We are so honored to talk with Hannibal in this #fireandearthpodcast about his entree to the world of magic, how through feeling the rhythm and energy of the audience he is able to connect and provide a sense of awe and wonder to his audiences.

Not only to you hear his story, but get practical advice for being successful in life by listening and responding with kindness, showing love, kindness, and using your gifts for the good of humanity.

Hannibal the Magician was forged on the streets of Charlotte, North Carolina, and performed for tips in order to pay the rent and keep food on the table. As the years passed, he shifted his skillset to serving the business world. Hannibal created original, customized programs that would simultaneously entertain and educate. Hannibal has traveled the world with his Unique Inspirational Theatre, carving new paths in the world of corporate entertainment.

Recognized by the International Brotherhood of Magicians with the People’s Choice award for Close-Up Magic, and by the Academy of Magical Arts with a nomination for Best Close-Up Magician of 2018, this veteran of street magic, comedy clubs, and banquet-style performance has successfully created custom programming for corporate clients including Boeing, Philip Morris, Coca-Cola, and many more.

Hannibal currently resides in Los Angeles, where he regularly delights and astonishes audiences in performances at the Academy of Magical Arts, Magic Castle Cabaret, clubs, and private parties.

Learn more at: http://themagicartist.com/ and support him through Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/ @magicartist

Transcript

1
00:00:01.530 –> 00:00:06.000
Jason Mefford: Welcome to another episode of the fire and earth podcast, I’m your co host Jason method.

2
00:00:06.270 –> 00:00:17.880
Kathy Gruver: And I am Kathy gruver and we are so excited to have a another phenomenal guest this gentleman is an amazing magician and incredible entertainer quite the philosopher. He’s one of my favorite people Hannibal

3
00:00:18.449 –> 00:00:23.670
Kathy Gruver: Directly from Los Angeles and and one of our favorite performers at the magic castle welcome Hannibal

4
00:00:24.120 –> 00:00:26.400
Christopher Hannibal: Thank you very much. Thanks for having me.

5
00:00:26.640 –> 00:00:32.670
Kathy Gruver: Yeah. You’re very welcome. So this is, I’m so excited about this conversation because we’re not quite as has a lot of them. We’re not quite sure where it’s going to go.

6
00:00:33.240 –> 00:00:38.280
Kathy Gruver: But I wanted to have, you know, I wanted to have you on because you’re just you’re an incredible performer.

7
00:00:38.640 –> 00:00:50.220
Kathy Gruver: And you have really just created this environment and created this life around yourself that inspires and entertain so many people. So give us an idea of like how you got into magic and and we’ll take the conversation from there.

8
00:00:50.700 –> 00:00:53.910
Christopher Hannibal: Okay. Um, I got into magic by accident.

9
00:00:55.230 –> 00:01:07.620
Christopher Hannibal: I was working in 1992 summer of 1992 I was working for a family resort in Charlotte, North Carolina. I was writing scripts and performing live action.

10
00:01:08.790 –> 00:01:20.940
Christopher Hannibal: Plays musicals and puppet shows for this family resort. My job was to write scripts at apartment, who wrote music and we created these shows are generally run for a week or two.

11
00:01:22.350 –> 00:01:30.930
Christopher Hannibal: In the in that interim. I wrote a share that it contained a street performer Hustler low life kind of a dude.

12
00:01:32.190 –> 00:01:38.580
Christopher Hannibal: And so I went to the public library and I learned a couple of card tricks in order to play that character.

13
00:01:39.960 –> 00:01:48.120
Christopher Hannibal: Now the family resort job went away it we literally came in one morning and the gates were locked in the whole place it shut down and never reopen

14
00:01:49.200 –> 00:01:50.640
Christopher Hannibal: I never got my last paycheck.

15
00:01:52.890 –> 00:01:57.150
Christopher Hannibal: And as you might imagine script writing jobs in Charlotte, North Carolina.

16
00:01:58.170 –> 00:01:59.160
Christopher Hannibal: Are our scares

17
00:02:00.660 –> 00:02:01.560
Christopher Hannibal: Smaller. Yeah.

18
00:02:01.770 –> 00:02:03.420
Jason Mefford: I thought that was one of the hotbeds of the

19
00:02:03.420 –> 00:02:04.290
Jason Mefford: film industry now.

20
00:02:04.890 –> 00:02:06.750
Christopher Hannibal: Wow, until we decided that

21
00:02:07.590 –> 00:02:18.690
Christopher Hannibal: Carolina decided to tax overtax the people coming in and lost a lot of stuff to Georgia where we were for me. But, alas, um, so

22
00:02:20.100 –> 00:02:23.730
Christopher Hannibal: In the, in the discussion I had with my wife at the time.

23
00:02:25.650 –> 00:02:31.500
Christopher Hannibal: As well you know I look for something else. I’ll look for some kind of performance work because I’ve been a performer since I was six years old.

24
00:02:32.760 –> 00:02:37.980
Christopher Hannibal: Something will come along. In the meantime, I know a couple of card tricks. I wonder if I could actually be a street performer.

25
00:02:38.580 –> 00:02:48.690
Christopher Hannibal: And make that payoff. So I took the props and the table and everything from the plan written and went uptown in Charlotte, North Carolina, and on day one I made $87

26
00:02:49.350 –> 00:02:58.050
Christopher Hannibal: I’m just stopping people and showing them the two card tricks that I knew and telling jokes and bantering with them. And I never got another job.

