Drummond Money-Coutts, the heir to Baron Latimer, discusses his shift to magic which is equivalent to love for him and reveals his extraordinary adoration for India. By Khushbu Kirti

Drummond William Thomas Money-Coutts, also lovingly known as DMC, is one English magician and card shark specialist you ordinarily will not find but, at the same time, a person whose friendliness and tricks (magic tricks, duh) you’d fall for instantly.

The heir apparent to the Latymer Barony, DMC decided to take the road least travelled and make a name for himself. Somebody was right, when you love what you do, you’ve already won at life.

I recently had the opportunity to converse with one of the most eminent magicians in the world, where he opened up about how magic was a choice that made itself. Read on for excerpts from the interview:

You have many successfully running shows, The Card Shark, Beyond Magic with DMC, Death By Magic and so on.

Tell us about your journey.

My journey started as a child. I was one of the strange children who was always obsessed with unusual things, magic and mysteries. When I was eight, my father took me to a magic show. Now, my father comes from a very old banking family, called Money-Coutts. It originally used to be a part of the family, it’s is a private bank in UK. Underneath the bank was the oldest magic shop in UK. He took me there and that’s when I learnt that magic was something that could be learnt and that could give other people that incredible feeling that magic has always given me. I, very quickly, decided that that’s what I will give my life to, and I never looked back.

You've risked your own life during the stunts. What is it like?

It’s a crazy thing, you know. Because part of it is making a show like Death By Magic. There's never enough time. There were six episodes back-to-back and six cities that we had to cover across four different continents. So, we almost never have enough rehearsal time or prep-time. Of course, when you’re dealing with very dangerous stunts, things go wrong. And, unfortunately, things did go wrong. I had to see a medical team thrice in the course of eight stunts, so almost half the show went badly south. It was ironical that we were creating a show that was a eulogy to very incredible magicians who had given their lives in pursuit of magic.

On those lines, how real is Death By Magic? What type of illusions do you create around it?

I’ve always thought of myself as the forger of the impossible. So, I create what look like forgeries of impossible moments and, of course, in order to do that, we, as magicians, use very many different techniques — some are more psychological, some are the tricks of hand. Many different elements are at play and, of course, we use all manners of different techniques. But for me, the secret is a very small part of the entire experience. Many people seem to be fascinated by the secret of how it is working. For me, it is not so much about that but more is about the journey and the experience that is created out of it.

We know a magician never reveals his tricks, but one always wonders... What are your thoughts about shows like Magic's Greatest Secrets Revealed?

To me, it feels like one of the things that when a person learns makes him disappointed. It is rare that a person learns the mystery behind a trick and they are blown away. Usually, it’s something very clever but more often than not, something extremely simple. I believe it is like a snake. If a magician stops running away from it, it’ll stop chasing him. If a child is holding on to a toy fiercely, then other children want it even more but as soon as the toy is left on the ground, people lose interest.

I can vouch for it, the secrets behind magic are absolutely not the most fascinating part of what we do. It’s just, magicians make a big fuss about guarding the secret. So, of course, in doing so, they encourage people to come and chase after them. So, if they gave less importance to it, our audiences would do the same.

You travel around the world and entrance people with magic tricks. What does magic mean to you? Is it an escape or a world where the surreal seems real?

It’s one of those beautiful questions, what magic is, and I’ve thought about it a lot over the years. As a child, it was very much an escape. It was a happy place that I would dissolve into. I would read about my heroes and great stories from the past.

Now, for me, magic is equivalent with love on some level. What magic means to you or me, to a monk or let’s say a young girl, will all mean very different things. Everyone will have their unique interpretations of magic based on their experiences. For everyone, their experiences dictate their judgment. Someone might have seen a brilliant magician when they were a kid, while others might have experienced a terrible magic show at a party. That will inform, of course, their understanding and definition of magic.

What is it that keeps calling you back to India?

Magic can be so much richer, deeper. We can find magic in almost anything in life. That is one reason why I keep returning to India.

There's an energy here. There's a sense of magic that I get from India — and its culture, history, people — which is very hard to capture, define or explain in words. But I put it on a very similar level of magic.

In India, you have this beautiful tapestry of magic in many forms, this can be a mere belief in the magic, but also you have a very long history of people performing magic.

I've travelled to parts of the world where magic is something darker and seen as something much more sinister and can be associated with witchcraft and black magic and voodoo. People are scared of it, generally. Because there's no history of performing magic.

So, for me, India is very unique. There's a wide interpretation of magic here, a real appetite of magic that I can feel.

You've performed a lot of public stunts like public treasure quests. What is your objective behind these?

You know, that was just an idea. I think when I started my professional career, I was beginning to make money and I have always loved the thrill of treasure hunts. I put it at an equal level with the exhilaration of magic.

I had an idea one day. I bought little envelopes and stuck into them what must be lakhs of rupees. I hid them then and walked around, watching people find them. They'd be overjoyed and confused, both. It was very special, wasn't particularly magical but it made me very happy to watch.

You come from a royal background. And are an heir to Baron Latimer. When and how did you decide to drift away from the lineage and become a self-made magician?

I don't know if that was a particular moment. That realisation was something always there. As soon as I found magic, I knew it would be my life. I attempted more conventional/professional careers for a while, worked at banks, but none of these things touched. The strength of magic was something else. I couldn't bring myself to sit if I knew I could bring magic into other people's lives. In many ways, it was a choice that made itself.

 I was 18 and my father and I were climbing a mountain in Africa, I don't remember this but he tells me that he asked me what my plan A was. I answered, 'magic'. He then asked what plan B was and I responded, 'to make plan A work.'

Magic was everything for me.

You've a tattoo on your left ear that says 'Hausla Pyaar Wishwas', if I'm not wrong. Could you elaborate what that means to you?

Yes (smiles). When I came to India, it was my second time, and I had committed to be coming a magician. I was in Rajasthan and was inside a book shop. I was reading books that spoke of mantras and guiding principles in life. I decided I wanted three foundational mantras for myself, things I would hold on to, and wrote these three phrases.

When I landed in London, I wrote to my friend in Udaipur and asked what these principles in Hindi would be captured as. He said they'd be 'hausla, pyaar, wishwas'.

It is my little piece of India. No matter what happens in my life, I return to these mantras and my guiding principles.

What do you prefer more: Live performances or recorded shows?

I far prefer live performances because it's uniquely my own work. And I love the challenges of television, it's different, many dozens of people making dozens of creative choices, but not all of which you're gonna agree with.

With Netflix, we had 100s of people in the crew. So not everything would go my way. It is big and cumbersome. I love it for many reasons but it is slower.

There's immediacy with live magic, it is right there. I can do it every day.