Magic

Apr 1, 2009
1,067
1
34
California
Sorry for the lack of a creative title... But, just some thoughts.

I've been in magic for a few years now. And to be completely honest, my views haved danced around like they were on the floor of a ballroom winning first place.

Within the first year of my magical journey, I picked up three books. These three books were only legend to me at the time. Pretty good sized. An odd man on the cover. Big moustache. And a queer smile.

I've only heard that these
were important books for every magician to pick up. So, one by one, money providing, I bought the books from my local magic shop. I knew they were something special when I put them on the checkout counter and the cashier went sighed and went, "Ah, Paul Harris..." And so it began...

Now, I'm not writing a review for The Art Of Astonishment. I'm writing a realization of mine. With magic, we aren't here studying for hours how to manipulate a deck of cards or a coin. Or at least, we shouldn't. That's not magic.

Pianists learn to manipulate a keyboard, guitarists learn to manipulate 6 wires on a slab of finely cut wood, vocalists learn to manipulate the muscles and cords in their mouths, and a painter manipulates a brush. Magicians, learn to manipulate the world.

Yes, it is important to learn about a deck of cards and coins. Know the sleights, know some tricks. But understand, what are you, a technician or a magician? There is a difference.

I do a lot of card work and some coin work as well, so I'm not downplaying it at all. I love it. And see it as an importance and also very powerful genres.

I think the beauty of magic lies in our ability to do amazing things with the world around us. Whether it be the leaves on the trees, a pencil or pen, candy, food, rocks, a coin we find on the ground, or even, yes, a deck of cards. Whatever you can find that this beautiful world provides you with. ANYthing can be turned into a miracle.

I was sitting at a fancy restaurant with my girlfriend, Taco a La Bell, and she got up to use the rest room. There were clean wrappers to our food lying on our tray. So, I take the neatest one. And I begin folding. She comes back as I start twisting. She has a very curious look on her face, "what are you doing." I look up, "just one more second." Her eyes are glued. Not knowing what's going on. I fold one last end after investigating the creation with the eyes of a sculpter. I fold the corner up. Bow it. And hand her a napkin rose. She gasped. She thought it was the most beautiful thing in the world.

Magic, in my opinion, isn't always, or shouldn't always be about, "let me show you a trick." Or a game of catch me if you can. Those have there time and place of course. I, anyway, study hard, for that moment of truly impromptu, out of the blue, "let me show you something cool" or "let me try something... Not so sure if its going to work" kind of moment. In my opinion, the reactions are head above heels better than "let me show you a trick." Because the audience is in for an experience and disarmed from looking for the secret. Of course, things do change a bit going from the on the street raw and real spontaneous and seemingly impromptu miracles, to a performance platform where you're expected to entertain and people are there knowing what you're about... or at least a general idea.

Just something that's been on my mind a lot lately, that inspires me as I go about buying new effects, creating character, etc...
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Sep 7, 2007
92
0
Good post man,

I read it through and enjoyed every word. Keep them coming, i'd love to hear some more inspiration.
 
Aug 2, 2008
496
0
Cincinnati
Good post. It reminds me of things that have been talked about before but that I would like to bring up once again: simple hits hards. My wife gets annoyed with my magic but after a while, she asked me to perform. So I did tricks that I knew she would like, not ones that I wanted to do (which can be a problem for many magicians). I did a simple key card trick and she loved it. I did a trick where I picked a card and handed her the deck. She dealt cands into piles with the top card of each pile leading to the card I chose (ie suit and value).

Magic isn't just the normal things that we see but the things that we make it to be.
 
Apr 1, 2009
1,067
1
34
California
Thanks a lot guys. Simplicity is a beautiful thing. Difficult material has it's time and place and provides very beautiful illusions as well. But often, the most clever of methods and the most deceiving methods are truly simple in nature. Of each effect should be judged alone. But it's important to remember that your skill level is not always judged on the difficulty of tricks you can perform. It's also important to practice these difficult sleights and effects to build up your technique. That's why I feel material like Dan and Dave's is important. Even if you're not ever going to use any of the tricks in the trilogy, truly mastering them will help you execute your other moves much smoother. Treat the simplest of tricks with the same care and devotion as the hardest.
 
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