Magic

This is an older post from another blog. I thought it would have more relevance here.

Magic is one of those words that brings to mind Grandeur and Spectacle, Wonder and Amazement,and sometimes weird and stunning. For me it has always been wonder and amazement, “How’d they do that”… “Wow”… and “Impossible”. I would watch with wonder as David Copper field walked through the Great Wall of China on live TV, in amazement at Penn and Teller doing their Cement Mixer of Death, Lance Burton as he performed dove magic, and Jeff McBride with his card routines. It always struck me how utterly impossible it was to do those things with seemingly everyday things; doves, cards,walls, and even cement mixers.

Now fast forward to 2009. I have always wanted to learn ‘Magic Tricks”, “Illusions” and the like, so I decided to use the power at my finger tips, ( of course I mean the Internet),to learn more about how to do ”magic”. I started by watching famous performers, then researching how the trick was done. Some secrets are still secrets to me but through my research I have found….( No secrets from me) how to manipulate cards through sleight of hand movements. Now this sort of magic depends on tricking the eye more than having a gimmick object ready to spring something from nowhere. This may sound simple,and at first sounded to me like all I had to do was “Learn how and I could do it in no time at all”… Not that simple, first I had to understand how the trick was done, then I had to learn how to hold my hands in regard to the object being used. I had to learn the various movements and finally practice,practice, practice, practice….I am still not done practicing.

My children can’t help but see what Daddy is learning. I talked to my oldest and explained to her that it takes long hours of practice and sore muscles to be able to perform a “trick”correctly,( my forearms are still sore from new ways of moving).I shared with her that it would be rude to tell a friend, “I know how you did that” or “that's easy”or “I can do that too”… especially in front of a crowd. Always remember that they have practiced a very long time!!

The art of illusion and misdirection is not inherently bad, it is an entertaining skill that has to be learned, honed, and practiced.