Transcript of Sean Does Magic: The Magic of Connection and Self-Belief

Magician and content creator, Sean Soteridona, joins the We're Out of Time podcast.

We filmed a video, and it's my most viral video that I've ever filmed, was Courtside at the Lakers. Lebron James was right in front of me. Half a billion views on that video.

Half a billion? He collaborated with Michelle Obama.

Yeah, or her drink company. I visited the White House to meet with some representatives. I was just there being like, I make a living doing social media. It would be awesome if you didn't ban this app. I made friends every place I would move to just because I was just the magic guy. I would just do magic for everybody. And then I would watch America's Got Talent. I would see kid magicians and teen magicians on there. I'm like, I can do that.

We want to extend a heartfelt thank you to our listeners. Because of your incredible support, We're Out of Time has reached number one on Apple's mental health podcast chart, number two on the health and fitness chart, and number 26 overall. We couldn't have done this without you. Thank you for being part of this journey with us. Thank you for listening to the We're Out of Time podcast with Richard Tate. If you haven't already, please follow the podcast, rate and review. And if you're getting value out of We're Out of Time, share it with someone else you know.

If someone has a problem with substance use disorder, please call one call placement. That's 888-831-1581. If we can't help you, we'll make a referral to someone who can. Please, We're Out of Time. All right. Sean, say your last- Satar, Donna. Yeah, that ain't happening. Known as Sean Does Magic.

That is me.

Is a Dutch-American magician. Dutch-american musician? Yeah.

Well, I was born in the Netherlands, but I'm 100% Filipino. So Dutch, Filipino, so Dutch-Filipino-American, technically.

Okay, you were born in- The Netherlands. The Netherlands. Yeah. Okay, the Netherlands speak Dutch?

Yes.

Or the Dutch speak Netherlands.

It's the Netherlands speak Dutch.

Okay, cool. Sorry. I work around the clock. I'm the ugly American. I never got to be in anywhere. Just because I don't have anyone to go with.

Right. Is this a pitch? Are you pitching?

Hey, you can always hope, but I will tell you this. It's very hard for a 59-year-old man to meet anybody of quality in Los Angeles. That's very hard.

Specifically in LA, yeah. I could imagine.

The young girls with the kissy face. Right. Or the dancing to the lip sync music. If I see that, and you'll see the most beautiful girl, and she'll be age-appropriate, right? Yeah. In her 40s, mid to late '40s. Then they're doing... And singing with... Just, man.

Right. Act your age. Yeah.

I can't do it. I don't mean to be the old guy screaming, Get off my lawn. But this is lame.

Right. I can't relate because I'm engaged. But yeah, for sure.

It's either that nonsense or they've got cats.

What is up with all these cats? I hate the cats. Everybody has cats.

Well, it's not that I hate the cats. It's just you call a cat and it looks at you, it side- Eyes you, and it's like, What am I, a dog? Beat it, idiot. Just feed me. Just feed me and give me a ball of yarn to quit, and I'm good.

Yes.

All right. You're a content creator with over 22 million TikTok. Shut up.

Yeah. You got 22 million.

For the magic?

Yeah, magic. People love magic.

How many fingers do I have up under my...

At least one. I'm good. I know. I am good. This is why I have 22 million followers.

You're hysterical. I know. Do you know what came up for me? What? I was losing all these houses. You've lost It was in multiples. Oh. Multiples. It was like you go in and then a group of investors comes in and they do 5% over asking.

Yes. Okay.

When you said that, it was so beautiful that the thing that came up for me was I was sick and tired of losing houses. To buy. We went ahead and you're in multiples. I finally figured it out. All I said was, these offers are in. They're going to be accepted. It doesn't matter. This is a one-shot thing, and we're up against five people. It's got to be at five o'clock. At 4: 45, I sent it in and I said, My offer is $50,000 more than anybody else's offer. No disrespect, but I need an answer in 30 minutes or the offer is gone and I'm gone. Right. Great.

Great way to go about it.

More than one. More than one.

More than one.

You just did the same thing I did. You said more than one.

So you're saying I should invest in homes? That's what you're saying?

No, not at all. All right.

Thank you, though.

No problem. I mean, you're making a shit ton of money, right?

I'm doing all right.

You got a home?

I got properties in the Philippines, but yeah. You do?

Yeah. Okay. You're going to get a place out here?

I want to. That's the goal for this year, specifically. Where did you got saved? What do you mean? Like, liquid? Yeah. In my bank, around October.

Really? Yeah. You got anything that you want to get rid of in order to get- Well, right now, here's the thing is we're saving up for I'm trying to do both. That's so sweet, man. You're getting married?

Yeah. The goal is I would love a lot more liquid so that I'm more comfortable just throwing it out there. Is she a Filipino? No, she's Australian. She's Australian?

Yeah. Too bad she's not American. When she's American, her daddy pays for the wedding.

