Jason,
I've always felt the easiest (and most logical) way to present card magic is by using gambling cheat/sleight of hand hooks and stories. I've found it always engages the audience and gives them a feeling of peeking behind the curtain even though you're leading them down the garden path and not exposing anything.
As a student of sleight of hand with cards and especially gambling moves do you always present card "magic" (as opposed to standard poker deal demos) in this way or do you mix it with a Paul Harris-esque treating the cards almost as if they were living things, or with a comedy twist like Bill Malone or Jay Sankey?
I sometimes feel like no matter how flawless the sleight of hand and how amazing the effect the spectator will always place it in the "I don't know how he did it but I know it was sleight of hand" box. Which somewhat limits the strength of the magic you can do with a pack of cards.
Would love to hear your thoughts on this....
Phil
Phil,
I don't care what the spectator thinks of my magic in an intellectual way. I'm after emotional impact, not logical or intellectual conviction. Darwin Ortiz disucsses this at length in his
Strong Magic.
Just like Steven Spielberg isn't trying to convince you that dinosaurs are real or that aliens have landed, I'm not trying to convince anyone that what they're seeing is real magic.
Of course, by "convince" I'm referring to intellectual conviction. I definitely want emotional conviction, i.e. that moment of astonishment or wonder. Similarly, Spielberg wants terror, or drama, or humor, or awe, or whatever. I occasionally want these things too, which is why I (and other performers) inject humor or dramatic tension, etc, into our routines.
If you think these things aren't separate, you're crazy. Ever been scared in a movie? Why? Your intellect "knew" the situation wasn't real, but your emotions reacted as if it were. Likewise with humor, dramatic tension, sadness, etc. Our immediate emotional responses to a theatrical input are separate from our intellectual reactions and analysis abilities. The intellect will catch up in a bit, but the emotions typically react first to a theatrical stimulus.
Consequently, I "shoot to kill" in the moment when I'm performing, and I hope I get them right where it counts, in the emotions. The primary emotion I'm gunning for (and most magicians are gunning for) is wonder or astonishment. Later, during the drive home, I don't really care if they figure it out or not, anymore than Spielberg cares if they begin discussing the acting, the special effects, etc.
I already had 'em when (and where) it counted the most.
I hate it when amateur magicians prattle on about "real magic" and how being a sleight-of-hand expert "lowers the impact" when they perform. Every time I hear that I just smile and shake my head, knowing that they have no idea what they're talking about. Incidentally, they are almost invariably NOT sleight-of-hand experts themselves, and I often suspect they justify not being so with this line of ridiculous reasoning. Just my experience.
Don't be that guy.
Jason