Tom Elderfield – At The Table Live Lecture

Tom is easily one of the brightest rising stars in magic right now. His talent has been recognised by many of the top names in magic and he’s even consulted for them. In this lecture, he reveals some of his many creative ideas that he has also showcased on social media (he’s somewhat of a rockstar on Instagram too!).

The thing to keep in mind while watching this lecture is that Tom Elderfield is super crazy inventive, but his true expertise is in hyper visual gimmicked magic. There is absolutely nothing wrong with that, and there’s nothing surprising about that at all. After all, having worked with some of the top names in television magic, his magic tends to be heavily gimmicked and requires a lot of preparation, but on the outside the routine seems very organic and impromptu. That’s exactly the kind of vibe any street magic special is looking for – the magician is seemingly able to pull off crazy miracles anytime, anywhere with any object around him or herself. However, the reality is that the situation in the episode is staged – so Tom excels in that type of magic. The props he uses are very natural looking and organic – earphones, coffee cups from a popular coffee chain, straws… you name it. The lecture ends with him making some gimmicks for visual card magic effects, including a really nice one where the scribbles on the cellophane of a card case vanish, but I feel like his gimmicks with organic props were more interesting and novel.

The pace of the lecture is just nice – it has a very relaxed vibe and Tom seems like an extremely likable character with great chemistry with the host. Tom is often cracking silly jokes or making self-deprecating quips at himself and his magic, which makes him more endearing. The lecture just feels like a friend is showing you his latest cool toy he discovered, and that model works extremely well for Tom’s persona.

So, if you’re into doing some really visual magic and would love to get your X-acto knife out to make some intricate gimmicks, then this lecture is definitely right down your alley.