This might be a strange, far off case...But where I had the ephinany of magic skills and everyday life was...beleive it or not...the deliberation on a jury. I had started in card magic about a year before the plesaurable experience of jury duty. I knew some slights very well...but performance was shaky to say the least, i had that wonderful anxiety that every rookie has.
However, in the deliberation room, there were still some peeps on the jury that were undecided if the defendant was guilty, all of the evidence was against him (shoplifting batteries was the charge). But the defendant only had one functioning arm.
Here is how i realized magic to everyday life. The case took about 6 hours to try. In that time period, we had some smoke breaks. During these smoke breaks, i would watch the defendant smoke cigarettes, he was very adept to using only one arm. I also thought I would give it a try. Well it is not really hard to get out a smoke and light it with one hand, but had to try anyway. So back in the deliberation room, it was my turn to speak up about the case. The anxiety was killing me, but then it just clicked in my head. (Performance and crowd control). I started making my point that it was possible for the defandet to easily steal the batteries out of the store. One of the jurors made the comment "he only has one good arm." Yes i said, but have you been outside while he smokes a cigarette? "no" was the answer I got. So, just out of instinct, i grabbed my pack of smokes out of my pocket (one handed), grabbed my lighter, put the smoke in my mouth and made the motion to light it. I told the jurors, "see how easy that was, and I am used to using two hands." Next I asked the one of the jurors to hand me a package of batteries similar to the actual package in question. They handed me the pack of batteres, I said "watch this," very easly (thanks to magic training) i was able to hold the battery package in one hand, spin it around to where i needed it, open the package with one hand, remove the batteries, crumble the package to dispose of it, and put the batteries in my pocket. All under wonderful angle management. Thus proving to the undecided jurors of guilt.
It was amusing, because during the deliberation, the defendant and his lawyer has met with the judge. He admited guilt for a plea bargin. But it was a moment that has stuck with and gave me loads of knolwede in dealing with people, public speaking, props, and situations.
However, in the deliberation room, there were still some peeps on the jury that were undecided if the defendant was guilty, all of the evidence was against him (shoplifting batteries was the charge). But the defendant only had one functioning arm.
Here is how i realized magic to everyday life. The case took about 6 hours to try. In that time period, we had some smoke breaks. During these smoke breaks, i would watch the defendant smoke cigarettes, he was very adept to using only one arm. I also thought I would give it a try. Well it is not really hard to get out a smoke and light it with one hand, but had to try anyway. So back in the deliberation room, it was my turn to speak up about the case. The anxiety was killing me, but then it just clicked in my head. (Performance and crowd control). I started making my point that it was possible for the defandet to easily steal the batteries out of the store. One of the jurors made the comment "he only has one good arm." Yes i said, but have you been outside while he smokes a cigarette? "no" was the answer I got. So, just out of instinct, i grabbed my pack of smokes out of my pocket (one handed), grabbed my lighter, put the smoke in my mouth and made the motion to light it. I told the jurors, "see how easy that was, and I am used to using two hands." Next I asked the one of the jurors to hand me a package of batteries similar to the actual package in question. They handed me the pack of batteres, I said "watch this," very easly (thanks to magic training) i was able to hold the battery package in one hand, spin it around to where i needed it, open the package with one hand, remove the batteries, crumble the package to dispose of it, and put the batteries in my pocket. All under wonderful angle management. Thus proving to the undecided jurors of guilt.
It was amusing, because during the deliberation, the defendant and his lawyer has met with the judge. He admited guilt for a plea bargin. But it was a moment that has stuck with and gave me loads of knolwede in dealing with people, public speaking, props, and situations.