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By Max-Owner
OpPrison - PikaNetwork 2020
December 5th 2020, 18:00 GMT / 14:00 EST / 13:00 CST / 12:00 MT / 11:00 PST ​
Greetings PikaCrafters,
It has been a while since we have had a reset announcement, hasn’t it? Well, we are excited to announce this brand new reset we have planned for prison! The reset will take place on 8 PM CET - Saturday, December 5, 2020, so mark it in your calendars now!
Our theme for this reset is a dark alleyway/crime scene, but for now, you can enjoy a festivity Snowy and Christmasy spawn. We will go back to the original spawn we planned on once December is over.
Within this forum post will all the changes we made and plan to make be listed. If there is still something you want changing, feel free to reply to this thread before its release, if there is enough support for it, we will consider making the change. We are especially wondering If there are any blocks you are missing within the shop, suggest anything that could maybe help you
Let's not make it longer and go straight to the details since that's what people are interested in.
When planning the introduction to the season, we thought, why not introduce it with a rank giveaway or some store credit? If you want to enter this giveaway please head over to the official post on our Instagram page.

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Welcome back to Instagram. Sign in to check out what your friends, family & interests have been capturing & sharing around the world.📷 www.instagram.com
The release of the brand new OpPrison server is scheduled on Saturday, December 5, 2020, we are expecting the release around 8 PM CET. Saturday 5th December 2020 18:00 GMT / 14:00 EST / 13:00 CST / 12:00 MT / 11:00 PST play.pika-network.net
Please note: The release time can be a couple of minutes later, we are trying to reach 8 PM CET.
Updates

📷 | Christmas -Themed Cell Build Competition​

We have decided to run a Snow/Christmas themed build competition. This will take place from the prison release on the Saturday right through until Wednesday 23 December. All users can participate in this competition and we want you to spice up your cell, and when we say spice it up, we mean blow our heads off with creativity! There are no limits to your creativity, although you must not break any of our server rules in the process, think outside the box, not just your classic Santa Claus or Christmas Tree. We will review all of the entries to find our winner.
For more information and where to submit your entries, click the following link: coming soon.

• 📷 1st Prize: $75 Store Voucher
• 📷 2nd Prize: $50 Store Voucher
• 📷 3rd Prize: $25 Store Voucher

📷 | BlockTop event
We have decided to add the following event to prison, called BlockTop. This is the start of the map event and entails mining blocks. The more blocks you mine, the higher you will be on block top. This is a competition, so if you place within the top 3 people on the leaderboard at the end of the second week you will be rewarded. If you wish to check your current position on the leaderboard, simply run /blockstop in-game and it will tell you your position.

• 📷 1st Prize: $75 Store Voucher
• 📷 2nd Prize: $50 Store Voucher
• 📷 3rd Prize: $25 Store Voucher

📷 | Gang Top Rewards ​This new season of prison, will we have each 2 weeks payouts for the top gangs, this will go on till the end of the season. This will be paid out every Saturday.
Every 2 weeks Rewards: #1, #2, & #3

• 📷 1st Prize: $75 Store Voucher
• 📷 2nd Prize: $50 Store Voucher
• 📷 3rd Prize: $25 Store Voucher

End of the Season Reward:

• 📷 1st Prize: €250 PayPal Money + €250 Store Coupon for Prison
• 📷 2nd Prize: €100 PayPal Money + €150 Store Coupon for Prison
• 📷 3rd Prize: €150 Store Coupon for Prison

The end of the season rewards will be paid out after 70 days of the release!
Among other things, the following has been changed/updated:
📷| Fixes & Bugs We have listened to your feedback. Since last season was our very first, we expected there to be a couple of bugs, so we have taken all of the reports you have submitted and we have worked on each and every single one of them to make sure that they aren’t repeated this season. If you do encounter any bugs or issues in the new season please use the bug report system the same as the last map and we will look to fix them as soon as possible during the new reset!
📷 | Cells Unfortunately, during last season when we implemented plots we experienced a number of performance issues, and even though plots was a great feature for prison to add we cannot simply fix the issues within this public plugin so we have decided to change it up and introduce our own custom cells plugin for this reset.
Cells are typically like islands on skyblock, you can start with a maximum of 4 people in your cell, however you can upgrade your cell and increase the member size. Not only can you upgrade the members you can also upgrade the size of your cell. Have control over the permissions and much more!
Inside those cells you can store armor, weapons and much more! They are located in a separate world that can be accessed by typing /cell command. This is also the help command for cells so if you’re looking to see the full list of commands available with this plugin run that as well!
Use the cell to start your own shop and make a profit, create a competitive environment with a casino and gamble or farm resources. If you’re more creative you can use the cell to just build and have fun.
TIP use [cell] in chat! All players will be allowed to type [cell] in chat which will create a clickable chat message, if a player clicks the chat message he will be teleported to your cell!
📷| Drugs In the spawn area, take a walk behind Santa and a secret entrance will be found, in this area you will find an NPC. The drug dealer npc will sell you seeds that you can harvest drugs with inside your cell. After harvesting them, head back to the drug dealer to sell them for a great price.
The drug dealer allows you to purchase different drug seeds and you can only sell a selected amount of fully grown drugs per day back to him. The sell prices is a fraction of the price of your rank up. This introduces a new element to the economy and gives users a fun, new way to get extra money.
📷| Auto miner Last map, you could use autominer to stay online and earn money, but once you got to a certain rank it wasn’t worth using and this is why we have decided to rework the system to rebalance it and benefit everyone equally. We have added miner upgrades this season to AFK and make some extra money with no effort!

• Miner Speed Upgrade - Increase the speed of your autominer to make them mine blocks even faster.
• Token Greed Upgrade - Your autominer will find tokens more frequently and in higher amounts.
• Money Boost - Your autominer will increase the amount of money it earns whilst selling blocks in your inventory.
• Pickaxe Upgrade - You can now enchant a autominer pickaxe in the same way you would enchant a normal pickaxe.

📷 | Pickaxe Settings This feature was in massive demand last season so we have finally brought it out to you! The pickaxe settings will allow you to disable enchants on your pickaxe. To access this, simply execute the command /enchanttogggle and click on the enchants you wish to disable. If you want to enable them again, run the command and click on them again and they’ll be back active.
📷| Pets Feeling lonely? Never again with these little buddies. Collect pet eggs and hatch them to get a random tier pet. Every pet will give you a different boost and the higher the tier the better. This season are we bringing in 2 types of pets that will give either a token or money booster when having one. We have also provided 5 different rarities. These range from Common to Legendary and this impacts the size of the boost given.
📷| Private Mines We have added some new features to private mines. Permissions have been added and we have also given more upgrades allowing you to customize your private mine to your taste. The permissions we have added are:

• Claim tax
• Autominer use upgrades
• Percentage of lucky blocks
• Private Mine tax

📷| New Builds With the new season, of course, brings new builds! A new spawn has been built and implemented to fit the festive season, Snowy and Christmasy. We will go back to the original spawn once December is over. This is a dark crime alleyway spawn, but for now you can enjoy the festivity.
📷 | Aesthetic Changes Visuals are everything, we are obviously in a game. We have upgraded the spawn, announcements, vouchers, scoreboards and more help commands. In general, we have decided to take a user-friendly and modern approach to our elements.
📷 | Christmas Calendar Since we are in the December month will we this year have a daily Advent Calendar. You can claim a daily reward every day in the run-up to December 25th. Log in and claim your reward which could be tokens, a booster and some other special surprises. Claim your daily reward through the Advent NPC or by using /advent.

📷 | Misc. Updates & Changes​

Here's a list of some of the smaller things that have been added with this update.

• You will now be able to use the [item] and [inventory] command for the gang chat, you can show off your items to your teammates only with this update.
• If you use /tokens withdraw (amount) you will get a cheque with the amount withdrawn. We have brought this into reduce scamming and make life a little bit easier.
• Additional server stats on the tablist.
• Setting added to let members claim private mine tax.
• Prison bombs updated to no longer leave TNT in the maps.
• Upgraded the percentage of mine that is lucky blocks in private mines.
• Color codes will be ignored in nickname lengths
• All plugins updated to the latest versions.
• Updated backpacks are stored.
• Fixed problems with support for 1.13 / 1.14 / 1.15
• Added lore onto the pickaxes and backpacks to show original owner
• Added /compact command to compile 100 drugs into 1 block
• Gang chat will be ignored by the chat cooldown.
• You are now able to see your prestige within the tab list!
• The prestiges will be colorful, within the tablist.
• The prestige colors are customizable with each prestige.
• Fixed not receiving tokenboosters from godly crates.
• Seasonal vouchers have been added to the crates
• Added permission for /ci
• Fixed bug related to drop confirm when inventory is full.
• Prison now also finally has added a variety of unlockable kill messages. After unlocking a kill message you will also be able to change the primary and secondary color of it! (If you don't like the kill messages do you always have the option to disable them inside /settings!)
• Added some lore onto the pickaxes and backpacks to show who was the original owner.
• Updated the money formatting.
• A new seasonal crate has been added.
• Fixed problems with chestshop.
• Added scrolls within crates.
• Fixed bug with the pickaxe merchant declining pickaxes
• Added the settings to disable kill messages ( Updated version)
• Option to make auction house differently formated
• Setting to disable or enable afk messages
• and more we most likely forgot to mention....

If you encounter any bugs, be sure to make a bug report HERE. We will be checking this section regularly in order to fix things as soon as possible. Make sure to let us know if you have any feedback or suggestions. We are always open for it as we are always looking for ways to improve our server.
📷
​Questions & Answers FAQ
We hope to see you on our new OpPrison server soon! If you have feedback or any suggestion, let us know we'd love to make this as good as we can.
Check the original post in https://pika-network.net/opprison-reset/

[QUICK MOD NOTE] This post was originally posted by Lenlfc on GTAforums, original post here. ALL CREDIT GOES TO HIM FOR ALLOWING ME TO DO THIS. It's extremely detailed and extensive, but it also gives a full look at previous leaks and speculation about GTA V, RDR 2, and the upcoming GTA VI. It's well worth your read if you're at all interested in speculation and leaks for GTA VI, considering it has a lot of information about how Rockstar has done things in the past, and how they may do things with GTA VI. It also has all of the confirmed information we have for GTA VI, like everyone has been asking for. Enjoy!
LENLFC will also be updating his original GTAForum's post often when new, reliable information comes out that is worth adding to his timeline.
TL:DR: This is very long. Please don't be mean if you think I went too far. I just wanted to be as detailed as possible, and compile as much evidence and proof as possible, so we can work out the most accurate and likely scenario. I've never done anything like this before. So please be kind.
Hi. So, Red Dead Redemption 2 has come and gone. Feels like forever we waited for it. Hard to believe it released almost 4 months ago. It's that time when many of us will start looking forward to the next Rockstar game. I have been on this site since the first leaks for GTA V popped up online. In that time, I have watched fairly quietly, barely getting involved. I've read a lot, and enjoyed it all, but never actively helped out. I want to warn you all that this post will be pretty lengthy, and as I'm not a regular poster, my formating or writing may not be the best. But I'm a big fan of Rockstar Games, and have a weird fascination with remembering small things. So I wanted to try my best to compile everything we know about how Rockstar go about making their games, what they have done in the past and do some crazy conspiracy theory like deducing to try to predict when, where and how we can find clues to GTA VI, and when they may announce or release it.
Firstly, I'd like to credit and thank Dan Dawkins. Many of you may not know who he is, but long story short, he's a journalist, and back in July 2011 he wrote an article in the magazine PSM3. In the article he predicted many things about GTA V (some correct, some incorrect) he researched all the available data and pooled it together, and used that to speculate about GTA V. That was a massive influence on me growing up, on how to speculate responsibly and use common sense to work out where a game or series may go next. So thank you, Dan!

