Justin Willman Performs Magic and Comedy in Dispensary With Doug Benson in New Special Airing Tonight
Justin Willman Performs Magic and Comedy in Sleight of Hand
Comedian and magician Justin Willman’s brand new special, “Sleight of Mouth” airs tonight at 12:30am eastern time, 11:30 CT. In the special, Willman combines magic and comedy in a variety show format that includes a performance in front of a live audience, digital shorts, stand up comedy special guests, and an unforgettable segment with Doug Benson that takes place in a pot dispensary. We were excited to talk with Justin about his new special, his tour, and his take on combining the world of comedy with magic.
Willman is a skilled magician, and a great comedian, and he combines the two disciplines effortlessly. But what’s really fun about the special is how he plays with the ideas of magic and comedy. Willman’s signature is to let the audience believe that he has given away the trick- and that it was so simple the whole time. It’s a thrill to feel like you’ve figured it all out, and surprising to see how easily fooled you are. And just while you have let your guard down, feeling smart and satisfied, Willman yanks the rug back from under you again with his end game– a bigger trick that leaves you simultaneously amazed, dumbfounded and profoundly aware that you know nothing, you figured nothing out, and he was holding the cards the entire time.
I enjoy getting away with the idea that I can actually make people think that the trick is really as easy as I’m telling you it is. And then in the end of course it’s not.
It works, he said, because people love the idea of being ‘let in’ or even just being given the illusion that you’re letting them in on the secret. But it only works if you still fool them at the end. There are moments in the special where everyone gets to be ‘in on the trick’ and some moments where the tv audience gets to laugh watching others be completely fooled. Of course we won’t give anything away, but one of the latter takes place when Willman visits a pot dispensary with comedian Doug Benson acting as magician’s assistant. According to Justin, “It really is all about perspective, where you’re watching from- literally your point of view. If I was there in the pot store I imagine I’d be fooled too, but watching on tv those guys look like stoned idiots.”
There are other guests too, like Paul Scheer, and a group of very smart kids getting in on the act where Willman gets to “kind of be a jerk.” The variety show component came from the first incarnation of the show- which took place live at Nerdmelt and Meltdown in Los Angeles. Willman explained:
“At first it was a talk show which is kind of where the phrase ‘Slight of Mouth’ became accurate. My favorite parts of that format was teaching a magic trick to our guests or doing some sort of collaboration with our guests there on the stage. I think the comedians really love the idea of being let in to the magic world and getting a crash course in being able to pull off a trick was really exciting for them. And the audiences really liked seeing someone that they already know and love who is super funny, do something that they have never done before. It’s like what’s great about Dancing With the Stars. It’s really fun to see people shine at something outside of their area of expertise. So that’s the remnant that stuck around when we converted it into the tv show.”
Every time they started to make a list of ideas for that segment, going to a pot dispensary with Doug Benson was at the top of the list.
Magic takes a lot of training, and becoming a headlining comedian is something that can take decades to do. Willman told us that he’s just beginning now to figure out how to combine the two. He started learning the magic side of things when he was just twelve, learning slight of hand skills and practicing them. It took about ten years till he felt like he was really mastering the magic side of things. It wasn’t until he was about 22 years old that he started trying to figure out how to present the magic in a way that was comedic. “So I did my magic training, and now I’m in comedy school and then just recently trying to figure out ways to bring them together and create something kind of like we did with this show where they can shine equally.” And learning comedy, has helped him to strengthen his magic skills in ways he hadn’t expected, necessarily.
“I feel like what I’ve learned from comedy is, when you’re writing a joke– and you’re trying to craft some material– you start out with this idea and you kind of workshop it on stage. And every night, you try to pick away why some word is clunky and I think essentially you’re just trimming it down to say what you want to say in as few words as possible and get the laughs. And I’m learning that same recipe applies to magic. The simpler the plot is, the simpler the idea, the easier it is, so the audience can wrap their heads around what you’re going for and what the trick is. When its done, you want people to be able to describe that trick in a few words to somebody. It can’t be all convoluted and messy. Confusion is not magic. So I feel like I learned that same comedic approach in writing a clean joke, applies to magic and I don’t know if I would have discovered that otherwise.”
His love of the craft was inspired by the magic of guys like Lance Burton and David Copperfield — both of whom have become friends and mentors to Willman. “Penn and Teller were always big inspirations and still are, Steve Martin was a big hero, I just loved his silly prop comedy days, and Mac King is a great Vegas magician who is so funny, he’s probably one of the magicians whose made me laugh the hardest. He’s one of the magicians who created a very defined persona and character around being a magician that I think inspired me a lot,” Willman said.
Getting the special on Comedy Central has been a dream come true for Justin, and he’s hoping for the opportunity to follow it up with other specials or even a series. “In this special we used magic and technology and explored that theme but there’s so many other themes that I’d like to explore, cause I think comedy lets you tap in one way and magic lets you add a whole nother layer.” Willman feels that in the same way that comedy helps you to tackle controversial subjects– magic helps you go even further. “There’s something about magic that softens the blow,” he explained. So he’d like to explore other topics through magic in additional episodes– like law, religion, and the way our lives seem to revolve around food. “It would be fun to explore religion through magic, recreate bible miracles and dig into these thing and see how amazing these things would have been if thousands and thousands of years ago you saw a guy turn water into wine. It becomes inspiration for the Bible but these days would be taken as a parlor trick. It’s all context and becomes interesting to explore.”
Sleight of Hand airs TONIGHT at 12:30am immediately following Justin’s appearance on @midnight. Don’t miss it. Justin’s new live touring show “Fake Believe” is on tour now! Coming up, Justin hits up Providence RI, Boston, Chicopee MA, Buffalo NY, Ft Lauderdale FL, Tempe AZ, Homestead PA, and Denver CO. Go to justinwillman.com for ticket information.
April 9 Providence, RI – Comedy Connection
April 10 Boston, MA – The Wilbur Theater
April 11 Chicopee, MA – Hu Ke Lau
April 23-25 Buffalo, NY – Helium Comedy Club
May 14-17 Fort Lauderdale, FL – Improv Comedy Club
June 4-7 Tempe, AZ – Improv Comedy Club
June 11-14 Homestead, PA – Pittsburgh Improv Comedy Club
June 18-21 Denver, CO – Comedy Works South
