“The maximum that a beginner needs to buy is a deck of cards”: an interview with the magician Masomka

The hero of our interview showed his first trick at the age of 13 at school break. A lot has changed since then: now he gathers large audiences and leads social networks, to which more than 10 million people have subscribed. We asked him to share his magical secrets and found out how he managed to become popular.

About tricks

Why did you get interested in magic tricks? What were the first steps?

— I was 13 years old. I was scouring the internet and I came across a video in which a magician showed a simple trick: he “teleported” an elastic band from one pair of fingers to another. Then it struck me so much that at first I thought: "Editing."

But then the magician revealed the secret of its implementation. I learned that doing the same is not so difficult, and learned the movements. This trick started my history of tricks.

The next day I came to school and started boasting: "Look how I can do it." Everyone liked it so much that they started asking me to show something else. That same evening, I opened the Internet and began to learn other magic tricks. So, at school, every day I surprised my friends with something new.

- Wow! That is, is it realistic to learn a trick in an evening?

— Yes, some simple tricks that do not require manual dexterity can be learned in 5 minutes. Those where specific skills are needed require from a day to several months.

How did you reach a large audience?

- From the age of 14–15, I began performing at holidays: weddings, corporate parties, birthdays. Audiences were of different sizes: from 20 to 300 people. For that age, it seemed very cool to me. Yes, I still think so!

I received the first order almost immediately, as I told about myself in social networks. I made a photo session, riveted a short video about my tricks and posted it in the VKontakte group. A week later, I received the first call - they invited me to speak at the wedding.

During the show it was very scary, my hands were trembling. But in the end, I performed successfully, everyone liked it.

@masomka Would you be scared? 😂 Full video in our camp account @mylovecamp ♬ original sound — Max Vinogradov🎩

After that, the guests of the event advised me to their friends. Word of mouth started. And then I began to actively conduct social networks, and people in my city of Ivanovo began to recognize me.

Is it possible to live only on the income from the show?

- Yes, most magicians live like that. Their earnings vary depending on their level and where they live. For example, if a magician from the region is just starting to develop, then the cost of his show can reach 1000-3000 rubles. A more experienced specialist receives from 3,000–10,000 rubles per performance. In Moscow, the average check is 12,000–15,000 rubles.

A magician can have 4-8 performances at weddings, corporate parties, birthdays per month. Most often on weekends. Although, depending on the season, a person can have either one event a week or five. In winter, there are usually a lot of corporate parties.

- Is it true that from the moment you performed at the wedding, you did not think about another career path?

“It happened even earlier. The moment I performed my first rubber band trick, I got such strong emotions from people that I realized: I want to continue.

Focus is the only thing that charges me so much.

Do you have your signature tricks?

– I don’t have a favorite trick, but there are tricks that regularly bring a lot of emotions to the audience. For example, I really like it when a magician draws a small figure on his hand: a cross, a heart, a circle. Then he erases it and "teleports" it to the viewer's hand.

More recently, I showed this trick: a person conceives his favorite song in his head, and I guess it and turn it on on his phone.

Have your skills helped you in life? Perhaps, like in a movie, with the help of a trick, you managed to meet a girl?

- In fact, tricks greatly increase the loyalty of other people. For example, at first I showed tricks not only to classmates, but also to teachers. As a result, they treated me more kindly, gave me better grades, and asked me less questions.

You can also use focus познакомиться with a person. For example, it is original to take a girl's phone number. She writes it on the card, the card disappears and ends up in your pocket.

About blogs

At what point did you decide to start a blog? How it was?

- At the age of 15, I already wanted to blog, but then it seemed something complicated: you need a team, equipment. Everything is expensive and difficult. It stopped me.

But then, closer to my 20s, TikTok appeared. I realized that I can easily shoot video on my phone and I don’t need any operators.

I turned on the camera against a white wall, showed simple tricks. And these videos flew to a thousand views! Then I thought it was a lot and cool. And now 1000 is a good result.

- Do you remember what was the first video that flew to a very large audience?

- Yes. I showed a trick with a Rubik's cube: I disassembled and reassembled it in one second. This is a simple trick, but it looks very impressive. This video has reached 100,000 views.

@masomka We are already 50,000❤️. What subject would you like to see the focus on? #rivers♬ Old Town Road - Lil Nas X

I was in complete shock. Felt super popular! It energized me to make videos even more. Every day I got up as if to work and filmed videos.

Have you had any failures? For example, when did the video not fly?

- There is always a risk that the video will not fly. But for the most part, I didn’t encounter any major difficulties along the way. It seems to me that it was not very difficult to promote a blog, although it took quite a lot of time. I think it came easy because I really enjoyed it. If some videos received few views, I did not get upset and continued to test new formats. The main thing is not to give up, then everything will work out.

— Have you managed to identify any “win-win formulas” thanks to which the video will definitely fly in? Can you tell me about your secrets?