Is that how that works?

Are you an American citizen? I am. Why didn't you get that memo?

I don't know. No one told me this.

Is she friends? Is she close with her dad?

Yeah, very close.

Is dad got any cheese?

I mean, he just retired. Yeah?

Oh, God.

Is this something I should know?

Dude.

I'm 23. How much?

You're 23 years old. You're supposed to be saving for your future and getting a home and building a family.

That's the goal. That's the goal this year. That's the goal this year. I'm really trying.

Man, call your old lady's father and go, Can I get a little help here?

Right. I mean, I think we're doing okay. I don't think we need his help.

I can't stop running my mouth, dude.

No, it's okay.

Look, if we're friends, we tell each other the truth.

Yes. Okay.

All right, here we go. He started Magic at age 6, inspired by a children's show. That is correct. And began posting on YouTube at 10. Okay. After For early rejections from America's Got Talent, he found massive success on TikTok in 2019. With his second video getting 5. 5 million views, he has performed at the Grammys. Shut up.

Okay. We perform Magic during the Grammys, at the Grammys, but not actually on stage. No, that's a little bit of a stretch.

Okay. He has performed at the Grammys, Courtside at Laker Games.

Correct.

Did you get a seat there at Courtside? Yes. Shut up. What was that experience like?

It was insane. It was incredible.

Are you in the middle or are you behind the basket?

Center. Very center, middle, the most prime seats possible. We filmed a video.

That's actually the prime seats because you go like this and like this and like this, and your neck's going to- Yeah, but LeBron James was right in front of me.

It was the most right here. We filmed a video, and it's my most viral video that I've ever filmed was Courtside at the Lakers. No kidding. Yeah. Half a billion views on that video.

Half a billion? Yeah. You're kidding.

No, not joking.

For you, man. Thank you. That was a good experience. I do about 4-6 games a year. Yeah.

Lakers?

Yeah. I was dating a girl that really loved it. We'd sit on the floor, but it's so expensive that I feel like God's going to take all my money. I'm like, Can we do it four times? Dude, that's it four times this year, right? Four.

Wow. That's a nice car.

I go to see the warrior. Dude, it's a really nice car. Okay. I felt so wasteful, but whatever. All right. He has performed at the Grammys, Courtside at Laker Games, collaborated with Michelle... Shut up. You collaborated with Michelle Obama?

Yeah, or Her drink company, Plezzie, is one of my big sponsors for the last couple of years. She's got a Plezzie? Yeah, it's a kids' drink. Way less sugar. Not that I'm being paid to say this, but it's a very healthy kids' drink. They make healthy sodas and healthy juice boxes, and I work with that company a lot.

I didn't know that.

Yeah, it's in Target.

It is? Yeah. Good.

That's great.

I'd like an option that doesn't It caused cancer and obesity.

No, it's great. In a typical juice box, it has the amount of sugar that you should be drinking or that you should have in a single day, which is just so bad for kids. They've cut that by, I think, a fourth of the sugar, which is just great. Three-fourths or a fourth? They cut it by three-fourths. There's only a fourth of the sugar there.

Okay, because a quarter.

Not that much of an impact, but Michelle.

I met President Obama. No chance. I met I met him, and it was great. I want to meet the new President, too.

Yeah. I mean, actually, I visited the White House one time.

Do you know how pissed I am that this 23-year-old visited the White House, and I didn't?

I didn't meet any presidents, but I visited the White House. That's better. To meet with some representatives, actually, so that we could get TikTok not banned, actually. So not for anything cool. I was just there being like, Hey, I make a living doing Doing social media. It would be awesome if you didn't ban this app.

Right. It should be banned. It should be banned. Why do you say that? Because it's a national security issue.

I don't know much. This is what I know.

Well, no 23-year-olds know about national security issues.

I don't really look at the national security issues too much, but I do know that there's a lot of businesses that run through TikTok, and I think that it's a great platform. If we're able to clear the national security issues, then for sure, I think that there should be an app that runs like TikTok.

Right. Well, if we can do that, then it doesn't matter. But we're not doing that, okay? We're a race with China.

Yeah. Again, I don't know. I don't want that.

I don't want my lights turned off. I don't want my internet to go down. If your internet goes down, you're like, What's going on here? We don't even know how to read anymore. I know how to read, but not a newspaper or a book. I mean, come on, man.

I don't remember. The last time I touched the newspaper, I don't know if I've touched the newspaper, actually, now that I think about it.

That's so great. You kids do. Yeah, no. I guess- What's that material?

It's like the worst... They make it out of the worst material. Never mind.

You know what you can do, though? What? Actually read it. Okay? Because your phone is like, I got to turn it to the side. Let's do this. It's like you get older, you get blind.

Right. It's Good. I'm happy, man.

Okay. With Michelle Obama, Kevin Hart, and Mr. Beast. Correct. Okay. Mr. Beast is cool. Yes, he's a great guy. He's great. Yeah. Okay. You know what I don't want?

