An Unlikely Gift

 

 

 

 

Another tale from the world of “Gift Magic”. A few weeks ago I had a run in with a troubled student at my school. He’s not one of my students. (Obviously, since all my students know that “Stonewick’s ligit”). He was tossing stones at me while we were all outside during a fire drill. I called him out on it and he became hostile. So I walked right up into his face like a DI and let him have it. Eventually he backed down, the “All Clear” bell rang and we went our separate ways. I know, I know: a real wizard would have demonstrated humor and compassion and never let it escalate into a shouting match but, I guess I was just having one of those days. I also have hall duty during lunch right where he hangs out with his friends and I got tired of feeling disjointed so I asked him…”How you doing today Wesley?” To which he replied…”Same crap, different day”. I acknowledged understanding and asked him if anyone ever told him that “These are the best days of your life”? he said “Yes” and I told him “Don’t believe it for a second! Just wait. It gets so much better after you get out of here” He was kind of surprised by that. I then went into Lawrence Hass’ “Simple Gift”. When he made the large gemstone appear in my hand I gave it to him as a reminder of the brighter future that waits for him down the road. My peace offering. My words of encouragement for a lost teen. I hope it sticks. I’ll be there for him if he needs me. Stay tuned…

UPWARD SPIRALING

Much has been written about Daryl Fitzkee’s pivotal work known as “The Fitzkee Trilogy”; And for good reason. The trilogy consists of “The Trick Brain”, “Magic by Misdirection” and “Showmanship for Magicians”. Any magician of value is well acquainted with this masterpiece of magical wisdom. 

I recently read “Showmanship for Magicians” for the third time. I took many notes and spent a great deal of time in honest reflection of my own discipline in the art. Parenthetically, I got into this habit after reading Eugene Burger’s “Experience of Magic”. In it, Burger challenges the reader to deeply understand the various concepts and not simply decode the text and keep moving.  

For example, more than once I have read Fizkee’s thoughts on such things as build, pointing, characterization, harmony, unity and so on. In the past I have read these words, nodded in agreement and kept moving toward the end of the book. But since absorbing Burger’s attitude toward such things, On this third reading of Fitzkee’s work I made sure I was paying attention, understanding everything Fitzkee was telling me, asking myself whether or not I was using any of these techniques  and imagining how these concepts might be incorporated into my own structuring and scripting.

By the time I was finished with the book I had a pile of notes and a ton of inspiration. I targeted a void in my repertoire for  fitzkeeification.  I almost always have a piece of gift magic at the ready in the event that someone asks about, shows interest in, or just plain needs some magic. But what would I do if someone put a deck of cards into my hands and said…”Dance monkey boy!” Yes, I know more than a few card tricks. But I don't want to just perform a hand full of disassiciated card tricks. I want something more. Something polished, smooth and unified. There are several criteria that will whittle down the number of available effects from my repertoire. First; no set up, gaffs or gimmicks. No big deal there. Still a comfortable number of effects to choose from. But of those effects, how many do I have scripted? Now the question becomes…Of all the scripted effects in my repertoire that fit the above constraints are there three that I can put together in a building and unifying way? A complete set as it were; with a clear beginning, middle and end.

So I got to work. What would be the unifying theme? How would I frame each piece to compliment and support the structure of that theme? How would I create “build”? Which audience “appeals” would I target? How would I incorporate “pointing” and so on.  Eventually, a scripted, impromptu three-piece card set with borrowed cards began to emerge. A card set using a unifying theme and appealing to the audience’s most powerful interests…themselves.

Last week (after much practice and rehearsal) I gave that set a test flight for 5 different audiences. The result was more than I expected. The audience members were in rapt and happy attention. The structure and scripting were tight enough to keep things moving but loose enough to allow that back and forth play between audience and performer. The theme, frames and scripts were all mine so that gave it personal performance viscosity. That is, it had a smooth, easy and natural flow. In the end, it was enthusiastically received and a joy to perform.

