The Big Picture

Justin Willman talks about his upcoming appearance at the Just for Laughs Festival in Vancouver and reveals the overused magic tricks he dislikes, like sawing someone in half and pulling a rabbit out of a hat.
Willman enjoys being surprised by magic tricks and believes it enhances the performance for audiences.
Willman’s upcoming Netflix series,
The Magic Prank Show
, will combine magic and pranks and premieres on April 1.

Justin Willman is a new kind of magician. Since first breaking out onto the scene more than a decade ago, the Magic for Humans star has been shifting the model of traditional magic while infusing his performances with a refreshing dose of comedy. Stripping away the pretension often associated with the performing arts, Willman’s cool energy and down-to-earth nature make him magical in all senses of the word. With a smash hit three-season Netflix reality show that finds him engaging with people on the street through sleight-of-hand tricks and bonkers illusions, Willman really just wants to melt your brain at the end of the day. Ahead of his anticipated set at the world-famous Just for Laughs Festival in Vancouver this month, Willman spoke to Collider in a one-on-one interview dishing on the “one-of-a-kind night of entertainment” and what audiences can expect.

Having mastered the art of turning cynics into believers (and getting them to laugh), Willman is heading across the country this winter and spring for his Magic for Humans in Person Tour. One of his pit stops this month will be in Canada for the iconic Just for Laughs Festival, where Willman will be headlining a show among the likes of comedians like Bill Burr, Brett Goldstein, Chris Redd, Nicole Byer, and Ben Schwartz. While the comedian and magician is excited, he tells Collider he is also appreciative of a festival that “embraces a wide array of comedy.” With his show taking place on Monday, February 19 at Vancouver’s historic Vogue Theatre, Willman talks about his craft and offers exclusive details about his new Netflix series coming in April. But before he does, Willman reveals which tricks you won’t be seeing at any of his shows.

Magic for Humans Justin Willman performs magic tricks on the street.Release Date August 17, 2018 Creator Justin Willman Cast Justin Willman Seasons 3

Justin Willman Reveals the Most Overrated Magic Trick
Since the dawn of time — or just the advent of television and late-night icon Johnny Carson bringing close-up magic to life, illusionists like Penn & Teller or David Blaine have attempted to defy our perception through their bewildering wizardry. Whether it be through sawing people in half or even making their cards appear in your pocket, some tricks have been done time and time again. For Justin Willman, he knows which ones these are, and he’s just as tired of them as you are.

“That’s an overrated trick,” Willman told Collider of sawing someone in half while they’re stuck in a box. “Pulling a rabbit out of a hat is probably an overrated trick. It’s these low-hanging fruit ideas that I think if they actually saw it, you’d be like, ‘Oh, I feel bad for that rabbit. Where was he?’ You don’t want to know where he was. ‘How was the bunny treated?’ Not well. No, you don’t want to know.”

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Willman admits he tries to avoid card tricks as “magicians do a lot” of them in their sets. As it creates a bit of redundancy for the audience, the St. Louis native works to breathe new life into even the most seemingly tired or clichéd tricks through creative presentation and execution. “I feel like as soon as a deck of cards comes out, people’s thoughts are, ‘Oh, I’ve seen this one before.’ Like, ‘It doesn’t matter what the trick is. If it involves cards, I’ve seen it,’” he said. “So I tried to at least introduce premises that, right off the bat, people feel like, ‘This is new. What’s he gonna do?’”

Why Justin Willman Enjoys the Element of Surprise
Image via Netflix

When an audience is caught off guard by a magician’s trick, it creates a sense of wonder and amazement, intensifying the experience. As this trigger reinforces our emotional response and deepens our connection to the artist, Magic for Humans star Justin Willman knows just how impactful it is to the overall performance because he too is someone who revels in the wonder.

“I love being fooled. I love watching great magicians,” he said. “I hate watching magicians where I feel like, as an audience member, I’m at risk of seeing something I’m not supposed to see. I like to reveal portions of magic intentionally, [and] meticulously, but I never want to accidentally reveal something I’m not intending to reveal. As an audience member, I feel like people think they want to know how it works, right? But they don’t really want to. You want to feel comfortable, you wanna feel taken care of. So, I love being fooled, and when I am fooled by magic, I like to revel in that a little bit. I do start catching myself thinking, ‘Hm, how did they do it?’ And then I start to think, ‘Oh, that’s right. I figured it out.’ And I try to stop myself because I don’t wanna know everything.”