27
00:02:59.490 –> 00:03:15.780
Christopher Hannibal: Never replaced the agenda. I went I did street performing for a very long time and move that into bars and restaurants and from that leveraged corporate work and motivational speaking and and and then two years ago now, I picked up the magic thing in 1993

28
00:03:16.800 –> 00:03:22.530
Christopher Hannibal: Um, and then skip ahead to two years ago in 2018 I moved to Los Angeles.

29
00:03:24.660 –> 00:03:29.250
Christopher Hannibal: As a newly single man to continue to continue this journey.

30
00:03:30.630 –> 00:03:31.920
Kathy Gruver: And we’re very happy you’re here.

31
00:03:32.700 –> 00:03:33.720
Christopher Hannibal: Glad to be here.

32
00:03:33.960 –> 00:03:38.190
Kathy Gruver: Um, I have watched you perform so many times now.

33
00:03:39.300 –> 00:03:41.160
Kathy Gruver: You play with the crowd.

34
00:03:41.700 –> 00:03:42.210
Christopher Hannibal: To do.

35
00:03:42.480 –> 00:03:49.020
Kathy Gruver: In such a way, it is so beautifully manipulative and you take on this note, like in the best way.

36
00:03:49.230 –> 00:03:50.160
Christopher Hannibal: You take them on this.

37
00:03:50.190 –> 00:03:52.800
Kathy Gruver: incredible journey so

38
00:03:54.270 –> 00:04:02.400
Kathy Gruver: So what does that. What does that do for you as the performer to getting so into that character and so into that banter with the audience, where does that take you

39
00:04:02.760 –> 00:04:08.400
Christopher Hannibal: As it’s such a dance you know and and it’s literally

40
00:04:10.350 –> 00:04:17.580
Christopher Hannibal: My mother insisted. When I was a kid, I learned ballroom dancing and that I learned jazz and tapping stage, that’s really how everything got started.

41
00:04:18.180 –> 00:04:28.440
Christopher Hannibal: And with ballroom dancing with certain types of of that kind of like waltzes untangles everything else light touches can change the entire

42
00:04:29.100 –> 00:04:39.270
Christopher Hannibal: Direction which doing and as the lead of the dance you you decide we’re going this way you can do it with a step or a gentle nudge in this direction. And that’s that that’s that same back and forth.

43
00:04:40.020 –> 00:04:49.200
Christopher Hannibal: With the intimacy of a close up or parlor sized audience to where you get a feel of the rhythm of this of the group that’s around you and you and you know push them in the right direction.

44
00:04:49.830 –> 00:05:01.230
Christopher Hannibal: That’s really the best way I can describe it is is I, I have a gift of a feeling of I recognize that you’re looking in this direction and this is what you’re thinking and

45
00:05:01.890 –> 00:05:11.580
Christopher Hannibal: And I just try to pull all those elements together it’s it’s largely unconscious. I’ve done it for so long and and i’m going to credit that a lot of that to st performance.

46
00:05:12.480 –> 00:05:22.800
Christopher Hannibal: Because you did crowd changes and it moves and it breeds and people walk away and new people walk up and who knows what their day is being or whatever. And with that they’ve got

47
00:05:24.900 –> 00:05:26.370
Christopher Hannibal: Their not a captive audience.

48
00:05:27.840 –> 00:05:35.970
Christopher Hannibal: If they get bored if they’ve got something else to do. They can literally in the middle of whatever you’re doing can just walk, walk away and they won’t if they’re engaged.

49
00:05:37.290 –> 00:05:41.400
Christopher Hannibal: And so I learned early on to engage and start the dance.

50
00:05:43.260 –> 00:05:51.360
Jason Mefford: What does God say, you know, you know, because again, I mean both of you are performers. I guess I perform in a kind of a different way from a corporate perspective, but it’s it’s

51
00:05:51.660 –> 00:06:03.450
Jason Mefford: You know, it’s always interesting how, you know, a lot of the big movie film stars TV stars end up going back and doing things like Broadway and and other live performance stuff.

52
00:06:03.900 –> 00:06:13.200
Jason Mefford: And I, and I’ve got to imagine, because like as you’re talking about it here. You know, I mean, you know, movies are magical to the people watching them not to the people.

53
00:06:13.920 –> 00:06:17.730
Jason Mefford: Right, because they’re a pain in the ass, you know, it’s like all right do that scene again, you know, reset.

54
00:06:19.980 –> 00:06:19.980
Kathy Gruver: One.

55
00:06:20.250 –> 00:06:21.540
Jason Mefford: Yeah, back to one. Here we go.

56
00:06:21.900 –> 00:06:32.880
Jason Mefford: But a live performance because it’s live, like you said, there’s that energy. There’s that rhythm of the audience and every single night. Even if you’re even if you’re performing the same play

57
00:06:33.390 –> 00:06:38.160
Jason Mefford: You got to assume each each performance is slightly different.

58
00:06:38.250 –> 00:06:42.930
Jason Mefford: Oh yeah, has of the audience and especially like you know street performing

59
00:06:43.260 –> 00:06:45.360
Jason Mefford: That’s got to be one of the hardest gigs. It’s like

60
00:06:45.660 –> 00:06:55.320
Jason Mefford: It’s like stand up comedy or anything else you know where it’s like it’s, you’ve got to be a good performer or else you don’t hold the audience and it just goes spirals downward

61
00:06:56.340 –> 00:07:06.450
Christopher Hannibal: Good performer. Yes, but you got to make the connection. Yeah. You have to be able to connect with the people in front of you and I’m just gonna, I’m gonna put you on the spot. Kathy you’ve watched me perform, how many times

62
00:07:07.920 –> 00:07:08.370
Christopher Hannibal: Roughly

63
00:07:10.140 –> 00:07:10.770
Kathy Gruver: Seven or eight

64
00:07:11.820 –> 00:07:15.750
Christopher Hannibal: How many times have you seen me do generally the same tricks.

