Designing Miracles is the second of Darwin ortiz's books on magic theory. The first one is Strong magic, which is regarded as a modern classic in the genre. Designing Miracles is essentially about making your magical effects stronger by using good design principles. To my knowledge, this is the only book that is exclusively devoted to the question of design in magic. I know that such ideas have appeared in various places throughout the magic literature in somewhat diffuse form, but a book like this is a useful addition to the literature just from the point of view of how topical it is. Designing miracles focuses almost entirely on design principles in magic, a topic which has been very inadequately explored in the literature.
In the first chapter, Darwin briefly covers the various criteria magicians have when they choose to decide the "best version" of a trick. Many magicians fall in love with cleverness, creativity and difficulty of method and lose sight of the fact that the spectator sees only the final effect. A clever or difficult method that produces a mediocre effect should never be acceptable. Criteria such as novelty and whether it fooled you are also misleading when it comes to effect selection (What fools a magician need not fool a layman and vice versa). Darwin Ortiz asserts that design principles are the most important thing to keep in mind when evaluating a trick's method. As an example, Darwin points out that David Roth has the best retention pass he has seen, but if he simply did a retention pass and opened his empty left hand, the audience will automatically look at the right hand. In essence, using the retention pass in isolation is an example of bad effect design. When trying to put together a routine, a performer should select sleights and methods that are designed in such a way that the audience cannot intuitively or logically backtrack and figure things out. Good technique and great misdirection does a performer no good if the design is bad. Design is all about putting sleights, subtleties, misdirection and other bits and pieces together in a way that the sum is greater than the parts in terms of magical effect.
The second chapter briefly talks about the nature of the magical experience, and tackles the question of deception vs illusion and puzzle vs miracle. In this chapter, Darwin Ortiz makes one thing clear. There are four ingredients that go into the making of a magical routine as a finished product. They are method, effect, presentation and design. The literature of magic is inundated with many many sources that talk about methods and effects. Every trick that is published out there, every new effect, every variation of a variation of a variation - all of these talk about the methods used and the effect that the spectator should see. They often compare and contrast on this basis, with maybe a token nod towards presentation as an important ingredient in the mix. However, design aspects are often neglected and this book seeks to rectify that.
The third chapter stresses the importance of causality as something people use in their daily life to understand and confront new phenomena. When people see an effect that looks impossible, they immediately start looking for a likely cause. This chapter is an important one because it lays the groundwork for the analysis that follows in later chapters. The essence of this chapter is that by eliminating causal cues that give hints about the method, you can make your effect/routine much more magical.
The next three chapters talk about temporal distance, spatial distance and conceptual distance. All these chapters talk about putting "distance" between the method and the effect to make them more magical. The concept of the critical interval (the time between the last view of the initial condition and the first view of the final condition by the spectator) is an important one and is explained very well by Darwin. These chapters are very important because they not only point out ways in which spectators might try to figure out the trick, but they also give ways for you to design routines so that the spectators are left with no option but to concede that what you did was absolutely impossible. This is not all astract theory either, because Darwin substantiates his points through examples and case studies.
The next chapter talks about the false frame of reference. The basic idea here is that if you can get the spectators to ask the wrong questions about the trick, it is much less likely that they will stumble on the method. In fact, by shifting the frame of reference, you could also strengthen an effect considerably. This is an important lesson that readers should take from this chapter. There is also some discussion about the "Too Perfect" theory that is quite well written. I would recommend the reader to absorb and understand this chapter carefully, because the ideas here are not trivial and some issues are still being argued vehemently by magicians.
The chapter on visual magic is a very important one that I think all magicians will benefit from reading. Many magicians seems to be hooked on the idea that visual magic is always better than other kinds of magic. According to the book, one of the major disadvantages of visual magic is that the method happens too close to the effect. I feel that Darwin has done a good job of analyzing the possible weaknesses and pitfalls of visual magic and I hope those who read it will take his points seriously. He also gives ideas on how to make visual magic more deceptive and magical within the context of a routine.
The last two chapters are about correlations(and how to make or break them) and manipulating memory. These chapters serve to close the book quite well by rounding out some of the arguments made previously and also offering some fresh practical advice. These chapters also give some good advice on how to structure multiphase effects in a way that maximizes impact. If you have wondered about how to structure your ACR for maximum impact, this part of the book gives you some good advice.
There is also an appendix which lists 27 laws which are called Darwin's Laws. My only minor quibble with this section is that not all these laws originated with Darwin Ortiz, but he gives adequate credit throughout the book, so it's not a big deal in my opinion.
In this review the pros of this book have been interspersed throughout the body of the review. In terms of cons, there are a couple of things I should point out. Many of the examples and case studies in the book are card effects. Of course, the principles being talked about are more general and should be applicable to other genres of magic as well. However, if you are not a card worker, you might have to work harder to fit these principles into your work (which might not be a bad thing). Also, this book seems aimed mostly at close up magicians who want to make their tricks seem even more miraculous by removing any possible suggestion of natural causes for the magic. This is not something all performers aim for. For example, a person giving a gambling demo/expose will not be worried if the spectators attribute the effects to sleight of hand skills. A mentalist might often give false solutions/explanations and get the spectators to accept them instead of trying to prove he is a miracle worker (e.g. Derren Brown and Banachek). Such performers might not find this book very useful.
