What is the concept behind the new show?

The show is called “98% Séance” and is about making live contact with ghosts, spirits and demons. As anyone who has ever held a home-made Séance will know, there’s always the chance of nothing happening, and because we are pretty much totally convinced that all those things are horse-sh*t anyway, the remaining 2% of our Séance will employ some freaky trickery in order to guarantee some spine-chilling scares.

How has it been going?

It is going really well. This is our third year at the Edinburgh festival and so far it has been the best. The tickets sell out every night and we are getting 4 and 5 star reviews across the board. You can’t ask for anything better than that.

What are you up to next?

After Edinburgh we immediately travel to Spain and Portugal for shows through September and then it is back to London to film some exciting stuff for the BBC. We are always working on new live material, performing for a real live, breathing crowd is often more satisfying for us than filming for TV because the interaction with real people makes each performance unique. For us it’s an adrenaline rush because if tricks go wrong, there is no second take!

What are you ambitions in magic?

Even though we have performed all over the world we would love to tour with a big show, that is something we have never done.

What famous Scottish landmarks would you like to “Do a Copperfield on” and disappear, etc?

Even though that is not really our style, to vanish the Edinburgh castle during the festival would be an impressive feat and it couldn’t go unnoticed. Maybe we could make it re appear at the top of Arthur’s Seat, that would be a great trick. And if Fred-the-Shred would donate his pension to us maybe we could make it happen!

Has anyone famous came to see your new show?

There were only a handful of very small preview shows before Edinburgh

What sort of reactions have you had?

This show we wanted the show to get different reactions to what we normally get during our performances. There has been screaming, laughing and one night there was a girl who was so freaked out by what happens in the show that she could not stop crying. As she left she was laughing but there were still tears streaming down her face. That was totally unexpected, there was nothing we could do

Were you inspired by Edinburgh’s ghostly past?

Yes, Edinburgh is a great place for our show because there are so many ghost stories from there. The venue we are performing in isn’t far from Grassmarket, where they used to do all the public hangings. In the 1700’s child-murderer Maggie Dickson was hung and declared dead, as they disposed her body a banging was heard from inside her coffin. When they opened it she sat bolt upright. They were unable to repeat her sentence as she was already declared dead and had a death certificate to prove it. They saw it as God’s Will and she lived another forty years.

What sort of research did you do?

We used to look to old books to find inspiration. We read a lot of historical accounts of mediums and seances that had been held both in Europe and the US. We learned about the deceptions they were employing to achieve spiritual manifestations and although it was all very fascinating, we really didn’t think that either the methods or the events would be very convincing or frightening for a modern audience. So with that we virtually had to start from the ground up using techniques that we developed that would hopefully make an audience believe that ghosts and spirits were present.

What magicians do you admire?

Our absolute heroes are all dead. We can’t talk to them in the seance but there are old books that describe who they were and what they used to do.

Which magicians do you hate?

No one in particular but we don’t like the style of the super-posing illusionist who just dances around boxes looking like a tool. We like magic that means something, which is why we do the bloody, gross and scary tricks that we do.

Any plans for new television projects?

Yes, we have a few different things going on. We are most excited about creating more tricks for the BBC. Ever year they ask us to make on-line tricks that people can use on April Fools Day to trick their friends. We have a page on the BBC website at www.bbc.co.uk/barryandstuart up there now are some great tricks that we also tell you the secret to so you can trick your friends. We will be making some more to up there when we finish Edinburgh.

Anyone in your family have any history of seeing ghosts etc?

Stuart: When I was 10 my great aunt Mona would sit with me and ask the spooks to tip tables in the room. It was so freaky to imagine that her tables were rocking and falling because of ghosts but it also totally captured my imagination. Being a young magician I was skeptical and was on the look out for trickery. If she was knocking those tables I never caught her, there’s always a part of you that wants it to be real, it’s like that with any magic trick.

What is the secret to good magic performance?

We’ve always thought that magic should capture your imagination. It doesn’t just have to be a great trick it also needs to connect with the audience in some way. We love using the audience in our performances and that allows us to be spontaneous and have events happen on stage that the audience know don’t happen every night.

What is the biggest accident you have had so far?

