Stranded with a Stranger: Ray Eden

So we should have some of these in the coming weeks . Now , if you've sent yours in , thank you so much , and if you haven't yet sent yours in , then get them in . The more lists we have , the more episodes we can record . So today's Stranger with a Stranger is Ray Edom . Now Ray sent us in a little bio about him .

He says I'm an American currently living in the sunshine state of Florida , but I spent 22 years living in Finland , where I appeared on several TV shows as well as producing my own shows , including a dinner theatre illusion show that ran over a two-year period in the Finnish capital city of Helsinki .

I'd been making magic since I was 14 , and it all started with a visit to Wayne County Library in Worcester , ohio . Not sure if I should be ashamed or not , but I never returned those books to the library as I found the secrets were too important and needed to be protected from the common man .

I'm afraid I'm still a bit of a magic elitist , as I believe that people wanting to enter the art need to be given new information sparingly and according to their level of interest and dedication to the art . This has become an even bigger debate with the prolification of magic secrets being uploaded to the internet on a daily basis .

Unlike most magicians , I don't have a vivid memory of being gifted a magic kit as a child . My earliest magical memory is from the Ashland Ohio County Fair where I saw a magician transform a girl into a tiger . I was around four years old at the time and it's the only memory from that age I still have .

I've tried to track down who the magician was , but so far no luck . My training took a huge step forward when I moved to New York City in 1990 . My mentor was Wesley James and I got advice from people like Harry Lorraine , david Regal , david Roth , among many others . I started doing street magic in Central Park by the zoo entrance .

I really developed my style and ability to hold a crowd and make money during that period From the street . I started doing table-to-table magic at the celebrity-frequented restaurant Le Beurre Bat on 54th Street , as well as a restaurant in New Jersey called Old Mill Inn . It was also during this time that I started working at New York City comedy clubs .

Those New York days were the real formation for my magic and who I am today . In 1998 , I moved to Scandinavia , more precisely Finland . Within a year of arriving , I started appearing on Finnish television . I was eventually given a weekly segment on a program that ran for two seasons .

My TV appearances included everything from close up to playing Russian roulette with a venomous snake oh my word . I moved back to the United States in January of 2020 , just in time for the big flu . Once things opened again , I started focusing on performing for senior communities , which are numerous in Florida .

I love doing senior communities because they are quite like ticketed shows . The people who come to the show want to be at the show and they are always appreciative . Senior communities seem to bring in mostly musicians and singers , so a magic show is always welcome because it's different from the normal entertainment fair that the residents are offered .

I won't become a millionaire performing for senior communities , but it does allow me to share my magic while giving back something to those who have come before us . Since returning to the States , I have become involved with the local magic clubs and befriended many Floridian magicians .

I'm currently writing my lecture that I'll be doing for a few of the local clubs and beyond once finished . I'm particularly excited to be co-chairing the Florida Magic History and Collectors Conference with Dan Sheppleton . The conference is held in Orlando , florida .

October 2025 will be the fifth year for the conference and my first year as co-chair , although I have attended all but the first conference , as I was still living in Scandinavia at the time of the first one . Wow , there's a lot to go through there . It sounds like you've had an absolutely incredible career and being on Finnish TV sounds amazing .

And just going back to your first memory , you said that that was the first memory you can remember of being four years old , which just shows an impact that that must have had on you . But let's see if we can use this podcast to try and track down that magician .

So if you know someone who was at the ashland ohio county fair goodness knows how many years ago , but a certain number of years ago , if you ever performed there , or know someone who did perform there , maybe you can get in contact and we can finally find out who it is .

And you also mentioned some of the people that you learned from Harry Lorraine , david Regal , david Ruff , amazing groups of people and developing your style as a street magician . Wow , it just sounds like you've had an incredible career , one that I'm sure many people wish they could have . So let's see what Ray's effects are .

Do we think there's going to be some street style tricks on there ? Do we think it's going to be sort of organic ? Where do we think it's going to go ? Let's have a look . So in Ray's first position he's put Keymaster by Craig Petty . He says Keymaster is the perfect everyday carry .

I've had Jay Senkis Holy Moly for a long time , but it stayed in my junk drawer because washers are a strange thing to carry around in my pocket . Craig's innovation in moving from washers to keys is the perfect organic solution to an already great premise . Keys belong in your pocket and have a hole .

This effect has an enormous impact on spectators as it happens in their own hands , and has a similar effect to sponge balls , without the stigma of little red clown noses . Yep , great . So we've gone in with a nice organic prop there . And you're absolutely right .

Holy moly by jay sankey is a superb piece of magic that does happen in the hands of the spectators . But I totally understand that maybe carrying around washers is not quite as organic as a key . So absolutely great choice . It's a great , great trick and leads us to number two . Ray has put Rubik's Cube routine in number two .

