Studying the Eight Limbs of the Yoga Sutras, it became clear that while they are guides for living, they fit with our work as magicians.
Magic is one of those words that we all assume we understand. However, all one has to do is review the literature of performance magic to see our struggle and the complexity. It’s one of the reasons I have collected definitions from a large variety of magicians.
“Magic consists of creating, by misdirection of the senses, the mental impression of supernatural agency at work. That, and only that, is what modern magic really is, and that meaning alone is assignable to the term.”
~ J.N. Maskelyne, Our Magic, 1911
There is the idea of magic as being a “moment of astonishment” of Paul Harris’s. In his opening essay in The Art of Astonishment, Paul states that magic is “the experience of astonishment of clear, primal mind they associate with a child’s mind. Astonishment is not an emotion that’s created. It’s an existing state that’s revealed. In a nutshell, you’re using magical illusions to dissolve cultural illusions in order to experience a moment of something real.” Harris considers the role of the magician to be an “astonishment guide.”
Reading these attempts and specifically Harris’ work, I believe that that magic is pointing to something beyond itself. Performance magic is magic about magic.
In my own work, I define magic as the co-creation of astonishment. It is that moment of joy that causes us to pause, to smile, to be surprised and, astonished. It is a oneness between the performance and the participants. As conjurers, it is a joining and a union with our collaborators, participants and co-spirators to bring forth these moments of magic.
Co-spirators best describe audience members for me. Spirator has its roots in inspiration and spirit which in turn have their roots in “spirare” meaning to breathe. Breath is a key element in the path of yoga and meditation. The prefix, co, means with, together, or jointly. The thought of my audience and I breathing together to create magic appeals to me.
I believe that magic happens in the relational space. As Tommy Wonder stated, “…magic is not a material thing, it can only exist in performance.” Let me add that magic that exists in your head, bookshelf or prop drawer is only mental flotsam and items collecting dust. Magic is co-created in performance with an audience of participants.
As magicians, we extend an invitation to enter this magical space. The audience may accept or decline this invitation anywhere along the continuum of the relationship between the performer and them.
Like yoga, magic is a practice and an experience. As magicians, we practice and rehearse our effects and acts. In performance we co-spire to co-create the experience. Like yoga, magic is both a path and a goal.
“Magic is not tricks. It is a way.”
Tenkai Ishida (Quoted by Eugene Burger, Growing in the Art of Magic)
