mahdithemagician

[mahdithemagician]

Mysteries of The Dark

Every life begins with a struggle in the dark against all odds.

Consider, if you can try, all of history and all the events throughout all time that led to your birth, it is truly remarkable. Even if you were to narrow down the scope of events to only the amount of things that needed to line up in the lives of your parents, it is both on a macro and micro level beyond our comprehension. We simply cannot fathom the circumstances that led to you being here.

THERE IS A REASON YOU ARE HERE.

YOU HAVE A PURPOSE.

It is possible that we go our entire lives and not realize our significance but that does not mean it is not there or any less. There are mysteries to all of our lives and enigmas inside of us. Life has a way of taking us where we need to go even if we don’t fully see or understand the path. Right now you found your way here to read my words and even though I may not know you I feel like I can connect with you in this way and there is a reason we found each other. We do not know why we are drawn in certain directions and to what ends, we only know that we inexplicably are. We can feel it.

We can feel it in our hearts.

We can feel it in what our hearts yearn for.

We may not know why the heart wants but we know it to be true.

The heart wants what the heart wants.

In my heart of hearts I wanted the impossible. When I was a child I knew I wanted to be a magician so I learnt in the only way I could. Knowing it was impossible for me to perform sleight of hand and use the techniques of magicians I focused on the techniques of the mind. Studying psychology, hypnosis, suggestion, and memory I was able to create unique performances to create the sensation of the impossible in people’s minds. Success breeds confidence and my early successes made me bolder and dream bigger. I didn’t only want my magic to take place in people’s minds and imagination, I wanted it to be real, I wanted it to be something that they could see and touch.

But I had a problem… Close-up magic requires good hands, dexterous fingers, quick and precise movements and even if the old adage, the hand is quicker than the eye, is not technically true, it is not totally untrue. Close-up magic is extremely difficult and not many men or women on this earth have ever reached the highest branches of the art of sleight of hand. And to reach it without hands?

Forget it.

IMPOSSIBLE...

or so I thought, so I believed, I knew it could not be done.

Yet… I had to try.

The task, though, was so intimidating that I decided to delay it to my seventeenth birthday. When my birthday came I was filled with excitement and dread. That evening I waited in the dark until my family was asleep and took out the deck of cards. I couldn’t do anything with it. I couldn’t shuffle, I couldn’t cut, I couldn’t even pick up the deck. The cards are slippery when new and I had no idea what I was doing. Totally blind I sat up in my bed with the deck on my lap, staying up all night handling the cards and when I went to school the next morning I was exhausted. The next night I repeated and the next night as well, this would become my routine as the days turned to weeks and the weeks turned into months. Little by little I became acquainted with the cards.

I remember it so well but yet it is as a half remembered dream. I can see everything so clearly even though I was completely in the dark. The dark brings out what is within. The absence allows you to envelope yourself. I know it, I feel it, I feel its imprint on my soul; how it all shaped me, how it charted out what was to become my life. Those long, dark nights hidden in the shadow of my secret dreams. The black workshop where I learnt to reach in the dark. The dark, where mysterious things happen. Beautiful struggles and the chance to will against everything. The will to fight through the silence and towards the whispers of the heart. But the darkness is not without its own dangers and it can become a place where you find yourself hunted and alone by a most ruthless enemy, your own doubts and insecurity.

One morning I woke up feeling horrible. After working so hard and for so long I was nowhere near a place where I could use a deck of cards to create magic. I didn’t want to move, I didn’t want to think, the only thing I felt was that I had been defeated. I knew there was no way for me to win. Maybe there was something wrong with me; why did I want to do this one thing that I knew was completely impossible for me? I knew I wouldn’t succeed. There was a reason why I practiced in secret and it was because I didn’t want anyone to feel sorry for me. I couldn’t stand for anyone to see me fail. I couldn’t face it anymore, I had to give up. And so I did, I made the painful decision to give up my hopes and my dream.

I thought that my life would just go on but it did not.

