Jennifer Zamparelli was joined on the RTÉ 2Fm airways by social media star and mentalist Joel Mawhinney. Listen back above.
Joel Mawhinney (aka Joel M) was introduced to magic at just six years old, discovered mentalism at 13, and since then has been obsessed the magic of the mind.
Hailing from Co. Down and now living in Belfast, the 25-year-old has used his tricks of the trade to garner an impressive following on social media, with 20 million (yes, million) fans across TikTok, YouTube and Instagram.
Speaking to Jen on RTÉ 2FM, he says that his career began when he stumbled into a magic shop as a child while on a family holiday in America. For him, it was the frustration of not being able to figure out how a trick worked that was more alluring to him than the illusions themselves.
"Even as a kid, I think I was quite the problem solver," he explains. "So that really irked me, and I think from there any time I saw a trick and I had to figure it out. So from there, I just kept doing it."
Although he enjoyed learning magic tricks as a hobby, it was a fateful trip to see Derren Brown perform in Belfast that really lit a fire within him.
"I had been doing magic at that point for six or seven years and thought I knew how stuff was done. I left that show with the biggest migraine of all time," he laughs. "I couldn't figure out anything, it really re-framed everything. It went from card tricks to suddenly influencing human behaviour and psychology and hypnosis. I think he's the greatest of all time so seeing that at a young age was really influential."
Delving into the world of mentalism, Joel says he became fascinated by the art of influence and has since mastered a few mind-bending tricks.
"My favourite trick to do, although some people are still unsure and wary of me, is that I tell people their bank pin codes - that's still the one that I think hits people the most because its so personal - or unlocking people's phones. I got quite the reputation in school for doing that."
As well as performing live, Joel has gained a massive online following thanks to mind-blowing videos and behind-the-scenes explanations. Unfortunately, though, he says there's no magic trick to finding followers on TikTok.
"At the end of the day, I absolutely love magic and doing what I'm doing and so I'll probably just out work someone who doesn't love it as much. That's why I possibly get the results a little bit better. I do work hard but it doesn't really feel like work when I'm doing it, it's what I've wanted to do since I was a little kid."
To hear Joel M discuss his new podcast, Influenced, where he plans to influence his guests' behaviours throughout the episode, listen back above.
