Marcel: Magician, Infotainer … and Superhero!

I was been interviewed as part of the ”1min with a Superhero” series on Ideate blog — “a business blog written by real business owners”.

Today, we’re chatting to Marcel Oudejans, one of the busiest and most entertaining corporate infotainment and presentation specialists in Southern Africa. He has been performing professionally for over 10 years and has recently published his first book “The Serious Business Owners Guide to Creating Customers for Life”.

Marcel, most of us know you as a magician (and a pretty mindblowing one at that) – but your offering transcends card tricks and rabbits. Can you clarify your positioning?
I am a Corporate Magician and Infotainer. Someone who uses magic, illusion and entertainment to create a compelling “story”, often about a company or a new product, that people not only remember, but are compelled to talk about. I offer a unique service where I also customize my presentation to my client’s marketing requirements. “Infotainment ” is about using the medium of entertainment to deliver important information or a key message. An example was when I used Absolut Vodka in my act, purposefully.

How did you get into this field? (We’re guessing it was a choice of Kung Fu or Magic as a kid… and you picked the one where you could score more girls.)
My first memory of being totally astonished by magic was at age seven. My Mom showed me a magic trick and she wouldn’t tell me how it worked. She told to read a library book and learn. I was instantly hooked! I started performing magic professionally from age 15 and ended up at Madame Zingara restaurant in Cape Town. My entertainment was a great way to retain customers and, of course, the more I performed the longer they would stay – which increased sales. I literally became part of their ‘brand experience’. I was offering something fun and personal, but also it made business sense: give your customers a reason to talk about their experience with you. Six years ago, I took the time to study as much about marketing as I could – both for myself, and because I felt I need to understand why my clients were hiring me. Entertainment at an event makes sense – you need to provide something “different” to make your event special. I got thinking seriously about why companies host events: they’re a great way of developing and nurturing the personal relationships needed to grow a business. It’s a big part of what I do now. So, while there’s little doubt that Magic can be used to “score girls” – I’m currently interested in “scoring clients” instead.

Nicely handled. So, is it quite a competitive industry? Are there a lot of folk doing this sort of thing?
The Art of Magic as a hobby is fairly common, there’s no shortage of people capable of doing a small number of tricks. But there a very few full-time professional magicians as a whole, perhaps ten full-time magicians in the entire Sub-Saharan Africa. We all know and respect each other and we all generally work our own markets. It is such a small industry in South Africa, so the “competition” is a lot more personal. We are aware of each other’s styles, so it’s advantageous that we co-operate with each other and work on maintaining a professional standard. Since attending an exclusive personal tutorship in Los Angeles in 2007 with the world’s top Infotainer, Joel Bauer, I’ve become the only certified Infotainer in Africa that delivers the same high standard of experiential marketing as the best in the world.

What advice do you have to someone wanting to get into “Infotainment”?
Firstly, you’ll need a performance skill that you are able to demonstrate with confidence. It could be anything: unicycling, comedy, boxing, graffiti … as long as it’s something slightly quirky. Then you practise, practise, practise and practise some more so that you consistently deliver in any situation, regardless of how suitable the environment is to the quality of your performance. Then: Get out there! Every performance is an opportunity to get a new client.

Specifically, if you want to get into “branded entertainment” then you’ll need to have a thorough understanding of how and why companies use entertainment for branding and marketing. Doing your standard act while wearing branded clothing is simply not enough! You’ll need to develop the skill of combining your client’s key points with a fun and captivating show. Ultimately having the experience of several different persuasion skills that combine into a valuable presentation.

Ok, so everyone’s thinking it. We’re going to ask it. How the hell do you do the watch trick? (where you take the watch off an audience member while he’s watching you!) That’s just freaky man!
Using one of the primary tools of magic: misdirection. One of the principles is that “the greater motion covers the smaller motion”, and this is because of basic human behaviour. In the wild, our early ancestors would be alerted to danger by detecting movement, so we instantly focus on large and fast motions. This also means that we are easily distracted: show the victim, errrm, volunteer… something interesting that peaks her curiosity, and she’ll be far more interested in what you’re talking about and won’t be paying attention as you steal her watch.

The skill of stealing a watch one-handed, while the person is listening to you, must be learnt through sheer tenacity and “big cahoonas”. Once you get comfortable with the “mechanics” of stealing a watch, then you start to develop the ability to create the misdirection necessary. That’s often the hardest part – creating the opportunity to give a rational and reasonable explanation to keep your volunteer’s attention, while you’re (frantically) manipulating a watch-strap with one hand!

Actually, come to think of it, how the hell do I do it…? Really, I’m still surprised by how it often I’m able to do it… and surprised that most people never even suspect that I’m taking something right out of their personal space. I don’t have kleptomania. I do it because the volunteer’s reaction is typically very strong. Having your watch stolen from right underneath your nose is probably one of the most remarkable things you’ll experience (as you know, Fred).

And finally, your top 5 inspirational figures?
My best friend & South Africa’s #1 Close-Up magician, Jacques le Sueur, who mentored me when I started my own business.
Joel Bauer, author of the best-seller “How To Persuade People Who Don’t Want To Be Persuaded”, and probably one of the best speaker-trainers on the planet right now.
The pair of Travis Miller & Jimmy Vee, co-authors of “Gravitational Marketing” with my mentor, Joel Bauer. Known as @BigIdeaGuy and @5ftHighMktgGuy, these guys are social media marketing geniuses!
And a whole bunch of magicians who have inspired my performance and “tricks”: Mark Wilson, Michael Ammar, Dave Williamson, Eugene Burger, Greg Wilson, Banachek, Bill Malone, Tom Mullica, Richard Osterlind, Jon LeClair, Darwin Ortiz, Joshua Jay, Derren Brown and the hundreds of magicians I’ve connected with. I love learning magic and I always try to learn something from every fellow performer that I get the opportunity to meet.

Ok, that’s cheating – wayyy more than five – but since we’re scared you’re going to steal more of our stuff, we’ll let you get away with it. Marcel, thanks for your time pal. We’re huge fans, and look forward to seeing you perform again. Ideate readers, get hold of Marcel on his website, or follow him on Twitter here.

Interviewed by Fred Roed
Original article on Ideate blog

The Ideate blog encourages entrepreneurs to think BIG. It’s offers refreshing & valuable content … and they like to give things away! This South African blog reaches approximate 2 000 readers per day.