Mentors, Muses and Mistakes - Blake Vogt's Creative Processes
As most of you would know, when you're in such a worldwide community such as the art of magic, there are certain magicians who are looked up to - idolised in the world of deception. Be it legendary TV Magicians, such as David Copperfield or Penn & Teller - or more 'underground' performers, known for their second-to-none sleight of hand, ideas or their creations. Someone who I have admired and respected (as have many) is Blake Vogt. Blake has created custom effects for David Copperfield, David Blaine, and other top magicians all over the world. He's performed on some of the largest stages in the world, and has appeared on The Ellen Show, America's Got Talent, Fool Us - even a cameo in the Marvel film 'Ant-Man and the Wasp', teaching Paul Rudd sleight of hand. As well as his performing abilities, Blake has created best-selling effects for magicians, effects that are performed all over the world, and guarantee an amazing response. While many performers release tricks that they rarely use, Blake is well-known for using lots of his effects in his performances - be it his Acro Index or the Invisible Stool Illusion.
I've always struggled with creating my own effects. I'm much better at combining several effects together into an act - such as my serial number / lottery prediction effect that earned me a place in the finals of Young Magician of the Year at the Magic Circle. I'm fascinated by the creative process of others, ways that they come up with their own routines, purely as a way to see if it would work for my own purposes. When I spoke with Blake, we explored the fascinating journey of invention - from unexpected inspirations to the lessons learned from outright failures.
A way that I have experimented is looking at other 'non-traditional' influences from the outside world. Blake himself was an industrial design major in collage, so while his background is in designing, he uses those skills in ways that his fellow majors would never dream of. Because of this, as those skilled in that industry would know, the ability to prototype and face constant failure is used thoroughly. As Blake puts it, 'I just learned that you want a lot of bad ideas. I'm much better at trying to come up with 100 bad ideas then to give 3 good ones. For me, when I try to write down 100 bad ideas, I usually fail and a few good ideas slip in there'. This concept of extracting bad concepts in comparison to forcing yourself to come up with concepts that would work, not only makes the creative process more interesting, but makes it easier as well. So many of the books I read on magic contain tricks that seem to be merely a 'pipe-dream', either a ridiculous method or a useless presentation. But it seems that immersing yourself in ideas that may seem to be so obscure and abstract (even if they're not) will stay somewhere in the back of one's head, so when an idea that seems to be stupid and nonsensical appears, it might jog your memory back to that book. (which is why books are still superior to online downloads, they will always exist, and aren't contained on a single link!)
This idea of pushing yourself in the opposite direction - designing bad ideas instead of good - also gets rid of a common occurrence that many magicians face - a creative block. I find that the best way to overcome this is to immerse yourself in a completely different subject, and it seems that Blake does to. He told me that his 'biggest cheat code for solving a problem is obsessing over it until I get stuck, then completely putting it away and doing something else.' While many magicians (myself included) have been pressured for time to create effects, it seems that Blake takes his time for creating, allowing time for the effect to develop and only fully perform it when it's 'perfect' - yet another example on the genius of his thinking. Blake later mentioned that his illusion 'The Invisible Stool' has gone through 37 iterations, where the gimmick is constantly being tweaked and perfected, to a point where he is still working on it now. There are still ideas that I keep on coming back to, working on, then 'putting away'; for example, I've always wanted to do a newspaper test, which culminates with every other piece restoring, except for the one they chose, leaving a large hole in the centre. While I've been told that others have had similar ideas (Guy Hollingworth for instance), it's still something that I'll keep on working on.
