Creating Magic

One of the great benefits of being a full-time professional magician is being able to meet with other top-notch magicians to talk shop.

Yesterday, a very talented magician from London was passing through Colorado. So I met him in Denver, at the bus station, yesterday afternoon and was able to spend several hours with him (and a few other magicians from around town) talking about the business and also watching him perform.

I was struck by how “magical” his magic looked. Upon analyzing his magic, I realized that his greatest gift is his ability to recognize the awkward or unclean moments, and to seek out ways to fix them. He had a keen eye for what looked natural. As a result his magic looked effortless — as if the magic just happened.

In many cases it didn’t require large changes or Herculean efforts. What he had done was taken simple maneuvers — albeit maneuvers with tiny flaws or uneven bits — and polished them until he could perform them, “in such a manner that the most critical observer would not even suspect, let alone detect, the action.” (Quotation from the mysterious author of “Expert at the Card Table,” S.W. Erdnase.)

All too often magicians are satisfied with executing their secret maneuvers with competence. That is, doing the move well enough. Although doing “well enough” might still earn the applause, it doesn’t necessarily rise to the level of being magical. Audiences may applaud your dexterity and they may even be amazed at the outcome, but if they suspect that we’ve engaged in some chicanery, if they suspect that there may have been some funny business, then we’ve fallen short of the mark. Creating magic comes from mastering the details.