65
00:07:18.780 –> 00:07:23.160
Kathy Gruver: Uh, well, other than the Halloween show it’s pretty much similar.

66
00:07:23.340 –> 00:07:27.450
Christopher Hannibal: The same. Yeah. So what keeps you coming back, watching the same show again.

67
00:07:28.800 –> 00:07:33.810
Kathy Gruver: You know that’s an awesome question. And I’ve had so many people ask me that, about the magic castle in general.

68
00:07:34.260 –> 00:07:38.640
Kathy Gruver: Because they’re like, oh my god. How often can you watch the same guys do the same tricks. I said, well, first of all,

69
00:07:39.300 –> 00:07:46.200
Kathy Gruver: It’s not the same guys. And second of all, though it’s maybe the same illusion or the same sleight of hand or the same trick.

70
00:07:46.860 –> 00:07:55.740
Kathy Gruver: It’s the way it’s done. It’s the pattern. It’s the story that goes around it. And even if I know how they’re done, because I know how most of them are done to me it’s the

71
00:07:56.880 –> 00:08:03.900
Kathy Gruver: Knowing how it’s done and not seeing them do it or seeing them do it and go holy shit, that was so great that way he

72
00:08:04.020 –> 00:08:05.040
Kathy Gruver: Found that the way he

73
00:08:06.090 –> 00:08:07.920
Kathy Gruver: Was the artistry of it at that point.

74
00:08:08.400 –> 00:08:11.220
Kathy Gruver: And the other thing that I really like, especially with you.

75
00:08:12.360 –> 00:08:15.030
Kathy Gruver: I like watching the people around me watch the magician.

76
00:08:15.330 –> 00:08:28.170
Kathy Gruver: Right. So there’s been so many times, especially with like Mike Shota who I also want to have on the show, or I mean like that kind of performer john Armstrong or handsome jack. Like, I will sit back and watch the people in the crowd.

77
00:08:28.230 –> 00:08:29.010
Kathy Gruver: Watch him.

78
00:08:29.430 –> 00:08:34.980
Kathy Gruver: And there’s such an energy about that to me of people going, oh, or go, holy shit, you know,

79
00:08:35.850 –> 00:08:40.350
Kathy Gruver: Because as an adult human. When do we get to have that off and that

80
00:08:40.440 –> 00:08:41.190
Christopher Hannibal: Wonder.

81
00:08:41.400 –> 00:08:43.080
Kathy Gruver: And that mystery. I know.

82
00:08:43.470 –> 00:09:02.970
Christopher Hannibal: It’s so rare and I can test you and only genuinely comes out in live performance. You can be amazing astonished and entertained by virtual magic or things on screen like this and that. That’s going to be largely in and more explored in the future because of this particular situation.

83
00:09:03.180 –> 00:09:03.450
Kathy Gruver: Yeah.

84
00:09:03.750 –> 00:09:12.180
Christopher Hannibal: But live performances. When you get that raw energy and that raw human feeling and the secret is is that’s, that’s where my show is

85
00:09:13.200 –> 00:09:14.610
Christopher Hannibal: Because I watched them all the time.

86
00:09:14.970 –> 00:09:16.380
Christopher Hannibal: I know I’ve seen me

87
00:09:16.680 –> 00:09:17.250
Enough.

88
00:09:19.980 –> 00:09:22.320
Jason Mefford: Are you a mirror around and watch yourself.

89
00:09:22.320 –> 00:09:23.250
Jason Mefford: On your phone.

90
00:09:23.280 –> 00:09:32.250
Christopher Hannibal: Yeah, no, I, I want us. I want to see what’s coming this way. You know I i I’m very interested in what this audience is gonna, it’s going to show me this time.

91
00:09:35.820 –> 00:09:45.030
Jason Mefford: When I think it’s a you know that on wonder, you know, that you kind of talk about that I think is so so fabulous and why magic is so magical

92
00:09:45.300 –> 00:09:48.840
Jason Mefford: Right is because, you know, like you said, as adults,

93
00:09:49.170 –> 00:09:55.470
Jason Mefford: You know, we usually kind of get rid of some of that stuff, you know, it’s like we push it aside.

94
00:09:57.150 –> 00:10:07.950
Jason Mefford: You know, and I’ll get I’ll get the quote wrong, you know, but the john cougar Mellencamp line. You know, when I was a young man. I said, put away those young boy, new ways now that I’m much older I wish.

95
00:10:08.130 –> 00:10:08.760
Christopher Hannibal: You don’t want

96
00:10:08.880 –> 00:10:09.750
Jason Mefford: Those days.

97
00:10:10.050 –> 00:10:13.140
Christopher Hannibal: Well, that’s a, that’s a direct reference back to

98
00:10:15.690 –> 00:10:31.890
Christopher Hannibal: I don’t know the verse, but it’s a biblical verse that when I was young, I thought, I thought as a young man I reacted. As a young man, and then as it became older I put away. I put away my childish ways and acted in thought. As a man, and I’m like, Why, yeah.

