talkmagic.co.uk

Hi!

Where to start...

Ever since I was a little girl I wanted to join the magic circle, which is kind of ironic considering the entire organisation was male only until 1991. I watched a lot of magicians on television and decided that I wanted that sort of inexplicable power.

Through a fog of repressed memories I can still feel the shame of being laughed at by the other children in school when I tried to pass myself off as a powerful conjourer using the self working gimmicks that came free in the breakfast cereal.

I thought no one else knew these wonderous contraptions existed, but it seemed half the class was eating the same cereal, they just weren't brave/stupid enough to actually attempt to perform the tricks. I was so excited the first time someone actually looked impressed that I explained how it worked right there on the spot.

So yeah, I'm sticking with 'stupid' but I was only about 10. Cereal aside I was roughly as successful with a Paul Daniels' magic set I got for Christmas. some how these experiences drummed into me the idea that magic was achieved through purely mechanical means. Better trick, more expensive mechanism. I gave up on the whole dream and became a computer programmer (Clearly the second most popular career amongst women, right after close-up magician).

Then last year I read Derren Brown's "Confessions of a Conjurer", in which (for those who haven't read it) a single card routine is described in great (but oddly, not particularly revealing) detail. At this point it dawned on me that the effect described didn't have a single mechanical aspect.

Possibly I a little late in life I realised that actually, beyond the gimmicks sold to children and novices, there was a skill to be learned here. So I decided to try for a second chance and make good on my childhood dream of joining the Magic Circle.

Possibly a bit of a wordy introduction but there you go.

-Stacy

Incidentally, there's a long story behind my username, and it's nothing to do with magic. It's about crop circles. Bit of a coincidence really.

Hi and welcome to Talk Magic.

Hello glad to have you on Talk Magic

Welcome to TM!

Hi Stacy,

Welcome to T/M

Deano

Welcome, nice to see someone else from my old home town making their way here. (Did Luke tell you about it?) lol

Actually I just started to wonder if there were any forums for magicians and googled this place up.

Who's Luke?

The4thCircle wrote:Actually I just started to wonder if there were any forums for magicians and googled this place up.

You mean there's more than one?

Hey,

This sounds a bit like me. I started with a Paul Daniels magic set and some tricks from cereals, but now want to give magic a proper go and learn the skills.

The4thCircle wrote:Actually I just started to wonder if there were any forums for magicians and googled this place up.

Who's Luke?

Luke clough maybe? He is a magician in Cambridge. he came to our club in Hitchin a few times, but I imagine he is a member of the Pentacle club now as its virtually on his doorstep.

Deano

Oh. as it happens I'm visiting the Pentacle club tomorrow night so I might keep an eye out for him...

-Stacy

The Pentacle are a really nice bunch, I was a member before I moved away and I keep prodding myself to go back for a clubnight some time.