Knowledge Is Power :: A Magical Education

[Krash]

Have you ever found yourself surrounded by overwhelming ideas one after the other, but found that you are lacking the knowledge to bring that idea to fruition?

I have.

My question to everyone here is...

If one wanted to educate himself on the art of illusion, how would someone go about doing this? What if I not only wanted to learn different sleights or methods on how to control your audience, but wanted to learn the history of our art...to learn who did what and how?

I would like to make a list of places or things that could help the newbies or even the seasoned veterans to learn as much as possible. If anything, you can stand beside this statement proudly, "You will NEVER learn everything that there is to learn, once you think that you have...there is already something newer out there."

What books have helped you in this area? Who do you talk to about your ideas? Where do you get your inspiration? I think if we can answer these questions, we can only better ourselves.

Shane K.

 

[JohnH]

I think reading books on the subject of presentation is essential. Too many people focus on nothing but the technical aspects of an effect, forgeting about the performance. One of the best books out there is Magic and Showmanship by Henning Nelms. I think every magician, young or old, needs to read this.

 

[Delta]

The Card College series pretty well covers most areas of magic, giving some background on every effect, covering everything from doubles to flourishes, and even giving some magic theory (magic theory would be a cool name for a band).

 

[KeenanG]

Hiding the Elephant by Jim steinmeyer (Was it steinmeyer?)

GREAT book, defiantly pick it up at Amazon, a barnes and noble, borders, etc.

Wikipedia really is a great source. Search people like Vernon, Harry Blackstone, Erdnase, Jimmy Grippo, Tony Slydini, Paul Daniels, Tommy Wonder, Etc etc... that'll give you an idea of what some of the great of magic did and how it affected the magic you see today.

Just search the internet and magic forums (Ellusionist, Here, TheMagicwoods.co.uk , Penguinmagic.com, Themagiccafe.com Etc.) ... You never know what you'll find.

As for showmanship and such... Well...

Absolute Magic - Derren Brown

Strong Magic - Ortiz

Designing Miracles - Ortiz

Those are only 3 of many... Pick them up. Disect them.



Keenan

 

[JohnH]

Hiding the Elephant is a fantastic read. I highly recommend it.

I also enjoyed The Magician and the Cardsharp. It's all about Dai Vernon's quest to find the man who was said to be able to do a perfect center deal. It's a great book.

 

[MitchellStafiej]

If you check your local library you can find a TON of magic history books. I know there are at least 6 at mine. I have tried to read them all but always had to re borrow them.

Mitchell

 

[btaylor]

Pick up Maximum Entertainment by Ken Weber, its a great book, but is often overlooked. Also, go and watch alot of magic, good and bad, and take notes on what worked, what didnt, but keep who you are in mind. Its great, i do it all the time.

plus the bad magicians are good comedy too.

peace

 

[JohnH]

Does anyone have Beyond Secrets by Jay Sankey? I've been wanting it for a while, but never got around to getting it.

 

[Electron John]

I am in the middle of reading Beyond Secretes by Jay Sankey and it is pretty good. That is to say there are a lot of useful bits of info in it and you do get to understand what Jay thinks about magic and what makes good magic.

It is more like a bunch of short essays then a real book with chapters relating to certain topics. It almost seems as if he took his emails or forum discussions that he had in the past and turned them into 1-3 page essays, then put a bunch of them together to make a book. Many of those short essays leave the reader feeling as if the issue was not resolved at all and that there is much more to say. They often feel as if they are the beginning of a discussion and the the final word. That is both good and bad in my opinion. It is good because it makes you think but bad if you are reading the book to get answers.

This book has another weird thing about it as well, it does not have the normal first few pages you typically see in a book. There is no page with the copyright date, all rights reserved note, published by, or distributed by information on it. I think that Jay just had some no name print show print out his book and bind it for him then he want out and distributed them to his dealers. As apposed to someone writing a book getting a publisher to read it, like it and and agree to publish it. This likely let Jay get away with putting out a book that is a lot less traditional then any other book you might own and let him avoid having to deal with editors that might force him to structure the book more.

In short I felt that Jay could have posted each chapter as a blog on his web site, say one a week for the next year or so, and it would have been great. As a book these essays are interesting to read but the randomness of them give the book a slightly out of focus feeling, like there are a lot of great details but they do not come together to form a big picture. If you are a big Jay Sankey fan, like me, then I would say buy this book. But if you are looking for a book that will teach you about magic history or how to be a better magician then I would say look elsewhere.

 

[Monkeyofmanipulation]

Great finds guys!

Although some may find this strange i would say read David Blaine's "Mysterisou Stranger".

I am reading it again and i have found it very interesting.
It also teaches you a valuable lesson on performing.

-Jon

 

[hanry]

hey, i am quite agreed to the topic as knowledge is power that i know . and i know it beforehand because whenever i am in danger in the examination my knowledge helps me to get the right marks and i don't read by heart . i try to get all the concept from the book and do whatever in my mind . that's why i am successful students