Magic that looks like real magic?

[Pete Pridanonda]

Everytime I watch any of the X-Men videos, I am inspired to be more creative and make my magic more powerful. With that said, does anyone know a magic effect that makes it look like you have real superpowers? In other words, if you have real powers, what would you do?
With that said, I think coins across is pointless; if you have real superpowers, how useful is making coins go from one hand to another? How useful is making something go inside a bottle that you can't take out?

 

[Magic swag]

You could always do a coin bend.

 

[ChrisWiens]

In other words, if you have real powers, what would you do?

I wouldn`t waste my time performing for other people, that`s for sure.

In my opinion showing superhuman powers is only 100% convincing if it has at least a tiny bit of believability, which some superpowers shown by some superheros are not.
Bending objects with your mind could be possible (at least many people think so), reading minds is, superhuman memory and senses could, flying through the air like Superman, or smashing objects like the Hulk are not.

 

[formula]

Cut by Ran Pink looks like super powers. Being a magician is not always about doing things that make you look magic but doing impossible things that instil a feeling of magic in to people.

 

[baguette]

if you're planning on going on the professor Xavier approach, grab a wheelchair, shave your head and learn some mentalism.

 

[Craig Browning]

There is a growing movement within the magic underground that we've spoken on a few times here, known as Urban~Shamanism; the main focus of which is to create Magick vs. Magic -- to present magic that in a manner that takes away from the idea that it's just trickery and alludes to the possibility that there is something far more to it. It is an extension to Bizarre Magick coupled with Mentalism as well as a very large degree of philosophy and metaphysical understanding; one is part storyteller and part mystic, which is how the fakir and wise one's of old actually presented their parables . . . just look at the new Testament or the tales of Buddha; two noted mystics that gathered people around them, not for the sake of a sermon but more than not, the sharing of a story.

We hear the echo "Presentation, Presentation, Presentation" but sometime the presentation goes much further than what we say, it's who and what we present ourselves as being; a mystic isn't going to do card tricks in that no matter what you do with a deck of cards it still translates in the mind of the public as a clever card trick. Ironically, we can get away with certain rope manipulations, using lotta pots and rice bowls and other more primitive apparatus. We can get away with a myriad of psychological applications as well as hypnosis/trance state applications. Most important, what we do when it comes to the effects but take a kind of secondary role; we aren't trying to be a showman but rather a shaman, the effects are meant to be used as punctuation around the "story" we are presenting be it a wonder of the human mind (heart, soul) or something as timeless as the Cups & Balls.

Few performers are willing to do what must be done in order to take this path in that we walk a tight-rope between thespian and charlatan. The thinking behind the work runs contrary to how most of magic & mentalism is taught and encouraged but more so when it comes to subduing the showman so as to create a more humble persona over the show off that we intend to be.

There is very little written on this topic, most of it in the chat rooms and small mentions in the forums but, there is a book being composed at this time that should be out come spring 2015. I can only tell you that the who's who of this tradition are making contributions to it as are several legends from within Bizarre Magick and Mentalism. . . right now we have over a dozen confirmed contributors with at least that many more developing material exclusively for this book. It will set the standards for Urban~Shamanism in much the way Corinda has for Mentalism but so very much more.

Understand, not everyone is able to meet this calling though many share the vision of being able to present magic as "real". Where we can and will help such people, coaching them towards obtaining their vision of being a genuine Wizard of sorts, the stark reality is that the fluidity involved simply is not natural to all nor is the individual's ability to honestly BELIEVE in the idea of MAGICK which actually is requisite even though we are all pragmatists of a sort.

 

[baguette]

^
If that didn't answer your question, nothing ever will. That was a great read.

 

[ChrisWiens]

Yes, great post by Craig.
From a spectators point of view, without knowing anything about magic or mentalism, I know people who genuinely believed that Uri Geller can bend objects, but they didn`t believe David Copperfield can fly through the air or David Blaine can walk on water.

 

[WitchDocIsIn]

To go from what ChrisWiens said - Believability is is key. Here is where you encounter something called "Internal logical consistency" - Which I like to exemplify by saying, "Spiderman can't fly."

