WEBVTT - Justin Willman 0:00:00.120 --> 0:00:02.160 When I do live gigs around the country, I'll be 0:00:02.160 --> 0:00:04.880 honest with you. I sel t shirts and swag to 0:00:04.920 --> 0:00:07.120 the folks who are there, and then people always say, 0:00:07.280 --> 0:00:09.680 can we get this wag without sitting through a whole 0:00:09.680 --> 0:00:13.760 evening of you. Well, it's happened. It's finally here. You 0:00:13.800 --> 0:00:17.160 can buy Craig Ferguson merch on the Craig Ferguson Merch 0:00:17.280 --> 0:00:20.360 website and you can buy it for yourself or someone 0:00:20.400 --> 0:00:23.159 you hate or someone you love. For more information and 0:00:23.200 --> 0:00:25.480 link to the web store, please go to the Craig 0:00:25.560 --> 0:00:29.080 Fergusonshow dot com. That's all lowercase, the Craig Ferguson show 0:00:29.360 --> 0:00:33.879 dot com. My name is Craig Ferguson. The name of 0:00:33.920 --> 0:00:38.640 this podcast is Joy. I talk to interest in people 0:00:39.120 --> 0:00:46.920 about what brings them happiness. Today, my guest is Justin Wilman, 0:00:47.280 --> 0:00:52.440 who is not only the acceptable face of magic, but 0:00:52.760 --> 0:00:59.480 actually the entertaining an interesting face of magic. His show 0:01:00.080 --> 0:01:02.440 for Humans or Netflix was where I first saw He's 0:01:02.520 --> 0:01:06.160 amazing and very interesting, as you're about to find that. 0:01:12.400 --> 0:01:14.200 So first of all, let me just say this to you, 0:01:14.240 --> 0:01:18.360 because I try not to fawn on people in there here, 0:01:18.560 --> 0:01:22.600 but really in all honesty, everyone who's on this podcast, 0:01:22.640 --> 0:01:24.640 I'm either a friend or a fan of now you 0:01:24.680 --> 0:01:27.280 and I have just met ye, and I'll happily be 0:01:27.360 --> 0:01:28.959 your friend and hang out with you, But I'm not 0:01:29.000 --> 0:01:32.440 your friend yet. Now I am a fan of your work, 0:01:32.520 --> 0:01:35.000 and that puts me a slight disadvantage. I'm kind of 0:01:35.000 --> 0:01:38.120 on the back foot a little bit because I'm very 0:01:38.160 --> 0:01:40.960 impressed by what you do, and I don't get impressed 0:01:40.959 --> 0:01:44.760 that easy like magicians. And I don't think of you 0:01:44.800 --> 0:01:47.319 as a magician alone. I mean, I think you're a magician, 0:01:47.360 --> 0:01:49.040 and you do other stuff and you present and you 0:01:49.480 --> 0:01:53.520 kind of you have like a comedic vibe, but you 0:01:53.560 --> 0:01:57.600 don't have the creepy weirdness of magician. And I'm kind 0:01:57.600 --> 0:02:01.040 of concerned, like, and you're sleep you don't have any 0:02:01.200 --> 0:02:03.240 like long sleeves, so I know you don't have like 0:02:03.480 --> 0:02:06.040 right project. Unless these are false arms. 0:02:06.160 --> 0:02:08.880 You never know. I got here at five am. I 0:02:08.960 --> 0:02:09.840 rigged the couch up. 0:02:11.120 --> 0:02:14.120 Is there a kind of a fraternity or or is 0:02:14.120 --> 0:02:17.440 there a collegiate sense amongst magicians even though even although 0:02:17.480 --> 0:02:20.200 you're you're kind of the owen fong teribla of that 0:02:20.240 --> 0:02:22.720 whole thing, though aren't you. I'll look that up. But 0:02:23.560 --> 0:02:25.440 what you are is, you're kind of like you're the 0:02:25.440 --> 0:02:27.600 punk rock man. You're the You're the change, You're the 0:02:27.840 --> 0:02:30.960 You're the kind of new generation. You're You're it's all different. 0:02:31.160 --> 0:02:34.120 You don't have a cape, you're much less rape and 0:02:36.000 --> 0:02:38.560 you're you. You have a very different vibe about you 0:02:38.680 --> 0:02:41.600 than what I think of is you know the classic 0:02:41.639 --> 0:02:43.120 show magic. Yeah. 0:02:43.200 --> 0:02:46.160 Well, wow, there's a lot of compliments to unpacked, right, Okay, 0:02:46.200 --> 0:02:48.600 first off, right, the fact that you said you're a 0:02:48.600 --> 0:02:50.079 fan of this is very surreal. 