Exclusive Interview: Pop Culturalist Chats with Rob Lake

Rob Lake is one of the most prolific illusionists of his generation. He’s captivated audiences around the world with his mind-blowing illusions, selling out venues across the globe.

This May, he’s bringing the magic from the stage to the screen with his new TV special for Armed Forces Entertainment, an organization near and dear to his heart.

Pop Culturalist was lucky enough to chat with Rob about his illustrious career, his creative process when developing new illusions, what viewers can expect from The Magic of Rob Lake, and his ongoing partnership with the Armed Forces.

PC: How did you discover your passion for illusions and magic?
Rob: When I was ten years old, I went with my family on a vacation to Branson, Missouri. I was in the audience of a magic show. I knew immediately on the spot that this was exactly what I would do with my life.

PC: Who or what has had the biggest influence on your career?
Rob: The first magic show that I saw was by a magician named Kirby Van Burch. It wasn’t just the magic. It was the fact that it was a big stage show. There were dozens of dancers. He made a car and helicopter appear. It was a big production, and that’s really what I loved the most.

A few years later, he became my mentor and a very, very close friend. I had another mentor from my hometown of Norman, Oklahoma, a magician named Jim Smithson. Jim was a comedy magician. He would perform all over the country for corporations and for trade shows. He lived in my hometown. He became a very, very close friend of mine and helped mentor me. He helped me a lot up until the day he passed away ten years ago. I probably talked to him, if not every single day, at least every week. That’s the same with Kirby. We became good close friends in magic. They helped me learn a lot about magic and illusions as well as business and life. That definitely shaped my show and career.

PC: At twenty, you made the decision to drop out of college to pursue this full time. How scary was that decision?
Rob: It was pretty scary at the time, but I didn’t see any other option. I knew I had a passion and a dream. I knew it was what I wanted to do. I knew if I didn’t go for it, it would never happen. That’s how I felt. I was also very naive and optimistic, thinking that everything was going to work out and fall into place perfectly. I didn’t realize how much I would need to learn and grow before I would actually be able to start working and make it a career.

But if I knew now everything I had to go through, learn, and do, would I have done it? It’d be hard not to. But also, that decision was the springboard for everything that’s happened. I have no regrets. I don’t think I realized how naive, eager, excited, and hopeful I was. Unfortunately, especially in show business, nothing’s that easy.

PC: You’ve had a lot of success throughout your career. When you look back, is there a particular moment that stands out to you?
Rob: The first time I felt like things fell into place is when I performed an illusion where I made an armored truck appear out of thin air. It was a twenty-ton armored truck and it had a million dollars inside! I had to create this illusion for Caesars Entertainment, the biggest gaming company in the world, for a big promotion. Their big launch was a promotion of me making this truck appear to announce that they were going to give away millions of dollars.

I pulled off this entire illusion from the ground up within a two-week window of time. They called me. They wanted this to happen. So we had to build it from the ground up and they wanted it outdoors in front of an arena before an NBA Finals game. We had to build a stage that was heavy enough to hold a twenty-ton truck. We had to perform an illusion outdoors in daylight with people viewing and no sightlines or angles. That’s a big challenge for a magician. Somehow we pulled it off. Everything came together. It made me realize that every lesson, every setback, and every struggle and obstacle prepared me for this career and set me up for success.

PC: What is your creative process like when you’re bringing a new illusion to life? What are you inspired by? What goes on behind the scenes that people don’t see?
Rob: That’s a great question because it can take years for an illusion to make it into the show. I’ve got an illusion right now that’s going to debut in a couple of weeks on this special we’re doing. I had the idea when I was twelve years old and it’s taken over twenty-five years to get into the show finally. For me, it’s more like, how do I harness the creative energy and focus it? I’m always thinking of illusions. Ever since I was a kid, I would always sleep with a notepad next to my bed because I might wake up in the middle of the night with an idea and want to write it all down before I forget it.

I get inspiration from all sorts of things. My heroes are Steven Spielberg, Walt Disney, and Jim Henson—people who I think are true wizards and magicians in their own realms. I might be inspired by a song or a play I see on Broadway or an experience I have. I might relay that back to an illusion or a concept or a special effect. It’s about tying these experiences and emotions together to make a magical experience that the audience can wonder about and be entertained by.