It was our last show at the Edinburgh Festival 2009, everything was running great until the shows grand finale. We performed a big illusion using a large box. Once you got inside it you closed a door on the front, then activated a series of secret mechanisms. That night, right at the climax, the front door of the box came loose and completely fell off! The audience could see exactly how the trick worked. It was a real “caught with your pants down” moment. There was nothing we could have done about it, absolutely nothing. We just wanted to say, “thanks and goodnight!” leaving the stage as quickly as possible. It was hilarious but totally embarrassing to have a trick go so badly wrong.

Are you working with any people outside of magic?

We quite often work with actor Andy Nyman, who is a brilliant writer and director. He is a good friend and one of those rare people who really understand what a good magic show should be.

Have you performed for any celebrities, any famous fans, etc?

Funnily enough one of the first shows that we did together was for Billy Connolly’s 60th birthday party. We went to his house where there were lots of famous people and performed magic there for an hour or so. We’ve worked with lots of celebrities of various calibres throughout the years mostly when doing TV projects. We became friendly with Derren Brown a few years ago too and we were recently part of a 3D magic special which he hosted and selected his favourite magicians for.

What do your parents think of your unusual careers, what did they want you to do?

Barry: My mum is happy as long as we don’t make any jokes about her.

When you think about it, magic tricks and jokes share a very similar style. In a joke, a comedian sets up in words a story or scenario that unexpectedly changes at the last minute creating laughs. In magic, the magician shows or explains how something is impossible and can’t be done and then unexpectedly defies reality to do it; resulting in applause.

Sadly, you must be warned before you read any further that discussing comedy is not funny. In the same way that dissecting a frog to show the biological process kills Kermit, talking about comedy is the very opposite of funny.

But I think important lessons and guidelines can be learned, so let’s continue:

Here’s an old joke for an example:
“An elderly couple walk into a hotel to check in. The guy is lugging a huge, ancient, beat up suitcase. The clerk checks them in and then says: ‘What about the old bag? Should I call a bellman?’ And the man answers “Nah, my wife can walk’.

The humor comes from the mistaken assumption that the “old bag” referred to is the suitcase. When it’s revealed that “the old bag” mentioned by the clerk is the wife, it gets a laugh.

In a magic trick, the performer might show the inside of cloth bag, leading the audience to mistakenly assume that it’s empty, but when a dove is produced, the magic occurs and the audience applauds.

So let us magicians take some lessons from comedians. When it comes to LPMs (or as it might more accurately be referred to in magic situations; EPMs), comedians often have us beat.

By LPMs, I mean “laughs per minute”, a guide to how funny a TV show, or comedian’s routine may be. By EPM’s I mean, effects per minute, a guide to how many magical effects take place during the length of the magi’s routine.

You don’t really hear professional comedians tell “joke-jokes” anymore. That’s the type of joke that’s a long story that begins “A rabbi, a priest, a bear, and a nun walk into a bar…” While in decades past that might have been the style, today those types of jokes are perceived as not being personalized and taking too long to get to the punch line.

Today, comedians for the most part use shorter set-ups and then quickly go for the jokes. Here’s one of my lines: “My mother’s neurotic about washing things; she cleans on the sub-atomic level. She was watching TV when they announced scientists discovered a new particle in between the proton and the neutron. She yelled out “That’s dust! I can clean that!”

But too often magicians have long set-ups with a lot of time passing before they get to the actual effect and the part where the audience applauds.

You know the tricks I’m talking: A deck of cards is examined, one is chosen, it’s signed, the cards are cut into piles, they’re divided by the month you were born, and it seems like half an hour later until the card is revealed. Many mentalism effects are also like this. So much time is spent showing that the performer is blindfolded, has no confederates, couldn’t possibly see anything, has no electronic gimmickry, couldn’t possibly have memorized every page in a stack of randomly chosen books, etc.; that by the time the word is revealed five or six minutes later it has become boring instead of great.

People’s attention spans have shortened over the years. “Cut to the chase” are words to live by.

In twelve minutes, if performer “A” does twenty-two effects, but performer “B” does three; then even if those three effects are really great ones, at some point a lay audience will like performer “A” better because his twelve minutes was so much more dense with effects than magician “B’s”.

“But Robert” you say, “if I don’t make it absolutely clear that what I’m going to do is impossible, how can they appreciate that I did a miracle? If I don’t take all the time necessary to set up that it’s impossible, how will they appreciate it?”

