Illusion may not carry the same aura of fascination that is inherent in “magic” as a concept, but if you happen to really make it work, and are really good at it, then you can still impress people with what you are capable of. As much as anything else, good illusion is about “selling” the trick – making it appear that you are seeing the same thing that the audience are seeing, and keeping an air of mystery about it. There are various ways to sell a […]
Read moreAlthough anyone with an appreciation for the author’s craft would have to be in a supremely bad mood to deny the quality of the Harry Potter books, you could forgive someone for being a little bad tempered over the fact that people seem to relate every book about witches and wizards back to them. Witches and wizards have been present in literature since long before JK Rowling put pen to paper, and will continue to be so. Shakespeare himself uses three witches to compelling effect in perhaps […]
Read morePart of the difficulty of being a stage magician in this day and age comes from the impossibility of living up to magical phenomena as seen in popular culture. Non-illusionists can only imagine how difficult it was to be a stage magician in the aftermath of the Harry Potter books and movies, as people are likely to be less impressed by a simple card trick when they have seen or read about a person making themselves invisible. Magic entertains us. JK Rowling has done a particularly good […]
Read moreHalf the time, when we use the word magic, we are not actually referring to anything with magical properties but rather something that is an illusion or singularly impressive. A very gifted sports player might often be referred to as having magical feet or hands, when what they really have is a specific gift for the game. This much is not news to anyone, but what is interesting is how the word “magic” has come to be used so regularly for things that are impressive. The idea […]
Read moreIf you are planning to perform illusionist tricks, there is only so much you can do just using sleight of hand. Items borrowed from audience members and simple stage accoutrements can get you some of the way, but the audience will expect certain stalwart parts of the show which can only be achieved with the use of some props. The old image of the magician wearing a cape and a hat has gone out of fashion in recent years, but there is still room for both in […]
Read moreIf you want to impress people with magic, or illusion, you need to make sure that you draw their attention in a way which makes the trick all the more individual. Being an illusionist of average talent is not all that difficult – enough practice and we could all perform certain tricks. It is how you hide and mask the tricks that really makes the show. The author Sir Terry Pratchett has created a certain number of characters who are witches, and who have special supernatural powers […]
Read morePerforming magic – or illusion – is really about more than just the trick that you do. There are certain magic tricks which, with the right amount of practice, we could all perform relatively easily. However, making a magic show is about a lot more than that. To really make it fly, you’ve got to be a showman as well. This should not be taken as being a notice that to be a proper magician you need to wear a cape and a funny hat. In reality, […]
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Magic, for some people, will always be a good way of explaining the seemingly unexplainable. At least, there will always be an impulse to put these things down to supernatural forces. There may be countless more believable explanations if one looks deep enough and if one has the full facts at hand, but for the sake of brevity, magic or illusion are always mentioned at such times. For instance, is “mind-reading” or any other “psychic” trick magic? Being able to tell what someone is thinking may be […]
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When you are a child, one question that you are sure to be asked is “Do you believe in magic?”. You are almost conditioned from that point to not believe in it, because answering “yes” is more likely to result in the mockery of older children than it is to bring any positive results. After a certain time, we are not going to believe in magic no matter how much we want to. And this is an important factor – surely we would all like to believe […]
Read moreIt is often felt that the best possible punishment for a bad illusionist would be to send them back in time to the Salem witch trials or any other historical arena in which witches and wizards were subjected to harsh punishment. Indeed, there was a time when people who showed anything that could be interpreted as “magical powers” were burned, drowned or otherwise subjected to a horrible death. Fast forward to the present day and magicians are legitimate family entertainment. And the more we come to know, […]
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