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Jamie D. Grant V.I.P. as seen in Ripley's Believe It or Not! Twice! 2413 Posts |
Thanks e!
Here's an interview I just did that just got published for a db FanSite: Can you share with the readers a little bit about how you met up with David and Fantasma Magic and how designing David's Anything is Possible Bottle came about? Yeah, you bet! I created my "Anything Is Possible" bottle about three years ago now. I originally thought I'd capture the poker craze that was going on but soon found out that poker players don't spend their money on art. They spend it on poker, lol. However, I got been super lucky as they have been selling like crazy since almost day one anyways! Just not to the poker crowd. Magicians really picked up on them (as I thought they would), as did the public, because, I think, of the positive message that the bottles represent. That anything is possible. Anyways, I went to New York to pitch my bottles to some stores there and went to the amazing Fantasma Magic (421 Seventh Ave. 2nd floor). When I arrived I met up with Roger Dryer, the owner, who I would like to add is an incredable guy, and he came up with the idea of creating a Limited Edition "David Blaine" version with David signing the cards before they went into the bottle. So this Limited Edition should really be credited to Roger at Fantasma. What was your reaction when David contacted you and what was it like working with him? Well, that's funny because I met David about an hour after I left Fantasmsa, lol. You see, I'm friends with a member of David's creative team, Doug McKenzie, who is just one of those people that it's an honour to know. The guy is super cool, unbelievably friendly, and just a totally talented person- both as a magician and a creator. I got to know Doug when he purchased an AIP bottle for David, for his birthday, I think, about two years ago. We started e-mailing back and forth and became fast friends. So while I was in New York, I met up with him, for the first time, in person. It just so happens we met up at David's office. And, of course, David, along with Dan White (yet another super-cool guy) was there. And, obviously, it was fantastic to meet David. He's just like he seems- gifted, laid back, totally unpretentious. It was a good day to meet people, lol. There's so many awesome people in New York, lol. You are a performer, such as David, and have an interest in the field of magic, being both performers and into the concept of astonishment and wonder, did you feel an extra sense of excitment working with David?..what were your initial thoughts of him before working with/ meeting him? That's an great point. For me, as a magician and as an artist, working with David brings a certain amount of validity, if you will, to my work. To have someone of such a high caliber of performer acknowledge what I do, is an amazing feeling. I mean, c'mon, it's David Blaine for Pete's sake, lol. What were you thoughts when you heard David's reaction to your finished product? Extreme nervousness, lol. Roger left me a message on my voicemail telling me to call him to hear David's thoughts and I felt sick. I mean, the bottles will always sell, and I've already had more success with them as I could possibly ever have dreamed, especially when they got featured in Ripley's Believe It Or Not, but, you have to realize that I just spent almost a month working on David's Limited Editions, lol, what if he hated them? Luckily, he thought they turned out great. You have been making these bottles for three years now and the concept and idea that the bottle brings is amazing, can you share with the readers any situation or moment over the past three years that sticks out in you? You know, this type of art is called "Impossible Objects". You know, a ship in a bottle or whatever. But "impossible" simply isn't in mine, or David's either I bet, vocabulary. I really wanted people to believe that "Anything Is Possible". So, on that theme, a particularly striking moment was when I received an e-mail about a year ago from a magician who just found out his wife had cancer and he asked me if I could give him a discount. They were short on money but he wanted to give something to his wife that showed her how he felt about the situation. That he chose something I had created as a way to express those feelings really touched me. I ended up making a special pink deck of cards in the bottle for her and, you know what, she beat the cancer totally. The notion that 'Anything is Possible' is an amazing concept when pondered on, designing something with that concept, that shows that concept, must have had just as much as an affect on you as the people who have bought it.. has it affected you in anyway or given you a new outlook on things, even though you know the secret to how it is done? It affects me every day of my life. It's taught me that there is always a way. That no matter how dark things are, that there's always some way to make a light shine. Even if it just comes from you. That's pretty good, lol. I might have to write that down. There is a misconception that the bottle is an optical illusion and not real, but in fact the bottle is real, what do you say to naysayers or people that don't believe that you have created a very real thing? do you welcome people to critique your work or do you believe it comes with the concept of the piece and that it creates a sense of wonder in people and makes them question whether it could be real or not? Well, I think for the message to properly get across, people need to believe that it's an actual deck of cards in there, which it is. So the first thing I tell people is that no one on Earth knows how I do it. Absolutely no one. I think that helps them not feel bad or whatever for not knowing, as I'm the only guy that knows the secret. The next thing I tell them is that they do, in fact, know how I do it, it's just that they don't realize it. I say, "It's like brain surgery. You know how that works. You go into the brain and remove something. But you couldn't actually perform an operation yourself as you don't know the technique. I do, that's all." You know what it's like? Remember that kid in the Matrix? He said, "Don't try to bend the spoon; that's impossible. Instead only try to realize the truth: There is no spoon." Well, the kid got it totally wrong. I tell people that the truth is that it's not impossible. I want them to know that they can bend the spoon. They just need to believe. Or, at the very least, believe that they could bend a fork, lol. Anything that you are currently working on that you would like to share? I'd just like to tell people that they have to visit Fantasma, even if they aren't a huge magic fan. It's just one of those places that they need to say they've been to at least once in their lives. And while they're there, they should buy one of these DAvid Blaibe Limited Edition "Anything Is Possible" bottles. And if they're sold out, then they should go to http://www.whatizit.net and buy one of my original versions, lol. After having the opportunity to work with David, if you had the chance to say something to him that you didn't get the chance to, what would you say? I would say, "Thanks for bending the spoon, my friend, You were the first." And lastly what does magic mean to you? Magic, to me, is a vehicle and, in my case, it's a very nice vehicle, lol. It has given me the opportunities to meet some of the most wonderful people in the world and bring them a bit of happiness. I mean, I get paid to go to parties, meet people, and make them happy. How great is that? Magic, to me, is that opportunity. And, you know what, that opportunity isn't only available to magicians, or performers. It's available to all of us. Going out and trying to make people happy is something we can all do. After all, Anything Is Possible. That's real magic. Thanks for having me here- it's been a blast! Jamie D. Grant is the creator of the world-famous "Anything Is Possible" bottle and a professional magician. Visit http://www.jamiedgrant.com or http://www.whatizit.net to learn more and visit http://www.fantasmamagic.com to pick up the Limited Edition David Blaine version (only 44 have been made)! I just realized that I laugh a lot, lol. Hope you liked the interview! ~jamie
TRICK OF THE YEAR: Industrial Revelation, BOOK OF THE YEAR: The Approach, The AIP Bottle, and my new book Scenic 52, can all be found over here: SendWonder.com
Kindness takes practice. My TEDx talk |
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dmoses Inner circle 2261 Posts |
Nice interview Jamie-- and a beautiful bottle.
But I can't believe you didn't tell us about your upcoming article in Bluff Magazine! d
"You're a comedian. You wanna do mankind a service, tell funnier jokes."
TPR by Dave Moses and Iain Dunford T-shirts for Magicians and Mentalists |
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