I highly recommend this exercise to anyone like myself who intends to make magic a primary source of income in the foreseeable future. I have learned a great deal from Daryl Fitzkee and the application of his elements of showmanship. I have taken his words of wisdom from 1943 and put them into action in a real and practical way. I have learned so much from this self-assigned project. It gives me another small pop above that long plateau trek.  But to my way of thinking, that small rise is a major achievement. It brings me even closer to my ultimate goal. Besides, I love creating small things and building  upward…

SIMPLE GIFTS

 

 

 
 Recently I've been doing a lot of gift magic. Gift magic is a remarkable thing. It can be performed as one piece in a larger performance or as a stand alone effect. But it is so much more than just leaving someone with a souvenir. There is great power in Gift Magic. Gentle power, but power all the same. It builds confidence, it brings us back to the basics and it exalts the art.

Dr. Lawrence Hass has written extensively about the many venues of magical performance. Hass describes one branch of close-up magic as “Greeting Magic”. Greeting Magic is a single effect performed when meeting someone for the first time or when someone we know asks for a “trick” or when we sense that someone needs a little magic.

One of the great things about Greeting Magic is we are not locked in to a performance. (And neither is the audience). If things don’t go well, it’s over before anyone has time to reject anyone else. Although this is an extremely rare occurrence, it’s still a comfort to know one can easily walk away if things fall to pieces. That being the case, Greeting Magic is a sure fire way to get over the Heebe Jeebies of performing magic. The checkout girl at the market, the child who bumped his head and needs a happy distraction or the couple we are chatting with while waiting for a table in a restaurant. These are all prime targets for our Skinnerian designs. The fact that the recipient is given a charged gift and is grateful, mystified and delighted goes a long way in building confidence.

This kind of Greeting/Gift Magic has done more for me personally than just build confidence. It continually brings me back to the basics. Once and a while I discover I am overwhelming myself with too many complicated routines and knuckle-busting manipulations. Focusing on the (usually) simple and straight forward presentations of Gift Magic allows me to gauge how effectively I am interacting with the audience. Am I looking them in the eye? Are the expressions on their faces telling me anything? Am I directing their attention efficiently, and so on.

In my view, none of us are any one particular archetype in magic. While we may lean toward the Trickster, Oracle, Sorcerer or Sage, I feel we are more likely to find ourselves cycling through each one of these archetypes. And with each incarnation we gain knowledge and wisdom. Think of an upward spiral. So each time I find myself working on Gift Magic, I am doing so at a higher level of awareness than in previous iterations. I always seem to be hanging for dear life to that wild learning curve and I will not have it any other way!

Finally, It is important for anyone claiming to be a magician to have something at the ready for the inevitable. “I’m not prepared” is not a very magical response when someone shows interest in what we do.

I also believe Gift Magic elevates the art. The cliché image in people's minds of the magician as a fast talking “now you see it, now you don’t” wise guy is still alive and well. Performance magic is still often all about the performer. It seems to me art that works is successful because it is not about the artist, but rather, how his or her creation resonates with the audience. Gift magic is powerful harmonic resonance. It’s like Gandalf riding into town, dazzling the village with his wonders, granting a simple wish and vanishing before anyone has a chance to spoil the moment by over thinking it. The harried waitress, the bruised child or that nice lady in line, now have a fetish object that will be focus of tellings and recounts for ages to come. Their otherwise ordinary trinket becomes charged with mojo because the possessor helped bring it into being. It means something. It is a reminder of their wishes and deepest desires. And in that, like Gandalf, we become the stuff of legend.

For more information on Gift Magic please see “Gift Magic” (performances that leave people with a souvenir) edited by Dr. Lawrence Hass.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

NEW BEGINNINGS

       January is all about new beginnings. So I am inspired to reboot this blog which has not been posted in for a little over 2 years. This is not about resolutions. I never was a resolution maker. I've never really been much of a "Happy New Year" guy either. I've always felt that the New Year is whenever you want it to be.

I am however, interested in growth. The old postings were helpful in tracking my progress from hack toward a more favorable status. I am very happy to report that although the progress has been slow, I have covered much ground and improved in many elements of magical performance. Still many miles to go.


