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How To Learn Magic

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HOW TO LEARN MAGIC Magicdom’s best kept secret is “How “How does one learn to be a magician?” magician?” It’s actually pretty simple: you have to teach yourself to teach yourself! Some ways to teach yourself to teach yourself is the subject of this essay. BACKGROUND I recently attended a Michael Close lecture, and he used many parallels between music and magic to illustrate his ideas. ideas. Being somewhat interested in in music myself, and having independently independently noted many parallels between these performance arts, I found inspiration for this essay in a book  called “Blues Guitar Inside and Out”, by Richard Daniels (Cherry Lane Music 13 th Edition 1995). In the book, a wise old Sage teaches a young young upstart all about the blues: blues: history of the various types of blues, the pentatonic scales, chordal structure, chord and scale substitutions, and so forth. Once the student has begun to grasp the fundamentals, the Sage then introduces the student to a huge collection of classic classic blues albums. The Sage wisely explains that that all you need to learn the the  blues is on these records, but you have to teach yourself to teach yourself through repeated listenings, experimentation on the guitar, and playing along with the records. So, what’s this have have to do with with magic? Here are some ideas. STUDY THE CLASSICS During one of many close-up sessions at the World Magic Seminar in Las Vegas, March 1999, Roger Klause pointed pointed out: “…we stand on the the shoulders of giants…” Each of use must discover  in our own way the meaning of this statement, but for me it means repeated study of the classics of our Art: The Amateur Magicians Handbook, Greater Magic, The Tarbell Course, and so forth. By studying the classics we can develop our appreciation of evolutionary thinking in magic, develop our own presentational ideas, and master our theoretical understanding of the fundamentals of magic. Eugene Burger has a similar concept concept in mind when he reminds his students to read one magic book published before they were born for each modern book that they read. Isn’t it interesting that that Roger and Eugene are both considered considered well respected teachers teachers of  magic? LEARN FROM THE STREETS Blues guitarists and rock guitarists guitarists have one trait in common: common: few have had any formal musical training. The songs, chord progressions, progressions, and signature “licks” “licks” have been picked up through through a combination of repeated listening of recordings, jam sessions with friends, and performance in front of an audience. Here’s a paraphrasing of a section of interview of BB King, which which I watched on public television several years ago: Commentator: Mr. King, how did you learn how to play such great solos spontaeously? BB King: Well, after 25 years of practice, it is all spontaenous! Magic is a performing art, and in order to develop our own performing style we must perform in front of real people. You will find that your your confidence will soar, your your natural personality will will emerge, and you will develop a wonderful inner sense of misdirective techniques the more you  perform. By paying attention to your audience—listening and interacting with them, you’ll obtain the feedback you need to continue to grow as a performer. Let’s not forget the importance of sessions with our peers, where we develop concepts, learn f rom others, and try new things in front of a forgiving audience. FIND YOURSELF A TEACHER  A good teacher’s greatest gift is NOT to teach, but instead to cause you to learn. I’ve taken guitar  lessons from self-taught musicians and have found that their energy, enthusiasm, and ear for  music are infectious and have caused me to spend many hours trying to figure out the riffs to “Sweet Home Alabama” or “Taking Care of Business”. I often had the experience in high school to learn a new rock song from a class mate who had already taken the time to “figure it out”. We each need to find our own magic teachers, and in this wired world of fax machines, e-mails, and chat rooms the opportunity for regular feedback is always there. Teachers do not need to be face to face, they can merely be inspiring—remember—they cause you to learn. Examples of  lessons learned from my own teachers are as follows. These are the lessons I am learning—  others will learn other lessons from these very same teachers. • • • • Jon Racherbaumer rarely points me to the exact book needed to answer a magical question. Instead, he suggests a general type of reference, or author, thus encouraging me to explore on my own and to unearth my own magical treasures from our literature. I’ve noted the slow, deliberate style of Roger Klause and Allen Okawa and am trying to capture some of their personality in my own work. As Dai Vernon said: confusion is not magic Eugene Burger encourages us to find presentational ideas from sources outside of our magical literature. In addition to staying in touch with current events and popular culture, I’m currently reading a book on Eastern Philosophy, one on wicca, and a collection of Martin Gardner essays on physical and social sciences. What an interesting web this will weave! Paul Harris has taught me to look for motivation and the emotional hook behind our effects, even if taken from a somewhat distorted view of our world. Why should we care? Art in unique in that in can trigger a range of emotions. For magic, we are trying to stimulate an experience of magic: that slack-jawed, wide-eyed feeling of amazement and suspension of belief that we have all felt. I have found four wonderful texts for those interested in further reading. There are many others, but these are some of my favorites. Sadly, the first two are out of print but worth the search to find. I’ve just purchased the Burger book and have read it once so far. The final book I found in the Art section of my local Barnes and Noble. I think it was mis-shelved as it really belongs in the Philosophy section. Strong Magic (Darwin Ortiz) The Magic Way (Juan Tamariz) The Experience of Magic (Eugene Burger) The Principles of Art (R. G. Collingwood) Allen Martin Sugar Land, Texas December 19, 1999