Man-to-Man with Steven Bridges

From small-town boy to London busker to YouTube phenomenon, Steven Bridges sheds some light on how magic has influenced, and continues to bless, his life

Thirty year old Londoner Steven Bridges is no stranger to the world of magic.  For over 20 years, he’s baffled and dazzled street crowds, table hopped for restauranteurs, amazed private parties, and performed at several high-class venues.  He can often be found street performing in the areas around Leicester Square and Covent Garden. 

Among magicians throughout the world, Steven is perhaps best known for his self-titled YouTube channel, where he uploaded his first magic video in May of 2012, and continues to publish videos showcasing his tricks, productions, and deepest thoughts.  In 10 years, he has garnered more than 350,000 subscribers to his channel.

Outside of the Magic community (and much to the chagrin of the British mafioso), Steven is a renown casino card-counter.  His performing has stretched out to touch millions of fans, making his big-screen debut as “Saucer Head” in the 2018 Star Wars Anthology film, Solo: a Star Wars Story.  He's also appeared on SkyOne and The Discovery Channel.

Undoubtedly, his biggest, most rewarding accomplishment is co-founding Magic Mastery, an online membership community for magicians of all skill levels, along side Danny Goldsmith and Jacob Daniels.

…. and he’s a Sagittarius!!

So, join me as we take a deep dive into the life and times of Steven Bridges.

What was your childhood like growing up?

I grew up in the countryside, in the north-east of England.  Really nice place aesthetically, but by the time I was a teenager, I was desperate to move to a city.  When I ended up at Teesside University, I was amazed that I was within a 2 minute walk from a supermarket.  That blew my mind.

What first sparked your interest in magic?  At what age?

I was around 10 years old when my Dad showed me David Blaine's Street Magic special.  I think it was partly because my Dad was so excited about it, and that enthusiasm was infectious! But I remember instantly, at that moment deciding that this is what I was going to do with my life! 

Who are your early magic influences?  Who influences you now?

Greg Wilson, Ken Dyne, Matthew J. Dowden are the first names that spring to mind of people that heavily influenced me in the early days.  Ben Earl, Christian Grace, Dani DaOrtiz, Juan Tamariz, Pit Hartling, Ollie Mealing.... too many to list! 

What were the earliest tricks that you mastered?

I think we've all dabbled a bit with various tricks when young, so it's hard to pinpoint a first.  But one of my earliest memories of performing was doing a mini magic show for my family.

I was doing a “spectator cuts the aces”style effect and had taken the aces out of the deck ahead of time, ready to place them on top.  But I forgot to do so!  So when each card was turned over, it was an indifferent card.  I quickly ran to the other room, grabbed the aces, ran back and placed each on top of the four packets.  It wasn't amazing, but it did get a good laugh! 

Have you found people to always be supportive of your magic?

Oh yeah, I'm really lucky in that regard.  My parents have always had a healthy dose of what's realistic, but that was perfectly balanced with supporting me in my passion.

I have a great family that I've always gotten on really well with and who have really supported what I do.  Despite my life having been a series of risky career decisions, my parents have always supported me.

My Dad would regularly take me to magic conventions, gigs, and shows.  That support was incredibly impactful. Not to mention my Grandad, who was always incredibly helpful when it came to watching and giving me performance feedback.

They helped me understand that magic was a somewhat risky career pursuit, but were totally in support of it.

When asked about careers or “jobs” outside of magic, Steven replies with some jocularity, recalling some previous work experience. 

“Oh man !

The closest thing I've had to a 'proper job' was when I worked as a freelance radio presenter.  I did three shows per week and scraped by.”

Steven made his big-screen debut as “Saucer Head” in the 2018 Star Wars Anthology film, Solo: a Star Wars Story

Today’s situation, however, is much more interesting for Steven, not to mention a bit more lucrative.  “At present, I am a card counter, and continue to play blackjack professionally at any casinos that will let me in (which, unfortunately in the UK, is basically zero).  So, I mainly have to go to the US to play now.”

“I also run a membership for magicians along with my partners, Danny Goldsmith and Jacob Daniels, called Magic Mastery”. (a link to Steven’s community is provided at the end of the article below)

It’s one thing as a child to decide to become a performer.  But as an adult, that decision sometimes becomes clouded.  What was the catalyst that made you decide to perform full-time?

To me it was just never a thing I considered not doing.  I always just fully assumed that's what I would do.  My thinking was, 'If there are many people doing this for a living, then there's no reason why I can't be one of them'. 

But there have been a few times in my career where I've had to make total blind leaps of faith.  When I first moved to London, I managed it by getting a residency that just about covered my rent.  But that was it. 

And later, when I quit radio to gig full time, I didn't have many gigs lined up.  It was a 'quit first, figure it out later' approach. 

It was a similar thing with Street Performing.  I went from never having done a street show, to being a full time street performer instantly.  And I was not good at street performing at first.  So, I had to grind out a lot of not-great shows in the winter just to get by.  But it was all worth it! 

At the time, I was very much of the belief that you just go all in, and figure it out along the way.  That if I put myself in a situation where I absolutely needed to succeed (or else I can't make the rent), then I would succeed. 

