Jonathan Molo

A magician recently said something to me that I haven’t been able to shake: “We aren’t in the magic business. We’re in the people business.” Now, I can already hear some magicians saying: “Yeah, yeah. I know that.” But do we? Because knowing it and building your entire show around it are two very different things. As magicians, we can obsess over the method, the newest trick, the perfect sleight, the strongest reaction. How do I fool them? How do I impress them? How do I make sure they know...

Lately, I’ve had friends in magic open up to me about their struggles. Trying to build a career. Feeling overlooked. Wondering when their opportunity will come. Feeling like it’s them against the world. I understand because I’ve been there. I’ve spent nearly a decade building Molo Magic, but the hardest thing I had to build wasn’t the business. It was me. I was the quiet Asian kid. Shy, timid and unsure of myself. Life knocked me down, and for a long time I carried anger and resentment with...

There’s a reason some magicians don’t perform for kids. Kids are honest. Brutally honest. An adult might politely clap when they’re not impressed. A seven-year-old will look you dead in the eye and yell: “I KNOW HOW YOU DID THAT!” They don’t. But they’ll say it with the confidence of someone who’s been studying magic for 40 years. And honestly, that’s one of the things I’ve grown to love about performing for kids. I didn’t start out doing children’s shows. I started as a close-up magician. At...