Carefree Magic
/I always like to keep you apprised on where my head is at with magic. There’s a danger in this. If I fall in love with billiard ball magic and start only writing about “the beauty of the spheres” and the “celestial waltz of the orbs twixt my fingers,” then I might encourage a few people to pick up billiard ball magic. But most people would eventually stop reading the site. Maybe checking in every few months wondering if I’m “still obsessed with that dumb ball shit.”
I’d lose readers. I’d lose supporters. And soon the site wouldn’t exist because I wouldn’t have the time to devote to it because other work obligations would get in the way.
So you would think, for my own sake, I’d want to stay on top of where the magic winds were blowing and write about more popular subjects.
But that stuff doesn’t usually interest me. And if I wanted to write about stuff that doesn’t interest me, I have more lucrative options to do so other than a magic blog.
The best part of this site, for me, is being able to follow my own whims. And so long as there is a small group of people whose interests occasionally overlap, that’s enough to keep things going. You don’t need to like and subscribe. You don’t need to smash that notification button. We’re good.
Over the past few months, I’ve been more annoyed by magicians than usual. It feels like every product release I see is extra-stupid and less connected to any sort of real-world performing situation… especially for social/casual performing.
I don’t think it’s really the case that there’s some sort of noticeable difference in what’s getting released. It just feels that way to me. I’m finding a lot of magic corny at the moment. But it’s a me-thing, not that magic is any cornier than it’s always been.
But that’s good. Whenever I find myself feeling more disconnected to magic culture, it usually pushes me towards a new personal understanding of how I want to present magic and connect with people through magic.
Strangely, one trick that’s been causing me to think a lot recently is the 21 Card Trick. I was working on a presentation/variation of the trick for a few months, and it was going over much better than I had anticipated. I mean, I expected it to be much stronger than the traditional 21 Card Trick. But I didn’t necessarily expect it to elicit great responses. Nor did I think I’d enjoy performing it that much.
It was in the middle of one of those performances, at my friend’s home, hanging out on her couch, that I was asking myself, “Why is this trick going over so well. Why is the vibe so good here?”
And then it hit me…
What kills the magic experience?
I think the answer is tension.
Tension kills the vibe.
Yet, so often, the performer is tense about if they can pull off the trick. And they’re tense about how it will be received.
The audience might be tense about exactly what is going on. They might feel tense about looking stupid. Or they might feel tense about not being fooled but having to pretend they are for the magician’s ego.
What made the 21 Card Trick variation I was doing feel so good is that there was no tension. It was an easy trick, performed for people who understood what to expect from this type of experience, in a casual environment, within the flow of a normal human interaction.
I felt no tension. And so there was none for my friend to pick up from me.
The experience was completely carefree.
Carefree. That’s the term I’m using for now. I may come up with a better one (or you might).
I’m trying to capture a quality of magic that I like and that I think goes over best in casual/social performances.
Is this trick impromptu? Does it reset instantly? Does it pack small and play big? Is it EDC? Is it mentalism or mental-magic? Close-up or parlor?
I don’t really care about these dorky magician-centric concepts. I’m looking for Carefree magic tricks.
To be clear, “carefree” doesn’t refer to the storyline of the effect. The story can make people feel tense, or scared, or emotional.
I’m using “carefree” to describe my comfort with the trick and with the person I’m performing for.
A trick that goes beyond your abilities to comfortably perform is not Carefree. But you can have a Carefree trick where the premise is that this thing you’re doing is incredibly difficult.
Carefree is effortless. Carefree is not needy.
Being worried about the sleights you need to perform is not Carefree.
Being up in your head when you perform is not Carefree.
Fully-scripted patter is not Carefree.
The “stuff my pockets full of tricks” philosophy of EDC is not Carefree.
“Audience-management” is not Carefree.
Focusing on your hands while doing tricks is not Carefree.
Trying to appear “real” is not Carefree.
Being constantly on guard and trying to control what the spectator looks at and touches is not Carefree.
When you are comfortable and the audience is comfortable, then you’ve created an environment where people can feel more free to give themselves over to the magic experience.
Carefree magic is vibe-centric.
Too often we’re focused merely on the strength or the impossibility of the trick, and not what it feels like for us to perform it, and the spectator to watch it. And so we end up with these tricks that fool people but don’t pull people into the experience.
It may seem like I’m reframing stuff I’ve talked about on the site since the beginning. And that’s true. But I’m just kind of putting all the pieces together myself.
Almost every concept I’ve written about over the past decade hasn’t been about making tricks more deceptive, but about making the experience more casual, fun, natural, and enjoyable. Imps and Reps are about creating a better flow into and out of the trick. E.D.A.S. displays and Wonder Rooms are more natural ways to get into tricks than going into your secret magic area and bringing out one particular trick. The Engagement Ceremony is to get the mood right for a process-heavy trick. Peek Backstage and Distracted Artist performing styles are just more carefree ways to present tricks you already do.
It’s all vibe stuff. And the word I’m using to describe that ideal vibe for social/casual magic is Carefree. This is nomenclature I’m sure I’ll refer back to in the future, so get used to it.
I think what was frustrating me so much about magic in recent months was that everything I saw felt soul-less and vibe-less. I’m sure it wasn’t that way any more than it’s ever been. I was just picking up on it more than usual.
But that frustration has refocused me on what I’m shooting for when I perform and what I hope to write about here.
More on this tomorrow. (I think.)