0:02:50.160 --> 0:02:51.760 I didn't know that you knew who the HECKU I was. 0:02:51.840 --> 0:02:54.320 Oh yeah, No, I'm such a fan of you. Oh 0:02:54.440 --> 0:02:57.200 I have always been. You know everything about you, have 0:02:57.280 --> 0:02:59.560 listened to interviews with you. I just I I like 0:02:59.600 --> 0:03:01.680 you a lot. So this is very cool for me 0:03:01.800 --> 0:03:03.400 to be here. You're not in the backfoot at all. No, 0:03:03.680 --> 0:03:05.480 that's great. But now I feel like I'm going to 0:03:05.480 --> 0:03:09.040 disappoint you. No, okay, well listen, like likewise, as a magician, 0:03:09.560 --> 0:03:10.040 far too. 0:03:10.440 --> 0:03:11.600 Well, I'm not going to ask you to do any 0:03:11.600 --> 0:03:14.640 tricks at all today. I want to It's not tricks, 0:03:15.080 --> 0:03:20.640 it's illusions, my illusions. Illusions tricks is fine, but you 0:03:20.680 --> 0:03:23.640 don't have an assistant wearing a big thing. Would you 0:03:23.680 --> 0:03:25.040 ever play Vegas? Have you ever played? 0:03:25.240 --> 0:03:26.960 I just did Vegas for the first time a week 0:03:27.000 --> 0:03:30.399 ago with the Venetian, Right, that's that's the first time 0:03:30.400 --> 0:03:32.720 on the strip. Probably on the strip I've done, like 0:03:32.800 --> 0:03:38.440 the Sun Coast or the off the Strip, the Orleans, 0:03:38.920 --> 0:03:41.200 the Orleans as well. You feel like you're in Vegas 0:03:41.240 --> 0:03:42.880 until you walk out the front door and then you 0:03:42.920 --> 0:03:44.360 see Vegas in the distance. Yeah. 0:03:44.480 --> 0:03:47.400 I love the Orleans though, because I felt like maybe 0:03:47.480 --> 0:03:50.000 I was part of the rat pack, you know they 0:03:50.080 --> 0:03:53.760 had the sign was still the kind of shitty writing. Yeah, 0:03:54.000 --> 0:03:55.600 so smoky. Yeah. 0:03:55.920 --> 0:03:58.840 Anyway, so you played? Did you wear a cape? Did 0:03:58.920 --> 0:04:01.080 you wear a cape? Okay, didn't wear a top hat? 0:04:01.160 --> 0:04:04.720 No lovely assistance, you know. I think I went through 0:04:04.720 --> 0:04:08.280 those phases early on when you were just incredible, when 0:04:08.280 --> 0:04:09.840 I was just incredible exactly. 0:04:10.200 --> 0:04:14.160 Wow, this is a great start off name from a magician. 0:04:14.200 --> 0:04:16.680 I think it was like this catchy name my mom 0:04:16.720 --> 0:04:18.680 came up with when I was doing kids' birthday parties 0:04:18.880 --> 0:04:20.560 right now, And I don't think i'd rather cape them, 0:04:20.560 --> 0:04:23.680 but I certainly wore talks. You know in public as 0:04:23.720 --> 0:04:24.280 a teenager. 0:04:24.320 --> 0:04:26.520 That's all right. I mean, my my oldest son was 0:04:27.600 --> 0:04:29.920 was very into magic when he was a kid. He 0:04:30.000 --> 0:04:33.640 used to Rick Thomas. He loved Rick Thomas. He was 0:04:33.680 --> 0:04:35.960 on your show a couple of times. Cats. Did he 0:04:36.000 --> 0:04:38.320 bring the cats ever? I don't, I can't remember. I 0:04:38.400 --> 0:04:39.000 used to have magic. 