What do you not want?

I'm watching a video of his, and he's got people in a room that's all white with lights that are just abusive, right? Right. They got to stay there for 100 days.

Yes. Would you do that?

For 100 million? Not for 100,000.

Right.

Okay. Hey, Mr. Beast, you want to abuse me for 30 days, but give me $100 million, all the two. Okay? I'm not that proud.

So Just add a couple more zeros to the prize pool. I think Beast Games was 10 million.

If he can do this, if he gives me 100 million, the first thing I'm doing is I'm giving you a million dollars.

I don't think I'm going to get a million dollars. I don't think you're going to- No.

Dude, just comedy. Yeah, right. I'm not a comedian, but I don't have people here. I'm like, I have no social outlet, so when they come, all I do is hold you hostage. Got you. Wow, I'm doing it.

You're Mr. Beast. I know. Oh, no. You're not Mr. Beast.

Mr. Beast is funny.

Yeah, he's interesting dude.

He does good things.

Yeah, he does great things.

Yeah, he does great things. I love him. Okay. Are you feeling secure with your million dollars?

Yeah. I'm going to make it another way. It's fine. We'll figure it out.

No. You know what's going to happen? This guy is going to see this. He's going to be like, That old man. Okay? He's going to have you on. He's going to give you a million dollars.

Just me. Yeah, just you. Just to spite you.

For sure.

For sure. Well, I will say this. I've done last year. I don't know how familiar you are with the rap beef that happened last year with Drake and Kendrick Lamar.

They were like doing this. Oh, my God. That is something I've studied.

I can't tell if you're joking.

It was a magnifying glass.

There's no way you've studied that.

No.

What? Okay, well, there was a big rap beef last year, and I wanted to bring that same energy to YouTube. So I did a diss track on Mr. Beast. So I don't think he's going to be getting me a million dollars anytime soon.

Yeah, you ain't getting a million dollars.

Yeah, I'm not getting a million dollars. Sorry, Jimmy.

Yeah, you're going to get a million dollars. You're going to be broke after the wedding. I hate to be the bearer.

I know. It's already stacking up.

I know, dude. You're the best. You're such a good person. Am I? Yeah, you are really. You're engaging Oh, thanks, man. You're funny, and you've got your whole world ahead of you, and I wish you nothing but the best.

That was very sweet. Thank you.

You're a good soul, man.

I appreciate that.

All the good souls come here. All right.

And their entourages.

Yes. They're more of posses. Yes, right. Well, I don't know. Are they entourages?

I don't know. I don't know. I've heard it all.

I hear one of the SoundCloud concerts where they jump up in dead. They all have their shorts off.

Yes, and they're just pushing each other. Yeah. No, I have not.

Good. I have a lot of- I love him. That sounds like hell to me.

Worst night ever.

Worst night ever. The only worst time that I think that you can have other than that, is going to Disneyland.

No, I say this. I say this. I can't... What is an hour wait for a ride? It's crazy.

Dude, I don't even wait for a ride. I walk right in. Okay, and it's still horse shit. It is the worst. It is not the happiest place on Earth. It is the unhappiest place on Earth.

Even when you skip the line, the rides aren't that bad.

Dude, the whole thing's bad. Hold on. 22 million TikTok followers and 400 million likes, okay, plus 5 million on YouTube... You got 5 million YouTube subscribers?

This might be... I have 11 million now.

Dude, I got like 90,000. I'm sad.

No, you're almost at the... You're going to get the plaque. The plaque soon.

Oh, great. I'm going to get a plaque?

It says your name. It says 100,000 subscribers.

That shit's going in the... Hey, when that shit gets here, put it in the closet with the rest of the covers and bullshit that I've got. This is crazy. This is sick. It's funny. I mean, magic?

Yeah, magic.

You've been to the Magic Castle?

Yes, I have been.

You You've performed there?

I'm not a regular, but I've performed there. But mainly recently, I've only been there if we're shooting something there.

Are you considered to be a good musician? Musician? Yeah, you're a shit musician.

I'm a horrible musician. You not want me to sing. Me too.

Are you a good magician?

I would like to say I'm a great magician. Yeah. Really? Incredible. Phenomenal. Fantastic.

How long have you been doing it since?

Since I was six years old. Wow. Yeah. Long time. A lot of years of no friends.

Were you a friend? It's okay. Hey, man, my buddy who passed away- Rest in peace. Yeah, rest in peace. He went ahead and he was a fantastic musician. Magician. Magician. He was a fantastic magician. I loved it as a kid. He had us all there and we were just... I mean, okay, he didn't have a lot of friends, but It's a common theme. He was really the only person who would be my friend. Cut that. All right. Here we go. He started I should just read. He blends sleight-of-hand tricks with comedy, aiming to make people feel like kids again. That's sweet. Proud of his Filipino heritage, he attributes his grounded personality and work ethic to it.

