Lady Laura: We watch mystery hunters quite often, not least because it's on straight after Steve Irwin! Well that, and my boy thinks Christina's cool!

I know you play Doubting Dave in it, but what other input do you have to the show? Do you write the whole thing yourself or is it a team effort?

David Acer: I write my own segments in the show (the V-File and the Mystery Lab), and that was the extent of my "control" for the first season (26 Episodes). In the second season, which we just finished shooting in November, I had a little more input in terms of content and editing, but I was still nowhere near the last link in the chain when it came to the final (master) cuts.

Also, the show runs 24-and-a-half minutes in Canada, but in England and the U.S., it's closer to 22 minutes, so they excise over 2 minutes from each episode, which leads to some pretty crazy editing.

For example, in a very early episode in Season One, when we were all still trying to figure out what the hell we were doing, my Mystery Lab opens with me looking filthy, unshaven and eating a can of beans. I say something like, "Today we're going to do a little experiment with odours, so I haven't showered a week and I've only been eating beans," then somebody tells me, "Uh, Dave...We're talking about auras, not odours..."and I spend the rest of the lab stinky and farting.

At least that's how it ran in Canada. In England, they cut off the whole "odour/aura" set-up, so the Lab opens with a stinky, farting Dave and never explains why.

Sinogeek: Uh oh...We know a lot about your background David...

Was there a particular point in your life (after all the graft) when you might have thought, "I've made it. I'm a Magician. I am really a Magician.", or do you actually prefer to not be classified as such. I'm interested.

David Acer: I struggled with being called a magician in my late teens, early twenties, mostly because I was working primarily at comedy clubs and magicians are considered second-class citizens by comedians. It was hard enough getting ahead on the circuit, so I phased out the magic in my act (a burnt bill routine, a spoon bending gag and a few other little bits, though frankly, nothing terribly inspired), and focused entirely on stand-up.

In fact, when I toured, I never even mentioned the fact that I did magic to other comedians. It was just easier that way.

Thus, for years, I only did stand-up in my act, until the premise for a simple, highly interactive card trick called “Party of Six” came to mind, which I ended up publishing in my new book. Basically, six people each choose a card from a shuffled deck, then line up on stage, whereupon the people are shuffled. An audience-member who was holding a prediction from the start is asked to choose one of the people. The chosen person shows his chosen card, which matches the prediction!

It’s a strong trick in and of itself, but more importantly, it allows for enormous amounts of byplay, a dynamic that was lacking in my previous attempts to integrate magic into the act.

I started closing the occasional set with it a few years ago, and the comics really liked it, because it doesn’t look like your typical comedy-club magic trick (Baffling Bra, Tricky Bottles, whatever). It looks more like the kind of trick a comedian doing magic would try, rather than a magician doing comedy.

In any case, I suppose that answers the second part of your question, but not the first.

The only time I can think of when I felt like “This is it! I’m a magician!” was when I was 17 and walked up to Gary Ouellet at a magic convention and showed him “Nomen Omen.” I was trembling during the whole trick, but I got through it, and when it was over, he just stared at the cards. I thought he was going to pat me on the head and send me off, but suddenly, he said, “You fooled me!” A few months later, The Camirand Academy put the trick on the market, and the money I made went towards a delicious pack of Trident gum.

Owen Lean: In one of your recent DVDs you had effects that experimented with magic that directly interacts with the Television screen. What are your views on the idea of mixing magic and technology? Do you believe it might be possible to perform magic in virtual domains?

David Acer: Paul Harris and Penn & Teller both came up with versions of the card trick I sold as "On Screen" years before me. The difference with my version is that the DVD is designed to look like you just turn on your TV, flip through a few channels, then stop on one channel showing a busy city street and spring the deck at the screen, resulting in a single card apparently penetrating into the TV world. That's when a person walks by in the TV show, pulls the card off the screen (which is back outward at this point), turns it around to show that it's the selection, then walks away.

But the premise of characters in the real world interacting with people and things in other mediums (not just television, but movies and paintings) predates all of those efforts.

With regards to your more general question about mixing magic and technology, the biggest problem as I see it is that the latter has the potential to defuse the wonder of the former. In other words, technology is capable of so many things that are beyond the comprehension of the average person (we might understand what a technological device does, for example, but very few people understand how), that it begs the question, what does one need magic for?

Dale Shrimpton: As an example of an early attempt at using technology with magic, David Devant created " film to life" at around the same time as film was created.
Also Phantasmagoria , the use of magic lantern slides to create the illusion of spirits, was usually combined with a lot of mood setting effects.
Magic and technology have always been there hand in hand. Look at the marvels created by Houdin, which were presented between classical magical items. All these used to enhance the magic. Psycho being a perfect example.

(Hi David by the way)

David Acer: And of course we have F.I.S.M. flashes, electronic reels, and I'm pretty sure Howie Schwarzman is an android.

Andy D.: Being quite wet-behind-the-ears regarding magicians in general, my first Blackpool (2003) was a real eye-opener. I saw this big guy from Canada doing fantastic magic, but best of all, you had me in absolute stitches with your humour. Especially your 'On stage' Cups & Balls routine, I am sure the first thing everyone was thinking was "I wonder where he has hidden his final load"........Maybe that is why you were walking kinda funny?

Now one thing that sticks in my mind, was what we lesser mortals who attended, referred to as the Acer 'Hug'. My question is, and I am asking this from the perspective of an Englishman (see below for definition) Has anyone ever taken offence at this harmless act of male bonding??

Englishman "One who shuns bodily contact with a member of the same genital group."

Dale Shrimpton: Take it from me Dave, after a couple of beers, Andy doesn't complain.

Actually it beats me why anyone would find a hug, if meant well, offensive.
OK, Maybe in the showers after Gym isn’t the right place. But it's a nice warm gesture.

Besides. You can pick pockets easy whilst doing it. Hence the shower thing I guess.

David Acer: The "Acer Hug" must be applied only by an experienced huggist, and cannot be dispensed willy-nilly. Properly timed and executed, the technique does not incite, offend or mislead any member of the audience. However, David Acer Inc. does not assume any responsibility for Acer Hugs that are inappropriately executed, and warns the user to exercise caution in the face of doubt.