:: Interview - Oz Pearlman

I took the following from Magic Roadshow and decided to post it here, as well. For those of you who are not familiar with the type of articles and interviews we do, this is a good example... You can read more about Oz at his website.. Watchmagic.com

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Hi Oz. First, I want to 'thank you' for taking the time out of your busy schedule to do this interview. I heard the past couple of months were hectic ...


Hi Rick, Thanks for having me. I've been out to Vegas, Hollywood, LA, Iowa, Michigan, as well as the Caribbean in the last 2 months. A whole lot of magic shows, and video shoots.

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(Q) You were introduced to magic at thirteen and performed your first show at fifteen. When did you feel a "calling" to perform card magic? Did you have a mentor or mentors during your early years?


(A) I think I actually started up at my first restaurant when I was 14; a little Italian restaurant named Zia's that was right down the road from me. I'd actually walk to work most of the time. I did a variety of magic, including cards, ropes, coins, silks, and gimmicked magic.

There were two people that had an early influence on my magic. One guy by the name of Ryan Hertz was a magician at my school, and the other a slightly older man by the name of Bruce Kessler. Bruce served as my mentor over the course of 2 or 3 years.

He introduced me to the works of Paul Harris, David Williamson, John Mendoza, Harry Lorayne, and a number of other magicians. Their works influence my magic to this day.

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(Q) You're 'holed up' in a Las Vegas suite with any three magicians in the world for one week of non-stop brain picking. Who's there?


(A) I?m assuming they have to be living, as I wouldn't want to be holed up with any dead magicians :-P In that case: David Copperfield, Paul Harris, and Joel Bauer.

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(Q) What three magic-related tapes or DVD's should any aspiring cardman have in his library..?


(A) Hmmm. Books would be much easier to list than DVDs/tapes. The ones that I have personally learned the most from are Michael Ammar Easy to Master Card Miracles series, Bill Malone?s On the Loose DVDs, John Bannon?s videos, and Guy Hollingworth?s videos.

That's more than three, but it was very tough to choose.

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(Q) Do you use different brand cards for different effects? What's your favorite brand and why?


(A) Just Bicycles in general. I like Bikes the best, though I always enjoy a nice Tally Ho circle back, though I very rarely get them. It's a rare treat. (You know you're doing too much magic when you describe a brand of cards as "a rare treat")

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(Q) When Houdini was asked how many card tricks he knew, he replied " maybe twelve ". Do you think the average performer could master the twelve or so effects on your newest DVD - Watch Magic - and entertain a room full of hungry strangers?


(A) I personally would not perform that many card tricks in one sitting unless I was specifically approached to do only card tricks. I think that you can only do so many effects before it becomes "just another card trick".

I think that a healthy diversity in your act, with all different types of magic, really livens up the show and can help to increase the entertainment value.

However, the effects on WatchMagic have served me very well, each and every one, and I think that by practicing them and adding whatever presentation fits your personality, you will have dynamite routines guaranteed to entertain and fool any audience.

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(Q) Your Stealing Pips DVD also contained about a dozen very strong card effects, some impromptu, some requiring a set-up.

Would you normally perform these tricks during a walk-around? Do you use set-ups or gaffed decks or cards during a close-up performance?


(A) Stealing Pips contains a few effects that I use quite regularly. It also contains a few effects that I don't use very often. That's not because I don't like them, but simply because they may not fit my performing conditions.

For example, IC3 is an excellent effect that many people consider their favorite on the DVD. It requires two decks of cards, and about 10 - 20 seconds of preparation. Most of the time I am simply unable to accommodate that type of overhead if I am strolling at a private party or corporate event and therefore I don?t use it all the time. However, when I am able to perform it and the opportunity is right, it plays very big.

Other tricks such as Thought Force and Twist & Shake reset instantly and require absolutely no setup, so I?m able to do them much more often. The DVD has something for everybody, with some color changes, visual magic, mental magic with cards, and interesting sleights.

