05 Banachek
Magicians Society award wanted to distance himself from this concept entirely . “ I wanted to get away from that . I had a problem with that type of presentation so I have always given disclaimers in my show .”
Naturally curious and always inquisitive , Banachek has always maintained a strong and grounded sense of character and authenticity , both on stage and off .
“ I have a lot of curiosity . If I ’ m in a hotel , I want to go places nobody else has been . I want to know where the back hallways are ,” he explains with a grin . “ I ’ ve tried not to be true to what people think the art should be – and instead to be true to myself . I learnt at a very early age not to accept the norm . Anybody that has become really successful in our art , has broken the rules .”
Banachek categorises his audience in three ways : Those who will believe his effects are real , no matter how much he professes they are fake ; the skeptics who would never believe even if he was “ genuine ”, and then there ’ s a large portion in the middle who have never seen mentalism before .
“ I have a responsibility to the last group . We are all fake . We ’ re all using tricks so I have a responsibility in the beginning to tell them ‘ This is not real , it ’ s theatrical , it ’ s a show . I ’ m going to simulate what psychic phenomena would look like if it was genuine .’
Banachek then artfully and very skilfully invites his audiences to completely get swept up and captivated within the storylines so much so that they ’ re completely lost in the effects and totally detached from his overarching premise .
“ I have a responsibility in the middle of the show to remind them , but I want what I do to feel real in the moment , even though I ’ m telling people it ’ s not real . That ’ s really important to me . I want it to look like what a genuine psychic is doing . When I perform effects , I want people to think that I ’ m in their heads , in the moment , and that I know what they ’ re thinking , how they ’ re thinking , and when they ’ re thinking it .
“ And then I want to bring them back to reality . It ’ s a much more ethical approach . My job is not to change people ’ s beliefs . My job is to entertain people .”
“ There ’ s so much psychology in my show and subtleties that people don ’ t see .”
Six nights a week Banachek is busy entertaining crowds at the Strat , the tallest Casino on the strip . But it isn ’ t the glossy dream that everyone makes it out to be .
Running a successful Vegas show involves a lot of grind , a lot of hustle , and a lot of persistence if you ’ re to truly achieve any real level of longevity or success .
“ People think it ’ s glamorous . People think you just come here and do a show , but it ’ s not that easy . Most shows come out here and they last two , three , four , maybe six months max , if they ’ re lucky – and then