The silence is a void. It tempts you to quiet the longing inside. It wills to muffle the very sound of your heart beating. It knows and hates what the heart wants and says whatever it needs to so that you will give in to it. It is alive and it is hungry; it feeds on dreams and on the passion of your soul. It wants to devour the life that is inside of you, all for itself. It knows that when you act and you live with purpose it is deprived of the passion that is the friction between your soul and the world. It will do anything to stop you.

How did I escape the void and the darkness and enter back into the light?

That will remain a mystery of the dark for now…

One that will be revealed in The Will Within.

But know that I did break through to the other side.

Know that we are not meant to be defeated but that we are meant to win against all odds.

Know that where there is a will there is a way.

#magic #story #inspiration

[mahdithemagician]

Secrets Hidden In The Leaves An unbelievable secret of the leaves is that they are alive.

They may seem to the uninitiated to be inanimate but they are as alive as the forests from which they came. Spend enough time with them and you will know them. They may have a will of their own, as you will learn. Each card has its own personality that is revealed through connecting with them. You will notice when they tease you and inconvenience you, showing themselves when you wish to hide them. Some are ambitious while others prefer to work for you in secret, certain cards want to hide and a few want to be seen. The cards hide many secrets and if you devote yourself to them they will reveal their secrets to you. They only obey one whom they respect and their respect and obedience cannot be bought, it must be earned.

Cards are painted with hope and bring color to our desires. Many a man has partaken in that old, time honored, venerable tradition of matching wits and wallets over a game of cards. As many or more women have entrusted their hearts to the turn of a card promising their awaited future. Some lose when some gain and there are those who choose not to play as the pain of losing can be greater than the pleasure of winning. Others choose to live on blind luck and shuffles dreaming of the ever elusive big score.

Traditionally playing cards were completely unique as every leaf of paper had to be illustrated, painted and cut by hand. Centuries ago these playthings were pieces of art commissioned by the wealthy. We know this because some have survived and are documented, however, I suspect that even peasants fashioned their own cards with what materials they had available to them but that these did not survive to be passed down generation to generation.

Eventually packs of cards would be mass-produced on printing presses. The wooden and metal plates were designed to create uniform images but as the ink was unevenly placed and applied the cards would be completely unique in their own way with the ink bleeding outside of its margins. Seeing these cards and their wonderful patterns and imperfections greatly inspired me in my own deck, Hidden Leaves No. 5.

Hidden Leaves are a love letter to the long line of creators of the leaves throughout time. Having observed playing cards very closely it is my opinion that some of the most iconic playing card designs were created by the same artist around the 1880s. I believe this designer left hints in the classic Tally-Ho and Rider designs and that he left them as signatures. Artists were kept anonymous by the companies they worked for in an effort to reduce competition and thus fees of artists back in those days. Sadly, we have never been able to discover the artist of those classic designs but I have recognized his style and motifs. Some of these motifs and philosophy have been incorporated into Hidden Leaves as a tribute to this incredible and unknown artist.

Part of that tribute is to not explain certain elements of the design but rather allow you to connect with the deck and the art and initiate yourself into its mysteries. When we look at things we don’t understand we ask questions and when we ask questions we are able to go outside ourselves and hopefully step into the eyes and the mind of another and connect with their knowledge, their taste, and ideas. Every deck of cards is different even if they are made from the same materials at the same printing press. Paper quality changes between batches and environmental factors such as the temperature and humidity can greatly affect how the cards feel when they come out of the printer. Most people could never tell by touch but those learned in the cards can tell the difference, sight unseen with just a touch.

A deck of cards is like a bird, hold it too tightly and you will kill it but hold it too loosely and it will fly away from you. One must learn how to handle the cards to accomplish their task. Some techniques require a new deck and very gentle touches while other techniques irreversibly bend the cards so that they are never the same again. Only experience will allow you to understand the cards. Proper instruction can help, if you can find it.

The true lore and history of the leaves have been lost to time. They have appeared throughout time in different places under different names. We have tracked them down throughout the centuries but even the earliest references to them say that they are very old. From our study, the earliest mentions of them relate to them being toys used to play games of chance. Their uses for divination is written about later but we are wise enough to know that we do not know their true history.