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(Q) Although we, as magicians, see many tricks utilizing both the pass and the palm, statistics say ninety percent of us are afraid to use either 'under fire'. Can someone, in your opinion, perform succesfully without mastering these two sleights, or, are they severly limiting themselves and their repertoire without them?


(A) I think that you can easily make due without palming or using the pass, but you will definitely be hindered. There are so many great routines that rely on palming that it would limit your repertoire undoubtedly.

As for the pass, I think that too many people are trying to work on a pass that is invisible when being burned. Most of those passes look fishy even if invisible because the hands are held in such an awkward manner and cover so much of the deck to facilitate the pass being invisible.

The body tension and body language can telegraph that something is going on from a mile away. I think that a smooth pass executed on the offbeat, during a laugh or a pause that leads to eye contact, is far more effective than one purposely done while the spectators are burning your hands.

I think that just studying human nature, and the nature of the offbeat and eye contact can lead to much better misdirection. Study the works of the masters, such as Vernon, Ascanio, Slydini, and Tamariz and how their style of presentation, eye contact, and body language served to disarm the spectators and guide their eyes away from every move.

I think that the more sleights you feel comfortable performing, the more you can improvise, the more routines you have at your disposal, and the more creative you can ultimately be.

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(Q) I believe that what separates the Gifted from the Mediocre is not just how MUCH they practice - but HOW they practice.. In other words, practice doesn't make perfect - perfect practice makes perfect.. How do YOU practice OZ?


(A) I practice for hours a day, everyday. I don't force myself to; it just comes naturally to me. I play with cards, coins, everyday items, gimmicks, and other things constantly.

I tend to work on things continuously for months at a time. I've been doing one of 2 or 3 false shuffles at least a hundred or a few hundred times a day for the last year or so, to the point where my hands know it without my mind being involved at all.

I go through the basics of double lifts, various controls, flourishes, culling, passes, top changes, color changes, and other sleights throughout the day. I always keep a notebook with me as well to write down any ideas, either for methods or new effects.

I read constantly, and like to re-read books that I have. Every now and then I break out the classics (Expert Card Technique, Tarbell's, Amateur Magician's Handbook, Bobo's Coin Magic) and find hidden gems that I forgot about.

I also videotape performances. This consists of videotaping live shows on stage, as well as close-up when I can. I also use the web cam at home and the mirror to learn my angles, and try to catch my "ticks". These are the little tells that you never notice until either someone points them out or you study very carefully on video.

Make sure to check out Ken Weber's excellent book, 'Maximum Entertainment', for more on that.

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(Q) If you needed to learn a new sleight to perform an effect sucessfully, would you work it out over a period of time or 'barnstorm' a couple of days? How long after you learn a new move before you're comfortable performing it in public?


(A) That depends what you mean by "in public". If I'm working, then I?ll rarely do something that I don't feel extremely comfortable with. If that's a new routine, then I will have been practicing it for a few weeks or months, and most likely have performed it for friends, family, and total strangers until I feel that I have it down and the presentation is natural.

Whenever I leave the house, I'm always prepared to do at least 1 to 2 hours worth of magic with just the items in my wallet, and random items that the spectator has on them or things available at a restaurant, bar, bookstore, or wherever I'm going to be.

You never know who you'll meet…

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(Q) Do you find this whole issue of 'crediting' to the 'nth degree frustrating? If we don't know factually who wrote a song, should we have to credit everyone who ever recorded it, or added a riff to it?


(A) That is a tough nut to crack. It is quite difficult and laborious to credit to the "nth" degree as you never know if you might have missed somebody by accident from the 16th century that published some random book.

The fact is that magic builds on magic, and it is very rare that somebody creates something entirely new that doesn't have it's roots somewhere in the past. I think that by contacting as many knowledgeable magicians as you can, and giving the due diligence required, you will most likely do a very good job of crediting. There are people that devote their lives to the history of magic and its? roots, and even they are sometimes unable to fully trace back magical effects and moves.

