Magic Stories

Transcript of Interview with Magic Tater

Magic Tater

Actual Transcript.  Not Edited.  10/16/04  3:40 pm.

 

 

INSIDE MAGIC:       Hi, Magic Tater and welcome to Inside Magic

 

MAGIC TATER:         Thank you.  Can I get some water?

 

INSIDE MAGIC:       Yes, yeah, sure.  Can we get some water for Magic Tater? 

 

MAGIC TATER:         Thanks. 

 

INSIDE MAGIC:       Late night?

 

MAGIC TATER:         What?

 

INSIDE MAGIC:       Late night, last night?  Were you out  . . .

…

Magic Tater

Actual Transcript.  Not Edited.  10/16/04  3:40 pm.

 

 

INSIDE MAGIC:       Hi, Magic Tater and welcome to Inside Magic

 

MAGIC TATER:         Thank you.  Can I get some water?

 

INSIDE MAGIC:       Yes, yeah, sure.  Can we get some water for Magic Tater? 

 

MAGIC TATER:         Thanks. 

 

INSIDE MAGIC:       Late night?

 

MAGIC TATER:         What?

 

INSIDE MAGIC:       Late night, last night?  Were you out  . . .

 

MAGIC TATER:         Yeah, yeah.  I just got here. I was on the red-eye from Vegas.

 

INSIDE MAGIC:       Oh, you were performing in Vegas yesterday?

 

MAGIC TATER:         Uh, yeah.  That?s why I flew from there.

 

INSIDE MAGIC:       I guess that makes sense.  Sorry.  Should I call you Magic Tater?

 

MAGIC TATER:         Yeah, that?s cool or you can call me MT or Tate.

 

INSIDE MAGIC:       Okay, Tate.  How did you get into magic?

 

MAGIC TATER:         Are we starting now?

 

INSIDE MAGIC:       Yeah, are you good? Are you ready?

 

MAGIC TATER:         Is the water coming?

 

INTERN:        Here.

 

MAGIC TATER:         I was kind of hoping it would be bottled; not just a cup of water.

 

INTERN:        We don?t have bottled water.

 

MAGIC TATER:         This is fine.

 

INTERN:        Sorry

 

MAGIC TATER:         No biggie.

 

INSIDE MAGIC:       Ready?

 

MAGIC TATER:         Yeah, what time is it because I?ve got to catch some sleep before the lecture tonight.

 

INSIDE MAGIC:       It?s 9:15.

 

MAGIC TATER:         Cool, let?s do this thing.

 

INSIDE MAGIC:       Hi, Tate.  Welcome to Inside Magic?s Interview.  Tell us about your latest doings.

 

MAGIC TATER:         Hi, Tim.  Thanks for the water.  I?ve been doing tradeshows this fall primarily.  In fact, I just got back from Vegas where I was working for two clients at the same time. 

 

INSIDE MAGIC:       Really, how did you do that?

MAGIC TATER:         The American Association of Anesthesiologists had about 15000 attendees at the Las Vegas Convention Center and there were 5000 out at Mandalay Bay for the California Grocers Convention.  I had a booth for Amgron, a shunt manufacturer and a booth for, ironically, Amgrow, a produce combine from Bakersfield.  I had to make sure I didn?t get them confused.  I caught a cab back and forth from one end of the strip to the other. 

 

INSIDE MAGIC:       Yeah, you?d have to make sure you didn?t confuse the two; because  they sound alike. . . Amgrow and Amgron. 

 

MAGIC TATER:         That?s what I was saying, yeah. 

 

INSIDE MAGIC:       Because it would be bad to say ?shunt? when you?re talking about beets.  Doesn?t ?shunt? sound like a dirty word?

 

MAGIC TATER:         Right, but they weren?t beets, Amgrow actually provided onions and leeks.  I don?t think ?shunt? sounds dirty.

 

INTERN:          I don?t think it sounds dirty.