PC: Fans will recognize you for appearing on America’s Got Talent. What was the biggest lesson you learned from that experience that you’ve been able to apply to your career moving forward?
Rob: That’s a great question. Being well-prepared. I wouldn’t have done the show if I didn’t think we were really, really well-prepared and well-rehearsed. When the cameras are rolling in a show of that magnitude, millions and millions of people will see it. You have to put your best foot forward.

PC: If you have to pick a signature illusion that best encompasses who you are, which would it be and why?
Rob: That’s a really hard question. That’s like asking a parent to pick their favorite child. [laughs] Like I said, because some of these illusions take years and years for me to create, I love the ones that are explosive, high-impact, and really visual. Those are fun to do. What happens on those when I’m performing in the show is I often break into a smile right before the magic moment happens because I know what I’m about to hear and see from the faces of the audience. It really excites me that I know it’s about to happen.

But as far as night to night, the stuff that keeps me most excited and engaged are the interactive pieces. I try to make a lot of my show interactive because it’s completely different every moment of the night. Like I do a thing where I borrow rings from members of the audience and I magically link and unlink them. The ad lib you get to have with the audience is fun. It’s entirely different every night. The reaction that you have is different every night.

For me, it’s a combination of the things that are precise and executed perfectly the same every night and the things that are completely dependent on the audience. It’s a balance for me, but either way, it’s a hundred percent me out there. It’s taken years for me to get to that stage. What they’re seeing is not just technical equipment or skill, they’re seeing my personality, my humor, my ambitions, and my dreams all together.

PC: You’ve toured the world and performed at venues around the world. Like everyone else, you’ve had to adjust to this ongoing pandemic. What’s the transition been like going into a virtual setting?
Rob: When the world stopped, no one knew how long it would be. Luckily, we had a few corporate events that were not canceled. They were moved online. A year ago, we were still trying to figure out what that meant and how we were going to do that. But I made a decision right upfront that I didn’t want to be a magician doing card tricks in my living room. It’s not what I would want to see. It’s not what I want to do. We had a bunch of people asking, “Can you do this?” The answer is, “Yes, we can.” I have a lot of respect for those who have done that and have done that well.

But what we did, since I normally have a large show, is we converted my warehouse into a soundstage. We put up the lighting, the video wall, all the equipment. We were broadcasting. My warehouse became a TV studio. I was doing live virtual corporate events. But instead of performing the full stage show for their breakout sessions or big events, we were giving them a custom-made TV special from my warehouse done for each of these clients.

PC: What’s ahead for you in 2021?
Rob: I’m producing a full TV special. This year would have marked the fifteenth year that I went overseas to entertain the troops. Obviously, we’re unable to do that this year. So we are creating a custom, branded TV special for the Armed Forces Network and Armed Forces Entertainment. It will be online for the troops, their families, and the public to see around the world. We’re really excited because we’ve spent about three months producing this for them. It’s a full version of my show and also a lot of things we are able to do because it’s virtual. We can’t take an entire audience behind the scenes, but we can take a TV or streaming audience behind the scenes! There’s a private tour of my warehouse and the behind-the-scenes of new illusions.

It’s really taking advantage of the time we’re in and the limitations we have but exploiting them for what we can do. It’s not a letdown. It’s not an equal trade, but it’s not a letdown. It’s not a substitution for a live show. It’s how can we enhance this broadcast in ways that we couldn’t do live? That’s what we’re excited to bring fans of mine and fans of magic as well as the troops.

Pop Culturalist Speed Round

PC: Guilty pleasure TV show?
Rob: Anything Aaron Sorkin.

PC: Favorite book?
Rob: I love history books.

PC: Favorite play or musical?
Rob: Inheritance.

PC: A band or artist that fans would be surprised to learn is on your playlist?
Rob: I’m a big Gaga fan and Aerosmith.

PC: A venue on your bucket list to perform at?
Rob: Broadway and the West End.

PC: A must-have on the road?
Rob: My dog. He travels to most places with me. He’s what keeps me sane on the road. So, my dog Roger.

To keep up with Rob, follow him on Twitter and Instagram. Watch his new special today.