Chris Sund: Welcome to the Amplified Speakers Podcast. I'm your host, Chris Sund. And today I am thrilled to welcome Blake Voigt to the podcast. Blake is a magician, an inventor, and a keynote speaker who has created magic for David Copperfield and David Blaine, along with illusions in some movies such as Now You See Me films and Marvel's Ant-Man and the Wasp. He's an America's Got Talent semi-finalist, and Blake helps audience think differently, embrace imperfect ideas, and turn the impossible into a reality. Let's welcome Blake.
Blake Vogt: Hello. Thank you for having me.
Chris Sund: No, absolutely. I've been looking all week to meet you to say the least.
Blake Vogt: Awesome, man. Me too. This is fun. Thanks for having me do this.
Chris Sund: Yeah. So one of the things I'd love to know, I mean, you've done some amazing magic performance you're doing right now, which we'll get into, but I'd like to know when did you start to even learn magic? Because that's not something anyone can just pick up.
Blake Vogt: Yeah, I feel like I started as a kid. You know, I think a lot of kids learn magic and then got a magic kit and I just never stopped using it. eight years old, I saw a magician at a pizza hut performing in Indiana, like this small town, and I was like, What is that? Like I've never seen that. my parents freaked out 'cause they saw how obsessed I was and they were like, asked the Pizza Hut people, they're like, Does this guy ever do this again? And and they're Yeah, he's here the first Wednesday of every month. And I was like, Got it. And then I found out every Wednesday he was at a different Pizza Hut all over the state of Indiana. So for a whole year, I just went to Pizza Huts all the time on Wednesdays with different family members. And then my ninth birthday party, my parents hired him to do a magic show for like a surprise party for me. And ever since my ninth birthday, this has been the only career I've ever wanted to have.
Chris Sund: That is so cool. I love that you
Blake Vogt: Yeah.
Chris Sund: fell in love at that early of an age and then just kept hunting down that magician. Have you talked to them? Okay, I gotta know.
Blake Vogt: Yeah.
Chris Sund: Have you ever talked to that magician at all recently?
Blake Vogt: Not not like recent recently, but we became friends. He ended up becoming like a mentor to me, not from a magic standpoint, because a lot of magic is self-taught and discovery and you know, but when I first was starting to get paid to do magic shows, I couldn't even wrap my head around the fact that someone would pay me to watch me do magic. So I called him and I'm like, What's a contract? Like how do I how do I charge people to do a magic show? My golf coach in high school was the first one to hire me to do a magic show when I was a freshman in high school for his daughter's like 10th birthday party or something. And he was like, How much do you charge? I was like, I'll do it for free. So I did the whole show for free. And then he tipped me forty dollars. So for the first year, anytime anybody ever asked me to do a magic show, they were like, How much do you charge? I was like, Forty dollars. Feel felt safe.
Chris Sund: I love that. That's also pretty incredible that you started doing performances, paid performances in high school. I don't know that many people I can say they did that in high school. When did you feel, you know, at
Blake Vogt: Yeah, and then like I saw that guy yeah. Yep.
Chris Sund: I know, what were you saying?
Blake Vogt: I saw that guy at the I saw that guy at the Pizza Hut doing restaurant magic. So when I was in high school, I was at a different restaurant chain and I was like, Would you let me? I did I think I did one night just for free. Like I walked around the restaurant the whole night in a suit, like doing magic as a sophomore or freshman in high school. And the restaurant loved it. So then once a week for three hours on Monday nights at this restaurant for three years. I did walk around close up magic. And that was like the magic my my skill set went through the roof from regular performing, you know, like that.
Chris Sund: That's incredible. What a great way to
Blake Vogt: Yeah, it's fine.
Chris Sund: practice. And you made some money. A lot better than what most people can say they did to make money in high school.
Blake Vogt: Yeah. It was it was weird to explain to friends what I was doing.
Chris Sund: So did you, you know, at that point, did you think maybe this is something I'll keep doing from like hey, this could be a career? Or was it, no, I'm gonna keep doing this and making a little extra money, but I'm gonna go down this path in school or or job wise?
Blake Vogt: Yeah, you know, strangely enough, I was never motivated by the money part of it. I kept being blown away that people were paying me to do it. I love it so much. Like I would pay someone to watch me do a trick. So, like it wasn't like I should keep doing this 'cause I'm making money. It was like I just loved it so much. And then like in high school and college, I anytime anybody ever asked me what what do you want to be when you grow up, I'd say magician. And everybody would laugh and they'd be like, Well, what do really want to do? And then I'd said I'd say orthodontist. And so they were like, there you go. That's a that's a good answer. So I was pre-dental in college, because I didn't think magic was like a real career. I I had been like told that enough times. And then like a straight A student in high school, and then in college, when I was pre-dental, it like pre-med basically. My grades went through the floor. It was like so embarrassing. I wasn't partying, drinking. I was studying my butt off and I was doing so bad at college that I was I went to Purdue in Indiana for pre-med pre-dental and the the university required me to go see a career counselor to stay at the university. And the career counselor was like, if you woke up tomorrow, what would you do from when you woke up? Till when you fell asleep, if money didn't exist in the world. And I was like, I'd play with magic tricks. And she was like, You're in the wrong major. So she was sick.
Chris Sund: Yeah.
Blake Vogt: So yeah. We saw she we found industrial design at Purdue, the university I was already at, which is like product design, where they teach you to draw your ideas and like build things. And so my GPA went from like, one seven to like three nine in one semester because I was that was what I was supposed to do and it college became so fun and yeah, it was awesome.
Chris Sund: I love that. Do you think, you know, part of the reason they suggested that path is it you really find yourself enjoying more of that creative side of it?
Blake Vogt: Yeah, I love I love all sides of it really. Like I've I have friends who only like the creative side. I have friends who only like performing. I feel like I'm this weird hybrid where like if I'm working behind the scenes for too long without time on stage, I get itchy. And then like if I have too many shows in a row where I'm not getting to create something new, I like so I'm right down the middle, which is really fun and keeps I never get bored or burnt out, which is nice.
Chris Sund: When it came to getting to a bigger stage, because I mean you've been on some absolutely amazing sets and done a lot, where did it start more with the production side or the creating side? Where did it kind of like crack into there?
