Stranded with a Stranger: Phill Evans

If you want to be a part of one of these , then please send in your list of eight tricks , one non-magic item and one book to sales at alakazamcouk . In the subject line please put my desert island tricks . That way it comes through to me and we can get one of these recorded for you .

That being said , we do have another stranded stranger who has given us a great little bio . So today's guest is Phil Evans , and here's what Phil says . I've been interested in magic since receiving a Hocus Pocus magic set as a child .

In particular , I remember a trick from the set involving three safety pins with colored beads , where the spectator would remove one of the safety pins and you could tell which colour bead they had without looking . I fooled a few people with this and enjoyed performing it . I used to love watching the magic shows on TV and can just about remember David Nixon .

Of course there was also Paul Daniels , like many people , other interests took my attention as I grew up , but I remember running a youth event at our church where a band played and one of the musicians performed magic tricks between songs . I recognized some of the tricks as being more professional versions of the ones I had in my magic set .

As I was involved in youth work at the time , I began using magic in the programs I ran . Later , I spent around five to six months working in London , where I would regularly pop into Davenport's and , occasionally , international Magic and lose myself in the props and effects on show . My imagination would run riot .

There's nothing like visiting a brick and mortar magic shop . Paul Henry would demonstrate all kinds of tricks and relieve me of the extra expenses I received from working in London , plus a bit more on top . It was during this time that I got interested in close-up magic .

I continued to perform magic occasionally , but the business of life meant that it took a backseat for a number of years . 2016 to 2018 were particularly difficult years for me , with life throwing a number of years . 2016 to 18 were particularly difficult years for me , with life throwing a number of curveballs .

It was during this time that I discovered my love of magic again . Magic became my safe place where , for a while , I could escape and take my mind off the issues I was facing . It was during this time that I met some amazing magicians who , without knowing anything of my circumstances , showed kindness just because that's the type of people they are .

It went a long way and meant so much at the time . Perhaps I could just mention John Carey and Peter Nardi , who befriended the struggling stranger that they are now stranded with . Well , things moved on , life moved on , things got better and magic stayed with me .

Through magic I've made many new friends , including Rich Relish and Lord Harry from Cardiff Magic Society . Both have been great sources of encouragement in my magical journey . I'm now a member of the Magic Circle , with a big thanks to Andy Smith for all the help and advice , and , best of all , I'm a proud member of the Alaka fan .

Perhaps I could give a final shout out to Magic Mel , a local magician that used to do gospel magic around my local churches and took me under his wing many years ago . I still love our magic catch-up chats . So here's the list . I'm primarily a family magician with a performing interest in parlor and stage . I enjoy learning close up , but less so performing .

Finally , I love a bit of spooky magic . It may be a very eclectic list . Wow , it sounds like it's going to be a really eclectic list . What a great introduction . And yeah , paul Henry from Davenport . I always remember him showing me loads of great tricks in Davenport's .

And those of you that have never had the opportunity to visit a brick and mortar magic shop , please , please do Just . Wherever you are in the world , seek one out . If you're on holiday , see if they have one local to you . Go check them out , because they are wonderful , wonderful places . So I'm really interested to see what Phil's list is going to be .

But before we begin , he's given us some honorable mentions that maybe will give us some insight into what his full list is going to be . So here are his honorable mentions Evolution by Paul Gordon , a brilliant colorful little packet trick where cards with pictures of caterpillars magically go into a cocoon and then appear as butterflies .

Little Door by Roddy McGee Brilliant fun effect . And Card Warp . I use the Michael Amar version from Easy to Master Card Miracles , volume 2 . So we've got a packet trick , we've got Card Warp and we've got a packet trick . We've got card warp and we've got little door .

Not sure if that gives us many clues into what the list is going to be , but let's get stuck into Phil's list . So in the first position , phil has put stratosphere , an easy to follow illusion , where three balls red , yellow and green are placed into a tube just wide enough to contain the balls , yet the balls change order . It also has a kicker ending .

I love telling stories , and this trick allows me to perform magic as I tell a story . I have a couple of stories , but my favourite is about three children putting their special baubles on their Christmas tree .

This is the trick that attracts most comments from adults at my family shows , so much so that I've started to add it to my cabaret show , and it's going down a storm . Wow , what a great idea . I love the idea of the baubles and the Christmas tree . Yeah , that gives absolute reason to having those because they yeah , they look like giant baubles .

What a great idea . And it does bring us to number two , the extractor in particular . Before you play devil's advocate , hey , my card to nail routine , where a freely selected and signed card is placed back in the box by the spectator , the box is placed in an envelope and the envelope is sealed with a nail on account .