I am grateful for my friends and teachers in the art. I have been the recipient of heaps of kindness and generosity. I hope to expand on this in future postings. The first few of which will be an attempt to recap some of the challenges ans successes since the previous incarnation of Le Prestigitorium.  


The purpose here is less of an attempt to communicate concepts, theories and ideas to others and more of a tool of self-reflection and discovery. If for some odd reason you are reading this blog and would like to contribute thoughts and ideas of your own, that would be awesome.


Here we go,,,

First Fruits

Although I’ve been performing magic from one degree or another for 30 years, I never wrote scripts for my repertoire until this past fall. Since last Spring I have put my study of the art into high gear and hungrily consumed essential books by authors such as Maskelyne and Devant, Fitzkee, Nelms, Ortiz, Weber, Neale and Hass. There is the risk of shutting down due to information overload but I just can’t get enough of this stuff. It was certainly a no-brainer that if I wanted to take my art to the next level script writing was the unavoidable next step. There are so many variables to rein in it boggles the mind: Character, meaning, theme, timing, misdirection (both physical and mental), motivation, dramatic structure, logic, contradiction and dilemma. Just to name a few. I was aware of some of the important details, but most others would have never occurred to me. Always a beginner I suppose.

If last year was about revitalizing, learning and performing old favorites and standard classics, this year is about building more powerful presentations from last year’s accomplishments. The results have thus far been fruitful. To name just a few: A three-phase routine I worked out based on “The Last Trick of Dr. Daley”, “Card to Pocket”, an old effect with a handkerchief I learned as a 12 year old, “Red Hot Mama”, “Gypsy Thread” “Three-Ball Transposition”, “Expansion of Texture”, “Winged Silver” and more. All scripted and motivated to mesh with my performing persona and style. As a result there is a common theme that runs through all these pieces. One advantage is the most obvious. The effects are stronger and seem more like real magic rather than amusing and clever puzzles. Another advantage of script writing is since they all conform to my vision and style, they all fit together. That makes the construction of a strong series of themed effects much easier.


At this point I have about 40 effects in my repertoire. (That’s 30 years worth and they’re not all “A” material). About 13 of them are formally scripted, so far. It’s time-consuming and requires all my effort and focus, but it’s not drudgery. It is a joyful labor of gratitude as Dr. Larry Hass might put it.

Here’s one that flopped. The Sympathetic Pendulum. It appears in Henning Nelms’ outstanding and essential book “Magic and Showmanship”. Unconvinced it was a great piece of magic, but still curious how it might play, I decided to see what I could do with it. I must have spent 2 weeks scripting the effect for this experiment. I used a small quartz hatchet head and historical information about local ancient tribes and medicine men. I performed it before five different audiences. The response was polite and mildly amused smiles. Not the reaction I was working for. The piece is intriguing but just too slow. I would be curious to know of anyone else’s experience with this illusion. It was still a good exercise in script writing. At least I now had practical experience of the importance of a brisk pace.

One the other hand there is my treatment of “Card on Ceiling”. I have been performing this effect for years but the response was never what I thought it should be for such an impossible demonstration. I had just finished reading Robert Neale’s “Magic Matters” and although I’m still scratching my head over that book, it did put my mind in a different place. So I worked up a handling of “Card on Ceiling” that was a little dark. I was apprehensive about presenting it. I feared it would be melodramatic at best and hackney at worse. But I spent so much time with it I had to know how it would play. The response took me totally by surprise. Each audience was collectively astounded and very emotionally involved. Silent and astonished gasps followed by giddy release and enthusiastic applause. Ahhhh, now that there’s the stuff ain’t it. It is now probably the most powerful effect I perform.


The results speak for themselves. The experts are correct to suggest, cajole, persuade or threaten with a stick those of us who aspire to the rank of artist into taking script writing as seriously as one takes a double lift. So if anyone feels these silly blog posts are few and far between, the reason is obvious. I’m busy scripting.

