With the completion of the trilogy of posthumous books of Eugene Burger material by Lawrence Hass, the book which would be his final may be overlooked and, perhaps, forgotten. Teaching Magic: A Book for Students and Teachers of the Art (Theory and Art of Magic Press, 2017) is a small volume – only about 175 pages and smaller in size compared to the books Eugene published through Kaufman and Company. More in line with his classic work with Robert E. Neale, Magic and Meaning (Hermetic Press, 1995).
The first section of the book is the main essay, Reflections on Teaching and Learning. According to the Introduction, the essay was written in 2016 after many years of thought and rumination. If you’ve spent time with Eugene, attended his lectures, and read his other books or watched his videos, the essay beautifully summarized his philosophy of teaching and learning magic. Eugene was kind yet challenging teacher and not afraid of showing “tough love” – something I learned after my performance many years ago at a Masterclass.
Section two is a collection of essays written by Eugene and a few by Hass. Most are drawn from the Magic and Mystery School’s Museletter or the school’s Monday night web-based broadcast. These are nice, however, they felt like padding to justify the hardcover price.
Section three are performance pieces pulled from Eugene’s repertoire. Many will be surprised to find two coin effects. Both need to be performed sitting. Don’t worry as there’s a few card effects too. My favorite is his final work on the Grant Slow Motion Bill Transposition. This was an effect that Eugene returned to throughout his career. It was always in his wallet ready to go.
The fourth and final section is a collection of questions from Eugene’s friends and students. Each answered with Eugene’s usual thoughtfulness.
While this isn’t my favorite of his books, I’m glad that it was published. I suppose if I had my way, it would have been the first and third sections in the format of the booklets that Eugene published in the 1980’s. However I might be being nostalgic.