99
00:10:32.880 –> 00:10:42.090
Christopher Hannibal: Well, sure I have responsibilities and I take care of responsibilities and I, you know, maintain a certain level of dignity for my age.

100
00:10:45.630 –> 00:10:46.050
You know,

101
00:10:48.270 –> 00:10:48.750
Christopher Hannibal: Yeah.

102
00:10:48.930 –> 00:10:49.500
I do

103
00:11:07.980 –> 00:11:10.920
Kathy Gruver: For anybody just listening to this on audio. They’re like, what the hell are they doing

104
00:11:12.480 –> 00:11:15.180
Jason Mefford: Might be so much better off in 48 different languages.

105
00:11:18.360 –> 00:11:33.900
Christopher Hannibal: But then again, and I want to, I want to continue that thought as far as attention and connection and and watching the audience and the visceral return. That’s a huge amount of power to have what are you gonna do with it.

106
00:11:35.100 –> 00:11:39.660
Christopher Hannibal: Now that you’ve established it now that you blossom to this thing. And what do you do with it.

107
00:11:41.970 –> 00:11:45.000
Christopher Hannibal: You have a responsibility. Right. Or don’t you

108
00:11:46.230 –> 00:11:49.200
Christopher Hannibal: And so for me.

109
00:11:50.880 –> 00:11:53.550
Christopher Hannibal: At a certain point in life. I started

110
00:11:54.750 –> 00:11:56.760
Christopher Hannibal: Talking about things that I just simply believe in

111
00:11:58.050 –> 00:11:59.460
Christopher Hannibal: Love kindness.

112
00:12:01.260 –> 00:12:11.430
Christopher Hannibal: Use of one’s gifts. Instead of wasting them and that led me to some very interesting places and also led to me led me to people telling me that

113
00:12:11.910 –> 00:12:19.980
Christopher Hannibal: You know, just just, just do your act and and keep your own opinions to yourself. We only came to see cartridge. We don’t want to hear what you have to say anything else.

114
00:12:22.290 –> 00:12:25.290
Kathy Gruver: Which is such a disservice because you can watch that online.

115
00:12:26.790 –> 00:12:28.950
Kathy Gruver: You can google anybody and watch a card trick.

116
00:12:29.520 –> 00:12:32.940
Kathy Gruver: And this is, this is one of the things I love. I mean, I must have seen Michael Shota

117
00:12:34.200 –> 00:12:34.950
Kathy Gruver: 20 times

118
00:12:35.640 –> 00:12:39.630
Kathy Gruver: I mean like every time over the cat that he’s a performer down in the bar at the magic castle.

119
00:12:39.720 –> 00:12:41.580
Kathy Gruver: Yes. Every time I can see him. I do.

120
00:12:41.940 –> 00:12:56.700
Kathy Gruver: Is the same basic tricks tricks. It’s the same basic patter I could probably do his show, except I don’t have the dexterity. Do any of it, but I love the artistry of it. And I love the philosophy and I love the audience interaction. Same with you the times that I’ve had the privilege of

121
00:12:57.750 –> 00:13:05.100
Kathy Gruver: Performing yeah I get to go see you. It’s because of that story that you weave, it’s because of them are performance and the

122
00:13:05.550 –> 00:13:10.200
Kathy Gruver: Genius. Oh my god, he yes everybody I take down there was absolutely blown away.

123
00:13:10.470 –> 00:13:12.090
Kathy Gruver: Absolutely and pissed off.

124
00:13:12.630 –> 00:13:13.650
Christopher Hannibal: Of course, of course.

125
00:13:14.010 –> 00:13:16.620
Christopher Hannibal: Like, but again, and I, but our styles.

126
00:13:16.920 –> 00:13:26.640
Christopher Hannibal: Are very different. Yeah, in the way that we approach and handle an audience. I could never do what he does, he’s, he said his own level we say he’s carved out his own

127
00:13:27.750 –> 00:13:38.370
Christopher Hannibal: Place and it’s perfect, you know, and because it’s perfectly keeps working and refining polishing and just gets into for me every time I see it’s better. Yeah.

128
00:13:38.520 –> 00:13:49.980
Kathy Gruver: Yeah, it really is say here’s why I love this conversation. So Jason and I have talked about magic about that all about that. The magic of life about embracing that newness and that wonder sort of thing.

129
00:13:50.250 –> 00:13:51.870
Kathy Gruver: We’ve also talked about third

130
00:13:51.870 –> 00:14:01.530
Kathy Gruver: Level listening, which is exactly what you were talking about of not only knowing how you’re feeling but also what’s happening around you and taking the input from the crowd into you.

131
00:14:01.860 –> 00:14:07.440
Kathy Gruver: Yes. Other thing I love about this conversation is that we can have 20 people doing the same thing.

132
00:14:07.980 –> 00:14:21.630
Kathy Gruver: With doing it in such a different way and making it so unique and so your own and I mean I do the same basic stress talk. Every time I go to a stress talk, but I have had people at conferences years in a row. Come back to see me do it.

133
00:14:22.080 –> 00:14:23.280
Kathy Gruver: They know it’s not new.

134
00:14:23.460 –> 00:14:35.640
Kathy Gruver: They know it’s probably going to be the same stories, but it’s that performance. It’s the way I weave stories. So for people that think they have to continually reinvent themselves. I mean, yes, you want to keep growing.

135
00:14:35.970 –> 00:14:41.760
Kathy Gruver: But I don’t think you need to be a different human every single day. I mean, I don’t know, it’s, it’s like the sort of double edged sword kind of thing.

