Lessons Learned From Legerdemain
Introduction
Hello and welcome to the second series of “Lessons Learned From Legerdemain!” In the first series, I talked about how I wrote a script for Dracula; credits to Pete McCabe’s Scripting Magic. Scripting Magic has helped me tremendously to write scripts and make my magic presentations more intriguing. “Lessons Learned From Legerdemain” will now be posted on the first Monday of the month. With no further ado, I give to you the second lesson.
Lesson #2 – Books
Let me tell you a story.
I brought the book Win the Crowd by Steve Cohen many times to my physical education class. After a period of time, my teacher did not like me reading in class while he was taking attendance (he took an awfully long time to take it), and told me to go and store it in my locker. I argued with him time and time again, but my mouth was not yet well developed to talk a convincing talk. I finally decided to put my book in my locker for good. Then one day, I said to myself, “I know I have the right to read when the teacher is taking attendance! Let’s read in class again.”
Of course, he told me to store it in my locker again. This time I argued, “Why can’t I read when you are taking attendance or doing something else?” My teacher never gave me a reason that made any sense. He finally said, “If you don’t like it, you can get out of my class.” And so I did. I walked out of the class, sat right down in front of my locker, and enjoyed the most memorable reading hour I have ever had.
After that incident, my teacher and I still had good relations. We even respected each other more than before.
Final Thoughts
What is a book? Pages with ongoing words. But what is amazing is the mind that put all these words together. The people who write books have spent years of research. Why not learn from people who have been around the block rather than to start from scratch? There is so much information in books that to not pick up a book and read is to destroy your mind! Alain Nu, the best mentalism in Washington D.C., has ceiling-high bookshelves filled with book about magic, mentalism, and the mind. I have been told that Jeff McBride (who has what is considered by some the best stage magic act) has books in his bathroom! All the great ones read books.
When Reginald Scot wrote The Discoverie of Witchcraft in 1584 to present day, billions of magic books have been published. If I could travel back in time and talk to all these late, great magicians like Harry Houdini, Harry Blackstone, Robert-Houdin, I would but I cannot! My best bet is to learn from these great magicians from books.
Thank you to all the magicians who constantly push the younger magicians to read.
Anybody who was ever a big success at anything were intense readers. If you want to be great at what you do, read.
“There have been millions and billions and billions and gazillions of people that have lived before all of us…There is no problem you can have that someone hasn’t already solved and wrote about it in a book.”
-Will Smith
Written by Anthony Nguyen
Edited by Steve Einhorn
Introduction
Hello and welcome to the second series of “Lessons Learned From Legerdemain!” In the first series, I talked about how I wrote a script for Dracula; credits to Pete McCabe’s Scripting Magic. Scripting Magic has helped me tremendously to write scripts and make my magic presentations more intriguing. “Lessons Learned From Legerdemain” will now be posted on the first Monday of the month. With no further ado, I give to you the second lesson.
Lesson #2 – Books
Let me tell you a story.
I brought the book Win the Crowd by Steve Cohen many times to my physical education class. After a period of time, my teacher did not like me reading in class while he was taking attendance (he took an awfully long time to take it), and told me to go and store it in my locker. I argued with him time and time again, but my mouth was not yet well developed to talk a convincing talk. I finally decided to put my book in my locker for good. Then one day, I said to myself, “I know I have the right to read when the teacher is taking attendance! Let’s read in class again.”
Of course, he told me to store it in my locker again. This time I argued, “Why can’t I read when you are taking attendance or doing something else?” My teacher never gave me a reason that made any sense. He finally said, “If you don’t like it, you can get out of my class.” And so I did. I walked out of the class, sat right down in front of my locker, and enjoyed the most memorable reading hour I have ever had.
After that incident, my teacher and I still had good relations. We even respected each other more than before.
Final Thoughts
What is a book? Pages with ongoing words. But what is amazing is the mind that put all these words together. The people who write books have spent years of research. Why not learn from people who have been around the block rather than to start from scratch? There is so much information in books that to not pick up a book and read is to destroy your mind! Alain Nu, the best mentalism in Washington D.C., has ceiling-high bookshelves filled with book about magic, mentalism, and the mind. I have been told that Jeff McBride (who has what is considered by some the best stage magic act) has books in his bathroom! All the great ones read books.
When Reginald Scot wrote The Discoverie of Witchcraft in 1584 to present day, billions of magic books have been published. If I could travel back in time and talk to all these late, great magicians like Harry Houdini, Harry Blackstone, Robert-Houdin, I would but I cannot! My best bet is to learn from these great magicians from books.
Thank you to all the magicians who constantly push the younger magicians to read.
Anybody who was ever a big success at anything were intense readers. If you want to be great at what you do, read.
“There have been millions and billions and billions and gazillions of people that have lived before all of us…There is no problem you can have that someone hasn’t already solved and wrote about it in a book.”
-Will Smith
Written by Anthony Nguyen
Edited by Steve Einhorn