After breaking both arms at the age of 12 and learning card tricks as an alternative to occupational therapy, Willman understands the importance of “still [being] in awe of a fellow tradesperson” doing the same thing he does. “My highest praise is when a magician who I admire tells me that something that I did fools them. That’s why we became magicians in the first place; something fooled us and made us wanna become a magician,” he said. “So I don’t want to know how everything works unless there’s something about it that I feel like I could adapt or re-invent and utilize that technique. But, you know, now we’re getting into the weeds of magic, and you don’t really want to know. Trust me.”

Justin Willman on Being a Part of the Just for Laughs Festival

A little more than 10 years ago, Justin Willman made his way to the Just for Laughs Festival in Montreal for the first time. Two years later, he would perform with Jim Gaffigan for his gala presentation. Since then, Willman’s been back and a regular at the festival, having performed for sold-out crowds. Returning to the JFL this month is a huge honor for the humble magician who grew up idolizing comedians like Steve Martin, Harry Anderson, and Johnny Carson. This time around, he admits sharing the stage with someone he looks up to, like comedian Bill Burr, is a “trippy” feeling. “It’s very surreal. That never gets old. The impostor syndrome really kicks in at those times,” he said. “I just think it’s really, really cool that Just for Laughs is a festival that embraces a wide array of comedy that includes a funny magician like myself.”

As for the show itself, which is also part of his winter and spring-long Magic for Humans in Person tour, Willman teases his goal is to bring to life the pure joy and excitement fans feel when watching his Netflix series. By blending magic and comedy, Willman says audiences will laugh a lot and get their minds blown. “In a theater full of 1,000 people, I like to think that there’s kind of this unifying element where we don’t see magic as a big group together live that much as people,” he said. “I feel like seeing magic in person live is way better and more exciting and enjoyable than watching it on a 2D screen. And it’s an all-ages show. Comedy is trickier to bring your kids, your teenage kids, your parents, [and] your grandparents to and have them all enjoy the same way you do. But hopefully, I can deliver that for people and give them a night that they can bring all their humans to.”

With the show happening in tandem with his Magic for Humans in Person Tour, Willman says that every show is “very, very different” because there is no script. “I mean, I do have a plan in my head, but there’s so much interaction, even when I don’t have somebody on stage, which I do about a dozen times in the show. There’s just so many wild cards, and to me, that’s my favorite thing,” he said.

Justin Willman Shares Details About Netflix’s Upcoming ‘The Magic Prank Show’

After Justin Willman revealed almost two years ago that he had a new project transpiring following the Netflix success of Magic for Humans, the magician and comedian tells Collider exclusively that his new series The Magic Prank Show With Justin Willman hits the streaming giant on April 1. Looking to extend the tour and announce a bunch of fall dates, Willman reveals the show will be six episodes and follows a very different approach from his charmed three-season series.

“It’s been a long process. We’ve worked on this for about three years just because it’s hard to kind of pull a show that doesn’t exist out of your hat — to tie it back to your early metaphor — that takes magic and combines pranks,” Willman told Collider. “The big difference is obviously with Magic for Humans, pretty much everyone I approach doing magic for, they know they’re watching a magician, right? You tune in, and you know you’re watching a magician, which is an obvious detail, but is an important detail because I think if I sawed a woman in half on stage, you would be like, ‘Wow.’ [claps] But if I did the same thing in the middle of a Home Depot, and I’m just some random dude, you would be concerned.”

Willman adds there’s a “fun ambush power with magic in a hidden camera sense” that has him pumped for fans to finally watch. “I’m excited, hopefully, to kind of bring something new to that genre.”

Justin Willman will be performing live on February 19 at the Vogue Theatre in Vancouver for the Just for Laughs Festival. You can get your tickets here. All three seasons of Magic for Humans are now streaming on Netflix.

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