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Karl is coming to Singapore! Click here to his magic lecture!
Karl Hein is magician and a renowned magic creator of practical and commercial effects/routines. Highly praised by top international magicians such Bob Sheets, Bill Malone, Cody Fisher and Paul Cummins. I am excited to attend Karl Hein’s upcoming lecture!
Known for his card tricks, Karl Hein is also skilled in coins, ropes, bills and more!
I managed to catch up with Karl Hein for an interview.
Enjoy the interview.
Alvin Terence: Thank you for taking some time to do this interview with me!
Karl Hein: No problem, I always enjoying talking about magic and hanging out with magicians. I am really looking forward to visiting Singapore for the first time and meeting everyone that comes to my lecture.
AT: How did the idea of The Heinstein Shuffle come about?
KH: When I was growing up I played a lot of card games with my grandparents. So, I was able to do dovetail shuffle with a bridge and an overhand shuffle from an early age. When I became seriously interested in magic as a teenager I wanted to develop false shuffles that looked like my natural shuffles. At the time, I did a decent Zarrow shuffle but I found that for most of my performances I didn’t have a table or a close-up pad so I really wanted to create a great false shuffle that could be done in the hands. I came up with the idea of the Heinstein Shuffle but I was discouraged by how I thought it looked in the earlier stages of development. Then, I saw a magician use a variation of the Ron Wohl Ravelli shuffle that used a springing of the cards to simulate a bridge and I realized that my idea was very possible. [full interview only available for IBM Ring 115 Members]
AT: How long did it take you to master The Heinstein Shuffle?
KH: I would say it took me 2-4 years to get the Heinstein Shuffle to where it is now. However, as the creator it took a lot more time to develop then someone that would try to learn it today because I didn’t have a crystal clear goal of what I was going for. It’s always easier to do something once you know it’s possible to do. Furthermore, when I started teaching it to other magicians (after the first year or two) I made additional tweaks that you only learn when trying to show someone the detail of what you are doing. I wouldn’t say that I actually mastered it until I could casually do it in performance without thinking about it. I have met magicians that picked up the basic idea almost
immediately and others that it took a couple of years to look good (but who knows how much time they actually spent on it over those years). [full interview only available for IBM Ring 115 Members]
AT: Your hat has become your trademark. How did that come about?
KH: The blue hat in my logo was one that I purchased at a Juggling Convention when the Poll hat was first released. I originally bought it to practice juggling moves but then I started wearing it so I would stand out at events. Since I perform at a lot of Bar Mitzvahs I found that if I wore a black hat guests would think I was a Rabbi. [full interview only available for IBM Ring 115 Members]
AT: Will you ever perform without your hat now?
KH: I almost always wear a hat when I perform at close-up events but I don’t wear the blue hat anymore. My logo for family shows has changed slightly to a black hat with blue trim since I do a lot more high end private parties and corporate events now. Now I only wear the bowler style hat for family shows. [full interview only available for IBM Ring 115 Members]
AT: How important is it do you think a performer should have his/her own personality?
KH: If you are going to perform magic professionally I would say that developing a unique personality/brand/character is the most important thing you can do. You will be much more successful in every way if clients hire you because of who you are instead of what you do. It takes time to find your own personality (especially if you are between the ages of 10 – 25 yrs) and then figure out which aspects of your personality you want to accentuate, eliminate or create anew when developing a brand or performance character. There are many different approaches to take and there are others that are much more qualified to talk at length about the subject than I am. Most magicians will go through 3 phases: [full interview only available for IBM Ring 115 Members]
AT: If you were to summarize your lecture into a paragraph, what would it be?
KH: In my lecture I will perform and teach many of my original effects and routines that I use all the time in my professional performance career. My goal is to make sure that everyone who attends is entertained, learns something new, is inspired to try something new and experiences at least one magical moment that they will remember for a long time. The “Go With the Flow” international lecture focuses primarily on commercial close-up card magic with one or two coin routines although I really try to customize the material taught to each individual magic club. I will also perform my signature Rubik’s cube effect and competition act that is guaranteed to fool and amaze everyone. Don’t miss out on your chance to learn some incredible new magic effects months or years before I release them to retailers.
AT: Thank you for your time!
KH: Thanks!