Yet Blake is quick to note that most of his tricks were initially failures - something which many shy away from under the fear of getting exposed or awkwardness on stage. While all of us strive for perfection, a true vision of a trick that seems impossible to fail, by the time we get around to performing it, it just doesn't work. However constant refinement and coming back to it, months and months later, can make it into something beautiful. I come from an acting background, so I'm constantly going to London to see a new play or musical. One of my favourite writer teams - Mischief Theatre, the creators of 'The Play That Goes Wrong, Peter Pan Goes Wrong, Magic Goes Wrong (in collaboration with Penn & Teller) and most recently, The Comedy About Spies. The writers have previously mentioned that often they have numerous shows on the drawing board at the same time, where they write and rewrite a section, put it away and then come back to it months later until it's in a suitable state. Though as much as time goes on, as much as we desperately clutch onto these effects with the belief that it will eventually work, we need to be able to let go of these creations. As the British writer Sir Arthur Quiller-Couch stated, "whenever you feel an impulse to perpetrate a piece of exceptionally fine writing, obey it—whole-heartedly—and delete it before sending your manuscript to press. Murder your darlings." I believe that the same phrase is suitable for magic - don't be afraid to put down tricks, despite how much you love them.
Speaking of tricks, Blake has been releasing his ingenious effects to magicians for years. While Blake is well known for performing big stage illusions, seen on America's Got Talent and The Ellen Show, he's also well renowned for his close up methods - such as a revolutionary way to split cards, a method that I use regularly. I've struggled for years to separate the three layers of a playing card, and I've watched almost every video download, read every book on the subject to try and finally utilise it in my repertoire. But it was only after seeing Blake's lecture at the 2025 Blackpool Magic Convention that I had thought to have another go, and it was easier than ever. Not only has Blake thought out every detail, but he also teaches it superbly. Despite the video on Blake's website being shot a while back, there is nothing new to be said on the topic, because he has worked out and tweaked every small moment in successfully splitting the cards. I've now been able to split a card in about 45 seconds, which isn't a lot, but it's what I could only dream of a couple of years ago. Splitting cards is such a useful tool for any magician - from creating unique, gaff cards to being able to put a borrowed bill between them. That, in my case, was what first drew me to splitting cards, and since learning that skill, it's been in my show every time, and will be for the foreseeable future. Audiences can't fathom that not only are playing cards not one single layer, but that one is able to split the layers and glue them back together again. It creates some killer moments, that I highly recommend for anyone wanting to add some 'miracle moments' into their show.
Another arrow to Blake's quiver is his consulting work. He's consulted for most of the top names in magic, working with huge names in the industry such as Copperfield, Blaine, Willman, Dynamo, Troy, Franco - you name the magician, Blake has probably worked with them. I was curious to find out about his creative process for others, as I thought not only does Blake have to understand the 'style' of the magician, knowing what would and wouldn't work for them, but he's also pushed for time as well. He can't simply put an idea away when people are paying him to create an effect for a TV special that shoots the next month, so I expected some whole new, wild process. But as it turns out, he does just that. He creates an effect, within parameters. It seems that being forced to create an effect within a certain time frame is where Blake goes when he has to rapidly channel his thinking. As Blake already mentioned, when he's creating for himself, with no proper timeline, he's a wild thinker, throwing any ideas out and catching onto the ones that spark. But for the development of others, some rules, a budget and a timeline can put Blake in the proper mindset for that situation. He told me: 'Copperfield and Blaine are such fully developed characters with large bodies of work, is it was easy and fun to invent within the worlds they had already created.'
I was also intrigued at what Blake thought a 'good' magic trick was. Surely having immersed himself in thousands upon thousands of effects would lead him to be able to define a golden trick. But, like most times, I was wrong. The definition of a good magic trick changes every day, and is very subjective for him. Perhaps the best tricks come through evolution, tinkering upon them, performance after performance, which is why Blake records his shows. It's great to know that Blake is a strong believer in the audience reaction of an effect - he cares about his audience, and he wants to give them the best show he can give. Pondering over their response can lead to small changes between each show, that over time, can make a trick something completely different. Those tricks can become bigger and bigger, which is why it's important to make tricks your own. It's all well and good buying the new hyped-up release from an online magic dealer, but if you perform the trick exactly how it says, it won't be you - and your audiences will realise that. Allowing yourself to tweak, change and rewrite can lead to something that is distinctly you. Blake informed me that he is aiming for standing ovations at the end of his show, where the audience not only enjoys themselves, but realises the time and effort put into that effect - something that a shop-bought trick cannot do. Not that I have anything against those effects, as they are marvels, but I believe, and I think Blake does as well, that creating your own effects is so much more fulfilling than buying one.
You can find out more about Blake and his creations here.