Introduction
Anybody ever see Room 401 on MTV? Kind of a magician's candid camera, if you haven't - random targets being subjected to magic, but in a more "horror-genre" sense. It's all special effects, illusions, and magic, and featured a few classics like the torn and restored newspaper, levitation, and dropping one's head into one's arms (performed by Mr. Cyril, no less!). The spectators don't know they're filmed or that magical creepiness is about to occur. Most of the time, they accept it at face value: supernatural weirdness. And they react as such.
Usually a torn and restored newspaper gets polite applause. Here, the girl spec. is wrapped up in the impossibility of the restoration, and the visible obituary of the guerilla magician performing. She is freaked out, moved to another level.
It's probably the most honest performance of magic I've seen in a while. I've always said that about impromptu street theater.
I think, anytime the spectator ISN'T aware you're going to do magic, that the reactions usually increase tenfold. (Not always - depends on the spec., the trick, presentation, etc.) If they know you're a magician, then they're expecting it. In this scenario, it is a spontaneous moment of weird, in the truest sense.
Before I continue, let me explain my purpose here: to discuss a different method of presentation for magic, one where the audience is not aware you're a magician until afterwards, or maybe even not at all. This is not me saying a particular style is better than another, or that a magicians reactions and talent are in anyway inferior or superior by using this method. No, all this is, is discussion and theory of a (as far as I know) relatively new idea for presentation. The only discussion I hope to raise is the pros & cons of such an idea AS IT RELATES TO ITSELF, not to other genres of magic, as well as ideas, theories, and constructive criticism.
Obviously, such a style isn't for everyone. It's very unorthodox, brief, and isn't "traditional entertainment" so much as "infusing daily culture with magic and the supernatural". There's no show, just odd theater.
So here's a definition to work with, to put everyone on the same page: performing magic without letting the audience know a performance is going on or that you are a performer. And not even in a scary way, like Room 401 - just with appropriate effects. To the audience, it appears as a freaky or supernatural event. The truth may or may not be revealed afterwards. The point of such an approach is to frame the magic in a unique way that is typically lost with modern magic. To make the act feel more personal and authentic to the spectator, instead of hinting trickery by announcing your profession (or at least, waiting for the moment of astonishment to pass before you do).
Some may consider this approach unethical. However, this is purely for entertainment, the way any hidden camera show would be. And you wouldn't flat out say, "I have special powers!" - you would let the audience infer whatever they wanted. It is a form of performance art, just like magic itself. Those still taking offense to the notion could always inform the audience afterward that it was magic, and only entertainment.
The reason I like this approach is because of the acting, theater, and storytelling potential, as well as the immersion for the spectator, who is no longer watching a show, but involved in a miracle. It allows for unusual performances and creativity, as well as unique reactions. (Imagine Fraud this way - someone gives you change for a 5, and you remark that one of the bills feels... "wet", or "odd". You then do the trick and return the dollar, refusing to touch it again.)
Any levitation or PK movement works wonders here. Mentalism, too. Imagine complaining about the additives in bottled water versus tap, then doing Sean Field's Tatste-icular. Or going nuts with an M5 in a public place.
I think such a method can intensify astonishment, because for that moment, there's NO answer, not even, "Well, he IS a magician."
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Reactions, Philosophy, and Goals
Another big thing is, again, that this is not a show - this is a spontaneous infusing of magic into daily culture. You do something that shocks, astonishes, or scares someone, following through with appropriate presentation, and you are gone. There is not much publicity or fame in this - you are doing it just for magic's sake. You're spreading magic to entertain, without any recognition and with a limited trick base. It's like writing a novel you can't stick your name on, or performing music in a garage somewhere without ever being able to perform live on stage. Some magicians don't want that - in fact, most don't. Most want the show, the audience, and the recognition. And not even to be arrogant or for the fame - no, it's completely understandable. They want to be the entertainer magic calls for, and are following the art as it most commonly requests. Some even make a living off of this, and NEED the show, the audience, the recognition, and for them, such an idea I've proposed would most likely be disaster.
