Fredrick Turner

When I see performances of magic, my questions to the magicians are two:

Who are you?
What do you care about?

Sometimes I am asking because I have received no clues other than that they watch Jeff McBride and read magic catalogs or magazines. And sometimes they find the questions difficult to answer. I do not have to ask Jeff McBride, Eugene Burger and Max Maven, because their performances do present who they are and what they care about. But it is fun to ask them anyway, because they can illuminate themselves and their magic further.

Many more questions are possible:

Where do you see magic occurring in the daily lives of people you know? How and why does it occur?
Where do you experience magic occurring in your own daily life? How and why does it occur? Where do you suspect that it might occur in your life, unknown to you?
How is the magic you experience in your life the same or different from a magic trick? From being fooled?
Does your performance of magic reflect and communicate what you really care about? Should it? Why or why not?
Does your performance of magic reflect and communicate what your audience really cares about? Should it? Why or why not?
Oh yes, how do you understand the above questions as being or not being about a philosophy of life, faith, religion and spirituality?

Robert E Neale, This is Not a Book, Hermetic Press, 2008