Talking Tricks with Kane & Abel

Man of Mischief and juggler and magician extraordinaire Mark Watson joins us to tell his incredible journey from overworked London City banker to full-time professional performer. Hear how magic legend Paul Daniels inspired both his interest in magic and led to him studying business and becoming a chartered accountant and banker before a holiday to the Edinburgh Fringe encouraged him to go full ti...

Australian magician Dom Chambers joins us to talk performing his beer production magic act on Penn & Teller Fool Us, his upcoming appearance on the new season of America's Got Talent and what it is like being a professional magician in Australia. Dom won the Best Magic Show award at this year's Adelaide Fringe Festival and he talks about his good and bad experiences at the world's second largest a...

Magical Bones joins us on Talking Tricks to discuss his incredible magic career including a worldwide tour with Impossible and his own TV series Around the World in 80 Tricks. He talks about starting his performance career as a hip-hip B-boy dancer on the streets in London, stage and in music videos for Madonna and other global mega popstars, how renting his local theatre helped springboard him in...

On Talking Tricks, we assemble a crack team of magic experts to discuss the most iconic and notorious animals in magic history. Learn about the most famous animals in magic and variety including tigers, ducks, chickens, goldfish, otters, snacks, doves, horses and octopus. Also hear the stories from the biggest names in magic and variety such as Siegfried and Roy, David Copperfield, David Blaine, M...

Katie Pritchard is the brand new recipient of the Musical Comedy Award and she joins us to talk all about winning this prestigious award. She chats about what the award means and what she actually gets, as well as performing multiple shows at the Brighton Fringe, Edinburgh Fringe, Cambridge Fringe and the Leicester Comedy Festival. She also answers questions off the back page of old NME magazines...

Psychologist and Magician Dr Matt Tompkins joins us to discuss the brand new Smoke & Mirrors: The Psychology of Magic exhibition, which runs until September 15th at The Welcome Collection gallery in London. Matt discusses his live performances as part of the exhibition, the artefacts within the collection, why mediums and mentalism strike a chord with the general public, psychology and magic and m...

Magic Sam Hurst joins us to share his incredible story from sleeping rough to being crowned UK Family Entertainer of the Year 2019. Sam also talks about working at magic bars in Manchester and Bristol, his TV stardom on BBC's Let me Entertain You and Magic House Party, running his own night the Beautiful Magicians' Club, working full-time as a magician on the streets of Covent Garden and much more...

Find out everything you need to know about the SAMS Convention. Is it a convention solely for people named Sam, or is it in fact the Scottish Association of Magic Societies? It's the latter and we are joined by the SAMS President Elliott Bibby to discuss everything the convention has to offer, from its amazing line-up of lecturers, competitions, one trick show, gala show and food deals. The conven...

Kevin Quantum joins us to discuss his fascinating journey from reality TV contestant to globe-trotting magician. He talks about what it was like learning from magic legends Penn & Teller, Pat Page, Paul Daniels and Nigel Mead as part of the Channel 4 show Faking It, combining science and magic, the early struggles to transition from PhD Researcher to full-time magician, running the Edinburgh Inter...

On Talking Tricks, Laurence Abel is joined by special guest host Magic Sam Hurst to discuss whether or not Hulk Hogan is the worst magician of all time. In 1998, Hulk Hogan tried – and failed – to win a wrestling match by performing a magic trick. We look at what went wrong and also discuss the many times wrestlers have used magic and illusion to help them get one over their opponents. Find out if...

Ben Hart joins us on Talking Tricks for a heart to heart as he tells all about his enviable career in magic. He spills the beans on working with Penn & Teller on their upcoming Magic Goes Wrong production with Mischief Theatre, life on tour and his new magic book for magicians. Ben also chats about winning the Young Magician of the Year, his fascinating role on BBC Three’s Killer Magic and his spi...

The Expert at the Card Table: How To Cheat At Cards is one of the most iconic books on magic and the inspiration behind Jden Redden’s award-winning Adelaide Fringe show. Jden spills the beans on what we do and don’ know about the elusive author of the book, why it inspired his show, the role of technology in magic, winning the ‘Best Magic’ award at the festival, his inspirations and why he doesn’t...

