Dear Friends in Magic,
I hope your early summer is off to a great start. Perhaps I can be part of that by sharing…
A BIG IDEA
Legendary card man Harry Lorayne frequently said: “If the audience knows something was done, it’s as bad as if they know what was done.” In the same spirit, Eugene Burger would say, “If a sleight isn’t utterly invisible, the trick is over.”
This idea seems like bedrock to our art—its first principle. The experience of magic requires people to feel “no way!” rather than “Oh, I just saw the way.” Thus, I am stumped by the fact that I’ve recently seen a lot of card technique hanging out for all to see, including by some professional performers whose names you’d recognize.
I sat at one formal close-up show watching every card being culled under the spread. Another performer kept using the pass in a parlor setting, standing up with no misdirection. Yet another well-known card magician repeatedly used the Zarrow Shuffle without covering the front—so we could all see him slide the block back up under the top card. And since when did the Slip Force get a new publicist?
Is this just the bad luck of my recent draw? Perhaps. But it also serves as a bracing reminder of some important truths about the work:
1. It is always tempting to perform a trick before it’s ready. That is, before I’ve fully incorporated the sleight-of-hand—built it into my body so I can do it without thinking or hitching. Note to self: stick with Eugene’s maxim of working on a new trick until it’s really ready… then wait another month.
2. Practice does not make perfect. This was the problem with all those Zarrow Shuffles: they were smooth and consistent, but the performer had incorporated poor technique. Note to self: remember it’s not about “time and reps,” but good time and quality reps.
3. Most sleights we know in our head must go through a process of becoming refined in our hands through careful self-assessment. Am I “framing” the technique? Do I speed up when about to perform a sleight? Does it flash from the side? Note to self: spend more time studying Vernon, especially “The Vernon Touch.”
4. “Who will tell me the truth?” Eugene frequently raised this question for our students, and it’s a good one. Who can we go to for an honest, yet loving critique of the routines we’re working on or… gulp… already performing? Note to self: emphasize to trusted friends and colleagues that I always want to know if my technique is showing.
Is there something in the water of contemporary card magic causing this glut of poor technique? Has information overload and siloing also caused “truth decay” in our field? Are we spread too thin to go deep? Whatever it is, I refuse to drink that “Kool-Aid” when it comes to my sleight-of-hand. They must not see it, feel it, or even suspect it. Some things never change.
IN THE STUDIO
I have just returned from our two Magic & Mystery School events in Chicago at the Rhapsody Theater. We had our first-ever Solo Show Boot Camp followed by the 2024 Festival of Magic. I also got to see David Williamson’s excellent show Ridiculous! that's playing at the Rhapsody Theater through June. (By the way, David’s sleight-of-hand is first-rate—no flashing there, I'll tell you.) It was a wonderful week of friendship, inspiration, and magic teaching/learning. |
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