In retrospect, I think that's an unnecessarily risky way of living and, personally, I did get quite lucky. 

When it became a “job”, did you find that magic lost its mystique and the “sparkle” that it had when you first fell in love with it?

Sort of, but only in ways.  For me, It was more that the magic I was performing professionally just felt different compared to the magic I was passionate about. 

So with street magic, for example - my street show felt like it was it's own thing.  Even though I was doing magic, I didn't really think of it as a 'magic show'; I thought of it as a 'street show'.  I could have been doing a unicycle show instead and it would have felt the same.   

So for me, that show felt totally separate to whatever effects I was working on in my spare time. 

In regards to doing YouTube professionally, the only thing I didn't like is that it really forced me to work quickly.  I had to constantly be thinking about the next video and that was not necessarily conducive to performing the best magic I possibly could.  But on the other hand, having to do so many videos really did wonders for sparking my creativity.

What frustrates you the most in your profession?  What are the greatest rewards?

With street performing specifically, I think it's a very time-intense job.  Which is weird, because you're not necessarily doing shows constantly.  But your whole day is consumed by street performing.  And it's energy-intensive!  Each day I'd get home and be completely exhausted. Performing a few of those shows per day really takes it out of you!

That, as well as the guilt that you get for not working on the weekends or during the holiday seasons.  When the weather is good, you never feel like you can take a day off. 

The best thing about busking is just how raw it feels.  You're just making a crowd appear out of nowhere and bringing everyone together to have fun!  That and the autonomy of the job.  You can go out and earn whenever you like (unless the weather is bad). 

Today, what’s a good sized hat compared to what a good sized hat was when you first started performing?

That’s really impossible to answer.  You could go to a small street and do lots of small shows where you don't make much money per show, but in the end, you make more than if you had queued somewhere to perform and did a big show.  A good hat at one pitch might be a bad hat at another.  And then there's time of year, the weather, etc.

What environment is your favorite in which to perform?  What about favorite crowds, ages, places?  What about LEAST favorite / most DREADED?

I think I excel most at the mingling cocktail party type environment.  That's always the medium I've felt like I'm best at.  I'm also decent at street shows, but it really depends on the day.

I struggle the most with stage.  Something about not being able to see the audience throws me off, and, in general, I have the least experience with it. 

What is the ONE book you would recommend to someone starting in magic today?

Card College Volume 1, by Roberto Giobbi

Are you writing now?  Is a book in your future plans?

I haven't considered writing a book! But you never know….

Do you consider your current magic act to be complex or simple?  Do you incorporate lots of effects?  Or just a few effects stretched out for time?

I guess it’s slightly more on the complex side of things?  I quite like card methods that I have to start a trick or two before I actually get to the trick I'm using  the method for.  I tend to naturally do more effects rather than few. Although, I prefer to watch few effects if they are given time to breathe. 

You just completely bombed a show; it went so far south, you don’t expect to see it again until spring.  However, you managed to crawl your way out of the ashes and cross the finish line.  Where was it, what were you performing in your act, how did it tank, and what did you do once it was over?

Hahaha!  Oh man.  This has happened a few times.  The main time that springs to mind is when I did “bill-to-lemon” for my street show.  It was my finale piece and I realllllly hyped it up.  I opened up the lemon and there was no bill inside!  I honestly just stood there and laughed.  Sometimes in life, you've just gotta embrace your failures!

I did finish the show and held out my hat, and I remember someone came up to me, tipped me and said, "That was awful".

After the show I spent time figuring out exactly what went wrong and how to prevent it from happening again.

I wrapped up the interview with Steven by asking him to share some of his thoughts about what he felt was important for magicians of all skill levels and experiences to know.

“Well, one thing I'd just like to stress is just how much of a fan I am in mastering the basics.  One of the most useful things I've done is to literally go back, re-study and re-learn sleights that I already know, paying extra care to the exact finger position, etc.  Sometimes I think I'm doing a move well, but when I 're-learn' it, the move improves enormously !“

“That's one of the things we try to really stress at Magic Mastery.   Many magicians (myself included!) start learning advanced material while still having major gaps in their knowledge of the basics.  They have holes in their foundations.“

“But really, I think that if you get a mastery of the fundamentals, your magic will improve massively.  That's not to say that advanced material isn't great!  It's just that, in the desire to pursue more advanced magic, we can often overlook establishing and growing really solid foundations.”

I strongly encourage everyone with the desire to grow and improve as a magician to check out the Magic Mastery membership community that Steven, Danny Goldsmith and Jacob Daniels created.  It’s indeed a valuable tool for magicians of all skill levels and joining is a breeze.  Just click on the link here: Magic Mastery (or on the logo above) to check it out for yourself.  I guarantee you won’t regret it.

I want to thank Steven for his time and openness in sharing his life, as well as to thank you for joining me in learning more about this truly amazing man.

And be sure to mark this on your calendar: remember to send your many wishes to Steven for a most happy birthday on December 15th.  He’ll be 31!

….. man, if I only knew then …..

Cheers !!