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So contrary to the claim made in the above tweet, Alex McAleer did not literally crawl inside of Tory Shulman’s head. If Alex McAleer could literally crawl inside of people’s heads, Champions of Magic shows would be a lot messier, and would likely get far fewer volunteers from the audience. 

So while you won’t get to see McAleer burst victoriously from a human skull, clad in nothing but gore and bone fragments in the video above, you will get to see him do that whole mentalism thing he’s known for. He then talks about the art for a little bit. It’s interesting stuff. 

Blessed with a sharp wit and delightful moustache, the British mentalist and world-renowned “memory expert,” was appearing to promote the Champions of Magic US tour, which is now underway.   

And no, I don’t care what the Oxford English Dictionary says about the word, “literally.” Fight me. 

An inside source has informed me that today is, as a matter of fact, Friday, which means it’s time for our weekly video roundup of all the magic videos released this week that didn’t warrant their own articles. 

Some magicians perform for crowds of screeching, ape-like creatures that constantly climb all over the place, demand attention, and try to make off with the props. We call these poor souls, “children’s magicians.” In the video above, Simon Pierro, better known as the iPad Magician, is performing for a far better class of audience at the Ubud Monkey Forest in Bali. 

Patrick Kun triples his winnings with this incredibly slick poker chip routine set to some very funky music. The bit where he seemingly pulls one from his watch face is like … You know that little picture of fire kids are always using on Twitter? It’s like five of those.

Michael Vincent of Vincent Academy performs Darwin Ortiz’s “Do As I Did.” It takes a little bit to get going, but it’s superb trick with an amazing payoff. 

The man in black requested a trick, and the gunslinger followed (the instructions). Unfortunately, despite learning how to twirl iron (or in this case, plastic) with the best of them, Mat Ricardo decided brandishing a gun on stage in his new tour wasn’t the best idea. 

Alex McAleer made the mistake of examining his earlier work in detail. You can actually see his slow descent into madness as he realises that his bad fashion choices will echo through the universe until the death of time itself. Also, the new Champions of Magic tour kicks off this weekend.  

Michael Kent performed a cute trick with a $10 bill to promote his show in Gahanna Ohio this evening. Pro tip: When he says, “look at the bottom of the bill,” don’t look at the bottom of the bill.

And there you have it, folks, a steady supply of magic videos that should see you through the weekend. Enjoy. 

The Champions of Magic is an excellent five-person act currently touring the UK that features mentalist, Alex McAleer, Kayla Drescher, Fernando Velasco and illusionists, Young & Strange. The Sussex Newspaper managed to snag interviews with Velasco and McAleer, with the latter interview veering into some dark territory. To wit:   

The Sussex Newspaper: “What is the difference between someone who is creating an illusion and someone who is pretending to create an illusion?” 

Alex McAleer: “Ooh, that’s a very good question. I think it’s the intention, it’s the reason behind the lie. There is a ‘lie’ when you saw a woman in half because, quite obviously, after the illusion she is fine and no one goes away thinking that someone actually died, but with things like some ‘psychic mediums’ who pretend to talk to the dead, well their lies are a bit more unsavoury because, if it’s not true, you could sully someone’s memory and it also calls into question the existence of ‘another realm’ with all the implications there.”

TSN: And it’s not good entertainment when you’re playing with people’s feelings.

AMA: “Exactly, and that’s all it is because, in too many cases, the entertainment comes from someone crying about something terrible that happened to them, or to a loved one. I use a lot of the same techniques, but not in a fraudulent way, and the worst thing for me is when the so-called medium isn’t actually very good at using those techniques.”

McAleer is continuing a long tradition of magicians showing disdain for mediums, psychics, faith-healers and the like. 

Mexican-born Fernando Velasco got his start in magic when his father took a job as a busboy at the Magic Castle in Hollywood. Now, at just twenty-years-old, he’s the Champions’ most physical performer. His interview was a bit lighter. After achieving success in his field at such a young age, what remains for the young performer?

“I wanna take my magic all over the world,” he said. “My big dream is to take my magic to South America, to Mexico, and all those Latin countries and, obviously, after I do that, my vision is to have my own show in Las Vegas and then a world tour. Magic makes people forget about their problems, wherever they are in the world. You’re in a fantasy world for 30 minutes, or an hour, or two hours and it totally surrounds you.”  

As audience members, we only see the glamorous side of being a professional magician: commanding a stage with charisma and brilliance. But the reality of being on the road and working in a different theater every night doesn’t have the same sheen, as you can see in a vlog from Alex McAleer.

The mentalist is currently touring the UK as part of the Champions of Magic stage show. His first video goes behind the scenes of the production with a big dose of McAleer’s dry British humor. The vlog also includes a surprising amount of insight into the dietary habits of Sam Strange, who is also on the Champions of Magic tour as half of the gonzo Young & Strange duo.

Mentalist, mind reader, and committed “not psychic” Alex McAleer is currently touring the UK as part of the Champions of Magic. On April 1st, the Champions will be performing an April Fool’s Day show at the Norwich Theatre Royal. It’ll likely be a big theatrical, setpiece-driven show judging by their previous performances, but if you want to see McAleer do his mind-reading thing in a more intimate environment, here he is plying his trade on a polite British couple in the theater’s lobby:

The other members of the Champions of magic are Young & Strange, Fernando Velasco and Kayla Drescher. 

The show starts at 7:30pm on April 1st. Tickets are on sale now.