The medieval people, with their limited knowledge of foreign people combined with Biblical stories of Egypt, associated strange sojourners with that most famous land and named them (-E)gyp(-t)sies. Legends and myths color our imagination with gypsy fortune tellers working with secret oracles disguised as paper. The cards themselves are ancient, mysterious and ritualistic. Their esoteric connections leave one wondering about their provenance.

Playing cards have two colors, red and black, signifying the day and the night.

There are fifty-two cards in a deck, the same number of weeks in a year.

Every year has four seasons and the deck has four suits, one for each season.

There are thirteen cards in a suit and there are thirteen lunar cycles in a year.

Finally, if you add up all the values in a deck, with Aces being one, Jacks as eleven, Queens are twelve and Kings as thirteen, plus one for the Joker you get 365, the number of days in a year. No one has ever been able to explain how or why ancient astrological wisdom was secretly encoded in a toy.

There is a high probability that anytime a deck of playing cards is shuffled it is the first and last time that it will ever be in that exact order. The sheer number of combinations has made them ideal tools for gaming and divination. You can spend your whole life with cards and they will generate new gameplay scenarios and stories for you to explore. Every time you shuffle a deck of fifty-two cards, the chance of it ending up in the order it appears is 52 factorial or 8.1 times 10⁶⁷. These are numbers that we simply cannot understand. To try to illustrate this to you, I want you to try to understand that there are more possible combinations of a shuffled deck of playing cards than there are atoms on the entire Earth. It’s simply mind blowing. If you added the possibility of some cards being face-up or face-down in the shuffle the amount of unique combinations would be more than the amount of atoms that exist in the whole universe.

Playing cards are the most recognizable tool for gambling, gaming, divination and magic in the entire world. You would be hard-pressed to find someone who has never held a deck of cards as most people have one laying around their house. How is it that one of the most known objects in the world is one of the least understood? I can only tell you to ask the cards themselves.

#magic #playing cards #history #gaming #gambling

[mahdithemagician]

Mahdi Becomes The Magician

I WAS BORN WITHOUT HANDS OR FEET.

There was no medical reason or explanation for this but I believe there was a purpose. A purpose that would take me many years to discover and unfold. Growing up I felt like everything was impossible for me. There were a lot of dreams I had for my life but whenever I expressed my hopes and dreams they would be rejected. I would receive explanations for why the things I wanted for my life were not for me.

THE ANSWER WAS ALWAYS THE SAME,

NO,

AND THAT WHAT I WANTED COULD NOT BE DONE.

Often I was told that I needed to be realistic but instead of following that I would withdraw into myself and dream. Dream of finding a way to make life better for myself and living my dreams. I had no idea how I was going to do it and in a very real sense I still don’t but I still believe. Maybe I’m crazy but I believe that somehow, someway, in the end,

I WIN.

Being so different made me an easy target to be bullied. I felt alone and I withdrew into myself. Overwhelmed with anxiety I developed a language disorder and I spoke less and less. I expressed myself less and less and cut myself off from the world. It’s a crazy feeling to feel so helpless and out of control of your life. I didn’t know what was going to happen to me and wondered if anything at all was possible for me in my life.

Then, when I was in school I heard some kids talking about David Blaine’s magic. He had just released a TV magic special and everyone was talking about it nonstop. I didn’t have a TV where I could see it so I would just listen to people describing the magic and I would close my eyes and imagine it. The visions that appeared to me when I closed my eyes became a dream and then transformed into a blueprint. If everything I wanted was impossible for me then I would become a magician because a magician can do anything. That’s who magicians are; people who can do the impossible. I was too young to understand how things work, I had the faith of a child, which I now know is all you ever need. You don’t need to know how things work with a big brain, you only need a big heart and to believe.

THAT IS THE SECRET.

THIS HAS BEEN MY SUCCESS.

Wisdom I forget too easily as I wander through life foolishly replacing what I know in my heart for what I know in my head. An unintended consequence of experience of which I have become aware and guard myself from. For what good is all the thinking, planning, and scheming in the world if you don’t believe? What good are all the skills, talent, resources, opportunities, and connections if you have no faith and no will?