FACTS

Now, onto the main topic. What do we know about GTA VI? Not a lot. Dan Houser recently said that they're thankful they're not releasing GTA VI while Trump is in office. While he's never actually quoted as saying they won't release it while Trump is in office, I think journalists used that for a catchy headline. But the point remains. GTA is heavily based on British satire of USA. The current political climate makes it very difficult for them to do this. If we take it literally, GTA VI won't release until 2021 or 2025, depending on how long he is in office. Unless I have my dates wrong. I'd be willing to bet they had 2021 in mind. However, my personal take on this was that Dan simply meant "thank god we're not releasing GTA VI in 2018" And knowing it'l take them years to even release their next game, Trump will no longer be President.
We also know Rockstar Games will make another GTA. And that is about it. If there is anything else concrete, that we know, that I have missed please let me know.

THE PAST

GTA V TIMELINE
Here's where we start digging and look to the past, what Rockstar has done before and try our best to work out their timelines and how they go about things. Now, in order to do this, I'd like to begin with GTA V, as that is when Rockstar Games transitioned into the one big game every 5 years, as opposed to the game every year studio.
April 20th 2009 the first ever build for GTA V was created. I'm not sure if this is when development officially began, or just the date of the first build. Either way, I doubt there is much difference. They were busy working on TBoGT at that point, having just released TLaD 2 months prior. This was discovered from the Build Log. I will go into detail on this later. However this wasn't discovered until 2014, I just thought it was worth putting here to stamp the timeline.
The earliest rumors for GTA V began on July 26th 2010, with reports of Rockstar researching locations in and around Hollywood. Rockstar declined to comment on this, saying they don't comment on "rumors and speculation". To this day we still don't know if this was legit, or otherwise. However the game did end up being set in Los Santos. So it was either true or coincidentally correct.
Next came the domain name leaks on February 25th 2011. That date might be off by a couple of days, but the original GTA V Leak Topic has it dated to the 25th. (Fun fact, this is the leak and topic where I signed up to GTAForums!) Very GTA sounding website names. After GTA IV introduced the internet to us, it was no surprise to think GTA V would expand on that, and the domain names registered sounded right out of a GTA game. This was proven true, as the websites did appear in game.
On March 8th 2011 more fuel was added to the GTA V fire, when the codenamed "Rush" casting call was leaked online. Like the website, they sounded like something out of a GTA game.
This was further expanded on the 29th of March when Take Two put out a private casting call, further hinting at development on GTA V being well underway.
October 5th 2011 In an Asked & Answered article, 2 users asked about the next GTA, with Rockstar replying with the following

“When are we going to see a new GTA????? #bestgameever” - received via Twitter“When's the new grand theft auto coming out?” - received via Twitter
Big, big shout to all Grand Theft Auto fans worldwide who we know are anxious to hear about what’s next for the franchise but we don’t have any news at this time.All we can say is, right now, we’re focused on our next upcoming releases which are Max Payne 3 as well as L.A. Noire for PC, Red Dead Redemption Game of the Year Edition and Max Payne for mobile devices. When and if we have anything to report regarding the Grand Theft Auto franchise, you know that we’ll do so here at the Newswire or on our Twitter or Facebook.

And then it happened. GTA V was officially announced on October 25th 2011 at 12pm BST, linked below.
https://twitter.com/RockstarGames/status/128788090969001984?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E128788090969001984&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fgtaforums.com%2Findex.php%3Fapp%3Dcore%26module%3Dsystem%26controller%3Dembed%26url%3Dhttps%3A%2F%2Ftwitter.com%2FRockstarGames%2Fstatus%2F128788090969001984%3Fs%3D20
This announcement came only 20 days after saying the above on October 5th 2011
This goes to show that Rockstar can say one thing, then surprise us weeks later.
The first trailer then debuted on November 2nd 2011
Everything past this point, until release I feel is not relevant to this discussion. It is more to do with post announce schedules and marketing, and when to expect news or updates or trailers for an already announced major game. If this topic does well, I could add it, or put it in a spoiler box so it's optional detail. Otherwise the next points worth talking about come into play upon release, and where Rockstar go after this.
September 17th 2013 GTA V finally releases. We rejoice.
October 1st 2013, two weeks after the launch of GTA V GTA Online launches.
This is where it gets interesting and complicated. We know now that their next game was Red Dead Redemption 2. However, Rockstar weren't finished with GTA V. Many people claim that Rockstar stopped caring about their fans and gamers, citing images like these
You can actually pinpoint the year Rockstar discovered microtransactions.
Now, I bring these up, as it is important to understand just how Rockstar now operate. Love it or hate it, but GTA Online has allowed Rockstar to not release games as often. Allowing them to work on one game as Rockstar Studios, where they all work together, instead of separate teams, like Rockstar North (GTA) and Rockstar San Diego (RDR) for example. The income from GTA Online has seemingly allowed them to spend 5 years working on Red Dead Redemption 2, perfecting a masterpiece. Allowing them to make the game they wanted, and allowing them to take all the time necessary to innovate and make a living breathing world even more so than GTA V did.
Some time in January 2014 the GTA V Build Log was found. Apparently it was on the game disc, and dedicated fans dug into the files and found it. I bring this up, as it reveals some key interesting details. such as the date of the first GTA V build/when GTA V development began. This is important as we can use this information later to try to work out when they may start their next project.
Throughout 2014 Rockstar were hard at work developing the PC, PS4 & Xbox One versions of the game. I don't know how much work that would be, but they weren't simple upres versions of the game. They included new features and plenty of big enhancements. The PC version was delayed into 2015 for added polish. And leslie Benzies took a sabbatical on September 1st, for 17 months.
The next key detail to note is from January 2016, I think. Leslie Benzies leaves Rockstar North. I feel this is important to note, as it could have delayed a lot of Rockstars plans, as a lot of staff left with him, Rockstar would go on to deal with a lawsuit which could only be an unnecessary distraction. There was a topic here on GTAForums discussing it. Needless to say the whole situation was pretty shady and the details don't really matter too much.
Rockstar had also planned single player DLC for GTA V, multiple datamines suggested 3 packs, as well as Ash735 on Neogaf confirming this. We can take this with a grain of salt, but if it were made up, then it's a pretty dull and uninteresting thing to make up.
They had also promised Heists for GTA Online, which was quickly becoming very popular. I personally believe (And this is where speculation begins) that the SP DLC was the unfortunate victim in all of this. They HAD to get the next gen versions out, as if you're launching an online game, you can't rely on players sticking with old consoles when the next gen consoles launch only 2 months after GTA Online launches. They had to get Heists out, which were promised before the entire game even released. More so than the SP DLC, which was just a closing line on a Newswire article, albeit multiple times. And development on their next game ramping up, going into full production, combined with the restructuring of Rockstar North due to Leslie Benzies leaving... SP DLC may have been an unfortunate victim.
Article 1
Article 2
Article 3
GTA V launches on PS4 & Xbox One on November 18th 2014
PC version launched on April 14th 2015
Rockstar Games are now done with development on GTA V, now solely focusing on GTA Online updates, in terms of Grand Theft Auto
April 3rd 2014 Thanks to @EVOLUT7ON for bringing this to my attention. In a Q&A with DJ Whoo on BallerStatus, he allegedly reveals he will be in the next GTA, which will be in Liberty City again. BallerStatus. And thanks to iNero for his topic.

RDR2 TIMELINE

August 2013 Roger Clark's first day on set, for Red Dead Redemption 2

Roger Clark: "My first day on the project was in August of 2013. With the context of this particular installment, I was the first to come on, apart from Rob and Ben who worked on the previous chapter."

4th September 2014 Rockstar San Diego start hiring for next gen consoles. They allegedly went on a hiring spree for an upcoming project. Which we would later find out to be Red Dead Redemption 2.
December 11th 2014 Actor Jorge Consejo posts a selfie on Instagram, wearing a typical mocap or performance capture suit. However it doesn't match the one used in GTA V
September 2015, [Original Source] Rockstar started hiring for more jobs. They seem to relate to a stealth based game, but so far they haven't released anything that would indicate what they were hired for.
Then the leaks start happening...
November 29th 2015 An ex Rockstar employee hints that RDR2 is their next project. The infamous “Really, Dumbass. Really? Two“ comment by Danny Ross, on Reddit. Archive of actual post
April 13th 2016 the map for RDR 2 leaks on NeoGaf. This was unprecedented. The map for a huge open world Rockstar Games game has never leaked online 6 month before the game was even announced. Link to the map.
October 18th 2016 Rockstar finally announce Red Dead Redemption 2, after teasing in the days leading up to the 18th.
July 27th 2017 Stuntman, Tim Neff's online resume leaks that he worked on RDR2 and GTA VI. He denied involvement in RDR2, but claimed he worked on GTA V, and that it was a mistake. He also had personal instagram photos from Rockstar San Diego, with captions strongly suggesting he was there for work. He denied it, saying it was just a photo taken outside that anyone could take. He quickly removed them. He was not credited in GTA V, but by RDR2's release he is indeed credited in RDR2.
Friday September 29th 2017 A reddit user posted a thread mentioning a recent leak which had been deleted. I do not know the date that it was originally posted. But it was over a year before the game released. And was entirely accurate. these leaks will serve a purpose later on.
December 25th 2017 GTAForums User @Jabalous brings to our Attention the actor Jorge Consejo, his previously mentioned Instagram selfie, and his CV/Resume. Which mentions min being in GTA 6, playing the role "The Mexican" (Featured).
CGI meaning motion capture work, etc.
In April of 2018, I'm not sure of the date, maybe the 18th? The article has since been removed. But I copied the article into a notepad file. Trustedreviews.com published an article based of a memo and some notes about the game. They claimed to have received this information in August 2017, but didn't post it due to fears it was fake. It wasn't until Rockstar released a screenshot that matched one that they had also received that they decided to publish this information, now believing it to be genuine. Here is an image of the text copy of the article (reddit formatting issues)
November 1st 2018 Rockstar sue TrustedReviews for £1M Essentially proving the leak to be true. Although the game itself proves it to be true, it's interesting that Rockstar sued for that much. Or sued at all.
January 6th 2019 Rockstar start hiring for next generation
Rockstar's career opening page - Credit to @el carlitos for that one!
-----------------------------------------------Unconfirmed Speculation-----------------------------------------------
January 30th (Specific date still debatable) Film Florida have guest Leah Sokolowsky on their podcast. She briefly mentions a recent change in her work

Recently as you're aware we've had a change in the types of productions that are coming to our state. So I've also been very fortunate to get a large client that has hired me to arrange basically site tours and visits. It's uh digital media company. And I've signed an NDA so I can't disclose who it is. But they've been exploring various areas of our state, and of other states in the south east. And I've been planning and arranging those visits for their personnel and that's been kind of a very interesting expansion of what I normally do, as well.

