Itâs been a little while I know, I have been in hibernation creating a program to help magicians pass their Magic Circle exam, and Iâm really proud of it!
I will be running the first cohort in 2024, dates TBC. Itâs not officially LIVE yet but if you are interested in seeing the contents here is a link to the page TMCPASS.
Back to the usual programâŠ
When we last caught up I spoke about the progression from buying tricks to making them your own using the 'Bus, Taxi, Car' analogy, and rather elegantly introduced the âBus wankerâ. (The In-betweens TV show reference).
I wanted to give a practical example of how I might go about this myself, I hope you find this approach somewhat thought-provoking and steal the bits you like to use for yourself.
"Absorb what is useful. Discard what is not. Add what is uniquely your own."
Bruce Lee
Bus, Taxi, Car | đ đ đ đđ
To refresh your memory from the previous riveting read:
Going by bus
Getting on a bus means we turn up at a specific time with 30 other people, the schedule is pre-planned, we don't even need to tell the driver where we are going, the bus stops at predetermined locations and we arrive at the same destination thousands if not millions of other people have arrived at.We barely have to be conscious and weâll still arrive at the right decision. It's cheap and easy!
Going by taxi
Getting a taxi costs more than a bus, we give the driver a specific time & location to pick us up and drop us off. We get to decide when and where but the route we take is not up to us, as long as we end up at the right destination.
Last is the car
The car costs the most, it needs to pass its MOT every year, and thereâs insurance, and regular servicing to keep it working optimally. But we get to choose which one we want, and we can drive anywhere we want, whenever we like. The car gives us ultimate control over the journey, we can stop, change direction, go faster, or slower, and choose the route we use to reach our destination, whether thats the fastest or the more scenic.
Moving from Bus to Taxi
When we learn a trick we have choices; we can do the trick âas seenâ or we can give it 'meaningâ - ie. we can take the Bus or we can go by Car.
I recently spent time with a friend,Julian James, our conversations never fail to provoke deep thought. He made the observation that at some point on the magician's journey the focus shifts from the props to the performer to the audience.
This is a solid starting point, in magic it's easy to frame the performance as âlook as this curiosity, this object I found (or bought)â - âlook at what it can do, isn't it cool!â.
This is the adult equivalent of riding around the neighbourhood on a new bike saying âHey, look at my new bike!â and expecting a reaction. Itâs an attention-seeking ploy, it's cheap and exposes insecurity.
The Magician is a character who has no needs and wants for nothing. The Magician's role is to empower others and give without expectation. (Thank you, Julian).
Taking an audience on a journey gives us choices.
How to level up a notch
Right, so we have a cool thing that âdoes magicâ How can we make this mean something to the people watching it?
Letâs take the effect âdouble crossedâ as an example (if you're unfamiliar with the effect here is a link).
- The effect, in a nutshell, is the magician has the power to make a permanent mark travel from the magician's hand to the spectator's hand. - A transposition.
STEP ONE
Let's brainstorm some ideas;
X marks the spot
Treasure
Two lines becoming one
Death
Jesus
Superstition
Connection
Time travel
Butterfly effect
Is the mark lucky or unlucky?
What could the mark represent?
Why is it appearing on the hand?
Can the area of the body and hand be forced?
Magicians hand to spec?
Spec 1 to spec 2âs hand?
Thatâs the first 15ish thoughts that come to mind, Iâve highlighted the ones I like.
STEP TWO
Let's look at possible hooks for a conversational close-up environment;
Superstitious
âWho here would consider themselves superstitious?â.
Butterfly effect
âI find it fascinating that every decision we have each made has led us to share this moment right here, right now - yet none of us could ever have predicted itâ.
Connection
âAre you familiar with the 6 degrees of separation? How we are just 6 people away from any other person in the worldâ.
Hook 1) Opens the conversation to sharing various superstitions among the group and hearing the variety of unusual quirks we all have/suffer from - it is also a topic which probably hasn't been explored in any depth among friends or acquaintances.
Hook 2) Is a deeper topic to broach but at the right moment, it would be an interesting direction to take people.
Hook 3) Has the power to get people to question this âfactâ (true or not), spark discussion and get people beginning to see that in fact there are connections all over the place to famous people in their social circles.
