355 different tricks. Only six people sharing the single most popular pick. And a top item that only three guests chose. Season two ends with the kind of recap that every magician, mentalist, and close-up worker secretly loves: the real numbers, the real patterns, and the real reasons behind what performers actually keep in their pockets.

We’re closing with the official season two rankings plus the moments that made the year. A Deck Of Cards takes the top spot, with PK Touches and Invisible Deck right behind it, followed by classics like Cups And Balls, Coins Across, and Sponge Balls. We also unpack the tied cluster of powerful “worker” effects that share the lower spots, plus what the spread teaches about originality, overexposure, and choosing material that actually suits you. We round things off with the season’s top banishment (yes, it’s ego), the most loved magic book (The Mind and Magic of David Berglass), and the surprisingly revealing “non-magic item” choices.

The Season 2 Top Tricks:

1. Deck of Cards - Beau Cremer, Steve Gore, Keith Barry, Joel M, Marvin Berglas, Alan Rorrison

2. PK Touches - Vince Wilson, Jamie Daws, Christopher Taylor, Looch, Kay Dyson

3. Invisible Deck - Harry Marlin Piper, Steve Gore, Keith Barry, John Archer

4. Cups and Balls - Erik Tait, R Paul Wilson, Nikola Arkane, Michael Ammar

5. Coins Across - Erik Tait, R Paul Wilson, James Brown, Ben Williams

6. Sponge Balls - Nikola Arkane, Kay Dyson, Roddy McGhie, Mark Bennett

Joint 7 & 8. Double Levitation - Harry Merlin Pipar, Rodney James Piper, Russ Stevens

Fork Bending - Rodney James Piper, Neil Henry, Phill Smith

Destination Box - Craig Petty, Jon Allen, Noel Qualter

Multiple Selection - Tom Bolton, Ben Hanlin, Daniel Chard

Double Cross - Tom Bolton, Luke Oseland, James Brown

Toxic + - Tom Bolton, Jamie Daws, Harry De Cruz

Card Under Box - Daniel Chard, James Brown, Neil Henry

Q&A - Looch, Marc Paul, Daniel Chard

TOP BANISHMENT - Ego - Tom Bolton, Ben Williams, Dave Loosley, James Brown, Leo Smetsers

TOP BOOK - The Mind and Magic of David Berglas - Rodney James Piper, Marvin Berglas, Tony Antoniou, Neil Henry

TOP ITEM - MUSIC - Nikolas Mavresis, Oliver Tabor, Matthew Pomeroy / WIFE - Chris North, Michael Ammar, Jonathan Goodwin

Season 2 Stats: 355 Tricks named - 48 Banishments - 46 Books - 46 Items

Find out more about the creators of this Podcast at www.alakazam.co.uk

If you work gigs for a living, you know the quiet fear: doing the same “sure-fire” routines until you start performing on autopilot. Jamie sits down again with UK magician Dean Leavy to find out what actually makes a trick worth keeping for life and what gets cut when you’re performing corporate events, weddings, trade shows, and parties week after week.

Dean walks us through the real reasons a professional close-up magician updates a working set, starting with repeat clients who want to see something new. We dig into the practical choices behind swapping Extreme Burn for a hard-hitting chop cup routine, why Ring Flight Revolution still gets reactions people talk about years later, and how a wallet can be more than a prop when you treat it like a utility device for impossible locations. We also get nerdy about routining ProMystic MD Mini as believable “psychology,” not just a reveal.

Then we get into the surprisingly smart business side of magic: Liquid Forks replacing phone-based tricks when reliability matters, leaving spectators with a souvenir that keeps your name alive. Dean shares a brutal performance mistake from Phantom Cutout and what he’d do differently now, plus his banishment choice for the magic community, his dream guest, and the one show he’d rewatch forever.

Dean’s Desert Island Substitutions:

1. Extreme Burn for Chop Cup

2. Digital Force Bag for Liquid Forks

3. Billiard Ball Manipulation Act for Floating Table

Banishment. Magicians Ego

Guest. David Blaine

Memory. Performing at the Young Magician of the Year

Horror. Revealing the wrong celebrity

Show. Showman

Find out more about the creators of this Podcast at www.alakazam.co.uk

A 15-year-old magician walks down a street in Los Angeles and strangers pull cars over just to have a photo with him and demand a trick. That’s the level of spotlight Harry Merlin Piper is living in after placing as runner-up on Netflix Star Search!

We sit down with Harry to get the real behind-the-scenes story: the Instagram message that kicked it off, the intensity of a competition TV schedule, and the nightmare scenario every illusionist fears, props delayed in transit while directors are waiting. He shares what it takes to rehearse major stage illusions on a ticking clock, how being a kid means mandatory schooling and strict set hours, and why constant live performing at the House of Illusion in Salou, Spain gives him an edge most young performers never get.