 

INSIDE MAGIC:       Well, so much the worse, then?  I mean, leeks look like shunts, right?  I think it sounds a little dirty. 

 

MAGIC TATER:         Not really.  You?re thinking of chives. 

 

INSIDE MAGIC:       Oh.

 

MAGIC TATER:         But it was fun.

 

INSIDE MAGIC:       Even the top of leeks? Aren?t they like straws and aren?t straws like shunts  . . .

 

MAGIC TATER:         I don?t know.  I never confused the products. 

 

INSIDE MAGIC:       Because you?re a professional, of course.

 

MAGIC TATER:         No because they were totally different products.  One goes into your spinal column at the second cervical vertebrae to stop pain and the other is mixed with liver or potatoes.

 

INSIDE MAGIC:       Right.  The onions would be with the potatoes. Right.

 

MAGIC TATER:         Right.

 

(Pause)

 

INSIDE MAGIC:       So what tricks did you do to promote the two items?

 

MAGIC TATER:         Well, really I was promoting the two clients.  They had several brands and several items.  My job was just to get folks to the booth so they could talk with our salespeople. 

 

INSIDE MAGIC:       That?s what I meant.  I mean, what tricks did you do?

 

MAGIC TATER:         For the Amgron, I did a Six Card Repeat.

 

INSIDE MAGIC:       That?s the onion group?

 

MAGIC TATER:         What?

 

INSIDE MAGIC:       Amgrow is the onion group?

 

MAGIC TATER:         Yes, Amgrow was the onion group, the combine.  But I was talking about Amgron, they . . .

 

INSIDE MAGIC:       Oh, I?m sorry.  Right. I?m sorry.  I thought . . . see, I guess it is easy to be confused by the names.  So you did a card trick for a shunt manufacturer?

 

MAGIC TATER:         I don?t really consider Six Card Repeat a card trick.  It is really just using cards . .

 

INSIDE MAGIC:       Right.  Like a card trick but not a real card trick. You?re right.  Sorry.  Why Six Card Repeat for a shunt manufacturer?  What was your logic?

 

MAGIC TATER:         It is something I can do with jumbo cards, and it gets the attention of the area.

 

INSIDE MAGIC:       But how does it fit in with shunts?

 

MAGIC TATER:         It doesn?t directly but every trick doesn?t have to resemble the product. 

 

INSIDE MAGIC:       Right, otherwise you?d be doing Crystal Silk Cylinder or Strat-O-Spheres for the onion company.

 

MAGIC TATER:         Actually, I did do the Crystal Silk Cylinder for Amgrow.

 

INSIDE MAGIC:       But you didn?t want to do a shunt-like trick for Amgron?

 

MAGIC TATER:         I don?t know of any ?shunt-like? tricks, really.  And I wasn?t doing the Crystal Silk Cylinder because it could use onions.  I just always use it because I have a three silks made up that have the words, ?Cost,? ?Labor,? and ?Time? that I put in the tube and then cover it to show that the client?s logo or product appears.

 

INSIDE MAGIC:       ?Thyme? like the spice?

 

MAGIC TATER:         What?

 

INSIDE MAGIC:       The word on the silk.  Is it T-H-Y-M-E?

 

MAGIC TATER:         No, it?s T-I-M-E.

 

INSIDE MAGIC:       Oh, because I thought if it was T-H-Y-M-E it would fit in with the food theme.

 

MAGIC TATER:         No, it wasn?t.  It was like regular time, T-I-M-E.

 

INSIDE MAGIC:       Sorry to interrupt.  So wouldn?t some sort of soda straw trick be a good shunt trick?

 

MAGIC TATER:         I don?t really know of any that would fit.  But the point of the act is to draw attention to the booth and not necessarily have tricks that are identical to the product.

 

INSIDE MAGIC:       Do you remember that trick where you shove a straw through a potato? You could do that one, especially with the last name, Tater.  That would fit.

 

(Pause)

 

MAGIC TATER:         Can I get some more water.