0:04:39.000 --> 0:04:41.320 You had a lot of magic, I remember, and Alonso 0:04:41.440 --> 0:04:42.200 was a good buddy mine. 0:04:43.600 --> 0:04:46.240 Yeah. Yeah, we didn't see a bunch of magicians when 0:04:46.240 --> 0:04:48.400 he was that age. He kind of moved on and 0:04:48.440 --> 0:04:52.359 moved in animation and that's where it became like his 0:04:52.880 --> 0:04:56.000 artistic expression. But for a while, Chris Angel, he was 0:04:56.120 --> 0:04:59.680 I guess Chris Angel was a kind of like I 0:04:59.720 --> 0:05:03.440 guess that was a kind of hairmail, part of. 0:05:04.120 --> 0:05:06.640 Punk rock, but very you know, it was new. It 0:05:06.680 --> 0:05:08.840 was a little goth at first, right, and then it 0:05:08.880 --> 0:05:10.640 was it was kind of like kiss. 0:05:10.720 --> 0:05:12.760 He was kind of you know, but there is that 0:05:12.839 --> 0:05:15.240 kind of that kind of thing with the younger magicians 0:05:15.279 --> 0:05:18.120 that you guys do stuff that you can't see. The 0:05:18.920 --> 0:05:21.440 illusion is like the you know, it's like the oh 0:05:21.440 --> 0:05:23.800 I'm levitating. No, there's a thing, Oh there's how can 0:05:23.880 --> 0:05:25.760 he have end up his sleeves he's don't go any sleeves. 0:05:26.080 --> 0:05:30.400 It's like it's disarming. It's really freaky, like that Magic 0:05:30.440 --> 0:05:32.640 for Human show that you go to Netflix. I'm like, 0:05:33.160 --> 0:05:34.880 I don't know the fuck this guy's up to. This 0:05:34.960 --> 0:05:37.360 is crazy. It's like maybe he's a demon. 0:05:38.320 --> 0:05:40.919 Yeah, yeah, a demon in a in a in a 0:05:40.960 --> 0:05:42.760 boyish costume sorts. 0:05:42.920 --> 0:05:46.320 You are boyish. Yeah, So how did it started off 0:05:46.320 --> 0:05:48.000 for you? Because I always think like, because you're a 0:05:48.000 --> 0:05:49.680 stand up as well, sort of kind of you have 0:05:49.800 --> 0:05:52.000 that vibe, right, and you do stand up. 0:05:52.279 --> 0:05:55.920 I've never done stand up without magic involved, you know, 0:05:56.000 --> 0:05:59.320 but I do chunks between tricks, right, you know. And 0:05:59.360 --> 0:06:01.480 that happened, you know, when I went to Emerson College 0:06:01.520 --> 0:06:03.560 of Boston. I was just incredible. I was doing kids 0:06:03.640 --> 0:06:07.479 birthday parties on the weekends, and then befriended Dan Levy, 0:06:07.520 --> 0:06:09.440 who's a stand up comedian. He became my best friend, 0:06:09.480 --> 0:06:14.480 not not Dan Levy, Dan Lee. And we we roomed 0:06:14.480 --> 0:06:16.960 out here in la at the oak Woods, and he 0:06:16.960 --> 0:06:18.760 would go up every night, you know, and always be 0:06:18.800 --> 0:06:21.280 working on new material, whereas a magician tends to hone 0:06:21.279 --> 0:06:23.520 the same thing over the course of their career. Well 0:06:23.560 --> 0:06:25.560 you have, I mean, yes, yeah, yeah, I mean like 0:06:25.839 --> 0:06:27.160 all the greats. You know, I would go to see 0:06:27.240 --> 0:06:29.000 Lance Burton and I would go to see him do 0:06:29.120 --> 0:06:31.000 the doves that I that I had heard of. I'd 0:06:31.000 --> 0:06:34.600 seen him do you know, these polished classics. But you know, 0:06:35.160 --> 0:06:38.159 the comic mentality is kind of always be, always be 0:06:38.400 --> 0:06:39.159 moving forward. 0:06:39.320 --> 0:06:41.600 Well, I because I always think of me because I 0:06:41.640 --> 0:06:43.760 knew a lot of stand ups and it's kind of 0:06:43.760 --> 0:06:47.640 my thing. And the mentality and the kind of the 0:06:47.640 --> 0:06:51.080 inside mental workings of most stand ups is pretty dark. 0:06:51.720 --> 0:06:54.039 And then I've met a lot of magicians, and the 0:06:54.080 --> 0:06:57.240 stand ups and the inside mechanism most magicians I've met 0:06:57.320 --> 0:07:00.200 is pretty dark as well. I mean it feels to 0:07:00.240 --> 0:07:03.640 me like you're jewel addicted point. I mean it's like 0:07:04.040 --> 0:07:06.360 is there a real is there a real kind of 0:07:06.560 --> 0:07:09.080 is there a darkness? Well, there's got to be everybody. 0:07:09.160 --> 0:07:11.880 I wish everybody has a darkness. Everybody has a darkness. 