Then we dive into the magical island game: Harry drafts the eight tricks he’d keep forever, from his monkey vent routine and high-energy manipulation act to double levitation, suspended animation, Invisible Deck, fire spiker and chop cup. Along the way we get a sharp take on exposure culture, why revealing methods online damages creators and audiences, and why magic matters most when it helps people forget real life for a while.

Harry’s Desert Island Tricks:

1. Monkey Vent Routine

2. Manipulation Act

3. Double levitation

4. Invisible Deck

5. Suspended Animation

6. Fire Spiker Y

7. Chop Cup

8. His Dad

Banishment. Magicians who Reveal Magic

Book. People around him

Item. Black Velvet Material

Find out more about the creators of this Podcast at www.alakazam.co.uk

Magic gets weaker the moment it feels like a “performance mode” you turn on and off. Rodney James Piper joins us with a profound, refreshing belief: if you’re a magician, you live it everywhere you go. That single idea ripples through everything we talk about, from pocket props and borrowed objects to stage illusions that can stop a room cold.

He explains why the Stealth Assassin Wallet is a constant-ready miracle machine, how fork bending becomes a lifetime souvenir, and why the best magicians make people forget methods and just feel wonder. We also dig into practical show-craft for today’s social media era, including how to design a clean “photo moment” so the audience shares the image you want, not a messy screenshot mid-move.

Then we go bigger: Fire Spiker, double levitation, and a dream idea involving a yacht appearance that might finally make it into the House of Illusion show in Salou, Spain. Rodney also flips the script on what the “real trick” is, arguing that the venue, the welcome, the pacing, and the full audience journey can be the most powerful illusion of all. We close with his banishment for the magic industry, his pick for the one essential magic book, and the one item he won’t do any of it without.

Rodney’s Desert Island Tricks:

1. Stealth Assassin Wallet

2. Forks

3. Borrowed Watch

4. Boat Appearance

5. Matt Edwards

6. Fire Spiker

7. Double Levitation

8. House of Illusion

Banishment. The word jealousy

Book. The mind and magic David Berglas

Item. Family

Find out more about the creators of this Podcast at www.alakazam.co.uk

This week Adam Dadswell returns to rebuild his list years after his first visit to the island. Some picks stay because they still hit hard in real shows, others get replaced by newer pieces that fit the way Adam performs now, with clearer premises, cleaner handling, and bigger moments for spectators.

We dig into what actually makes a trick worth keeping for life: the satisfaction of a sneaky method, the freedom to go hands-off, and a premise that sparks real conversation instead of a “look how clever I am” vibe. Adam talks through switching Sneak Thief for Sentinel, his drawing duplication approach that uses a childhood imagination hook and a table display that creates instant intrigue. He also trades Big Kick for InstaCaan, a card at any number routine that escalates into a blank-deck shocker, and updates the Diabolical Principle with Loki for that unforgettable key reveal.

Then we go past the trick list into the culture of magic. Adam banishes magician-wins routines that make audience members feel small, shares a wedding performance horror story and how he recovered, picks Theodore Annemann as his dream island guest, and chooses Darren Brown’s Enigma as the show he’d replay forever. We’re thrilled to meet with Adam once again!

Adam's Desert Island Substitutions:

1. Sneak Thief for Sentinel

2. Big Kick for InstaCAAN

3. Diabolical for Loki

Banishment. Magician Winning Routines

Guest. Theodore Annemann

Memory. Go back to the first time he saw magic live

Horror. Built up a reveal and didn’t quite go to plan

Show. Enigma

Find out more about the creators of this Podcast at www.alakazam.co.uk

This week we sit down with Jim Aitken, an Aberdeen magician, longtime club member, and retired paramedic, to explore eight effects that balance practicality, heart, and lasting impact. From a self-working “last two cards match” that crushes in the real world to a smiley-sticker miracle that guests remember years later, Jim’s choices remind us that method is only half the story; the rest is the way you make people feel.

We trace his journey from yogurt-pot cups and balls to modern coffee-cup chops, then talk about when it’s worth investing in a premium timepiece like the Bluether Infinity Watch. Jim’s philosophy is simple: buy reactions, not just props. Rope magic makes a case for clear visual storytelling, while the invisible deck debate sparks fresh ideas for framing choices and scripting reveals. Along the way, we celebrate society life, hidden gems in books and DVDs, and the small tweaks, like personalised stickers or trial runs, that push classics into unforgettable territory.

