Understanding and Purpose

Slights, they are just tools to me now. Building blocks. Little tricks to get the job done. To use the ACR example I need to bring the card to the top. 3 times. Seeming to be in 3 different ways. Well I do not think about which move I need to do I just do what is needed.

The problem I find is that magicians (well at least my generation from what I have seen) focus on gaining to new trick or slight. That the harder it is means the worse ass. I can say now I am a lazy magician. I find the path of least resistance. Not only because I do not see the need to bust out an epic slight. Also because it is more important to me to handle the cards in a natural way. As in if I was really doing magic, I would have no need to be endlessly cutting and shuffling my cards for seemingly no reason. I wouldn't need to touch the card much really. I set up my trick before the trick. Do the moves while people relax after a trick, until you state that you are ready to start a new trick. That's when they look the hardest. That when a lot I have seen start to start their slights.

Also why wank yourself off in front of people. No really think about what I just said. You are sitting their thinking you are the most epic person when you are meant to be entertaining others. You do that stuff in your own room/house etc. I have read a book of epic hard passes. Now they are all good and it helps me a lot with my passes. The thing is I do not need to do any of them to get the job done. Now I have learned them and I have used them but very rarely but again when it was most natural to use them.

Now there is an art called flourishing which is a different thing all together. Magic is meant to look easy, or at least it’s more an effort of will than dexterity. Magic you are not meant to show bad ass slights (well most of the time) while flourishing or even if you more of a performer who does the card shark thing.

 It is an art like fire spinning; it looks cool, look hard and is impressive.

Everything in a performance, whatever it is. It is a means to an end. Each and every note you play, word you say, the way you move your body needs purpose. Everything has a meaning. 80% of communication is non-verbal. Symbolism, metaphor, body langue all has a meaning if you know the meaning of it or not. If you are not aware of the messages you are selling then it could work against you. For me I work to make my magic to be as close to magic as I can. That's the goal. Now I will never claim to do magic, I will not claim to be psychic but then there is a contradiction. Perform like I am doing magic but claiming not to be. The thing is I want it. I want to say "nah I do not do magic" and people to say otherwise. I want others to claim that there is no way for that to be anything but super-natural.

To give an example. Imagine a performance where I claim to be using body langue to read people, the stuff I do is logical that I could be done with body langue. Then I start doing stuff where body langue would no longer work. The people suspend their disbelief, I state that I started with body langue but I have been using suggestion throughout. That I started with body language as a starting board while I was setting up for suggestion. Now it makes sense again for the people.

Now I done that for the reason that they will no longer question if my stuff gets a bit out of hand from what I said I can do. They will wait to learn again how I am doing it. So the suspension of disbelief will not happen again and will not distract them from the rest of my show. Yes I am setting up for the end of the show when I to do something not explainable. They will not sit there thinking I am patronising them saying I can mind read or on the other side he is just pretending to be a psychology expert when he just bought some really good tricks from a magic store.

Then I start to branch out again doing things that my explanations do not add up with but there is a difference with this time and the first. The first I started to chance what I did but to similar effects, as in impact. Yes the 2nd trick would have more than the first but the 2nd time I do the switch. The second time I the pace sped up. The Impact jumps up instead of increasing in a gradient. I wouldn't go much fast than before but the pace will effect that way. Then to end I would do something crazy (or at least I would hope) that defies all explanation. People "Will ask how the hell did that work" I will reply just some sleight of hand suggestion and reading body language. Some part of them (hopefully) will not be able to take that explanation. Logically they will say it makes sense. "What else could it be" but something inside them (hopefully) will question if I do magic/read minds/ have control over peoples wills.

For the example, the tricks I do not matter, what I say not much. The slights used, again not really. What matters is the impression I wish to give. The goal of the performance. Then you can worry about slights and tricks.

You might end up having to bust out your best slight.

I can do What I Want

This was meant to be a magic blog at first but now I have decided (yes just now) to make it just a blog. I do not separate my ideas into
Magic Concepts
Music Concepts
Digital Art Concepts
Ideas on life in general
etc

They mix into one, where what I learn from one effects the rest. My life experince, my views effect my art (which ever one I do), my way of life and what I do. So to write a blog with my ideas and thoughts on magic means all the rest. This is a place to put tracks on my trains of thought. To make my ideas congruent (because if you understand it, you need to be able to explain something in simple terms to truly get it.)

So yeah I thought I should let you know

Live Life Well Lived

I feel people do not understand what I want to live for.
People must live the lives they really want to live. I do not mean everyone has to become the millionaire they were always wished to be, but it is how they live.

People fall in streams. Streams of culture, society and ones they put themselves in.

We can not allow ourselves to get carried by streams.

School, college, uni then marriage.

Kids, retirement then death.

This is not the life I want.

It sounds trivial, hollow and dreary when said like that. Anything can be when stated bluntly and cold, anything can be simplified until flat and greyed.

I see nothing wrong with a life like that, I have done up to the uni part. I do not plan to do the rest but it is not that I am opposed to the idea.

This would be beautiful life. Each part, school marriage etc can break into many different parts and then parts again. Some parts happy, some sad.

