MRB: Alex, from my point of view it seems that you made your mark on the magic community very quickly. From the first time I heard your name to you building a solid reputation as a highly-skilled card man, a respected magic creator, and entrepreneur seemed to be almost overnight! Can you tell us a bit about your journey in magic and how you got to where you are today?
Alex: I started in magic at a pretty young age. I practiced constantly for years, but also went out and performed a lot. I performed whenever I had a chance. For gigs, strangers, whatever. I was always drawn to cards. I still see moves today that look like a challenge, so I like to try to master them. I'm also always trying to come up with new ideas for sleights and effects that are direct and create a high impact with an audience. As I got into my 20s, I decided to start releasing material. I didn't want to be exclusive to one company, so I released things through several, which I think made it easier for people to find my stuff. I love going to conventions, and people would see my effects/sleights and start talking about them, which also kinda got my name out there. I released my first DVD in 2009, and other downloads after that, finally launching The Blue Crown in 2011. And I was doing magic for pretty much my whole life before I ever started thinking about selling material.
MRB: Focusing on The Blue Crown for a moment, I've seen a lot of magic producers and online retailers pop up and never really make much of an impact, whereas your company has consistently impressed the community. What's your philosophy behind The Blue Crown, and what do you think makes it different from other companies?
MRB: Focusing on The Blue Crown for a moment, I've seen a lot of magic producers and online retailers pop up and never really make much of an impact, whereas your company has consistently impressed the community. What's your philosophy behind The Blue Crown, and what do you think makes it different from other companies?
Alex: I've always had a love of photography and film, fashion, design, and technology. I wanted to put my own artistic spin on my releases, not just leave them in the hands of others. So I decided to create my own production company, The Blue Crown. My goal was to provide magic that people will actually go out and use, and to present it in an artistic way. My overall philosophy is to provide a high-quality product that I'd be proud to own. We spend a lot of time on selecting effects, filming, editing, etc to create an entire package that reflects the personality of the artist involved. Because it's so cheap and easy for people to make their own DVDs and downloads at home, there has been a trend towards lower production quality for the past few years, with only a few exceptions. I wanted to raise the bar, not just for the magic content, but for the style as well. In general, I was just seeing a lot of stuff that I thought was 'wrong', from effects offered, to site layout, to production quality, and I thought I could offer something worthwhile.
MRB: One of the things that The Blue Crown is known for is its custom decks, and I understand you're developing that side of things further with The House of Playing Cards. Of course, there's often a debate about custom cards, with some people saying that they can detract from the natural look of magic, or that young magicians are too concerned about fancy cards at the expense of effects. What are your thoughts on this debate, and also, can you give us some hints about what The House of Playing Cards will be?
MRB: One of the things that The Blue Crown is known for is its custom decks, and I understand you're developing that side of things further with The House of Playing Cards. Of course, there's often a debate about custom cards, with some people saying that they can detract from the natural look of magic, or that young magicians are too concerned about fancy cards at the expense of effects. What are your thoughts on this debate, and also, can you give us some hints about what The House of Playing Cards will be?
Alex: The custom deck market has been growing for nearly a decade now, but only really exploded in the past couple of years. As a card guy myself, I like to use cards that handle well, last a long time, and look great. Again, anything we do has to appeal to my artistic side. Our Crown Deck is designed to be a simple but elegant deck that looks 'normal' and can be used in any situation. Our Vaudeville Deck, which we spent 10 months designing, was meticulously made to pay tribute to the Vaudeville era, which was a really important time in magic history. As far as people using custom decks, I think people argue too much about it. If people like custom decks and like to use them, they should. If they don't like them, they can stick to Bikes. There are tons of options, so everyone can choose what works best for them. If an audience is going to think you're using a trick deck, they'll think it no matter what deck you use. Custom decks can be great if your show or character follows a certain theme. More importantly, rather than what deck you use, it's what you do with it. If you use a normal deck, but do fishy stuff with it, an audience will still suspect that something's up. People should put their magic first, but I don't think magic is sacrificed by using a custom deck. Also, you hear guys argue about using a deck that looks normal, but then in their same show they pull out all kinds of other weird magic props, so there's no consistency to their argument. I use different custom decks every day, and no audience has ever called me out about it, other than commenting that the cards look cool. Info about HOPC will be revealed very soon. We think it's going to have quite an impact on the card market.
MRB: You're known for your sleight-of-hand expertise, especially in your mastery of the pass. Difficult moves are growing in popularity at the moment, but there is also a vocal group of magicians who would prefer to use easier methods where possible and, for example, would rather use a double-undercut than a pass. Why do you think that people should try to master the more advanced sleights? Do you think that pure sleight-of-hand is intrinsically better than gimmicked tricks?
MRB: You're known for your sleight-of-hand expertise, especially in your mastery of the pass. Difficult moves are growing in popularity at the moment, but there is also a vocal group of magicians who would prefer to use easier methods where possible and, for example, would rather use a double-undercut than a pass. Why do you think that people should try to master the more advanced sleights? Do you think that pure sleight-of-hand is intrinsically better than gimmicked tricks?
Alex: My friend Tony Chang speaks a lot on this, including his recent talk at Magic-Con, and I share his opinion. Basically, people should use whatever move or method best serves the magic. For a pass vs. a double-undercut, the audience either sees the card go back into the deck and get squared up, or they see you cut the cards. So with a double-undercut, they see that you could have done 'something' to manipulate or control their card. Sometimes the best, most direct method is the hardest. Sometimes it's the easiest. Sometimes the best method involves a gimmick. As long as people are trying to make their magical effect as good as it can be, the method comes second. For a lot of casual performers, learning tough moves isn't something they want to do. A lot of people make excuses for being lazy. I've seen some incredible things, from really young kids pulling off advanced moves to a guy in Canada, Madhi Gilbert, who does amazing card magic and he has no hands. So everything else is an excuse. There's no special secret to harder moves, you just have to have the desire, and put in the time and effort it requires. But always choose the method that best serves your effect.
MRB: Finally, what can we expect to see from you personally, and The Blue Crown as a company, over the next few months? Are there any forthcoming releases or other projects you can tell us about?
Alex: Most of my time these days is taken up with running The Blue Crown and developing new products. I do still work on my own stuff from time to time, so I might have another personal release before the end of the year. We always have a lot of cool stuff in the pipeline, from artists you've seen, and from new talent. One thing that we have coming soon is an awesome coin gimmick. And of course, The House of Playing Cards. People should sign up for our email newsletter, and follow us on Facebook and Twitter for all of the latest news about our effects and decks.