Fredrick
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Astonishment Is Our Natural State Of Mind
In the December 1996 edition of Genii magazine, the cover featured Paul Harris. Paul has been instrumental in changing the state of close-up magic since the mid 1970’s. I wasn’t aware of him until the early 80’s after the release of Close-up Entertainer and Las Vegas Close-up. Since 1984 and the publication of Close-up Seductions,… Continue reading
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Digital Loss: Another View
In February I wrote about some loss of content that I experienced. It was a CD from the Miracle Factory that contained a collection of Annemann writings. I believe a lot of it ended up in the Annemann book that was later released. However the contents I had was unavailable due to bit rot –… Continue reading
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Here Today
Having nothing in particular to read last evening, I spent some time reading past issues of Genii magazine. A review in the final Kaufman issue sent me back to the feature a decade ago on Lubor Fiedler. While searching the archives, I spotted a cover story on Jared Kopf. Each thread led to another. No… Continue reading
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Question Our Conditioning
In 1995, Hermetic Press published what ended up being a controversial book, Magic and Meaning. I don’t believe it was intended to be controversial by either the publisher nor the authors, Eugene Burger and Robert E. Neale. It was an extension of conversations that the authors had during their time together at the Mystery School… Continue reading
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Black Friday and Other Reflections
Well, we’ve survived another Black Friday week. My thoughts about the shopping extravaganza haven’t changed since last year’s post. Once autumn arrives, it’s best to hold off purchasing any magic items as some are offering great discounts or free stuff. Two items caught my attention; although I didn’t purchase either as I’m in the process… Continue reading
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The Persistent Myth of Learning Styles
It was probably in the mid-90’s that I first heard about learning styles. I was early in my time in the training and development department of a large nonprofit foundation. Our manager at the time introduced us to the idea of learning styles at a team retreat. Like everyone else, I went along with it.… Continue reading
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Performing for People
While digesting this material, it is important not to become burdened with your knowledge of the method—it is vital that you perceive it through the eyes and mind of a layman (don’t think about what you are actually doing; concentrate on what an audience is thinking). I say this because magicians have a tendency to… Continue reading