That is correct.

Yeah, Tiger Mom.

What does that mean?

In some Asian cultures, I don't know if it's Filipino, but they walk around with a ruler on the side of the kid. No. God damn it. I told you an eight plus.

No. No. My parents were very academic-focused, but they weren't like that. Okay. No.

Okay, cool.

Maybe they should have.

I would have been smarter. Did they make you go to bed hungry?

No. Forgetting an eight. Does it look like I went to bed hungry. I don't think...

You're the best. All right. You started performing magic at age six. Correct. What drew you to it so strongly?

Well, I mean, to be honest, I feel like a lot of kids either learn a magic trick from TV or see magicians. Magic is a very kid thing. You perform it for kids and they're very mesmerized. When I was a kid, I would watch a TV show. They would do magic. There was an episode of Franklin the turtle. I don't know if you've ever seen that show before, but it was like a cartoon turtle.

I know more about the Rift than I know about the turtle. The beef with the rappers. I know more about that.

Well, there's a turtle, and he's a cartoon turtle for kids, and he did Magic One episode, and I just got hooked into it, and I started performing for a lot of my classmates. This was six years old, like kindergarten, first grade. My family moved a lot when I was growing up. We didn't stay in one place for more than a couple of years, and so we were always moving around.

That happens when you got to move because the FBI is on your tail.

Yeah, that's it because they saw the magic. And so what ended up happening was- Oh, you brought the deck of cards? I did. I brought cards. Dude, you're the best.

Thanks, man. Because I'm such a kid. I'm not really 59 because I lost a quarter century to drug addiction. So what am I? 35? Okay.

Incredible. And so I made friends every place I would move to just because I was just the magic guy. I would just do magic for everybody. And so, yeah, it just became the thing. And everyone was like, Oh, you'll be performing in Vegas one day or whatever. And it would just be branded in my mind. I am the guy that does magic. And then at the same time, around the age of 10, I saw people were posting their magic videos on YouTube. Putting your magic? No, just magic videos in general. I was like, I can do that. March of 2012, I posted my first YouTube video, and I haven't missed the month of posting since March of 2012. We've always been posting.

That's fantastic. Thank you, Matt. I love that you knew why you kept doing this because most people aren't that in touch with why they do what they do. And what you were really saying is, this was my way to fit in.

Correct.

Exactly. Okay. And everybody their hat on something, and this is my something. I love that. I love that. I wish I would have done that, Dylan, because I thought I was going to be an NFL quarterback. The reason I did was because I was delusional. I'm 5'11.

What's the average height for a quarterback?

6'3.

Right. I probably should hang that dream up, too. For sure.

Yeah. That is not a lot of Filipino quarterbacks.

It's okay.

There's not a lot of Jewish quarterbacks either. Have you ever seen the Jewish Hall of Fame?

No.

They had to grab people from Triple A, they spawn. To me, this Jew is horrible. No, he made it to Triple A. The only thing worse than our athletic prowess is our cuisine.

I haven't really tried a lot of Jewish food.

We've got Borscht and pickleed herring in the house. Okay, well. Okay, and boiled chicken. You're going to love that.

I ate before coming here. I'm okay. I'm good. Thank you.

This guy is going to kill me.

It's so good.

You began posting on YouTube at age 10. What was your first video like and How did it feel to share your magic?

Oh, man. First video that I ever posted, this was during a time where... Because this is not a thing on YouTube now, but you can actually... You used to be able to respond to videos with videos. Instead of just a comment, you could post a video responding to video. And so people use that as a format to do contests and giveaways. So one person that I learned magic from, his name was the Kartrick teacher on YouTube. He doesn't post anymore. I hope he's still alive. He was really old when he was... But I learned all my magic from him. He did a contest. He was like, Whoever had the best magic trick replied to this video, you'll win a deck of cards. I was like, I'm like 10, 9. I was like, I want to win this deck of cards. So I posted a video for me. Is that the deck of cards? No, I didn't win. But Oh, he should have lied.

The guy's dead. It's not like he's going to come back.

This that says 2021 printing is the deck of cards that he gave away back in 2012. No, but...

2012. Dude, can you come over and just hang out? Just knock on the door and say, Hey, Rich, can you come out and play? I'll do it. Okay. All right.

It's great. My first ever YouTube video was an entry to a contest, and it was me with a very, very old camcorder, 360p, very low quality. I believe I was literally in boxers in my living room performing magic to the camera. It has, I think, a whopping 300 views today, and I lost that contest. But that is where I started, and I'm very happy where I am now.

Yeah, all I heard is the boxers. Nobody wears boxers anymore.

Yeah, that's- You're not wearing boxers, right? We don't have to check. Okay.

No, we're not going to check.

No, I'm not wearing boxers.

That's right.

Not. That's right. We're not checking.

