Interview with Lee Asher

During the lecture by Lee Asher organised by Magic Garage, we had the privilege to talk to Lee Asher, inventor of the  Asher Twist and an artist in Theory11. The Interview covers his tie up with Theory11, the new concepts he is working out and piracy issues.

We have converted it to .pdf format so that you guys can download it and read it offline for your convenience! Enjoy!

Lee Asher Interview Transcript PDF

Transcript of the Interview with Lee Asher

Thor: So… Who is your favorite artist?

Lee Asher: Magician or Painter? Ahh… Just kidding. Haha. I have a lot but I actually like anything that is performed well. So anyone that does good magic I like. But if I had to choose, I would say guys like
Aaron Fisher, Beam, Banachek, there is a whole list that goes on and on… Bill Malone… Anyone who
does magic really well. John Thompson, Anyone who does magic really well.

Thor: What are you up to these days? Besides doing lectures and stuff.

Lee Asher: Magic wise? What I’m working on?

Thor: Yea!

Lee Asher: I’m working on something called Pulp Friction. It is a revolutionary idea that basically you can..

Thor: With Theory11?

Lee Asher: It’s not with Theory11, It is basically an idea where you can do any type of card magic with one move, and the move is called Pulp Friction. I didn’t get the chance to teach it in the lecture today unfortunately cause we ran out of time. But Isaac (Magic Garage Founder) can testify, you can do ANYTHING with Pulp Friction, it is a REALLY great move. (Isaac nods his head)

Thor: You should him and you didn’t show us?!?! Haha nevermind.

Thor: So do you create magic for Laymen more, or for Magicians?

Lee Asher: No I create magic more for myself! And it just so happens that the laymen like it, cool. If the magicians like it too, cool. But it is really for me. Everything you have seen me do today at the lecture, I invented for me.

Vogue: So how would you describe your style of magic?

Lee Asher: My style is very direct, especially when it comes to the method. Very simple, very direct.
There is no time for lot of moves, or a bunch of procedures, it is right to the point. Most of the time
most people don’t have the time to watch so I have to get right to it so I’m a very direct magician!

Vogue: So how did you tie up with Theory11?

Lee Asher: They contacted me. There was a team of five of them that called me and told me that they would like me to be a flagship artist and we talked for a while. I basically explained my business model to them and they explained their business model and we kinda saw things overlapped and worked well and so I signed a contract with them about a year ago.

Thor: Love some of their products!

Lee Asher: Yea, they were searching for some of the best magicians that they could find, and I’m glad
that they called me!

Thor: Do you think the rise of Youtube and piracy is more beneficial or harmful to magic?

Lee Asher: Absolutely. I don’t put Youtube in the same sentence as piracy cause piracy is actually
someone copying a DVD. In Youtube, we mostly find people teaching others how to perform. It’s
definitely exposure but you have to understand about Youtube that information is inclusive or exclusive. Those that are look for the Asher Twist Exposure and if someone finds it it was because they were looking for it and they were interested in magic. The common laymen in the streets, they are not looking for exposure, and they are not going to find it!

Lee Asher: So I think in the right context, it is a good teaching tool. It is a good way to get people to see, to hear and to understand new magic. Unfortunately I do not have the choice teaching it well. If there is a lot of exposure, for example on the Asher Twist, they don’t know how to perform it, so it’s sad that they try and teach it! It’s like trying to teach algebra when you don’t understand math. I wished that they learnt it better so that if they were going to expose it they would expose it better. That is my only qualm. But you know, there aren’t that many people exposing tricks and it is just that handful of people and unfortunately if they were taught not to do that they would not do that.

Lee Asher: So I think it is about educating people to not do things like that like mentorship. A mentor
would tell you to not do something like that. I mean you are in a society and within a society there are
rules. You don’t just go shoot someone. You have been taught since young that you aren’t supposed to do that. So people that are exposing just haven’t been taught that’s all. But I think it’s a really strong medium for learning.

Thor: Ok, last question, tell us something that would freak us all out!

Lee Asher: That would freak you all out?? Hmm.. Freak you out?!?!? I don’t have anything that would
freak you out…

Vogue: Tell us something that nobody knows!

Lee Asher: Let me think…
(After a long long time…)

Lee Asher: My favorite color is blue! No one knows that!

(He’s a really dedicated magician! Must have spent his time coming up with tricks! Or he’s just shy to tell us. Don’t worry we will start fishing out more juicy information from people we interview soon!)

Thor: Thank you so much!

Lee Asher: My pleasure guys. I really appreciate it!

Tags: Interview, juice, Lee Asher, Pulp Friction, Theory11