136
00:14:42.690 –> 00:14:44.100
Christopher Hannibal: So a few years ago.

137
00:14:45.750 –> 00:14:53.700
Christopher Hannibal: I opened. I had the opportunity open for Davy Jones from the monkeys. He was doing corporate work at the time he was traveling around

138
00:14:55.110 –> 00:15:02.160
Christopher Hannibal: And we did a tent show on the law of a large mansion in the mountains of North Carolina.

139
00:15:05.430 –> 00:15:08.040
Christopher Hannibal: They hired me to warm the crowd up

140
00:15:10.050 –> 00:15:21.960
Christopher Hannibal: For Davy Jones, I, I certainly did my best and and I got a great connection and but there was, there’s this tension between audience and a lot of what you do. Also, when you absorb this and and you have that third level.

141
00:15:22.920 –> 00:15:38.700
Christopher Hannibal: You can then change the entire mood of the audience by putting it back out in the way that you presenting in a positive way you do it, or the or the the the heightening of nerves. If you want to do with that way or you can you can move the ground. I’m

142
00:15:40.110 –> 00:15:41.040
Christopher Hannibal: David came out.

143
00:15:42.150 –> 00:15:48.420
Christopher Hannibal: After Mr. Jones came out after I was done and and just slew

144
00:15:49.500 –> 00:15:59.190
Christopher Hannibal: Right, all of that to say later on that evening, we’re back in the dressing room and he’s talking to me about the accurate joy, the dad, he thought, and he asked me how many times

145
00:15:59.820 –> 00:16:13.770
Christopher Hannibal: Have you changed what you’re doing your act as if nobody evolves and I put things here and take them out depending on my mood and what I think will work well for the crowd of doing. It’s like that’s not like I’ve been doing the same two dozen songs from the past 40 years

146
00:16:15.900 –> 00:16:18.960
Christopher Hannibal: He said, I have three albums of original material. Nobody wants to hear

147
00:16:20.010 –> 00:16:22.590
Christopher Hannibal: If I leave out Daydream believer, they’re going to write it.

148
00:16:24.690 –> 00:16:28.800
Christopher Hannibal: So I just, I have to make it unique each night while singing the same words.

149
00:16:30.000 –> 00:16:31.380
Christopher Hannibal: I never want to be famous.

150
00:16:37.470 –> 00:16:43.200
Christopher Hannibal: But yeah, but it is it is in a very, very huge sense the singer and not the song.

151
00:16:43.620 –> 00:16:43.830
Yeah.

152
00:16:44.880 –> 00:16:54.450
Kathy Gruver: Well, stand up comedy. I mean, it’s like I got to the point where I knew every single Jerry Seinfeld stick. I mean like I knew how he said it. I knew the facial expression, but you still want to see that over and over and over again.

153
00:16:55.830 –> 00:17:05.340
Christopher Hannibal: He reaches it and connects with something. It’s the way make them feel in Maya Angelou said it’s not what you do. It’s how you make them feel and that’s that’s what brings people back around.

154
00:17:07.980 –> 00:17:11.460
Jason Mefford: So, so what are some of the things that, you know, I mean, we talked about like the, you know,

155
00:17:12.990 –> 00:17:15.600
Jason Mefford: Listening kind of to the energy of the crowd.

156
00:17:15.960 –> 00:17:27.450
Jason Mefford: But what what are some things. I mean, you know, because again, I love the the point that you talked about you know with with kind of this power comes from responsibility as well. Right, as far as I mean what are, what are

157
00:17:28.530 –> 00:17:39.780
Jason Mefford: Because I think we can all do this to some extent in our immediate little circle, too. Right. It’s like we can we can pick up on energy. We can see kind of what’s what’s going on.

158
00:17:40.170 –> 00:17:55.380
Jason Mefford: I mean what what how do you kind of do that. And then how do you again with this responsibility, try to help move the energy, the way that it needs to go. So you get changed the situation. Right. Yeah.

159
00:17:56.460 –> 00:18:03.240
Jason Mefford: I mean, because like you said with that one with with David Jones, you know, it was, it was a tough crowd. Kind of. To begin with, as a corporate event, probably. I mean, I

160
00:18:03.720 –> 00:18:11.310
Jason Mefford: Bet it a lot of those kind of things that depends on you know you guys were probably later in the evening. So you don’t know what the last couple of sessions were or this

161
00:18:11.460 –> 00:18:12.510
Christopher Hannibal: Sure, add

162
00:18:12.720 –> 00:18:14.340
Jason Mefford: On to it. You just gotta land into

163
00:18:14.340 –> 00:18:15.120
Jason Mefford: This thing, right.

164
00:18:15.840 –> 00:18:18.720
Christopher Hannibal: Well, you, you mentioned you have kids.

165
00:18:20.430 –> 00:18:22.950
Christopher Hannibal: You can tell their mood without them saying anything. Right.

166
00:18:24.360 –> 00:18:31.860
Christopher Hannibal: So an interpersonal relationship when you get to know someone or when you when you get into someone else’s vibe, or you were established relationship with someone

167
00:18:32.370 –> 00:18:41.850
Christopher Hannibal: You have the ability, first of all, to recognize at a glance request from a few words or just the small interaction of exactly where their heads at

168
00:18:43.110 –> 00:18:45.210
Christopher Hannibal: And if you if you take

169
00:18:48.000 –> 00:18:57.390
Christopher Hannibal: If you take I don’t usually it’s not taking control, but it’s taking the the the leverage of that and saying, I’m going to respond.