Blake Vogt: I think I think great question. I think creative side first. that's where my my career kind of got jump started. When I was in college, I would buy a magic trick. So a lot of people don't know this, but you can like buy, you know, magic tricks and learn them. I was doing that, but I would learn the trick and then I would change the way the script you say with the trick or I'd I'd see how the trick worked and I'd be like, I think it'd be better if you built it this way. So I was just tweaking everybody else's stuff. And then I started to go to magic conventions where magicians get together and like show each other tricks. And I was showing everybody like my versions of you know, combining things. And everybody at the conventions were like, This is new. This is brand new. You invented a brand new magic trick. And I'm like, No, I didn't. This is just this thing combined with this and this really old thing. And they're like, no, no, that's what inventing is. Like, that's new. And I was like, okay. Yeah. So that got me in the room with some of the creative minds that worked for David Copperfield. And, you know, they they were impressed by some of the stuff I was doing. And I this is a long story, so you can totally cut this out. But I I went to Las I went to Las Vegas and I was working for a magic company to film a video tutorial on how to do one of my inventions. And on the last night, they surprised us and they took us to Copperfield Show. And after the show, got to meet Copperfield and meet his creative team. And I was an industrial design major. So within my major, you have to do a one-semester internship. So I was feeling real brave. And I was like, Do you guys ever hire interns? And they laughed at me and they're like, no, we don't like we we the secrets we discuss here, like we can't give to somebody, you know, for an internship. But, you know. So this is in like 2011, I think, was when this happened. And I was supposed to fly back to Indiana, and you can check the weather reports history on Google, but There was the biggest blizzard in the last 50 years hit Indiana. So all flights to Indiana were were canceled. And Copperfield's producer had said to me the night before, the next time you're in town, don't get a hotel, you can stay at my house. And I was like, all right. So the next day my flight got canceled. I was like, I can either call my parents and beg for money. I can call this company that flew me out to Vegas, or I could text or call this guy I just met. Why not? And I hit him up. And he was like, I'll come pick you up right now. So I stayed at his house. We stayed up till like one or two AM jamming magic ideas. And then for four days in a row, every morning at breakfast, I showed him my flight was canceled again. And he was like, Looks like you're staying. And then so, like by day three or four, we'd ran out of stuff to talk about. He was bringing home at night Copperfield problems. And we were like jamming on the stuff that they were working on at the office. And on the last day when I finally got to fly out, the the guy who his name's Chris Kenner. I owe so much to him, but he was is Copperfield's producer. He said, I told David all about you, and we can't hire you as an intern, but if you drop out of college, we'll hire you full time. And so I told my parents that, and both of my parents were like, You're gonna drop out of Purdue and go do that. And so that was how I got my first creative job. Was that
Chris Sund: that is such a good story. And also, wow, incredible parents, to say the least.
Blake Vogt: I know, dude. Tell me about it.
Chris Sund: For that you know how many times people would tell their kids to take this safe route, versus chase their dream. And so that's really cool that they were like
Blake Vogt: Mm. Totally. It
Chris Sund: chase the dream.
Blake Vogt: Yeah. I think their
Chris Sund: And now look.
Blake Vogt: exact words were like, you know, you should go try that for a year, you know, and like college will still be here. If after a year you don't like it or it's it's a bust, you know. But they were the f you know, I don't think they like drop out of c they like, take a year off and go do that. And that was in twenty eleven and I haven't looked back since.
Chris Sund: That's amazing.
Blake Vogt: Yeah.
Chris Sund: And also right place, right time, but you also, you know, shot your shot. If you never made
Blake Vogt: Yeah.
Chris Sund: that call, right? Who knows what happens?
Blake Vogt: Mm-hmm. Yep. Exactly. I feel extremely lucky. I realize it's like Mother Nature you could credit from the spark of my career with the snowstorm, but also like I I did put myself in the position to be lucky by by at least asking, you know.
Chris Sund: Absolutely. So
Blake Vogt: Yeah.
Chris Sund: how long did you end up working with Copperfield?
Blake Vogt: I worked there for one year and then while I was there, I met a lot of creative people in the business. And we worked seven days a week, about 14 hour days, on new magic. And it was every couple months we'd take like two days off. So it was a lot. And I realized after a year, like I was not getting to perform at all. Well, like every once in a while. We'd get a trick almost finished for Copperfield and he would keep a couple hundred people after his shows and they would stay to watch the new trick after he did his two hour show. And I would go up on stage and I would do the new trick for the audience with Copperfield sitting out in the audience watching it with these two hundred people. And then afterwards he would interview people and be like, What did you like? What did you not like? what was confusing? You know, and I got to see like all of these techniques and learn all these things. And then the last question he always asked was he was like, if you think you know how that trick worked, raise your hand right now and someone from my team will come up and talk to you. And so we would rehearse and practice tricks in front of test audiences until that last question no one raised their hands, or everyone that raised their hands was wrong.
Chris Sund: That is awesome. I don't even
Blake Vogt: It was awesome.
Chris Sund: what an amazing experience.
Blake Vogt: It was the coolest year ever.
Chris Sund: So what did you do after that year? What was next?
Blake Vogt: After that, I like I said, I'd I'd met a few people and I it was really hard to leave that job, but I told them like I need to be performing and working, so you know, could I do that? And they're like, no, not really. Like you'd either have to go do that or or be here. So I left. I packed and with no plan, I packed everything up in my car and I was just gonna drive and figure it out. And one of my friends I had made was the magic consultant for now you see me one. Which was filming in New Orleans at the time. And he was like, Do you wanna come? And I was like, Yep. I was in my car. So instead of driving to Indiana, I drove to New Orleans to work with the cast of the movie. And while I was driving, another guy called me and it it was just like, I'm giving myself goosebumps. Like it was like, I can't explain the luck involved in this, but as I was driving to New Orleans, Another guy called me and he said, Look, I know you work for David Copperfield, but would you ever entertain the idea of working for this magician out of the UK named Dynamo, who is like the David Blaine of of London. And I was like, dude, nobody knows this, but like everything I own is in my car right now. And I can I I can totally go do that. So I went and did that for six months, lived in London, and then David Blaine's favorite magic consultant was that guy. So David Blaine called that guy and he said, put a team together, anybody you want, and I wanna meet them and and stuff. And so that gig led me to moving in with David Blaine in New York for a year, working on his Real or Magic special. but so it just seems like one thing just kept snowballing, but it was all behind the scenes creative work while on the weekends doing shows as much as I could, but I was learning from These monsters and just taking notes and being in sponge mode. And you know, I learned so much from every person.
Chris Sund: Well, you got more than a degree in magic, to say the least. Yeah, now you're
Blake Vogt: I know. Yes, exactly. That's right. It's Yeah.
Chris Sund: you're the one that's able to teach the classes. How so you know, so you designed illusions for now you see me. I mean, your hands technically have been in the like the movie, right?
Blake Vogt: Yeah. It was awesome. I mean, like, I'm hidden in the movie a couple of times and like I was brought on at the tail end of the first one, but I made all the right friends. So whenever they filmed the second one, they brought me in from the beginning. So I got to help div with the writer and develop the tricks alongside of him. And then a few years, you know, I was on set for all that stuff, and then a few years went by and they went to go make the third one and I got to consult on the story. So it was like each one, you know, led to the next one, but it was so much fun to do and actors are so much fun to teach magic to because they're so good at learning things. It's crazy.
Chris Sund: That later went and I guess timing wise hard to say where it went, but you worked with Paul Rudd on on
Blake Vogt: Yeah.
Chris Sund: Ant Man and the Wasps. What was that like
Blake Vogt: Yeah.
Chris Sund: meeting him? I'm such a big fan of Paul.