To explain further - Spiderman can sling webs, he's strong, he's flexible, he makes olympic grade gymnastics look like child's play. We can watch him do all of this and not blink an eye. We've accepted that he can do these things. But if he started flying, everyone would say, "Spiderman can't fly." Because it's not internally consistent.

So when you decide your character and begin performing, you have to be internally consistent or it jars people and they realize it's just tricks. But if you have a consistent character with tricks that work within that internally consistent framework, it's believable. This limits what you can perform, though. In short - If you had super powers, why would you do a card trick?

Most of the magic on the market today is trivial. The reason it doesn't seem real is because it's so clearly a trick. Think about the tricks that are popular and then ask yourself, "Why is the magician doing this?" The answer is usually: "Because they can." It doesn't point to anything larger. It breaks down to: If I do this, this happens. If I take the card, put it in the middle and snap my fingers, the selection appears on top. Why? What's the point?

 

[Craig Browning]

Yes, great post by Craig.
From a spectators point of view, without knowing anything about magic or mentalism, I know people who genuinely believed that Uri Geller can bend objects, but they didn`t believe David Copperfield can fly through the air or David Blaine can walk on water.

Actually people believed that Houdini dematerialized in order to perform his escapes, that Doug Henning used TM so as to walk through solid block walls and Copperfield used the Kabala so as to allow him to fly. . . there are many in the public that think illusions are legit because magicians have sold their soul vs. going into hock to buy them and that they have a perfectly logical explanation behind them; this can be something as simple and elementary as sponge balls (for which I've actually lost jobs, because the people I performed for thought it was Voodoo) to something as grand as Walking on Water, which was first done (in our era at least) by Andre Kole . . . he'd parachute down to the water and walk ashore to the beach where he presented his gospel extravaganza.

 

[TeeDee]

With that said, I think coins across is pointless; if you have real superpowers, how useful is making coins go from one hand to another?

You're right, making coins go from one hand to another is pointless, but that's just the effect of coins across, it's not necessarily how it should be presented. How about this, for example:

"I'll tell you who I find fascinating, probably even more fascinating than magicians. I'll tell you who. Thieves. People who steal for a living. People who actively break the law, risk prison, their standing in society, maybe even their lives if they steal from the wrong person. When someone chooses to live like that, and actually develops the skills and professionalism to build a profitable career out of something like that, well...I wouldn't say I admire them as such...but there's certainly some sort of courage at the back of making those kind of choices and following a path that's so different from what society dictates as the right way to live. That's why I'm fascinated by them, and because of the technical ability they have to develop to keep their career going if they want to be the best. So, [INSERT PARTICIPANT'S NAME] have you ever met a thief? No? Well you've probably never seen anything like this. I learned this exercise from someone who...er...would prefer I didn't tell too many people her name. Or his name. Watch this..."

Then go into your coins across.

The point is that the presentation starts well before the props are introduced, and when they are introduced it's just as a convenient tool to demonstrate a point you were making. The story is the most important thing, and the trick itself is just one part of telling that story. Look at how characters are introduced in superhero films. They don't just turn up and start flashing their powers around. That makes them one-dimensional. What makes them "real" (if they're well-written) is the fact that they have a back-story, an origin and a multi-faceted personality from which their powers derive.

 

[WitchDocIsIn]

You're right, making coins go from one hand to another is pointless, but that's just the effect of coins across, it's not necessarily how it should be presented. How about this, for example:

"I'll tell you who I find fascinating, probably even more fascinating than magicians. I'll tell you who. Thieves. People who steal for a living. People who actively break the law, risk prison, their standing in society, maybe even their lives if they steal from the wrong person. When someone chooses to live like that, and actually develops the skills and professionalism to build a profitable career out of something like that, well...I wouldn't say I admire them as such...but there's certainly some sort of courage at the back of making those kind of choices and following a path that's so different from what society dictates as the right way to live. That's why I'm fascinated by them, and because of the technical ability they have to develop to keep their career going if they want to be the best. So, [INSERT PARTICIPANT'S NAME] have you ever met a thief? No? Well you've probably never seen anything like this. I learned this exercise from someone who...er...would prefer I didn't tell too many people her name. Or his name. Watch this..."