He says my cube routine is my show closer right before the finale . The routine is a mix of matching the cube in the bottle and the solution . The piece is more about the story than anything else . As someone who learned to solve the cube as a kid in the 70s , the cube is a natural piece of magic for me .

My script entails the story of when I left for college at the age of 17 . Before leaving , I asked my mother to mix the cube one last time and the cube has remained in that condition since that day . In fact , I had the cube placed into a bottle to prevent anyone from being able to change the cube in any way .

Another cube is given to a few members of the audience who are invited to mix the cube , which is eventually shown to match the cube mixed by my mother several decades ago . I then move into a philosophical idea of the mixed cube being representative of a life , every twist and turn creating the person that we are today .

As a closer to the piece , I talk about the idea that some people believe that when we pass from this life , we will enter a realm of perfection . As this idea is being expressed , I use the solution to restore the cube . The routine has served me well for a couple of years now and it invokes more emotion than I'd ever think I could get from a cube .

On a side note , a few months ago I did a show that happened to coincide with my mother's birthday . I stopped the show and called my mother and the audience sang happy birthday to her . I then asked her if she remembered mixing the cube for me before I left for college . She confirmed the mixing and gave the routine even more impact .

I'm thinking that maybe my mother's birthday should happen every show . Wow , that's great . It sounds like an absolutely wonderful piece of performance and I use that as a very specific representation of what that sounds like . That sounds like , again , a mini piece of theatre . It sounds like a mini story that the audience can get lost in .

And the fact that you called your mum up on her birthday yeah , that's a great moment . It does feel like something that you know . Manufacture is probably the wrong word , but if you could make that happen every time , I bet it would just be a lovely moment for every audience who comes in .

And this brings us to number three and Ray's , put Mapped by Michael Lea . This is my opening . I tend to like a soft opener over a big flashy quickie . Before my show I spend time chatting with the people and ask where they're from .

In Florida , very few people are actually native Floridians , so there are people from all over the states in the communities , many coming from states in which I've lived over the years , which creates a connection with the audience even before the show begins .

This pre-show allows me to get to know the spectators a little bit , but leads naturally into my opening effect Mapped . The effect is a torn and restored premise , except the pieces are already how should I say it ? In pieces , since I've lived in quite a few of these places , both in the States and abroad .

I give a brief history of my magic life from birth to present , as I slowly add piece after piece of the map . The routine concludes with the line which brings us to today , where I'm together with you , upon the word together , the map is restored to one piece .

The ending never fails to bring gasps and applause , as the moment of magic is completely unexpected and the effect sets the mood for my show . That sounds like such a wonderful routine .

It's one that I've not heard of , so I will research this because it sounds like a wonderful piece of magic and I'm learning so far through the tricks that you're talking about specifically the Rubik's Cube one and this one that you like to put a little bit of yourself in the routines and represent your personality and your history and your past into your magic ,

which is great . I think it sounds absolutely wonderful and it does bring us to number four , which is the linking rings . He says I'm old school so I'm of the mind that every magician should have a working knowledge of the cups and balls and the linking rings . Being a stage performer , the linking Rings is my classic of choice .

I've worked several routines over the years , most based on Di Vernon's Symphony of the Rings . I'm currently using my version of Pop Hayden's Four Ring routine . Nearly all the magic I perform gives the power of the magician over to the participants , with me only being the facilitator for the magic .

Pop's routine fits perfectly for my character as the participant is seen by the magician to have the power wow . So we've gone from relatively modern pieces of magic you know , key master only released within the past few years rubik's cube routine .

Rubik's cube magic has had sort of the the big birth over the past 10 years and mapped , and now we've gone to linking rings . So that's a really interesting choice in there and I know that you mentioned that's your classic of choice . I wonder if we've all got a classic of choice .

I wonder if each of us just has that one routine that throughout magic it just gripped us and took us . Well , that brings us to number five , which is LSD Aces by Wesley James . Wesley James was my mentor during my New York City years during the 90s .

He taught me his Ace Collect's routine called LSD Aces , and it's been my go-to collector's routine for over 30 years , partially because I wanted to help keep the routine alive , along with the fact that it is sincerely my favorite version of this particular card plot . I've added my own touches to the routine that also make it my favorite version .

I've added my own touches to the routine that also make it my favorite version

. The thing I like about this routine is that each ace changes places with a known card . The twist is that instead of all the aces arriving in the leader ace packet , like most routines of this type , all of the aces arrive unexpectedly in the packet of the last ace to travel , and the leader ace packet contains four indifferent cards .

Wow , again , it sounds like a wonderful routine . It's not one that I think I've come across . I love that you're sort of passing that down as well from your mentor . I think that's really a lovely thing to be able to do , and it does bring us to number six . So in the six spots we've got Three by Steve Valentine .

Three is Steve Valentine's handling of Three Card Monty . The routine is full of surprises along the way and very cleverly choreographed and routined . It takes the con game and turns it into a full-length routine that can be broken up into segments , which makes it perfect for table hopping or walk-around situations .