Here's the link to that quote.
It's suggested this is Take Two Interactive/Rockstar Games, as a reddit user claimed on October 6th 2019 scouts were looking around his area, and asked for permission to take photographs of the building. Which was later followed up by a photograph of an alledged document/contract as proof on October 8th 2019
-----------------------------------------------End of Unconfirmed Speculation-----------------------------------------------
February 13th 2019 VP of product development Jeronimo Barrera departs Rockstar Games after 20 years. This might not seem anything significant, but it's one of his quotes that I think it very important.
"If I had stayed at Rockstar it would have been more GTAs, more RDRs and less of this other stuff going on out there right now." While that is nothing concrete. It does indicate that Rockstar will be working on Red Dead and GTA for the foreseeable future. That won't surprise many of us, but it's just a little detail that gives us hope that GTA is next, and not another franchise like Bully, L.A. Noire or Max Payne, for example.
April 18th 2019 a former Rockstar India employee has mention of creating vehicles for GTA V and upcoming GTA 6 in his artstation resume Thanks to ApolloThunder's post.
Now those are the most important details I feel. Now I may have missed some other details people might find important. In August of 2017 the stunt actor Tim Neff was involved in a alleged leak for RDR2 & GTA 6. It was quickly 'debunked' Although many believed there were holes in the methods used to debunk it. And his removal of Instagram photos taken at Rockstar San Diego was suspicious to many users. I do not believe it holds enough water to use it as any evidence. But we can use it to speculate.
July 9th 2019 Jorge Consejo likes and quotes a tweet about him being in GTA 6
​

Now We Use All This Information to Speculate

The first clues we should look for are reports of Rockstar scouting locations. We know from articles and or interviews that Rockstar take thousands of photographs when creating their worlds, so any reports of Rockstar Staff i researching locations should be a very good indication. However, they can be very secretive.
Same goes for Rockstar or Take Two registering domain names or sending out casting calls. So far we've heard nothing of the sort. again, we don't always hear these things. I don't recall hearing anything about casting for RDR2 at any point between 2012 & 2016.
Combined with the fact that Rockstar only just released RDR2 4 months ago. I think it's pretty safe to sat development on their next game hasn't fully begun yet, or will do very soon. If we look back to the build log for GTA V, they created the first build on April 20th 2009. pretty much one year after GTA IV released. By that logic the first build for GTA VI would have been created in September 2014, right? Well, considering they had to work on the next gen and PC versions for so long. I'd wager they started much, much later. We know that these days Rockstar operate as Rockstar Studios, all working together on one game at a time. But if the NeoGaf user is to be believed, pre production for GTA VI began in 2012, which is actually entirely believable. As Rockstar began work on RDR2 almost immediately after RDR1. "In early 2011, Dan began chatting with Rockstar San Diego about how Red Dead Redemption 2 would look and who the characters would be. Late that summer, he says, he had a “broad outline and rough flow of the game defined.” By fall 2012, his team had completed rough scripts for many of the game’s missions and started doing read-throughs on video conference calls with directors of game play, art design, and animation from Rockstar offices around the world. " Source
Now, unlike Red Dead Redemption, Grand Theft Auto is not a game about specific characters, like RDR is with John and Dutch's gang. So It's safe to say after GTA V, the Housers did not sit down and come up with scripts or ideas for GTA 6 revolving around those characters. But never say never. They could use this as an opportunity to bring back Michael Franklin & Trevor, working of some of the ideas for the Story DLC for GTA V, instead of scrapping it entirely. For the first time ever, GTA could be a direct sequel using the same protagonists. This however, I believe to be incredibly unlikely. But I thought it was worth mentioning.
So, they've finished RDR2. What Are Rockstar doing now? I believe they're hard at work on the PC version of the game. Many people don't believe it will release on PC, citing the fact that RDR1 never released on PC as evidence. I don't believe that is fair, as we know RDR1 was a mess, and was in such a bad state that they were lucky to release it at all. Rumours and alleged leaks stated the game was a coded mess, and they weren't willing to go through all the hassle of porting it to PC. We also know PC games typically have a high paracy rate, and Rockstar aren't fond of spending all that development time and cost on such an effort for little reward. Here's a clip of Lazlow talking about releasing their games on PC, and joking wanting to make their money back first. It's from 2010, right before RDR1 released. I think he was making a joke, but hiding the truth in there. Which leads me to believe that RDR2 could come to PC, but in order to make their money on that, also release it on PS5 & the Next Xbox, like they did for GTA V. Considering the gap between GTA V on PS3 & 360 and GTA V on PC (19 months) we could see a similar gap with RDR2 on PC. If that is the case, we could see a PC release in May 2020. At which point next gen consoles would likely have been announced, assuming Sony repeat their February reveal as they did with PS4. Or soon to be revealed at E3 a month later. It's not beyond the realms of possibility that they re release on Next gen with native 4K on PS5, higher frame rates, or other enhanced features. Next gen consoles will be backwards compatible, but if they want to keep RD Online going, a newer version with higher player counts could be a good option.
Speaking of next gen consoles, until specs are set in stone, I don't think Rockstar will announce anything. Dev Kits are allegedly being sent to some developers right now. Sony first party studios are already working on PS5 games. Guerilla, for example. I'd wager Sony's relationship with Rockstar is a good bet to think they have them, too. So, what does this mean?
Well, let's look at when Rockstar announced RDR2. 18th October 2016. 18 months after the PC release of GTA V, 3 years, 1 month after the initial release of GTA V. Lets assume they stick to a similar pattern, both GTA V & RDR2 were announced in October. It could be a good bet for what month to expect an announcement. However, GTA IV was announced in May 2006, with Peter Moore's infamous Tattoo. So...
Now let's look at when Rockstar started hiring for RDR2, which was September 2014. It took them 2 years to announce their next game. And they had the base map planned out within 19 months. We just don't know when the photo of the map was taken, just when it was leaked to the public (april 2016). But we do know Rockstar always start with the world. For GTA V, that discussion started as GTA IV was wrapping up – almost five years ago – although the latest game has been in full production for just three years.
“It comes from the idea first,” Benzies tells us in his office at the studio.
“Where is it going to be set is the first question. Then that defines the missions; you’re doing different things in LA than in New York or Miami. The map and story get worked up together, and the story is a basic flow of how it works out so you can layer the missions in. Source
I think we can safely say that Rockstar already know where the game will be set, and Aaron Garbut is already hard at work at creating a concept of a map. If he hasn't already.
Based of that information, I'd say Rockstar are hiring for their next game, which will be PS5 and Next Xbox exclusive, Likely to be GTA 6, and will need 2 - 3 years of development before they are able to reveal it with a trailer. Putting the game at a 2021 - 22 reveal, with a 2023 - 24 release. I do believe the upcoming generation, and Rockstars desire to outdo themselves every time will only slow them down. Their games take so long to develop, and I can't see them putting out GTA 6 in the same timeframe as GTA V, from GTA IV. More likely to be similar, if not longer than GTA V to RDR2.

The Leaks

Remember when I said the leaks would serve a purpose later on? I find it highly suspicious that Rockstar had leaks as substantial as they had for RDR2, when they never had anything to that level before. They are usually incredibly watertight. So let's speculate as to why...

The Benz.

Isn't it strange how such a long time influential figure at Rockstar North was fired, and then leaks start popping up for their next game? It's no secret that there was more to his firing that we initially thought. Things went really bad between The Benz and The Housers. I think when he left the company, and many of his staff left, too. A lot of disgruntled employees may has decided to spill the beans on their next game out of spite. The entire game map leaking 6 months before the game was even announced, Epilogue spoilers down to finite details such as building a house or birthing a foal? Way too specific, and that's never happened for a Rockstar game before. I just find that suspicious.
So, why is that relevant to GTA 6? Well, it may end up not being relevant at all. But then I remembered the leak from last year, that stated GTA 6 was set in Vice City. Back then, I didn't believe it at all, as it was way too detailed for a game that wasn't even announced, and wouldn't be announced for at least 2 more years. Likely double that. Plus why did they choose The Know? And an anonymous source is always suspicious. But hey, nobody would be dumb enough to give their actual identity if it were legit.
But then I started thinking a while ago, at how detailed the RDR2 leaks were, and maybe, just maybe the person who tipped off The Know was legit, and the info was based of what was in pre production from 2012 [Unofficial Source]. The more I thought about it, I realized that Vice City, with the concept of crossing the border to South America is a simple enough concept that could have been decided upon during pre production (the world is the first thing they decide, remember?)

Why Vice City

2 reasons why it's starting to feel like a likely location. Reason one, GTA Online. They introduced businesses and gunrunning into GTA Online, and a lot of people enjoy that stuff. Vice City would be a great location to create content around that concept. I don't believe Rockstar would pick a location based on what would make Online popular, but after GTA Online's huge popularity after GTA V, they'd be stupid to ignore it. Reason 2 was the quote Dan Houser gave about not releasing GTA 6 during Trumps presidency. Again, I believe it's taken a little out of context, but it's his words about satirising America is what caught my eye.
"Both intense liberal progression and intense conservatism are both very militant, and very angry. It is scary but it’s also strange, and yet both of them seem occasionally to veer towards the absurd," Houser said. "It’s hard to satirize for those reasons. Some of the stuff you see is straightforwardly beyond satire. It would be out of date within two minutes, everything is changing so fast." Source
Then there was this quote from Leslie Benzies, also covered in The Knows video:
IGN Source
Any chance that Vice City might return in a future GTA?
It is always a possibility. There are a few references to the city in our current-gen GTAs so it is part of that HD universe, and it is certainly somewhere we would love to revisit. However Vice City, perhaps more than any other GTA game, was as much about the era as the setting. Miami in the 1980’s is so iconic it would feel strange to revisit the city in a different time period.
exploring grand theft auto vice citys lasting impact on gamer culture with rockstars leslie benzies city cover. Of course at some point we would like to have one big world containing all our cities and let the player fly between them and revisit their favorite areas, and in that context reimagining Vice City would be very interesting.
So according to Rockstar, albeit someone who is no longer at Rockstar, it would be strange to go back to Vice City in a modern day setting. If you combine that with what Dan Houser said about parodying America today, and how difficult that would be, is it possible that the next game could be set in the past? Again, combining those quotes, with alleged leaks, and the possibility for fun and exciting gameplay and Online experiences... Vice City is an incredibly likely setting.
The only problem is GTA 6 going into pre production in 2012. If the location was decided upon then. It would either be a happy coincidence, or they may have changed the location. Or, it never was Vice City, and this speculation is clever, but ultimately wrong.
One key piece of information is the Neogaf user, who allegedly states that it WON'T be Vice City. Citing that production notes going around when he still worked there stated possible locations and concepts. And that it is likely one of the 4 options listed in the quoted thread.

Small town gta - tight stories, scheduled characters, ridiculous levels of ambience, every home interior modelled. Every building enterable. More realism - if your wanted you are on the run for a while.
Vegas 1970s- CASINO?
Somewhere snowy - chicago/detroit
Mexico City

You have to consider that what they may have decided in 2012 changed, due to the popularity of GTA Online. They could have chosen a smaller, more detailed interactive world. But due to Online, decided they needed a larger world. Or the location wasn't right due to modern politics and ability to satarise, etc.
I do think GTA could return to the past eventually. Sam Houser has an incredible knowledge of pop culture, and is very intelligent. It would work well for them to go back to an older setting for a GTA game again. That isn't proof of that, or even a solid reason for them to do a prior setting. His knowledge can be used in any setting, past or present. But it's an interesting piece of information to think about.
Another possibility is Dan's words were as simple as GTA 6 won't release while Trump is in office, and therefore GTA 6 will be set in the present day, but by then the political climate may have settled down, or they think/hope things will be different by then, and what they choose to parody will be easier. i don't know.

How about Las Venturas?

For the past few months, I've been thinking about the possibility of GTA 6 being set in Las Venturas. It's one of the locations mentioned as a possibility by @Ash_735 It's also a location that would be quite large, although not hugely diverse. However creative freedoms could solve that. If they return to a past setting as theorised. Then Las Venturas in the 70's or 80's could be seen as a pretty cool option. Like a lot of people, I'm a fan of Joe Rogan. Recently he had a guest on his podcast, Bob lazar. Whether you believe him or not is irrelevant. But he tells some interesting stories about working near Area 51, and working on alien UFO's. that really got me thinking... Wouldn't that be a perfect location for Rockstar to have some fun with? GTA V and RDR2 both featured UFO easter Eggs. There was a lot of mysteries tied to Mt. Chiuliad and Fort Zancudo. Can you imagine Area 69 returning, and what Rockstar may do with that? Now I fully understand that saying they may do a certain location, based of nothing other than easter eggs is a bit silly, but what else do we have? However, it does tie in with the notes (Vegas 1970's Casino?). Before RDR2 we never believed Rockstar would create a game, and build of a previous games map. After RDR2, we now know it's possible. I'm still not convinced they'd do it with GTA, as the GTA series is always an island, whereas RDR1 was a landlocked location. However, it is possible, however unlikely that they could build of Southern San Andreas and go east to Las venturas.