No, we're not checking. We're not. Okay, this I need to hear. You got multiple rejections from America's Got Talent. I did. What was the process like and what made you keep at it?

Yeah, when I was moving around a lot, I was doing magic for a lot of different people in my school, the teachers. The teachers would be like, Wow, you're really talented. And then I would watch America's Got Talent. I would see kid magicians and teen magicians on there. I'm like, I can do that. And so I was really compelled. I don't know what drew me to it necessarily, but I really wanted to make a name for myself. I was like, I feel like I'm special in this craft, at least. And so I told my parents, I want to audition for America's Got Talent. And I just kept performing, kept performing. I would do city talent shows and stuff like that. And my parents would be like, Okay, maybe he could actually audition. I didn't realize as a kid, as an 11, 12, 13-year-old kid, that when you audition for America's Got Talent, you don't audition in front of the judges. You don't just walk on stage. You have to audition for producers first. I didn't realize how TV worked. So when I get to this audition, I'm like, Oh, my gosh. Is there a crowd waiting for me?

I'm ready to be on stage. I walk into a room with three people, two people that are, I guess, assistants and one person that's just taking notes while, I guess, the auditions go through and perform and do their act. I do magic, and I remember the first time- Hold on a second.

You mean to tell me that three clowns made the decision Okay. They're probably like, Yeah, he's great, but we've already had six magicians on the show.

A lot of magicians.

I don't have to get out of anything to do with you. I just think that these people were either stupid or just had too many magicians. And they're like, Yeah, that ain't- Yeah, I don't know.

I mean, I worked really hard on that routine.

I'm never watching that show again.

I hate America's Got Talent.

It's still running, right? Yeah.

Actually, it's not that bad.

Did it run?

It's still running? It's still running, yes. They have a new season coming out soon.

Bad luck about to happen.

Yeah. Well, so I audition for these people. And I remember one of the biggest things I remember is when I was doing my magic trick, the producer behind doing the notes, was not even watching. It felt like it was already predetermined. It was like, no matter what I did- You hear what I said?

Yeah. They had too many magicians.

Yeah. Yeah, they just had too many magicians. I do this act for the producers. They say no, and I'm crushed. I'm like an 11, 12-year-old. I'm crushed. I'm like, I thought it was good enough for the show. Why wouldn't they even give me a chance? It didn't seem like they even cared. And so I proceed to audition three more times after that. Every year, I would audition. Same people? Not the same people. Different producers every time. And every time, they would consistently tell me no. I get rejected multiple times. I'm going into my freshman year of high school. I don't know. I get this feeling like, look, I was told no so many times from these producers, but everyone in my life is telling me that I'm special, and I feel like I am able to perform better than anybody else my age. And so I was already posting on YouTube. I was posting. Instagram was slowly becoming more of a short form content place. Started posting a little bit of my clips on Instagram. And going into my freshman year, I basically... The first true story, this is going to sound so cliché, but the first assignment that I ever got, freshman year of high school, was to write a letter to the time I graduated.

So first period- To write a letter. To write a letter to your sofa when you graduate. Oh, that's great. Yeah. My English teacher was You can keep this or we can keep it. And by the time you graduate, you can open it up and read it. That's beautiful. I wrote in there, for some reason, I was very inclined. This was after my third rejection on America's Got Talent. I was like, I want to take social media seriously. This is becoming actually an industry. And so I was like, I have a thousand subscribers and I have 800 followers. By the time I opened this letter, please, I would love to be able to be in a position to move to Los Angeles. That was my one goal. I was like, Just move to LA. Give me a shot at LA. I don't want to go to college. My parents, they're Asian. They were very academic-focused. They want me to go to college. I don't.

I just want to be- How do you know they're Asian if you're colorblind?

That's a really good question. All right, go on. I mean, That's what it says on all the forms saved. I don't know. That's a good question. I don't know. I'll talk to my parents about that. I got to confirm. It's a good question. I spent the four years of high school really working on social media. The first year that I really took it seriously, I was doing everything I could, self-promoting myself in comment sections, just trying to, Hey, I'm trying to grow my account. And it worked. I grew to 30,000 on Instagram in my first year, freshman year of high school, I'm like, 15. Second year, sophomore year, doubled that to 80,000. By junior year, TikTok came out. And TikTok was a joke platform at first. People People weren't really taking seriously. It was very comedic-based. Memes, not really magic. But my second video, Catches Fire, is me doing a comedy skit, actually, and it got 5 million views. And by the first month of TikTok, I had grown to a million followers.

At the beginning of TikTok, it was a lot easier they had those, right?

Yeah. 2019, this was pre-pandemic. So I grew to 1. 9 million followers my junior year, and I still wasn't really I was making a ton of money, but I was getting there. By senior year, it's just like, I must have been at the right place at the right time. I'm about to graduate. Covid shuts the world down. Everyone decides to download this app that I'm already posting three times a day on. And just the algorithm, everything just catches fire. We struck lightning in a bottle, and for seven weeks straight, we grew a million followers. A million a week? A week, yeah. Just every week. By the time I opened that letter, I had 12 million followers, and I was moving to Los Angeles. And that is my origin story.

