Today we’d like to introduce you to Sanjeev Vinodh.
Hi Sanjeev, so excited to have you with us today. What can you tell us about your story?
My magic origin story is shared by many – I saw a card trick in the 2016 movie ‘Now You See Me 2’ (a move called the ‘Snap Change’) and then fell down a YouTube rabbit hole of magic tutorials in order to figure out how the trick worked. I had just moved from Illinois to California (2 years after moving from India), and magic became a way to start conversations and make friends in a school where I was starting anew.
What started as a conversation starter quickly became something that I loved for how it pushed me – magic is the only art form where the most basic requirement is that you create something impossible. I had quit so many hobbies up to that point, but magic stuck with me because it came with no limits and challenged me to build something new every single day.
I started performing at family events and school talent shows and then joined the Magic Castle Junior program in 2019. This was a huge step forward because I met my closest friends in magic to this day – this was the first time I had other magicians, my age group, to jam with who encouraged me to see magic in a radically new way. They treated magic like a science – something to be investigated deeply and thoroughly, with thought given to details as minute as the way a card is turned over in the final moments of a trick or the exact words used to tell someone to pick a card.
I fooled Penn & Teller on their CW show ‘Fool Us’ when I was 19 (the youngest fooler ever at the time), which was a huge break for me – it brought my name into the magic community and let me reach out to mentors and idols I had looked up to for years, people who have now become friends. The other big break was in September 2023 when I spent a month studying magic in Spain, where all the world’s best card magicians live – it was illuminating and eye-opening and crushing to see how much more I could learn 🙂
Now, I have spent the last 6 months building a YouTube channel! I’m combining my background in cognitive science and performance experience from magic – exploring research-based ways to connect deeper with the people in our lives. Although it features no magic directly, it’s a project I believe in unlike any other, and has been so fulfilling to work on. It feels like an intersection of every skill I have worked on up to this point, which makes it a creative outlet like no other.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall, and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
I am so lucky to have a road paved by brilliant thinkers – Robert Ramirez in LA and maestros like Dani DaOrtiz in Spain. But the primary struggle has been an internal one – pursuing a path that is pretty non-traditional for an Indian kid.
I graduated from UC Berkeley with a degree in Cognitive Science – I initially wanted to continue my research through a PhD and become a professor. But my love for magic was not in the list of career options that are common for Indians – and although my parents have been incredibly supportive since the beginning, it was disheartening to explain my career choice to friends and family and hear well-intentioned but painful questions like ‘will you make enough to cover rent?’ or ‘so are you getting a day job?’/
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
I am a magician, and I have focused on studying card magic and its depths for the past 8 years. I’m known for fooling Penn and Teller on their CW show ‘Fool Us’ at age 19 (the youngest fooler ever at the time) and performing shows at the Magic Castle that subvert expectations of what a magic show can be. I’m passionate about bringing diverse influences like linguistics (what I studied in college at UC Berkeley) and my Indian heritage into my magic and presenting magic in a way that is more than just a puzzle to decode.
I am most proud of my Magic Castle show – it’s a choose-your-own-adventure-style show called A La Carte, where the audience decides what magic they see. Each ‘course’ of the show is served on a tray with 2 options, and the choices made ensure that every show is different from the last! It’s an attempt at reversing the traditional magician-spectator dynamic: rather than an all-knowing authority who controls the show and performs for an ‘ignorant’ audience; this show positions me as the waiter who serves only the magic that the all-powerful customer (audience).
I’m still early in my magic journey, so I still have a lot to learn! But I’m lucky to be surrounded by so many brilliant people that push me to become a better magician every single day.
Are there any important lessons you’ve learned that you can share with us?
I’ve learnt that being loved by some and hated by others is a WAY better outcome than being sort of liked by everyone. Mark Manson calls this ‘polarizing’ – the willingness to be your authentic self and accepting that it will work great with some and just won’t be right at all for others, especially in an art form like magic where there is no limit to what we can do (not even natural laws), harnessing this ‘self’ and expressing it as openly as I can has led to some of my most fulfilling magic creations.
Contact Info:
- Website: sanjeevvinodh.com
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@sanjeevconnects
