This Week's Mysterium: Why Am I Here?

[Justin.Morris]

A fantastic read this week:http://www.theory11.com/news/mysterium-why-am-i-here/#more-4072

One part I thought was particularly articulate was his observation on what we are trying to specifically accomplish and differentiating long term versus short term belief. I very much agree.

"the audience feels that what they’ve just seen has no explanation. That’s my goal.

It’s important to point out that neither I, nor most filmmakers are after any sort of intellectual belief from their audiences. Steven Spielberg isn’t trying to actually convince you that an alien has been stranded in a Southern California backyard or that there’s an island in the Pacific that’s populated by genetically cloned dinosaurs. What he is after is emotional belief that those things exist, for the duration of the film. Spielberg doesn’t care if you settle down and “realize” that dinosaurs are long extinct after the movie, as long as they frightened, thrilled and amazed you during the movie."

Fantastic. I try to seek magic that has few/hidden moves and very little process because I want them to have nothing left to attribute the magic to.

What did you take away from this week's article?

 

[Delusional]

Absolutely incredible article. Jason has really hit the nail on the head with this.

 

[JokerZingo]

Yea! All the articles been incredible so far Jason has a knowledge like no other. I liked this weeks article, However I think last weeks topic was abit more intressting but its probably because I love playing black jack ^.^ but this weeks article was still very enjoyable and intressting and things to have in mind when I do my show this weekend =)

 

[4ofClubs]

A fantastic article, as anything Jason England gets his hands on tends to be. It really got me thinking, and while I posted this under a separate heading, the Mysterium article was what got me thinking about these things, so I am going to re-post it here.

"So I have a dilemma. As magicians, we seek to present illusions that come nearer and nearer to reflecting impossible events. Effects that are highly visual, have only a brief procedure, and involve no unnatural movements are among the most sought after. In all that we do, we are attempting to construct the best imitation we can of an impossible event.

We learn a basic color change, like the Erdnase. And maybe we are happy with that for a while. Then we find something that is a bit better, less suspicious looking, more visually pronounced (say, ego change). Then the snap change. Whatever the progression, we are trying to move in stronger and stronger directions, moves that hide less from the spectators or give them less of a reason to doubt.

Here's an effect. I hold up the Queen of Spades. Without moving the card, the picture swirls and changes color, twisting and morphing into the Ace of Hearts. The whole time, the card is completely in view, and there are moments when both the Queen and the Ace are visible. In fact, all of this can happen in the spectators hands. This can be done with a regular deck of cards and is fully examinable.

Unfortunately, I don't have a method for this effect yet. Probably because it is impossible. We have to cheat to chase the impossible, and every way that we do moves us a little bit farther away from the illusion we are trying to present. Helder talks about Magic as a reflection of the impossible, but the only way we can do that is by warping the image slightly.

So the dilemma is this. We are constantly striving towards the ideal method that best simulates the impossible reality we are trying to present. We can get close to that, but we can never reach it. Is this Magical Xeno's Paradox why we do what we do, or is it a promise of frustration and disappoint at our inability to actually achieve what we are striving for?"