What should we expect from
is the biggest show in the world because you will see every form of magic you can think of. The weird thing is that people think that a magic show is only about one type of trick. But we show everything: there’s grand illusions, escapology and death-defying stunts. It’s dangerous and then there’s me being funny by reading people’s minds. This is the greatest show that you could ever see.
Tell us more about your role in it?
I am a mind reader who can’t read minds. I am like any other person. But I can tell you that there are different techniques to get into people’s heads and I find fun ways to be funny with it.
There’s audience participation and there’s a section where the audience comes up on stage and are asked to think about what they want to see me do on stage. If you are coming to the show, then you might get a chance to be on the stage. We just finished the show in London and I was doing Macarena and Gangnam Style. Someone even made me do ballet one night and I have a feeling that someone in Dubai will make me sing a opera.
Once they control my mind, I begin reading their minds.
How embarrassing does it get?
Most of the embarrassment is reserved for me. They [the audience] control me. I want to make people laugh and I don’t mind looking like an idiot. Many a times, people hope that they are not picked by me, but after they see what happens they wish they were picked too. These are wonderful moments where you buy a ticket for a show, but get a chance to be the star of the show for a few minutes. You get to stand on the amazing Dubai opera stage and entertain thousands of people. That’s pretty amazing.
How orchestrated are your routines?
Part of the magic is to make you feel like it’s the first time that we are doing it. Even though we are working on the same material, I am always a different person for each show. So how they respond as an audience allows me to adapt the material to who they are and what they are like. There is a lot of improvisation and making stuff up as we go along. I like to play with the audience. During a magic show, it’s playtime for us and the audience. It is like being kids on the playground because magic gives you a chance to enjoy a child-like wonder. Illusions make you feel as if anything is possible again. reader
Is this a magic show for adults? looks refined and appears to go beyond the rabbit and the hat trick.
Totally. It is a family magic show. We genuinely look at the audience and see six-year-olds to 60-year-olds in the audience. There is something for everyone there. It’s a Western magic show and there’s story to our tricks.
With the advent of social media and online videos, why do you think people should pay to watch live shows?
Otherwise we won’t get paid [laughs]. All of us are careful about what we put out on social media because there is no better way to see magic than to see it live. Watching it online or on TV makes you wonder if the trick is a camera trick. But when you are in a room experiencing it with your own eyes, it’s the greatest feeling of wonder. There is also a chance that you will get to be a part of the trick and that will make you realise that none of it is set up. By seeing it live, you realise that we are genuinely there to make the impossible possible. | Mind
“There are different techniques to get into people’s heads and I find fun ways to be funny with it.”
Your career is an unconventional one. How did you get into it?
I remember vividly how I got into this. I was ten years old and I was at home. Then a post came which was delivered by an owl and I spent about six years at Hogwarts. I even have a friend called Harry something ... But jokes aside, I blame my parents a little bit because they got me a magic kit when I was little and I always liked performing and entertaining. Plus, I always wanted to be on the stage. At school I began studying psychology and that made me wonder if I can mix a bit of psychology with magic.