The envelope is ripped from the nail to reveal the signed card pinned onto the nail . This gets amazing reactions . The extractor makes everything so clean , plenty of business to be had in the presentation , and it can be performed , stage , parlor and close up Yep , great .

I love the idea of the prediction being nailed and then the envelope being torn around it and seeing the card . Now that's an excellent , excellent idea , very dramatic . That would be a great way to upscale it to parlor and stage . Yeah , excellent , excellent idea . And that leads us to number three , which is get smarty .

I love the item to impossible location plot and this ticks all the boxes for me . It's easy to do pretty much fail , safe uses , valuable personal item with minimal risk . The list could go on . I love get smarty absolutely , and I started performing get smarty maybe four months ago now at my local restaurant and it gets phenomenal reactions .

If you're a fan of bill tube type routines and there's been some phenomenal ones over the years uh , nick ironhorn had a great one with pens um , and you know , it's just a phenomenal trick and mark's version of it . I think he has another version as well as get smarty with another type of container for sweets , but it it's a phenomenal , phenomenal trick .

I highly recommend it . So that brings us to number four , which is Coin Unique . Coin Unique was one of the first GAF coins I brought and I've always loved it . It's often used in a very basic way , but I think that with a little imagination it can be a real powerhouse .

I combine this with part of Alakazam's confusing coins for my birds of a feather routine . An old English penny is dropped into a coin purse with an American half dollar . The purse is given to the spectator . I hold an English half crown in my hand and ask the spectator to shake the purse Chris Congreve idea .

The penny is now seen with the half crown in my hand and when the spectator opens the purse it seemed to have vanished , with only the half dollar left in the purse . Wow , what a great idea for a routine . Like a transpo of coins , but in their hands . Yeah , great , great choice . Coin unique is always going to be a popular choice .

It's such a clever gimmick and I'm sure that all of us remember first seeing that gimmick and how amazed we were by it . So , yeah , great choice . And it leads us to number five , which is needle through balloon . Back to family magic , and this has been in my set for a long time . The amount of business , drama and fun you can get out of this is unreal .

I usually build it up as the most dangerous trick in the world , then explain I'm going to push a pin into a balloon , then I produce a huge pin . A couple of lessons learned through this many performances are always get spectators to check the balloon . As many know the sellotape trick . I always get them to check specifically for tape .

I always end by explaining that I use special balloons that can't break and go to prove the point by sticking the pin into the balloon a second time , which of course causes the balloon to burst , accompanied by a shock reaction from myself . Just a side note .

Obviously , check about loud noises and bursting balloons , especially if you're aware that there are some children with special needs present . Great , I know lots of people that do the needle through balloon . I know Dave loosely opens and closes his stage set with a very clever callback and it always gets great , great reactions .

Especially you know , like you said , for family shows , how much more pack small plays big do you need ? You know a needle in a balloon and you can present this to a whole stage . I can imagine it's quite a good compare piece as well . A great great middle effect . So yeah , great , great choice .

And it brings us to number six , the tiny psychic plunger my go to for family walk around magic . The spectator chooses a card and places it back into the deck . The tiny plunger is placed on the spectator's forehead for it to read their mind . The plunger is then used to cut to the spectator's card Literally no end of fun .

I always make a point of asking the parent if I can place the plunger on the child's forehead , not because I think they're likely to say no , but because it adds so much to the comic effect . It can be repeated over and over again . In fact it's better repeated . The only problem is that every child will want to try it .

Please can I also have an honourable mention ? Of course you can forris congreve's gun trick

. Although a different trick , it has many of the same qualities as tiny psychic plunger . It's a real faller for grown-ups . I performed this at a pub garden party in the summer and the response from one of the parents was that's impressive . Chris taught this on his commercial killers for academy . Both great choices there . Tiny plunger is just a phenomenal .

Phenomenal trick , another one that you know the first time . I think all magicians saw it . We thought it was so clever , really quirky , completely different to anything that's out there before . And you're right . Having that moment of the plunger on the forehead is just a wonderfully comical moment . And that does bring us onto the tail end of your eight tricks .

Number seven bag for life . Once again I'm combining two tricks into one routine and these two work so well together . Bag for life is a brilliant effect where a coin literally passes through a small plastic bag . I then ask the spectator to check the bag for holes there are none and return the bag to me . The spectator signs the coin .