And Robert says: At least give them some entertainment on the way to the entertainment! Put in some jokes and lines and bits along the way to the climax and then speed it up as much as you cam. Remember that entertainment is your goal, not strictly magic. Magic for the sake of magic by itself can sometimes be little more than a puzzle. A guitar player does not come out and pluck the strings of his instrument and say to the crowd “The A note, the B note, the C note, the G note. Now worship me!” What he does is take the skills he’s learned in music to put the notes together into a song, and most often the song is about things the audience can relate to. Have you ever noticed there are lots of songs about love and heart break, but few songs written about the cut and restored rope or the linking rings?

Sometimes a magician does seem to be going “See the coin, now it’s here, now it’s gone, now it’s there, now it’s gone again, now it’s back. Worship me!” That’s the same as the example of the guitar player above. It doesn’t fly for the musician, why should it be okay for the magician?
So the two pronged attack to make your routines more entertaining is to do more tricks quicker, eliminating as much of the set up as possible; and when the set up has to be there, to make the steps along the way as amusing and quick as possible.

Here’s an example from my strolling and close-up work: I do a ringflite routine with so many gags and bits of business along the way, that if we never get to the ending: the ring being found in the key case; the audience still had such a great time, they don’t care or know what they missed! This often happens in real life situations: The meal is served just as you’re reaching your magical climax, the event emcee announces that the first dance is going to take place, the person’s favorite Aunt Hilda walks over in the middle of your trick, or the D.J. plays the couple’s favorite song and now everyone is asked to dance. The audience for the magic trick that you’ve spent five minutes building up to goes away.

By having lots of comedy shtick and byplay along the way, I don’t care. I know that the crowd had a good time and will go over to the event host or party planner and say how good magic boy was even if they never saw the ring in the key case!

Here’s just some of my gags along the way for a ringflite routine:

• I have a dozen or so other rings pinned inside my jacket. When asking about the ring I want to borrow, I flash the rings inside my jacket and ask “Can I interest you in a trade-in?”
• I carry around a jeweler’s eye loupe. When looking at the ring, it’s funny just when I pull the eye loupe out to examine it, but then I make all sorts of jokes along the lines of the fine quality of merchandise the Home Shopping Network is selling these days.
• Of the rings in my jacket, there are many joke rings. There’s a “three carrot” ring, an actual ring with three tiny carrots on it; there’s a “bathtub ring”, a tiny bathtub from a doll’s house that’s got a line of dirt around the inside; there a “diamond” ring, a ring with a U.S. dime coin attached to it; and lots of other joke rings like this.
• With the jeweler’s eye loupe, I do a number of “cup and ball” like moves, loading the ring under the loupe and making it vanish and appear at unexpected times.
• I vanish the borrowed ring inside a square of flash paper. When it ignites there’s always “oohs” and “ahhs” at the small burst of flame.
• Plus, I always start the routine by pattering about what a special day this is for whatever reason it is that I’ve been hired to perform at this event; and I start off my search for a ring to borrow mentioning how rings often commemorate special days and memories.
• Sometimes, if after asking for a ring but not being able to get anyone to lend me theirs, I will still do all these gags and lines and tricks with my own ring and no one even knows that they’re missing out on the actual ringflite trick!

By making this routine so dense with bits and tricks along the way to the ring inside the keycase climax, it’s never boring; there’s always laughs and “oohs” on the journey; and by asking first what the meaning or special memory of this ring is for the volunteer, I’m always bonding with my audience on an emotional level that a trick with the cups and balls or an okito coin box often can not do.

For stage performance, I have done a silent comedy manipulation act where the effects came fast and furiously, but never became aimless manipulation. We’ve all seen floating Zombie ball routines where every move that was in the book was performed, but didn’t have to be. The performer knows that he spent 17 months alone in his room mastering every billiard ball move, but that doesn’t mean the audience appreciates it. Since the art in magic is concealing the art, do magicians have to show off every sleight they know? At some point this can become what I like to politely term “magical masturbation”, where the performer gets off showing all his moves and the audience just watches. I like to think what should go on is a love affair between the performer and the audience, where both get off from the performance. A mutual climax if you will.