WHO IS JEFF MCBRIDE?
Chances are you are reading this article because you already have some interest in magic. So maybe you've already heard of the name Jeff McBride. If you have, you'll already be familiar with his credentials, so you'll be itching to get straight the good stuff and read what he's got to say, because you know it's going to be worth reading.
But if you haven't heard of Jeff McBride before, let me tell you why this interview is a must-read: ● Are you into card magic? Jeff has been doing card magic his whole life, and is one of the very best in the world at card manipulation and sleight of hand. He has also been running his famous Magic & Mystery School for over 30 years. ● Are you into cardistry? Jeff's instructional Art of Card Manipulation videos were some of the foundational materials that shaped fathers of the cardistry movement like Dan and Dave Buck. Card manipulation is his speciality, and if there's anyone that we can learn a thing or two about card handling from, it's him. ● Are you into card collecting? Jeff's entire career has been built with a deck of cards in his hands, and he also collects some playing card memorabilia himself.
So if you are a magic enthusiast in any way, this is a wonderful opportunity to learn from one of the greatest living card men. We were delighted when Jeff agreed to do this interview with us, and couldn't wait to hear some of his thoughts about various topics relating to his own career with playing cards. We even got opportunity to visit him at his own place, and take some photos of his memorabilia and more, which we have permission to show our readers for the first time! But first let's share some of his credentials, so that we can appreciate what he has to say in the context of his own accomplishments and achievements.
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Jeff McBride the Performer
Jeff McBride has had a love for magic that goes back to his childhood in New York's Catskill mountains, where he grew up. As a young boy he stumbled across The Golden Book of Magic in a library, which quickly became his first magic Bible. He performed gigs locally, did street performances, and eventually moved to Las Vegas, where he successfully built a career in magic, and performs his award-winning stage magic and runs a magic school.
His performance style is highly praised for its unique blend of traditional magic with a form of Japanese theater called kabuki. Drawing on an unusual mix of skills that includes martial arts, philosophy, and more, Jeff's stage act combines an unorthodox blend of sleight of hand with masks and mime, to create a unique show like no other. Besides his "home" stage in Las Vegas, he's performed on stages and in theaters around the world, including touring with The Illusionists. A Jeff McBride show never fails to showcase his dynamic, innovative, and creative personality, from someone who has proven himself over time to be a master entertainer, showman, and sleight-of-hand artist.
Jeff McBride's list of awards is too lengthy to cover all of them. But to mention just a few, he's received recognition from exclusive and respected organizations, including "Magician of the Year" by The Magic Castle's The Academy of Magic Arts and "Magician of the Year" by the Society of American Magicians. In 2018 the International F?d?ration Internationale des Societes Magiques (FISM) gave him their "Theory & Philosophy Special Award", in tribute for his lifetime contribution to magic from a viewpoint that is analytical and academic. This illustrious award has previously been given only to Tommy Wonder, Juan Tamariz, Eugene Burger, and Roberto Giobbi. Most recently in January 2020 he was inducted into the prestigious Hall of Fame by the Society of American Magicians. He is part of a very small group of living magicians that are part of this exclusive club, which includes David Copperfield and Siegfried and Roy. He's even the holder of three world records - don't worry, we'll be sure to ask him about that in our interview!
And of course he has appeared on television many times, already back in 1995 as part of the "World's Greatest Magic, and more recently on shows like Masters of Illusion, Criss Angel's Mindfreak, and Penn & Teller's Fool Us. But he's not just "another magician", as his selection as a judge for the 2008 reality celebrity-magic show Celebradabra confirms. Already more than ten years ago filmmakers produced a documentary about him, entitled Jeff McBride: A Magickal Life. This has been highly praised by magicians and viewers for how it shows his journey from a boy magician to a headline act in Las Vegas, and also his personal spiritual journey and development from a brash young man into a mature and caring magician who is keen to pass on the art of magic to the next generation. He really is one of the best.
Jeff McBride the Teacher
While the first part of his career was all about performing in his inimitable style, as the years have passed Jeff McBride has more and more mellowed into a highly respected teacher, with a keen interest in sharing his wisdom with others, and helping young magicians develop their skills in magic. Besides many written works, he's produced best-selling and highly influential instructional videos on the art of card manipulation, and on stage magic. His current passion is to serve as a sage that helps other magicians make their dreams as performers come true.
Perhaps his crowning achievement and lasting legacy is the McBride Magic & Mystery School, which he established in 1991. This is a world-renowned training ground for stage magic, and is generally regarded as the very best and most prestigious institution in the world for receiving magic instruction. There's simply no better place for aspiring magicians to go, in order to take seminars, classes, and workshops, to help raise their magic to a higher level, and to learn the true secrets of the craft.
Highly respected magician and lecturer Eugene Burger (pictured below with Jeff McBride) served as Dean of this school until his sad passing in 2017. It was from him that Jeff learned the importance of burning one end of your own candle in order to light someone else's candle. Many leading magicians have served on the faculty or as guest instructors, including big names like Lance Burton, Johnny Thompson, and Max Maven.
Jeff McBride is a wonderful entertainer himself, but his current passion is to be a mentor to others, and he will leave a lasting stamp in the lives of many magicians of the future. But now it's time for us to sit at his feet, and learn a thing or two from his life, and about his experiences with playing cards in particular.
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THE INTERVIEW
GENERAL BACKGROUND
For those who don't know anything about you, what can you tell us about yourself and your background?
I started my career with a pack of playing cards. Now I headline Las Vegas shows, and theaters and festivals all over the world. I also run a very successful magic school in Las Vegas, and I teach online.
I am one of the first magic teachers to create a video series, and my breakthrough videos on card manipulation taught the world how to perform flourishes and card manipulation, which happened to grow into a new cardistry movement. I was fortunate enough to train with great old-school masters and I put out The Art of Card Manipulation which caught on in Asia. The material contained within those DVDs - they were VHS videos at that time - did not need words to understand how to perform the magic, so they had international appeal. Many people like An Ha Lim and leading Asian manipulators found these, and my videos were their original training tools.
What would be some of the highlights in your career in magic?
Performing at Radio City Music Hall, the largest theater in the world with no screen support, no image magnification, and performing my card manipulation routine. The only other person that had that experience was Cardini. That was one of the highlights.
And of course, being inducted into the Society of American Magicians Hall of Fame. Also winning the FISM Special Award for Theory and Philosophy was a highlight. That's an award I share with Tommy Wonder, Juan Tamariz, and Eugene Burger.
How would you describe the style of the amazing act that you are known for?
I call it "sorcerer" style, which is very fiery and dynamic. There are many types of card routines, and mine is very explosive and dynamic. In fact during my touring seasons with the hit show The Illusionists, the closing number of the show was my card routine, just before the snow storm sequence. So my card routine can fill a giant theater. At that time of The Illusionists we were working a 7,000 seat theater. So my motto was "pack small, play big."
What were your major influences for this style of performance?
My influences came from many directions. I realized early on that performing standard magic was not a path to success. It was a path to working weddings, bar mitzvahs and birthday parties. In order to break out, I had to become a much more dynamic performer and I added other skillsets I had studied, like classic pantomime theater, which I'd studied at the American Mime Theater. I combined martial arts and my passion for masks and quick change, and dance. And it was this fusion of all of these different theatrical elements that made a huge difference. It was much more than magic, it was a total theatrical experience.
Where can people go to see you perform today?
I teach magic on a platform called MagicFlix. There's performances and tutorials. It's the world's leading streaming platform for magic. So you can immediately see me there. If you want to trial it, all you have to do is go to MagicFlix's website, enter your information, and put in the code MCBRIDE, and you can get 30 days for free. You can see not only myself, but the great masters of magic, and some of the great card magicians in history, as well as learn my card manipulation sequences.
Also if you want to see my live shows, I perform in Las Vegas at Wonderground, which is the longest running independent variety magic show in the history of Las Vegas. It is not attached to a casino, so we can do some pretty wild stuff! That's been running 11 years, and has hosted more variety entertainers on its stage than any other stage in Las Vegas.
What should we know about the McBride Magic & Mystery School, which has now been running for around 30 years?
It's now over 30 years. The McBride Magic and Mystery School came out of a great desire to study with masters. The challenge I see these days is that most people are learning magic from their peers, from people in their own age group. And not necessarily looking up the ladder at masters that have achieved great amounts of success.
So what I did 30 years ago, is I decided to host a retreat for masters to come and teach hungry students, mostly professionals, that were willing to empty their cup and fill up on wisdom and on the experience of great masters. And over the years we've had Eugene Burger, Johnny Thompson, Max Maven and many, many other masters come to the school to help our students understand the path to mastery. So not just learning from your pals online or at magic class, but really top-down training from experts in the field.
What are some of your interests outside of magic?
I spend a lot of time going to other conferences learning more skills on how to facilitate life-transforming experiences. So I spend a lot of time still studying how to teach more effectively, both in person and online.
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MAGIC
What quality in magic makes it so enjoyable for people to watch?
I think there is not one thing. People like engineers have a really different relationship with magic; if you watch them squint their eyes and wrinkle their forehead while they watch magic, they're only interested in the puzzle aspect. Other people are interested more in the mystery aspect. So there's different types of audiences. There's the audiences that like to sit there and try to figure the tricks out. And then there's the audiences that like to sit back and enjoy the mystery.
I was having this conversation with Judge Gary Brown, who's a wonderful magician, creator, inventor, and writer. He sent me a quote from Dariel Fitzkee, which talks about "Is magic more than fooling?" Fitzkee says - and this is written up in The Fitzkee Trilogy - "Don't put too much stress on the trick itself as a mystery. Your audiences might suddenly think of television, which is much more miraculous. Stress it in terms of human interests, of human relationships, of character response, of human situations. If the mystery were important, the much greater miracles of our everyday world would far outshadow it. Method is important only as a means of accomplishing a desired end, like the grindstone which sharpens the headman's ax. The ultimate objective is something entirely different."
Our Dean of the Mystery School, Larry Hass, entered this conversation and read it like this: "It isn't not knowing or fooling that is important, and it isn't even encountering mystery. It is what a human artist expresses about humanity and life itself that is the real core of the experience of magic." Penn and Teller do both: making it hard with the fooling method, but their show and their stories are also about issues in politics, in relationships, in critical thinking, in skepticism. They have many, many presentational frames that are about more than just mystery or fooling.
That's what I saw in Eugene Burger so many years ago. His magic was coming from a deep, philosophical perspective and experience that gave it a richer meaning than just Instagram magic and flashy, "How does he do that?" sort of stuff that is so pervasive on YouTube and social media. Perhaps performers will soon be able to give more depth to their magic instead of just what I call eye-candy. My goal is to transform eye-candy into soul food.
What first sparked your interest in magic?
I talk about it at the end of my show each and every day. My life was changed forever when a magician said, "Pick a card." And this magician was actually a young girl named Linda Van Etten who had a twin sister named Susan, and they knew card tricks. And they showed me a card trick, and from that moment on I knew what I wanted to do. It was a card reversal in a deck with a card turned face up in the deck. I was six years old at the time. And by seven years old I was deep into magic.
I think sometimes we forget - because magic and cards are so familiar to us - that the simple task of having somebody pick a card can change their lives. That's an important thing to remember.