Blake Vogt: Dude, I feel like all of my stories are gonna sound the same, and they're just gonna be like, this guy's just the luckiest dude in the world. But so years before, it's hard to explain. Man, where does this start? a friend of mine had to cancel a gig. And so he was like, last minute will you do this gig? I did it. It was for a modern family rap party in LA. And I met one of the stars of the show, Eric Stone Street, who's now one of my best friends in the world. But Back then, like ten years ago, when I met him in LA, I didn't know he was a magician. Cause I just knew him for his character on the Modern Family show. But he's very different. I mean, still nice like nice, but he's very different person in real life than on the show. And which, you know, speaks to how much of an amazing actor he is, but he's a magician guy. So we hit it off at this party, started hanging out and A year later he does this charity event in Kansas City with some of his celebrity friends every year to raise money for the children's hospital. and it's called Big Slick. So it's this super cool charity event. And so he brought me to it as a special guest to do magic for the kids at the hospital. And I got to meet all of Eric's celebrity friends and stuff. And I ran in I got to meet Paul, Paul's family. because Paul is from Kansas City originally too. Jason Sidakis. There's some really great people that do this event every year. So I do it like four or five years in a row. And then Paul is reading the script for Ant Man 2. And he reads in the script, Paul does card tricks. And he said to the the group, like at the table read, like, Who do I get to learn card tricks from? And they were like, We're just gonna do a green screen, like, you don't have to really. And he's No, I want to learn. And he and they were like, Well, we don't know any magicians. And he was like, I know the guy, we can call. And then two days later, I was in Atlanta with the whole like Marvel team talking to Paul and about the movie. And they bas so I knew Paul before, which was nice, 'cause he was like my biggest champion for the whole thing. And then the director said, You're gonna teach Paul a card trick, and if he can't learn it in a month when we come back to shoot, you'll get to be the hands in the movie. And I was like, got it. So
Chris Sund: Mm-hmm.
Blake Vogt: I taught him dude like the hardest trick, like the hardest thing. And annoyingly, 30 days later, he came back and he could do it flawlessly. And so it's really his hands in the movie, not mine. Like he got to do it. They added more magic to the movie. But it was a lot of hurry up and wait on the set. So I was just doing magic to everyone. Like during all of the repositionings and stuff. And finally the director of the movie, Peyton Reed, was like, Do you just want to be in this movie? And I was like, Yes. And he was like, Well,
Chris Sund: Yeah.
Blake Vogt: well, you have to wear this ridiculous jacket. And I was like, dude, I will wear anything to be in this movie. So at seven minutes and eleven seconds into Ant-Man Two, Paul is sitting at his laptop learning magic tricks because his character's under house arrest. And you see a magician on his laptop teaching him, that's me. On his laptop in the movies.
Chris Sund: That is awesome.
Blake Vogt: It's so awesome. Yeah. Super cool.
Chris Sund: It it goes to show how important it is to just take those chances and meet the right people 'cause you just never know
Blake Vogt: Yeah.
Chris Sund: where that's gonna go.
Blake Vogt: And everybody was so nice there. I think it was alm almost like creepy and a little alarming how nice everyone was at on the set of the Marvel thing. I think at one point I asked one of the PAs or runners, I was like, What is going on? Like, why is everyone always so nice and always in such a good mood? And the PA was like, I think all of the people here are really good at what they do. And we all really like our job that we do. And so we just have fun with it. And it was like eye opening to get to that level of something and just see that when you're around a lot of people excelling at something because they love it, it's so much fun.
Chris Sund: say so and very
Blake Vogt: Yeah.
Chris Sund: rare. I mean that you had to ask the question because that's rare. You don't see that too often.
Blake Vogt: Yeah.
Chris Sund: You're gonna run across people that you can tell don't really love the job that they're there to do.
Blake Vogt: Yes, yes, yes, yes. But, you know, speaking to like what you said, you were like how lucky you were at eight to find the thing. You know, I I remind myself of that all the time, like how lucky I am that I found something, a passion that I can make money doing. And so like it never escapes me that if I ever meet somebody who doesn't necessarily like what they do, like I realize the fact that I've found this weird thing is super lucky.
Chris Sund: Yeah, I would say so. There's a lot of
Blake Vogt: Yeah. Yes.
Chris Sund: people that have no idea what they really want to do, even as they
Blake Vogt: Yes, I know.
Chris Sund: got in later in life, or they pivot later in life, which is also really cool. So,
Blake Vogt: Mm-hmm. Totally.
Chris Sund: you know, to take it a little bit away from magic, what and I guess still tied in, what is the biggest like lesson you've learned? Because you've done some really amazing things, but anyone that's ever tried magic at all or even attempted to try magic. It's hard. So I'd like to know like
Blake Vogt: Yeah.
Chris Sund: what some of the best lessons you've learned from all this.
Blake Vogt: I think, you know, great question. I think the majority of the lessons I've learned were on these creative teams. And I just took these skills from everybody as I was around them. And one one question I got asked when I I finally like had this the producer offered me the job with Copperfield, but I still had have like a meeting with him. And so like really scary, went to the MGM, sat in his apartment and like was just him and I. And he was like, if I hire you to be on my team, what good ideas do you promise you'll bring to the table? And it like panicked. And I was like, I promise you zero good ideas, but I promise you I will be the guy that never runs out of bad ideas. And it made him laugh, but then he was like, All right. Because like that's one of the biggest things I feel like I bring to the table whenever I get hired as a creative consultant or magic, like whatever. If you're in a creative room, you need really smart people who sit there and think and then talk. I am the dummy who will never shut up. So, like when a question is posed, I immediately start throwing out everything that comes to my mind. and I'm a really helpful person to have in that space because you kind of need you never hit a wall, because I'll just keep throwing out bad ideas. And that's the only thing I promise. And so what accidentally started happening was like someone would hire me and I'd say, I'm only going to give you bad ideas. And then I would go and work and like, hey, you actually gave us a couple good ones. And I was like, so it ended
Chris Sund: Yeah.
Blake Vogt: up, it was a weird thing that accidentally started happening. But yeah, I think that just the value of Bad ideas, you know, like you said, magic's really hard. And anybody who's ever tried it, like if you've ever tried magic and thought it was hard, try inventing a magic trick. It's a nightmare. It's like you have to solve a puzzle in reverse, but the only way you kind of really get good at anything like that is just re repetition and you know, trying it over and over again. And I think that the value of bad ideas and just knowing that they usually lead to the solution is something I've seen throughout my whole career and that's a a valuable lesson.
Chris Sund: That is a valuable lesson. And I th
Blake Vogt: Yeah.
Chris Sund: that line is fantastic. And
Blake Vogt: I know, I'm so happy about that.
Chris Sund: And value I think people don't realize the value of just throwing all kinds of ideas at a wall and actually taking time to make sure you look at it from different angles and poke holes into
Blake Vogt: Totally.
Chris Sund: what was what is a good idea, 'cause you never know. Just 'cause it's a good idea doesn't mean there's something better.
Blake Vogt: Totally. Yeah. And I feel like my favorite creative teams I have worked on are when you surround yourself with people who leave the ego at the door and best idea wins. Doesn't matter whose it is. Like in game goal is to solve this puzzle. Who cares who solved it? Like we were all in the room. And so those were the most productive rooms I was ever in. And sure, I was in some rooms where there were guys that were like, That was my idea. Or you're like, you're I've g I've got you know, and it just never worked as well as when you were in a room with people who didn't care who got credit for it. They just cared that it got done or it got, you know, the solution was solved. And that was really valuable too.
