Desert Island Tricks

About Desert Island Tricks

Each week, host Jamie Daws invites one of the biggest guests in the world of magic to maroon themselves on the Alakazam Magic desert island. They are allowed to take with them 8 tricks, 1 book, 1 banishment and 1 non magic item that they use for magic! They even get a welcome package with a deck of card inside! We discuss their 'can't live without' lists and why those items were chosen. Episodes are uploaded every Friday and are available via all Podcast service providers! To find out more about the team behind Desert Island Tricks, please visit: www.alakazam.co.uk

Publisher

Alakazam Magic

Category

arts · arts · leisure

Language

en

Explicit

No

First episode

8 Feb 2024

Latest episode

9 Oct 2026

Latest episodes

167 episodes in the feed.

1. 

   9 Oct 2026

   Doug Gorman

   A lot of people think magic is something you either start as a kid or you miss your shot. Doug Gorman blows that idea up. He started at 45 after a Las Vegas moment hooked him for good, spent years performing classic close-up, then made a sharp turn into storytelling magic and bizarre magic that feels like real theatre, not just “watch me do a move.” We talk through the turning points that shaped his style, including the influence of Ed Solomon and the late Eugene Burger and why Doug believes ...

2. 

   2 Oct 2026

   Lee Hathaway

   A Covent Garden magic stall in winter, a boat that hosts magic sessions and a career that somehow threads through it all to The Magic Circle. We sit down with Lee Hathaway and get the kind of candid, craft-obsessed conversation that only happens between people who have lived magic for decades. Along the way, Lee talks about the uncomfortable truth most working performers feel: you can “unlearn” technique when life gets busy and getting it back is less about time and more about calm, repetitiv...

3. 

   25 Sept 2026

   Stranded with a Stranger: Stephen Maule

   A coin vanishes three times, ends up trapped inside a phone and then bends after the spectator has been holding it. That’s how Stephen Maule chooses to open his desert island set and it instantly tells you what kind of thinker he is: practical, modular and obsessed with reactions that spread from one friend group to the next. We start with Stephen’s backstory, including the influence of classic TV magic and the way big moments like the Blackpool Magic Convention can pull people back into the ...

Who has been a guest on Desert Island Tricks

Names identified in recent episode analyses. Showing up to five guests.

• Nikola Arkane
• Russ Stevens
• Oliver Tabor
• Looch
• Phill Smith

Reach and audience

Public platform figures. Ratings count people who left a rating, not total listeners.

YouTube views

5,594,936

Score snapshot 15 Sept 2025

Apple Podcasts (US)

4.6 / 5

14 ratings

Spotify

4.8 / 5

16 ratings

Podcast Authority Score: 72 / 100

A composite of feed quality, social presence, YouTube performance and engagement. Read the methodology.

Quality

87

Social presence

0

YouTube

93

Engagement

51

Contact Desert Island Tricks

Guest appearances

Books guests

Based on episode analysis; this does not confirm that the show is currently accepting guests.

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• 

  Steve Faulkner’s Magic Show

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  The Insider

Questions about Desert Island Tricks