Unveiled Arcana

The Dan Harlan / Jeff McBride shows and lectures last summer were, to say the very least, pivotal moments in my growth in the art. (See the two previous posts). There are two other elements that are making a powerful impact on my progress as I continue along the road toward artistry. One category is books and other is a mix of various resources such as magazine columns, websites and blogs.


I can’t help but wonder how things would have turned out if I had read some of these books as a teenager or young man. As is the case with most magicians, I caught the passion for magic as an eight year old child. In my early life I developed an adequate level of technical skill. I was able to make a few dollars here and there doing the odd birthday party, banquet or strolling work. I was even fortunate enough to have taken a few lessons from the late, great Jim Cellini. (Thanks Dad)! But I never developed into an artist. I lacked the discipline and courage necessary for that. That’s why I never read the essential books on the real secrets of magic. As a result I was a posterboy for poor showmanship. And even if all the best resources had fallen into my lap, I guess it’s safe to say it wouldn’t have done me any good anyway. I just wasn’t ready. As cliche as it is to say, it is nonetheless true..."Better late than never".


On the topic of books, the ones I have been reading and re-reading since last spring (in no particular order) are...

• “Our Magic” by Maskelyne and Devant
• “The Fitzkee Trilogy” by Dariel
Fitzkee. (“Showmanship for Magicians”,
“Magic by Misdirection” and “The Trick
Brain”)
• “Magic and Showmanship” by Henning Nelms
• “Strong Magic” by Darwin Ortiz
• “Maximum Entertainment” by Ken Weber
• “Magic Matters” by Robert Neale
• “Gift Magic” Edited by Larry Hass



I will refrain from attempting to review these books. I am neither qualified nor articulate enough to do them justice. But I can say that from a personal point of view, reading these books was like being lifted from a dark and tangled forest of disconnected ideas and incomplete thoughts. Suddenly a pattern became visible. These books provide a road map to artistry for anyone willing to apply the disciplines and exercises offered.


All these books are dog-eared and highlighted. I have been applying the advice, techniques and exercises to the effects in my repertoire. The authors of most of these books warn that putting their respective suggestions into practice is not easy. That is an understatement to be sure! The hatching of unique ideas and treatments, the script writing, the tailoring of effects to custom fit one's own style and idiom; the breaking of old
habits and learning new ones are just some of the building work involved. But the key word here is “Building”. For me, personally speaking, this is NO hobby. It is an investment. It is a passionate respect for the art. I have been cranking every micro joule of energy into this effort, but it is NOT drudgery. It's a blast. It is a pure joy. I can’t get enough of this stuff. I now actually feel like I know what I’m doing and why I’m doing it!


Since putting these tomes of wisdom to use I am getting stronger reactions from my newly re-engineered effects than ever before. I can feel the acceleration of my progress. If I keep this up for another year or so I’m confident I will close the 20-year non-magical time gap between my old life and this one. And the best part is, I now know where I am going and how to get there.

McPIPHANY

In the last posting I reported on the Dan Harlan show and lecture. As wonderful and meaningful as that was it was only the biginning. Because later that day was the incredible Jeff McBride. I have seen him on video, read about him in magazines and studied his work on DVD. But none of this prepared me for the outstanding evening of magic I was about to be treated to. Jeff McBride’s show was magnificent! Every movement was graceful. Every magical moment led to the next. Everything was seamlessly interconnected like an ascenting spiral staircase. I have heard the term “Breaking down the walls” before, but never have I seen it done so beautifully. Jeff is able to personally connect with the audience in a way that is almost scary. Everyone in that auditorium felt as though Jeff was performing just for them out of friendship.

I have seen many “Miser’s Dream” routines over the years. But Jeff McBride’s handling of it was by far the most entertaining I have ever seen. His interaction with an assistant pulled from the audience was a thing of beauty. Everyone felt they were extremely fortunate to have been present for that particular performance. And although we were, the real magic is that Jeff makes all his audiences feel this way. Amazingly the performance did not end in a crescendo of dazzling light, sound and color. (Although there was plenty of this during the show). But instead it ended in a profound calm. Like climbing a mountain and finally at the end being dumbstruck by the vista. Or being launched into space and just when you think “What’s next?” finding oneself floating weightless over the curve of the Earth in silent astonishment. What more would there be to say? It was extraordinary and satisfying. Genius.

