During my entire magical experience from the time I was 8 years old to last June I was walking around in the dark. I was under the spell that as far as magic goes, the trick’s the thing. Although there are several blocks of time in my life when magic was missing, I would always find my way back. But this time was different. I came back to magic 17 months ago after the longest non-magical period of my life. It was an injury that snapped me out of my sleep. (See 1st post). My eyes were finally opened last summer. By late June I had just finished the main goal of this blog. That is, to document my thinking and progress in taking magic more seriously. It involved learning or perfecting a classic of magic every week. And at the end of each week present it 5 times to 5 different audiences and reflect on the process. It was (in my opinion) a very successful exercise. I was able to take magic to the next level. And it was a blast. But in some ways I was still operating in the dark. Until June. That’s when the switch was thrown and all shadows vanished under a brilliant light of understanding. I could now see the missing tools. I not only discovered the tools but found instructions on how to use them. It was a major turning point.
This epiphany followed the intersection of 5 elements. More specifically: 3 books and 2 performers. The books are “The Trick Brain” by Dariel Fitzkee, “Magic and Showmanship” by Henning Nelms and “Strong Magic” by Darwin Ortiz. The performers are Dan Harlan and Jeff McBride. In late June I had the opportunity to attend a weekend of magic with these two magnificent performers. For now I will focus on Dan Harlan.
Dan Harlan’s performance was a riot. His timing and delivery was razor-sharp. While his physical appearance is like that of a rock star tough guy, his interaction with the audience reveals the thoughtfulness and depth and of a concert pianist. A true artist. During the lecture portion of Dan Harlan’s appearance his passion for magic was evident. At times he seemed like a kid at recess. Dan Harlan’s magic was everything you could ask for but my favorite moment was what can only be called “World Class Dairy Manipulation”. A verbal description would not do the bit justice. I can only say that it was the funniest magical parody I’ve seen since Bob Little’s “Cups and Tips” business about 25 years ago.
Dan was extremely generous with the wonderful ideas he shared. If one wanted to, one could build and entire act based solely on the information Dan presented to us. Of course no self-respecting magician would do that. Instead, the real gold was the thinking behind his presentations. Dan even presented a 500 year old trick in a fascinating new light. The food for thought was nothing less than a banquet.
I came away from that show/lecture with many wonderful thoughts and ideas but the most remarkable thing was a 16 page booklet called “More Than Meets the Eye”. Don’t let the size fool you. There is more practical and powerful information packed into those 16 pages than you could find on a drawer full of DVD’s costing upward of $300.00. There is no magic carpet ride to success in “More Than Meets the Eye”. But what is there is a set of powerful tools for creating entertaining effects and building an entire show. I’m not qualified to be a reviewer. All I can tell you is this booklet has made a huge impact on me and has been instrumental in raising the quality of my own magic.
Remarkable stuff. Thanks Dan!