170
00:18:58.740 –> 00:19:14.400
Christopher Hannibal: To the way you’re, you know, the way you’re reacting to me with anything I can do it in a positive way. I can fight back and cause friction. I can you can give us the entire moment before they even know there is one by the way you present yourself out to them.

171
00:19:15.510 –> 00:19:18.180
Christopher Hannibal: Um, it’s a form of of

172
00:19:19.470 –> 00:19:20.670
Christopher Hannibal: Loving manipulation.

173
00:19:21.720 –> 00:19:30.450
Christopher Hannibal: You know, I’m going to turn your mood into a positive one. And if I can’t. That’s kind of on, you know, but I’m not, I’m not going to get sucked into a negative

174
00:19:31.110 –> 00:19:42.720
Christopher Hannibal: Reaction with someone or friction reaction to someone right off the bat, especially if it’s someone I care about and I see they’re having a bad day. It’s, it’s okay. What love, are you not getting right now.

175
00:19:43.950 –> 00:19:59.340
Christopher Hannibal: What, what is it you need and knowing what our relationship is and and how I can interact with you. How can I be fused that or make your day, a better one, or at least make our interaction that we’re about to have a better one based on what I know about

176
00:20:04.230 –> 00:20:10.650
Kathy Gruver: Like that, when I see clients. It’s like that in relationship, you know, if I have a client that walks in, who’s in a state.

177
00:20:11.400 –> 00:20:14.940
Kathy Gruver: Very low on that emotional tone scale. And I want to bring them up.

178
00:20:15.210 –> 00:20:20.250
Kathy Gruver: You know, it’s like I have a choice of how I handle that. And it’s the same thing when I step out in front of an audience.

179
00:20:20.760 –> 00:20:35.310
Kathy Gruver: To do a talk, you know, it’s I’ve got 100 people I’ve got 1000 people. And I’ve got to try to reach every single one of them as if they’re not sending in this giant crowd. How do you do, you know, how do you do that, how do you have that communication, whether it’s one on one or 1000 to one.

180
00:20:36.870 –> 00:20:42.240
Kathy Gruver: It’s a juggling act because you’ve got to read that input process that input and spit something back out.

181
00:20:42.660 –> 00:20:44.910
Kathy Gruver: So it’s and I love that that

182
00:20:45.270 –> 00:20:52.710
Kathy Gruver: Dance metaphor. That’s exactly what it is. It is this the subtle movements and the subtle changes and just sometimes that pause where the audience goes

183
00:20:53.850 –> 00:20:59.910
Kathy Gruver: What, what, you know, you get quieter, or you use vocal Tony all those things we were trained in as a as a performer.

184
00:21:01.440 –> 00:21:07.650
Kathy Gruver: If we can bring that to everyday life. We’re going to be more effective communicators more effective business people, all of that stuff. Yeah.

185
00:21:08.700 –> 00:21:17.430
Christopher Hannibal: And and you can you can change attitude with just just the way you’re holding yourself sure expression on your face and we react to things.

186
00:21:19.620 –> 00:21:26.820
Jason Mefford: Because you’re talking about it. I remember the concept of pace pace lead like from a reporting standpoint.

187
00:21:27.510 –> 00:21:33.510
Jason Mefford: You know where you kind of your pace once or twice with wherever they’re at and then you make a lead change.

188
00:21:33.960 –> 00:21:43.050
Jason Mefford: Right. So again, if, if somebody is, you know, maybe feeling down. You know, you try to under kind of understand and kind of go with them for a little bit and then you try to move them a little bit up

189
00:21:43.650 –> 00:21:51.480
Jason Mefford: In that area and see if they’re going to follow you if they follow you, then you kind of, you know, again, pace pace lead and eventually you kind of move people up.

190
00:21:52.800 –> 00:22:04.020
Jason Mefford: You know in in where you’re going and Kathy’s you were talking to you know about the big groups, you know, because again, as a public speaker. Also, you know, I’ve always been taught what you do to one, you do to all

191
00:22:04.950 –> 00:22:13.380
Jason Mefford: And so, you know, again, it’s like, you don’t have to go around and give high fives everybody in the audience, but if you do it to one or two people.

192
00:22:13.830 –> 00:22:27.750
Jason Mefford: Everybody else feels like it happened to them. And so I’m sure again in your performance art. It’s kind of the same way you know again where you’re kind of going off of certain individuals as well to try to influence the whole crowd is as well.

193
00:22:28.200 –> 00:22:36.120
Christopher Hannibal: And the one thing magicians could learn. Ah, one of the most important lessons they could learn is is exactly that. Because if you are

194
00:22:37.950 –> 00:22:45.240
Christopher Hannibal: belittling one person. If you are if you’re making one person brought into the joke that you’re telling or

195
00:22:46.950 –> 00:22:57.120
Christopher Hannibal: Being squeezy or being you know in appropriately flirting, or whatever, you know, whatever level that comes off. You’re making everybody else in the room uncomfortable.

196
00:22:58.470 –> 00:23:05.580
Christopher Hannibal: Or making them feel like anything you’re doing it to me is as follows you to meet this person. Yeah. So why would you do that.

197
00:23:06.600 –> 00:23:13.080
Kathy Gruver: And I’ve seen that I’ve seen a magician start to bomb a little bit and get uncomfortable and start actually making personal

198
00:23:13.590 –> 00:23:21.990
Kathy Gruver: Almost personal insults to one person whether commenting on their physicality or commenting on, you know, and you can see the entire the entire group does nothing. That’s funny.