Then go into your coins across.

The point is that the presentation starts well before the props are introduced, and when they are introduced it's just as a convenient tool to demonstrate a point you were making. The story is the most important thing, and the trick itself is just one part of telling that story. Look at how characters are introduced in superhero films. They don't just turn up and start flashing their powers around. That makes them one-dimensional. What makes them "real" (if they're well-written) is the fact that they have a back-story, an origin and a multi-faceted personality from which their powers derive.

I agree completely - you need to start the story well before you begin the trick. However, what I also see a lot is people who put the effort into creating a story to frame the effect, and then abandon that and just start telling The Adventure of the Props. This will do nothing to engage the audience and I believe this is part of why so many people think magicians are ridiculous. They give some kind of story, then do a trick which is clearly a trick and clearly they are doing it because they can.

To fully engage the audience is not just a matter of framing the trick as something more than it is - you actually have to follow through with that. Very few performers actually do this.

 

[Craig Browning]

On this particular example; my very simple routine with a lotta bowl is very involved. I use a Native American theme and literally cast a circle in the traditional way, using a pipe to send prayers to the 4 directions, smudge the whole gambit that would be involved with a spiritual ceremony in which a shaman would be seeking counsel from the Great Spirit & Ancestors . . . Bear in mind, the only effect I'm doing is a Lotta Pot . . . a simple ceramic pot used to carry water. The story line centers on a drought and what a particular shaman did in order to help bring hope and change (the original routine was written by Mary Tolmich). . . my point being, the actual effect is very elementary but with the framework created around it -- the ceremony -- it becomes a thing of wonder and enchantment -- a "Miracle" -- in the minds of the beholder.

The "catch" to this approach is that you can't get overly wordy and try to project yourself as some sort of great Orator or Bard. Trust me, you're not! I'm saying this strictly due to the fact that too many people in this business go too far the other way when it comes to presentation; even my Lotta routine noted above, is pushing the proverbial envelope of being "too much". But, it's right at that thin line between too much and not enough. . . my secondary goal after all, is to educate people when it comes to what shaman do and how they go about their work; my terceira agenda being to paint myself as being "the real deal", which entails a lot more than performance. . .

Background is a key factor and how believable that foundation is. I always encourage people to tell the truth about their lineage and pedigree. Trust me, you have far more novel "bullet points" in your life that will sustain the idea around your claims than you may presently believe. For me there is a known family connection to things spiritualistic and religious (hoodoo or Mountain Magick) as well as direct occult ties and ties to the macabre via two particular cousins, one being a writer of some note named Edgar Allan Poe and the other a film director named Tod Browning. But such ties go beyond the surface level of family memory, entailing some serious genealogical digging. My father made such an issue, tracing our family lines back 5 generations or more. But look at the history of your home town, I promise you'll find tons of applicable material that will lend itself well to your personal legacy. Look at your own life and things you've studied and been involved with; I've been writing and contributing to Pagan & New Age publications off and on for nearly 35 years. These are the people I tend to hang around, study and party with (hence, my ties to Ren Faires).

Find the factual connections & influences and allow them to become a supporting aspect of your backstory but don't lie about or exaggerate things; you want to retain your personal integrity for those situations in which some pain in the hinny magician starts investigating you in the hope of proving you a fraud. . . and they will, as will others. The thing is, you have only one major illusion to maintain once you start down this path -- who & what you are! You can't let the naysayers shake you. . . I've even had friends attack me with deliberately public onslaughts so we could share some press time. . . that includes ministers that I've coaxed into a fever so they can generate curiosity within the ranks of their younger minds, the very curiosity every good cult-maker depends on. ;-)

The Urban~Shaman path IS NOT for everyone; it is tough and not intended for glory seekers, which is to say that you must remain humble and function more as a magickal creature vs. a magick maker or performer. This is a path that involves lots of hard and very invasive personal work -- contemplation, concentration and study, in that there is a legitimate demand for belief/faith -- how can you create magick if you don't believe in it?

Think about it.