All of it is worth nothing. Less than nothing. You can have everything in the world and not be able to do anything with it. You can be given everything and not be able to do a single good thing for yourself or others. I have seen it with my own eyes and I know it to be true. The inverse is also true; you can have nothing and do everything if you believe.

BELIEVE.

BELIEVE AS IF YOUR LIFE COUNTS ON IT.

LIVE ON YOUR FAITH.

DEPEND ON IT.

RELY ON IT.

I didn’t know how I was going to become a magician. I had no plan and no idea. I didn’t hope to become one or simply desire it, somehow, someway, I knew I would be one. Even before I knew the first secret or held a deck of cards I knew. I had faith. I had the will.

Where there is a will there is a way and my way was long. I didn’t have any money to buy magic or even a deck of cards and even if I did there was no path for me as every single book in magic is written for magicians with hands. There was no clear way for me so I had to find a way, or make one.

Eventually I would have the opportunity to watch David Blaine on the internet and discover many magicians and their magic. Watching magic initiated me into the art, I would watch performances over and over and think deeply about what I had seen, and slowly I would gain some understanding about the art. As I learnt more about magic I slowly realized how impossible the road ahead of me would be, no matter how I approached it. I had no hands to manipulate objects and even if I somehow got past that, I couldn’t speak properly to present magic.

If faced with an overwhelming obstacle such as this,

what would you do?

WOULD YOU GIVE UP?

OR

WOULD YOU PUSH THROUGH?

One day I stumbled across a video of a psychological illusionist named Derren Brown. Everything, he claimed, was accomplished through suggestion, misdirection, psychology, hypnosis, and memory. Derren suggested books on these subjects where you could study and learn what he did in his shows. Where there had been no way before I suddenly saw a way for me to pursue magic. I read and studied all I could on these subjects and slowly started to create demonstrations of my new abilities. Through studying the mind, autosuggestion and self-hypnosis I was able to reprogram myself, which allowed me to overcome my language disorder.

WHERE THERE IS A WILL

THERE IS A WAY.

FIND A WAY OR MAKE ONE.

Mahdi The Teenage Magician

At school I would perform some of the demonstrations I prepared. Some were presented as memory stunts while others were unexplainable and mysterious. At first I was very shy and would only perform one on one but soon crowds would form. Many wonderful and magical moments and legends were made in those days and those early performances changed my life. Word of my abilities spread and a classmate gave me the title I use today,

MAHDI THE MAGICIAN.

These experiences changed my life, formed me in my formative years and transformed what I believed was impossible for me. The complete story would fill many volumes and will be revealed for the first time in my upcoming book, Before Magic: Living The Impossible.

#magic #inspiration #magician #initiation #will

[mahdithemagician]

A.I. Exposes Magic

OUTUBE ALGORITHM LINKING PERFORMANCES & EXPOSÉS

Magic

PART OF A SERIES ON WHAT I’M CALLING THE WAR ON MAGIC.

This all started with a click.

Someone sent me a link to a Youtube video. I clicked it and watched a television interview that included the performance of a magic trick. I watched the entire video and as it is ending Youtube gives you a preview of what the next video on auto-play is with a countdown:

5…

I SEE PLAYING CARDS IN THE THUMBNAIL…

4…

MUST BE ANOTHER MAGIC VIDEO…

3…

NO, WAIT, IT’S A MAGIC EXPOSÉ VIDEO…

2…

IT’S THE SAME TRICK THAT I JUST WATCHED PERFORMED…

1…

HOW IS THIS HAPPENING? I MUST KNOW…

I immediately started looking into the video itself.

The title was innocent enough. No mention of specific magic tricks or trick creators.

The description was innocent enough. Just a little description about the performer and that he performs magic.

The keywords were innocent enough. I right clicked the page and clicked “View Page Source” which shows you all the hidden coding on the page including keywords and metadata on the actual page itself. It mentioned some famous magicians who had nothing to do with the video (David Blaine, David Copperfield, etc), no doubt a method to try and increase traffic but still no mention of the piece of magic’s name or the creator of the magic effect.

The comments were innocent enough. No magic exposure in the comments or mention of techniques or names of effects.

The linking of the performance videos to their exposé videos was happening inside of Youtube.