 

INSIDE MAGIC:       What other tricks did you do?

 

MAGIC TATER:         I did a gambling demonstration.  They called out how many hands

and I dealt three good hands and one winning hand for the volunteer. 

 

INSIDE MAGIC:       I thought you had said you didn?t do card tricks?

 

MAGIC TATER:         I don?t think . . . no, I do card tricks.  I just didn?t start the routine with a card trick.  We are in Vegas so the gambling demonstration seemed to work pretty well.

 

INSIDE MAGIC:       What if they had called out five hands, would you have been stuck? Or do they usually just say four hands?

 

MAGIC TATER:         I?m missing what you?re . . .

 

INTERN:        Here?s your water.

 

MAGIC TATER:         Thanks.

 

INTERN:        No problem.  It was my pleasure.  If you . . .

 

INSIDE MAGIC:       Excuse me?! Go away.

 

MAGIC TATER:         Me?

 

INTERN:        No, he means me.  I?m going.

 

MAGIC TATER:         I?m missing what you?re saying.

 

INSIDE MAGIC:       You said that you ask them to call out how many hands you should deal and then you dealt three good hands and one great, winning hand.

 

MAGIC TATER:         No, that was just an example.  If they called out five hands, it would be four good hands and  . . .

 

INSIDE MAGIC:       Oh, okay, I got it.  Sorry.  Right.  Okay.

 

MAGIC TATER:         And then I?d do about twenty minutes of balloon animals.

 

INSIDE MAGIC:       Because they?re like shunts?

 

MAGIC TATER:         No, I was joking.  I was making a joke.  I don?t really do twenty minutes of balloon animals.  I don?t do balloon animals.

 

INSIDE MAGIC:       Oh, yeah.  Right, because I was wondering why . . .

 

MAGIC TATER:         No, I was just joking.

 

INSIDE MAGIC:       (Laughing) right.  Although, balloon animals would fit with the shunt theme.  Shunt, heh, heh.  It?s funny to say that.  Shunt.

 

MAGIC TATER:         Actually no.  They?re kind of the opposite of a shunt.  They?re used to open arteries by expanding the walls.  You can put a shunt in afterwards but they?re not shunts.

 

INSIDE MAGIC:       But I guess the point is, you didn?t do balloon animals.

 

MAGIC TATER:         Right, it was a joke.

 

INSIDE MAGIC:       I have an excellent sense of humor. 

 

MAGIC TATER:         Sure.  That?s why I made that joke.

 

INSIDE MAGIC:       Right.  I was just playing it careful in case you weren?t joking.  I didn?t want you to feel bad if you really did do balloon animals for 20 minutes.

 

MAGIC TATER:         Thank you.

 

INSIDE MAGIC:       No, no problem.  I know the pressure to be ?constantly on? and it?s no fun.  People always expecting you to be funny.  ?Hey, Tim, say something funny!?  It is a constant pressure.

 

MAGIC TATER:         Okay. 

 

INSIDE MAGIC:       What did you do for the onion people.

 

MAGIC TATER:         Actually, the combine is a group of farmers who centralize their distribution to market and this year they just happen to have a bumper crop of onions and leeks. 

 

INSIDE MAGIC:       That is interesting because don?t they say that onions are good for your heart and that is exactly what your other client was doing with the shunts?

 

MAGIC TATER:         I think onions are good for your heart.  But, Amgron made shunts for the efficient delivery of anesthetic; like nerve blocking agents.  But there are shunts that they use in cardio-vascular situations.

 

INSIDE MAGIC:       And by ?cardiovascular? you mean . . .

 

MAGIC TATER:         Heart, heart problems.

 

INSIDE MAGIC:       Right, I just wanted to make sure the listening audience understood.

 

MAGIC TATER:         Okay.

 

INSIDE MAGIC:       So what tricks did you do?

 

MAGIC TATER:         I started off with a Six Card Repeat.

 

INSIDE MAGIC:       But not a card trick version?