Mentalism fans will love Jim’s pick of Eclipse ESP cards and a sleeper routine that proves clean structure beats complicated method. He caps the list with Copperfield’s Flying, a nod to pure astonishment and the joy that first pulled many of us toward the art. Jim also draws a hard line on professionalism: never make child helpers the punchline. His recommended read, Simon Lovell’s Billion Dollar Bunko, opens a trove of swindles and bar bets to sharpen your handling and patter, while his must-have non-magic item, a computer for nonstop study, champions lifelong learning.

If this sparks ideas for your own desert island set, share your eight tricks, one banishment, one book and one non magic item. Send it to sales@alakazam.co.uk and we can get your very own episode!

Find out more about the creators of this Podcast at www.alakazam.co.uk

A brass cap on a table. A ring hovering between hands. A deck that turns to glass. From a childhood trip to Hamleys to late‑night jams at Blackpool, we sit down with Chris Webb to map the eight routines he’d keep for life and the trend he’d bury in the sand.

Chris is a working magician who splits time between gigs and releases, so every choice has to earn its pocket space. We start with coin powerhouses, Garrett Thomas’s Imagination Coins for clean, spectator‑in‑hand moments and the engineering elegance of Dynamic Coins that sparked Chris’s journey. Then we pivot to card thinking that invites conversation rather than eye‑rolls: Omni Deck as a closer framed as solidity, not vanishing, and Director’s Cut, a stack of film cards that turns tables into instant movie clubs while the method hums beneath the chatter.

The visuals get bolder without getting fragile. Distortion by Wayne Houchin delivers a pip migration that feels like analog CGI, and Chris’s own Flash bill change turns receipts and doodles into spendable currency with a reliable, no‑fuss gimmick you can keep in your wallet or phone case. Thread work widens the texture: Venom’s dual system powers a ring sequence where time literally pauses mid‑drop. For stand‑up or family crowds, Fibre Optics by Richard Sanders adds rope momentum, snapping from unequal to equal lengths with the kind of rhythm that photographs well and resets even better.

We talk taste and boundaries too. Chris banishes Rubik’s Cube magic presented as speed‑solving skill, arguing for plots that feel impossible rather than merely practiced. His book pick, Jay Sankey’s Unleashed, explains the eclecticism: practical, quirky, audience‑tested ideas across coins, cards, keys, and everyday objects. Even his “non‑magic” item, a screen-less, disposable‑style camera, echoes a core value: be present, capture honest moments, and let artefacts tell the story later, exactly what strong routines do after you leave the table.

If you want a set that plays at weddings, restaurants, and corporate walk‑around, clear, commercial, and photogenic, this conversation is a blueprint.

Chris’ Desert Island Tricks:

1. Imagination Coins

2. Omni Deck

3. Directors Cut

4. Venom Reel

5. Distortion

6. Dynamic Coins

7. FLASH

8. Fibre Optics

Banishment. Rubik’s Cube Magic as a Skill

Book. Unleashed

Item. Disposable Camera

Find out more about the creators of this Podcast at www.alakazam.co.uk

What makes a trick live past the applause? We say it’s story, meaning that travels with people when real life hits them in the face outside the venue. With Vince Wilson, we unpack the craft of bizarre magic as a storytelling engine that any performer can use to make their show unforgettable. Vince traces his path from paranormal investigation to skeptical, theatre-first magic and explains why narrative, metaphor, and mood beat out raw method when you want your work to stick.

Together we build an “island set” that doubles as a masterclass in framing. An Okito doll becomes a Blair Witch-flavoured parable, a tea reading paints initials with ash and memory, and Odyssey transforms under the lens of folklore “glamour,” turning a visual illusion into a lesson in influence. We go deep on repurposing mainstream props like Prestige through alchemical “equivalent exchange,” proving that originality often lies in language, not hardware. The Witches of Glastonbury lands a portable fable about choice and fear, while a Grim Fairy Tales book test and Pegasus page highlight staging, justification, and the art of not overselling examinability.

For scale and pace, tossed-out tarot unlocks room-wide engagement and even a nimble Q&A, powered by ethical cold reading and sharp observation. Then the closer: a lean, consent-forward PK Touches that’s devastating precisely because it’s simple. Vince shares practical guidance on consent lines, pacing, and why over-verification breaks the spell. He also makes a bold case for burying published patter so every magician must find their own voice, because sincerity can’t be borrowed, and booking agents can spot stock lines a mile away.

If you want your magic to be remembered tomorrow, this conversation gives you the tools today: justify every choice, give your props provenance, and let your script reflect who you are!

Vince’s Desert Island Tricks:

1. Voodoo Doll Stickman

2. Tea

3. Odyssey

4. The Prestige

5. Witches of Glastonbury

6. Sandman Book Test

7. Tossed Out Tarot

8. PK Touches

Banishment. Published scripts

Book. Daemon’s Diary

Item. Chinese Fortune Coins

Find out more about the creators of this Podcast at www.alakazam.co.uk