I took all my knowledge of algorithms, artificial intelligence, and machine learning and began investigating Youtube’s constantly evolving internal systems to try to understand how all of this was happening.

These are my findings.

THE AGENDA

Marketing companies spend money to run advertisements on Youtube.

Youtube makes money from both views of the ads & clicks of the ads.

The more videos a person watches the more advertisements they are exposed to.

Youtube calls the time a person spends on their platform a “session”.

The longer a user’s session is, the more money Youtube makes from the marketing companies.

Youtube develops a constantly evolving algorithm that is designed to prolong your session.

THE GOAL IS TO KEEP YOU ON YOUTUBE

This algorithm is making decisions, based on many factors, to suggest videos that you, as a user might be interested in. These videos will appear on the sidebar as a suggested video as well as the homepage.

These suggestions are based on what the system has recognized as having potential for you to click on.

Youtube is able to make these determinations based on metadata, internal data that is being collected by the platform as well as data collected by Google through it’s other projects (Google Mail, Chrome, Maps, etc).

THE METADATA

Youtube used to only get metadata from title of a video, the uploader, the written description of the video, and the comments.

Times have changed though and the technology is evolving.

AUDIO METADATA

Youtube now automatically runs voice recognition software to create a transcript from the video. The system is able to recognize speech and the transcript is openly used in their subtitles/closed captioning system.

You can see the whole transcript by clicking on ••• at the bottom right of a video and then clicking on “Open Transcript”.

Internally, the system is able to create more metadata based on sounds outside of speech such as recognizing the sound of rain or a car honking.

This information is also used to find content that the machine predicts you will interact with.

For example, let’s take my performance of Oil & Water on Penn & Teller’s Fool Us. The transcript contains about 1300 words. The words are ranked internally based on how common they are and their order. Certain words like “interlace”, “cards”, “red”, “black”, “sleight of hand” stand out because they are less common than “hello”, “welcome”, “take a seat”, and “thank you”. Also they become important to the machine in terms of how they group together as those groupings or similar groupings appear in other videos.

Youtube will recognize certain keywords and language patterns used in my speech in other videos. These other videos are often people performing the same effect or exposing the effect. There are people sitting at home in front of their cameras exposing real magic techniques using similar language that I am using in my performance.

The algorithms understand these patterns and suggest videos revealing secrets to the magic trick you are watching in a performance video.

This metadata is also translated into every language and interfacing internally with every other piece of metadata in the system.

Which means you could have someone performing magic in Spanish and the algorithm could connect it with an explanation or exposé in English.

VIDEO METADATA

Google’s use of Inception also is the tip of the spear in terms of image-recognition neural networks. The technology can identify the contents of an image and is improving exponentially. Youtube is able to not only decipher the metadata in a video’s thumbnail, it is able to process every single frame of a video as an image and cross-examine it in their internal systems. This technology has allowed them to keep their platform friendly to advertisers by automatically detecting nudity, extreme violence, and other types of content that is prohibited by their Terms of Service.

As the technology advances the machine will not only be able to recognize that a person in a video is performing a piece of card magic. It will look at the layout of the cards, such as the classic T formation used in many Ace Assemblies, to further identify the content of the video.

This information will be used to suggest videos which expose the secrets of the magic presented in the performance video.

USER PATTERNS

One of the most common questions magicians hear is,

“HOW DID YOU DO THAT?”

The audience doesn’t really want to know. This is just an instinctual reaction to witnessing something unknown.

With Youtube people ask the machine the same question in a different way. They may not know the name of the magic effect but they can describe it in the “Search”.

Someone could see me on Penn & Teller and then type in “Card magic trick three red three black revealed tutorial” and many videos will pop up of people exposing various methods of the classic Oil & Water plot.

Let’s say 1000 people watch my performance video. Then 50 of them search for the secret of the magic. They click on what they think is an explanation of the magic effect. Youtube sees this as a pattern of behavior which prolongs the users sessions. It will start linking those two videos together.

With this technology someone could potentially have a completely silent act, with no audio metadata, and have their performance videos linked to explanation videos because of the pattern of behavior the users exhibit on the platform.

This machine learning would take place even though there is no relevant metadata. Let’s say you ran an experiment.