199
00:23:22.350 –> 00:23:24.000
Kathy Gruver: They turn they turn on them.

200
00:23:24.420 –> 00:23:32.910
Kathy Gruver: Quickly, because it’s a very personal dig not even in character or not. I mean, there’s one Magician. I can’t think of who it is, but he asked for $1 bill.

201
00:23:33.420 –> 00:23:42.690
Kathy Gruver: And he tears it up and then he goes, I’m just a deck and puts that tentative dollar bill in his pocket. He was never going to restore it. He was and I actually find it hilarious.

202
00:23:43.140 –> 00:23:53.400
Kathy Gruver: Because he does it in character in such a way that it kind of fit and you’re like, No, yeah, I mean, that’s just the theme throughout his, he’s just sort of that, but he doesn’t so friendly like

203
00:23:53.430 –> 00:23:53.700
Christopher Hannibal: Yeah.

204
00:23:53.940 –> 00:23:58.650
Kathy Gruver: That it’s you don’t go, oh, it’s funny, like, oh, he just kind of played us all, you know,

205
00:23:59.580 –> 00:24:00.300
Kathy Gruver: The delivery.

206
00:24:00.720 –> 00:24:02.280
Christopher Hannibal: Did you ever see Harry Anderson work.

207
00:24:03.090 –> 00:24:04.050
Kathy Gruver: No, not in person.

208
00:24:04.470 –> 00:24:15.510
Christopher Hannibal: Okay, Harry would come out and he he had this style. It’s kind of an easygoing laid back, never leaning into your face, but always just, you know, and he would play with a few people. And he would

209
00:24:17.010 –> 00:24:22.050
Christopher Hannibal: You know that’s that’s a. Did you get a free bowl of soup when you bought the time that’s nice. It’s very, you know,

210
00:24:22.800 –> 00:24:23.460
Christopher Hannibal: So he would

211
00:24:24.390 –> 00:24:27.900
Christopher Hannibal: And then you pick out one person and he just be a total jerk to this one person.

212
00:24:29.520 –> 00:24:42.390
Christopher Hannibal: Like handed eventually gets into his show and he goes over, he’s like, hey, getting five, give me five. Give me $5 bill and they pull it out and he tear it and a half ago, and he’d go, where have you been

213
00:24:43.800 –> 00:24:45.870
Christopher Hannibal: I’ve been a jerk to this guy over here. All my

214
00:24:47.370 –> 00:24:54.540
Christopher Hannibal: Eye I insulted. That guy’s time I’ve been a jerk to everybody in the room and I say give me if I didn’t even say please

215
00:24:57.240 –> 00:24:59.520
Christopher Hannibal: Where were you brought up, you know,

216
00:25:00.150 –> 00:25:05.370
Christopher Hannibal: It was just that kind of thing. It just caught you. So yeah, we’re. Why would I do that.

217
00:25:05.490 –> 00:25:06.240
Kathy Gruver: Right, yeah.

218
00:25:06.300 –> 00:25:17.550
Christopher Hannibal: And he also disarming it brought that out so you can, the one of the lessons he taught me personally was like he’s you want something from something just in an audience, especially you ask them.

219
00:25:18.480 –> 00:25:18.810
Yeah.

220
00:25:20.130 –> 00:25:28.800
Kathy Gruver: Oh, that’s so true. I noticed in life. What do you need that’s in JSON. I HAD THAT WE’VE HAD A CONVERSATION. SO MUCH. People say that they’re not getting what they want, but they don’t actually know what they want.

221
00:25:28.860 –> 00:25:33.330
Kathy Gruver: And that’s my first coaching session with people is, what do you, what do you want like what you want.

222
00:25:33.510 –> 00:25:42.570
Kathy Gruver: You don’t just turn on ways and go take me somewhere, you know, you have to program in a destination and then you have to ask for it and then you have to get there. And of course we blunt or another half an hour.

223
00:25:44.370 –> 00:25:47.340
Jason Mefford: I was gonna say. Cuz, cuz cuz with that you know when you said that Kathy because

224
00:25:47.340 –> 00:25:54.390
Jason Mefford: That’s, you know, one of the common coaching questions is people already know what they want. Right. So you say you

225
00:25:54.390 –> 00:25:55.860
Jason Mefford: Know, what do you want and they say,

226
00:25:56.160 –> 00:26:08.100
Jason Mefford: I don’t know what I want. And so the the rebuttal is if you knew what it was, what would it be, yeah. And that is an amazing question because all of a sudden, people kind of sit up and they go, oh, it’s this

227
00:26:08.460 –> 00:26:13.350
Jason Mefford: Yeah, yeah, you knew the whole time. It’s just, you know, we were kind of blocking it and not putting it in there.

228
00:26:14.970 –> 00:26:16.110
Jason Mefford: No. Yeah.

229
00:26:16.140 –> 00:26:20.070
Kathy Gruver: I like to say when people say, I don’t know. I say, Yes, you do. Yeah.

230
00:26:20.100 –> 00:26:20.400
Christopher Hannibal: And they

231
00:26:20.460 –> 00:26:28.740
Kathy Gruver: Always. Maybe it’s the third time I say that, well, I don’t know. Yes, you do. Well, I don’t know. Yes, you do. Well, it’s probably and then they have an answer. You know, it just takes a little bit of

232
00:26:29.940 –> 00:26:33.720
Christopher Hannibal: There’s a lot of fear and standing up and just saying, what does she want

233
00:26:34.020 –> 00:26:42.930
Christopher Hannibal: Yes, there’s a ton of people that just live in fear of just acknowledging what it is they they really truly want something

234
00:26:43.860 –> 00:26:45.360
Kathy Gruver: Else in the whole we had done.

