Interview with Brendan Rodrigues

Brendan Rodrigues recently won the Magic Circle Close Up Magician of The Year Award 2016.

He returns to Secret Cellar (star of the Next Great Magician) to present more bar flair and gobsmacking sleight of hand. Enjoy a unique take on illusion by one of London’s most stylish magicians.

I had the pleasure to enjoy his tricks and skills close up and interview him afterwards.

The interview (Sept 2017):

Who is your role model now?

My answers will change as the years pass by, but at the moment I have put down some of my favorites. I look up to a few different magicians that are some of the best in their fields, I strive to be different every time,  but if I have to give you a name, it would be Tom Whitestone, from the Magic Circle, I love watching him perform and he is also a good friend.

How old was you when you started practising magic?

Although my father got me a few tricks when I was really young I never really looked at it as it was something I wanted to do, but I started practising magic when I was about 25, I am 35 now so roughly about 10 years ago.

What was your very first magic trick you performed on stage?

On stage…. I don’t really do magic on stage as I do more close up, but if you mean in front of a lot of people I would say the floating cocktail shaker, as I used to do it during my flair competition period.

What is your favourite trick that you love doing?

I love doing contact juggling, even though it’s not really considered magic, but to me it is,  it is something that made me famous in the magic community, and helped me win the magic circles magician of the year.

What is the most difficult magic trick?

To me it’s the coin and pen routine, as I have spent years training for it.

Is there a magic trick that you can’t master that you really want to?

I think if you put your mind to it you can master anything, but I would like to do grand illusions, but for that you would need a lot of money and a massive stage to perform, but its something I would like to do in the future.

Which magic trick always shocks people?

Anything that happens in the spectators hands is always the most powerful, there are a lot of tricks like that, but in my act I would say when I change paper into money is quite a shocker.

Why do you like being a magician?

Now here is an answer that would change in the coming years, it probably started of as something to get me out of my shell as I was quite a shy kid, so a great way to meet and interact with people.   I love to look at peoples faces when I perform, it just makes me feel good to know I created that sense of wonder, now that I lecture a lot I would like to inspire young magicians to be creative and original.