It was famous old time magician Al Flosso who put it to me this way when I was a child: He said “Only magicians care about magic tricks kid, real people just want to be entertained.” So when it comes to patter tricks, and choice of material, I always try to remember the fact that the audience is not as interested in magic as I am. One of the ways I try to get them to care just a little more about my performance is by using props and items that they can relate to. There are very few red and gold asian dragon boxes with metallic paint in the real world, so I tend not to use any. And does anyone really care deeply about the three of clubs? Not unless they’re gambling and hoping to pull a straight flush. So I tend to do very few card tricks.

Thinking about this in advance of your next show can help you to be a better performer. Each of us in an artist, and what I feel is right for me, isn’t necessarily right for you. But movies where an average guy hero who achieves despite being knocked down are often the basis for a good story. This story works because the audience relates to the average guy hero and feels for him. The problem for the magician is that the very act of performing magic takes you out of the “average everyman” category. Having these secrets that you can’t tell makes the performer a little off putting and geeky to begin with. By working hard to fight against this very nature of our art we can achieve our goal to entertain. Film makers do not often make successful films about how difficult it is to make a film for the film maker. The film maker’s struggle, experience, and vocabulary is so different than the general audience’s that to focus on those things would be like us focusing on our zombie ball moves. But make a magic act or film that regular people can like and empathize with and you will be a better entertainer.

Not long ago, I watched the 2007 J.J. Abram’s TED Talk about unseen mysteries and the potential that they represent. A centerpiece of the talk is a “mystery magic box” from Tannen’s Magic Shop, which Abrams bought as a young boy. Abrams still has it and shows it to the audience during his fascinating speech. The box was sold as a “grab bag”—the contents of the box were bought sight unseen, and promised a greater value in merchandise, $50 worth of magic tricks, than the $15 it sold for. Abrams, however, preferred the promise of what the box contained over its actual contents and has never opened it.

This started me thinking about the nature of mystery and how it relates to the performance of magic. The word “mystery” is high on the list of what most magicians would say their performances provide, but I think there’s an important aspect of this that is often overlooked.

An objective analysis of most magic shows would find that the experience of mystery is almost entirely one-sided. That is, all of the mystery is experienced by the audience, who are kept in the dark about certain details that the magician withholds and exploits.

This might be why many audience members slip into “analytical mode” when watching magic, and why some are so hungry to discover our secrets. Clearly, the mystery of the magic show is not unknowable; it is merely temporarily unknown.

But the Mystery Box is something entirely different, isn’t it? It is a shared mystery, that cannot be solved except by intentional action. The clerk at Tannen’s most likely didn’t know precisely what it contained, certainly Abrams’ Grandfather, who took young J.J. to Tannen’s didn’t know, and as we’ve established, neither does J.J. The simple fact is, nobody knows, and thus the box is a true mystery. Unlike the magic trick, we are all in the dark, and there exists no imbalance of knowledge, and thus power, in our relationship.

And I find that idea to be singularly delightful. So I was thrilled when I recently discovered an inexpensive and tangible way to share the idea of the mystery box with my friends and family.

Believe it or not, it’s all thanks to Mattel and their “Mystery Cars” line of Hot Wheels toys. Hot Wheels, of course, are the venerable metal toy cars that were incredibly popular when I was a kid, and continue to be big seller today.

Every season, Mattel comes out with whole new line of Hot Wheels cars, including a subset of cars they sell in “Mystery Cars” packaging. These special edition packages prevent you from seeing which car you’re buying; it could be any one of 24 different cars. The Mystery Car packages are easy to spot at your retailer, the car is hidden behind a black plastic bubble decorated with an embossed question mark. The package artwork features a car that is shrouded with a flame-covered tarp.

When I stumbled across the Mystery Car display in my local Target store, I knew immediately that I had found my own version of the mystery box.

The script I use when presenting one of these cars as a gift is a personal and sincere expression of the importance of mystery. It includes re-telling elements of Abram’s story, how Hot Wheels were a favorite toy of mine, and my belief that in today’s society where secrets are rare and virtually any answer is just a Google search away, choosing to intentionally not know something can be a beautiful reminder of life’s important, unanswerable, questions.

I also point out one modification that I’ve made to the car’s packaging. Mattel, while they have created a wonderful thing with the Mystery Cars, were apparently afraid to fully embrace their creation. On the back of the package there is a carefully placed hole, approximately the same diameter as a pencil. This allows the purchaser to see a tiny bit of the car inside. Mostly you see a wheel, but the color of the car is also clearly visible. While this may be a concession to the collector, or perhaps to parents who wish to protect their child from the disappointment of receiving a car that they already own, I find the hole misguided and, frankly, offensive. (Yes, I take mystery very seriously.)

