Magicians: Life in the Impossible

for me, magic is a tiny grain of deception

Wrapped in this world of truth.

It gives you that visceral feeling

That we don't know everything.

Just to have this possibility of something that's boundless...

...That's what I want people to feel.

when I was a kid,

I used to read about the magic castle...

...A place where people went to see magic.

oh!

You see some of the best magicians in the world

Showing you things that you've never seen before.

No!

this place is an epicenter of magic.

As a layperson, you come to see greatness...

...And as a magician, you come and be great.

And I wanted to be here.

Early in my career, I would do a show, people would say to me

"oh, that's so great. So what do you do for a living?"

Oh! Argh. Gut wrenching.

It was really important for me to always seem like

I was a professional magician.

So how do you come across in a way that's engaging,

So when people walk out of the showroom,

They want to hang out with me?

They want to be my friend.

ladies and gentlemen,

This performer that you are about to meet--

One of our favorites here at the magic castle--

Please put your hands together for mr. Jon armstrong.

thank you.

We'll do a matching trick. So just touch a card.

-All right. -That one there?

Yeah.

- You're gonna say "stop" quick. - -stop.

I'll put this down, okay.

That's one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine.

That's nine, so the number here is nine,

That means that that would have to be a nine for it to match.

Could you turn that over?

-Okay, good. -Shut up!

Ah, that worked out.

I looked in the mirror--

I'm pale and doughy and I'm really into comic books,

And I'm essentially just a big geek.

And I decided that I'm gonna apply all that stuff to who I am on stage.

I bring this with me wherever I go.

-because you never know.

Go ahead, and show the card now to everybody.

Everybody see it?

-what?

I know, I'm really good at this.

-So this one here? -Yeah.

Okay, so we'll leave that on the table, good?

-You want to change your mind, or-- -nope.

good, okay.

stop.

Were you here earlier by any chance?

--11, 12, 13, 14, 15.

See, the idea is that the number of cards

Has to match the number here, that's 15.

Well, it's a good thing I have one of those.

-Uh, it's a 15. -No!

on the card...

These are hilarious at blackjack, by the way.

I never wanted anything out of magic.

I just wanted to do my good magic.

Made myself bulletproof from anything

That anyone could have said from any audience.

so that whenever I did it,

I knew I was in control.

the magic castle's a pretty important place to me,

So I decided to get my own.

It's a perfect magician house.

I've got gags all over the house that make it pretty entertaining.

Over here we have our wall of fame

And celebrities we performed for,

Like stevie wonder, paul mccartney, johnny depp, harrison ford.

As far as anybody's concerned, these are all my best friends.

This is sisuepahn's room.

We were boyfriend and girlfriend for eight years.

We've been broken up for seven years now.

She lives here, I live in the other room.

And she's got a boyfriend and I've got a girlfriend, you know.

When we first broke up there was some turbulence

And you know, we weren't sure if we were gonna

Keep the act together or whatever,

But we did. We didn't tell any agents or anything

That we were broken up, 'cause they would've stopped booking us.

And, uh...

-we, uh...

And so now we're great friends

And performing partners, so everything works out.

Since the recession, things have been kind of tough,

And I've got a big nut. I've got this castle I have to pay for.

It's a little bit distressing.

So I've just gotta kind of concentrate on booking the gigs

And paying the bills.

Yeah, and you-- don't interrupt me.

No, my lips are sealed.

I started magic at the age of six,

I got a magic set, and that's typically how every magician starts

I met frank, and that was basically--

He brought it to a, you know...

-A professional level. -To a professional level,

And I was 18.

It was the smurfs on tour.

You shouldn't mention that one.

And I did the major part. No, it's my life.

Yeah, it's your life. It's true.

I was in a touring show...

He was the magician in the smurf musical, fabulous.

Do you want to make it a short overview about my--

No, okay. Go on.

I first came to vegas when I was 18 years old.

I decided, "okay, one day you're going to work here."

-Here I am. -It was like "alice in wonderland."

The first time in vegas, so...

But it's true. For a boy who wants to be a magician,

It's still-- vegas is-- that's the place to be.

But here he's not so well known as he was in germany.

Oh!

here he had to start from zero.

And everybody here from the business,

They told us, "oh, you know what?

Don't do vegas. You're going to lose all your money."

He's in a meeting? Everybody in america

Is in a meeting, all the time.

Can you tell him that frank called, from illusions?

All right. Okay, bye bye.

People always still think that the casino or the hotel books the show.

In 95%, it's not like that.

It's-- for example, even copperfield books his own theater.

He's not booked. So you see, they don't approach him

And pay him money. It's his own business.

So what do you-- what did you want to ask?

what was the purpose of your call?

It sounds a little bit arrogant, but it's true.

He has all the potential to be a real big star in vegas,

But you have to work on your luck, you have to force it.

So I want him on the strip.

There's like a metaphor for me personally with magic,

And the possibilities that it represents.

-thank you.

Think of the card. If it was a red card,

You might notice your hand getting warmer,

And I think it was a red card.

If something seems impossible, I want it to happen even more.

Audience: Whoa!

Do you have a driver's license or something with your photo on it?

Watch.

I'm like the stepchild of magic.

I'm not going through the normal channels.

I'm not trying to get to vegas.

But I want to reach more people,

I want to continue to create new magic that's never been seen.

And this year I'd love to have my own tv show.

You know, we've had these, like, street magicians for the last ten years,

That have been really great, but that has been done,

And so now it's time to sort of bring it into a new era.

It's a lot different to perform magic on television,

Because people have more scrutiny.

And it doesn't matter how amazing what you're doing is.

I mean, I could fly around this room right now and you would freak out.

Here, let's, uh... Let's just...

Grab something.

So if I did something on television,

And you were watching,

You would maybe be a little skeptical,

But because it's right here

And because I'm about to do this for you in person,

You know that what you're seeing is actually real,

Because you're seeing it with your own eyes.

that is awesome.

you're never gonna get the same experience

If you watch it on television.

But it's fun to try.

Here you go.

Good-looking guy, huh?

You like really good close-up magic, and I love it,

We have a young man tonight from the magic castle, brian gillis.

Magician brian gillis. Brian gillis.

A very clever magician, brian gillis is here tonight.

Brian gillis. Brian?

my favorite performance that I've ever done

Was performing for johnny carson on "the tonight show."

I think johnny's favorite trick that I did

Was one that I invented, the sweet 'n' low trick.

It involves somebody taking a bill and tearing off the serial number

So they can identify it later.

And then I light the bill on fire,

- ay, yi, yi. -Went in the sugar bowl.

And it ends up inside a sealed sweet 'n' low packet

That's been on their table the entire time.

- can't be done. - there's no way.

it's a trick, I tell you.

there is a bill in here.

match the number. Make sure it's the same.

I do not believe what I'm seeing.

-Are you guys ready for some magic? -Of course.