ONE
Many years ago, I attended a lecture by Michael Close. I believe it was the last tour before he and his family moved to Toronto, Ontario, Canada. While he shared many great effects, one thing he said that has stuck with me is that each of us needs to define what magic is to us. Our personal definition, I believe, is our north star in selecting our material, finding our performance persona, and our approach to magic.
It took me many iterations to arrive at mine but during that time, I collected many definitions by others. Here is one that you may have missed in perusing the volumes of Tarbell:
“Magic is not tricks. Tricks in themselves are not more than puzzles. A trick becomes a mystery, a thing of enjoyment to the beholder, only in proportion to the degree of dramatic interest with which it is endowed by its exhibitor.”
Fred Keating, “Magic As Theatre” Tarbell 6
Don’t worry – I will be sharing mine at some point in this on-going series.