So what I do is cover the hole with a small piece of opaque tape, as shown in the photo. When I present the gift to someone, I point this out and tell them “If the suspense is too much for you, you can remove this tape and get a tiny peek inside. You won’t see much, but when you realize how dirty this makes you feel, you’ll find the strength to resist opening the package.” This line always gets a laugh.

I suppose that some magicians will dismiss this as just a ninety-cent toy, given to adult, with a lot of made-up justification and no magic effect. But done in the right context, I’ve found it to be more powerful, because it’s more personal, than any trick. If the concept speaks to you, I hope that you will use it or find another way to share the gift of mutual mystery with the people in your life.

About the Author: Gordon Meyer is a Chicago-based writer and magician. He frequently contributes to My Lovely Assistant and writes about magic about at Chicago Magic Studio.

Notes: Abram’s Mystery Box is also featured in the May 2009 issue of WIRED magazine. My thanks to David Parr, for alerting me to Abram’s TED Talk, and to Craig Conley and the participants of the July 2010 Chicago Magic Workshop for their helpful feedback about Wheels of Mystery.

HOW TO MARKET YOUR CHILD OR SELF AS A MAGICIAN

As a magician, especially a young magician, it is very hard to get magic gigs.  If you want to earn real money as a magician, you need to treat your magic as a business.  When marketing your child/self, don’t put all of your advertising dollars in one form of advertising.  The more places you have your message seen, the better the chances you have of getting more shows.  Below are some tips that may help you promote your child or yourself.

TARGET AREA

You need to decide what market area you want to target.  Do you want to perform for schools, libraries, fairs, festivals, scout troops, birthday parties, etc.?  Then the next step is to decide how far you want to travel.  After you have decided what type of venue you want to perform in and how far you are willing to travel, then that is the market you should advertise in.  There are many ways to market yourself and the more creative you are, the more bookings you will get.

HOW TO SELL YOUR SERVICES

1. Cold Calls
   1. You don’t want to be annoying or bothersome.  Maybe you already have a show at a school.  Call the other schools in the area and tell them that you are performing at a certain school and that you would love to perform at their school that day as well.
   2. If after making the call and they tell you that they are not interested at this time, ask them if you can still send them promotion material.  After sending the promotional material, give them about a week and follow up with another phone call.  This phone call will give you another excuse to be in contact with the potential client.
2. Leads
   1. One way to eliminate uncomfortable cold call is having a lead.  A lead can come from someone who knows another person who is having a special event or gathering.  Call the person and introduce yourself and your services.  Tell them that you were talking to “so-and-so” and they mentioned that you were having some type of event and that they might have a need for some entertainment.  Perhaps a magician!  Then explain the different types of magic you can do for them, i.e. walk-around magic, stage show, close-up, parlour, mentalism, etc.  Remember . . . let them know what you can do for  them!!!!
   2. If you get a lead from someone who knows that a company is having a big event, but doesn’t know the person in charge, call the company and let them know that you know the company is having a big event and you would like to speak to the person in charge of the event.  Make sure you get the event planner’s name and ask to be put through to their extension or ask for their phone number and call them directly.
3. Newspaper Advertising
   1. Advertise in local papers.  When putting in an ad in the paper, make sure it is easy to read.  Also, use tag lines so that people will associate you with the tag line and remember who you are.  Make the tag line memorable!  Print your phone number larger than the rest of your contact information.
   2. Classified Newspaper Ads.  This ad should have your picture and what type of magic services you can provide.  If the area where you live has a daily newspaper, possibly run the ad for an entire week.  Sometimes it is cheaper to run the ad for a whole week since the paper may give a discount for a full-week ad and it keeps your name in front of the public eye.  If your local newspaper only has a weekly edition, run an ad once a month for several months, if possible.  Run the ad under Entertainment headings or notices—do not put the notices in Help Wanted.
4. Mailing Lists
   1. School mailing lists—Do an Internet search and find a directory for your State Board of Education.  This directory lists all of the schools in your state and their contact information and the principal’s name.  Contact the principal of the school and give him/her your sales pitch.
   2. Library mailing lists—Do an Internet search for your State Library Directory.  Most libraries do children’s magic shows, so you want to market your show to the person in charge of the children’s services or the youth service director.
   3. Local Chamber of Commerce—Contact them and get a list of service organizations and churches in the area.  Some of the organizations that they should be able to give you information on would be the Lions Club, Rotary Club, Knights of Columbus, Masonic Temple, etc.
   4. Corporations or Businesses in Your Area—Call them directly or look on their website to see who may be in charge of entertainment for their company.  Get that person’s name so you can send out a mailing to them.  After sending out a mailing, follow up with a phone call and ask if they received your information and ask if there is any events coming up that you could perform at for them.
5. What to Do with the Mailing Lists
   1. Direct Mail—Put together fliers, brochures, letters, and/or postcards to mail to your potential clients.
      1. If you are not good at graphic design, go to a professional and have them design and print your mailings.
      2. Make it easy to read.
      3. Use bright colored paper or postcards.
      4. Put your name and phone number in big, bold type.  Also include other contact information such as fax, e-mail, or website.
      5. Make it attention-getting so it does not get tossed into the trash as junk mail.
      6. In your mailings you may want to include a return postcard with postage on it already to send back to you.  On this card, you may want to include check boxes or lines that can be checked off for the type of magic they may be interested in; name of contact and the best time to call; when they are interested in a show and, of course, name and address of the organization.
6. Promotional Packages
   1. What to Include in the Promotional Package (make sure that your package is put in a nice folder or presentation packet):
      1. Cover letter
      2. 8 x 10 picture
      3. Biography sheet
      4. Resume
      5. Letters of recommendation
      6. A business card
      7. DVDs (I would only send this if the potential client specifically asks for one).

