Until November...
/I’ll start today with a couple of sites you might want to look at for presentational embellishments. When it comes to interweaving your magic with the real world, a legit website can be a good starting point. Then you slowly transition from this real site/real concept into something unbelievable.
Now, to be clear, my goal isn’t to “fool” people by making them think we’re talking about something real, and then have it turn into a trick. It’s actually kind of the opposite of that. I want them to know a trick is coming but have it start in a way that feels very grounded and real.
Imagine I said to you, “I’m going to tell you a bedtime story.” If I begin with, “Once upon a time, an elf was riding a dragon to the Chocolate City in the clouds,” that starts you off in fantasyland. But if I begin with, “So this guy at work, Kurt, keeps taking extra long lunch breaks and is expecting me to pick up the slack,” and somehow that turns into a fantasy story, that—to me—is more interesting.
Similarly, if I say, “Hey, I have a magic trick I want to show you,” you might be expecting the Chinese Linking Rings or something. But if I then say, “So, I saw this interesting website…,” you will realize it’s going to be a different sort of experience.
What I’ve noticed when performing magic is that it seems to be more fun for people to have the real world slowly fade away into the Twilight Zone rather than to start in the Twilight Zone.
That’s a long preamble, let’s get to the sites…
First, there’s this article, sent to me by Kevin M., which discusses “gravity anomalies” and how gravity varies by location. If you do some further research, you’ll see it’s actually a hyper-localized phenomenon. In fact, there’s a “hot spot” about a mile and a half from where you are now. About 50 yards off the road by the tree in that field. Couldn’t you make a little field trip to show someone something strange at that gravitational anomaly?
Next we have this site from Stephen P., which is designed to help identify “Superforecasters” (people who are very good at predicting what’s going to happen in the world). Maybe since signing up for this site, you’re just learning you have a talent for predicting things. Or maybe they kicked you off because they thought you were somehow cheating the system because you were so accurate. Or maybe (as I would likely say) you’ve been doing the challenges and just doing okay… but you met this one guy through the site who is incredible. “He sent me an email of this game I should play with the next person who visits me, and he has predicted the outcome. And I’m so glad you’re here tonight because I’ve been waiting to try this out….”
Matt from the UK sent along this progressive anagram for a trick he’s planning that includes every celebrity who has died in 2020 (last names). It’s more than 120 people. It’s probably more of a curiosity than something you’ll be able to use. It’s done in the transgressive style which prioritizes speed over hits. But even so, it still requires seven or eight guesses to get the name. So it might be hard justifying all those guesses. (Matt suggests doing it over video chat—so you have access to the crib—and using a Ouija board to offer up the letters.) It’s definitely doable, it will take some finessing.
Although it would be great to have someone think of any celebrity who died in 2020, get 7 “NOs” in a row, and then be like, “I’m just fucking with you. You’re thinking of former bass player for the band UFO, Pete Way.”
Of course if you wanted to use this past today, then whenever someone new dies, you’d need to add another letter guess or re-write the entire anagram. (For example, this was made before Eddie Van Halen died, so you’d want to use him as an example to disqualify him.)
I think you’d probably have to give people access to a list of celebrities that died in 2020. Otherwise there’s probably only 3 or 4 they could think of off the top of their head, so figuring it out wouldn’t seem that difficult.
Regardless of the practicality of this, I think it’s pretty cool to see the extent of the anagram, and I’m glad he’s letting me share it here. If you end up doing anything with it, let me know. (He sets up his chart a little differently than the ones I’ve shown in the past, but you’ll figure it out.)
Kyle O. sent me this video clip from the show Dave. The maid of honor speech at 1:27 into the video really does sound like it could have been pulled from something I wrote…
“I realized something about magic. […] The magic behind magic isn’t the illusion. It’s that someone cared enough to create the illusion for you.”
I realize I’m taking this out of context, but that sentiment is something I’ve touched on in one or two of my books and at least somewhat in this post.
Our magic should be a chance to make someone else feel special (that we put in the effort to create this moment for them). But usually we’re so focused on ourselves and how good the trick makes us look, that we lose that benefit completely.
Hey all, have a Happy Halloween. Stay spooky. See you in November.