0:07:12.280 --> 0:07:15.440 But you know, like Dan was my liaison into the 0:07:15.440 --> 0:07:17.440 comedy world, and I you know, we we'd bounce around 0:07:17.480 --> 0:07:19.160 town and I would be throwing new stuff all the time, 0:07:19.280 --> 0:07:21.360 get out of my comfort zone. But he he also 0:07:21.480 --> 0:07:24.120 has he has no darkness, right, He's just the sweet, 0:07:24.240 --> 0:07:27.560 right happy optimist, you know, and I had I have 0:07:27.760 --> 0:07:31.280 a darkness, you know I've had, I've had, you know, 0:07:31.320 --> 0:07:35.160 there were you know, addiction, little stints along the way 0:07:35.360 --> 0:07:36.920 when we first moved to l A, you know La. 0:07:37.000 --> 0:07:38.400 Well, yeah you can run into that. 0:07:38.480 --> 0:07:40.160 Yeah, you can have the wrong neighbors. I had the 0:07:40.200 --> 0:07:42.680 wrong neighbors. So I first got my first apartment and 0:07:42.680 --> 0:07:46.240 and you know what was your thing was? It was well, 0:07:46.280 --> 0:07:50.400 it eventually became crystal math. I know, I never took 0:07:50.440 --> 0:07:53.320 crystal myth. I feel like I've been soberferred so long 0:07:53.400 --> 0:07:57.200 that drugs have been invented since and I never go 0:07:57.240 --> 0:07:58.000 at the crystal myth. 0:07:58.040 --> 0:08:01.160 What it is like speed? Yeah all right, yeah, it's 0:08:01.240 --> 0:08:02.760 like speed on speed. 0:08:03.040 --> 0:08:06.680 Yeah, Like you know, I think there was a part 0:08:06.680 --> 0:08:09.760 of me that just like I had this fomo like 0:08:09.800 --> 0:08:11.960 I I just didn't want to miss out or anything. 0:08:12.000 --> 0:08:14.800 But also I had this addiction to what I thought 0:08:14.840 --> 0:08:17.400 would make me more productive and effective. And you know, 0:08:17.640 --> 0:08:21.400 like yeah, on for longer, and that's that's kind of 0:08:21.400 --> 0:08:24.200 what it's for. It makes you think you're you're on 0:08:24.360 --> 0:08:24.840 for longer. 0:08:25.040 --> 0:08:27.640 I liked the feeling of the operas as well. You know, 0:08:28.040 --> 0:08:30.080 when I'm glad because when I took, when I was 0:08:30.120 --> 0:08:33.480 in the drugs and alcohol, the bass notes never sung 0:08:33.520 --> 0:08:35.679 to me, you know, the heroines and that kind of thing, 0:08:35.720 --> 0:08:38.440 which I'm quite glad of because that seemed to kill 0:08:38.480 --> 0:08:42.640 people much faster. Whereas cocaine, to me, it was cocaine 0:08:42.679 --> 0:08:45.400 back then, you know, that's what there were, steam trains, cocaine, 0:08:45.720 --> 0:08:48.080 phones had big circles on them. It was just a 0:08:48.120 --> 0:08:51.920 better time, simpler times. But I always thought of cocaine 0:08:52.120 --> 0:08:53.680 it just kind of like helped me drink more. 0:08:53.760 --> 0:08:58.280 That's yeah, they're kind of like a one two as well, 0:08:58.440 --> 0:09:01.440 that kind of doesn't Yeah, yeah, it was kind of uh, 0:09:02.520 --> 0:09:05.680 you know, I wouldn't. I mean, alcohol was a was 0:09:05.960 --> 0:09:07.640 a thing for me for a while. I only just 0:09:07.679 --> 0:09:11.160 now this year January first, you know, kind of out 0:09:11.200 --> 0:09:12.000 alcohol together. 0:09:12.720 --> 0:09:16.120 So which is which was as even. 0:09:16.000 --> 0:09:19.280 More of like I have more pride for that than 0:09:19.559 --> 0:09:21.199 you know, the drugs. 