Ben Hanlin: Is Magic the new Comedy?
Published: Monday 8th February 2016
A question I always get asked is "how did you become a magician?". The truth: I got into magic because I wanted to be cool. I wanted someone... anyone... at school to think I was cool. But, I wasn't cool. I was one of those geeky kids that was rubbish at football and couldn't learn an instrument. Then I found magic and it was like becoming best friends with the coolest kid in school. Everyone wanted to hang out with him, and I got to be his plus one! Sweet! Now magic is more popular than it has ever been...
2015 ticket sales for magic shows broke box office records. The Illusionists cleared over three million pounds in the West End in just over seven weeks, and Dynamo sold more tickets than Ed Sheeran! Not bad for some lad with a deck of cards from Bolton. For this short moment in time, according to some TV commissioners, magic is the new comedy! Almost every terrestrial network or large digital channel has its own version of magic shows...
BBC One has clip show Now You See It; ITV has just commissioned Britain's Next Greatest Magician; Channel 4 is the home of Derren Brown; Watch repeats Dynamo regularly; ITV has Tricked, with hidden camera magic pranks starring... me... we'll move on!; E4 shows Troy; and BBC Three commissions Killer Magic.
So HOW and WHY is magic more popular than ever?
The simple answer, magicians have evolved! We almost became extinct in the mid-nineties when TV audiences decided they were sick of the cheesy magician that kept chopping his pretty assistant in half and putting her back together over and over... and over again! As a result, magic disappeared from TV for a few years. But then, in 1997, one man single handedly changed the game, David Blaine!!! He invented "street magic" and was the first magician to succeed in taking the magic out of a shiny studio. But, most importantly, he was cool.... he wore a t-shirt for crying out loud... that's right, a magician wearing a T-SHIRT!!!.... you can't get any cooler than that!
Fast forward to 2011. Magicians all over the world are now wearing t-shirts and hoodies! Oh the revolution has started... Dynamo: Magician Impossible airs and it gets over a million viewers on Watch - which they should have just renamed The Dynamo Channel, because they pretty much played the entire series on repeat so whatever time of day you were flicking through your TV guide, you would see Dynamo's name. Very clever! - Did I mention Dynamo had tattoos?... uber cool!!!
Almost overnight, every TV commissioner in the UK was looking for the next Dynamo (tattoos optional). From a personal point of view, I was fortunate to get noticed because I was making my own (extremely low budget) show on YouTube. People at ITV Studios saw this and we threw some ideas back and forth until we came up with Tricked for ITV2 - which is a comedy-based, magic prank show.
Similarly to comedy, one of magic's weaknesses on TV is that a magic show is essentially a series of sketches with very little narrative hooking the viewer in for long periods of time. However, in 2016, this weakness has become one of our biggest strengths as magic is perfect for social media content. Magicians have flocked to YouTube, Facebook and Instagram in the thousands to create quick tricks that are perfect sharing, and therefore in the process making magicians more talked about than ever.
So what's the future for magic? Is magic going to be bigger than comedy? NO!
It's too niche. More people will want to laugh than watch magic.
Yes, there is clearly public demand for it, however for TV (unlike comedy) it is extremely hard to mould magic into new formats without the viewers thinking they have seen it all before. This may mean that we'll see less magic shows on TV for a while. However, the best way to see magic is live (when you know there are definitely no camera tricks or actors involve). The appetite for live magic shows at the moment is extremely exciting and I really hope that the public continues to embrace them and, who knows, maybe in the not too distant future we'll see a long-running magic show in the West End.
Whatever happens, it's safe to say that this new generation of magicians are... finally... cool!
Ben Hanlin is performing three intimate work-in-progress magic gigs at the Museum of Comedy this spring. The dates are 11th February, 10th March and 14th April 2016. Info & Tickets
Help us publish more great content by becoming a BCG Supporter. You'll be backing our mission to champion, celebrate and promote British comedy in all its forms: past, present and future.
We understand times are tough, but if you believe in the power of laughter we'd be honoured to have you join us. Advertising doesn't cover our costs, so every single donation matters and is put to good use. Thank you.
Love comedy? Find out more