Hey First name / Friend,

 

I'm currently having the kitchen ceiling painted due to a leak from the apartment upstairs, which means I've not only had to look busy at my desk but I've also borrowed the momentum and have been riding the productive wave.

 

 

This idea popped in my head this morning and I thought should share it with you, in short it's the idea of 'cognitive punctuation'. A quick glance at a google search for the term and it seems I am late to the party (boo) with a number of papers already discussing the idea. 

 

However I am talking about the importance of cognitive punctuation in the magicians mind. Let me explain…

 

 

 

Imagine you're in a close-up setting performing to a small group and you decide to bust out a gypsy thread routine…fast forward to the restoration, the thread is pulled completely and shown as magically restored. We all know there a little house keeping that needs doing before we are free to give high fives and shake hands. Broadly, there are two scenarios which can now happen.

 

Scenario one | The thread is pulled taught for the clear applause cue and after a few beats, to allow that moment to land, the magician mentally places a full stop at the end of the performance. And begins ‘tidying up’ to either move on with the interaction, or say good bye and leave.

 

Scenario two | The thread is pulled taught for the clear applause cue and after a few beats, to allow that moment to land, the magician mentally begins worrying that someone will ask to shake hands or show the hands flat thus placing a comma at the end of the performance, 

 

…It doesn't feel right does it, it is almost like I forgot to finish my sentence up there 👆. The audience will pick up on the ‘residual tension’ from the comma rather than the relaxation of a full stop. 👈 See.

 

 

 

When thinking about why this is the case and how people pick up on these things it's useful to remember that humans are pattern recognition machines. Our main job is to survive, if we sense any unnecessary tension no matter how infinitesimal our brain is designed to read those signals and react. Reading the body language of dangerous animals or humans is the difference between life and death, and our brains don't tend to take chances. That same mental system is running all the time, it never switched off (this part of the brain is called the amygdala, for those who would like some further reading).

 

 

 

This is a tough one because experience under pressure and building self evidence is the best way to conquer this. 

 

Realising that actually no one is going to ask to see your palms flat or immediately shake your hand afterward, there are usually a few moments and at-least one social cue that you're leaving before there is social space for that to happen.

 

 

 

I recently returned from my annual trip to Buffalo, NY, to attend the famed 4F Magic convention. While there I witnessed the best palm of a card I have ever seen (or should I say not seen?). 

 

Willy Monroe from Spain spent a good amount of his lecture unpacking the idea of ‘doing nothing’ when executing sleights. This idea was imparted on to him by his mentor Gabriel Moreno, someone I had heard of and seen a few videos of but didn't know too much about.

 

Willy didn't just talk about it, he demonstrated it, and it was quite remarkable how powerful it was. It ‘felt’ like he did nothing, but he was palming a card from the centre of the deck while replacing the top half down on the bottom without any sense that anything was happening. Remarkable!

 

Typically myself, Will Fern, and Joe Monti are the last ones standing at 4F finishing between 3-6am every night (This year Joe couldn’t make it). So one night myself, Will, and Willy were the last ones standing, and Willy spent time going in to more depth around his work. 

 

To illustrate his point Willy asked me to do a double lift, I did. He then asked me to push off just one card in the same manner (of course), I did. He then told me there is a difference of tension in my body between the two. He was right!

 

After he made me aware of this I made conscious adjustments to remain just as relaxed on a single card as a double, optimising my use of energy (i.e. using least amount of calories to execute an action) and I instantly improved by double lift. 

 

I found it remarkable how I was completely unaware of the inner tension I was holding on a double lift!…and I thought I was pretty hot on these things! Willy is next level. I loved the experience, and would love to have spend more time seasoning but sleep was calling us all by this point! 

 

This was one of the major take aways from the convention for me.

 

 

 

Improving ones magic has as much to do with self awareness around the inner work one has to do in order to continue climbing the mountain of magical excellence.

Let me know your thoughts, I'd love to read them.

 

In a bit!
Matthew

 

 

 

What resonated with you? - 📧 Shoot me an message M@GivingMagic.com

 

 

 

 

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