good magic, though.
[00:25:15] Speaker B: No, he does do amazing magic. But if you're that funny, the magic wouldn't matter as much. But he does both. Like, that's what's amazing about him. He's doing amazing magic, and he's insanely funny, you know? But I think I'm gonna be honest. Like, an advantage is saying I'm the resident magician at the Wind. That's. That's big. That's what makes me different from everyone, is that I get to say that, and that's huge. That's a selling point, you know?
[00:25:43] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:25:44] Speaker B: So I don't. I don't think I'm that different from every other magician. There's. I think there's little things I do that maybe other people won't do.
I don't know. I don't.
Yeah.
[00:25:55] Speaker A: Can you give an example?
[00:25:57] Speaker B: Well, I think, you know, I put a lot, like, I reinvest my money into the way I look. That's why we were talking before this started. I did my teeth.
[00:26:05] Speaker A: Yeah, yeah, yeah. Brilliant.
[00:26:07] Speaker B: You want people to see your teeth. Like, you're. You're a dentist. You know how important somebody's smile is? Absolutely. That. That's important. So I go those extra steps. Like, even my business card. I know a lot of people think that business cards are outdated. They're not.
They are far from outdated. Like, I'm working with these people who.
So insanely successful, like, one of the biggest lawyers here in Vegas. He loves my business card. He's got a really nice business card. And he's like, hey, text me where you get them done, because I want to know. He's the nicest business card I've ever seen. And he's like. He goes, it's in my closet. I see it every single day when I'm putting my tie on, and I cannot throw it away. And there's a theory behind that. It's like when you get an iPhone, you get that box and you keep it. You never throw it away, even though.
[00:26:50] Speaker A: You'Re never throwing that box.
[00:26:52] Speaker B: It's so nice. And that's where, like, I've gone through business cards, and they've been embarrassing to where I love them now, but I always want to change them.
[00:27:02] Speaker A: Do you get your. Does Apple make your business cards? Is that. Is that what you're saying?
[00:27:05] Speaker B: No, that. That would be pretty insane. It's just that psychology that Apple uses. My friend's a designer. We talked about it one day, and it just. It just caught on. And I'm like, yeah, you. You have something that nice. You cannot throw it away because you get a flimsy. Like if you got something like this from Staples.
[00:27:23] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:27:23] Speaker B: And it's flimsy, and it can, like, tear apart easy. And it just.
Business cards. I don't have my picture on it. I don't write every single event. I do. It says. It says my name. It says Mentalist as my contact information. It's very simple, but it looks very nice. You want to be genuine. You don't want to. Want to be all happy and seem like you're fake, because people are going to see right through that.
[00:27:45] Speaker A: What's your opening effect?
[00:27:46] Speaker B: I use Real Die from Pro Mystic.
[00:27:49] Speaker A: Okay.
[00:27:49] Speaker B: It's. It's simple, it's direct, and it's fast. And I remember when I first bought it, I wasn't having much success out of it, so it sat in my drawer. And then one day, I'm like, I need something for a different opener because I gear more towards mentalism. I still love magic, but mentalism hits so much harder. So much Harder than magic. Unless it's insanely visual magic. Like, one of my favorite pieces of magic of all time to this day, and I watched it this morning, is Lance Burton's Dub Axe.
[00:28:19] Speaker A: It looks like real magic.
[00:28:21] Speaker B: I've seen it a thousand times, and I know how it's done. And every single time, I'm like, it's flawless. It looks like real magic. But there's just something about mentalism when people think you're reading their minds. And I never tell people that I'm actually reading their minds. I said I'm doing magic tricks because I don't want. And I think morally, I don't want to be like a psychic and say, oh, yeah, I talk to dead people.
I have. I do have some morals. So Real Die is my opener.
And then I. I started using Super Sharpie, which I probably shouldn't reveal what it is.
[00:28:53] Speaker A: No, you don't want to do it. Just say. Yeah, you can say where you. You can say where you got it or what the.
[00:28:58] Speaker B: Yeah, so I get it. I go straight through Chris Smith, which is MagicSmith.com. he's a friend of mine. He has Double Cross, which is another phenomenal trick.
[00:29:06] Speaker A: Yeah. If you. If you look into Double Cross, because that. That one is good. That's really.
[00:29:10] Speaker B: Yeah, that one. That one's amazing. But I think Super Sharpies a sleeper. You know, it's predicting a number. We'll just put it at that. You're predicting a number somebody's thinking of. It's very clean, and it's very strong.
And then what I close with, I can kind of.
It use. We'll just say it uses Wikipedia and I. But I've layered it into three pieces, and it's very strong.
Like, very, very strong.
So that's.
[00:29:39] Speaker A: How long is your. Is your, like, typical.
Typical set? Look, when you're in a restaurant, you don't have all day. You've got it.
[00:29:47] Speaker B: Yeah. Hard. It differs. So if I know I don't have a lot of time, I'm gonna do one thing, and it's my. The trick I just said.
But I would say anywhere from five to 10 minutes. It depends on the table, if they're having fun.
I might add a few other things in there that I know. But. But each piece has to get stronger.
So.
[00:30:06] Speaker A: Okay.
[00:30:07] Speaker B: You know, you can't. You can't go opposite. So there. Yeah. It just depends. And then sometimes people will hire me to come to their table, and then I spend 20 minutes with them. But I'm. I charge to do that because It's. It's a different show that I'm doing.
[00:30:21] Speaker A: Okay. Okay.
[00:30:22] Speaker B: It's like a special request, so.
[00:30:24] Speaker A: Okay. Well, that's. That's kind of neat.
