Framing. Magic can only happen in one space at a time.
Therefore the magiciansā main job must be to direct the attention of the audience, telling them where to look and when.
When working toward improving a performance one of the lenses I look through is āframingā. In short; framing is information communicated to the audience that affects the way in which they interpret and experience the performance - (I promise this becomes clearer in a moment).
The break down
āConfusion is not magicā ā Dai Vernon
I have broken this concept down into 4 frames; framing of the magician, the narrative, the piece, and the magic moment. Today I want to explore that last one, framing of the magic moment, as this one sits closest to the audiences memory. And with some small changes we can quickly move a magic effect from mediocre to good.
When I am referring to āframing the magic momentā I am defining this as āthe clarity and focus of the audiences thought and attention within a specific physical space and moment in time.
An example - Art
When a piece of art has a frame placed around it, it communicates 3 things;
āLook hereā -Attention
āLook at what is within the frameā -Focus
āThis space is more important than the space outside of itā -Status
When art is given a frame it tells the viewer that this is worth paying attention to. A frame provides clarity as to where the viewer should be looking. A physical frame also raises the status of what it surrounds, and as a result draws the eye toward it thus directing the attention of those who walk by it. A frame has the power to direct, focus, and enhance anything it is placed around, the frame actively alters our experience of the art.
Example two - Packaging
Two identical items can be framed in different ways, one where the item is deemed more valuable/important than the other.
Package 1 - Wrapped in bubblewrap, covered with elegant wrapping paper placed on a pillow of tissue paper, nestled within a sturdy bag that has little silk ropes for handles.
Package 2 - A Tescos carrier bag.
(In this example there is much more than framing going in, such as the financial cost of the wrapping materials and the time invested in the wrapping ritual itself. However I hope it helps to illustrate my point).
Packaging is simply the wrapping in which to transport an item, but āthe wayā in which itās wrapped actively alters the way in which the item itself is perceived and valuedā¦our experience.
Back to magic
If Magic can only happen in one space at a time the job of the magician becomes both simple and difficult, let me explain. It becomes simple because there is only one space the magician needs to direct their audiences attention towards at any given moment in time, difficult because the contract between the audience and magician is āI will do impossible things, but I must do secret things to achieves those impossible thingsā so everything the magician does is being place under a microscope with anticipated suspicion (a large part of this game is in the magicians ability to suspend the audiences disbelief removing this pre-loaded suspicion, essentially having the audience forget a game is in play at all - but more on that another time).
Lets get tactical
There are a number of factors that affect the impact of the magic moment:
Time - (elapsed between cause and effect).
Movement - (within and around the frame).
Speed/pace/rhythm - (before, during, and after the magic moment).
Proximity - (of hands, objects, scenery/set - before during and after the effect).
Contact - (the handling of items that are to take part in a magic moment- before, during, and after the magic moment).
Attitude - (the way in which the magician handles, moves around, and behaves - before during, and after the magic moment).
(there are probably more)
So how can I start to better frame my magic?
Since becoming an examiner for The Magic Circle I have noticed framing to be one of the key elements lacking across the board. Framing can be immediately enhanced by asking ourselves the question āis my audience looking in the right place at the right time?ā and then using our words and actions to direct our audience toward this goal.
Put in more practical terms; I want to vanish a coin and have it reappear in a box in a table. So first letās break this down into two parts, the vanish and reappearance.
Vanish:
Iāll move the coin from my right hand in to my left, open my left hand and the coin will have gone.
At the moment of passing the coin from right to left I want my hands to remain in the same physical space, I want to avoid unnecessary movement outside of this space
(I am not just placing the coin inside a hand, I am also placing it in a physical space, the idea my hand can move with a coin concealed within is beside the point).
I must keep the left hand within the same physical space as if a frame had been place around it preventing it from moving.
Opening the left to reveal the disappearance happens in this same space, I avoid moving my hand outside of frame.
Reappearance:
The box lay on a table; does the colour of the box contrast the table cloth and clothing I am wearing? The box must have a clear identity separate from its surroundings not just for visibility but also for the audience to create a mental model of what the object looks like in 360 degrees. In this mental recreation they are making assumptions (in this case that the box has 4 sides a bottom and a lid), we want to nudge these assumptions in our favour, encouraging a direction of thought as much as possible.
Three general principles:
Eyes give directions
Slowing down - (if we canāt hide it, highlight itā¦or change the method)
Donāt move! - (if the magic moment can happen in perfect stillness do it that way, otherwise reduce the amount of movement where much as possible).
Share the accountability - reply to this email with what are you working on, I'd love to hear what's keeping you and your magic dreams ticking right now.
š If you know someone who might benefit from this newsletter it would be cool if you shared it with them, it would really help me out!
šŖš» Workout Plan:
Choose a magic moment in your act and look at the 10 seconds prior and preceding the magic moment, ask yourself the following;
Can I direct attention to this moment and space here better?
What can be removed?
Can this be done without moving out of frame?
š Magic Diet:
Writing about framing reminded me of a Slydini video of his āthe helicopter cardā. Arguably the method rests entirely on the use of framing. Notice the way in which he frames the two physical spaces, directs the viewer between them, and how little movement is involved in the whole piece.
A atomiser- I consider the experience people have when spending time with me and one thing I always appreciate of others is smelling good. And there is little worse than having to be in the same vicinity let alone standing next to someone who smells bad š¤¢ I almost always carry an atomiser on me and after much searching I haev found this one to be the best one yet, nice design, heavy and nice to use, and no leaks! (so far)
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