The presentation is that of an initiation into the three-card club . That explains why no one should play the game , because wherever you choose , you lose . Although blue-backed cards are used throughout the routine , the finale is that the money card transform into a red backed card with a huge x drawn across the back of it . Great .

It sounds like another great version of three card monty and I really like the idea of that finale . The finale sounds like it would really catch people off guard and anyone that's performed a three card Monty routine knows how engaging and how much audiences enjoy them .

So this does bring us to the tail end of your eight with number seven , which is balls in the net . In my early twenties I purchased David Roth's three ball routine . I was never quite able to pick the knack for the sleight of hand required .

Nearly 25 years later I revisited the routine and this time everything was suddenly easy and the routine went directly into my act . With the advent of cameras and screens for presenting close-up magic for larger venues , the balls in the Net is a natural fit for me .

I explained to the audience that before the advent of cameras and screens , a magician named Silent Mora came up with an idea to present close up magic for large groups without the modern conveniencies that we have today . I like the effect because not a lot of people do it and it's loaded with magic with a huge surprise finish .

Another little bit of trivia regarding Balls in the Net is that Silent Mora's mentor , john Lawrence McKissock was one of the founding members of the city that I currently live in , and the West Palm Beach IBM ring is named in his honour . Everything's a three-dimensional circle or a ball . Everything's a three-dimensional circle or a ball .

Sounds like another wonderful routine , another one that I haven't come across before , but it sounds like a really wonderful piece of magic , and I love that you've got these little nuggets of information in there as well . So if anyone wants to go and research these , of course go and look them up with all of this information .

I'm sure it wouldn't be hard to find . And it does lead us to number eight , which is the dancing cane . On a recent episode of Stranded , your guest expressed his hatred of the dancing cane . I can almost agree with him , almost . In my opinion , too many cane workers spend far too long with the cane . If a routine is over 20-30 seconds long , it's too long .

When it comes right down to it , 15 seconds is plenty . I've only performed the dancing cane a couple of times over my career , but it's something that I completely enjoy doing .

I don't necessarily believe that the dancing cane fools an audience , especially when people are trying to pull two to three minutes out of it , but I find it calming and meditative to practice . So if stranded on an island , I hope to find myself on the island where your guest had buried every cane in existence .

I hope to find myself on the island where your guest had buried every cane in existence . And if I do end up on the island , I would put an appearing shovel as my number eight instead of the cane , so I'll be able to dig up all of those buried canes . Wow , great .

Yeah , I think we had someone on the last season , chris Harding , say that he finds it quite meditative to learn the dancing cane and whilst he might never perform it , he just really enjoys practicing it . So that's a great list . Let's go back through it .

So we've got key master , we've got rubik's cube routine mapped , linking rings , lsd aces , three by steve , valentine balls in the Net and we're ending with the Dancing Cane . A really nice mix of close-up pieces , sort of more conversational pieces , and parlour and stage pieces there as well , and it does bring us to your two curveball items .

Now , this list was sent in before we had the Banishment , so we've only got two things here . So in his book position he's put Paul Gordon's Gold Dust , my go-to card routine features my handling of two of Paul Gordon's effects , namely Diminishing Not Likely and Killer Mystery Card .

Lsd Aces is sandwiched in between these two effects , so I would have my deck of cards with me . I have five of Paul's books Cold Dust , gold Dust , companion , gold Dust Finale , quid Nunc and Article 52 but I haven't set aside the time to read them cover to cover , so I'd start with Gold Dust .

There's plenty to keep me busy in the book , and Corner of Piccadilly is in there too , isn't it ? Yeah , paul has created some really wonderful tricks over the years . Corner of Piccadilly , of course , he's really well known for , but equally , head to Head Poker is one of my favourites Muldoon Match , easy Ace Estimation .

He's got some really wonderful tricks , so I can understand why one of his books made your list . I can understand why one of his books made your list . Now , ray's non-magic item is a guitar . I've been threatening to learn to play the guitar for years .

Between making magic and meditation with my dancing cane , I would start learning those chords and maybe , after another decade , be able to bang out a tune or two . Maybe in two decades I'll become another John Guastafaro and write some accompanying music for my magic , a great choice .

We do have lots of people that say music or an instrument , and I think it's just such a fundamental part of not just our culture and our lives , but also our art form . Lots of people use music .

So thank you so much , so much , ray , for writing that , and it really does sound like you've had an amazing career , and it sounds like your list is really diverse . So thank you again . Now , if you want to send in your list , make sure you send it to sales at alakazamcouk .

Include a bio as well as your atrix , and don't forget , you can put in a banishment now as well . So , ray eden , you are a stranger , no more . We'll be back next week with a stranded , with a stranger and , of course , desert island tricks . We'll see you then .

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