Jackson Ridd is best known as a critically acclaimed Magician who focuses on tricks of the mind, exploring psychological deception. A resident performer at Hollywood’s Black Rabbit Rose Theater and The Rideau Speakeasy, his mentalist magic has wowed celebrities such as Lana Del Rey, Joel McHale, Charli XCX and countless others. Most recently, Jackson has appeared in the Tribeca Festival’s Miss Brown demonstrating his sleight of hand expertise and will soon be seen on CW’s Masters of Illusion Season 11. A big believer in giving back to the community, he lends his voice to support youth art education and enrichment as well as helping with the homelessness crisis.
HI, WELCOME TO ABOUT INSIDER! THANKS FOR TAKING THE TIME TO CHAT WITH US! CAN YOU TELL US A LITTLE BIT ABOUT YOURSELF, WHO IS JACKSON RIDD IN YOUR OWN WORDS?
These answers may change depending on what I’m doing or where I’m at, but overall: I am purposeful, sincere, and respectful; I have an honest reverence for the beauty and purpose of magic; I like chips, a lot; I love animals, and foster a deep connection with many of them; and I love dreaming big. Overall, I’m someone who likes to stay curious about the people I meet and sensations I feel, I use magic to navigate the world around me and bring others into that state together.
YOUR JOURNEY INTO MAGIC AND MENTALISM SEEMS EXTRAORDINARY. WHAT FIRST SPARKED YOUR INTEREST IN EXPLORING THE ART OF PSYCHOLOGICAL DECEPTION?
There’s this sort of trope for magicians being socially inept… I’m not going to tell you I was awkward and I never had any friends — I was actually quite the opposite growing up. I was the Emcee of all the assemblies at my high-school if that tells you anything. I also founded and operated a magic club at the school as well. I enjoy the energy of performance, and I love the feeling of that spark on stage when you get to connect with so many people at once, and find magic to be an incredible medium for that. I loved how I felt when I was a kid, exploring divination rituals such as the I Ching, and Pendulum observation, as a method for observing my own subconscious. While I specialize in psychological deception, my goal is to bend your perception to see a more beautiful world. It’s a great privilege to get an audience to trust you and show them what could be… and unearth what’s already within them.
I chased that feeling as far as I could take it and serve a purpose greater than myself.
AS A RESIDENT PERFORMER AT ICONIC VENUES LIKE BLACK RABBIT ROSE THEATER AND THE RIDEAU SPEAKEASY, HOW DO THESE UNIQUE SETTINGS INFLUENCE YOUR PERFORMANCES?
The cast I work with and the audience make a huge impact. At Black Rabbit Rose I perform alongside the talents of Fitzgerald and Asia Ray, who create an incredible show as an ensemble. Furthermore, a magical space is necessary to create a magical feeling, so I enjoy bringing people into a secret hideaway to deliver a bit of mysticism.
Rideau is a beautiful new speakeasy in the back of a posh restaurant, and it’s quite intimate, so I enjoy being able to directly connect with every single person who walks through those doors. Learning about, and interconnecting people is my focus within my effects, and there’s nothing like being face to face to facilitate that.
YOU’VE AMAZED CELEBRITIES LIKE LANA DEL REY AND JOEL MCHALE WITH YOUR TRICKS. CAN YOU SHARE A MEMORABLE REACTION OR MOMENT FROM ONE OF YOUR CELEBRITY PERFORMANCES?
I think the one that will stay with me for a while is Joel’s reaction. We were on a shuttle going to the Beastly Ball Fundraiser for the LA Zoo, he stuck behind watching magic. My wife was recording while I was performing and he looks directly into the camera to her and says one of the most absurd lines I’ve ever heard as a reaction to my work. Certainly made an impression on both of us. If you want to see what he says you’ll have to go to my website and watch!
Another one was performing for Laurence Fishburne who is an avid fan of magic. I’m performing for him, and all I can say is there was a spoon involved… At one point, as I’m in the middle of the trick, he yells out “there is no spoon” at the perfect time. Life-goal achieved. The Matrix fans will understand.
YOUR SLEIGHT-OF-HAND EXPERTISE WAS RECENTLY FEATURED IN THE TRIBECA FESTIVAL’S MISS BROWN AND WILL SOON APPEAR ON CW’S MASTERS OF ILLUSION. HOW DO THESE PROJECTS SHOWCASE YOUR APPROACH TO MAGIC?
Miss Brown is a documentary about a friend of mine, Gina Fiore, who is a professional advantage player, and formed a team that won millions from casinos. The project was looking for a fresh way to explain the basics of card-counting, and with my history in sleight-of-hand, I made an excellent fit to create some beautiful playing card sequences to be captured on film. Shout out to Gina by the way, who inspires me to see the world in new and unique ways, she’s very cool and has an inspiring story, you all should watch the film.
Masters of Illusion is an incredible television project created by Gay Blackstone which showcases a wide variety of magical talents in front of live audiences. I presented some of my onstage mind reading material for their cameras and audiences earlier this year, and look forward to watching each episode as they air! Being able to capture the feeling in front of a live audience, on a worldwide stage, is very special!
YOU’RE DEEPLY INVOLVED IN GIVING BACK, ESPECIALLY IN YOUTH ART EDUCATION AND TACKLING THE HOMELESSNESS CRISIS. HOW HAS THIS COMMUNITY WORK SHAPED YOUR PERSPECTIVE AS A PERFORMER AND INDIVIDUAL?
I work tirelessly to make a living doing what I do. There was no career path given to me, safety net, nothing but encouragement from my family, my mentors and a belief in my vision. Making a living and surviving in the arts especially in LA is treacherous and unforgiving, the unhoused crisis is really a resource and opportunity crisis. Everyone comes to LA to follow their dreams only to find that no one is willing to share the tools they’ve learned to make a living off of those dreams.
There needs to be support and resources for artists to learn how to make their talents into a living. It’s not enough if I found my own way to follow my dreams; to keep magic and the arts alive it’s my obligation to give resources to young artists to give them the tools to make their dreams reality.
There’s this impression that art is only to be made and consumed by those with the proper leisure time, but I think it’s now more important than ever that it’s enjoyed and created by anyone. That’s how we create empathy and share connections with people. You don’t have to come from money to make a living in the arts, you need skills and someone willing to mentor talent to help them on their feet– that’s how we keep magic alive.
I’m on a mission to encourage youth to feel empowered to build lives they are excited to lead with art and live by example. There are so many artists struggling to be seen and heard and simply survive. We need magic and the arts as much as we need other professions. The Magician is an archetype for a reason.
WHEN YOU’RE NOT PERFORMING, YOU HAVE AN ADVENTUROUS SIDE WITH INTERESTS LIKE ROCK CLIMBING, GOLFING, AND SCUBA DIVING. DO THESE HOBBIES INFLUENCE YOUR CREATIVITY OR MINDSET AS A MAGICIAN?
My wife describes me to friends as a German Shepherd, and probably for good reason. I enjoy being physically active and a physical challenge that also serves as a high intensity puzzle is something that really excites me. I’m also a sucker for a hobby that requires technical gear or strategy that I can research and lose myself in.
So much about being in magic is keeping your mind curious and keeping your body malleable. I think my hobbies inform my work by keeping me multidisciplinary in my approach. Magic is all about pushing the limits of what you perceive and keeping the mind flexible to possibility and I think my hobbies challenge me to push myself and discover what I’m capable of.
MENTALISM OFTEN INVOLVES UNDERSTANDING HUMAN PSYCHOLOGY AND BEHAVIOR. HOW DO YOU BALANCE THE ART OF ENTERTAINMENT WITH THE DEEPER STUDY OF THE MIND?
At the end of the day, magic is a study of how to take gaps in our perception and fill it with meaning. After all, even if you wake up from a dream and realize it never really happened, your mind and your body can’t tell the difference. You may know it was a dream, but your heart is still racing, and your mind is still processing what happened as if it was real. I feel I have a great responsibility to share magic that I actually believe in as a result.
As magicians, we have a responsibility of showing you a world that is better than the one that you’re already in. So if you believe in the mystery for a second, you can trust that it was worth the risk of deception. When I do my job right, you’ll want the magic to be true – what’s the point in convincing yourself it’s not?
WHAT ADVICE WOULD YOU GIVE TO ASPIRING MAGICIANS AND MENTALISTS WHO DREAM OF FOLLOWING IN YOUR FOOTSTEPS TO ACHIEVE SUCCESS AND MAKE A POSITIVE IMPACT?
Share and be generous with your craft. It is no fun to be at the top and no one is eating at the table with you. A magician is only as good as the team and community building with them. Magic has had a reputation of gatekeeping and secrecy, however, I find there’s a big difference between exclusivity and exclusion. Exclusivity is based on merit and commitment and exclusion is based on insecurity and scarcity. At my table, there is no such thing as scarcity.
WHERE CAN OUR READERS FIND YOU ONLINE?
You can subscribe to my newsletter and view my upcoming public performances at www.jacksonridd.com and follow me on Instagram @jacksonridd