What is the key to your longevity in the magic industry over several decades, and what keeps you going as a performer and teacher?
I think my longevity is due to being able to adapt and recreate myself to make my magic relevant at the different stages of a magician's life. At the Mystery School there's kind of a typology that we use: "The trickster, the sorcerer, the oracle, and the sage." Those are the four stages of the magician's life. From learning simple tricks, to being able to perform, to learning all of the meaning and interior worlds of magic, and then being able to pass that knowledge onto the magicians of the future.
I've worn the mask of the trickster in my younger days, and in mid-life, the sorcerer, burning up stages all over the world. And then taking time out to reflect and look inside for meaning and taking time for introspection. I'm now at the stage of my life of being able to pass on a lifetime of wisdom and experience to future students. So I think it's a process of reinvention that has helped me endure and keep my passion for magic.
I try to read as much as I can. I try to watch as much as I can. I try to get together live with magicians as much as I can. And teach and go study as much as I can. Zero TV. I have not had a working TV in my home since 1979. Most people spend way too much time on the internet and television, and way too much time on Facebook and social media.
What's the path to mastery: Facebook and social media? Or reading and practicing and videoing and refining your show? That's not for everyone, because that's not everyone's goal. Some people are very content to sit on magic forums and ask "What's the best trick? What's the best three tricks for close up?". That's okay, but that's not getting real world experience and going out and doing it.
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How important is one's own personality in performing magic, and how did this play a role in your own career?
I think that magicians discover their personality through performance. I know that I have become many different versions of Jeff McBride over the years. Because when we're young, magic is just about learning the trick, and doing it and getting the `wow'. Then as we get older, magic gets to be a way of interacting and getting a social edge, and being able to be seen and stand out from the crowd. And if people pursue it more, they develop a personality and a connection to performing magic that might take them around the world. Or just to make them the hit at the family reunion, so that people can have a peaceful time at the Thanksgiving table!
People have different reasons for performing magic at different times in their lives. Some people use it to compete. Other people use it to teach and instruct. Other people use it to wind down after a hard day's work. But I think magic is a way to develop aspects of your personality. And I think that is a very powerful role that magic plays in our lives.
Are there differences in how an amateur and a professional approach magic?
Absolutely. I started reading a blog and books on a website called The Jerx, which is a very opinionated, very humorously yet potently written blog about magic from an amateur's point of view. Different rules apply if you want to be a professional: there's costuming, there's lighting, there's sound, there is scripting, and all of these other theatrical components that are essential in creating a theatrical magical experience, if that is your goal.
However the writer at The Jerx - and I really am entertained and often enlightened by his writing - has a completely contrary view to this. Instead of me trying to rehash his personal experience writing and philosophy, if you are an amateur magician and want to read about other people's opinion on amateur magic and non-professional magic, just take a visit to The Jerx - you'll find some very interesting information there.
It was a wake up call to me, because not everybody that performs magic wants to be professional. Some people just want to do it for their friends and have fun, and that's a perfectly satisfying lifestyle of magic. And they don't need scripting and they don't need all of the other requirements of the theater, because they're not working in theater; they're just doing it for their friends at the office. And that's perfectly fine.
However, the rules do change when you get up onstage in front of 5,000-6,000 people in a theater! Then you need to consider some of those elements.
But as Eugene Burger reminds us, "There are many rooms in the house of magic." There are many rooms for all of us, including rooms for the people that are passionate amateurs, whom I call "enthusiasts". I don't like the word "amateur" myself, so I use the word "enthusiast", because there are many great magic enthusiasts that have never been full time and professional magicians. And that's perfectly valid. Magic is not about tricks, and magic is not gauged on the box office success. Magic is really a way to enhance the quality of your life, and there's many ways to do that. If a person is collecting cards, they don't have to collect every deck to feel complete, they can collect the ones they like, and that's fine, right? Everybody has their own path to walk.
How has the magic industry changed since you first became involved in it, and how has technology impacted it?
It's a double-edged sword. We talk about YouTube and Instagram and all these different ways that people consume magic, but most of this magic is eye-candy and very shallow. There are archives of great performers on YouTube, but it's still mediated and it's not the same as being there.
It makes me sad when I see a clip of Fred Kaps on YouTube and then some bozo going, "Fake, fake, fake, he has a thing in his hand, it's frame 725!" My response would be: "You're critiquing Fred Kaps? Go practice. Don't be giving critiques to Fred Kaps, who won FISM like three times, hello? And you're 14, and you've stopped a frame because you've watched it 15 times, and you're so clever, really?" That's what hurts magic, I think.
What also hurts is when you look up a great performer, say Cardini, and right next to it there are sixteen YouTube clips of 12 year old kids in their pajamas teaching a bad back palm, just because they want clicks and hits on their YouTube site. It's disgraceful. So that's what hurts magic.
However technology has also made possible sites like MagicFlix, which have a bit of a firewall to them, so that people have to be invited to it to get there. Those people that have serious passion can now study with all of the great masters. They can study with Karrell Fox, Jay Marshall, Tom Mullica, Johnny Thompson, Daryl, and so many others. And it's very convenient for learning. So that's the good side of it.
When people get interested in magic on the internet, hopefully they'll find a teacher. But what mostly happens today is they just stay online. That's not really learning magic, that's collecting secrets. That's collecting postage stamps. That's not transforming these into meaningful, magical experiences.
What we do at Mystery School is create a learning environment that's a safe place for people to come to, in order to really study the secrets of magic. Everyone here signs a secrecy agreement, so that the things that we teach won't be bastardized by exposure on the internet. We feel that Mystery School is one of the last great holdouts of secret information. When all of the secrets are just out there, there is no magic. There has to be secrecy, in order to create very effective magic.
And we keep working and innovating, and looking through the old books and digging out the gems, polishing them up, and fusing them with new materials and new technology to create hybrid magic effects that have never been seen before. That's a passion of ours: resurrecting some of these old magic gems and bringing them to new audiences.
So there's a struggle, these days with exposure. But the good news is that it's just too much for any one person to observe. A lot of the real secrets of magic are in the books. The internet is just a little tiny tip of the huge iceberg of magical literature that is hidden away. Many people call themselves, as Scott Alexander puts it, "visual learners." That means they don't read books. That means they won't ever have the depth of knowledge of someone that can learn visually and can read books. They cut off more than half of the resources that exist for them, and that's a shame.
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What is the most difficult trick you ever performed, and what made it so hard?
Double One-Handed Waterfall. I used to have showdowns with Ricky Jay on the streets of Madrid, Spain. Ricky and I would basically do cowboy showdowns, gun-slinging with cards, late at night. We were attending the FISM convention in Madrid, and we'd have challenges back and forth with card spinning. He definitely could throw much further, but I definitely could do a One-Handed Waterfall in each hand. That's probably the most difficult feat. I actually performed it, I believe, on The Art of Card Manipulation, in one of the little quick cuts.
Do have any good stories you can share about a magician "fail" that you experienced?
There's an old formula that says, "Tragedy plus time equals comedy." All magicians have challenges and barriers on stage, and so have I. In the moment, they're never fun, but you can retell these stories to friends. Everybody has war stories! Let's see if I have one that stands out...
I remember being on stage, and I had to pull some paper ribbons out of my mouth, and then I produced a dove from the paper ribbons. Then I would secretly switch out that bird for a rubber bird, and put it in a paper bag. I would blow up the paper bag, then pop the paper bag, and little feathers would drop out. However, on this day I was pulling the paper ribbons out, and I decided to use scissors to cut the paper ribbons, and I cut a hole inside my lip! I quickly shut my mouth, and my mouth filled with blood. This was my grand finale - I'm thinking "Oh, this is very bad," but the audience can't see anything yet.
So I get to the part where I produce the live dove, and I switch it for the rubber dove, and put it in the bag. But now I have to blow up the bag - I didn't see that coming! And I figure this is a really good time to get all that blood out of my mouth. So I blow up the bag, and it's filling with blood. And when I pop the bag, there's nothing but blood and feathers everywhere, and people screaming! Some teenagers thought it was just so rock and roll, and other mothers and children thought it was so horrible. It was this mixture of some people going out of their mind applauding, and other people going out of their mind screaming. So we never know - even when the worst can go wrong, people will still love it!
How would you like to be remembered in the magic community, and what accomplishments would you still like to make?
I feel like I already am remembered in the magic community. I've accomplished more than all my childhood dreams: headlining Vegas, Magic Castle Magician of the Year, Hall of Fame, FISM Award winner, Guinness World Records - I've done a lot.
Now my goal is to help other people's dreams. So when I see a student of mine like Mat Franco win America's Got Talent and get his own show in Vegas, and my student Aaron Crow win on Britain's Got Talent and come on America's Got Talent with a magic routine that I'd helped him design - that's what I want to be remembered for. When I have students getting their own shows and winning awards. I'm a magic teacher, and I love to give. That's what I love to do now. I still tour and perform internationally all the time, but my passion right now is teaching and helping other people achieve their dreams.
What is one piece of work you have released that you'd like to be remembered by, or which might be of interest to the playing card enthusiast?
Anybody that watches Jeff McBride The Art of Card Manipulation will see how I researched all of the old school material and the stuff that I'd learned in my generation, and put it all together in one place. Those are the videos that the Buck twins - Dave and Dan - saw. Many of the people that first started card manipulation and cardistry saw me on those World's Greatest Magic specials back in the '90s that were filmed at Caesar's Palace. This was one of the first modern versions of card manipulation on TV.
So I think my series on The Art of Card Manipulation imprinted a lot of young magicians, young card handlers, and then the cardistry movement. I was not singularly responsible for that, but The Art of Card Manipulation was definitely essential fuel for it, because it was the most comprehensive card manipulation series ever put out.
What advice would you give to a young person just starting to learn card magic or card manipulation?
Learn from your pals, but study in person with a great master. It will shave years off your learning curve.
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CONCLUSION
It takes a lot for the Society of American Magicians to vote you into their Hall of Fame, especially when you're still active performing and teaching. Jeff McBride is one of the few in the world who can lay claim to being part of that select group.
Jeff is first and foremost a performer with a love for entertaining people, and the unique combination of elements that helps make his stage act stand out from other performers will always be a memorable trademark style that people associate with his name. But perhaps his lasting legacy will be the new role he has taken on as a sage and mentor to others. His Magic & Mystery School has been instrumental in producing new magicians who will continue to entertain us in years to come.
With this interview we've had a wonderful opportunity to have a glimpse of his thinking and learn about some of his experiences. Thank you Mr McBride for all that you've given to magic! May this inspire all of us to turn that pack of playing cards in our hands as a tool to develop our own skills, and to share our love for the arts with those around us!
Where to learn more? Check out Jeff McBride's resources here: - McBride Magic: Official site, promo video - Performance videos: Fool Us (2017), Masters of Illusion (2009), Masters of Illusion (2017) - Card manipulation: "Shaman Cards" performance, "King of Cards" performance - Magic & Mystery School: Official site, shop, Facebook - Social media: Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Youtube - Teaching resources: MagicFlix (code: MCBRIDE), Art of Card Manipulation DVDs, Essential Card Manipulation video
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Author's note: I first published this article at PlayingCardDecks here.