- Yes. For 4 years I understood how to get promoted in social networks. Moreover, the methods that I have identified for myself can be attributed to absolutely any niche: from a lawyer’s blog to a seamstress’s social networks.

For myself, I single out three main factors that affect the popularity of the video, regardless of the platform, be it TikTok, YouTube or others. social media.

The first principle sounds like this: the starting 2 seconds are the most important.

During this moment, you must hold the viewer's attention and prevent him from scrolling through your video. How to do it?

• Use a bright and unusual background that will immediately grab attention. Beautiful locations and colorful colors attract people and make them stop at your video. For example, if you are shooting at home, you can purchase colored lamps. If you shoot video on the street and behind you the incredible beauty of nature, this will also be a huge plus.
• Add subtitles. If the viewer has not only a picture, but also a rapidly changing text, this will help to keep their attention even more, because it will make them read it. In addition, often people watch TikTok or YouTube Shorts on public transport without using headphones. Subtitles will help them understand what's going on in your video without sound, and they'll be less likely to switch it. In order to add subtitles, it is not necessary to enter text manually. I can recommend a program cap cut - it turns speech into text automatically.
• If your video is conversational, then say a catchy phrase. For example, “That's why you don't…”, “Top 3 ways how…”, “Did you know that…”.
• Use unusual gestures, facial expressions. Add more action. For example, start the video with a dance. I often show a quick and effective trick at the beginning of the video. For example, I turn a playing card into a clock. This immediately catches the attention of the viewer and makes him stop at my video.

- Is it clear now! What are the second and third success factors then?

- The second rule is the maximum retention of your viewer throughout the video. Now people have a very distracted attention. brain it is much more difficult for a modern person to perceive long monotonous videos with one frame without dynamics. This is probably due to the presence of many "clip thinking", in which a person receives information fragmented, in short chunks and vivid images, cannot concentrate and constantly jumps from one to other.

Therefore, to keep attention, it is worth using dynamic frames that change every 2-4 seconds. This can be done artificially, with the help of editing. For example, zooming in and out of a static image. Or you can shoot and think through the video so that the frames change every 2-4 seconds, like in a movie.

At the same time, if you have a conversational video on an expert topic, it is not necessary to shoot all the items yourself. You can add frames from stock videos.

The use of subtitles will also help here. As I said above, they increase immersion in your video and make the person watch it more thoughtfully.

And, of course, nothing will come of it without an interesting topic. I'm sure it can be found in any niche. These can be practical or educational videos, mini-vlogs, trends and challenges, motivational tips, and more.

The third rule is that your video should want to be shared.

Every time you do something new videoask yourself a few questions. Would you like to share this video? If not, why not? How to change it? If people share your video, the algorithms of any social network consider that it is worthy of promotion and help it gain views.

About the secrets of tricks

Some people think that magicians shouldn't reveal their secrets. What do you think about this?

- Focuses are mainly divided into two subgroups: stage and micromagic. But there are also "camera" tricks that can be shown exclusively on video. Such tricks, as well as childish and simple tricks, in principle, are not a pity to disclose. The magical community has nothing to lose from this.

@masomkaThere will be many cool secrets soon😉♬ original sound — Max Vinogradov🎩

However, the secrets of stage, classical tricks, in my opinion, do not need to be disclosed. Because magic tricks make you believe in a miracle at least for a minute. It seems to me that this is very valuable in our time. When you manage to pull a person out of his problems and give children's emotions, it's worth a lot.

"Then how can young Padawans learn the art of tricks if the masters don't share their secrets?"

- Most magicians in Russia are self-taught. Usually their path looks like this: people begin to learn tricks from open sources, gradually enter the community, find like-minded people and already share closed materials among themselves.

In addition, magic forums are held in Russia every year. Magicians not only from Russia, but also from the CIS gather there for several days. They share their chips. There are also various paid groups and courses, books.

For example, I sell two sets of magicians for teenagers and children, thanks to which they can learn simple tricks. These kits contain props with which they can immediately, having prepared in 5-20 minutes, show some kind of trick.

- What tricks, in your opinion, should I start with?

- You can start with microfocuses with everyday objects: coins, cards, rubber bands. It is worth choosing those tricks that require less manual dexterity. Let's say if I want to get a coin out of nowhere, it will be difficult. But making a coin disappear is very simple. This can be learned in 20 minutes.

Usually the maximum that a beginner needs to purchase is a deck of cards. With it, there are a huge number of tricks - both simple and complex. This is one of the indispensable requisites of a magician.

- Could you give advice to readers who want to master the world of magic?

“The most important thing is to start. There are different purposes for learning tricks. Someone just wants to surprise their friends, trump: "Look how I can." And someone wants to connect with it all his life. But no matter which path you choose, you need to constantly develop.

When you are learning tricks, practice them regularly in front of a mirror. If you succeeded confidently 10 times, you are ready! Don't be afraid to show off your skills. The more you show tricks, the faster you get rid of the fear of the audience and develop artistry.