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Hi there, i was just wondering, is it possible to do a university degree in magic/card handling/slight of hand??
Any info will be hreatly appreciated,
thanks in advance

I wish there is... really do...

Anyone help??

StEvEbO!

No there isn't. Sorry. The closest you will get is Jeff McBride's Magic School or Jamy Ian Swiss' Card Clinic.

Well don't speak too soon GoldFish! Now this is not really real evidence that you can study magic at university but I remember seeing this on the BBc News website (probably the best website in the world imho ) http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/shared/spl/hi/picture_gallery/05/technology_online_gamers_unmasked/html/8.stm.

At the said link it claims, rather casually, that "Lee is studying magic at university." I remembered reading this a few weeks ago and I actually made a "Wahhhhh!" sound and leant into the screen (got lots of funny looks in the library too).

So it seems that it is possible to study "magic at university"...


...although like I say, it's not proof it's just one little comment.

Anyway I wouldn't advise studying magic at university, it's fun as a hobby (possibly turning into a career if you're good enough) but as soon as you're forced to learn something I've found there is a natural tendancy to want to do something else. In my case that something else is magic!

I would guess that the quality of any such degree would be pretty poor, something along the lines of the Dance degree that are available for people who like dancing but aren't good enough to make a career of it.

I don't know how I know this, but there is one part of a Theatre course at a performing arts school somewhere in London that is actually entitled 'Circus Skills.'

What kind of clown put that degree together?

If you can take University Degree in "Playstation" then I'm sure there is one availble for magic .. its probably bundled together with performing arts.

Rob

SirRawlins wrote:If you can take University Degree in "Playstation" then I'm sure there is one availble for magic .. its probably bundled together with performing arts.

Rob

I did a quick search on UCAS for magic and conjuring but came up with nothing. I think the best your going to get is a Performing Arts degree and then do a disertation (or what ever they do) in magic. To be honest if you are really dead set on doing a magic related degree, then a performing arts degree will teach you all of the important bits of magic and you can practise the other bits in your own time.

There is a degree course in the Psychology of Magic...

I haven't the exact details at hand but I can dig them out if you wish.

There are colleges that have courses in various aspects of Magic. I know that when I was living in Los Angeles many of the guys supplemented thier income by doing classes at one of the local campus'. I have personally be invited in for talks with Theater students that were studying special effects systems and set building and even offer some special programs through the business/consumer law and of course psychology departments that address the whole Psychic & Philosophy issue.

If I remember correctly Jerry Andrus used to teach classes about how the mind lies. Those familiar with Jerry's penchant for physical and artistic illusions (not magic tricks but oddities) will have some idea as to the type of things he addressed.

There are legitimate "schools of magic" that have seen far better times than they know today, one of the most successful being the Chavez Course in which folks were taught the classic/traditional modes of manipulation (a.k.a. Channing Pollack/Lance Burton styled manipulation magic). You can also learn about certain aspects of magic by going to the Ringling Bros. Clown College in Florida but, as the name implies, this deals with the art of being a clown more than anything else (though I highly recommend it for children's performers).

Some colleges will let you tailor your major and more or less "invent" a degree. It's a bit more challenging and you must get a number of staff members to agree to work with you in developing the curriculem, etc. but it can be done.

That indicates that these courses are perhaps more numerous, or at least more easily available in the US than over here then.