The third season of The Magicians premieres tonight. The Syfy show goes all in on the fantasy side of magic, telling the tale of a kingdom called Fillory that (spoiler!) starts this season without its magical enchantment. Not sure if that means we won’t see any spell-slinging from the performers (read more about the inspiration for those slick movements here), or whether they’ll band together to figure out a solution.

If you’re a fan, actors Hale Appleman and Summer Bishil recently appeared on The Fandom Files podcast to talk about their characters, the importance of representation, and the show’s devoted audience. The duo also answered some fan questions, and shared how much they value the support of viewers.

The first episode of season 3 airs Wednesday, January 10, at 9 p.m. Eastern time on Syfy. 

For those of you who wish that your illusions and sleight of hand actually involved supernatural powers, you may be interested to learn that The Magicians is returning for its third season on Syfy this week. There may not be much obvious overlap between modern magic acts and the feats on the show, but a video from The A.V. Club does dig into one very important similarity.

Choreographers Paul Becker and Kevin Li (stage name Shazam) helped the actors to learn the hand motions to accompany their different spells. The original inspiration for the movements came from finger-tutting, which you can see in action in the show’s first season above.

Practiced magicians know the importance of carefully, controlled hand movements in their acts. Some, like Shin Lim, make those moves key components of both the tricks, the misdirection, and the overall aesthetic of a performance. If you want some additional inspiration for just how dexterous and impressive finger-tutting is, check out the video of tutting expert John “Pnut” Hunt below: