He repeats the figure over and over in the photo, and every time he does, it’s equally stunning. Julio Montoro waved his arms, snapped his fingers, and suddenly a deck of cards on the ground fell directly into his hand. There were several people in front of him staring intently at him, and I assure you, they had carefully checked that there was nothing around that could lift an object. It happens by magic. He dubbed the astonishing trick “Leviosa”, which earned him the title of best illusion “inventor” at the Spanish Championships.
He is 24 years old and is participating in the competition for the first time, but the entire wizarding world has long known his name. Julio Montoro is one of the very few people in this country with creative and magic star advisors.
He doesn’t always show his face. In fact, he prefers to go unnoticed, standing behind the magician who wins the applause of the audience. But many of the moves that left viewers speechless bear his signature. “We are like singer-songwriters, dedicated to writing for famous singers,” the man from Malaga explained with a smile.
He was a consultant for the Discovery show “El Mago Pop: 48 Hours con…” where Antonio Diaz spent two days with a popular face and soon one of his inventions will appear On stage in Las Vegas, on which David Copperfield will perform every show. a week. Just over a month ago, the Malaga man sold the rights to his magic to the world’s most famous magician. The nature of the number “is confidential” until it is released. So he followed in the footsteps of Jorge Blas, whom he admired, from whom Copperfield had purchased his teleportation skills a few years earlier.
Outside the circle, they probably won’t show up to him, but Julio’s creations are highly coveted in the magical universe. They know that there would be no show without those minds that think beyond the possible. “At Magicians, everyone greets me. You feel like Justin Bieber!” he laughs. He has been in the US for two weeks, on a lecture tour in New York, San Francisco, Los Angeles and Las Vegas, explaining his theories about magical creativity to fellow magicians. “I would teach my technique so they could learn how to perform while they were performing,” he details. He reveals many of these key points in his book “Workbook”, which will now be translated into French and English.
More than 40 figures he created are on the market and accessible to magicians all over the world. On his website (www.juliomontoro.com) he sells the latest products under his brand, from toy cars that pop up on a sheet of paper to impressive modern spiritual games. Most are out of stock, including “Leviosa” (€199.95), “but they will be restocked.”
In other cases, Julio Montoro made “professional” designs exclusively for great magic figures, as in the case of Margo Pope and David Copperfield. “But I’ll actually do a thousand weird tricks, even though some you don’t want to see,” he joked. He’s young, but he’s been doing this for years. He discovered magic at age 4, started creating at 10, and released his first product at 13: a letter in his pocket that transformed his image in full view. “Ever since my dad did the typical finger-split trick on me, I’ve been watching trick videos, reading and inventing,” he said.
For some of the ideas in his head, the technology to make them feasible doesn’t yet exist. “I could write a book with magic I’d never do.” It was a matter of time. For example, illusionism today has nothing to do with illusionism ten years ago. “It’s modernizing” and incorporating apps, electronic devices, mobile phones… “The new magician knows how to play with that attraction.”
“We’re like singer-songwriters, dedicated to writing for famous singers,” explains the youngster, who is on tour in the US.
What is taken now is to work with everyday objects, the so-called organic magic. And the more intuitive, like yours, the better. The value of “Leviosa”, which he developed with João Miranda, does not lie in the classic card game in which the magician discovers the cards chosen by the audience. This is the least. What’s really special about it is the “shock” caused by seeing the deck levitate. Of course, being a good magician, Julio Montoro is keeping a secret in this interview about how he achieves this effect.
He could make a living from magic alone, but Julio liked something more than seeing people’s surprised faces: pedagogy. The young man who was born in Ronda and grew up in the community of La Union is also an English teacher, which is his great profession. Beginning next school year, he will begin working temporarily in public education. «I don’t keep it in life. If I had to choose, I would choose continuing education. However, he assured that both activities “could be combined with ‘online’ advice and weekend trips.”
He will never be a traditional teacher, his purpose is to use magic to make his lessons more attractive and dynamic. As the son of an English teacher and an art history professor, teaching is a family tradition. He has two sisters, his ground wire. “I know a filter with great tricks is tricking them, and when I get it, I know it’s good,” he concluded.