Desert Island Tricks

A Covent Garden magic stall in winter, a boat that hosts magic sessions and a career that somehow threads through it all to The Magic Circle. We sit down with Lee Hathaway and get the kind of candid, craft-obsessed conversation that only happens between people who have lived magic for decades. Along the way, Lee talks about the uncomfortable truth most working performers feel: you can “unlearn” technique when life gets busy and getting it back is less about time and more about calm, repetitive focus.
Then we maroon Lee on a desert island and make him choose. His list moves from Roy Walton’s Cannibal Cards as a mastery project, to the mythical Any Drink Called For kettle, to David Williamson’s Torn and Restored Transposition as a masterclass in structure. We also dig into practical working tools like the fire wallet as an instant visual hook, plus bigger swings like the balloon swallow and the always-evolving cups and balls. If you love close-up magic, street magic, classic plots and real-world performing choices, you’ll hear your own thinking reflected back at you.
The back half goes deeper into wonder and philosophy: Houdin’s Orange Tree illusion as Lee’s favourite piece of magic ever, sponge bunny rabbits as an underrated layperson miracle and a banishment we fully agree with: petty arguments over credit that drain the joy out of the art. Lee’s must-read pick, Juan Tamariz’s The Magic Way, ties the whole mindset together, from “clever” to truly impossible.
Lee’s Desert Island Tricks: 
Welcome pack: Cannabal Cards 
Any Drink Called For Kettle (with consumables) 
Torn and Restored Transposition
Fire wallet 
The Rainbow
Balloon Swallow 
Cups and Balls
The Orange Tree Illusion
Sponge Bunny Rabbits
Banishment. Arguments about who created what
Book. The Magic Way
Item. Utility Knife 
Find out more about the creators of this Podcast at www.alakazam.co.uk

A coin vanishes three times, ends up trapped inside a phone and then bends after the spectator has been holding it. That’s how Stephen Maule chooses to open his desert island set and it instantly tells you what kind of thinker he is: practical, modular and obsessed with reactions that spread from one friend group to the next. We start with Stephen’s backstory, including the influence of classic TV magic and the way big moments like the Blackpool Magic Convention can pull people back into the craft after years away.
Then we dig into his “Stranded with a Stranger” list: Daryl’s Three Card Monte and why a challenge-style gambling routine can still feel playful, “SAM Memory” as a four-card packet trick framed like a memory test or pseudo-hypnosis, plus timeless card magic like Paul Curry’s Out of This World and the punch of Doctored Daley in the spectator’s hands. If you love close-up magic, card sleight of hand and building stronger sets, there’s a lot here to steal in principle.
The back half turns toward clean mentalism and impossible locations: Collateral OTT as an open billet technique, the Infinity Wallet as both a prediction device and a genuine safety net and Nest of Wallets as a visual closer for a signed coin or borrowed ring. Stephen’s banishment might be the most valuable takeaway: stop rushing to show a trick before you’ve practiced, tested and made it yours. 
Subscribe for more lists, share this with a magician friend and leave a review if it helps you rethink what belongs in your “only eight tricks” repertoire.
Find out more about the creators of this Podcast at www.alakazam.co.uk

Magic gets stale when we keep reaching for the same props, the same references and the same “safe” structures. So we invited Oliver Meach back for a Desert Island Tricks SOS and he did something no one else has done yet: he replaced every trick on his original list with a completely new set, chosen to showcase how he thinks about modern card magic, close-up mentalism, and audience-first interaction.

We talk through effects built on bold starting conditions like performing with your back turned, using touch as the driving sense and hiding procedure inside familiar game logic. Oliver shares how he aims for fresh plots, streamlined methods and interesting interactions and why those three filters keep his material both creative and practical. Along the way we hear about Effervescent, the Effervescent membership, Effervescent 2, and what he brings to Alakazam Unlimited, plus the small “psychological convincers” that make an effect feel impossible even when the method is already done.

