113 - Nick Difatte & Audience Volunteers

the Way of the Showman

This is a conversation with one of the funniest guys I know. He's had me laughing so hard I had to get partially undressed.
We talk about magic and comedy and their intersection before landing on a long explorations of how to select and manage audience volunteers. Nick is an expert at handling volunteers and gets SO much out of the people he gets up, I try to learn from him.
You can find out about Nick Difatte on his website
Nick has written a brilliant book on magic called Offbeat (it's sold out but will soon be reissued) published by Squash Publishing creators of some of the hottest books on magic.
we talk about:
the Great Santini's toaster (my dad's magic invention)
Steen Pegani - danish magic shop owner and all around good guy.
Mortenn Christiansen - link to him on Penn & Teller's Fool Us
Nick blows my mind with the news that he is writing and editing a chapter in Richard Kaufman's re-release of Greater Magic. The chapter will be on comedy magic.
Borrowin/stealing/reinventing
becoming an original performer.
saving the earth with a yo yo
Authenticity
Finding shit no one cares about
costume as character amplifier and definer
me loosing my shit seeing Nick perform for the first time.
worst "emotional speech" in a show ever...
being funnier off sage and how to transfer this to stage.
choosing volunteers
offbeat, Nick's book is sold out.
Amazing Johnatan as example of a masterful use of and control of audience volunteers.
Nick on getting along with older guys and how to harness this in his Shows

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