F**K My Life' is a circus and physical theatre show about ugly truths, sharing a little too much and owning parts of ourselves we tried to get rid of long ago. The show tackles everything from drug addiction and the death of a parent to paralysing accidents, becoming a single parent and devastating betrayals.   Writer, Producer and Performer Maggie Fayne joins us to discuss the show, its origins,...

A break from our traditional format for Talking Tricks as Laurence Abel brings you an exclusive podcast from Singapore departure lounge on route to performing Breaking the Magicians' Code with Kane & Abel at the Adelaide Fringe Festival.  Find out what his top tips for what to see, do and eat in Singapore are; learn all you need to know to perform at the Adelaide Fringe Festival like Kane & Abel a...

On Talking Tricks this week, we are joined by magician Ava Beaux.   Ava discusses being one of the house magicians at the UK’s top magic venue Smoke & Mirrors in Bristol and her time at its former sister venue Illusions.   She also tells us why there isn’t more female magicians, why she likes her audience to be a little bit creeped out during her performances, inspirations, why the general public...

Musician, Drag act, Blogger and Author Frankie Cote joins Talking Tricks to discuss his incredible and heart-wrenching story. Frankie had the world at his feet as a promising musician with support slots for Example, Kaiser Chiefs and other music stars but fell into a debilitating rut of depression and alcohol and drug abuse, he has now authored the best-selling book Escape, Breath, Ignite: How to...

If you’ve ever considered performing at a wedding you need to listen to this. Joining us on Talking Tricks is professional magician and professional wedding crasher Elliott Bibby. Bibby discusses  performing at an average of two weddings a week, the different packages he offers, the best and worst time to perform magic at a wedding, bridezillas and how to secure more bookings. He also talks about...

Max Maven joins Talking Tricks this week to offer a rare insight into the mind of one of the world's greatest ever mentalists and mind readers. Max discusses his career at length, from his start buying 10c magic magazines in Boston to headlining the biggest comedy clubs in the US and being the go-to-guy for mind reading on worldwide TV. He also talks about what a performer needs to do to make thei...

Garry Vanderhorne and Greg Burridge – the men behind the phenomenal Lucha Britannia – join Talking Tricks to talk about the iconic cult variety show that is part cabaret, part wrestling event. The chaps discuss what led to them starting Lucha Britannia, why they chose to include cabaret acts as well as wrestling matches, the role they've had in revolutionising the way the wrestling industry view f...

Steve Dela joins us to discuss winning more magic competitions than any other UK magician and the doors that these awards have opened for him. The Shropshire-born magician talks about his move to London which resulted in him working five residencies a week, getting fewer tips than Dynamo, his top advice for entering competitions, his inspirations, the ins and outs of running a monthly magic night,...

This week on Talking Tricks, we are joined by contemporary circus company the Barely Methodical Troupe to discuss their show Shift which opens the London International Mime Festival this week.  BMT Co-Founders Charlie Wheeler and Louis Gift along with fellow cast members Esmeralda Nikolajeff and Elihu Vazquez discuss their roles in the show, what led to them starting the troupe/ joining the troupe...

Happy Christmas from Talking Tricks and to celebrate the 'most wonderful time of the year' we are joined by the ghost of Christmas past Pete Firman. What does this mean? Well, about seven years ago we interviewed the UK's number one comedy magician Pete Firman to discuss his current (at that time) BBC One TV show The Magicians and his nationwide tour. At this point Abel was working for Southampton...

This week, we are joined by Andi Gladwin to talk about the upcoming The Session convention in January that he organises with his Vanishing Inc business partner Joshua Jay. Andi discusses exactly what to expect from the three-day convention starring Mac King, Max Maven, Ben Hart, Andy Nyman, Dani DaOrtiz, Michael Weber, Juke Lermay and many many more. We also chat about the origins and inspirations...

Alex Oddball joins us this week to talk about his family's amazing journey to owning and running the world's largest juggling company. He talks us through the incredible chance meeting of his parents that only happened because his dad dropped a juggling ball, their humble beginnings selling juggling equipment from a council estate bedroom in Hackney to the global business they run today. Alex also...

Celebrity magician Paul Nathan joins us on Talking Tricks to discuss his phenomenal career, from starting out performing close-up magic in nightclubs for the rich and the famous in LA including Prince and Grace Jones to his iconic performances at Glastonbury Festival and how he inadvertently created and starred in the smash-hit kids' magic show The I Hate Children Children's Show and won huge awar...