WHO IS JEFF MCBRIDE?
Chances are you are reading this article because you already have some interest in playing cards. So maybe you've already heard of the name Jeff McBride. If you have, you'll already be familiar with his credentials, so you'll be itching to get straight the good stuff and read what he's got to say, because you know it's going to be worth reading.
But if you haven't heard of Jeff McBride before, let me tell you why this interview is a must-read: ● Are you into card magic? Jeff has been doing card magic his whole life, and is one of the very best in the world at card manipulation and sleight of hand. He has also been running his famous Magic & Mystery School for over 30 years. ● Are you into cardistry? Jeff's instructional Art of Card Manipulation videos were some of the foundational materials that shaped fathers of the cardistry movement like Dan and Dave Buck. Card manipulation is his speciality, and if there's anyone that we can learn a thing or two about card handling from, it's him. ● Are you into card collecting? Jeff's entire career has been built with a deck of cards in his hands, and he also collects some playing card memorabilia himself.
So if you are a playing card enthusiast in any way, this is a wonderful opportunity to learn from one of the greatest living card men. We were delighted when Jeff agreed to do this interview with us, and couldn't wait to hear some of his thoughts about various topics relating to his own career with playing cards. We even got opportunity to visit him at his own place, and take some photos of his memorabilia and more, which we have permission to show our readers for the first time! But first let's share some of his credentials, so that we can appreciate what he has to say in the context of his own accomplishments and achievements.
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Jeff McBride the Performer
Jeff McBride has had a love for magic that goes back to his childhood in New York's Catskill mountains, where he grew up. As a young boy he stumbled across The Golden Book of Magic in a library, which quickly became his first magic Bible. He performed gigs locally, did street performances, and eventually moved to Las Vegas, where he successfully built a career in magic, and performs his award-winning stage magic and runs a magic school.
His performance style is highly praised for its unique blend of traditional magic with a form of Japanese theater called kabuki. Drawing on an unusual mix of skills that includes martial arts, philosophy, and more, Jeff's stage act combines an unorthodox blend of sleight of hand with masks and mime, to create a unique show like no other. Besides his "home" stage in Las Vegas, he's performed on stages and in theaters around the world, including touring with The Illusionists. A Jeff McBride show never fails to showcase his dynamic, innovative, and creative personality, from someone who has proven himself over time to be a master entertainer, showman, and sleight-of-hand artist.
Jeff McBride's list of awards is too lengthy to cover all of them. But to mention just a few, he's received recognition from exclusive and respected organizations, including "Magician of the Year" by The Magic Castle's The Academy of Magic Arts and "Magician of the Year" by the Society of American Magicians. In 2018 the International F?d?ration Internationale des Societes Magiques (FISM) gave him their "Theory & Philosophy Special Award", in tribute for his lifetime contribution to magic from a viewpoint that is analytical and academic. This illustrious award has previously been given only to Tommy Wonder, Juan Tamariz, Eugene Burger, and Roberto Giobbi. Most recently in January 2020 he was inducted into the prestigious Hall of Fame by the Society of American Magicians. He is part of a very small group of living magicians that are part of this exclusive club, which includes David Copperfield and Siegfried and Roy. He's even the holder of three world records - don't worry, we'll be sure to ask him about that in our interview!
And of course he has appeared on television many times, already back in 1995 as part of the "World's Greatest Magic, and more recently on shows like Masters of Illusion, Criss Angel's Mindfreak, and Penn & Teller's Fool Us. But he's not just "another magician", as his selection as a judge for the 2008 reality celebrity-magic show Celebradabra confirms. Already more than ten years ago filmmakers produced a documentary about him, entitled Jeff McBride: A Magickal Life. This has been highly praised by magicians and viewers for how it shows his journey from a boy magician to a headline act in Las Vegas, and also his personal spiritual journey and development from a brash young man into a mature and caring magician who is keen to pass on the art of magic to the next generation. He really is one of the best.
Jeff McBride the Teacher
While the first part of his career was all about performing in his inimitable style, as the years have passed Jeff McBride has more and more mellowed into a highly respected teacher, with a keen interest in sharing his wisdom with others, and helping young magicians develop their skills in magic. Besides many written works, he's produced best-selling and highly influential instructional videos on the art of card manipulation, and on stage magic. His current passion is to serve as a sage that helps other magicians make their dreams as performers come true.
Perhaps his crowning achievement and lasting legacy is the McBride Magic & Mystery School, which he established in 1991. This is a world-renowned training ground for stage magic, and is generally regarded as the very best and most prestigious institution in the world for receiving magic instruction. There's simply no better place for aspiring magicians to go, in order to take seminars, classes, and workshops, to help raise their magic to a higher level, and to learn the true secrets of the craft.
Highly respected magician and lecturer Eugene Burger (pictured below with Jeff McBride) served as Dean of this school until his sad passing in 2017. It was from him that Jeff learned the importance of burning one end of your own candle in order to light someone else's candle. Many leading magicians have served on the faculty or as guest instructors, including big names like Lance Burton, Johnny Thompson, and Max Maven.
Jeff McBride is a wonderful entertainer himself, but his current passion is to be a mentor to others, and he will leave a lasting stamp in the lives of many magicians of the future. But now it's time for us to sit at his feet, and learn a thing or two from his life, and about his experiences with playing cards in particular.
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THE INTERVIEW
GENERAL BACKGROUND
For those who don't know anything about you, what can you tell us about yourself and your background?
I started my career with a pack of playing cards. Now I headline Las Vegas shows, and theaters and festivals all over the world. I also run a very successful magic school in Las Vegas, and I teach online.
I am one of the first magic teachers to create a video series, and my breakthrough videos on card manipulation taught the world how to perform flourishes and card manipulation, which happened to grow into a new cardistry movement. I was fortunate enough to train with great old-school masters and I put out The Art of Card Manipulation which caught on in Asia. The material contained within those DVDs - they were VHS videos at that time - did not need words to understand how to perform the magic, so they had international appeal. Many people like An Ha Lim and leading Asian manipulators found these, and my videos were their original training tools.
What would be some of the highlights in your career in magic?
Performing at Radio City Music Hall, the largest theater in the world with no screen support, no image magnification, and performing my card manipulation routine. The only other person that had that experience was Cardini. That was one of the highlights.
And of course, being inducted into the Society of American Magicians Hall of Fame. Also winning the FISM Special Award for Theory and Philosophy was a highlight. That's an award I share with Tommy Wonder, Juan Tamariz, and Eugene Burger.
How would you describe the style of the amazing act that you are known for?
I call it "sorcerer" style, which is very fiery and dynamic. There are many types of card routines, and mine is very explosive and dynamic. In fact during my touring seasons with the hit show The Illusionists, the closing number of the show was my card routine, just before the snow storm sequence. So my card routine can fill a giant theater. At that time of The Illusionists we were working a 7,000 seat theater. So my motto was "pack small, play big."
What were your major influences for this style of performance?
My influences came from many directions. I realized early on that performing standard magic was not a path to success. It was a path to working weddings, bar mitzvahs and birthday parties. In order to break out, I had to become a much more dynamic performer and I added other skillsets I had studied, like classic pantomime theater, which I'd studied at the American Mime Theater. I combined martial arts and my passion for masks and quick change, and dance. And it was this fusion of all of these different theatrical elements that made a huge difference. It was much more than magic, it was a total theatrical experience.
Where can people go to see you perform today?
I teach magic on a platform called MagicFlix. There's performances and tutorials. It's the world's leading streaming platform for magic. So you can immediately see me there. If you want to trial it, all you have to do is go to MagicFlix's website, enter your information, and put in the code MCBRIDE, and you can get 30 days for free. You can see not only myself, but the great masters of magic, and some of the great card magicians in history, as well as learn my card manipulation sequences.
Also if you want to see my live shows, I perform in Las Vegas at Wonderground, which is the longest running independent variety magic show in the history of Las Vegas. It is not attached to a casino, so we can do some pretty wild stuff! That's been running 11 years, and has hosted more variety entertainers on its stage than any other stage in Las Vegas.
What should we know about the McBride Magic & Mystery School, which has now been running for around 30 years?
It's now over 30 years. The McBride Magic and Mystery School came out of a great desire to study with masters. The challenge I see these days is that most people are learning magic from their peers, from people in their own age group. And not necessarily looking up the ladder at masters that have achieved great amounts of success.
So what I did 30 years ago, is I decided to host a retreat for masters to come and teach hungry students, mostly professionals, that were willing to empty their cup and fill up on wisdom and on the experience of great masters. And over the years we've had Eugene Burger, Johnny Thompson, Max Maven and many, many other masters come to the school to help our students understand the path to mastery. So not just learning from your pals online or at magic class, but really top-down training from experts in the field.
What are some of your interests outside of magic?
I spend a lot of time going to other conferences learning more skills on how to facilitate life-transforming experiences. So I spend a lot of time still studying how to teach more effectively, both in person and online.
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PLAYING CARDS & CARD MANIPULATION
You have set several Guinness World Records. What can you tell us about these?
I have three Guinness World Records, two of them for coin rolling, and one of them for card spinning. My Guinness World Record certificate states that I was able to "single handedly spin or scale a record of 106 playing cards within 60 seconds." That was set in 2004 for speed, for card throwing.
You are known for your skill in card manipulation. How would you distinguish magic from cardistry?
When they're fused together, they're indistinguishable, because of the flow state. Here are some flourishes, here are some card tricks - I think it can be seamlessly blended together. When I watch young cardists out there, I'm just amazed by the things that I see them doing these days. I'm totally delighted, and it's magical for me. Magicians that call cardistry "juggling" are just not getting what it's about. It's about entering a flow state, mastering these series of moves, and then pushing the envelope, until you have many of these different flourishes that you can string together seamlessly. That's the elegance of it.
What is one piece of work you have released that you'd like to be remembered by, or which might be of interest to the playing card enthusiast?