235
00:26:45.960 –> 00:26:46.890
Kathy Gruver: Here. Yes, is

236
00:26:46.950 –> 00:26:47.520
Jason Mefford: Gone fear.

237
00:26:49.050 –> 00:26:55.890
Christopher Hannibal: And his in his in his afraid to say what she wants, you know, out of, out of the life she’s got so she started with that. Yeah.

238
00:26:57.180 –> 00:26:58.500
Kathy Gruver: Huge alright so

239
00:26:59.880 –> 00:27:00.120
Kathy Gruver: Yeah.

240
00:27:00.150 –> 00:27:05.820
Kathy Gruver: Any, any final thoughts and then how can people reach you to book you to contact you to all that good stuff.

241
00:27:06.480 –> 00:27:08.250
Christopher Hannibal: Stay on wash your hands, um,

242
00:27:08.460 –> 00:27:09.180
Kathy Gruver: Yeah, there’s like

243
00:27:10.560 –> 00:27:11.160
Christopher Hannibal: Ah,

244
00:27:12.660 –> 00:27:17.940
Christopher Hannibal: If you the question that I get most from from magician that you know

245
00:27:20.010 –> 00:27:31.440
Christopher Hannibal: Kathy I’m successful at what I do and I’m not successful because I make a lot of money. I’m not successful because I’m famous as a magician. I guess I have a certain level of recognition among my peers.

246
00:27:37.080 –> 00:27:42.990
Christopher Hannibal: I was nominated for both evolution of the year. And part of additional year. I don’t know how that happened. Um,

247
00:27:44.100 –> 00:27:53.580
Christopher Hannibal: My first advice to any musician coming up. I’m I’m successful because I do what I love, and I reach people and we danced together have a kick ass show. That’s the only thing you have to do.

248
00:27:54.630 –> 00:28:00.570
Christopher Hannibal: As far as getting along in life. Listen, when somebody is talking to you and respond with kindness.

249
00:28:03.120 –> 00:28:10.110
Christopher Hannibal: That’s, that’s, that’s, in a nutshell, for me right now 54 days without performing nobody sent me a chip or anything.

250
00:28:13.260 –> 00:28:14.220
Kathy Gruver: And after day 30

251
00:28:14.430 –> 00:28:16.890
Christopher Hannibal: Something I don’t know what I got. It’s a

252
00:28:17.310 –> 00:28:30.150
Christopher Hannibal: I’ve been in this room now for 54 days and not in front of an audience at all. It’s a very tough for someone like me. If you want to get in touch with me, my website is magic artists com

253
00:28:31.200 –> 00:28:39.630
Christopher Hannibal: Magic artists calm. If you feel like supporting my art my Patreon, which I have a nice little following people who

254
00:28:41.700 –> 00:28:52.140
Christopher Hannibal: Support me in minimal ways, you know, which is nice. It keeps food in my, in my refrigerator. And so, California. Besides, they can have is Patreon handle is magic artist.

255
00:28:53.190 –> 00:28:53.610
Christopher Hannibal: And

256
00:28:55.290 –> 00:28:58.620
Christopher Hannibal: That’s, that’s kind of it. I mean, I don’t have any up and coming shows

257
00:28:59.970 –> 00:29:00.690
Kathy Gruver: Well, you will

258
00:29:00.900 –> 00:29:01.980
Kathy Gruver: It will get back to that.

259
00:29:02.100 –> 00:29:08.790
Christopher Hannibal: You know, if, if anyone is looking for a consultation on particular magic effects. They’re trying to do.

260
00:29:09.090 –> 00:29:22.560
Christopher Hannibal: Via zoom or whatever available for that and that is on a strictly donation based, whatever, if I can help you. I’ll help you watch your video and tell you what I see are the strengths and weaknesses of formats.

261
00:29:25.260 –> 00:29:36.270
Christopher Hannibal: That I’m I have a whole ton of new material that I have been working on for 54 days that I get to unleash as soon as soon as the world stops coming to an end.

262
00:29:36.720 –> 00:29:42.240
Kathy Gruver: Yay, because this was the world recharges itself. That’s awesome. I’m so happy we had you on this lovely conversation.

263
00:29:42.660 –> 00:29:45.120
Kathy Gruver: I’m Yay, I love my friends. Okay.

264
00:29:47.070 –> 00:29:50.040
Christopher Hannibal: I gave you some quality things. Oh, you saw that it was beautiful.

265
00:29:50.130 –> 00:29:53.670
Kathy Gruver: It was beautiful. I’m Kathy group or I can be reached at Kathy Gruber calm.

266
00:29:54.060 –> 00:30:05.820
Jason Mefford: And I’m Jason method I can be reached at Jason method calm, so go out you know i i love that, you know, listen to people and respond with kindness and if we if we do that.

267
00:30:07.410 –> 00:30:13.830
Jason Mefford: It’s going to be a great week for you. So go out, have a great week and we’ll catch you on a future episode of the fire and earth podcast. See ya.

268
00:30:14.280 –> 00:30:15.390
Christopher Hannibal: Yeah, thank you.

Leave a comment

Share
RSS