We can not allow ourselves to get carried by streams.

If this is what you want in life then do it and never look back. There is nothing wrong with riding a stream but to be carried by it is another matter. The key point is 'want'. Some people go with the flow and never question what they want. How many people go to college or uni and do not enjoy their time there. Do not connect with the course. Well then it is not for you and you know deep down it is not.

If you were doing for the money or titles then you should have a drive that would keep you going.

If the course is sour but the job would be sweet then that should be enough to keep at it.

The point is you would have direction. You would moan about how bad it can be sometimes but you know why you are there and what it for. Most important what it means to you.

So many people feel lost, they do not know if they have set the right course, if they are doing the right job or feel they should be doing something else. Then you should find what it is your heart is searching for but time and effort that would seem wasted gets in the way. Even though the more time you carry on is even more time and effort wasted.

My next point. The people around me, the one that supports my dreams. I feel they only kind of get it. Maybe I am wrong but things seem to feel lost in the translation.

Maybe because you also need to want it to understand . Just like I get why people care about how they are seen and what people think about them, but not truely.(i care more about people judging me for something I am not or did not do). I have a friend or two that wish to live a life like mine. Not exactly the same but from the same place.

I do not feel there is anything wrong with not wanting to live like I wish to. I do try and sell aspects of it. "You need to go and see this city; they have this event every two years. I really think you would like it". I do not try and ram it down people’s throats mind; I tell people I do think will enjoy it.

This is the point. People need to support people in the way they wish to live. In whatever it is.

"Along as you do not harm others in your actions do what the fuck you want"

- Mental State

This famous quote I found on the net sums it up. From what I get from what it is trying to say is do not be a serial killer, a theif or a really mean person that would make me cry. You will cause others harm but other than that go for what ever you want to. I feel it includes common sense. It doesn't mean you are not allowed dump your partner because they will get hurt. (In my opinion anyhow staying with someone you do not really want to carries more harm)

Everyone should be able to live how they wish without being held back. People should not stop a person nor talk them out of it. Well you can try to talk them out of it in a devils advocated sense. Someone who wants to go and fight in illegal brawls needs to be told about the hurt they can get and what the law would do to them for example. I would for one hate if I had a partner who did such a fight. Because of the risk of real harm. I would talk to them about how I felt, what I thought. If she would still like to crack skulls then instead of nagging her, worrying about her and making my life and hers a bit shit I would either learn to except or leave. Not make her give it up for me (she should have understood the first time I told her how I felt about how serious it was).

Alright I am not here to give dating advice. (My train of thought does not run on tracks). To sum up if you can not live with someone’s dreams, or the way they wish to live there life then maybe you should not be living together.

Life is sad enough already, why not run towards the greener grass?

"Fun, laughter and opportunity doesn't drop on your lap, or when it does it shan’t do it often enough. If you will not find it or create it, then do not expect it."

- Mental State

(Man mental state has some great quotes)

You do not Realise What you Have til its Gone. You do not Realise What you Done til its Over.

We carried on lamely performing to really bored mothers watching their kids having fun. It wasn't like we searched them out. We spent a lot of time in the park near my school and parents took their kids to the park excepting to be the only ones there as it was school hours.
We didn’t really look to find someone to perform for. We just thought that "damn she is bored" and we have something a little bit cool. I also think it was the new influx of street magic. This was the time that david blane was at his height. So for our generation magic is either cheesy, gag like magic to the extremes of spoon, jar spoon (no one can not say that this is not funny). Or the underground and modern cool street magic. where you sweep in and blow some minds and then mysteriously disappear, never to be seen again. (this was more what we felt than the truth)

 News got round to my school about the 2 people who did magic. people challenged us. Not asking to see a bit of sleight of hand but to prove to them that we could do it, or waiting for us to mess up (we did a lot), to take the piss or to prove that we could not trick them.

 So kids got what they wanted and took the piss, some didn't.
 Some changed their tune when we showed are arcane skills paste boards.
 Some made their fingers into crosses to ward against our eldritch energies
Some just wanted to know how we did it

Yes really did have kids who was scared. If you think that’s bad I convinced someone how I did my tricks was sheer force of will. He went home meditating on the idea of money appearing in his pocket. This was years later when I had left school.

We wasn’t that great but I guess we were all young. Then again I still perform the same trick I learned back then. more refined. With more understanding. Knowing how it really works (more than just knowing which slight to do next). They were good tricks. An ACR is an ACR (ambitious card routine (making a card come to the top of the deck as many times and in different ways as needed)). Good staple of a card man. Still as good as it ever will be. I just like to think mine is a little better from then.

My friend would come to me with new tricks and we would learn them. try them on our friends first. If I wanted them to laugh I would do this trick. If I wanted to slap them with surprise then I would do this one

It was just before spring when we started magic. We talked of plans to do street magic and what it would be like to have our own show.
Talked about the magicians we looked up to where we would go to perform

That one decision to pick up cards and go to the street.

If we only knew.

Machine Gun

This may sound pretentions and big headed but I only speak what I think.

People do not know what they want until they have it. My friend had a show. More on that later. Another friend stated that he should not spend time talking but kinda machine gun magic tricks at the people.