Okay. Before we get going, I want the trick.

Before I ask any questions, I want the trick. Sure. Why not? You're familiar with the deck of cards?

I am familiar.

You know all the numbers, letters, you're familiar with all of that stuff, right?

Are there letters?

Yeah, like Ace, Jack, Jay.

That is my fault.

This is a brand new deck. We're going to try something. We're I'm going to shovel it up a little bit, and I'm going to have you select one of these cards at random. All right? I'm going to go through the side here whenever you want. Just go ahead, say stop at any point in time.

Stop.

Right there. That's good? Any more, any less? No. That's good. All right. Take a look at the card that you stopped on. You got it? Yeah. I'm going to do something that you should not do with a deck of cards. Can you hold on to this for me, please? Sure. Watch closely. That card that you stopped on in the That's insane. Thank you. But there's this thing in magic that whatever disappears, it has to reappear. So actually bounce off the air, it hit off the light. It helped the mic stand off the top of your head. Flew all the way behind me. There is one piece right there. I haven't moved a muscle. Not a muscle. I'm going to make this as fair as possible look. Nothing else in my hands. I'm just going to grab it. You could have stopped on any card. I don't want to touch it. Go to flip it over. Your card, the Jack of Diamonds. But not only that, I want you to see that is the exact piece that I ripped off that card.

That, my man, is exact.

Here, I'll show it to the camera. Do you know what? Here we go. Just like that.

That's gorgeous. Thank you. That's really good. Yeah. All right, one more.

I'm on it. I'm ready. Here we go. Let's do it. Why not? Do you want to pick a card? Okay. Here, it's a brand new deck, so I have to shuffle it, but that looks pretty shovel, right? Or do you want me to mix it up anymore? No, it's good. It feels good. I'll give it one more. Okay. You want to reach in here? Do me a favor, just reach in and just grab any card that you want for me any card at all. Any one of these. Go ahead. Go ahead. Anyway. Go memorize it for me. You got it? Yeah. We're going to try something. I'm going to take this. I'm going to lose it roughly into the middle just like this. Just like this. I might need to stand up for this. Is this okay?

Make certain. Yeah.

Okay. As long as it's… Do I need to move the mic? Okay. There's this thing in magic called sleight of hand. You've heard of it, right? Yes. You remember the card that you picked, Yes. This is something a little bit different. This is called sleight of mouth. Just watch closely. You'll know why I'm engaged by the end of this. Watch closely.

Okay.

Mm-hmm.

What do you mean? Mm-hmm.

Mm-hmm.

No, it was a of... What is that? What is that? A club? Mm-mm. What is that? It's a Six of spades. That's what it was. Mm-mm. Now.

One card. A one card only. Your card, the 6 of spades.

Yeah. It's the Six of spades. You're insane.

Thank you.

That's insane.

Thank you. Yeah, suck on that, America's Got Talent.

You people are so stupid. It's painful. God. That was stupid good. Dude, that was stupid good. Thank you. All right. What's the single magic moment in your career that made you feel feel like you made it?

Wow, that's a good question. Funny enough, it has something to do with America's Got Talent. It has something to do with America's Got Talent because I moved to Los Angeles after garnering all these followers. I'm doing my thing. I start working with Paramount, Nickelodeon, doing all these things in the world of magic. Then I get a call from America's Got Talent.

They called you?

Yes, they called me. Finally? Yes, finally. Okay. I'm like, Wow, about damn time. I've been waiting for this one. They said, Hey, we want you to audition properly. Skip all the producer stuff. Let's just have you go on to the show and perform for the judges. I remember... Mentally, I always thought, One day, I'm going to actually do this show, and we're going to do it properly. When it came in, I was like, Okay, about time. I start prepping for the show. The moment was me backstage when they're like, You're up next, and I'm sitting there. I'm really not an emotional person. I don't cry a lot, and I don't know, Maybe there's some trauma that I need to figure out. But I don't cry a lot. When things go wrong, I just think, Okay, how can we make it right? I drive through Friars with a smile on my face. There's not much to it. But that moment of me backstage, moments before I know I'm up next, and I've already gone through the routine a million times in my head, and I feel good about it. I'm just waiting. That moment right there, I remember being so emotional in my mind, but I knew I was about to be on stage.

I wasn't can cry. I could have been crying in that moment. That was the moment where I was like, I made it because I visualized this moment for so many years as a kid, being on stage in front of the judges, performing magic, having a huge crowd watch me, and just about to live that moment. I remember being so present in that, I need to take this in because, wow, I'm doing it.

How did you do? Well, listen, I don't normally ask follow-up questions.

