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Magic is great. One of the greatest and most entertaining forms of art.

Lately this has been disappearing… at least on this forum.

People are more interested in getting what is the newest product or what is the “coolest” item out.
People asking for what effect looks the coolest or what will get me great reactions.

Some of these people might not realize that the tricks are not what makes magic entertaining and great.

Just like a musician. Notes and instruments on their own are not very beautiful or entertaining. But when put in the hands of some one like Beethoven or Eric Clapton… it becomes an intoxicating art. It is now not just a note and an instrument, it is now something we can affect people with in so many ways. It can reach people of all different cultures and ages.
Just like magic… when put in the right hands it becomes an art. Something that can reach people on a level we never thought possible.

But its not the tricks that do this. It isn’t the deck of cards, the pen, the coin or the book. Its you, its how you present and become the effect. Take a deck of cards and do something amazing with not just the cards, but with what you say and how you act. Sometimes you don’t have to say a thing, but you still “say“.

Without the proper presentation you are nothing but a little kid who is trying to show off.
That is not the goal of magic. Not to prove we are better than everyone else, not to confuse them people.
To entertain, amaze, bring joy, and a mix of beautiful feelings.

If your goal is to just amaze and show off, then magic is not for you.

Magic is a great gift to the world, and should be treated with respect. Not cast aside like a day old hot dog.

So when you are shopping for a new effect.. remember it might look or sound amazing.. but that doesn’t mean it will right away. You will have to mold it, and give it the work and presentation it deserves.

Also realize that ones presentation might not, and probably isn’t fit for you. Try your hardest to be original in that aspect. Make it your own with your presentation.

Remember that you can take any effect and make it magical, make it art, make it entertaining with proper presentation. That’s the true magic.

We know this already, but good "essay" anyway!

Michael Kras wrote:We know this already, but good "essay" anyway!

You dont know how many dont know this or understand this.
Others dont fully understand it.

Ahh yes, I understand. Great essay then!

Magic, in and of itself, is not art. It is a puzzle, or series of puzzles if in routine, but it is not an art.

Magic is a performance art, though, and can be elevated to an artistic level in the hands of the right performer.

In Absolute Magic, Derren Brown wrote:One cannot look at a magic-related Internet discussion e-group notice-board web-forum without seeing the word 'art' bandied up and down the electric super-motorway as if art and magic were two concepts unequivocally equated and the most well-suited word-companions that one could ever hope to find fumbling with each other in the coats-room at an ideas-party. It seems that through the literature of magicians determined to deem their own magic important and worthwhile, a whole new generation of novices has been born which learns artistic pretensions before an in-jog overhand shuffle replacement. Indeed it would seem to the casual surfer of these virtual fora that the artistic community had recenlty accpted magic (in particular close-up magic with lots of touching) as a Fine Art and ranks the Sucker Silks along with the opera (and I use the word very cleverly to mean the plural of opus) of Bach.

The art of magic, at least in close-up, is the art of getting people to like you and care about you in 30 seconds or less. Fail at that small task and the art becomes a series of puzzles or, worse, a demonstartion of some gimmicks you bought off the internet.

Hello TheMagicWand,

That is truly a wonderful point you made Paul. We really do have just a short time to get someone to like us. Yet, sometimes, with a bit of magic, even a slight off-putting can turn into something truly special when your confidence shows through in your act and your audience can then find your humanity in what you are doing.

Personally, for me at least, I think that it is about caring. It is about caring about the audience. It is about caring what I am doing. And, the often overlooked part is that it is about caring about ourselves too. This last one is really important because if we have a genuineness about us, people can sense that and it brings them comfort and trust.

As for the orginal essay, I thought it was wonderful and I am so glad that it was posted because it says so much that even if we happen to know such words by heart, it is always good to embrace them again and again and again for freshness, for our audience, and, well, for ourselves.

Love,

Amanda Angeli

Yes Amanda, I think that when it comes to close-up (and 90% or my work is close-up) you really do have to like people. A close-up artist who's into magic to show how clever they are, or wants to use their magic to belittle the spec, is not going to get very far. I've said it before and I'll say it again: It's not the trick dummy, it's you!

themagicwand wrote:Yes Amanda, I think that when it comes to close-up (and 90% or my work is close-up) you really do have to like people. !

Hello TheMagicWand,

That is so wonderful that you're into Close-Up, Paul. I'd love to know what kind. Do you prefer cards, coins, silks, standard tricks or ones of your own making?

I realize, everybody, that it seems like I'm slightly off our original topic here, but in a sense, I'm really not. I guess what I'm talking about is the love of the art. If one loves coins, for example, they study their Bobo until the book breaks and is long since held together by several lives of used tape. In my case, recarding close up, I love cards. Not card tricks, per say, but cardsharping. I see it, as least for me, as an art. And, I love it because it makes me think of when I was a little girl and how I so loved reading stories of Mark Twain and the River Boats and the Riverboat Gamblers of the 19th Century. So, for me, doing Close-up Cardsharping is about recreating a long lost era. And thus, just as this whole thread is indeed talking about, I bring a sense of love to what I do. Even to the shade of fire engine red nail polish that I wear to help my fingers ever oh so ever slightly blend with the Red Bees I love so much. Any edge in poker is an edge.

So, I guess I'm wondering, not only for you, Paul, but for all of us, what is it about our art that we love, that fills us with passion or as they say in Spanish, duende. For when we find that within ourselves, then we have won the audience with our love of art.

Oh, and as for originality, of course I study my Erdnase and Scott daily, carrying those books and several decks of cards in various ranges of wear, with me everywhere I go, and also, in my traveling poker suitcase I have Road Huster, THE best book on hustling bar none, at least in my opinion. Yet, for all my constant study, just as you can see with my Illusions, I move beyond the framework and make the art mine even in cardsharping, coming up with original ways to handle the cards based on my own experience and dexterity. In other words, I find what works for me and then I pour all of me into what I do. This, I think, is what that whole essay is about. For when we can do that, our audiences will love the show.

Love,

Amanda Angeli