To summarize, Designing Miracles is a great book because it tackles design issues for magic tricks, a topic that is rarely given importance by magicians. It is a very systematic treatment of a topic that is actually not very easy to break down into simple components. This is a book for everyone from the intermediate to the expert close up magician. People who do other kinds of magic might also benefit from reading this book. The only magicians I would discourage from buying the book are novices. In their case, I would suggest they wait a learn more about methods and techniques before jumping into theory. As for the rest, feel free to dive in.
Book rating: 9/10.
In the first chapter, Darwin briefly covers the various criteria magicians have when they choose to decide the "best version" of a trick. Many magicians fall in love with cleverness, creativity and difficulty of method and lose sight of the fact that the spectator sees only the final effect. A clever or difficult method that produces a mediocre effect should never be acceptable. Criteria such as novelty and whether it fooled you are also misleading when it comes to effect selection (What fools a magician need not fool a layman and vice versa). Darwin Ortiz asserts that design principles are the most important thing to keep in mind when evaluating a trick's method. As an example, Darwin points out that David Roth has the best retention pass he has seen, but if he simply did a retention pass and opened his empty left hand, the audience will automatically look at the right hand. In essence, using the retention pass in isolation is an example of bad effect design. When trying to put together a routine, a performer should select sleights and methods that are designed in such a way that the audience cannot intuitively or logically backtrack and figure things out. Good technique and great misdirection does a performer no good if the design is bad. Design is all about putting sleights, subtleties, misdirection and other bits and pieces together in a way that the sum is greater than the parts in terms of magical effect.
The second chapter briefly talks about the nature of the magical experience, and tackles the question of deception vs illusion and puzzle vs miracle. In this chapter, Darwin Ortiz makes one thing clear. There are four ingredients that go into the making of a magical routine as a finished product. They are method, effect, presentation and design. The literature of magic is inundated with many many sources that talk about methods and effects. Every trick that is published out there, every new effect, every variation of a variation of a variation - all of these talk about the methods used and the effect that the spectator should see. They often compare and contrast on this basis, with maybe a token nod towards presentation as an important ingredient in the mix. However, design aspects are often neglected and this book seeks to rectify that.
The third chapter stresses the importance of causality as something people use in their daily life to understand and confront new phenomena. When people see an effect that looks impossible, they immediately start looking for a likely cause. This chapter is an important one because it lays the groundwork for the analysis that follows in later chapters. The essence of this chapter is that by eliminating causal cues that give hints about the method, you can make your effect/routine much more magical.
The next three chapters talk about temporal distance, spatial distance and conceptual distance. All these chapters talk about putting "distance" between the method and the effect to make them more magical. The concept of the critical interval (the time between the last view of the initial condition and the first view of the final condition by the spectator) is an important one and is explained very well by Darwin. These chapters are very important because they not only point out ways in which spectators might try to figure out the trick, but they also give ways for you to design routines so that the spectators are left with no option but to concede that what you did was absolutely impossible. This is not all astract theory either, because Darwin substantiates his points through examples and case studies.
The next chapter talks about the false frame of reference. The basic idea here is that if you can get the spectators to ask the wrong questions about the trick, it is much less likely that they will stumble on the method. In fact, by shifting the frame of reference, you could also strengthen an effect considerably. This is an important lesson that readers should take from this chapter. There is also some discussion about the "Too Perfect" theory that is quite well written. I would recommend the reader to absorb and understand this chapter carefully, because the ideas here are not trivial and some issues are still being argued vehemently by magicians.
The chapter on visual magic is a very important one that I think all magicians will benefit from reading. Many magicians seems to be hooked on the idea that visual magic is always better than other kinds of magic. According to the book, one of the major disadvantages of visual magic is that the method happens too close to the effect. I feel that Darwin has done a good job of analyzing the possible weaknesses and pitfalls of visual magic and I hope those who read it will take his points seriously. He also gives ideas on how to make visual magic more deceptive and magical within the context of a routine.
The last two chapters are about correlations(and how to make or break them) and manipulating memory. These chapters serve to close the book quite well by rounding out some of the arguments made previously and also offering some fresh practical advice. These chapters also give some good advice on how to structure multiphase effects in a way that maximizes impact. If you have wondered about how to structure your ACR for maximum impact, this part of the book gives you some good advice.
There is also an appendix which lists 27 laws which are called Darwin's Laws. My only minor quibble with this section is that not all these laws originated with Darwin Ortiz, but he gives adequate credit throughout the book, so it's not a big deal in my opinion.
In this review the pros of this book have been interspersed throughout the body of the review. In terms of cons, there are a couple of things I should point out. Many of the examples and case studies in the book are card effects. Of course, the principles being talked about are more general and should be applicable to other genres of magic as well. However, if you are not a card worker, you might have to work harder to fit these principles into your work (which might not be a bad thing). Also, this book seems aimed mostly at close up magicians who want to make their tricks seem even more miraculous by removing any possible suggestion of natural causes for the magic. This is not something all performers aim for. For example, a person giving a gambling demo/expose will not be worried if the spectators attribute the effects to sleight of hand skills. A mentalist might often give false solutions/explanations and get the spectators to accept them instead of trying to prove he is a miracle worker (e.g. Derren Brown and Banachek). Such performers might not find this book very useful.
To summarize, Designing Miracles is a great book because it tackles design issues for magic tricks, a topic that is rarely given importance by magicians. It is a very systematic treatment of a topic that is actually not very easy to break down into simple components. This is a book for everyone from the intermediate to the expert close up magician. People who do other kinds of magic might also benefit from reading this book. The only magicians I would discourage from buying the book are novices. In their case, I would suggest they wait a learn more about methods and techniques before jumping into theory. As for the rest, feel free to dive in.
Book rating: 9/10.