Anybody that watches Jeff McBride The Art of Card Manipulation will see how I researched all of the old school material and the stuff that I'd learned in my generation, and put it all together in one place. Those are the videos that the Buck twins - Dave and Dan - saw. Many of the people that first started card manipulation and cardistry saw me on those World's Greatest Magic specials back in the '90s that were filmed at Caesar's Palace. This was one of the first modern versions of card manipulation on TV.
So I think my series on The Art of Card Manipulation imprinted a lot of young magicians, young card handlers, and then the cardistry movement. I was not singularly responsible for that, but The Art of Card Manipulation was definitely essential fuel for it, because it was the most comprehensive card manipulation series ever put out.
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What advice would you give to a young person just starting to learn card magic or card manipulation?
Learn from your pals, but study in person with a great master. It will shave years off your learning curve.
Do you have any thoughts about the current boom in cardistry, and how this has become immensely popular in recent years?
The deck of cards is a great equalizer, isn't it? Here you have 52 objects, and now all you have to do is add your creativity and countless hours of practice and commitment to perfection. It's not like you can buy it. Acquiring the next magic illusion is quite different than acquiring the next impossible flourish with cards. You just can't do it, it has to come from the heart and soul. That's why I think cardistry became such a phenomenon. It doesn't have any language barriers, cultural barriers, or status barriers. All that separates one from being average or great is the commitment to perfection, artistry, and beauty.
What brand/type playing cards did you first use when you started magic and card manipulation?
I used every card I could get my hands on. There were bridge-size decks for card fanning that would have four different colors or four different patterns, so you could get the different color fans out of them. Really good fanning decks are sorely lacking today; I very rarely see any of these new decks being good fanning decks. But I would collect every thin card I could possibly find at that time. Very few people at that time were making flesh colored cards. Sometimes you had to strip cards down, and then paint them flesh colored, and use lots of powder to make them fan again.
Early on I used Crusaders, because in my teens that's what Jeff Sheridan was using, so I used Crusaders that you could get at Woolworth's. Bee cards are okay, but when they reach a certain age they just crack. A lot of the `old school' used and swore by the old Denver Plaids and the old Steamboats. So when I was in my tens and early teens (11-15 years old), there was a lot of Steamboats, and in my later teens I used Crusaders.
What brand/type playing cards do you mostly use today?
I switched over to my own brand, when I had my own cards printed by Phoenix (my cards are available on my site here). Phoenix really pays attention to their cutting and I'm very fond of Phoenix brand cards published by Christian Schenk from Card-Shark.
What do you think are the essential qualities of a good deck of playing cards?
The ability to fan them out of the pack, and their ability to faro shuffle. Those are the two prime ingredients. That they don't need fanning powder. That they're not too slippery, so you don't have to work with them too long to get the finish off, and that they faro well. I'm mostly a stage performer, and I do close up as well. I love some of the decks that you have, with the very whimsical face designs. But for me it's the way the cards handle more than the way they look.
Has the quality of playing cards has improved over the years?
Oh, absolutely. Absolutely the quality has improved over the years. The finishes these days and the deck designs are just incredible.
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What are your thoughts on the explosion of custom playing cards that we are seeing today?
For me personally, I don't see enough nice fanning decks. I would collect them, but they're not out there.
I think the next step for card collectors is: how do you store and display them? The serious person will start to make floor to ceiling displays for walls of cards with a giant ladder, like a library so you can have these decks on display. I've seen some people have little wall panels that will hold 20 decks or so, but how about something like a turning rack, like the racks for displaying CDs or a turning poster rack? If somebody could come up with some sort of system.
And now we have some place to display them and take them out, then the great question is: do I take them out of the box, or are they just sealed? Or do I always have to buy two decks - one to play with, one to keep sealed? I see people doing both.
However I have yet to see a really beautiful card collection display that goes beyond `decks in a drawer', or `decks on a wall', or `decks on a tabletop'. If you consider these cards art (and they are - the back designs and the front designs are art), how do you display this art? How do you put it in a frame, and how do you appreciate it? Do you put it in a shoebox and say "Here's my card collection"? Do you have it in a little wall display of 20 decks and say "Here are my 20 decks"?
What impact has crowdfunding like Kickstarter had on the custom playing card industry and collecting?
People feel part of the creation, and feel like they can be patrons of the art. It's like: "Oh, I can be part of this, I can be part of this creative process, I can be a co-collaborator." So that's a good thing that I'll say about it. People support what they help create, and people feel like they're helping create art. I think we need more people that are patrons of the arts. And playing cards is a very good way to share your wealth, and support other people's creative enterprises.
Do you recommend performing magicians get their own branded custom deck of playing cards?
Absolutely. But it depends on what impression you want to make. Some people like to use regular cards because they look very normal. I use my own cards because they're very special, and they have my name on them. If somebody looks at my cards, they'll say, "Wow, Jeff has his own brand of playing cards, he must be very good." You can drive a car, but you can design and manufacture your own car. Who do you deem more magical? Probably the person that's designed their own car.
And when I throw my cards into the audience, it's not the end of my show. It's the beginning of an adventure, because on the back the card it says: "Every card has a special meaning. To discover this card's secret, you have to go to my website." So now they have to go on this mysterious quest to find out the meaning of their card. It's a tarot information site. And when they get to my website after they catch one of my special cards, now they have an opportunity to pick an email address of a friend, and throw that card around the world to them. So I'm continuing the tradition that got me into magic; I'm throwing a card out and saying, "Here, pick this card." And they pick up that card in the audience, and hopefully it will take them on a magical adventure for the rest of their lives.
How many decks or cards have I gone through throughout the years? Tens of thousands. I go through at least two decks a show, for tens of thousands of shows.
Do you personally collect playing cards?
I'm not manic about it, but I collect good fanning decks. If a particular design of a more standard deck hits my radar, I'll pick it up. I like some of your decks, they're very beautiful.
Sometimes it's the box - it makes a statement. Sometimes the card box is the tuxedo for the cards. So the card box in my opinion has a lot to do with matching the performer's style and creating an aesthetic for the magical performance.
And it's even how you take the cards out of the box. If you read Roberto Giobbi's books, he's got very special ideas on how to remove the cards from the box, and how the box is put away. The Dean of the Mystery School teaches what he feels is the proper way to present a pack of cards out of your pocket, remove it from the deck gracefully, and place the box away. There are more refined ways to present a deck of cards to people than just tossing a box of cards on the table.
A deck of cards is a wonderful, mysterious, enchanting object. Fortunes are won and lost, and lives have come and gone on the turn of a single playing card. I live in Las Vegas, which is a town that was built on playing cards, divination systems, dice, and spinning wheels of fortune. Cards have an incredibly deep history and connection to mystery, and they're inherently very mysterious. So it's no wonder how people are attracted to their many different manifestations these days, whether it's a special box, or a back design, or a limited edition.
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Do you use playing cards for anything besides card magic and card manipulation?
I give very extensive workshops on the history of Tarot. We have an extraordinary collection of Tarot decks here, and also Tarot books. We also collected the greatest Tarot teachers from around the world to come and teach every year at the Las Vegas Tarot Summit.
Is there anything else you'd like to share?
I did an entire performance based on two cards. I did an off-Broadway show called Mask of the Mystic, and it was about two playing cards: the Magician card and the Fool card of the Tarot. I had originally designed an entire show around the Major Arcana of the Tarot cards back in the '80s, with a performance piece for each and every card. But the show was so dense with symbolism and meaning and complex, that I decided to keep it to just the first two cards. I played the Magician card, and a juggler named Michael Marlon played the Fool card, the innocent. There was a great dynamic between a trickster and an all too serious mage wizard character, and it was about the relationship between being blissfully ignorant, and being overly-fixated on the symbolism and meaning of magic.
That really sums up the experience with playing cards. Playing cards can be used for gambling. They can be used as a pastime to pass the time and play solitaire. They can be used for card magic. They can be used for cardistry. And for me, a deck of playing cards is a magic carpet that has taken me all over the world and has introduced me to incredible experiences, taken me to incredible places, and introduced me to all of the people I love most dearly in life.
So whether you're a fool just beginning your journey through the playing card story, or if you're at the end of your story as a wizard counting down your days, remember that there is a deck of playing cards - and perhaps a single playing card - that can change a person's life. So next time a person says "Pick a card," remember that this moment can change a life forever.
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CONCLUSION
It takes a lot for the Society of American Magicians to vote you into their Hall of Fame, especially when you're still active performing and teaching. Jeff McBride is one of the few in the world who can lay claim to being part of that select group.
Jeff is first and foremost a performer with a love for entertaining people, and the unique combination of elements that helps make his stage act stand out from other performers will always be a memorable trademark style that people associate with his name. But perhaps his lasting legacy will be the new role he has taken on as a sage and mentor to others. His Magic & Mystery School has been instrumental in producing new magicians who will continue to entertain us in years to come.
With this interview we've had a wonderful opportunity to have a glimpse of his thinking and learn about some of his experiences. Thank you Mr McBride for all that you've given to magic! May this inspire all of us to turn that pack of playing cards in our hands as a tool to develop our own skills, and to share our love for the arts with those around us!
Where to learn more? Check out Jeff McBride's resources here: - McBride Magic: Official site, promo video - Performance videos: Fool Us (2017), Masters of Illusion (2009), Masters of Illusion (2017) - Card manipulation: "Shaman Cards" performance, "King of Cards" performance - Magic & Mystery School: Official site, shop, Facebook - Social media: Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Youtube - Teaching resources: MagicFlix (code: MCBRIDE), Art of Card Manipulation DVDs, Essential Card Manipulation video
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Author's note: I first published this article at PlayingCardDecks here.