Once the show was over it was time for the lecture.

Jeff McBride is much more than a master magician. He is also an outstanding teacher and communicator. The effects he demonstrated and taught were practical and effective. Any magician's repertoire would benefit from these illusions. Stagecraft, platform or close up, there was something there for everyone. Jeff shared two very special effects. Both of these are geared toward the daily interaction with friends, family, service people and total strangers. One of them involves a rainbow streamer and a small silk rose. Powerful stuff, gift magic.

Jeff taught multiple card productions, dancing cane moves and surprising productions. But in my opinion, the most powerful information fell into the category of "theory". Jeff McBride offered sound advice on a multitude topics such as "nerves", sweats, connecting with the audience and pushing one self to be the magician one aspires to be.

For many years I suffered from a common affliction to amateur magicians. The quest for that ONE trick that will put me where I "ought" to be. Well, that trick does not exist. Or "If I just practice in the mirror enough or perform enough I will be as good as so and so". I realized how flawed my thinking was. I understood what I really needed was serious study in the theory of the art. I was now well on my way toward becoming a better magician once I realized I already knew enough effects. It was now time to dive head first into "Deep Magic". That is, how to transform a good trick into a meaningful and powerful presentation that people emotionally respond to and remember for years.

The elusive missing piece was now in my hands. It is a coin. Stamped on one side is..."FOCUS" on the other side, "THEORY"

Beginning To See The Light

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!

Absolute Beginner

Nothing puts one back into the position of a novice more effectively than a bit of learning and growth. Last year I started the blog to chronicle and reflect on my re-immersion into magic after a long absence. My goal was to polish and present some of the routines I did years ago, and to learn and perform some classic routines which contained the chops any decent magician should be familiar with. Every Friday I performed a new routine for each one of my 5 classes. The successful effects went into a working repertoire while those that didn’t go so well were analyzed and bumped down to a lower cell on my spreadsheet for future refinement. Each week I made a blog entry as a self-reflection on my personal process and progress of practicing, building and presenting magic. This of course was not intended to be instructional to anyone but myself. By putting my journal “out there” it forced me to keep up with it and not get too sloppy or lazy.

That was my first step back into the art of illusion. I really don’t know why I love it so much. I’m not an attention seeker. In fact, quite the opposite is the case. It just feels like something I must do. At ant rate, the purpose of continuing the blog has changed in some respects and remained the same in others. Some entries will resemble those of the previous year. But my goal is not focused on learning new illusions and routines. The goal now is to take the effects I know and elevate them (and my presentations of them) to a higher level. I expect future entries to be more about the subtleties and philosophy of performing magic than anything else.

Although for two or three real stinkers, last year’s experiment was a great success. Most of what I presented went adequately, to very well. A hand full of effects played as strongly as anyone could hope, while (as I said) a couple of them were epic failures. But these too were very useful in that I was able (after some analysis) to determine what went wrong and flag them for future refinement. So by last June I had worked my skills back up to an almost acceptable level. I felt that I had succeeded in my self-challenge. My passion for magic became even stronger than it was when I was young. (I didn’t see that coming!). The experience was exciting and humbling. But there was so much I still did not know. But that was about to change.

Hoops of Steel

Well I’m about four weeks behind in posting. The end of the school year is always a crazy time. Things are still pretty busy but I’ve been away from the blog way too long.

The next to last effect for Magic Friday this year is the ever-classic Linking Rings. Often when performing with the rings magicians claim that “The Chinese Linking Rings is the oldest known magic trick”.


In 1898 a successful Chinese conjurer, Ching Ling Foo brought his show to the United States. This may be the west’s first introduction to a multiple linking ring routine. But origin of the rings may go back to the first century in Asia Minor and Egypt. Either way the Linking Rings became a staple of the “Golden Age of Magic”. And to anyone who has seen a fine performance of the effect, it’s easy to understand why.