*Caveat - these hooks suit me, by all means, try them but strive to find your authentic self in the process.
The Creative Process
Iâd like to pause here for a moment to highlight that with about 15 minutes of work, weâve created 15 seeds of ideas, and expanded on 3 relatively interesting narratives in which to frame this rather simple effect.
The creative process is not as taxing or as complicated as some might expect.
I encourage you to give it a go, it's fun!
Expand on the meaning
Now we have a hook we want to put a flag in the ground to build upon.
Asking the question;
âWho here is is superstitious"
Opens the conversation to ask more questions such as;
âWhat superstitions do you regularly come across in your day-to-day life?"
âWhat happens if you don't follow the superstition?"
âHow did this all start?"
This questioning directs the mind toward this topic and expands the frame/world of superstition.
(As an example; walking through a graveyard late at night on its own is pretty well fine, creepy perhaps but manageable. Watch a terrifying horror movie (even just the movie trailer) and the experience alters completely. Our brain is finding and attaching meaning to our experience, creating connections between our recent past and our present - our brain is giving our experience meaning, expanding our inner âworldâ where ghosts, zombies, and creepy shit exist - this is also referred to as âprimingâ -read more).
The next question in the mind of the spectator will most likely be; âWhere is all this going? What is the relevance of superstition to this context?â - This provides us space to weave our desired narrative in order to answer that question.
--
(It's worth noting that while in this conversational mode with our audience, there is less suspicion aroused, so getting one ahead with any âmethodâ work during this mode is preferable - For those familiar with the double-crossed method, we want to stamp out any chance of being caught later).
Weaving the narrative
With our audience now âprimedâ we can now begin our âperformanceâ.
This is when we take our hook in a direction.
âReligion and superstition are closely linked, both are built on beliefs regardless of evidence or the lack of evidence, once a belief is created it is very difficult to alter because of how much beliefs underpin our day-to-day lives and outlook on life.
Providing evidence to our beliefs almost misses the point, once a belief is proven with evidence it is no longer a belief it becomes fact. I have been fascinated by the relationship between superstition and the butterfly effect, this idea that every choice and decision made up to this very moment, has led to âthisâ moment, and it's difficult to argue with this factâŠor is it belief?
Steve, you mentioned you salute magpies while driving, Iâd like you to imagine yourself driving your car, your hands firmly on the steering wheel [magician demonstrates but holding hands in fists as if holding an imaginary steering wheel] - Let's imagine this X [Magician draws X on the palm of their own hand] represents a magpie 3 miles down the road, you canât see it yet and you cannot have predicted where precisely you would see this magpie.
âBut [closes hand into fist hiding X from view] what if you spent 10 seconds longer putting your seatbelt on, 5 seconds longer putting on your shirt, this magpie would not be in the exact position it is right now, it might be in an entirely different position [opens hand towards themselves],a different place [lowers hand to show X gone], with a completely different person [gestures towards Steve's hand].â
Not too bad for 30 minutes of work.
This is a written script, I wouldn't use this verbatim in my work but by writing it down I now have an alternative presentation to play with next time I'm feeling it.
I hope this example shows how being creative isn't such a heavy lift after all, it's playful.
Give it a go, it's fun!
It's a starting point to move material away from the Bus wankerage and toward meaning.
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.
đ 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!
đȘđ» Workout Plan:
1) Choose a piece of material you want to change presentationally.
2) Write a bullet-pointed list of around 10-15 ideas that could relate to the effect.
3) Choose 3 favourites and write a potential hook for each.
4) Expand and play.
đ Magic Diet
Book - Evergreen by Steve Cohen - This is a short read, 2 hours or less. I have read it twice and gleaned lots of tips about putting on a regular show. If you have ever been interested in putting on a show in partnership with a location I would recommend it.
Face Moisturiser - The Ordinary - Rouge recommendation I know, but adding an (almost) daily moisturising habit to my life has felt great! Now we are heading for winter it's especially important to keep our faces from cracking into tiny wrinkles and avoiding dry flaky nastiness when we work. Let's keep our faces glowing and fresh đââïž
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