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This week Jonah connects with Ekat, an incredible magician, youtuber, cardist, and so much more. Together they’ll talk about creating content online, the difficulty in marketing magic, and the challenges that come up when trying to ethically review magic products.

You Gotta Join The Circus 

Ekat was first introduced to magic while still living in Russia, where her favourite place was visiting the circus. Mesmerized by a magician who was performing for attendees waiting in the line, her first question to him was, “how did you do that”? The magician told her that if she wanted to learn how she’d have to join the circus. She didn’t join the circus but she did take to heart the lesson to take control, seek out, and teach herself the secrets of magic.

To Review or Not To Review

Ekat has made a name for herself on Youtube as a reviewer of magic products. Together, she and Jonah talk about her process of choosing which products to review, how she reviews them, and the ethical questions she has to ask herself when deciding to review magic products in the first place since even talking about them in a critical way can annoy members of the community who would rather these discussions be kept out of the public. 

Similarly, Ekat got started on Youtube by documenting her journey learning different magic tricks and teaching them to her viewers. So what tricks does she teach, and under what circumstances would she choose not to give a tutorial? Hint, the answer is in whether or not the trick is old and universal vs one that is still being actively marketed by a living creator.  

Read The Comments? 

Given that Ekat is on Youtube, and sometimes stirring up controversy by simply talking about how some tricks are done or reviewing products and sharing honest critiques, it’s no surprise that the comments from some in the community can be harsh. Ekat will share her thoughts on how to handle criticism online, how to navigate it as a business owner where you don’t have a choice about whether or not to post content if you want to stay in business, and the lessons she’s learned facing her harshest critics.

Wrap-Up

Endless Chain

Bao. It’s really unique what he does with TikTok, and he understood the whole influencer marketing thing with his videos with milk.

What do you like about modern magic? What do you not like?

I really like all of the development with magic apps. Technology has to evolve and the more advanced it is the more it does feel like magic. I love that it’s evolving. I hope to see more seamless integration with technology

One thing that I don’t like it is that there are too many things being released right now. It’s become too much of a market releasing things without quality. It’s too much of a machine.

Take home point

I would say, you have to do what you love. If you don’t like creating content, don’t create content! Try to find a way to marry what you like with your magic.

Plugs

Ekat’s Youtube channel is the center of where they create content: youtube.com/user/babycatxd

You can also slide into Ekat’s DMs on Instagram with your questions: @ekatmagic

And keep an eye out for Ekat’s Penguin Magic Lecture.