The apparent melting of solid metal rings through one another is visually stunning when well handled. The added element of musical sounds as the linking and unlinking occur brings another layer of texture to the effect.


Individuals who, at some time possessed a passing interest in magic have probably tinkered and dabbled with a cheap set of rings. Nonetheless, when they witness a professionally presented ring routine their amazement is just as strong as someone seeing it for the first time. Not only that but most magicians enjoy watching other magicians perform the rings with the same interest that one trial lawyer would be fascinated to see how another lawyer would handle a similar case.

The rings may be presented with elegance and refinement. Or as a raucous, almost cartoon-like comedy effect or anything in between. It all depends on the style and persona of the performer.


I have worked on routines by Tarbell, Jack Miller, and Dai Vernon. The routine that I perform is basically Vernon’s routine with a couple of Tarbell’s ideas added. Last winter I purchased a copy of Whit Haydn’s 4-ring routine. I have had the pleasure of watching Mr. Haydn perform this routine on several occasions and was always astounded by his skill, timing and interaction with the audience. Brilliant. Someday I may be able to do it justice.


All 5 performances of the rings went well for this installment of Magic Friday. It was smooth and blunder-free. There was a good hand-full of “Ooooo’s” and “Ahaaa’s” and plenty of applause but something was missing. I couldn’t put my finger on it, but something wasn’t right. After some thought I concluded the problem was a lack of "building". The most magical moments of the routine happen during the initial stages. That first link or two are beautiful. There are a couple nice moments during the “figures” portion as well. But by the time the end of the routine comes along, the most powerful magic has already taken place. The routine (as I perform it) seems a little anti-climactic to me. I will have to give this some very serious brain sweat and figure out what I need to do to make the routine best work for me. This will also require getting out in the public and working out my solutions.
Doug Henning

The Travelers

Great accidental discoveries in science don’t just happen by accident. They present themselves in the presence of intellectual curiosity, discipline, scientific integrity, joy and passion. Only then are the unexpected elements or dynamics recognized as something new. Something important and wonderful.
Around 1911 Ernest Rutherford “accidentally” discovered that the atom consisted of mostly empty space with a dense positively charged nucleus. He was shooting alpha particles at a thin sheet of foil to measure the angle through which they were deflected when they passed by an electron. At that time it was thought that the atom was a positively charged “gel” with negatively charged bits floating around in it. (J.J Thompson’s “plum pudding” model).
Rutherford and his colleagues were investigating the structure of the atom with intention and discipline. By measuring the deflection angle of the positively charged alpha particles as they passed through the atom they were hoping to catch a glimpse of matter’s fundamental building block. Then something amazing happened. On a fluke, Rutherford set up the equipment to measure a wider dispersion of alpha particles. At once Rutherford found alpha particles flying straight back at him. This did not make sense. In his own words…

“It was quite the most incredible event that has ever happened to me
in my life. It was almost as incredible as if you fired a 15-inch shell
at a piece of tissue paper and it came back and hit you”!

The only explanation for the observed event was that the atom must have a great deal of empty space and a dense, positively charged core, or nucleus. And with that our understanding of the universe made a leap of astronomical proportion. Nothing would ever be the same. The modern era with all its technology, hopes, dreams and fears was begun. The point is this; someone didn’t just walk into a lab and say “What’s this button do”? Rather, these were brilliant minds. They set up brilliant experiments with intention. The discovery may have been unexpected, but they were already hot on the trail of something big. And that was no accident.


So what has all this got to do with some old hack trying to become a competent magician? Being a science teacher I couldn’t resist the analogy because science and art are not so different as one might imagine. There is an art to science and a science to art. For example, Einstein is famous for saying…”Imagination is more important than knowledge”. Indeed, a scientist needs the creative power to imagine how things “might” be and devise ways to investigate them. Conversely, just ask any artist about the foundations of visual composition, the physics of light or color theory. An artist’s world is full of science. And how many books and essays have been written on psychology of magic? Before anyone thinks I am about to compare myself with the greats of science or magic, allow me to state for the record… On my best day I couldn’t muster half the intellect of Rutherford on his worst day. And all the creative powers I possess focused into one concentrated beam would be like a firefly against the white hot spotlight of Jeff McBride, Whit Hayden or Daryl. But something wonderful happened today for Magic Friday. And it was an accident. Sort of.