I will say this. I'll preface it like this. I didn't pick my routine. You didn't. I did not pick the routine.

They picked it.

The producer wanted me to be very specific on what I wanted to do. We built a routine routine that was based off these strict guidelines of what they wanted. I didn't like the routine, but I went out and performed the fuck out of it. I performed the best magic that I could have done. I did this routine because I performed it in front of them. I went to their desk, and then I went back on stage. They start giving me really bad feedback. They start giving me feedback like it was slow, it was boring. The magic was okay, but I'm confused, whatever. And that's where me, looking back as the 10-year-old kid that auditioned for American Catana, I was like, There's no way I'm leaving here without my four yeses. I tell Howie Mandel, who was telling me that my performance was slow. I said, Give me 30 more seconds. It's a true story. Give me 30 more seconds. I have a deck of cards. Let me just perform one trick, and I will blow you away, I guarantee it. They weren't having it, but the crowd wanted me to do one more trick.

So they said, okay.

They said, okay, go up. That's awesome. I have them pick a card. I do that exact trick that I just did now where I coughed it up. I get a standing ovation from those four and my four yeses, and I saved my ass from getting rejected from America's Got Talent. Yeah, but then- Wait, let me take that. Because the genius of that is, look, I heard once that Abraham Lincoln lost He lost 26 elections in a row before he became president.

Now, that's not true. It was a lot less. But what he did was he kept after it, right? And you kept after it. But here's the magic moment. You didn't take no for an answer, right? And you knocked that door down. You ran right through it, okay? And you could have gone the other way. You could been like, you could have had all those failures, all those misses from 10: 00 on, and you could have let that crush you, and most people would have. The thought would have been, I'm not good enough. I'm not enough. Because what just happened was it was different than all the others. You went ahead and were actually performing in front of the judges now. These people actually called you. And you had the confidence of your life experience because you're getting better at your craft, right? Correct. And then they shot all over you. Okay? And you were like, No, this is bullshit. And the reason you said this is bullshit was because you were hamstrung. What's the word? Hamstrung. You were hamstrung by the producers because you didn't get to be you. They were telling you what you were.

Correct. You were like, all these things, and you're like, Fuck this. Okay, I need 30 more seconds. You're going to be just gone. And they weren't having it. And then the crowd was so moved by the ballsy move that you had. They're like, Yeah, man, give this guy another break. Plus, the crowd liked it, the first one. So now they're probably losing their mind. And these guys were stuck. Now, they can't. Now, they're hamstrung, and they have to give it to you. Then you just, you beat the shit out of it. You killed it. I love this.

Thank you.

I love this. See? We are a mental health podcast. Because you must have been crushed every single time you failed. Now, 100%. Right? And that must have depressed you.

Oh, yeah.

How did you get out of that?

I give it to my dad, to be honest, because my dad always told me, You only fail when you give up. That's really it. I just kept always thinking about what was next. Okay, this didn't work. Where do we go now? Yeah, in the moment, it sucked. I'm a kid. I'm 13, 12, 11, whatever. I have so many photos before and after. Before the audition, after audition, I look so sad. But you can't live in that sadness. It's what's next after that.

How do you not live in the sadness?

It's a really good question. I mean, I think for me, it's just thinking that living in the sadness won't change anything. I don't think that if I can feel sorry for myself for years, it wouldn't get me any closer to getting a yes.

Do you know who that is?

Who is?

Your dad. That's what your dad put into your head. He took care of his boy. That's beautiful. That's so nice. Wow. Now, you're going to be the dad, and you're going to take all the things from your father that were good, and anything that was bad, you'll leave behind. I did it better than my old man. My old man did it better than his old man, and my son's going to do it, and my daughter's going to do it better than I do it. That's how you know you're doing it right. You think you know what love is, but you don't until you have a child. You just don't. They don't cost you money. They make you money because for you, you have this much, it's enough. The second you have a child, it's completely different. You're now the dad. You're responsible for this child. Something inside of you turns on, and you're like, Okay, let's get going. Children make you a fortune. They don't cost you money, ever. It's the only love that matters. It really is.

That's beautiful, man. That's beautiful. Okay. I have a follow-up on the America's Got Talent thing. Thank you for that, by the way. That was beautiful. My fiancée is going to be very happy because she wants to be a mom yesterday. How old is she? She's 24.

Yeah, you might want to wait till 30. Yeah. Because just for one reason, okay? Everything you say now is funny, right? You guys are the best friends, right? The second your child is born, you're a sperm donor and an ATM. Okay, you can use that.

I'm stealing that one. You can steal them all. I'm stealing that one.

They're all for you.

Okay, thank No problem.

I'm not a comedian.