0:09:20.880 --> 0:09:24.200 Because the drugs was you know, I it was. It was. 0:09:24.800 --> 0:09:27.720 Well, society is not constantly telling you that doing crystal 0:09:27.760 --> 0:09:29.960 meth is okay, but society is constantly telling you that 0:09:30.080 --> 0:09:31.720 you got to drink ad a good times. So that's 0:09:31.760 --> 0:09:34.040 some brainwashing that takes a while time to do it 0:09:34.120 --> 0:09:34.600 really is. 0:09:34.679 --> 0:09:38.120 It's an odd thing. But when I started, when I 0:09:38.160 --> 0:09:40.640 was doing stand up at the beginning, I was drunk 0:09:40.640 --> 0:09:42.800 a lot while I was doing it, and then performing 0:09:43.040 --> 0:09:46.560 sober took a bit again used to it. Yeah, I 0:09:46.600 --> 0:09:50.000 can't imagine for someone who does something as as clever 0:09:50.080 --> 0:09:53.079 as what you do, that that being impaired on stage 0:09:53.120 --> 0:09:54.240 is something you can get away with. 0:09:54.520 --> 0:09:57.440 Not pretty, yeah, not pretty sometimes you know, like I 0:09:57.480 --> 0:10:00.319 would be I would, you know, have a drink or 0:10:00.320 --> 0:10:02.680 two before a show, and I say sometimes, you know, 0:10:02.760 --> 0:10:05.920 like last year, and uh, you know, sometimes it would 0:10:06.120 --> 0:10:07.760 if I'm doing the you know, the show that I'm 0:10:07.800 --> 0:10:10.719 really comfortable with, it would almost be like a you know, 0:10:10.800 --> 0:10:13.400 let me throw myself a little curveball of impairedness and 0:10:13.480 --> 0:10:15.640 let's see how how you get out of this one. 0:10:15.800 --> 0:10:17.840 Justin you know, there's almost like little self challenges that 0:10:17.880 --> 0:10:19.960 come out. I get the boredom of routine. 0:10:20.160 --> 0:10:23.120 Well that the routine, and also I think somewhere in 0:10:23.160 --> 0:10:25.319 there and I'm I don't know why I'm going here 0:10:25.360 --> 0:10:28.679 with this, but but there's a sort of deserveability of it, 0:10:29.040 --> 0:10:31.840 because you know, you're like you're a comer, man. I 0:10:31.840 --> 0:10:33.880 mean it's like you're you're on the way to being 0:10:34.400 --> 0:10:36.160 like you're big now, but you're going to be like 0:10:36.280 --> 0:10:40.880 this huge, big, giant career. And I think when you're 0:10:40.920 --> 0:10:43.760 a kid and you want that, it's like it's in 0:10:43.800 --> 0:10:46.840 front of you, and that's kind of it's aspirational and 0:10:46.840 --> 0:10:48.640 somehow it's no, it's frightened. But when you start to 0:10:48.720 --> 0:10:51.280 get it, and you're getting it now, I mean this 0:10:51.440 --> 0:10:54.480 is like you you've getting the kudos and the stuff 0:10:54.520 --> 0:10:57.360 and the I'm sure the money's coming and the and 0:10:57.400 --> 0:11:01.360 they're all the flattery, which is the real currency is 0:11:01.880 --> 0:11:04.920 it really is? It's like how much flattery if you 0:11:05.000 --> 0:11:08.720 go for the person that it starts to freak you out? 0:11:08.760 --> 0:11:10.160 Does it? Does it freak you out a little bit? 0:11:10.200 --> 0:11:11.679 Because success can be a little scary. 0:11:12.200 --> 0:11:15.040 Yeah, you know, I think maybe that's what what at first, 0:11:15.400 --> 0:11:18.400 like first moving to LA and you know, I kind 0:11:18.400 --> 0:11:21.880 of felt like I was, you know, skipped a step. 0:11:21.920 --> 0:11:24.760 I booked a commercial like a couple of months in 0:11:24.920 --> 0:11:27.040 LA and you know, I remember when that thing was 0:11:27.040 --> 0:11:29.360 on the air, I felt like Tom Cruise. You know, 0:11:29.360 --> 0:11:32.120 it was like and that's when the you know, the 0:11:32.160 --> 0:11:37.120 bad neighbor influences of celebrating that success took over and 0:11:37.160 --> 0:11:39.199 then you then you're kind of panicking of like, well, 0:11:39.200 --> 0:11:40.520 I can't let this go. You got to you know, 0:11:40.600 --> 0:11:42.600 like you can't. You can't rest on your laurels. So 0:11:42.760 --> 0:11:46.040 that's how do how do I keep keep this engine going? 