Becoming a Death Defying Escape Artist with Demian Aditya

Podcast: Download

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | RSS | More

Demian Aditya has become world famous because of his insane escape acts.  Demian first became interested in magic because of David Copperfield who was on TV regularly in his native Indonesia.  He loves doing the things other magicians ignore.  The black art of Omar Pasha is one of the styles he first embraced.  Later he moved into escapes because they too were being ignored.  His escapes are incredibly dangerous.  He risks his life because he says it makes him feel alive.

Demian feels strongly that the reason his escape act is so powerful is because there is real danger.  The audience knows what he is doing is dangerous.  That engages them and it’s why they can’t look away.  There have been several occasions where he came perilously close to death.  On one occasion while rehearsing a trick his own crew was terrified for his safety.  Demian took a different lesson from that incident than most people.  He thought if he could scare his own crew that much, it would have a huge impact on the audience.

While appearing on America’s Got Talent he astonished audience’s with his Buried Alive escape.  The problem with his act, in Demian’s view, is that he keeps pushing the bar.  Every escape has to be bigger and crazier.  He is currently crafting a new escape that includes the use of quick drying cement.  Needless to say, the risk for this new trick is higher than ever.

When Demian was growing up in Indonesia finding information about magic was extremely difficult.  The internet was still in its infancy and so finding good information was hard.  Adding to the difficulty was the fact that there were very few working magicians in the country.  While in university he met someone who knew a few card tricks.  It took Demian a while to convince him to show him the secret to the trick.  Then in 2002 he met one of the biggest magicians in the country and he truly began his training.  By 2007 he had his own show on Indonesian TV.

Demian has used the internet to promote his career right from the start.  His YouTube channel was initially just used to promote himself to potential clients.  After his first TV show was cancelled he began to use his online presence as his primary ways of communicating with his fans.  After his appearance on AGT his Instagram account exploded in popularity.

Escape attempts are intimidating for the rookie magician.  Demian says you should start small with everyday household objects like duct tape.  The audience eventually will need to believe that you are risking your life.  You can’t start at that level.  You will have to train to get that good and that starts with small escapes first.

What did you learn from the episode?

Jonah loved that Demian encouraged younger magicians to try escapes at home.  Starting small and safely of course.

Tyler was impressed with Demian telling young magicians to embrace the fear of failure both on stage and off.

Demian says he is trying to do something different than what everyone else is doing.

What do you want to tell our audience?

Try to think that there is no box.  Don’t think outside the box.  You’ll still be haunted by the box.  Try to think that there is no box at all.  You can explore anything.

What do you want to ask the audience?

If there was one trick or routine that you could master, what would it be?

Plugs

Demian says you should listen to Discourse in Magic!