Interview with Sean Taylor

We caught hold of Sean Taylor after his lecture in Singapore, and he was more than willing to share his experiences, tips, and stories to us. This interview zooms in on getting started as a professional magician, the difference between magic and mentalism, and the perks of being a full-time entertainer.

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

Sean Taylor Interview Transcript PDF

Transcript of the Interview with Sean Taylor

Thor: Ok, so what got you into being a professional magician?

Sean: Well… Being a professional magician huh? Well… I got a magic set when I was 6 and learnt to do magic tricks when I was a kid from another magician. Not a professional magician though but a part-time professional and he eventually passed on everything to me and taught me how to do magic. By the time I was a teenager, I was doing kid’s parties and it was an easy way to make money. I carried on doing that and I paid my way through university, yea! By doing magic.

Thor: It just started by doing magic for friends?

Sean: Yea. People would see me do magic tricks and ask if I could come along and do something for them or for their party or for their kids. I lived in a small town and word got around really quickly. So people knew who I was and my dad was quite well-known business man and people would ask him if I would come and that is how I got started. By the time I was 17 and driving a car, I was doing magic, you know, professionally on the weekends. When I was 19, I bought a brand new car and when I was 21, I bought a house.

Thor and Vogue: Wow!! That’s like awesome!

Sean: You know, by having a normal job in the day time and doing magic on evenings and in the weekends and every chance I got.

Vogue: So what is the best way to start?

Sean: It’s different now because what I’m talking about was 25 years ago when really kid’s party was the only thing you could do but now you can do close up and some people only do close up. 25 years ago you would have never heard of that but now people just do that for a living.

Thor: How do you market yourself as a magician?

Sean: If you get in the books of agents, that is a good way of doing it. Agents are always looking for something different for their functions. Very often they don’t know about magic and they just assume that magicians are guys with tuxedos and doves and things, hence you need to go and see them and explain what it’s like. The best thing about strolling magic is that it doesn’t interrupt the rest of the evening for example.

Sean: I do still do close up magic. Not much but occasionally, maybe once or twice a month. I do it for a couple of hours and I just walk around and do stuff from my pocket. I have rubberbands, cards, coin, and sponge balls. Easy, quick, close up magic. Some people just do that you know. They don’t do anything else.

Thor: Did you do restaurant magic last time?

Sean: I used to, but I haven’t worked in a restaurant for many years now because I don’t need to but the good thing is that if you can persuade a restaurant to hire you then people will come in and see you and that’s how you gain your reputation.

Sean: Some guys I know in Sydney now they work in bars. I never really been a fan of working in bars, but there are now more and more of them and I think you can pick up work from there but that’s not really me. I’m beyond that now.

Thor: When performing, do you have an arsenal of tricks that you rely on or you keep doing something new?

Sean: Yea, I think what you need are 2 sets of tricks that you can do really well. The first set of tricks you do all the time and the other set is for reserve.

Thor: Back to you, so how did you manage to make the switch from being a magician to a mentalist when everyone already knew you as a magician?

Sean: It is hard. When you are working with the same clients, you have to convince them that what you got is something different. I took some time to work on them and explain to them that I was practicing this particular skill and I was able to do it better than before in a long time. But you’re right that it’s tricky because my clients are already expecting me to be turning up and performing a card trick and you turn up and do something that is not quite that. It’s a big mental leap for them.

Vogue: So why the change from magician to mentalism?

Sean: A few reasons. One of them is that a lot of people are doing magic and nobody doing mentalism so it is a new market. Two, it gives you something fresh to talk about when you talk to your clients. Three, I just love the performance of a mentalism routine. I just like the fact that I can walk out with a briefcase and do one hour and pick up by briefcase and walk off.

Sean: For example, last night, literally I worked. I had a show at 930 in Sidney. At 945, I picked up my briefcase, got into my car, drove home and got ready to come here. I don’t have to load a van, take down all my gears, pack all of my stuff, everything is just in my briefcase, so I can go anywhere, anytime and at a moment’s notice. It’s all about me and my interaction with the audience, not props, and I love that sort of command I have and I enjoy that. Plus, it’s the last thing that people think that it’s real.

Vogue: What are your attitudes when you do out and perform?

Sean: Ok, first and foremost, you are an entertainer. No questions about that! Entertainment is your primary goal. They have to come away having a good time, whatever measure there is for that, they HAVE to have a good time. Doesn’t necessarily mean you have to be funny all the time, well I like to have a string of gags but you can be fun without being funny. If they enjoy your company and think “What a great guy he was!” , that is enough.

Vogue: So how do you balance when you want to be funny but the thing you are doing is mentalism? (which may often require a serious atmosphere)

Sean: That was my biggest challenge and I got to say that was the single most greatest thing I spend my time on, trying to think of how to make it more fun. I think we’re (mentalism community) slightly help by the fact that Derren Brown has become so big and he is quite funny. People see him and he’s got a good sense of humor and the audience realizes that mentalism can be quite light and humorous. I spent a lot of time trying to be serious and I just can’t. It’s just not me. It’s not my style. So it’s a constant battle for me to figure out where the funny bits need to be and how to make it funnier without ruining the seriousness of the routine.

Vogue: What are the benefits you gained from learning magic? Or from being a mentalist?

Sean: Well… The principle benefit for me is that I basically do my hobby for a living. That is a great position to be in. If you find a job you like, you will never work another day in your life. That’s the thing. I can come and go and pretty much do as I please. I can turn the work up, turn it down, and decide to go on a trip if I wanted to.

Thor: So what are the tricks that you are performing these days?

Sean: I’m constantly experimenting and evolving. I’m playing with new stuff all the time. I got a main piece of material that I use all the time, but I’m always looking at ways of tweaking it and changing it and making it more interesting. Because I have been doing mentalism exclusively for 5 years now, I have started to get clients who are booking me back so now I need new stuff, new materials so that I can change and evolve and have another complete set of materials.

Thor: So what do you like about doing mentalism?

Sean: The beauty of mentalism is that no two shows are the same. If I got 5 people standing there and I ask them to draw something on a piece of cardboard, I’ve got no idea on what they are going to draw and so I’m going to go on a different direction according to what they draw. If they are picking words from a book, I don’t know what words they are going to pick, I don’t know how they are going to answer questions. I got to be pretty much on my game and go whatever direction it takes me to. So you will never know what’s going to happen.

Thor and Vogue: Thanks a lot for sharing your experience!