You have 1000 people view a specific 5 minute video of a tree. You then have them immediately search for and watch a specific 2 minute video of the moon. Those are totally unrelated videos with unrelated metadata but despite that the algorithm would understand that somehow they are related and extend a user’s Youtube session so it would internally link those two videos together.

With magic, even though only a small percentage will search for the secret of a magic trick on Youtube after watching a performance it will effect the viewing experience of all users as exposés will be suggested to them.

THIS MEANS THAT ANY VIDEO OF MAGIC ON YOUTUBE HAS THE POTENTIAL TO BE LINKED TO AN EXPOSÉ BY AN INTELLIGENCE THAT IS UNKNOWINGLY DESTROYING MAGIC IN AN INVISIBLE WAR.

NO ONE HEARD OR SAW THE FIRST SHOTS IN THE WAR ON MAGIC.

#magic #exposed #artificial intelligence #a.i. #google #Youtube

[mahdithemagician]

Overcoming The Monster

Part of a series on what Joseph Campbell called the "one great story" of humanity.

The following are excerpts from The Seven Basic Plots: Why We Tell Stories by Christopher Booker cut together and highlighted to create a dialogue between the reader and the text.

‘LEGENDS OF THE SLAUGHTER OF A DESTRUCTIVE MONSTER ARE TO BE FOUND ALL OVER THE WORLD. THE THOUGHT UNDERLYING THEM ALL IS THAT THE MONSTER SLAIN IS PRETERNATURAL AND HOSTILE TO MANKIND.’

- E. S. Hartland, The Legend of Perseus (1896)

The first part of the Sumerian Epic of Gilgamesh, as we now know it,

TELLS OF HOW THE KINGDOM OF URUK HAS FALLEN UNDER THE TERRIBLE SHADOW OF A GREAT AND MYSTERIOUS EVIL.

THE SOURCE OF THE THREAT IS TRACED TO A MONSTROUS FIGURE, HUMBABA, WHO LIVES HALF ACROSS THE WORLD, AT THE HEART OF A REMOTE FOREST.

THE HERO, GILGAMESH, GOES TO THE ARMOURERS WHO EQUIP HIM WITH SPECIAL WEAPONS, A GREAT BOW AND A MIGHTY AXE. 

HE SETS OUT ON A LONG, HAZARDOUS JOURNEY TO HUMBABA’S DISTANT LAIR, WHERE HE FINALLY COMES FACE TO FACE WITH THE MONSTER.

THEY ENJOY A SERIES OF TAUNTING EXCHANGES, THEN EMBARK ON A TITANIC STRUGGLE.

Face to face with the monster.

AGAINST SUCH SUPERNATURAL POWERS, IT SEEMS GILGAMESH CANNOT POSSIBLY WIN.

BUT FINALLY, BY A SUPERHUMAN FEAT, HE MANAGES TO KILL HIS MONSTROUS OPPONENT.

THE SHADOWY THREAT HAS BEEN LIFTED.

GILGAMESH HAS SAVED HIS KINGDOM AND CAN RETURN HOME TRIUMPHANT.

In the autumn of 1962, nearly 5000 years after the story of Gilgamesh was placed in the library at Niniveh, a period encompassing almost the whole of recorded human history, a fashionable crowd converged on Leicester Square in London for the premiere of a new film. Dr No was the first of what was to become, over the next 40 years, the most popular series of films ever made (even by 1980 it was estimated that one or more of the screen adventures of James Bond had been seen by some 2 billion people, then nearly half the earth’s population). With their quintessentially late-twentieth century mixture of space-age gadgetry, violence and sex, anything more remote from the primitive world of those inhabitants of the first cities who conceived the religious myth of Gilgamesh might seem hard to imagine. Yet consider the story which launched the series of Bond films that night in 1962.

THE WESTERN WORLD FALLS UNDER THE SHADOW OF A GREAT AND MYSTERIOUS EVIL.

THE SOURCE OF THE THREAT IS TRACED TO A MONSTROUS FIGURE, THE MAD AND DEFORMED SCIENTIST DR NO, WHO LIVES HALF ACROSS THE WORLD IN AN UNDERGROUND CAVERN ON A REMOTE ISLAND.