I have always wanted to learn and perform that Dai Vernon palm-fest known as “The Travelers”. I’ve had “Stars of Magic” for about 25 years and for a long time felt the effect was way over my head. Not only does it require a fair amount of mechanical skill, but the misdirection required necessitates a set of brass ones. So while I was working on the routine for the past few weeks I had what I thought to be a great idea. I decided to have the 4th card wind up in a sealed envelope in a wallet that had been sitting on the table. I altered the handling to facilitate this ending to the effect. I wrote a snappy script for it and justified all actions and movements. I was pretty excited to see how well I could pull this off.



The first performance was successful and went very well. The reaction was warm and enthusiastic. But on the second performance, I made a huge blunder. When it was time to pull the 2nd spectator’s card from a pocket, it wasn’t there! What was I to do? I said…”Hummm, I’ll get back to you later”. I continued with producing the 3rd card and of course the 4th one in the wallet. Everyone thought that was pretty cool but wondered what happened to the 2nd guy’s card. I was stumped. I knew I goofed and everyone was waiting. I decided to take the honest route. “Okay guys, I have no idea what happened to Brian’s card”. (Of course the audience assumed I was playing them). I picked up the pack and found the card on top and acted quickly. I took the indifferent card in the front right trouser pocket, held it up triumphantly and asked Brian to name his card. He did and I smugly flipped over the card to show its face. Of course it was not his signed card. I feigned resignation to failure, executed a T.C., handed the card to him and asked him to wave it over his neighbor’s head. With that he turned the card back over to look at it and held it up for all to see. He and the rest of the audience were visibly stunned. And so was I by the reaction. A roar of amazement and disbelief went up such as I have never heard. I never, ever would have expected such a reaction from such a simple revelation as a climax. It was a blunder gone right. (I later realized that I had completely forgotten to do a O.H.T.P). It was a careless and inexcusable error. But it turned out so well.


The next two performances I played it straight and again, like the first performance of the day the response was strongly positive. But it was not over the top like the 2nd performance was. The “accident” performance. Now I was curious. So for the last performance I got rid of the wallet, slightly altered the handling and intentionally recreated the accident from the 2nd performance. I also included one of my bad-ass students. Nothing phases this guy. He is tough, brash, uninterested in educational success and cynical. Sometimes he’s downright disrespectful, but his home life really sucks so it’s easy to forgive him. Anyway, I recreated the blunder from earlier in the day. Only this time it was controlled. When that final card was turned over the reaction was just as powerful as the 2nd performance. Even Joe Badboy threw his hands over his reddened face and exclaimed “Holy s____”. I decided not to write him up for language. I also decided that this was the way for me to perform this effect.

So now it seems I am in possession of my own personal handling of Dai Vernon’s “The Travelers”. It’s uniquely scripted and has a powerful and surprising sucker punch as a climax. No wallet needed and instantly reset. This newly acquired routine fits my personality like a glove and may be the strongest effect I’ve presented this year. And all thanks to a careless mistake. An accident. But like the unexpected discovery in Rutherford’s laboratory, it didn’t “just happen”. Because I have been working my chops I was able to recover an effect that was headed toward failure. Because I have been on my manipulative toes while keeping my nose buried in the classic books, I converted a potential disaster into an unquestionable success. In the old days I dreamt about magic more than putting in the hard work to make those dreams a reality. It takes more than passion and creativity. But now I have a healthy mix of discipline and artistic integrity to join with the joy and passion I already had. I’m a little wiser now than I was back then too. I feel encouraged. I feel I may be getting closer to the day when I can drop the word “hack” and replace it with “competent”.