Yeah it is true people have come to see magic and so give them what they want and give them lots.

But the rub is quality or quantity. My friend wants to be more than a sleight slinger. He wants to be a performer. More than that he wants to be a showman.

A magic is like the cgi of a movie, the stunts. After a while of seeing it everyone will be bored. How long do you think you can just watch your card be found, someone predicting what you will think of and things disappearing? I could do all 3 of them in different ways but would you like to see it for an hour?

How about a show that shows nearly every trick in the book? Even then after 10, 20? Would you agree you have seen enough magic for one day?

Now I can't think of specific movies at this moment in time (i may edit this to add one or two) but the end fight scene is epic. Not just because this is where the best moves are thrown out but by this time you WANT the hero to win or you know what will happen if he loses. It is more than walking into a random fight in a bar when all you want to do is break it up. If you knew that this was a fight against a great prick who has made a life a misery would you stop it if the offended party was winning?

I have never been in that position and I am not sure if I would step in. What I do know though is I would if the fight went too far. But who hasn't wanted to punch a dick in the face? Who can not say it would feel good?

Emotional context is what makes a show, logical context too. A connection with the audience. Even if that is that they are fucking scared of you. That is still a connection albeit not one I would want with someone myself. Pacing. All these things I just stated sets up the final fight. The fight will become a hyperbole, but a good one which grows in your mind really well because of the fertile ground made by everything that has happen in the movie.

I am side tracking but who cares (i hope you don’t), the point is when you are involved with more than just your eyes, when magic means more than a cool trick. That is when it is powerful.

The machine gun is kinda good if you want someone to blue screen of death. you do not let the rational mind catch up by continuously slapping it. Without the logical part of the brain the emotional part doesn’t know where it is and even if it did it wouldn’t know how it got there. I have to say doing that to someone id funny if a little mean, but 2 things can happen.

1. The logical, bratty part of the brain catches up a little and decided to put a middle finger in the middle of all the fun and games. They will just reject anything that has and will be thrown at them. They have had too much and the mind is putting up a fire wall. Some part of them goes "nah mate, it shouldn’t be" even if they don't what should be, but they will wreck the house looking for it.

It comes from the same places as the questions "how did you do that" but the wonderment way people ask that but the how did you trick me. The places that get cards snatched off you and people throwing challenges at you. Cynicism. The last piece they have left because logic is failing them.

2. The logical icy cold part of the brain comes and they realise that they are foolish as they are just tricks and yes they are good "but stop acting like they are real, it just good tricks". Now they will be resistant to anything else. They have gain enlightenment. In this state they are more likely to see through everything you do. It is like they have been around the world and they are now ready for round two. But this time they are all grown up.

I know I said 2 but I wanted to split the first point into two. so I have they are kinda the same but I don’t care (I don’t hope you do or don’t this time).

3. What comes up should come down. Humans live by contrast. That’s how we see. Contrast in brightness and colour. Something will feel warm if we are cold and visa/versa (I like the phase visa/versa. also the song by fair to midland)

Ok I’m going to try and keep this bit short. If you give people loads and lot and many good it stops having the same affect. Same with bad (depression is the feeling of wanting to do something but feeling trap (I know this a very over simplification but I said I’m going to keep this short)) so depression is different than sadness (yes I know sadness can cause it but they are not the same).

You don’t appreciate what you have until it gone blah blah blah, more saying that fit.

Why do you think the game demon souls is such a popular game concidering it tries it best to kill you as quickly and brutally as possible? Because of the idea that an easy game is a boring game. We need to fail and die, but we need to succeed and win. (sounds like an analogy of life (do not that this as a literal analogy of life). A game to hard will collect dust though. Demon souls does it by instead of "hey here is a puzzle you need to get pass, see the boulders falling? It will kill you so try to get pass them" it goes "MOTHA FUK U DEAD! Now u know there is boulders that will fall on you, the puzzle is how to avoid them"

So you may be thinking (I hope you are or I guess you can skip this bit (well you can read it anyway if you want)) that "dude so after you do a mega thing in a show like drop your best song in a gig, you got to play kinda not so great one" "so you saying I need a shitty chapter in my short just before the best one?"

Well kinda, most stories fuck up the hero just before he saves the day. All his plans have failed. His girl gone. Seems that there villain has won. His ship/car/time machine is broken and he has to walk. Then he wins (sounds a bit crap but that is the last part of a lot of moives and I am trying to keep it short)

After you played you fan fav song, the one on the radio etc you pull out a slow song and change the mood.

The contrast doesn’t have to be good bad. it can be slow fast. Funny serious. High energy and low.

Good way to test it is watch a whole series of Dynamo. After the 4th no matter how magical it is because he does some crazy stuff (hanging off a bus with just your arm crazy). It will not make as much of an impression because you have reached your high and staying there because the new neutral after a while

Oh and I am not saying there are not problems with talking for a while the trick and another talk. Balance is the key and this post is long enough already I will deal with it another time.

People do not really know what they want. They think they want good times, good times but you need to slap them in the face and make them cry to have them enjoy the good time more. Spread a little bit of sadness. It’s the kind thing to do.