Chris Sund: What a great lesson being around so many creative minds early on and everyone's attacking things, trying to figure out what's next, what's the next thing you're gonna invent or create or solve. So that really is a master
Blake Vogt: Yeah. I mean being around
Chris Sund: class.
Blake Vogt: Yeah, being around Copperfield, Blaine, they're literally the top of the people in my field. So and I got to like I lived with David. I lived on his couch. So it was like I saw him from when I woke up to when I went to sleep and Copperfield was fourteen hours a day. And just the habits they practiced, like a lot of people wondered when we were inventing magic tricks, did he just like pop in every once in a while? No. He was there the whole time. Like And he's a genius. So we'd be working on something and he'd come by and he'd solve it. And it was just like he was so dialed in and impressive and worked so hard that by the end of that year, I was like, yeah, that's not luck. That's not an accident that he's the king of magic. Same goes for Blaine. That guy, I mean, the physical stuff you see him do on TV, I got to see him training for it. So living with somebody whose diet has to be so dialed in and you know, you just feel so lazy being around these people that it's like, I gotta up my game. If if this is the top and this is what it takes, you know, it it makes sense.
Chris Sund: Yeah, how lucky you are. And I actually I don't really like using the word luck because you earned where you were at in every step of the way. Yeah. But
Blake Vogt: It's a good combo. Yeah.
Chris Sund: I it really, yeah, I don't want to discredit the fact that you worked really hard and you were in that spot. They wouldn't have left you in the room if they didn't think you were worthy, right? So there's a whole lot of you earned that spot and that seat at that table. And what a great like Business takeaways. I mean, there's a lot of business rooms you can go into, and people are more worried about showing up and having the best idea and being the one with the idea that goes, like you said, versus putting all ego aside and realizing the most important thing is we walk out of here with what we believe is the best possible idea there is, right?
Blake Vogt: Yeah, exactly. And I I got I've plugged in now through the creative world to different markets. I work with this company called Theory Eleven and I've invented some of the most successful games that are on the shelves of Target because I got plugged into it through magic, but then I got to work on these like escape room games. There's a escape room game at Target called Box One that we invented with Neil Patrick Harris. So it's like This game that's really, really fun to play. But what I'm getting at, I'm getting back to what you just said. Like, I got in this meeting and it was a big meeting, like with really top executives and stuff. And they're like, What good ideas do you have for games? And I was like, I promise you only bad ideas for games. And they were all like, we like that. That's good. It's like everything that I had learned and all of these skills and like a strategies, it applied everywhere. It was like everybody liked that approach. And it it worked to solve problems everywhere. It didn't just work for magic tricks.
Chris Sund: Yeah, that's one of the beautiful things that I think a lot of people don't realize. There's just some traits and qualities that you can take from one industry to the next industry. And the same reason it worked over there, it's gonna work over here. And
Blake Vogt: Yeah.
Chris Sund: yeah. So one of the things I want to touch on, I I know we're probably getting a little close, but you have, you know, one of the talks you give is creating the impossible. And I'd love to know, out of everything you learned, why did you lean into creating the impossible?
Blake Vogt: Great question. I feel like just genuinely, this is gonna sound like the most cheese ball sentence of all time, but I genuinely feel like nothing is impossible because that's just been my life experience. And I've been in the rooms where you you've heard the craziest idea, and then we end up making it. So my track record and what I've just seen in life, I've never heard of anything said or any goal, and then it was impossible. So Just from that, starting off at that place, you know, I start off every day and I write down 10 bad ideas in a notebook. It's just like an exercise I do. So it's just like I write them down and it's like a muscle. So it's like going to the gym and working out. So like I do it every day. So when these situations present themselves and people are like, Could you do this? I'm like, Yes. And they're like, Whoa, well, how? And I'm like, Well, you could do this, you could do this, you could do this. Like, I'll throw all of these like if it you have an unlimited budget, this is how you would make the Statue of Liberty disappear. If we had to do it tonight, this would be how we'd do it. You know, if we if you wanted to make the Statue of Liberty appear next year, well, we could have some time to develop stuff. So I just feel like there's nothing is nothing is impossible. And the minute that you kind of rewire your brain to think that way, st it it You know, you trick yourself into it being real.
Chris Sund: That's pretty incredible. What yeah, I love that. I love the whole idea behind that. And I guess I want to carry that on. So knowing this amazing mindset you have that go for it, nothing's impossible. What is the next couple of years? What are you chasing right now over the next couple of years that we circle
Blake Vogt: Great quit.
Chris Sund: back and be like, this is what I did.
Blake Vogt: Yeah, I mean, big time goal is to sell out MSG, Madison Square Garden in New York. I've you know, in all of these creative rooms, I I have these notebooks and for Copperfield Blaine, like I'll say a bunch of ideas and then I'll have one that I think's really good and I'll say it. And every once in a while the whole room is like, No, that's a bad idea. And I'm like, Got it. That one I'm keeping. And so, like, I have these books of ideas for big illusions. And, you know, I love doing shows for thousands of people and AGT was millions. And just sharing my magic and like entertaining people with as many people as possible on the biggest stage with the biggest tricks. That's my goal. And so I would say, like, in one year, the amount of people watching me do a show is hopefully more. than the amount of people watching me do this year. And then eventually MSG is the the big, big goal.
Chris Sund: Yeah, that's what I'm talking about. Well good nice work putting it out there. You write down
Blake Vogt: Yes.
Chris Sund: the goal and you put it out there, it's more likely to happen. Everyone heard it here.
Blake Vogt: Manifest. Exactly.
Chris Sund: Yes. So Mass and Square Garden. We need to figure out who knows who. How do we make that happen?
Blake Vogt: Whoever's whoever's watching, listening, let us know.
Chris Sund: So I got one more I wanna do before we kind of wrap up and it it ties to that, but that's looking towards the future. If you looked back at this year around this year or so, what is something that you're the most proud about?
Blake Vogt: Ooh. And I would say, I mean, last year I was doing a lot of like performing on cruise ships and stuff, and that was my my main job. So I was on the water 200 days last year, and that was too many days. And so I set the goal for this year to be on water one week a month, and the other three weeks. be doing shows all over. And I set that goal last year. And we're in October now. And that's what I've done this year. So one week a month I'm on a different Disney ship. Once I got plugged in with Disney, it was like a dream come true. And that's only been kind of the last year and a half. So stopped working for other companies because I'm a Disney guy. I love Disney. I love the people who go on Disney cruises are the people who I want watching me do magic. So it's like you know, a match made in heaven. And so I'm I've I've phased it out and that's been my mission this last year is, you know, doing less traveling but more shows. And that's I wanna continue to do that.
Chris Sund: That's great. Well, you should be proud. That's you said you're gonna do it. Here it is, a year later, and you've been doing it. So next thing we know, Masson Square Garden. Well, first of all,
Blake Vogt: Yes, sir. That's right.
Chris Sund: thank you so much for being on this podcast, man. I had a blast. I wanna make sure that everyone yeah,
Blake Vogt: Me too. Thanks for listening to me.
Chris Sund: absolutely. These stories are amazing. The I wanna make sure everyone listening. We're gonna give you a lot of if you go to the show notes and the descriptions, you're gonna be able to find Blake's website. You're gonna find links to his social media so you can start following him if you're not already. If you're not, you're nuts. And yeah, just wanna
Blake Vogt: Yeah.