Me, on the other hand... the show isn't what I want to do with magic. Okay, maybe a show or two (where else am I going to show off my, albeit limited, coin work? =P). But for the most part, I want to find that primal reaction most magicians strive for. You know, the whole "astonish the spectator and change their reality / their life" gets thrown around a LOT these days, and usually very lightly. I've seen EXTREMELY few magicians who can actually do that, yet thousands who CLAIM to be able to. Some magicians don't even care about doing that, they just repeat it verbatim because it's what we're supposed to want to do.
I do magic first and foremost because it's fun. I do it for me, first, my own personal fun, because if I'm not having fun, I really don't care what the spectators think. Secondly, I do it for the audience. If I'm having fun, I don't mind throwing the spotlight on them, because I get my kicks in the performance and the deception. I don't think anything I could ever do would honestly shift someone's paradigm, but what I probably can do is help someone rediscover wonder, and I truly, genuinely believe it is a concept we've lost as a society. I want to astonish others not because I enjoy the freakout, but because I socially and emotionally support the concept of imagination and wonder, and I think without them, we are a dead and meaningless society. These tricks might not make anyone "inspired", but it can make them feel what it's like to accept a world where ANYTHING is possible, not the world where everyone else dictates what's possible.
Also? Sometimes magic can just make people's days better. Seeing something cool makes you smile.
So many magicians say they want to bring astonishment to the audience, but they don't know why. It's just a cool thought, that something you can do can literally alter lives. But probably, that's not going to happen. What you can do, though, is get a reaction - make someone laugh, make them stare in amazement, make then run away across the street, make them want to become a magician - whatever. For most people, that genuine reaction of awe may be the most cathartic thing they'll feel in a life where most people try to suppress it.
So, I don't mind forsaking a traditional show to create some random act of freakiness for a stranger. They'll keep that event in mind, it'll wake them up from the normal day-to-day routine, and with further prodding, maybe they'll let imagination back in (maybe not all people are like this. But I'm biased, because most people I meet are).
Before I delve further, what are everyone's thoughts regarding this?
Anybody ever see Room 401 on MTV? Kind of a magician's candid camera, if you haven't - random targets being subjected to magic, but in a more "horror-genre" sense. It's all special effects, illusions, and magic, and featured a few classics like the torn and restored newspaper, levitation, and dropping one's head into one's arms (performed by Mr. Cyril, no less!). The spectators don't know they're filmed or that magical creepiness is about to occur. Most of the time, they accept it at face value: supernatural weirdness. And they react as such.
Usually a torn and restored newspaper gets polite applause. Here, the girl spec. is wrapped up in the impossibility of the restoration, and the visible obituary of the guerilla magician performing. She is freaked out, moved to another level.
It's probably the most honest performance of magic I've seen in a while. I've always said that about impromptu street theater.
I think, anytime the spectator ISN'T aware you're going to do magic, that the reactions usually increase tenfold. (Not always - depends on the spec., the trick, presentation, etc.) If they know you're a magician, then they're expecting it. In this scenario, it is a spontaneous moment of weird, in the truest sense.
Before I continue, let me explain my purpose here: to discuss a different method of presentation for magic, one where the audience is not aware you're a magician until afterwards, or maybe even not at all. This is not me saying a particular style is better than another, or that a magicians reactions and talent are in anyway inferior or superior by using this method. No, all this is, is discussion and theory of a (as far as I know) relatively new idea for presentation. The only discussion I hope to raise is the pros & cons of such an idea AS IT RELATES TO ITSELF, not to other genres of magic, as well as ideas, theories, and constructive criticism.
Obviously, such a style isn't for everyone. It's very unorthodox, brief, and isn't "traditional entertainment" so much as "infusing daily culture with magic and the supernatural". There's no show, just odd theater.
So here's a definition to work with, to put everyone on the same page: performing magic without letting the audience know a performance is going on or that you are a performer. And not even in a scary way, like Room 401 - just with appropriate effects. To the audience, it appears as a freaky or supernatural event. The truth may or may not be revealed afterwards. The point of such an approach is to frame the magic in a unique way that is typically lost with modern magic. To make the act feel more personal and authentic to the spectator, instead of hinting trickery by announcing your profession (or at least, waiting for the moment of astonishment to pass before you do).
