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nikmagick wrote:My experiments with mixing magic with my undergraduate teaching have worked well. I'm hoping that if can get some MA researchers onboard we might have a little Magic Research centre starting.

'from little acorns' and all that

Guest Lecturers sound a great idea, perhaps even come and perfom in one of our studios...

I'm in!

Hi all,

Just bumping this topic in case anyone is interested in working on post graduate research. (There may be some funding available)

N

nikmagick wrote:Hi,

As some of you may know, I work as a Senior Lecturer in Drama at the University of Huddersfield. My main area of research is Performance Magic and I am eager to develop this area as an academic discipline.

I would be keen to hear from anyone who might be interested in undertaking post-graduate research/study as we can offer an MA by research / Mphil route in Performance Magic or related disciplines.
PM or email me and we can have an informal chat how it all works, etc.

Best wishes,

Nik

www.hud.ac.uk

-approved by the mods-

Nik has some great facilities in Huddersfield and an administration that is keen on what he is developing.

This is exciting to see!

Cheers

Todd

Will I be able to make money from it?

Or shall I just stick to 50pences found in mid-air and banknotes from bits of paper?

DrTodd wrote:Nik has some great facilities in Huddersfield and an administration that is keen on what he is developing.

This is exciting to see!

Cheers

Todd

Hear, hear! It is great to see that even now there are still possibilities for these kind of iniitiatives. Wish I was still eligible for this!

Interesting question:-

Is magic a science or an art ?

MA or MSc ?

An art.

Science:

the intellectual and practical activity encompassing the systematic study of the structure and behavior of the physical and natural world through observation and experiment

You could ask the same question about dancers/painters, and obviously the answer is an art.[/list]

yes, the presentation, the entertainment and the audience management is an art.

....but what we present are illusions that are ultimately based on scientific principles of psychology, mechanics, maths and logic, etc.,

So you could argue it either way. To the lay person its an art, between magicians its more of a science.

I don't want to hijack this thread, so if anyone wants to argue this, perhaps we could open a new thread.

This would be a monstrous undertaking in that magic has so many different fields and segregated niches in each that include everything from working philosophy to style preferences.

For the sake of cussing & discussing, let's consider just what would be needed for this degree. . .

A Solid Knowledge & Working Skill Set of Magic Basics
Standard Slights & Misdirection as the Pertain to;

*Spherical Objects/Billiard Balls and similar devices
*Thimbles
*Cards/basic card control techniques
**Cards/ basic stage/parlor manipulation techniques -- fanning, production, etc
*Coins/ basic close-up techniques & controls
**Coins/ basic stage/parlor demonstration modes
*Silks/ standard manipulation, production, transposition & blending
**Silks/ use as delivery system i.e. production of alternative livestock & items such as a Drink Glass or Fish Bowls, Bouquets, etc.

Basic Optical & Psychological Methods & Skills

* Black Art/ basic principle & modes of application in effects
** Black Art/ as used in construction for sake of system deceptive appearance to the naked eye.
* Misdirection/as it pertains to close-up/intimate magic
** Misdirection/ as it pertains to Parlor & Small Stage performance
**Misdirection/ as it applies to large stage/grand illusion
**Misdirection/ verbal and body language skill sets
* Angle, Sight-Lines & Staging -- maximizing effect by proper blocking so as to minimize general or incidental exposure
* Multiple Outs/ understanding of multiple methods for creating the same or similar effect so as to guard against exposure due to repetition of demonstration.
** Multiple Outs/ as used in recovery when an effect either goes wrong or malfunctions.

This is just two of the Magic 101 areas one should know by the end of their second year of study. . . if we were to gage things on how magic used to taught and guided and before the student chooses their area of preferred study or "specialty"; in the world of Big Box Illusions there's more than a decades worth of study when it comes to methods, construction and design. The Sawing in Half alone has more than a dozen methods and then you must look at the construction techniques used by the various builders (back in the day there was no such thing as exclusivity and other such attitudes as we have today; you could shop around and find a version of the desired effect that fit your physical needs and direct budget. In my day it was either buying from Abbotts on the economy side of things or someone like Owen or John Gaughan if you had the cash.) If you sit an Abbott, Owen, Gaughan and Bill Smith sawing cabinet side by side I guarantee you will find some huge differences when it comes to size, aesthetics, and deceptivity. This is so with every commercial effect out there as well as those hacked out in a garage by someone trying to make sense out of those older plans and diagrams

Most of your classic pieces face this collection of issues which takes us far beyond the idea that some poor dame folds herself up into a very tight fitting apparatus. . .

THE QUESTION IS. . . how much of what warrants a degree of any kind when it comes to the legerdemain?

I fear that there would have to be multiple levels of degree that focus on key areas of study. For an example, how far would we push the limits when it comes to Escapology? How would we distinguish the difference between genuine escape work over escape styled tricks like the sub-trunk or an Assistant's Revenge?

How much would the serious student of Magic need to study Dove work or even how to do proper Children's Magic?

No, this is a curriculum that would be most that would make Saints swear when it comes to framing something that's "fair" and "balanced". . . or so it would seem.

Willing to wait six years till ill elligible ?? Lol x

Craig: the degrees Huddersfield is offering are all by research, i.e., there is little in terms of set curriculum. It is up to the student to specialise and research their chosen aspect of magic/mystery entertainment.

In addition, we are talking academic study rather than lessons in how to perform routines and sleights, and finally, the postgraduate level assumes a certain amount of existing knowledge on the part of the student.

Madelon beat me to it ...

Madelon Hoedt wrote:Craig: the degrees Huddersfield is offering are all by research, i.e., there is little in terms of set curriculum. It is up to the student to specialise and research their chosen aspect of magic/mystery entertainment.

In addition, we are talking academic study rather than lessons in how to perform routines and sleights, and finally, the postgraduate level assumes a certain amount of existing knowledge on the part of the student.

Yep, these will be specialist and specific research projects at masters level covering a student's chosen area of performance magic.

nikmagick wrote:Madelon beat me to it...

*cough* Sorry about that..!