Chris Sund: say thanks again. We'll have to do this again, hopefully in the near future.
Blake Vogt: Yes, sir. Thanks, Chris. I appreciate it.
Chris Sund: Thanks, Blake.
Blake Vogt: Hello. Thank you for having me.
Chris Sund: No, absolutely. I've been looking all week to meet you to say the least.
Blake Vogt: Awesome, man. Me too. This is fun. Thanks for having me do this.
Chris Sund: Yeah. So one of the things I'd love to know, I mean, you've done some amazing magic performance you're doing right now, which we'll get into, but I'd like to know when did you start to even learn magic? Because that's not something anyone can just pick up.
Blake Vogt: Yeah, I feel like I started as a kid. You know, I think a lot of kids learn magic and then got a magic kit and I just never stopped using it. eight years old, I saw a magician at a pizza hut performing in Indiana, like this small town, and I was like, What is that? Like I've never seen that. my parents freaked out 'cause they saw how obsessed I was and they were like, asked the Pizza Hut people, they're like, Does this guy ever do this again? And and they're Yeah, he's here the first Wednesday of every month. And I was like, Got it. And then I found out every Wednesday he was at a different Pizza Hut all over the state of Indiana. So for a whole year, I just went to Pizza Huts all the time on Wednesdays with different family members. And then my ninth birthday party, my parents hired him to do a magic show for like a surprise party for me. And ever since my ninth birthday, this has been the only career I've ever wanted to have.
Chris Sund: That is so cool. I love that you
Blake Vogt: Yeah.
Chris Sund: fell in love at that early of an age and then just kept hunting down that magician. Have you talked to them? Okay, I gotta know.
Blake Vogt: Yeah.
Chris Sund: Have you ever talked to that magician at all recently?
Blake Vogt: Not not like recent recently, but we became friends. He ended up becoming like a mentor to me, not from a magic standpoint, because a lot of magic is self-taught and discovery and you know, but when I first was starting to get paid to do magic shows, I couldn't even wrap my head around the fact that someone would pay me to watch me do magic. So I called him and I'm like, What's a contract? Like how do I how do I charge people to do a magic show? My golf coach in high school was the first one to hire me to do a magic show when I was a freshman in high school for his daughter's like 10th birthday party or something. And he was like, How much do you charge? I was like, I'll do it for free. So I did the whole show for free. And then he tipped me forty dollars. So for the first year, anytime anybody ever asked me to do a magic show, they were like, How much do you charge? I was like, Forty dollars. Feel felt safe.
Chris Sund: I love that. That's also pretty incredible that you started doing performances, paid performances in high school. I don't know that many people I can say they did that in high school. When did you feel, you know, at
Blake Vogt: Yeah, and then like I saw that guy yeah. Yep.
Chris Sund: I know, what were you saying?
Blake Vogt: I saw that guy at the I saw that guy at the Pizza Hut doing restaurant magic. So when I was in high school, I was at a different restaurant chain and I was like, Would you let me? I did I think I did one night just for free. Like I walked around the restaurant the whole night in a suit, like doing magic as a sophomore or freshman in high school. And the restaurant loved it. So then once a week for three hours on Monday nights at this restaurant for three years. I did walk around close up magic. And that was like the magic my my skill set went through the roof from regular performing, you know, like that.
Chris Sund: That's incredible. What a great way to
Blake Vogt: Yeah, it's fine.
Chris Sund: practice. And you made some money. A lot better than what most people can say they did to make money in high school.
Blake Vogt: Yeah. It was it was weird to explain to friends what I was doing.
Chris Sund: So did you, you know, at that point, did you think maybe this is something I'll keep doing from like hey, this could be a career? Or was it, no, I'm gonna keep doing this and making a little extra money, but I'm gonna go down this path in school or or job wise?
Blake Vogt: Yeah, you know, strangely enough, I was never motivated by the money part of it. I kept being blown away that people were paying me to do it. I love it so much. Like I would pay someone to watch me do a trick. So, like it wasn't like I should keep doing this 'cause I'm making money. It was like I just loved it so much. And then like in high school and college, I anytime anybody ever asked me what what do you want to be when you grow up, I'd say magician. And everybody would laugh and they'd be like, Well, what do really want to do? And then I'd said I'd say orthodontist. And so they were like, there you go. That's a that's a good answer. So I was pre-dental in college, because I didn't think magic was like a real career. I I had been like told that enough times. And then like a straight A student in high school, and then in college, when I was pre-dental, it like pre-med basically. My grades went through the floor. It was like so embarrassing. I wasn't partying, drinking. I was studying my butt off and I was doing so bad at college that I was I went to Purdue in Indiana for pre-med pre-dental and the the university required me to go see a career counselor to stay at the university. And the career counselor was like, if you woke up tomorrow, what would you do from when you woke up? Till when you fell asleep, if money didn't exist in the world. And I was like, I'd play with magic tricks. And she was like, You're in the wrong major. So she was sick.
Chris Sund: Yeah.
Blake Vogt: So yeah. We saw she we found industrial design at Purdue, the university I was already at, which is like product design, where they teach you to draw your ideas and like build things. And so my GPA went from like, one seven to like three nine in one semester because I was that was what I was supposed to do and it college became so fun and yeah, it was awesome.
Chris Sund: I love that. Do you think, you know, part of the reason they suggested that path is it you really find yourself enjoying more of that creative side of it?
Blake Vogt: Yeah, I love I love all sides of it really. Like I've I have friends who only like the creative side. I have friends who only like performing. I feel like I'm this weird hybrid where like if I'm working behind the scenes for too long without time on stage, I get itchy. And then like if I have too many shows in a row where I'm not getting to create something new, I like so I'm right down the middle, which is really fun and keeps I never get bored or burnt out, which is nice.
Chris Sund: When it came to getting to a bigger stage, because I mean you've been on some absolutely amazing sets and done a lot, where did it start more with the production side or the creating side? Where did it kind of like crack into there?