0:11:46.280 --> 0:11:48.000 And now I feel like I've been you know, I've 0:11:48.080 --> 0:11:50.600 been in LA for twenty years, and I feel like 0:11:50.640 --> 0:11:55.520 I'm a little more stoic about those what's next thing, 0:11:55.679 --> 0:11:58.880 like a little like less, you know, over the moon, 0:11:58.960 --> 0:12:02.000 let's throw a party because you some milestone happened. 0:12:02.040 --> 0:12:05.120 It more like a yeah, yeah, you know. It's a job. Yeah, 0:12:05.160 --> 0:12:07.920 it's a job, and that's that's a great job. Yeah 0:12:07.960 --> 0:12:10.240 it's a great job. But it is a job. And 0:12:10.280 --> 0:12:13.839 I think that what's kind of funny I always felt 0:12:13.880 --> 0:12:18.079 about Los Angeles and and show business and in fact 0:12:18.160 --> 0:12:21.439 the Internet as well. They all fall into the same category, 0:12:21.480 --> 0:12:26.320 which is it's only dangerous if you take it seriously, right. 0:12:26.559 --> 0:12:30.240 And what I admire very much about the skill that 0:12:30.280 --> 0:12:33.600 you have, and it's something that I also that made 0:12:33.679 --> 0:12:37.720 me feel free as well, is that no matter what happens, 0:12:37.920 --> 0:12:40.240 you can get on top of a soap box in 0:12:40.280 --> 0:12:43.280 the street and earn enough money paid the rent. True, 0:12:43.520 --> 0:12:48.080 And that's that's real freedom, my friend. That having a trade. 0:12:48.320 --> 0:12:51.160 Yeah that you know, well, yeah, you could throw money 0:12:51.200 --> 0:12:53.280 into a hat. It's kind of a you know, it's 0:12:53.640 --> 0:12:56.560 like musicians have the same thing. Like a proper musician. 0:12:56.640 --> 0:12:59.360 If you need an auto tune to make your music, 0:13:00.080 --> 0:13:03.000 then you have to make sure you can afford one, right, 0:13:03.080 --> 0:13:05.920 But if you can create it, and I imagine you 0:13:06.040 --> 0:13:09.480 create the illusions and this stuff, now that's part of 0:13:09.520 --> 0:13:12.080 what you do, right, is that you you design and 0:13:12.120 --> 0:13:13.600 make this stuff yourself. 0:13:13.679 --> 0:13:16.320 There's a yeah, I've got like a brain trust and 0:13:16.559 --> 0:13:18.719 you know in making the TV show and anything, all 0:13:18.720 --> 0:13:21.520 the live stuff, it's it's a lot of you know what, 0:13:21.600 --> 0:13:24.320 old ancient ideas. Can you reinvent? What's an old trick 0:13:24.400 --> 0:13:25.920 that you know? Like I've got all these tricks that 0:13:26.000 --> 0:13:28.520 you have, these old books and tons of books. 0:13:28.600 --> 0:13:29.280 You know this. 0:13:29.600 --> 0:13:31.520 But you know, you get to a point where when 0:13:31.520 --> 0:13:33.160 there's a lot of eyeballs on you, you can't just 0:13:33.200 --> 0:13:35.240 do stuff right off the shelf. Right, you can get 0:13:35.240 --> 0:13:37.240 away with that when you know you're doing gigs that 0:13:37.320 --> 0:13:39.199 aren't being put on the internet, you know, but when 0:13:39.200 --> 0:13:39.880 you're kind. 0:13:39.679 --> 0:13:41.160 Of you're the big guy. Now. 0:13:41.320 --> 0:13:43.320 Yeah, Now I can't, you know, I can't just you know, 0:13:43.440 --> 0:13:45.520 do the you know, a trick that I buy at 0:13:45.520 --> 0:13:47.960 the at the Hollywood Magic So you kind of have 0:13:48.080 --> 0:13:50.000 to figure out what your spin is on it. And 0:13:50.040 --> 0:13:52.480 I love I love that, you know, that's the hard work, 0:13:52.520 --> 0:13:55.520 but I do. I often think one day the luggage 0:13:55.559 --> 0:13:57.160 is not going to arrive. And I know it's not 0:13:57.200 --> 0:13:59.200 about the tricks and the props, right, but I know 0:13:59.240 --> 0:14:02.280 I could go to a Walmart, give me forty five 0:14:02.280 --> 0:14:04.560 minutes and I could put together an hour show, you know, 0:14:04.640 --> 0:14:05.360 and do it that night. 