WHAT TO DO NOW THAT YOU BOOKED THE SHOW

1. Booking Sheets—This is very useful to have in front of you as you are booking the show with your client.  Customize your booking sheet to your needs.  This will also be your “notes” to filling out your contract.
   1. The booking sheet should include the following information:
      1. Name of the organization or client and phone number
      2. Name of the contact person that you have been working with
      3. Time you will arrive
      4. Time the show will begin
      5. Length of the show
      6. Type of show
      7. Fee
      8. Number of people expected at the show
      9. Did you send out the contract via mail or fax?
      10. Has the signed contract been returned?
      11. Reminder call a few days before the show to the client
      12. Directions to the show (this isn’t always necessary now since so many people have GPS Systems.
2. Print Up a Contract.  Send two copies of the contract (one for the client to keep and a signed copy for them to return to you).
   1. The contract should include the following information:
      1. Name of the organization or client
      2. Name of the contact person that you have been working with
      3. Time you will arrive
      4. Time the show will start
      5. Length of the show
      6. Type of show
      7. Fee
      8. Deposit amount, if any.  (You may want to put in a clause that says that if the show is cancelled by the client within a week of the performance time (or however many days you feel comfortable with), the performer gets to keep the deposit amount
      9. Any specific requests you have, such as lighting, sound or seating format requests
      10. A place for signature and date
      11. Whom to make the check  payable to

ONCE YOU HAVE PERFORMED YOUR SHOW FOR THE CLIENT

1.   Send a Thank You Letter—Thank the client for inviting you to perform.  Let them    know what a wonderful time you had and you are interested in working with them in the future.

2.  Ask the client if they would write a letter of recommendation for you on their company  letterhead.  You should include a self-addressed stamped envelope.

FOLLOW-UP DATES

1.  Now that you have a client list established, send out quarterly or semi-annual letters or postcards to remind your clients that you would like to do another show for them.  This gentle “prod” will remind them that you are available to work for them and you want their business.

These are just some ways to promote yourself.  I recommend trying some of these techniques and see if they work for you.  Experiment, but most of all, have fun!

To learn more about Bill Koch, visit his website at http://www.magicbillk.com.

Chalk and cheese, apples and oranges, magic and romance — all things that do not go together.

Or do they?

As someone who has used their magic successfully in the pursuit of love, I would argue they are not as alien as one would think.

In fact a massive part of how I met, connected and ultimately won the heart of the love of my life can be credited to our wonderful art.

My little tale hearkens back to last year’s Magic and Meaning Conference.