Some may consider this approach unethical. However, this is purely for entertainment, the way any hidden camera show would be. And you wouldn't flat out say, "I have special powers!" - you would let the audience infer whatever they wanted. It is a form of performance art, just like magic itself. Those still taking offense to the notion could always inform the audience afterward that it was magic, and only entertainment.
The reason I like this approach is because of the acting, theater, and storytelling potential, as well as the immersion for the spectator, who is no longer watching a show, but involved in a miracle. It allows for unusual performances and creativity, as well as unique reactions. (Imagine Fraud this way - someone gives you change for a 5, and you remark that one of the bills feels... "wet", or "odd". You then do the trick and return the dollar, refusing to touch it again.)
Any levitation or PK movement works wonders here. Mentalism, too. Imagine complaining about the additives in bottled water versus tap, then doing Sean Field's Tatste-icular. Or going nuts with an M5 in a public place.
I think such a method can intensify astonishment, because for that moment, there's NO answer, not even, "Well, he IS a magician."
+++
Reactions, Philosophy, and Goals
Another big thing is, again, that this is not a show - this is a spontaneous infusing of magic into daily culture. You do something that shocks, astonishes, or scares someone, following through with appropriate presentation, and you are gone. There is not much publicity or fame in this - you are doing it just for magic's sake. You're spreading magic to entertain, without any recognition and with a limited trick base. It's like writing a novel you can't stick your name on, or performing music in a garage somewhere without ever being able to perform live on stage. Some magicians don't want that - in fact, most don't. Most want the show, the audience, and the recognition. And not even to be arrogant or for the fame - no, it's completely understandable. They want to be the entertainer magic calls for, and are following the art as it most commonly requests. Some even make a living off of this, and NEED the show, the audience, the recognition, and for them, such an idea I've proposed would most likely be disaster.
Me, on the other hand... the show isn't what I want to do with magic. Okay, maybe a show or two (where else am I going to show off my, albeit limited, coin work? =P). But for the most part, I want to find that primal reaction most magicians strive for. You know, the whole "astonish the spectator and change their reality / their life" gets thrown around a LOT these days, and usually very lightly. I've seen EXTREMELY few magicians who can actually do that, yet thousands who CLAIM to be able to. Some magicians don't even care about doing that, they just repeat it verbatim because it's what we're supposed to want to do.
I do magic first and foremost because it's fun. I do it for me, first, my own personal fun, because if I'm not having fun, I really don't care what the spectators think. Secondly, I do it for the audience. If I'm having fun, I don't mind throwing the spotlight on them, because I get my kicks in the performance and the deception. I don't think anything I could ever do would honestly shift someone's paradigm, but what I probably can do is help someone rediscover wonder, and I truly, genuinely believe it is a concept we've lost as a society. I want to astonish others not because I enjoy the freakout, but because I socially and emotionally support the concept of imagination and wonder, and I think without them, we are a dead and meaningless society. These tricks might not make anyone "inspired", but it can make them feel what it's like to accept a world where ANYTHING is possible, not the world where everyone else dictates what's possible.
Also? Sometimes magic can just make people's days better. Seeing something cool makes you smile.
So many magicians say they want to bring astonishment to the audience, but they don't know why. It's just a cool thought, that something you can do can literally alter lives. But probably, that's not going to happen. What you can do, though, is get a reaction - make someone laugh, make them stare in amazement, make then run away across the street, make them want to become a magician - whatever. For most people, that genuine reaction of awe may be the most cathartic thing they'll feel in a life where most people try to suppress it.
So, I don't mind forsaking a traditional show to create some random act of freakiness for a stranger. They'll keep that event in mind, it'll wake them up from the normal day-to-day routine, and with further prodding, maybe they'll let imagination back in (maybe not all people are like this. But I'm biased, because most people I meet are).
Before I delve further, what are everyone's thoughts regarding this?
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Reading it makes me want to go out and get some non-card effects, though.