THE HERO JAMES BOND GOES TO THE ARMOURER WHO EQUIPS HIM WITH SPECIAL WEAPONS.

HE SETS OUT ON A LONG, HAZARDOUS JOURNEY TO DR NO’S DISTANT LAIR, WHERE HE FINALLY COMES FACE TO FACE WITH THE MONSTER.

THEY ENJOY A SERIES OF TAUNTING EXCHANGES, THEN EMBARK ON A TITANIC STRUGGLE.

AGAINST SUCH NEAR-SUPERNATURAL POWERS, IT SEEMS BOND CANNOT POSSIBLY WIN.

BUT FINALLY, BY A SUPERHUMAN FEAT, HE MANAGES TO KILL HIS MONSTROUS OPPONENT.

THE SHADOWY THREAT HAS BEEN LIFTED.

THE WESTERN WORLD HAS BEEN SAVED. BOND CAN RETURN HOME TRIUMPHANT.

The realm of storytelling contains nothing stranger or more spectacular than this terrifying, life-threatening, seemingly all-powerful monster whom the hero must confront in a fight to the death.

Any story which can make such a leap across the whole of recorded human history must have some profound symbolic significance in the inner life of mankind. 

- END OF EXCERPT

Why do these stories keep getting re-imagined & retold by each generation?

WHO ARE THE MONSTERS TODAY?

WHO IS SLAYING THEM?

WHAT DOES THIS HAVE TO DO WITH YOU?

Stayed tuned as we explore these questions and more...

I MUST NOW GO A LONG WAY…

I MUST FACE A FIGHT THAT I HAVE NOT FACED BEFORE.

AND I MUST GO ON A ROAD THAT I DO NOT KNOW.

—GILGAMESH, TABLET III, 2100 B.C.

#storytelling #story #joseph campbell #monster #overcome

[mahdithemagician]

Why We Tell Stories

AND WHY WE LISTEN

The first of a series on what Joseph Campbell called the "one great story" of humanity.

The following are excerpts from The Seven Basic Plots: Why We Tell Stories by Christopher Booker cut together and highlighted to create a dialogue between the reader and the text.

At any given moment, all over the world, hundreds of millions of people will be engaged in what is one of the most familiar of all forms of human activity. In one way or another they will have their attention focused on one of those strange sequences of mental images which we call a story. 

We spend a phenomenal amount of our lives following stories:

telling them;

listening to them;

reading them;

watching them being acted out on the television screen or in films or on a stage.

They are far and away one of the most important features of our everyday existence. Not only do fictional stories play such a significant role in our lives, as novels or plays, films or operas, comic strips or TV ‘soaps’. Through newspapers or television, our news is presented to us in the form of ‘stories’. Our history books are largely made up of stories. Even much of our conversation is taken up with recounting the events of everyday life in the form of stories.

These structured sequences of imagery are in fact the most natural way we know to describe almost everything which happens in our lives. 

But it is obviously in their fictional form that we most usually think of stories. So deep and so instinctive is our need for them that, as small children, we have no sooner learned to speak than we begin demanding to be told stories, as evidence of an appetite likely to continue to our dying day. So central a part have stories played in every society in history that we take it for granted that the great storytellers, such as Homer or Shakespeare, should be among the most famous people who ever lived.

In modern times we have not thought it odd that certain men and women, such as Charlie Chaplin or Marilyn Monroe, should come to be regarded as among the best-known figures in the world, simply because they acted out the characters from stories on the cinema screen. Even when we look out from our own world into space, we find we have named many of the most conspicuous heavenly bodies – Venus, Mars, Jupiter, Orion, Perseus, Andromeda – after characters from stories.

YET WHAT IS ASTONISHING IS HOW INCURIOUS WE ARE AS TO WHY WE INDULGE IN THIS STRANGE FORM OF ACTIVITY.

WHAT REAL PURPOSE DOES IT SERVE?