0:14:05.400 --> 0:14:07.160 I think you could get rid of a body the 0:14:07.200 --> 0:14:11.120 same way that you do, Like if you had inadvertently, 0:14:11.360 --> 0:14:13.520 you know, committed a homicide or the road would be 0:14:13.559 --> 0:14:16.280 a good, amazing race episode. Yeah, I just think, you know, 0:14:16.360 --> 0:14:18.520 if I mean, if you can put together stuff like 0:14:18.559 --> 0:14:21.920 that at Walmart, it's just a very useful skill to have, 0:14:22.200 --> 0:14:25.640 it is. Yes, I'm kind of impressed. A magician brain. 0:14:28.840 --> 0:14:32.440 The Craig Ferguson Fancy Rascal Stand Up Tour continues throughout 0:14:32.440 --> 0:14:36.400 the United States in twenty twenty four. For a full 0:14:36.440 --> 0:14:39.200 list of dates and tickets, go to the Craig fergusonshow 0:14:39.280 --> 0:14:46.880 dot com slash tour. So you out there? Is there 0:14:46.880 --> 0:14:49.200 a kind of society of magicians? It's like, are you 0:14:49.280 --> 0:14:50.720 a member of the Magic Castle and all that? 0:14:50.720 --> 0:14:53.160 I remember the Magic Castle? Then there's a society of 0:14:53.200 --> 0:14:56.360 American magicians. There's an international brotherhood of. 0:14:56.320 --> 0:14:59.760 Magicians, all right, but ladies get two of us? They do? Yeah? 0:15:00.040 --> 0:15:02.640 Should they should work on that? The title title's a 0:15:02.680 --> 0:15:07.560 little antiquated but international. Answer question, I don't know any 0:15:08.160 --> 0:15:10.240 female magicians knows I think about it. I mean, I'm 0:15:10.240 --> 0:15:12.000 sure there are many, but I don't know any. 0:15:12.160 --> 0:15:15.880 There are there are many, but I mean obviously not enough, right, 0:15:16.040 --> 0:15:19.800 there are more and more. But there are some great 0:15:19.880 --> 0:15:23.720 female magicians. In fact, in Vegas. Jen Kramer the only, 0:15:23.840 --> 0:15:28.840 I believe, the only you know, female headliner magician in Vegas. 0:15:28.920 --> 0:15:31.880 And she does a great show and she's super funny, 0:15:31.840 --> 0:15:32.520 it's super sweet. 0:15:32.640 --> 0:15:35.920 What happens with magicians that are they like stand ups? 0:15:35.920 --> 0:15:38.120 Like do they get together after the show and complain 0:15:38.200 --> 0:15:42.320 about young people and stuff or older magicians who who 0:15:42.360 --> 0:15:46.240 did it the wrong way? Or they they I think 0:15:46.240 --> 0:15:46.600 they do. 0:15:46.680 --> 0:15:48.720 I mean, I have, you know, groups of magicians who 0:15:48.720 --> 0:15:51.360 will come to my shows, you know, and in any town, 0:15:51.440 --> 0:15:52.960 you know, the magicians kind of get together and they 0:15:52.960 --> 0:15:54.640 come to the show. But I know that what happens 0:15:54.640 --> 0:15:56.600 after is they go to Denny's and they rip it apart, 0:15:56.760 --> 0:15:59.480 you know, and there's a bunch of like you know, 0:15:59.560 --> 0:16:04.320 like magicians love to you know, the tall poppy thing obviously, 0:16:04.400 --> 0:16:06.680 you know, kind of anyone anyone who thinks their rise 0:16:06.720 --> 0:16:09.720 above you know, screw them. And I think, you know, 0:16:09.720 --> 0:16:12.760 I remember when David Blaine first came out. Magicians just 0:16:13.240 --> 0:16:16.120 couldn't believe this guy was getting so famous doing tricks. 0:16:17.520 --> 0:16:17.920 Mute. 0:16:18.040 --> 0:16:20.600 Yeah, because we I think, and I was guilty this well, 0:16:20.640 --> 0:16:22.640 I don't think we got the big picture, which is 0:16:23.080 --> 0:16:26.880 he's kind of reinventing the context of experiencing magic. You 0:16:26.920 --> 0:16:29.360 know that it's just a guy in a T shirt 0:16:29.520 --> 0:16:32.360 on the street, right, and he's just blowing people's minds, 0:16:32.360 --> 0:16:34.040 and we're living in that, you know, we get to 0:16:34.040 --> 0:16:35.400 see true human. 