There is a very big difference between doing incomplete research and not crediting properly. I?m referring to claiming an idea to be original that isn?t really yours as opposed to not being able to trace the full lineage of an idea that you may have created independently.

I was burned on this in the past with Stealing Pips and the SAC move. This concept of concealing a card in a ribbon spread has a long history, and my research led me to 4 or 5 people in the past 60 years that had used variations of this move. However, in my research I did not discover the name of Charles Nyquist, who published his own move of a similar nature in a journal in the 1930?s.

Did I rip him off? I honestly don't think so as I had no malicious intent, but simply did not know. I give full credit to his ideas predating my own. However some magicians would see that quite differently.

I think that the politics behind magic can be quite difficult to deal with, and leads to negativity that can be very disheartening to newcomers.

At the end of the day we are here to entertain and bring joy, as opposed to bickering and holding grudges over minor points. Crediting is quite important, no question about that, but I think that we should help each other within the community to credit properly as opposed to using it as a tool for hate.

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(Q) Part of your popularity arises from your willingness to help the 'technically challenged' magicians, like myself. Neophytes appreciate someone of your abilities taking the time to point others in the right direction. Yet we, as performers, also seek the approval of our peers. Do you sometimes feel that a small, but vocal, group of your peers unfairly criticize you and what you try to accomplish?


(A) At end of the day, my #1 concern when it comes to magic is that my audiences enjoy my shows, are thoroughly entertained, and keep on booking me.

I would be lying if I said that I don?t care about what my peers think of me. Everyday, I get emails from people that love the DVDs I've put out, as well as the tricks. They tell me how much it has improved their lives, and how much fun they're having.

These are people from all walks of life: doctors, teachers, teenagers, students, retirees, and from all over the world. It is absolutely amazing.

From time to time, I also see the posts or reviews of people that don't like my material. You have to take the good in stride with the bad. However, so many of these posts are biased and misinformed. To give a rebuttal to everyone would only serve to demean myself, and so I read them and try to learn what I can and move on.

I?m always open to constructive criticism, and consider myself to be one of my harshest critics. I'm not in magic for the ego, but to continue to improve and learn from those that are more experienced. I think that the more professional you act the more it detracts from the negative comments about you, and therefore I never stoop down to a level of insulting others.

Anybody that has met me or knows me knows that I'm a friendly guy, and would always prefer to solve a problem and move on rather than hold a grudge.

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(Q) I understand that 'our little sub-culture' is a very diverse group of individuals with an equally diverse set of opinions and standards. But can you see a unified committe or association, much like musicians (ASCAP) who try to set industry standards and eliminate much of this in-fighting about standards, secrets, crediting, etcs.??


(A) I don?t think so. It?s simply the nature of the art. There will always be jealousy and spite. There will always be people exposing magic, or stepping on the toes of others, be it on purpose or by accident.

Magic has changed leaps and bounds with the advent of the internet, and it is very difficult for some people to accept that. A mere 20 or 30 years ago, people would study for years under other magicians to receive only a slight bit of the information available now in books, DVDs, instant downloads, and other media at the touch of a button shipped direct to your house no questions asked.

There is no way to change that or go back to the ways of the past. It is now up to us within the magic community to uphold our art.

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(Q) Oz, can you give us a hint of what we might see from you in the coming year? Any special projects in the works? Any chance you may make a move from Broadway to Vegas?


(A) I will be doing an extensive amount of lecturing in the coming year. This will include lectures throughout the US, Canada, Israel and the UK.

As lecture tour dates and locations are established, info will be posted on www.watchmagic.com As for a public show, I have entertained the notion of another Off-Broadway show, but I can?t say for sure if that is in the works for 2005. Only time will tell.

I?m sure to be out in Vegas at times throughout the year shooting additional demo and instructional videos for Penguin Magic

Other than that, I perform at private parties, corporate events, and celebrity functions primarily in the NYC area, but also throughout the US.

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It's been our sincere pleasure to have you interview with Magic Bullets, Oz. Thanks for taking the time to answer all my questions with thoughtful, insightful answers.

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