Blake Vogt: I think I think great question. I think creative side first. that's where my my career kind of got jump started. When I was in college, I would buy a magic trick. So a lot of people don't know this, but you can like buy, you know, magic tricks and learn them. I was doing that, but I would learn the trick and then I would change the way the script you say with the trick or I'd I'd see how the trick worked and I'd be like, I think it'd be better if you built it this way. So I was just tweaking everybody else's stuff. And then I started to go to magic conventions where magicians get together and like show each other tricks. And I was showing everybody like my versions of you know, combining things. And everybody at the conventions were like, This is new. This is brand new. You invented a brand new magic trick. And I'm like, No, I didn't. This is just this thing combined with this and this really old thing. And they're like, no, no, that's what inventing is. Like, that's new. And I was like, okay. Yeah. So that got me in the room with some of the creative minds that worked for David Copperfield. And, you know, they they were impressed by some of the stuff I was doing. And I this is a long story, so you can totally cut this out. But I I went to Las I went to Las Vegas and I was working for a magic company to film a video tutorial on how to do one of my inventions. And on the last night, they surprised us and they took us to Copperfield Show. And after the show, got to meet Copperfield and meet his creative team. And I was an industrial design major. So within my major, you have to do a one-semester internship. So I was feeling real brave. And I was like, Do you guys ever hire interns? And they laughed at me and they're like, no, we don't like we we the secrets we discuss here, like we can't give to somebody, you know, for an internship. But, you know. So this is in like 2011, I think, was when this happened. And I was supposed to fly back to Indiana, and you can check the weather reports history on Google, but There was the biggest blizzard in the last 50 years hit Indiana. So all flights to Indiana were were canceled. And Copperfield's producer had said to me the night before, the next time you're in town, don't get a hotel, you can stay at my house. And I was like, all right. So the next day my flight got canceled. I was like, I can either call my parents and beg for money. I can call this company that flew me out to Vegas, or I could text or call this guy I just met. Why not? And I hit him up. And he was like, I'll come pick you up right now. So I stayed at his house. We stayed up till like one or two AM jamming magic ideas. And then for four days in a row, every morning at breakfast, I showed him my flight was canceled again. And he was like, Looks like you're staying. And then so, like by day three or four, we'd ran out of stuff to talk about. He was bringing home at night Copperfield problems. And we were like jamming on the stuff that they were working on at the office. And on the last day when I finally got to fly out, the the guy who his name's Chris Kenner. I owe so much to him, but he was is Copperfield's producer. He said, I told David all about you, and we can't hire you as an intern, but if you drop out of college, we'll hire you full time. And so I told my parents that, and both of my parents were like, You're gonna drop out of Purdue and go do that. And so that was how I got my first creative job. Was that
Chris Sund: that is such a good story. And also, wow, incredible parents, to say the least.
Blake Vogt: I know, dude. Tell me about it.
Chris Sund: For that you know how many times people would tell their kids to take this safe route, versus chase their dream. And so that's really cool that they were like
Blake Vogt: Mm. Totally. It
Chris Sund: chase the dream.
Blake Vogt: Yeah. I think their
Chris Sund: And now look.
Blake Vogt: exact words were like, you know, you should go try that for a year, you know, and like college will still be here. If after a year you don't like it or it's it's a bust, you know. But they were the f you know, I don't think they like drop out of c they like, take a year off and go do that. And that was in twenty eleven and I haven't looked back since.
Chris Sund: That's amazing.
Blake Vogt: Yeah.
Chris Sund: And also right place, right time, but you also, you know, shot your shot. If you never made
Blake Vogt: Yeah.
Chris Sund: that call, right? Who knows what happens?
Blake Vogt: Mm-hmm. Yep. Exactly. I feel extremely lucky. I realize it's like Mother Nature you could credit from the spark of my career with the snowstorm, but also like I I did put myself in the position to be lucky by by at least asking, you know.
Chris Sund: Absolutely. So
Blake Vogt: Yeah.
Chris Sund: how long did you end up working with Copperfield?
Blake Vogt: I worked there for one year and then while I was there, I met a lot of creative people in the business. And we worked seven days a week, about 14 hour days, on new magic. And it was every couple months we'd take like two days off. So it was a lot. And I realized after a year, like I was not getting to perform at all. Well, like every once in a while. We'd get a trick almost finished for Copperfield and he would keep a couple hundred people after his shows and they would stay to watch the new trick after he did his two hour show. And I would go up on stage and I would do the new trick for the audience with Copperfield sitting out in the audience watching it with these two hundred people. And then afterwards he would interview people and be like, What did you like? What did you not like? what was confusing? You know, and I got to see like all of these techniques and learn all these things. And then the last question he always asked was he was like, if you think you know how that trick worked, raise your hand right now and someone from my team will come up and talk to you. And so we would rehearse and practice tricks in front of test audiences until that last question no one raised their hands, or everyone that raised their hands was wrong.
Chris Sund: That is awesome. I don't even
Blake Vogt: It was awesome.
Chris Sund: what an amazing experience.
Blake Vogt: It was the coolest year ever.
Chris Sund: So what did you do after that year? What was next?
Blake Vogt: After that, I like I said, I'd I'd met a few people and I it was really hard to leave that job, but I told them like I need to be performing and working, so you know, could I do that? And they're like, no, not really. Like you'd either have to go do that or or be here. So I left. I packed and with no plan, I packed everything up in my car and I was just gonna drive and figure it out. And one of my friends I had made was the magic consultant for now you see me one. Which was filming in New Orleans at the time. And he was like, Do you wanna come? And I was like, Yep. I was in my car. So instead of driving to Indiana, I drove to New Orleans to work with the cast of the movie. And while I was driving, another guy called me and it it was just like, I'm giving myself goosebumps. Like it was like, I can't explain the luck involved in this, but as I was driving to New Orleans, Another guy called me and he said, Look, I know you work for David Copperfield, but would you ever entertain the idea of working for this magician out of the UK named Dynamo, who is like the David Blaine of of London. And I was like, dude, nobody knows this, but like everything I own is in my car right now. And I can I I can totally go do that. So I went and did that for six months, lived in London, and then David Blaine's favorite magic consultant was that guy. So David Blaine called that guy and he said, put a team together, anybody you want, and I wanna meet them and and stuff. And so that gig led me to moving in with David Blaine in New York for a year, working on his Real or Magic special. but so it just seems like one thing just kept snowballing, but it was all behind the scenes creative work while on the weekends doing shows as much as I could, but I was learning from These monsters and just taking notes and being in sponge mode. And you know, I learned so much from every person.
Chris Sund: Well, you got more than a degree in magic, to say the least. Yeah, now you're
Blake Vogt: I know. Yes, exactly. That's right. It's Yeah.
Chris Sund: you're the one that's able to teach the classes. How so you know, so you designed illusions for now you see me. I mean, your hands technically have been in the like the movie, right?
Blake Vogt: Yeah. It was awesome. I mean, like, I'm hidden in the movie a couple of times and like I was brought on at the tail end of the first one, but I made all the right friends. So whenever they filmed the second one, they brought me in from the beginning. So I got to help div with the writer and develop the tricks alongside of him. And then a few years, you know, I was on set for all that stuff, and then a few years went by and they went to go make the third one and I got to consult on the story. So it was like each one, you know, led to the next one, but it was so much fun to do and actors are so much fun to teach magic to because they're so good at learning things. It's crazy.
Chris Sund: That later went and I guess timing wise hard to say where it went, but you worked with Paul Rudd on on
Blake Vogt: Yeah.
Chris Sund: Ant Man and the Wasps. What was that like
Blake Vogt: Yeah.
Chris Sund: meeting him? I'm such a big fan of Paul.