 

[Zeal]

There is a growing movement within the magic underground that we've spoken on a few times here, known as Urban~Shamanism; the main focus of which is to create Magick vs. Magic -- to present magic that in a manner that takes away from the idea that it's just trickery and alludes to the possibility that there is something far more to it. It is an extension to Bizarre Magick coupled with Mentalism as well as a very large degree of philosophy and metaphysical understanding; one is part storyteller and part mystic, which is how the fakir and wise one's of old actually presented their parables . . . just look at the new Testament or the tales of Buddha; two noted mystics that gathered people around them, not for the sake of a sermon but more than not, the sharing of a story.

We hear the echo "Presentation, Presentation, Presentation" but sometime the presentation goes much further than what we say, it's who and what we present ourselves as being; a mystic isn't going to do card tricks in that no matter what you do with a deck of cards it still translates in the mind of the public as a clever card trick. Ironically, we can get away with certain rope manipulations, using lotta pots and rice bowls and other more primitive apparatus. We can get away with a myriad of psychological applications as well as hypnosis/trance state applications. Most important, what we do when it comes to the effects but take a kind of secondary role; we aren't trying to be a showman but rather a shaman, the effects are meant to be used as punctuation around the "story" we are presenting be it a wonder of the human mind (heart, soul) or something as timeless as the Cups & Balls.

Few performers are willing to do what must be done in order to take this path in that we walk a tight-rope between thespian and charlatan. The thinking behind the work runs contrary to how most of magic & mentalism is taught and encouraged but more so when it comes to subduing the showman so as to create a more humble persona over the show off that we intend to be.

There is very little written on this topic, most of it in the chat rooms and small mentions in the forums but, there is a book being composed at this time that should be out come spring 2015. I can only tell you that the who's who of this tradition are making contributions to it as are several legends from within Bizarre Magick and Mentalism. . . right now we have over a dozen confirmed contributors with at least that many more developing material exclusively for this book. It will set the standards for Urban~Shamanism in much the way Corinda has for Mentalism but so very much more.

Understand, not everyone is able to meet this calling though many share the vision of being able to present magic as "real". Where we can and will help such people, coaching them towards obtaining their vision of being a genuine Wizard of sorts, the stark reality is that the fluidity involved simply is not natural to all nor is the individual's ability to honestly BELIEVE in the idea of MAGICK which actually is requisite even though we are all pragmatists of a sort.

Wow, are there any older books that teach about taking the Shaman approach when performing? This is so interesting.

 

[Craig Browning]

As I mention earlier in this thread, the Urban~Shaman thing is a relatively "new" movement or more correctly, an old idea that has seen tremendous shifts in the past decade via which more and more (mostly younger) people are wanting to capture the way Magick was done in more primitive times; not just the shamanism common to North America but all indigenous peoples and ideologies i.e. "occult" sciences like Qi Gong/Energy Work, Altered Consciousness/Trance Work, Dowsing, the power of Music & Dance (drumming and bowls taking a huge position in this arena) but most importantly there is the art of being a wisdom teacher in the mode of storyteller. Kind of like Aesop and his Fables or for that matter the Parables shared by luminaries like Jesus and Lord Buddha.

Understand, you're not playing a character per ce', you are expressing your personal spiritual/metaphysical understanding about life, purpose, spirit and healing -- you take on the persona of being a genuine mystic, which means that you're not seeking out applause as much as you are "echoes" . . . people that will refer to you and teach others about what they've learned from you. And NO we're not out to become "gurus" we simply "are" is the best way to put it.

I must emphasize the fact that this idea appeals to many but very few seem to grasp the greater idea behind it and are thus, capable of living the life. Celebrity wise I'd suggest that you look at Jeff McBride and Eugene Burger as examples and of course, David Blaine. There are at least 5 people on this forum that are officially a part of the Urban~Shaman fraternity and I'm certain they will share what they can as questions surface.

 

[Dragonfly]

A tricky question this one of turning toward magic that makes a difference - nowadays magic is synonymous with close-up tricks and stage illusions, but there was a time when magic was a powerful force for change. Do any of you folk still practice the art of real magic?

 

[WitchDocIsIn]

Yes.

Also - we don't post on old threads here. This thread is from 2014.