0:16:35.720 --> 0:16:37.840 He's a little bit of an underground for you, actually, 0:16:37.920 --> 0:16:39.920 isn't he He's a little bit of an influential figure 0:16:39.960 --> 0:16:43.040 if I think about what you do and he like 0:16:43.080 --> 0:16:46.800 he's older than you, and he but he well, I 0:16:46.840 --> 0:16:51.080 think you combine and what I don't think that David Blaine. Look, 0:16:51.120 --> 0:16:52.760 I'm a layman. I don't end it, but well, I 0:16:52.800 --> 0:16:56.640 don't know how good the illusions are, but they seem 0:16:56.680 --> 0:16:59.880 pretty impressive. But what he doesn't have is he doesn't 0:17:00.120 --> 0:17:04.280 have the charm. And I feel like with you, I 0:17:04.280 --> 0:17:06.160 don't know if it's practiced or I don't know if 0:17:06.800 --> 0:17:09.360 you're just lucky. I suspect you're just lucky, that you're 0:17:09.400 --> 0:17:12.959 just you're you're charming and that helps with the magic. 0:17:13.040 --> 0:17:17.919 But charming people and stand ups usually have a tricky 0:17:17.960 --> 0:17:19.320 start in life. It was yours. 0:17:21.040 --> 0:17:23.479 I was by start prior to because I started doing 0:17:23.520 --> 0:17:25.480 magic when I was twelve. And you asked me when 0:17:25.520 --> 0:17:27.639 I was twelve, with the deck of cards in my pocket, 0:17:27.680 --> 0:17:28.879 what I wanted to be when I grew up, I 0:17:28.880 --> 0:17:32.040 would have said magician. So I'm kind of like this unicorn, 0:17:32.160 --> 0:17:35.040 you know, who got to call his call his profession 0:17:35.119 --> 0:17:37.760 at a young age and somehow pulled it off. I mean, 0:17:37.920 --> 0:17:40.000 and it's almost like I don't remember much of who 0:17:40.119 --> 0:17:41.760 I was before I discovered magic. 0:17:41.760 --> 0:17:43.800 I don't think I was charming. I think, like, no, 0:17:44.040 --> 0:17:46.040 I don't think charming. I knew I wanted to be 0:17:46.119 --> 0:17:46.840 those things I knew. 0:17:46.960 --> 0:17:50.760 I knew like I knew, I idolized like Johnny Carson 0:17:50.880 --> 0:17:53.000 and would watch them every night and stay up late 0:17:53.040 --> 0:17:55.359 with my parents. Johnny was a magician, Johnny started as 0:17:55.359 --> 0:17:57.800 a magician, and that kind of you know, I remember 0:17:57.840 --> 0:18:00.240 my dad telling me that off off hand and kind 0:18:00.240 --> 0:18:02.720 of like, because you see Johnny and you're like, how 0:18:02.760 --> 0:18:04.360 do you get to be that? 0:18:04.400 --> 0:18:06.239 How does that? How do you get that job? You know? 0:18:06.359 --> 0:18:09.200 And and I used to love seeing what jokes would 0:18:09.240 --> 0:18:11.480 make my parents laugh. And I didn't know why I 0:18:11.520 --> 0:18:13.080 didn't get the joke, but I would want to like 0:18:13.119 --> 0:18:14.240 decode it like a puzzle. 0:18:15.080 --> 0:18:16.639 Are you from a big family? No? 0:18:16.760 --> 0:18:20.040 So small? So I've got a sister. It was me, 0:18:20.200 --> 0:18:23.280 my sister, my mom and dad in Saint Louis and 0:18:23.480 --> 0:18:29.199 uh no cousins. So my parents siblings didn't have kids. 0:18:29.240 --> 0:18:30.640 You know, pretty quiet, thanks. 0:18:30.480 --> 0:18:33.679 Get pretty quiet? You know my mom's parents. I had 0:18:33.680 --> 0:18:36.160 both happy time in your life when you were a kid. 0:18:36.000 --> 0:18:36.920 So happy. Yeah. 0:18:37.040 --> 0:18:39.040 My sister and I often talk about how we I mean, 0:18:39.080 --> 0:18:40.720 we're very close. She and I are very close, she said, 0:18:40.840 --> 0:18:43.000 years younger than me. How we we you know, we 0:18:43.040 --> 0:18:45.679 both feel like we had the best childhood. You know, 0:18:45.720 --> 0:18:47.480