Blake Vogt: Dude, I feel like all of my stories are gonna sound the same, and they're just gonna be like, this guy's just the luckiest dude in the world. But so years before, it's hard to explain. Man, where does this start? a friend of mine had to cancel a gig. And so he was like, last minute will you do this gig? I did it. It was for a modern family rap party in LA. And I met one of the stars of the show, Eric Stone Street, who's now one of my best friends in the world. But Back then, like ten years ago, when I met him in LA, I didn't know he was a magician. Cause I just knew him for his character on the Modern Family show. But he's very different. I mean, still nice like nice, but he's very different person in real life than on the show. And which, you know, speaks to how much of an amazing actor he is, but he's a magician guy. So we hit it off at this party, started hanging out and A year later he does this charity event in Kansas City with some of his celebrity friends every year to raise money for the children's hospital. and it's called Big Slick. So it's this super cool charity event. And so he brought me to it as a special guest to do magic for the kids at the hospital. And I got to meet all of Eric's celebrity friends and stuff. And I ran in I got to meet Paul, Paul's family. because Paul is from Kansas City originally too. Jason Sidakis. There's some really great people that do this event every year. So I do it like four or five years in a row. And then Paul is reading the script for Ant Man 2. And he reads in the script, Paul does card tricks. And he said to the the group, like at the table read, like, Who do I get to learn card tricks from? And they were like, We're just gonna do a green screen, like, you don't have to really. And he's No, I want to learn. And he and they were like, Well, we don't know any magicians. And he was like, I know the guy, we can call. And then two days later, I was in Atlanta with the whole like Marvel team talking to Paul and about the movie. And they bas so I knew Paul before, which was nice, 'cause he was like my biggest champion for the whole thing. And then the director said, You're gonna teach Paul a card trick, and if he can't learn it in a month when we come back to shoot, you'll get to be the hands in the movie. And I was like, got it. So
Chris Sund: Mm-hmm.
Blake Vogt: I taught him dude like the hardest trick, like the hardest thing. And annoyingly, 30 days later, he came back and he could do it flawlessly. And so it's really his hands in the movie, not mine. Like he got to do it. They added more magic to the movie. But it was a lot of hurry up and wait on the set. So I was just doing magic to everyone. Like during all of the repositionings and stuff. And finally the director of the movie, Peyton Reed, was like, Do you just want to be in this movie? And I was like, Yes. And he was like, Well,
Chris Sund: Yeah.
Blake Vogt: well, you have to wear this ridiculous jacket. And I was like, dude, I will wear anything to be in this movie. So at seven minutes and eleven seconds into Ant-Man Two, Paul is sitting at his laptop learning magic tricks because his character's under house arrest. And you see a magician on his laptop teaching him, that's me. On his laptop in the movies.
Chris Sund: That is awesome.
Blake Vogt: It's so awesome. Yeah. Super cool.
Chris Sund: It it goes to show how important it is to just take those chances and meet the right people 'cause you just never know
Blake Vogt: Yeah.
Chris Sund: where that's gonna go.
Blake Vogt: And everybody was so nice there. I think it was alm almost like creepy and a little alarming how nice everyone was at on the set of the Marvel thing. I think at one point I asked one of the PAs or runners, I was like, What is going on? Like, why is everyone always so nice and always in such a good mood? And the PA was like, I think all of the people here are really good at what they do. And we all really like our job that we do. And so we just have fun with it. And it was like eye opening to get to that level of something and just see that when you're around a lot of people excelling at something because they love it, it's so much fun.
Chris Sund: say so and very
Blake Vogt: Yeah.
Chris Sund: rare. I mean that you had to ask the question because that's rare. You don't see that too often.
Blake Vogt: Yeah.
Chris Sund: You're gonna run across people that you can tell don't really love the job that they're there to do.
Blake Vogt: Yes, yes, yes, yes. But, you know, speaking to like what you said, you were like how lucky you were at eight to find the thing. You know, I I remind myself of that all the time, like how lucky I am that I found something, a passion that I can make money doing. And so like it never escapes me that if I ever meet somebody who doesn't necessarily like what they do, like I realize the fact that I've found this weird thing is super lucky.
Chris Sund: Yeah, I would say so. There's a lot of
Blake Vogt: Yeah. Yes.
Chris Sund: people that have no idea what they really want to do, even as they
Blake Vogt: Yes, I know.
Chris Sund: got in later in life, or they pivot later in life, which is also really cool. So,
Blake Vogt: Mm-hmm. Totally.
Chris Sund: you know, to take it a little bit away from magic, what and I guess still tied in, what is the biggest like lesson you've learned? Because you've done some really amazing things, but anyone that's ever tried magic at all or even attempted to try magic. It's hard. So I'd like to know like
Blake Vogt: Yeah.
Chris Sund: what some of the best lessons you've learned from all this.
Blake Vogt: I think, you know, great question. I think the majority of the lessons I've learned were on these creative teams. And I just took these skills from everybody as I was around them. And one one question I got asked when I I finally like had this the producer offered me the job with Copperfield, but I still had have like a meeting with him. And so like really scary, went to the MGM, sat in his apartment and like was just him and I. And he was like, if I hire you to be on my team, what good ideas do you promise you'll bring to the table? And it like panicked. And I was like, I promise you zero good ideas, but I promise you I will be the guy that never runs out of bad ideas. And it made him laugh, but then he was like, All right. Because like that's one of the biggest things I feel like I bring to the table whenever I get hired as a creative consultant or magic, like whatever. If you're in a creative room, you need really smart people who sit there and think and then talk. I am the dummy who will never shut up. So, like when a question is posed, I immediately start throwing out everything that comes to my mind. and I'm a really helpful person to have in that space because you kind of need you never hit a wall, because I'll just keep throwing out bad ideas. And that's the only thing I promise. And so what accidentally started happening was like someone would hire me and I'd say, I'm only going to give you bad ideas. And then I would go and work and like, hey, you actually gave us a couple good ones. And I was like, so it ended
Chris Sund: Yeah.
Blake Vogt: up, it was a weird thing that accidentally started happening. But yeah, I think that just the value of Bad ideas, you know, like you said, magic's really hard. And anybody who's ever tried it, like if you've ever tried magic and thought it was hard, try inventing a magic trick. It's a nightmare. It's like you have to solve a puzzle in reverse, but the only way you kind of really get good at anything like that is just re repetition and you know, trying it over and over again. And I think that the value of bad ideas and just knowing that they usually lead to the solution is something I've seen throughout my whole career and that's a a valuable lesson.
Chris Sund: That is a valuable lesson. And I th
Blake Vogt: Yeah.
Chris Sund: that line is fantastic. And
Blake Vogt: I know, I'm so happy about that.
Chris Sund: And value I think people don't realize the value of just throwing all kinds of ideas at a wall and actually taking time to make sure you look at it from different angles and poke holes into
Blake Vogt: Totally.
Chris Sund: what was what is a good idea, 'cause you never know. Just 'cause it's a good idea doesn't mean there's something better.
Blake Vogt: Totally. Yeah. And I feel like my favorite creative teams I have worked on are when you surround yourself with people who leave the ego at the door and best idea wins. Doesn't matter whose it is. Like in game goal is to solve this puzzle. Who cares who solved it? Like we were all in the room. And so those were the most productive rooms I was ever in. And sure, I was in some rooms where there were guys that were like, That was my idea. Or you're like, you're I've g I've got you know, and it just never worked as well as when you were in a room with people who didn't care who got credit for it. They just cared that it got done or it got, you know, the solution was solved. And that was really valuable too.
Chris Sund: What a great lesson being around so many creative minds early on and everyone's attacking things, trying to figure out what's next, what's the next thing you're gonna invent or create or solve. So that really is a master
Blake Vogt: Yeah. I mean being around
Chris Sund: class.