I then use Chris Congreve's coin to impossible location , as taught on commercial killers , to about one hour in . It's a really strong little routine that's really easy to do and gives loads of opportunities for fun and bits of business . You know what I think ? We've had Bag for Life a few times now on all of the podcasts and it's just such a great routine .

It just goes to show how commercial of a routine it really is . And you know Chris Congreve , all of his stuff is . You know the word commercial comes to mind .

It's always really relatable for an audience , it's always kind of interesting with a quirky twist , and combining both of those effects together is really smart , a really great little routine , and it does bring us to your last item . Now let's do the game that we normally do . Can anyone guess what kind of trick Phil has put in his last position ?

Or it might be a bit of a curveball . This may be his curveball item . So in number eight we have White Star , as mentioned . I love a bit of spooky magic . There's so many to choose from , but I've gone for this one for its spooky presentation with a fantastic hook linking to the Titanic .

In this effect , the spectator is able to look at photos of people who were on that fateful journey and discern whether they survived or not . I've done some work on the props and have my own handling . Some work on the props and have my own handling . I've also brought a genuine period brooch and spectacles to assist the storytelling .

I believe this trick is out of print , but I would love to see Alakazam version with upgraded props and handling . Please could I have another honorable mention of course you can for Jamie Dawes effect . No , this isn't a probe to get Jamie to read out my list . My honorable mention goes to the Forgotten .

This is a lesser known extra effect that comes free in one of Jamie's other releases . I love the premise of the story and have played around with the presentation . I've added a few bits and pieces , with the latest being frozen in time to lock the actual time of the spookiness time chosen by the spectator . Great choices , both of them superb .

Yeah , white Star is just a great routine . If you haven't seen it , do go seek it out . It was an effect that I saw many years ago now and it's sort of an out-of-this-world style effect and it's certainly inspired some of the work that I've produced as well . And thank you very much for the forgotten .

Yeah , it's one that sort of got hidden because it's sort of the b-side to a main trick , which was he's not here . But it's a wonderful trick and I love your idea of adding frozen in time what . Just just a great idea , really , really nice idea . And it does bring us to your two curveball items , which is your book and your item .

Phil says so many to choose from , but I've gone with hiding the elephant by jim steinmeier . I'm fascinated by stories from the golden age of magic . The characters , plots , skullduggery , creativity skills and romance of those times fuel my imagination . How I would have loved to experience a performance by one of the greats in the Egyptian Hall .

Ah , absolutely , phil . The name of the venue alone conjures up all kinds of exciting mysteries . Jim Steinmeier is not only a font of knowledge but a brilliant storyteller . Honorable mention to Jim Steinmeier's the Glorious Deception telling the story of Chung Ling Su . Yeah , do you know what ?

I did some research for something a little while ago into the Egyptian Hall , and it would have been such a wonderful place to visit . It's such a shame that we don't really have anything like that in London anymore . Well , certainly not to that grandeur , you know .

It would have been so wonderful to go in there , and I always think about the first time people would have seen magic at a place like that , and how grand it would have been . Yeah , great . So let's go to your item , phil . Honorable mention to my antique suitcases that I use to hold my equipment . However , my pick has to go to Snowy the Rabbit .

Snowy is a Tenyo magic rabbit that I brought at Davenport's many years ago . I use him to perform a couple of magic tricks , but really he's there for the cuteness factor . From very young children to grown-ups , snowy is always a massive hit .

I use him in my family shows , telling the children he's a naughty rabbit that plays tricks on me , which becomes a running gag throughout the show All my magician in trouble effects plus If anything really goes wrong . It's a great get-out . He's super cute , which creates a fun tension to him . Being so naughty . Wow , what a great , interesting uh choice .

We I think we've had rocky raccoon before , but we've not had a rabbit yet a naughty rabbit . So what a great list , phil . A great little mix there of close-up and parlor slash stage things . Your idea of the the nail with the extractor is such a great idea .

Of course , you started off with stratosphere , with the baubles , so I can see that you like putting your own unique story twist on effects as well , which really must make them so unique to you . So a great , great list . Thank you so much , phil , for taking the time to write that out . And of course , phil , you are a stranger , no more .

We know everything we need to know about you . Now , once again , if you want to have one of your lists read out , please send in your list to sales at alakazamcouk , please send in your list of eight tricks , of course , a little bio and why you chose those effects . So thank you all for listening .

Don't forget we are back this friday with our next episode of the main podcast . Now , believe it or not , we're nearly approaching the end of the first season , which is an entire year of these podcasts , which has been incredible . The feedback , the response , the viewership has been phenomenal .

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