WHO IS JEFF MCBRIDE?
Chances are you are reading this article because you already have some interest in playing cards. So maybe you've already heard of the name Jeff McBride. If you have, you'll already be familiar with his credentials, so you'll be itching to get straight the good stuff and read what he's got to say, because you know it's going to be worth reading.
But if you haven't heard of Jeff McBride before, let me tell you why this interview is a must-read: ● Are you into card magic? Jeff has been doing card magic his whole life, and is one of the very best in the world at card manipulation and sleight of hand. He has also been running his famous Magic & Mystery School for over 30 years. ● Are you into cardistry? Jeff's instructional Art of Card Manipulation videos were some of the foundational materials that shaped fathers of the cardistry movement like Dan and Dave Buck. Card manipulation is his speciality, and if there's anyone that we can learn a thing or two about card handling from, it's him. ● Are you into card collecting? Jeff's entire career has been built with a deck of cards in his hands, and he also collects some playing card memorabilia himself.
So if you are a playing card enthusiast in any way, this is a wonderful opportunity to learn from one of the greatest living card men. We were delighted when Jeff agreed to do this interview with us, and couldn't wait to hear some of his thoughts about various topics relating to his own career with playing cards. We even got opportunity to visit him at his own place, and take some photos of his memorabilia and more, which we have permission to show our readers for the first time! But first let's share some of his credentials, so that we can appreciate what he has to say in the context of his own accomplishments and achievements.
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Jeff McBride the Performer
Jeff McBride has had a love for magic that goes back to his childhood in New York's Catskill mountains, where he grew up. As a young boy he stumbled across The Golden Book of Magic in a library, which quickly became his first magic Bible. He performed gigs locally, did street performances, and eventually moved to Las Vegas, where he successfully built a career in magic, and performs his award-winning stage magic and runs a magic school.
His performance style is highly praised for its unique blend of traditional magic with a form of Japanese theater called kabuki. Drawing on an unusual mix of skills that includes martial arts, philosophy, and more, Jeff's stage act combines an unorthodox blend of sleight of hand with masks and mime, to create a unique show like no other. Besides his "home" stage in Las Vegas, he's performed on stages and in theaters around the world, including touring with The Illusionists. A Jeff McBride show never fails to showcase his dynamic, innovative, and creative personality, from someone who has proven himself over time to be a master entertainer, showman, and sleight-of-hand artist.
Jeff McBride's list of awards is too lengthy to cover all of them. But to mention just a few, he's received recognition from exclusive and respected organizations, including "Magician of the Year" by The Magic Castle's The Academy of Magic Arts and "Magician of the Year" by the Society of American Magicians. In 2018 the International F?d?ration Internationale des Societes Magiques (FISM) gave him their "Theory & Philosophy Special Award", in tribute for his lifetime contribution to magic from a viewpoint that is analytical and academic. This illustrious award has previously been given only to Tommy Wonder, Juan Tamariz, Eugene Burger, and Roberto Giobbi. Most recently in January 2020 he was inducted into the prestigious Hall of Fame by the Society of American Magicians. He is part of a very small group of living magicians that are part of this exclusive club, which includes David Copperfield and Siegfried and Roy. He's even the holder of three world records - don't worry, we'll be sure to ask him about that in our interview!
And of course he has appeared on television many times, already back in 1995 as part of the "World's Greatest Magic, and more recently on shows like Masters of Illusion, Criss Angel's Mindfreak, and Penn & Teller's Fool Us. But he's not just "another magician", as his selection as a judge for the 2008 reality celebrity-magic show Celebradabra confirms. Already more than ten years ago filmmakers produced a documentary about him, entitled Jeff McBride: A Magickal Life. This has been highly praised by magicians and viewers for how it shows his journey from a boy magician to a headline act in Las Vegas, and also his personal spiritual journey and development from a brash young man into a mature and caring magician who is keen to pass on the art of magic to the next generation. He really is one of the best.
Jeff McBride the Teacher
While the first part of his career was all about performing in his inimitable style, as the years have passed Jeff McBride has more and more mellowed into a highly respected teacher, with a keen interest in sharing his wisdom with others, and helping young magicians develop their skills in magic. Besides many written works, he's produced best-selling and highly influential instructional videos on the art of card manipulation, and on stage magic. His current passion is to serve as a sage that helps other magicians make their dreams as performers come true.
Perhaps his crowning achievement and lasting legacy is the McBride Magic & Mystery School, which he established in 1991. This is a world-renowned training ground for stage magic, and is generally regarded as the very best and most prestigious institution in the world for receiving magic instruction. There's simply no better place for aspiring magicians to go, in order to take seminars, classes, and workshops, to help raise their magic to a higher level, and to learn the true secrets of the craft.
Highly respected magician and lecturer Eugene Burger (pictured below with Jeff McBride) served as Dean of this school until his sad passing in 2017. It was from him that Jeff learned the importance of burning one end of your own candle in order to light someone else's candle. Many leading magicians have served on the faculty or as guest instructors, including big names like Lance Burton, Johnny Thompson, and Max Maven.
Jeff McBride is a wonderful entertainer himself, but his current passion is to be a mentor to others, and he will leave a lasting stamp in the lives of many magicians of the future. But now it's time for us to sit at his feet, and learn a thing or two from his life, and about his experiences with playing cards in particular.
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THE INTERVIEW
GENERAL BACKGROUND
For those who don't know anything about you, what can you tell us about yourself and your background?
I started my career with a pack of playing cards. Now I headline Las Vegas shows, and theaters and festivals all over the world. I also run a very successful magic school in Las Vegas, and I teach online.
I am one of the first magic teachers to create a video series, and my breakthrough videos on card manipulation taught the world how to perform flourishes and card manipulation, which happened to grow into a new cardistry movement. I was fortunate enough to train with great old-school masters and I put out The Art of Card Manipulation which caught on in Asia. The material contained within those DVDs - they were VHS videos at that time - did not need words to understand how to perform the magic, so they had international appeal. Many people like An Ha Lim and leading Asian manipulators found these, and my videos were their original training tools.
What would be some of the highlights in your career in magic?
Performing at Radio City Music Hall, the largest theater in the world with no screen support, no image magnification, and performing my card manipulation routine. The only other person that had that experience was Cardini. That was one of the highlights.
And of course, being inducted into the Society of American Magicians Hall of Fame. Also winning the FISM Special Award for Theory and Philosophy was a highlight. That's an award I share with Tommy Wonder, Juan Tamariz, and Eugene Burger.
How would you describe the style of the amazing act that you are known for?
I call it "sorcerer" style, which is very fiery and dynamic. There are many types of card routines, and mine is very explosive and dynamic. In fact during my touring seasons with the hit show The Illusionists, the closing number of the show was my card routine, just before the snow storm sequence. So my card routine can fill a giant theater. At that time of The Illusionists we were working a 7,000 seat theater. So my motto was "pack small, play big."
What were your major influences for this style of performance?
My influences came from many directions. I realized early on that performing standard magic was not a path to success. It was a path to working weddings, bar mitzvahs and birthday parties. In order to break out, I had to become a much more dynamic performer and I added other skillsets I had studied, like classic pantomime theater, which I'd studied at the American Mime Theater. I combined martial arts and my passion for masks and quick change, and dance. And it was this fusion of all of these different theatrical elements that made a huge difference. It was much more than magic, it was a total theatrical experience.
Where can people go to see you perform today?
I teach magic on a platform called MagicFlix. There's performances and tutorials. It's the world's leading streaming platform for magic. So you can immediately see me there. If you want to trial it, all you have to do is go to MagicFlix's website, enter your information, and put in the code MCBRIDE, and you can get 30 days for free. You can see not only myself, but the great masters of magic, and some of the great card magicians in history, as well as learn my card manipulation sequences.
Also if you want to see my live shows, I perform in Las Vegas at Wonderground, which is the longest running independent variety magic show in the history of Las Vegas. It is not attached to a casino, so we can do some pretty wild stuff! That's been running 11 years, and has hosted more variety entertainers on its stage than any other stage in Las Vegas.
What should we know about the McBride Magic & Mystery School, which has now been running for around 30 years?
It's now over 30 years. The McBride Magic and Mystery School came out of a great desire to study with masters. The challenge I see these days is that most people are learning magic from their peers, from people in their own age group. And not necessarily looking up the ladder at masters that have achieved great amounts of success.
So what I did 30 years ago, is I decided to host a retreat for masters to come and teach hungry students, mostly professionals, that were willing to empty their cup and fill up on wisdom and on the experience of great masters. And over the years we've had Eugene Burger, Johnny Thompson, Max Maven and many, many other masters come to the school to help our students understand the path to mastery. So not just learning from your pals online or at magic class, but really top-down training from experts in the field.
What are some of your interests outside of magic?
I spend a lot of time going to other conferences learning more skills on how to facilitate life-transforming experiences. So I spend a lot of time still studying how to teach more effectively, both in person and online.
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PLAYING CARDS & CARD MANIPULATION
You have set several Guinness World Records. What can you tell us about these?
I have three Guinness World Records, two of them for coin rolling, and one of them for card spinning. My Guinness World Record certificate states that I was able to "single handedly spin or scale a record of 106 playing cards within 60 seconds." That was set in 2004 for speed, for card throwing.
You are known for your skill in card manipulation. How would you distinguish magic from cardistry?
When they're fused together, they're indistinguishable, because of the flow state. Here are some flourishes, here are some card tricks - I think it can be seamlessly blended together. When I watch young cardists out there, I'm just amazed by the things that I see them doing these days. I'm totally delighted, and it's magical for me. Magicians that call cardistry "juggling" are just not getting what it's about. It's about entering a flow state, mastering these series of moves, and then pushing the envelope, until you have many of these different flourishes that you can string together seamlessly. That's the elegance of it.
What is one piece of work you have released that you'd like to be remembered by, or which might be of interest to the playing card enthusiast?
Anybody that watches Jeff McBride The Art of Card Manipulation will see how I researched all of the old school material and the stuff that I'd learned in my generation, and put it all together in one place. Those are the videos that the Buck twins - Dave and Dan - saw. Many of the people that first started card manipulation and cardistry saw me on those World's Greatest Magic specials back in the '90s that were filmed at Caesar's Palace. This was one of the first modern versions of card manipulation on TV.
So I think my series on The Art of Card Manipulation imprinted a lot of young magicians, young card handlers, and then the cardistry movement. I was not singularly responsible for that, but The Art of Card Manipulation was definitely essential fuel for it, because it was the most comprehensive card manipulation series ever put out.
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What advice would you give to a young person just starting to learn card magic or card manipulation?
Learn from your pals, but study in person with a great master. It will shave years off your learning curve.
Do you have any thoughts about the current boom in cardistry, and how this has become immensely popular in recent years?
The deck of cards is a great equalizer, isn't it? Here you have 52 objects, and now all you have to do is add your creativity and countless hours of practice and commitment to perfection. It's not like you can buy it. Acquiring the next magic illusion is quite different than acquiring the next impossible flourish with cards. You just can't do it, it has to come from the heart and soul. That's why I think cardistry became such a phenomenon. It doesn't have any language barriers, cultural barriers, or status barriers. All that separates one from being average or great is the commitment to perfection, artistry, and beauty.
What brand/type playing cards did you first use when you started magic and card manipulation?
I used every card I could get my hands on. There were bridge-size decks for card fanning that would have four different colors or four different patterns, so you could get the different color fans out of them. Really good fanning decks are sorely lacking today; I very rarely see any of these new decks being good fanning decks. But I would collect every thin card I could possibly find at that time. Very few people at that time were making flesh colored cards. Sometimes you had to strip cards down, and then paint them flesh colored, and use lots of powder to make them fan again.
Early on I used Crusaders, because in my teens that's what Jeff Sheridan was using, so I used Crusaders that you could get at Woolworth's. Bee cards are okay, but when they reach a certain age they just crack. A lot of the `old school' used and swore by the old Denver Plaids and the old Steamboats. So when I was in my tens and early teens (11-15 years old), there was a lot of Steamboats, and in my later teens I used Crusaders.
What brand/type playing cards do you mostly use today?
I switched over to my own brand, when I had my own cards printed by Phoenix (my cards are available on my site here). Phoenix really pays attention to their cutting and I'm very fond of Phoenix brand cards published by Christian Schenk from Card-Shark.
What do you think are the essential qualities of a good deck of playing cards?
The ability to fan them out of the pack, and their ability to faro shuffle. Those are the two prime ingredients. That they don't need fanning powder. That they're not too slippery, so you don't have to work with them too long to get the finish off, and that they faro well. I'm mostly a stage performer, and I do close up as well. I love some of the decks that you have, with the very whimsical face designs. But for me it's the way the cards handle more than the way they look.
Has the quality of playing cards has improved over the years?
Oh, absolutely. Absolutely the quality has improved over the years. The finishes these days and the deck designs are just incredible.
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What are your thoughts on the explosion of custom playing cards that we are seeing today?
For me personally, I don't see enough nice fanning decks. I would collect them, but they're not out there.
I think the next step for card collectors is: how do you store and display them? The serious person will start to make floor to ceiling displays for walls of cards with a giant ladder, like a library so you can have these decks on display. I've seen some people have little wall panels that will hold 20 decks or so, but how about something like a turning rack, like the racks for displaying CDs or a turning poster rack? If somebody could come up with some sort of system.
And now we have some place to display them and take them out, then the great question is: do I take them out of the box, or are they just sealed? Or do I always have to buy two decks - one to play with, one to keep sealed? I see people doing both.
However I have yet to see a really beautiful card collection display that goes beyond `decks in a drawer', or `decks on a wall', or `decks on a tabletop'. If you consider these cards art (and they are - the back designs and the front designs are art), how do you display this art? How do you put it in a frame, and how do you appreciate it? Do you put it in a shoebox and say "Here's my card collection"? Do you have it in a little wall display of 20 decks and say "Here are my 20 decks"?
What impact has crowdfunding like Kickstarter had on the custom playing card industry and collecting?
People feel part of the creation, and feel like they can be patrons of the art. It's like: "Oh, I can be part of this, I can be part of this creative process, I can be a co-collaborator." So that's a good thing that I'll say about it. People support what they help create, and people feel like they're helping create art. I think we need more people that are patrons of the arts. And playing cards is a very good way to share your wealth, and support other people's creative enterprises.
Do you recommend performing magicians get their own branded custom deck of playing cards?
Absolutely. But it depends on what impression you want to make. Some people like to use regular cards because they look very normal. I use my own cards because they're very special, and they have my name on them. If somebody looks at my cards, they'll say, "Wow, Jeff has his own brand of playing cards, he must be very good." You can drive a car, but you can design and manufacture your own car. Who do you deem more magical? Probably the person that's designed their own car.
And when I throw my cards into the audience, it's not the end of my show. It's the beginning of an adventure, because on the back the card it says: "Every card has a special meaning. To discover this card's secret, you have to go to my website." So now they have to go on this mysterious quest to find out the meaning of their card. It's a tarot information site. And when they get to my website after they catch one of my special cards, now they have an opportunity to pick an email address of a friend, and throw that card around the world to them. So I'm continuing the tradition that got me into magic; I'm throwing a card out and saying, "Here, pick this card." And they pick up that card in the audience, and hopefully it will take them on a magical adventure for the rest of their lives.
How many decks or cards have I gone through throughout the years? Tens of thousands. I go through at least two decks a show, for tens of thousands of shows.
Do you personally collect playing cards?
I'm not manic about it, but I collect good fanning decks. If a particular design of a more standard deck hits my radar, I'll pick it up. I like some of your decks, they're very beautiful.
Sometimes it's the box - it makes a statement. Sometimes the card box is the tuxedo for the cards. So the card box in my opinion has a lot to do with matching the performer's style and creating an aesthetic for the magical performance.
And it's even how you take the cards out of the box. If you read Roberto Giobbi's books, he's got very special ideas on how to remove the cards from the box, and how the box is put away. The Dean of the Mystery School teaches what he feels is the proper way to present a pack of cards out of your pocket, remove it from the deck gracefully, and place the box away. There are more refined ways to present a deck of cards to people than just tossing a box of cards on the table.
A deck of cards is a wonderful, mysterious, enchanting object. Fortunes are won and lost, and lives have come and gone on the turn of a single playing card. I live in Las Vegas, which is a town that was built on playing cards, divination systems, dice, and spinning wheels of fortune. Cards have an incredibly deep history and connection to mystery, and they're inherently very mysterious. So it's no wonder how people are attracted to their many different manifestations these days, whether it's a special box, or a back design, or a limited edition.
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Do you use playing cards for anything besides card magic and card manipulation?
I give very extensive workshops on the history of Tarot. We have an extraordinary collection of Tarot decks here, and also Tarot books. We also collected the greatest Tarot teachers from around the world to come and teach every year at the Las Vegas Tarot Summit.
Is there anything else you'd like to share?
I did an entire performance based on two cards. I did an off-Broadway show called Mask of the Mystic, and it was about two playing cards: the Magician card and the Fool card of the Tarot. I had originally designed an entire show around the Major Arcana of the Tarot cards back in the '80s, with a performance piece for each and every card. But the show was so dense with symbolism and meaning and complex, that I decided to keep it to just the first two cards. I played the Magician card, and a juggler named Michael Marlon played the Fool card, the innocent. There was a great dynamic between a trickster and an all too serious mage wizard character, and it was about the relationship between being blissfully ignorant, and being overly-fixated on the symbolism and meaning of magic.
That really sums up the experience with playing cards. Playing cards can be used for gambling. They can be used as a pastime to pass the time and play solitaire. They can be used for card magic. They can be used for cardistry. And for me, a deck of playing cards is a magic carpet that has taken me all over the world and has introduced me to incredible experiences, taken me to incredible places, and introduced me to all of the people I love most dearly in life.
So whether you're a fool just beginning your journey through the playing card story, or if you're at the end of your story as a wizard counting down your days, remember that there is a deck of playing cards - and perhaps a single playing card - that can change a person's life. So next time a person says "Pick a card," remember that this moment can change a life forever.
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CONCLUSION
It takes a lot for the Society of American Magicians to vote you into their Hall of Fame, especially when you're still active performing and teaching. Jeff McBride is one of the few in the world who can lay claim to being part of that select group.
Jeff is first and foremost a performer with a love for entertaining people, and the unique combination of elements that helps make his stage act stand out from other performers will always be a memorable trademark style that people associate with his name. But perhaps his lasting legacy will be the new role he has taken on as a sage and mentor to others. His Magic & Mystery School has been instrumental in producing new magicians who will continue to entertain us in years to come.
With this interview we've had a wonderful opportunity to have a glimpse of his thinking and learn about some of his experiences. Thank you Mr McBride for all that you've given to magic! May this inspire all of us to turn that pack of playing cards in our hands as a tool to develop our own skills, and to share our love for the arts with those around us!
Where to learn more? Check out Jeff McBride's resources here: - McBride Magic: Official site, promo video - Performance videos: Fool Us (2017), Masters of Illusion (2009), Masters of Illusion (2017) - Card manipulation: "Shaman Cards" performance, "King of Cards" performance - Magic & Mystery School: Official site, shop, Facebook - Social media: Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Youtube - Teaching resources: MagicFlix (code: MCBRIDE), Art of Card Manipulation DVDs, Essential Card Manipulation video
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Author's note: I first published this article at PlayingCardDecks here.