Blake Vogt: Yeah, being around Copperfield, Blaine, they're literally the top of the people in my field. So and I got to like I lived with David. I lived on his couch. So it was like I saw him from when I woke up to when I went to sleep and Copperfield was fourteen hours a day. And just the habits they practiced, like a lot of people wondered when we were inventing magic tricks, did he just like pop in every once in a while? No. He was there the whole time. Like And he's a genius. So we'd be working on something and he'd come by and he'd solve it. And it was just like he was so dialed in and impressive and worked so hard that by the end of that year, I was like, yeah, that's not luck. That's not an accident that he's the king of magic. Same goes for Blaine. That guy, I mean, the physical stuff you see him do on TV, I got to see him training for it. So living with somebody whose diet has to be so dialed in and you know, you just feel so lazy being around these people that it's like, I gotta up my game. If if this is the top and this is what it takes, you know, it it makes sense.
Chris Sund: Yeah, how lucky you are. And I actually I don't really like using the word luck because you earned where you were at in every step of the way. Yeah. But
Blake Vogt: It's a good combo. Yeah.
Chris Sund: I it really, yeah, I don't want to discredit the fact that you worked really hard and you were in that spot. They wouldn't have left you in the room if they didn't think you were worthy, right? So there's a whole lot of you earned that spot and that seat at that table. And what a great like Business takeaways. I mean, there's a lot of business rooms you can go into, and people are more worried about showing up and having the best idea and being the one with the idea that goes, like you said, versus putting all ego aside and realizing the most important thing is we walk out of here with what we believe is the best possible idea there is, right?
Blake Vogt: Yeah, exactly. And I I got I've plugged in now through the creative world to different markets. I work with this company called Theory Eleven and I've invented some of the most successful games that are on the shelves of Target because I got plugged into it through magic, but then I got to work on these like escape room games. There's a escape room game at Target called Box One that we invented with Neil Patrick Harris. So it's like This game that's really, really fun to play. But what I'm getting at, I'm getting back to what you just said. Like, I got in this meeting and it was a big meeting, like with really top executives and stuff. And they're like, What good ideas do you have for games? And I was like, I promise you only bad ideas for games. And they were all like, we like that. That's good. It's like everything that I had learned and all of these skills and like a strategies, it applied everywhere. It was like everybody liked that approach. And it it worked to solve problems everywhere. It didn't just work for magic tricks.
Chris Sund: Yeah, that's one of the beautiful things that I think a lot of people don't realize. There's just some traits and qualities that you can take from one industry to the next industry. And the same reason it worked over there, it's gonna work over here. And
Blake Vogt: Yeah.
Chris Sund: yeah. So one of the things I want to touch on, I I know we're probably getting a little close, but you have, you know, one of the talks you give is creating the impossible. And I'd love to know, out of everything you learned, why did you lean into creating the impossible?
Blake Vogt: Great question. I feel like just genuinely, this is gonna sound like the most cheese ball sentence of all time, but I genuinely feel like nothing is impossible because that's just been my life experience. And I've been in the rooms where you you've heard the craziest idea, and then we end up making it. So my track record and what I've just seen in life, I've never heard of anything said or any goal, and then it was impossible. So Just from that, starting off at that place, you know, I start off every day and I write down 10 bad ideas in a notebook. It's just like an exercise I do. So it's just like I write them down and it's like a muscle. So it's like going to the gym and working out. So like I do it every day. So when these situations present themselves and people are like, Could you do this? I'm like, Yes. And they're like, Whoa, well, how? And I'm like, Well, you could do this, you could do this, you could do this. Like, I'll throw all of these like if it you have an unlimited budget, this is how you would make the Statue of Liberty disappear. If we had to do it tonight, this would be how we'd do it. You know, if we if you wanted to make the Statue of Liberty appear next year, well, we could have some time to develop stuff. So I just feel like there's nothing is nothing is impossible. And the minute that you kind of rewire your brain to think that way, st it it You know, you trick yourself into it being real.
Chris Sund: That's pretty incredible. What yeah, I love that. I love the whole idea behind that. And I guess I want to carry that on. So knowing this amazing mindset you have that go for it, nothing's impossible. What is the next couple of years? What are you chasing right now over the next couple of years that we circle
Blake Vogt: Great quit.
Chris Sund: back and be like, this is what I did.
Blake Vogt: Yeah, I mean, big time goal is to sell out MSG, Madison Square Garden in New York. I've you know, in all of these creative rooms, I I have these notebooks and for Copperfield Blaine, like I'll say a bunch of ideas and then I'll have one that I think's really good and I'll say it. And every once in a while the whole room is like, No, that's a bad idea. And I'm like, Got it. That one I'm keeping. And so, like, I have these books of ideas for big illusions. And, you know, I love doing shows for thousands of people and AGT was millions. And just sharing my magic and like entertaining people with as many people as possible on the biggest stage with the biggest tricks. That's my goal. And so I would say, like, in one year, the amount of people watching me do a show is hopefully more. than the amount of people watching me do this year. And then eventually MSG is the the big, big goal.
Chris Sund: Yeah, that's what I'm talking about. Well good nice work putting it out there. You write down
Blake Vogt: Yes.
Chris Sund: the goal and you put it out there, it's more likely to happen. Everyone heard it here.
Blake Vogt: Manifest. Exactly.
Chris Sund: Yes. So Mass and Square Garden. We need to figure out who knows who. How do we make that happen?
Blake Vogt: Whoever's whoever's watching, listening, let us know.
Chris Sund: So I got one more I wanna do before we kind of wrap up and it it ties to that, but that's looking towards the future. If you looked back at this year around this year or so, what is something that you're the most proud about?
Blake Vogt: Ooh. And I would say, I mean, last year I was doing a lot of like performing on cruise ships and stuff, and that was my my main job. So I was on the water 200 days last year, and that was too many days. And so I set the goal for this year to be on water one week a month, and the other three weeks. be doing shows all over. And I set that goal last year. And we're in October now. And that's what I've done this year. So one week a month I'm on a different Disney ship. Once I got plugged in with Disney, it was like a dream come true. And that's only been kind of the last year and a half. So stopped working for other companies because I'm a Disney guy. I love Disney. I love the people who go on Disney cruises are the people who I want watching me do magic. So it's like you know, a match made in heaven. And so I'm I've I've phased it out and that's been my mission this last year is, you know, doing less traveling but more shows. And that's I wanna continue to do that.
Chris Sund: That's great. Well, you should be proud. That's you said you're gonna do it. Here it is, a year later, and you've been doing it. So next thing we know, Masson Square Garden. Well, first of all,
Blake Vogt: Yes, sir. That's right.
Chris Sund: thank you so much for being on this podcast, man. I had a blast. I wanna make sure that everyone yeah,
Blake Vogt: Me too. Thanks for listening to me.
Chris Sund: absolutely. These stories are amazing. The I wanna make sure everyone listening. We're gonna give you a lot of if you go to the show notes and the descriptions, you're gonna be able to find Blake's website. You're gonna find links to his social media so you can start following him if you're not already. If you're not, you're nuts. And yeah, just wanna
Blake Vogt: Yeah.
Chris Sund: say thanks again. We'll have to do this again, hopefully in the near future.
Blake Vogt: Yes, sir. Thanks, Chris. I appreciate it.
Chris Sund: Thanks, Blake.
