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Behind the Scenes

The Magic You Don't See: What Really Goes Into Creating an Impossible Moment

4 min read
Kristian Charles performing interactive magic for a live audience.

People see what happens onstage, but they rarely see what it takes to get there. Kristian Charles on the preparation behind every impossible moment.

There's something interesting about being a magician. People see what happens onstage, but they rarely see what it takes to get there.

And honestly, that's exactly how it should be.

When someone watches one of my performances, I don't want them thinking about how many hours I've practiced, how many times I've rewritten a line, or how many different ways I've experimented with a particular routine.

I want them to laugh. I want them to be amazed. And, if I've done my job correctly, I want them to forget about everything else going on in their lives for a little while.

But there's a tremendous amount of thought that goes into making those moments happen.

Sometimes the Smallest Details Make the Biggest Difference

Years ago, I developed my own handling of a magic routine involving a signed twenty-dollar bill and a kiwi.

Yes, a kiwi.

At the conclusion of the routine, an audience member would discover their signed twenty-dollar bill inside the fruit.

The reactions were wonderful.

But occasionally, something unexpected would happen.

Someone would squeeze the kiwi a little too hard. Or they'd hand it to a small child who would promptly throw it on the ground.

And suddenly, I had a completely different kind of problem on my hands.

Not exactly the magical moment I had envisioned.

I remember thinking that of all the things that could possibly go wrong during a magic show, I never imagined that a piece of fruit would become one of my biggest headaches.

Recently, I decided I wanted to bring that routine back into my performances.

And it reminded me of something I've learned over the years.

Sometimes the smallest details require the most thought.

The Audience Shouldn't Have to Think About the Details

When I'm performing, I want everything to feel natural.

Every movement, every word, every pause, and every interaction with an audience member serves a purpose.

Sometimes that purpose is to create laughter.

Sometimes it's to build anticipation.

And sometimes it's simply to allow the audience a moment to appreciate what they've just witnessed.

The interesting thing is that the audience shouldn't have to think about any of those decisions.

They should simply enjoy the experience.

I've spent hours working on moments in a routine that might last only a few seconds.

I've rewritten jokes, changed the timing of a movement, and occasionally eliminated entire sections of a performance because they weren't contributing to the experience I wanted to create.

And sometimes, after all that work, I've discovered that the best thing I could do was say absolutely nothing.

Just allow the moment to happen.

Magic Is More Than Fooling People

I've always believed that being a magician is about much more than making people wonder how something happened.

Of course, the mystery is important. Without it, there wouldn't be much of a magic show.

But the mystery is only part of the experience.

Comedy plays a tremendous role in my performances. I love making people laugh, particularly when they're not expecting it.

I also enjoy those moments when the laughter disappears and an entire room becomes completely silent because everyone is watching something they simply cannot explain.

And sometimes, I want an audience to feel something entirely different.

Wonder. Nostalgia. Happiness. Even a little sadness.

To me, those emotions are what make a performance memorable.

The tricks are simply the tools I use to get there.

Twenty Years Later, I'm Still Learning

I've been performing magic for a long time, and one thing I've discovered is that a routine is rarely finished.

Even something I've performed hundreds of times can benefit from a small adjustment.

Sometimes it's changing a few words.

Sometimes it's removing a joke that no longer serves the routine.

Sometimes it's allowing an extra moment of silence before revealing something impossible.

And sometimes it's figuring out how to keep an audience member from turning a perfectly good kiwi into a puddle on the floor.

The audience will probably never notice those individual changes.

But hopefully, they'll notice how the performance makes them feel.

And that's what matters to me.

The Real Magic Happens in the Audience

Whether I'm performing at a corporate event, a company holiday party, a conference, or in a theater, my goal isn't simply to show people a collection of tricks.

I want to create an experience.

I want people to laugh together, share moments of genuine amazement, and walk away with stories they'll tell long after the performance is over.

That's why I put so much thought into the smallest details.

Not because I expect anyone to notice the work.

But because I hope they'll remember the feeling.

There's something wonderfully rewarding about watching an audience experience a moment of genuine astonishment.

For a few seconds, the impossible seems possible.

And perhaps that's what I've always loved most about magic.

It gives people permission to experience that sense of wonder we all had as children, before we became so concerned with explaining everything.

The audience may never know why a particular moment affected them so strongly.

But I know.

Because I designed it that way.

And if someone walks away from one of my performances smiling, laughing, or wondering how something impossible could have happened, then all those hours of preparation were worth it.

Even the ones involving a kiwi.

Kristian Charles

Professional Magician & Corporate Entertainer

https://kristiancharles.com

KC

Kristian Charles

Award-winning magician & entertainer

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