Drummond Money-Coutts is a name that spells big in the world of magic. Born into the financial dynasty of Coutts & Co, the eighth oldest bank in the world and private bankers to the the British royal family for generations now, the 35-year-old magician, who is more popularly known as DMC, is the son of Lord Crispin Latymer, and hence the heir apparent to the Latymer Barony.
But it’s magic that DMC’s heart beats for. Besides travelling the world for both ticketed shows and private performances, the man has been prolific on screen. In 2013, he was commissioned by National Geographic to make his debut television special Card Shark, which led to a seven-part series in 2015 with the network called Beyond Magic with DMC. In 2018, he signed with Netflix to create Death By Magic — an eight-part, $10 million series — which saw DMC travel the world to uncover the stories of magicians who died performing dangerous stunts. Currently in India on tour, DMC made time for a video chat with t2.
How is the live performance scene for magicians in the new normal?
Well, the scene has been bad for all industries in general, and magic has been pretty much off the table. I have used the time for other projects, which I didn’t have time to focus on earlier. I wrote a novel in the lockdown which is pretty special to me and also created a card game. Those are really the two fruits of my lockdown in London (smiles). Hopefully, as the world returns to normal, we can re-engage with people and bring magic back into the world. I was in the Middle East for some private shows and then I flew into India in the middle of the night and I haven’t slept in two days. So I guess the scene is picking up (smiles).
So while we were whipping up Dalgona Coffee and engaging in social media challenges, you have been pretty productive....
(Laughs) Well, my brain doesn’t sleep. It always needs something to chew on and work over. I go crazy when I don’t! Just before Covid, I was travelling so much that in the first few weeks of the lockdown, I actually took comfort in being static (smiles). But then, the restlessness began to kick in, and so I had to find these projects.
Was it this constantly ticking brain, per se, that pushed you into the world of magic?
Yes, I think so. I have always had a restless mind and a fairly unconventional view of things. I have a conventional British background and schooling and I never quite felt that I fit within that mould, in so many ways. And, for me, magic embodies that in the purest way, this idea that my mind needs constant feeding and variety.
Is that true that you decide to embrace magic fully while on a trip to India?
It is true. Coming from a banking family that has worked in the business for several generations, one naturally assumes, while growing up, that life would go that way for me too. So when I left school, I went to work at Goldman Sachs in London for six months... and it was absolutely terrible! (Laughs) I failed at every possible moment. I didn’t enjoy it at all, and by then, magic had already become a major part of my life. I got into magic when I was about eight, and by 15, it consumed so much of my life. And by the time I left school at 18-19, it was my everything. And so, sitting in this very expensive office in front of a computer screen with glass all around, I went a little crazy!
After a few days, I flew into India. When some people come out of a bad relationship, they meet the love of their life very quickly, someone they want to spend the rest of their life with. My grandmother had been madly in love with India and I remember hearing stories from her. I remember landing in Delhi at about 2am and there was total madness all around... the hustle-bustle, the chaos, the colours.... I came out of the gate feeling my soul being filled up in a way that it hadn’t been for many, many months. Something that I hadn’t felt while working in a fairly drab corporate office in London.
On that trip, I spent three months travelling with my best friend through Rajasthan, Mumbai, Kerala, Goa and then I went to a magic convention in Calcutta (smiles). It was a gathering of local magicians and I loved that experience. I felt a deeper connect to magic on that trip to India, and that still holds on to me very powerfully. The energy, the sights and sounds, the faces and the smiles, everything that India offers is so beautiful and so unique. That’s what’s magic is for me. India cast an instant spell on me and that’s only grown stronger. People in India have such a great love for magic.
And you have a tattoo in Hindi, I believe....
I do! (Removes his beanie to show the words ‘Hausla Pyaar Vishwas’ on the side of his head). That’s a very strong Indian connection... bilkul mazboot (smiles). I was in Los Angeles a few months ago and I have printed out the Hindi script. That’s my latest challenge. I always say, ‘Mera dil aur aatma Bharatiya hain.’ (Smiles.) I can land in Mumbai airport at 3am after a 17-hour flight and you will see me smiling. That’s something I don’t get from any other country in the world.
DMC with Shah Rukh Khan
Was your family appalled, to put it politely, when you decided not to go the money way?
There were certainly a few anxious discussions in the kitchen in London (laughs). I took magic very seriously, very quickly... it wasn’t a whimsical hobby. On a business level, I gave a lot of time to the branding and marketing, the things beyond the tricks, you know. There was a time, I remember, when I made more money from doing magic in a week than I had done with Goldman Sachs. For everybody, that was a bit of a turning point. They realised there could be real promise and potential in this.
Literally underneath the vaults of Coutts & Co in London, there was the oldest magic shop in the UK, it was literally a 100 years old. My father took me there when I was eight. It was a very dimly-lit shop and I saw these props and playing cards and beautiful wooden boxes and special ropes on display, and I realised one could actually learn magic and bring magic into the world. That was the real epiphanic moment for me.
In a world which has so many avenues for entertainment, how do you keep the audience’s interest in magic alive?
With the world exploding in so many different ways, with social media taking over, magicians have also moved in different directions. There are some magicians who seem to exist only on Instagram (smiles). They do magic tricks for the camera and it works for them. For me, magic is about sitting right in front of somebody and having that intimacy and connection that is only possible in the flesh. Magic belongs to the category that every civilisation has its own interpretation of. I do believe that the human mind craves the mystical, the magical, the impossible.... At a time, when Google explains everything and the world rationalises everything, I believe that there is also a demand for that sensation of wonder, that experience of astonishment, more than ever.