Hanging out with my fellow magicians at the aptly named Witches and Wizard’s ball, I was messing around with my pack of cards and trading tips with my fellow magi when an attractive girl caught my eye.

Rather than crudely march up to her with a tinned chat-up line I chose to stay with my friends and wait for a more opportune moment to communicate.

This duly came as I was leaving for the night, and I chose the rather unusual approach of showing her a magic effect.

I learned her name was Lara and, rather than use a cooker cutter presentation, I decided to use the presentation I had been inspired to formulate at the conference for the Roy Walton classic Pass At Red.

She loved the trick, we swapped details, kissed for the first time and it was the beginning of a fantastic relationship.

Of course that was far from the last time magic would influence our relationship.

We have since enjoyed shows in Vegas, wondered at the genius of Tamariz at the Magic Castle and of course I have showed her my own pieces old and new alike.

I even chose to ask for Lara’s hand in marriage using less than conventional means.

On this occasion I used my teacher Jeff McBride’s favourite Magic Wishing Rainbow effect, with a bit of a difference – the appearance of an engagement ring was the climax.

Luckily everything went well and the magic was a success beyond my wildest dreams, with many tears of joy, and it made the story of our engagement an even more special memory.

One interesting point is that a few of the guys I have told the story think it is cheesy, the women all seem to find it very romantic.

I guess it may be an idea to do an ace assembly or oil and water if the target of your affections happens to be a man.

Broadening out, I think my example shows there is definitely a place for magic in the pantheon of romance.

I believe the key is I used conjuring in an organic way, as a way of communicating and enhancing a genuine interest in another person.

If I had been conceited enough to formulate a series of pick-up tricks and corny presentations as a tool for picking up women I have no doubt the experiment would be a spectacular failure.

Instead the magic was used in a spontaneous way to add to what was already a genuine attraction.

Using tricks that fit your personality, and that communicate more than a pointless effect, is also important.

In effect, and to refer to the classic Eugene Burger and Robert Neale book, I used magic with meaning, and what followed was true astonishment.

Additionally, the pivotal pieces of magic that I have used went beyond effect, and communicated something about myself.

I do not claim to be a great magician or any sort of authority on the subject. In fact I would say that I have more than a small way to go before I am anywhere near achieving my goals in this regard.

However I cannot overemphasize the joy that being able to fuse my love for magic and the love for the most special person in my life has given me.

A common stereotype of a magician is a geeky, awkward character with poor social skills.

In fact I fit very much into this tradition, with a love of sleights, secret methods and hidden knowledge one of the key reasons for my love of the art.

And despite all my achievements in life to date, at heart I am still the uncool kid who loves heavy metal, comic book characters, obtuse philosophical ideas and science fiction.

Additionally, as I become more integrated into the magic subculture, I encounter many kindred spirits in the world of geekdom, certainly far more than I do in other aspects of my life.

However one of the great things about magic is it can bring one out of one’s shell because of it is at its heart a performing art.

It is truly a way to meet and communicate with people in a fun and engaging fashion.

I can truly say that magic has given me more than I have ever been able to contribute to it.

And if you follow my example perhaps you can find something truly meaningful thanks to your passion for magic.

Lara’s perspective

I would not be fulfilling my journalistic duty if I did ask Lara her thoughts on the subject. Here is what she had to say:

“Magic has always been a curious thing, and magicians, apart from the silly tricksters, carry an air of mystery around them.

“That night at the Witch and Wizard’s ball, it was easy to pick out the magic school boys, because they were all carrying around a deck of cards, and talking amongst themselves.

“I’ve never been approached by way of magic trick, so when Mike chose to break the ice using a card trick that was laced with an interesting story, my interest was piqued. Who was this guy? I’d soon find out.
“Magic has been an integral part of our budding relationship. Even in his marriage proposal, Mike used a magic trick. I can tell you, it’s very important to have a cool engagement story, and now I have mine.

“Magic was the catalyst and the caveat Mike used to bring us together, and I very much love that. It was amazing to see that rainbow ribbon turn into an engagement ring!

“Of course there has to be an attraction there to begin with, but magic could definitely make someone stand out from the crowd.

“Funny thing is, we are to be married and he still hasn’t told me any of his magician secrets!

“I’m still always wowed and amazed at the things he’s able to do and the hard work and practice he puts into his passion. I’m proud to have a magician by my side.”