Last week, we posted an Artist Diary from a rising star in the magic circle - Mike Jacobson. On a recent episode of the Ellen DeGeneres show, Mike was randomly chosen from the crowd to perform for Ellen, the studio audience, and the viewers at home... and blew everyone away! We sat down with Mike to pick his brain and ask him a few questions:
Q: How did you get started in magic? How long have you been performing?
A: When I was about nine, I saw a magician at camp where I grew up in Los Angeles. After the show, he showed us all how to do a trick - specifically, how to pull a rope through your neck. In theory this was really cool. In practice, it was not. But I performed this trick for every single adult I knew and they all acted really impressed. Were they? Probably not. But I loved the excitement of knowing something that adults, who told me what to do every day, had no idea how to do... and I didn’t have to tell them. All in all, I’ve been into magic for about 14 years or so, but I’ve only been performing at a semi-professional level since I became a member of the Magic Castle (about 10 years or so).
Q: We know you only by the little we've seen in performance clips online. Do you perform professionally?
A: Magic is really just a passion of mine. I love to entertain and just make people happy. So right now it’s a side job and it looks like it’ll stay that way. I’m also a strategist at an awesome advertising agency in LA called 72andSunny. As a strategist I basically do what we do in magic on a larger scale - figure out how people think, figure out how to engage them most effectively, then use it to our advantage during our campaigns so we can actually affect people. I love it. Having magic and advertising in my life is really fun. If one ever gets frustrating, I have the other.
Q: What led to your appearance on The Ellen DeGeneres Show? You were randomly chosen from the audience - what does that process consist of?
A: Basically they have everyone in the audience write their hidden talents on paper before the show and if anyone is good they’ll bring them up. In my case, they knew they wanted a magician on the show - so let’s just say I was prepared.
Q: Any funny, behind the scenes stories you can share from the taping of the show?
A: I shared a dressing room with one of the Thunder From Down Under guys. Yeah... awesome. It was literally for like five minutes and he was actually super cool. It was funny to get an insider perspective on that world - it’s way more legit than we think. Then, we compared our six-packs and stuff... you know how that goes.
Q: Any words of advice for those just starting out in magic or looking to continue their journey?
A: I think more than learning cool tricks, it's WAY more important to focus on entertaining and making people happy. In reality, that's the goal of us performing. A lot of magicians get caught up in technicalities and doing things that impress rather than engage, but I think it's extremely important to do more than just magic - we need to help bring the party. I do magic because I love to help people have an awesome time.
How do you do that? By making your magic relate to people, so it becomes less like a magician performing for laymen and more like a hilarious conversation with an entertaining friend; that allows people to enjoy themselves a lot more. I think that's the key. Making sure that whatever you presentation is, it's actually relevant to the audience in some way. When you do that, you bring people in, they let their guard down, and you receive better reactions.
Q: You are clearly confident in your performance. What is in Mike Jacobson's future? How can we support your magic?
A: I think the confidence comes more from my trust in that, if something screws up, I’ll be okay. I like people and Ellen is honestly just another person and a joy to perform to - she loves magic and is so genuine, which made me feel comfortable. In terms of support, just keep being awesome and check out the links below. Thanks guys!
+ Mike Jacobson - Official Site
+ Facebook - Friend Me
+ Twitter - Follow Me
Q: How did you get started in magic? How long have you been performing?
A: When I was about nine, I saw a magician at camp where I grew up in Los Angeles. After the show, he showed us all how to do a trick - specifically, how to pull a rope through your neck. In theory this was really cool. In practice, it was not. But I performed this trick for every single adult I knew and they all acted really impressed. Were they? Probably not. But I loved the excitement of knowing something that adults, who told me what to do every day, had no idea how to do... and I didn’t have to tell them. All in all, I’ve been into magic for about 14 years or so, but I’ve only been performing at a semi-professional level since I became a member of the Magic Castle (about 10 years or so).
Q: We know you only by the little we've seen in performance clips online. Do you perform professionally?
A: Magic is really just a passion of mine. I love to entertain and just make people happy. So right now it’s a side job and it looks like it’ll stay that way. I’m also a strategist at an awesome advertising agency in LA called 72andSunny. As a strategist I basically do what we do in magic on a larger scale - figure out how people think, figure out how to engage them most effectively, then use it to our advantage during our campaigns so we can actually affect people. I love it. Having magic and advertising in my life is really fun. If one ever gets frustrating, I have the other.
Q: What led to your appearance on The Ellen DeGeneres Show? You were randomly chosen from the audience - what does that process consist of?
A: Basically they have everyone in the audience write their hidden talents on paper before the show and if anyone is good they’ll bring them up. In my case, they knew they wanted a magician on the show - so let’s just say I was prepared.
Q: Any funny, behind the scenes stories you can share from the taping of the show?
A: I shared a dressing room with one of the Thunder From Down Under guys. Yeah... awesome. It was literally for like five minutes and he was actually super cool. It was funny to get an insider perspective on that world - it’s way more legit than we think. Then, we compared our six-packs and stuff... you know how that goes.
Q: Any words of advice for those just starting out in magic or looking to continue their journey?
A: I think more than learning cool tricks, it's WAY more important to focus on entertaining and making people happy. In reality, that's the goal of us performing. A lot of magicians get caught up in technicalities and doing things that impress rather than engage, but I think it's extremely important to do more than just magic - we need to help bring the party. I do magic because I love to help people have an awesome time.
How do you do that? By making your magic relate to people, so it becomes less like a magician performing for laymen and more like a hilarious conversation with an entertaining friend; that allows people to enjoy themselves a lot more. I think that's the key. Making sure that whatever you presentation is, it's actually relevant to the audience in some way. When you do that, you bring people in, they let their guard down, and you receive better reactions.
Q: You are clearly confident in your performance. What is in Mike Jacobson's future? How can we support your magic?
A: I think the confidence comes more from my trust in that, if something screws up, I’ll be okay. I like people and Ellen is honestly just another person and a joy to perform to - she loves magic and is so genuine, which made me feel comfortable. In terms of support, just keep being awesome and check out the links below. Thanks guys!
+ Mike Jacobson - Official Site
+ Facebook - Friend Me
+ Twitter - Follow Me
