S4E3: It's Magic? episode artwork

EPISODE · Mar 25, 2025 · 56 MIN

S4E3: It's Magic?

from The How NOT To Make A Movie Podcast

THE BLURB: MAGICIAN WES ISELI talks about the evolution of his craft - how integrating his (now) wife NATALIE ISELI into the act kicked it to new heights. How one MAGIC TRICK beat master illusionists PENN & TELLER. How does one even become a magician? More than anything else, creating illusions is a craft. And, as for happiness? Wes has that trick covered, too!SHOW NOTES:I met Wes Iseli via podcasting connections, but we have another connection, too. We’ve both worked with Penn & Teller. Teller co-wrote a superb episode of Tales From The Crypt with recent guest Colman DeKay called Staired In Horror.Subsequent to that I developed a show at HBO with Penn And Teller that died in development – as most projects do.Wes Iseli introduced himself to P&T via their show Fool Us where magicians are invited to confound these two master illusionists with tricks they can’t figure out.Wes did that. Fooled Penn & Teller. And not only did Wes get the prize money promised, P&T paid Wes directly for the knowledge of how he’d fooled them.As Wes will tell you, there’s no “magic” involved. There’s a ton of craft though. Which is why we’re talking about it here.Now, Wes insists – as you’ll hear – that there’s nothing supernatural about magic. In fact, he hates the idea of supernatural magic. But there’s something about magic and creating the illusions of it that can spark a little – let’s call it “transcendent” – kind of magic.There’s a ton of love in this story. Wes AND his wife NATHALIE sat and talked to me.What Wes and Nathalie have created – along with their three kids – is a kind of great magic trick.And that’s with the caveat that there’s no magic. There’s craft. Hard work and lots of repetition. But, I think you’ll find that the effect – the story itself - is magical. SOCIAL MEDIA:INSTA: https://www.instagram.com/hownottomakeamoviepodcast/PATREON: patreon.com/TheHowNOTToMakeAMoviePodcastFanPage Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

THE BLURB: MAGICIAN WES ISELI talks about the evolution of his craft - how integrating his (now) wife NATALIE ISELI into the act kicked it to new heights. How one MAGIC TRICK beat master illusionists PENN & TELLER. How does one even become a magician? More than anything else, creating illusions is a craft. And, as for happiness? Wes has that trick covered, too!SHOW NOTES:I met Wes Iseli via podcasting connections, but we have another connection, too. We’ve both worked with Penn & Teller. Teller co-wrote a superb episode of Tales From The Crypt with recent guest Colman DeKay called Staired In Horror.Subsequent to that I developed a show at HBO with Penn And Teller that died in development – as most projects do.Wes Iseli introduced himself to P&T via their show Fool Us where magicians are invited to confound these two master illusionists with tricks they can’t figure out.Wes did that. Fooled Penn & Teller. And not only did Wes get the prize money promised, P&T paid Wes directly for the knowledge of how he’d fooled them.As Wes will tell you, there’s no “magic” involved. There’s a ton of craft though. Which is why we’re talking about it here.Now, Wes insists – as you’ll hear – that there’s nothing supernatural about magic. In fact, he hates the idea of supernatural magic. But there’s something about magic and creating the illusions of it that can spark a little – let’s call it “transcendent” – kind of magic.There’s a ton of love in this story. Wes AND his wife NATHALIE sat and talked to me.What Wes and Nathalie have created – along with their three kids – is a kind of great magic trick.And that’s with the caveat that there’s no magic. There’s craft. Hard work and lots of repetition. But, I think you’ll find that the effect – the story itself - is magical. SOCIAL MEDIA:INSTA: https://www.instagram.com/hownottomakeamoviepodcast/PATREON: patreon.com/TheHowNOTToMakeAMoviePodcastFanPage Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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S4E3: It's Magic?

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This episode was published on March 25, 2025.

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THE BLURB: MAGICIAN WES ISELI talks about the evolution of his craft - how integrating his (now) wife NATALIE ISELI into the act kicked it to new heights. How one MAGIC TRICK beat master illusionists PENN & TELLER. How does one even become a...

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