Cups & Balls

For anyone not familiar with it, there is an online community and magic forum called The Magic Café. It is a place for magicians: professional, amateur or beginner to ask questions and share thoughts. With 43,459 members it is a resource like no other.

I have found the people there to be friendly and generous. I read a post in one of the forums where an individual was asking about the Cups and Balls. He wanted to know whether or not it was worthwhile to learn and perform the venerable effect. One of the respondents on the thread urged the poster to keep working on the trick. The reason, he said, was that a good Cups and Balls routine by its very nature requires all of a magician’s best skills. Misdirection, pacing, timing, presentation, and
quality sleight-of-hand. Lots of sleight-of-hand. I agree completely. It’s been said that the measure of a magician’s ability can be gauged by how well he performs the Cups and Balls. More chops are brought to bear in this one effect than anything else I can think of. So this week’s Magic Friday sampling is the ancient Cups and Balls.
25 years ago I purchased a beautiful set of copper cups from the great Ross Bertram.
These cups sing beautifully when they contact one another. They also have a wide top so the Charlie Miller bit of business (with multiple penetrations) works as well on the top of a cup as it does on the table. The only drawback is the balls used must have a diameter less than an inch for the cups to nest properly. And a smaller ball can look a little less impressive sitting on a large cup. But I think the benefits outweigh the drawbacks.
I choose not to polish my cups very often. I prefer them to be tarnished for two reasons. The first reason is because it makes them look antique. If it’s antique, it couldn’t have come from a magic shop. Right? Even though the cups are not tricky or gimmicked in any way, a shiny pristine copper cup seems too well cared for (If that makes any sense). The other reason is more practical. I took the small crocheted balls and covered them with foil a la Cellini. After a few layers I got the balls to be as large as possible while remaining less than the critical 1 inch diameter restriction. Because the cups are a bit dull with tarnish the foil balls show up brilliantly in contrast to them.

This also serves to make them look bigger canceling out the size restriction stated above. Retention of vision is nice too.
So 25 years ago I worked on Dai Vernon’s Cups and Balls routine. I don’t remember how long it took me to work it out, but eventually I had it down. The problem was, I was either too chicken to perform it for a real audience or the venue wasn’t right for it. And when I went back to college 20 years ago, my beautiful Ross Bertrum cups (along with all other things magical) got packed up into a trunk and remained there until last August.

All this week I have been feverishly relearning Vernon’s routine. Although there are 1 or 2 minor changes I would like to make to fit my own style better, but I decided to play the routine straight from the manuscript. There will be time enough for variation later. Right now what I needed was solidity. By Thursday night I felt I had it ready. There were only 2 minor parts I was a little squirrely about. But when I showed the routine to my lovely wife she was blown away. She did manage to recognize one of the mildly rough spots. So I stayed up a little later and smoothed out the 2 points that were bothering me. Now I was set.
The last two weeks I was a little discouraged because “Silk and Silver” and “3 Ball Transposition” did not play as well as I had hoped. This was going to be a test for me. I really needed a boost. Well, I got it. And then some!
All 5 performances today went very well. Not flawless but good and solid. I had two slip ups during the 4th performance. The fumble was during the very first move. Unfortunately it was not well recovered. I was forced to restack the cups, put the balls back in my pocket and start again. Once I hit my rhythm all was forgotten and forgiven. The other slip was easily recovered and looked like part of the routine. By the time I got to the end and final revelation, they were amazed and responded by
breaking into applause. My only worry at this point was I feared that my earlier error would get inside my head and interfere with the final performance. I have been paying very close attention to my performances and what can be improved and how. Indeed, that is why this blog exists in the first place. This is only a personal journal of my return to magic. The fact that it is online gives me a sense of a deadline. I know myself. If I tried to do this in a bedside notebook I’d have only 3 entries. At any rate, for the final performance of the day I stayed focused and hyperaware. All went well. A few spectators held up their hands with fingers wide apart indicating an enthusiastic “10”. I worked hard on the routine and it payed off. It was just the sort of encouragement I needed. It was a great day.