Carl Andrews: double threat virtual and real life magic maker!
I work in a very exacting circuit in the cruise market and although you seldom get to meet your contemporaries but you get to hear about them. I certainly have heard a lot about Carl Andrews and amazingly it’s all highly complementary which is rather unusual! The bookers and Cruise Directors all rave about his performance and the quality of his show. Other performers have uniformly told me he is one of the nicest, helpful and considerable guys on the scene.
While I haven’t seen Andrew’s live show, his impact must be huge to achieve the recognition that his show always seems to get. Standing ovations are not customary for magicians on cruise ships but they are for Carl Andrews. I can’t wait to see what it is that he is doing so right! There must be plenty to learn from his performance.
The way I first actually encountered Carl was on the Internet. However, it wasn’t a magic forum or by an email—it was as a creator and magical inventor. You see Carl has a double life—–nothing sinister here though, he is a top-notch live performer and also a computer wiz. He has created over 16 top selling iPhone magic apps that are being used by magicians around the globe.
Carl began his magical career at about the same time as his computer skills began to blossom in the early 80’s. They continued to develop side by side and have made him one of the most influential magicians in the world. I mean that quite literally, as there are magicians performing his digital magic in more countries than I can name.
Andrew’s first app available on iTunes was iBabble, a fun but non-magic illusion. He was just getting warmed up, and has since created 15 more apps. In fact Carl has gone on to create some of the very finest pieces of digital magic ever to grace a smart phone. They show his mastery of both of his interests and the way he can combine them into the kind of direct and effective magic that lay 
people remember and talk about.
Want to give a prospective client a business card in a way that will cause them to keep it? Well, check out Carl’s ‘BizCardMagic’ and you need look no further. If you want to maximize the effectiveness of the magical ‘real estate’ on your iPhone, I highly recommend picking up ‘Loose Change Magic,’ his masterpiece ‘No Freakin’ Way,’ and his latest authentic gem ‘True Lies.’
I don’t think it is ever appropriate to do more than one ‘iTrick’ in any given session for any single person. If ever less is more then this iMagic is the area where it applies the most rigidly. However, the ability to present the right trick at the right time, with nothing that even appears to be a prop, is a golden gift to any performer.
I was recently privileged to see some updates he has made to one of his earlier effects ‘Magic Draw.’ It was a stunning addition to an already great piece of magic. Obviously Andrews doesn’t have a mind that stands still—he keeps thinking, developing and improving his magic. I like that quality.
One of the joys with the way Carl markets his digital creations is his ability to price them right. A lot of apps are free or cost a dollar or so, Carl prices his just a little higher, that way that they are reasonable but less likely to be bought (and poorly performed) by a non-magician. Let’s be honest, if you could buy a series of great tricks from a magic shop for a price range of under 5 bucks, you would be ecstatic with the bargain. Log on to iTunes and let the joy begin!
A nice guy, a great magician and a computer wiz all rolled into one! Carl Andrews is a force to be reckoned with. He is a man of the moment with his foot firmly placed in the door of the future
REMARKABLE MAGIC 