Chatting with Peter Brynolf and Jonas Ljung: Swedish magicians and illusionists

Peter Brynolf and Jonas Ljung. Photo Credit: Jeremy Daniel.

Swedish street magicians and illusionists Peter Brynolf and Jonas Ljung chatted about their magic show “Stalker,” which is being performed Off-Broadway at New World Stages in New York City.

“Stalker” is presented by Penn & Teller. Their final performance will be on September 1st, 2024.

Experience doing ‘Stalker’ at New World Stages

On their experience doing “Stalker,” Ljung said, “It has been fantastic. It is incredibly fun, and it has been a pleasure to be playing the biggest of Off-Broadway shows for the last five months. It is a really great venue, and just a couple of minutes from Times Square. I love it.”

“The audiences of our shows are coming in from all over the world, and we also have a good portion of New Yorkers coming to our show, who are perhaps the most experienced theatergoers in the world,” Ljung said.

“It is an educated audience, and that makes a big difference,” Brynolf noted.

“To sum it up, we’ve had such an incredible audience,” Ljung admitted. “They are so caring, appreciative, and passionate.”

Influences in magic

“We started out as teens, basically,” Ljung revealed. “We grew up watching Penn & Teller, who are the producers of our show. They’ve made such an impact on us. I grew up with their specials on TV, and that impacted me a lot.”

“What ‘Stalker’ has taught us about ourselves is that this marked the first time that we wrote a production and played it for an extended amount of time, so even though we’ve played for a lot of international audiences, this is really the first time that we have sold tickets for international audiences,” Brynolf and Ljung concurred.

They listed Penn & Teller, David Blaine, Derren Brown, and Criss Angel, as their greatest influences in magic. “The first seasons of Criss Angels’ ‘Mindfreak’ were marvelous,” Brynolf admitted. “Also, Derren Brown’s shows were awesome. Derren Brown has progressed the world of mentalism so much.”

“Outside of magic, we like Robbie Williams and Lady Gaga because you get something from it all,” he added.

Future plans

On their future plans, they shared, “Right now, the ‘Stalker’ run ends on September 1^st, which we would have played for five months.”

“We are looking forward to bringing our show to other parts of the United States. We are looking for more opportunities within the states and other parts of the world as well. It feels like ‘Stalker’ needs to be played more,” they said.

Advice for young and emerging magicians

For young and aspiring magicians, Ljung said, “Find friends within the magic community because traditionally, being a magician used to be a lonely road.”

“It is very hard to create fantastic things by yourself so when you don’t have a team working with you try to find inspiration from friends by bouncing ideas and rehearsing together,” Ljung elaborated.

“It is best to work with people whose opinions you trust,” Ljung noted.

“Also, just do it. Just go out there and do the magic. Learn new things and try them out. Audience interaction is so important to make it work in the long run. You need to find your own ways, and the only way to do that is to try different things out,” Brynolf added.

Stage of their lives

On the title of the current chapter of his life, Brynolf said, “Expanding.”

“We are really looking forward to where the show ‘Stalker’ will bring us in the world. It is such a great show, and we would love to play it in other parts of the world,” Ljung explained.

Superpower of choice

If Ljung were to have any superpower, it would be “to fly,” just like David Copperfield’s illusion. “That is one of the best illusions in the world ever,” Ljung admitted.

“Also, I would love to have the ability to unite people… That would be a really good superpower,” Brynolf added.

Success

“Success means being well-known enough to bring people into your show, which really gives us the opportunity of doing this, which we really love,” Ljung said.

“Success is being able to do what we love the most, and making a living out of it, and being able to spend time with loved ones at the same time. Creating original shows and doing what we love,” Brynolf elaborated.

Message for their fans and followers

“We love the support from the fans,” they said. “We owe the fans everything. If people wouldn’t come to see the show, we wouldn’t have a show in New York. We’ve met so many fantastic people in New York. We’ve had people come see the show five times, and they see that the show plays different each time.”

“I hope the fans continue to support us, and we will bring them new fantastic things on stage and on TV,” Ljung concluded.

For more information on Peter Brynolf and Jonas Ljung, check out their official homepage, and follow them on Instagram.

To learn more about the magic show “Stalker,” visit its official website, and follow the show on Instagram.

Read More: “Stalker” review