Loot Crate Magazine November 2016 Magical | Page 20

disappear from his hand into mine. It
just stopped him in his tracks and he

An Enchanting Interview with

just froze up. He goes, “Joseph, you’re

Joseph Réohm,
Magician/Illusionist

a magician.” That was the first time
where I really was like, “Oh...I am.”
From there I just caught that bug
and never let it go.
I know you’ve done a lot of TV including
Penn & Teller: Fool Us, correct?
Yeah...The first one I did also had Penn

By Tamara Brooks

and Teller, but they were two of the
judges for a TV show called Wizard Wars
on Syfy. After a really nasty injury to my

While we were not able to get an interview with
any extra-dimensional spellslingers (partially due
to astronomical long-distance rates), we’ve got
the next best thing! Magician/Illusionist Joseph
Réohm has wowed live and television audiences
(that includes Penn & Teller) for 20 years and
we spoke to him about how he came to his craft,
making TV magic and more.

hand, I was on two year hiatus, so the
first thing I did was I jumped on that
show. I think the drive from my two
years of recovery helped me become
the season 1 finale winner of that show
on Syfy. The next year I got on a show
called Fake Off on truTV and became a
finalist. Then I did America’s Got Talent.
I was in all the AGT commercials as well
this last season. Then Fool Us opened
the door for Penn and Teller, their
show...It was extremely stressful and
suspenseful as an artist, but it was an

Who or what inspired you to learn

Was that coin in the hand trick the first

experience of a lifetime. It was such

magic and illusions?

trick you learned?

a great experience.

Well, I actually got into it when I was

No. Actually it was just a couple of years

really young. I was about 5 years old.

ago that I still thought I had pennies

You said it was stressful and everything.

My mother had a friend, it was a friend

in my hand. [laughs] After that, my

Is doing magic for television inherently

of the family, who had put quarters and

grandfather saw I had a strong interest

different from doing it live and how?

pennies into my brother’s and my hands.

in it. I think it was Christmas he got me

Yeah, totally. Actually live is definitely

We thought it was magic. The effect it

a little magic set. I started learning a

way easier now. With television, I think

created on us...we had a pretty rough

little from the magic set, but it was

a lot of people might have it in their

childhood so that was kind of an escape

just these simple, little, plasticky magic

mind when you are doing magic, when

to us. It really got my interest, being

tricks. When I was 12, I met someone

you are doing a TV show or a movie,

to create that effect on others. That’s

who started teaching me my real sleight

you can cut and redo it. These reality

been my drive since then: knowing

of hand. I did a magic trick for my

competition shows, the last I have been

I can do something that creates an

brother in the car on the way home

on, there is no cutting and redoing it.

effect that is an escape to others.

once and I made a stack of quarters

You get one shot, so it has to be perfect.

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