From the America's Got Talent thing, it went so well. I think it really fulfilled a part of me as a kid that I really wanted was that moment. I've thought about it for so long. But what I also didn't know about show business is 100 people get yeses, only 20 people air. I was not aird, actually, on America's Got Talent, despite me getting my four yeses. So we still have a remaining journey with them. I told them that... Well, internally, I said the next time I'll be on that show is when I'm judging it or hosting it. I'm waiting for that day.

God, I love that.

Trying to, man.

No, that's revenge. I'm all about revenge. The mental patient on the on the number, whatever the hell I've got now.

Moving up by the second.

Now, let's go to this one. What unique strengths do you think magic videos have on TikTok versus YouTube?

Oh, man. Well, TikTok is so fast-paced, and people go on that app, I feel like a lot of the times, for some spectacle. That's what magic is. It's a quick, I can do a trick in 10 seconds and amaze you. I think that that really played into my strengths when I started posting a ton. It's like people would see, it wouldn't take long for you to consume 30 seconds. You see me do a magic trick, and then I'm out of your face, and then I just showed up every single day doing it.

Show me a 10-second, a 10-second trick.

Here's the world's fastest magic trick. It looks like this. It's called the Snap Change. Let me see if I can do this. You could learn this. It's not that difficult.

I'm pretty stupid.

Okay, I'm going to perform it to you and the camera at the same time, but it looks like this. Like that.

That's sick.

Yeah, it's a snap change. You just take it and you just… Like that.

All right, show me one more track.

Okay, yeah, cool. Here. I'll try something. I feel pretty good about it. I didn't switch it out. There's nothing any funny business going on here. Okay, cool. Can you do me a favor? Reach in here, just grab another card for me. Anyone that you like. Any one of these. Go show it to the camera. Don't show it to me. Then I want you to put it back in the deck anywhere.

Okay.

Do you have your phone on you?

Do I have my phone?

He's got his phone. You got your phone on you? Can you do me a favor? Can you go on Instagram and then hand it to him? You remember your card, right?

Yes.

Don't forget it.

I think I You're on Instagram.

I go to the search on Instagram. I don't want to do anything weird here. I just wanted to show you I'm going here. I'm going to my page. Can you click on my handle for me? Just click on my page. Then can you read my bio out loud to everybody.

Let me read the bio. How do you read a bio?

The first line on there. What does it say?

You picked the Five of Hearts.

Is that it?

It was. Yes, it was the Five of Heart. How the hell did you do that?

I don't know. It's a really good question. Should put in the notes.

That's so good. I picked the Five of Heart.

Yeah.

That's insanity.

Thanks. Could have picked any of these cards.

I could have picked any of these cards. I could have picked any of those.

I could have picked any of those. I could have picked any of these.

And there's no pattern. That's insanity. You're great. Thanks, man. You're great. All You got anything coming next? Do you want to tell me where you're going to perform?

Okay, so a couple of things that are coming up. I'm trying to work in the traditional media world a lot more. I'm trying to do... I have a movie coming out this year for Paramount called My Weird School. It's a Nickelodian movie, but it'll be on Paramount+. I'm a lead in the movie, and I actually play a 14-year-old, which is just crazy because I guess Asians don't raise in. That's what they say, right? Asians don't raise in. What does that mean? We don't wrinkle. Oh, yeah. We look young.

I thought you said Asians.

No, Asians don't raise it. Yeah. Anyways, I'm doing a lot of stuff in the traditional media world, and hopefully we're just making a step in so instead of hosting the Oscars. I'm going to say it right here because I'm actually making a compilation of as many of these as possible. But every podcast I go on, I'm making a compilation of me saying, Hello, Future Oscars. It's your host, Shani. Anyways, because it's going to happen. I can't wait. We're going to clip it one day. Can't wait. So many different podcasts. We're going to just throw this on.

That's so amazing. You're speaking it into existence, man. Thank God in advance.

Yeah.

No, no. Just thank God in advance on my life. And don't ask him for what you need. Ask him for what you want. Okay? All right, buddy. Thanks for coming.

Thank you so much for having me, man. This was fun. You're so good to See you next Tuesday. Let's go.

You're all footballs.

Yes.

You grab five balls. Five.

One at a time. Okay.

Okay. 1. 2. 3. 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9. Okay. Got it? Okay. You get five balls. I get one. Okay?

What? Yeah. Okay. Let me get on the board then. Okay. Oh, thanks. No problem.

There we go. Fantastic. There we go. One.

Okay. Let me go here.

Oh, that was close. That was close.

So I got two more? Yeah.

Oh, that was amazing.

Let's go. Okay. And why not we go long? No.

Okay. No, you hit the plate. Do another one.

Okay. Same spot. All right.

You did great.

Okay. All right. Wait, better than I thought it was going to do, to be honest.

That was awesome. All right. All right. Here we go.

You got one and five.

Here we go.

No way. What?

I win. How?

I'm not I know.

Come here. Give me a hug. Oh, what? You're going to be okay. What? I swear to God, you'll be okay. In fact, that's the first time I ever did it without anything.