[00:30:26] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:30:27] Speaker A: All right. How do you. How do they know how to. How to, like, sign up for that? Like, how do they know how to hire you while they're there?
[00:30:33] Speaker B: They call me.
They'll call me or they'll ask the man. Yeah, because they're. It's like people who've seen me before, and they're like, hey, we're coming in. We have a business meeting tonight. And then, you know, they really want to impress their friends. Not. I'm not saying, like, my normal set isn't impressive, but I want to give those people extra.
But there's. But it costs extra because.
[00:30:53] Speaker A: Well, that's actually brilliant, though. Like, it's, you know, almost like ordering it off a menu, like. Yeah.
[00:30:59] Speaker B: But then. Yeah, people also hire me to go to their suites because they want it to be more intimate than it being in the restaurant.
[00:31:07] Speaker A: Well, that's a great idea, too. I even think about that. There's a lot of. There's a lot of ways that you can, you know, you can be a working magician in Vegas, do the win.
[00:31:19] Speaker B: I know it was a lot more popular, but now, you know, Vegas is very corporate, and a lot of people are very turned on by magic.
Oh, that. That makes a little more difficult. And I remember when I was trying to get into mgm, I mean, you have to go through a ladder of people. It's not like there's just a main guy and he says yes. I mean, it's like one person after another after another. It makes it nearly impossible.
[00:31:46] Speaker A: Wow. So. So magic's kind of on the on. Would you say magic's, like, on the downswing? Like, because you said it's not as. It's not as popular.
[00:31:54] Speaker B: Well, I'm saying in. For casinos to have, like, a house magician going around, it's not popular, but magic's still very popular, you know, like, there's so many magic shows here now, but, you know, Shin Lim is at the Venetian. Matt Franco has his show. There's Piff, a good friend of mine, Frederick de Silva, who's, I think, one of the best mentalists out there. He's going to show up the horseshoe of the old valleys.
[00:32:18] Speaker A: Okay. Yeah, yeah.
[00:32:19] Speaker B: So there's. There's a lot of magic.
[00:32:21] Speaker A: Which celebrity, if you can say, was the most interested in your magic? Like, are there any, like, secret celebrity magic files out there?
[00:32:29] Speaker B: Man, all of them. Are so nice, and they love magic. Like Justin Timberlake. I do his event at the Wind every year. He loves it. And then what was cool is, I got to go. He was like, hey, can you come to my concert in Vegas and perform backstage for me and my crew? And then his manager texted me. He's like, hey, can you go to Jessica Bill's room tomorrow night and do magic for them? Then I'm like, yeah. So he loves magic. Leonardo DiCaprio is another guy who loves magic. He's really good friends with David Blaine. You know, he's been there since the beginning, so he loves magic.
Tom Brady really was into it. I remember. He's like. And I don't. So one thing is, I don't do a lot of card tricks. I love card tricks, but I always. People like when you pull it out there. I've seen this one before. I'm like, I haven't even done anything. So I work hard on doing card tricks that I know other magicians aren't doing, and then I really like that. Take a lot of time, because then I know it's going to be strong. So when Tom Brady told me that, I'm like, oh, okay, I'm up for the challenge. And I showed him stuff that he had never seen before, and he was like a little kid. He loved it. I wasn't doing it to, like, be cocky. It was because I wanted him to enjoy it. Because, like, if I go see a magic show, I want to feel like a kid. I don't go there as a magician, so I want to get that same feeling to other people, especially someone who's saying, hey, I've seen everything.
You know, you're not gonna impress me. So I'm like, no, him.
[00:33:50] Speaker A: I would actually believe if he came up and said, yeah, I've seen it. I was like, you probably have.
[00:33:55] Speaker B: Yeah. So, I mean, it's. It's so hard to say. There's nothing, like, crazy with celebrities. Everyone has been extremely nice. Shania Twain was the first celebrity I performed for at the Win, and she was unbelievably nice to me. And then I'm a big baseball fan, so Justin Turner, who was on the Dodgers at the time, and I'm a huge Dodgers fan, and he was. He was awesome. And he saw me later, and he stopped me just to have a conversation. That's where I grew up and things like that. So they're. They're normal people.
They. They'll talk to you like a normal. They don't. They don't care about anything. They want to be impressed. And I've had a good experience with every single one of them.
Yeah. So it's fun. It's. That's a.
I'm very fortunate to be around the people I'm around and get to have those opportunities. I'm grateful for every single day.
[00:34:47] Speaker A: I love, I love that you're, that.
[00:34:50] Speaker B: You'Re doing it every single day. I want to learn something new, even if it's not magic related. I just want to learn something new year. We're all students of life. But it made me think of something because I remember growing up, my dad said the only normal he knew was the setting on the washing machine. That was his. Jeez, that's. There's no such thing as normal.
[00:35:09] Speaker A: Saying there is no such thing as normal.
[00:35:11] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:35:12] Speaker A: Thank you so much for giving us the kind of, the real story of what it's like to be a magician in Vegas. I actually learned a lot. It's not what I expected. Hit that, like button. Subscribe to the channel and share this episode with a magician friend who needs to hear it. And you can follow Chris Hannah on Instagram and on his website that is posted below. I keep an eye out for where he's performing. I'm pretty sure it will be at the win. So go to the win. Spend some money. Go. Go get a good steak. Their buffet is amazing.
[00:35:38] Speaker B: It is.
[00:35:39] Speaker A: Yeah. Oh, my God. I'm still full. Just from the last time I went there, like five years ago.
And. And until next time, keep practicing, stay curious, and we will see you again soon.
[00:35:55] Speaker B: Race.