Then we go bigger with a banishment that hits a nerve: the lack of variety and diversity in magic, from overused ESP tropes to the industry habits that flatten originality. We wrap with the island extras: a care package trick, a magical guest, a career-defining memory, a horror story that still hurts, and the one show Oliver would watch forever. Subscribe for more conversations like this, share it with a magician friend who needs new fuel, and leave a review with the most “different” magic idea you want to see next.
Oliver Meech SOS: 
Switching Gemini Twins for Back View 
Switching Killer Elite Pro for Untrue Crime
Switching Holy Moly for Touching Transposition
Switching Hydrostatic Glass for Morphin Time
Switching Word-o for The Secret Steps 
Switching B’Wave for Go With The Flow
Switching Snaps for Card Number Recap
Switching Coin Jar for The Other Three Magi
Care Package. Piles of Aces
Banishment. Lack of Variety and Diversity in Magic
Guest. Liam Montier 
Memory. Vanishing Wife During Wedding 
Horror story. Glass Jar Shattering 
Show. Derren Browns First Live Show
Find out more about the creators of this Podcast at www.alakazam.co.uk

He’s performed for Queen Elizabeth II, he’s a resident magician in Gordon Ramsay restaurants and he’s Vice President of The Magic Circle, but he still geeks out over the same question every working magician wrestles with: what actually works when you’re in the trenches night after night? We sit down with Michael J. Fitch for a wide-ranging, laugh-out-loud conversation that turns into a practical guide to building a set that plays for real people, not just magicians. 
Michael breaks down how a single choice, doing magic for the restaurant staff in the kitchen, sparked an 11-year run with Ramsay venues and why those behind-the-scenes moments create the biggest career leverage. We also talk Magic Circle, from conventions and tributes to what’s coming next, including the Magic Circle Awards evening, seasonal shows and a Houdini celebration at the London Hippodrome.
Then we “maroon” Michael on a magical desert island and force the hard decisions: one normal deck, eight effects, one book, one non-magic utility item, and one thing he’d happily bury forever. Expect memorised deck ambition with a modern training twist using ChatGPT, signature spoon bending with a Uri Geller story, underrated paddle magic, the tiny plunger, rope work, Doc Eason-inspired bar material, multiplying bottles, egg bag and a Cube Zag illusion tied to Wayne Dobson. We also go on a needed rant about negativity in magic and why judging a show by the audience reaction matters more than magicians expectations. 
Michael’s Desert Island Tricks: 
Welcome Pack: Memorised Deck 
Spoon Bending 
Howzatt
Tiny Plunger
Rope
Money to Lemon / All of Doc Eason’s material 
Multiplying Bottles 
Egg Bag
Cube-Zag 
Banishment. Negativity in Magic 
Book. Notes from a Fellow Traveller 
Item. Mobile Phone
Find out more about the creators of this Podcast at www.alakazam.co.uk

A card rises to the top of the deck because a violin is playing and somehow that makes perfect sense by the time it’s over. That’s the kind of “how is this even happening?” thinking we love and it’s why we’ve wanted Chris Funk on for years. Chris is a touring magician known for Redefining Wonder and for bringing music into modern stage magic in a way that feels lived-in, not bolted on.
We talk through his desert island list of essential routines, from Bill Abbott’s Five Card Box as a killer opener to a lottery ticket prediction he’s preparing to release (Numera), plus a colour match that ends with a guitar reveal. Chris breaks down what makes multi-phase magic routines work: theme and variation, raising the stakes, and scripting that sounds like a real human instead of “instructions on a page.” We also get into a wild guitar-and-looping piece where a moving power plug changes the music and why audiences sometimes need you to say the thought they’re already thinking.
Then we go backstage into the real touring magician life: cramped travel, questionable hotels, missing luggage, TSA surprises and why “utility props” and redundancies matter if you want a professional show that survives the worst day. Chris shares a kid-led drawing duplication built around trust and confidence, his spicy banishments (including the phrase “Do me a favour”), the classic book he’d take to a desert island (Royal Road to Card Magic) and the tech that runs his show via QLab and a DAW.
Chris’ Desert Island List: 
Welcome: Violin Card Rise 
Bill Abbotts 5 card box 
Lottery Ticket Prediction Numera
Colour Match 
Guitar Trick 
Mind reading production effect 
Drawing Duplication 
Bill to lime 
Impossible Instrument Balance 
Banishment. Do me a favour / The Floating Table 
Book. Royal Road to Card Magic 
Item. Laptop 
Find out more about the creators of this Podcast at www.alakazam.co.uk