 

MAGIC TATER:         Right. No, same version as at the other show and the same version I do with every show.  It is sort of my way of gathering people.

 

INSIDE MAGIC:       So, did the two clients know you were doing the same tricks?

 

MAGIC TATER:         I don?t think so.

 

INSIDE MAGIC:       Weren?t you concerned that they would compare notes and realize they were getting ? or think that they were getting a generic, standard act just tailored to their product?

 

MAGIC TATER:         Well, I don?t think the anesthesia people mix with the California Grocers that often. 

 

INSIDE MAGIC:       Whew!  That?s lucky!

 

MAGIC TATER:         Well, no, I mean, not really.  I think all clients know I am performing an act I have performed before but tailored to their needs. 

 

INSIDE MAGIC:       How do you keep it fresh?

 

MAGIC TATER:         I try to make it really exciting for whoever stops by and never play to the sales reps in the booth.  That?s what will kill the energy . . .

 

INSIDE MAGIC:       No, I mean the onions.  How do you keep them from stinking up the booth area?

 

MAGIC TATER:         They don?t really stink.  You need to cut them to get the smell. 

 

INSIDE MAGIC:       Are you sure?

 

MAGIC TATER:         Yes. 

 

(Pause)

 

MAGIC TATER:         I have to go soon.  I have a lecture tonight.

 

INSIDE MAGIC:       Oh, that?s right.  What are you lecturing on?

 

MAGIC TATER:         Trade Show Magic.

 

INSIDE MAGIC:       Wow.  That?s perfect.  What will you teach?  How to think up new tricks for each . . .  No, that?s right.  Sorry.  How to tailor your act to be in synch with your client?

 

MAGIC TATER:         I think I haven?t been clear.  I do two tricks in all tradeshows: the Six Card Repeat and the Crystal Silk Cylinder.  One opens and one closes.

 

INSIDE MAGIC:       But the Six Card Repeat is not a . . .

 

MAGIC TATER:         Right, not a card trick, per se.

 

INSIDE MAGIC:       But everything else is modified for the client?

 

MAGIC TATER:         Really, the whole show is modified for the client.  I try to make each trick fit in with the personality of the client and their desired public image.

 

INSIDE MAGIC:       How much are you paid?

 

MAGIC TATER:         I am paid pretty well.  It is very lucrative.

 

INSIDE MAGIC:       I know but, how much.  I am guessing it is a lot but must not be enough because you are still lecturing.  Will you be selling tricks at the lecture or lecture notes?

 

MAGIC TATER:         Yes, I will be selling notes and tricks but, no, the reason I?m lecturing is because I enjoy working with magicians and helping them learn about Trade Show Magic. 

 

INSIDE MAGIC:       Will you sell the Six Card Repeat and the Crystal Silk Cylinder?

 

MAGIC TATER:         I don?t sell the Crystal Silk Cylinder because it is a commercial effect that can be bought at any magic shop.  I do sell the Six Card Repeat because I made them up special with jumbo cards.

 

INSIDE MAGIC:       Don?t they have jumbo cards at magic shops?

 

MAGIC TATER:         They do, they just don?t usually carry jumbo Six Card Repeats.

 

INTERN:        Do you want more water?

 

INSIDE MAGIC:       We?re on the air!

 

MAGIC TATER:         No, I?m fine.  I have to get going.

 

INSIDE MAGIC:       We?re on the air! Don?t come on the set asking a question when we?re on the air.

 

INTERN:        Sorry. He just looked thirsty again.

 

INSIDE MAGIC:       How could you tell?

 

INTERN:        You can just tell.

 

INSIDE MAGIC:       How?

 

INTERN: I don?t want to get into it.  I will let you finish.

 

MAGIC TATER:         I have to go. I have that lecture later.

 

INSIDE MAGIC:       No, please tell us.

 

INTERN:        We?re on the air, right?  I?ll tell you later.

 

MAGIC TATER:         Okay, I?m going to leave.  We?ll be at the Mystic Hollow Magic Shop tonight at 8:00 pm and the price is $20.00 and tomorrow will be at the Mystic Hollow SAM/IBM meeting and the cost is $5.00 for members and $15.00 for non-members.

INSIDE MAGIC:       Tell me now.

 

INTERN:        He had that white pasty stuff in the corners of his mouth and there was a string of white spit between his lips when he spoke.

 

INSIDE MAGIC:       Gross!

 

MAGIC TATER:         What?  Do I have it now?

 

INTERN:        Sort of.  It?s not horrible.  It just looks like you need water.  It?s probably because you were flying all night.  It dries you out.

 

MAGIC TATER:         Is it gone?

 

INTERN:        Yes, all gone.

 

INSIDE MAGIC:       Don?t lie to him.  You still have that film on your teeth.

 

MAGIC TATER:         She didn?t mention film.

 

INTERN:        I don?t think he has film.  He looks fine. 

 

INSIDE MAGIC:       Oh, it?s the lights. Sorry.

 

MAGIC TATER:         Okay, I?m going to head out. Thank you all.  See you tonight or at the SAM/IBM meeting tomorrow night. 

 

INSIDE MAGIC:       What meeting?

 

MAGIC TATER:         The lecture.  I?ll be doing them tonight and tomorrow night.  Tonight at the magic shop and tomorrow at the SAM/IBM meeting. 

 

INSIDE MAGIC:       Great.  We?ll see you there.

 

INTERN:        I?m sorry, Mr. Tate.

 

MAGIC TATER:         No problem.  Thank you for all your help. 

 

INSIDE MAGIC:       It?s tough because we don?t pay her anything.  She?s doing this for college credit.

 

MAGIC TATER:         No, she did a great job.

 

INSIDE MAGIC:       You?re very diplomatic.  No wonder you can sell one act to so many different clients.  You have to know people.

 

MAGIC TATER:         I don?t sell ?one act.?

 

INSIDE MAGIC:       No, I?m sorry. You?re sensitive about that and I should be too.  Sorry.  I know.  You tailor your show for each client.  That?s cool.  I was just saying you are a smooth talker and if you wanted to sell the same show repeatedly, you could do it.  It was a compliment but didn?t come off that way.

 

INTERN:        I have to go too.

 

MAGIC TATER:         Can I give you a lift?

 

INTERN:        Sure, I have to go to the library for study group.

 

MAGIC TATER:         Okay, you tell the cabbie the directions. 

 

INTERN:        Okay. 

 

(MT and Intern Leave)

 

INSIDE MAGIC:       Do I have that white stuff on my mouth?

 

INSIDE MAGIC:       Hello?

 

INSIDE MAGIC:       Well, we thank our guest and if you want to learn how to do Trade Show Magic, you should attend Tate?s lecture tonight or tomorrow.  You probably will not learn how to do as many tricks as you would in a normal lecture but you?ll learn how to sell the ones you learned a long time ago to new clients over and over. 

 

INTERN:        Hi, did you see my book bag?

 

On The Air

INSIDE MAGIC:       No, hey, you?re back.  I wanted to talk to you about your behavior today.  It was really . . .

 

INTERN:        There it is.  Thanks.

 

INSIDE MAGIC:       We need to talk.  I don?t know if things are going to work out if you don?t have the professional common sense to  . . .

 

INTERN:        I quit.  I?m taking a job as Tate?s assistant.

 

INSIDE MAGIC:       What? Why?  I thought you liked it here.

 

INTERN:        You just fired me.

 

INSIDE MAGIC:       No, I was just saying that . . .

 

INTERN:        Anyway, I can work with him over the summer and spring break and he?ll pay me.

 

(Intern Leaves)

 

INSIDE MAGIC:       He?ll have to pay you to wipe that stuff from his mouth 24/7.  Don?t touch it, it could be a yeast infection.  Are you listening?  Hello?

 

End of tape.

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