So much do we take our need to tell stories for granted that such questions scarcely even occur to us. In fact what we are looking at here is really one mystery built upon another, because our passion for storytelling begins from another faculty which is itself so much part of our lives that we fail to see just how strange it is: our ability to ‘imagine’,

TO BRING UP TO OUR CONSCIOUS PERCEPTION

THE IMAGES OF THINGS

WHICH ARE NOT ACTUALLY IN FRONT OF OUR EYES. 

While writing a book on a quite different subject, I found my attention focusing on a small number of particular stories. They included a Shakespeare play, Macbeth; Vladimir Nabokov’s novel Lolita; a 1960s French film, Truffaut’s Jules et Jim; the Greek myth of Icarus; and the German legend of Faust. On the face of it, these stories might not seem to have much in common.

Luke Skywalker takes the first step into the unknown, Star Wars (1977)

BUT WHAT HAUNTED ME WAS THE WAY THAT,

AT A DEEPER LEVEL,

THEY ALL SEEMED TO UNFOLD ROUND THE SAME GENERAL PATTERN.

EACH BEGINS WITH A HERO, OR HEROES, IN SOME WAY UNFULFILLED.

THE MOOD AT THE BEGINNING OF THE STORY IS ONE OF ANTICIPATION, AS THE HERO SEEMS TO BE STANDING ON THE EDGE OF SOME GREAT ADVENTURE OR EXPERIENCE.

IN EACH CASE HE FINDS A FOCUS FOR HIS AMBITIONS OR DESIRES, AND FOR A TIME SEEMS TO ENJOY ALMOST

DREAM-LIKE SUCCESS.

Macbeth becomes king; Humbert embarks on his affair with the bewitching Lolita; Jules and Jim, two young men in pre-First World War Paris, meet the girl of their dreams; Icarus discovers that he can fly; Faust is given access by the devil to all sorts of magical experiences.

BUT GRADUALLY THE MOOD OF THE STORY DARKENS.

THE HERO EXPERIENCES AN INCREASING SENSE OF FRUSTRATION.

There is something about the course he has chosen which makes it appear doomed, unable to resolve happily. More and more he runs into difficulty; everything goes wrong; until that original dream has turned into a nightmare.

FINALLY, SEEMINGLY INEXORABLY, THE STORY WORKS UP TO A CLIMAX OF VIOLENT SELF-DESTRUCTION.

THE DREAM ENDS IN DEATH. 

So consistent was the pattern underlying each of these stories that it was possible to track it in a series of five identifiable stages:

FROM THE INITIAL MOOD OF ANTICIPATION,

THROUGH A ‘DREAM STAGE’ WHEN ALL SEEMS TO BE GOING UNBELIEVABLY WELL,

TO THE ‘FRUSTRATION STAGE’ WHEN THINGS BEGIN TO GO MYSTERIOUSLY WRONG,

TO THE ‘NIGHTMARE STAGE’ WHERE EVERYTHING GOES HORRENDOUSLY WRONG,

ENDING IN THAT FINAL MOMENT OF DEATH AND DESTRUCTION.

No sooner had I become aware of this pattern than many other well-known stories began to suggest themselves as following the same general shape. Not surprisingly, these included a good many dramatic and operatic tragedies, such as Romeo and Juliet or Carmen. They included myths and legends, such as that of Don Juan; novels, such as the dreams turned to nightmare of those two unhappy heroines, Emma Bovary and Anna Karenina, both ending in suicide; or films such as Bonnie and Clyde, describing the two young lovers who lightheartedly embark on a career as bank robbers and end up riddled with a hail of bullets. Again and again through the history of storytelling it was possible to see this same theme, of a hero or heroine being drawn into a course of action which leads initially to some kind of hectic gratification and dream-like success, but which then darkens inexorably to a climax of nightmare and destruction.

AND AT THIS POINT TWO QUESTIONS BEGAN TO INTRUDE.

FIRSTLY,

WHY WAS THIS SO?

WHY HAS THE IMAGINATION OF STORYTELLERS SEEMED TO FORM SO READILY AND REGULARLY ROUND THIS THEME?

WHY DO WE RECOGNIZE IT AS SUCH A SATISFACTORY SHAPE TO A STORY? 

SECONDLY,

WERE THERE OTHER PATTERNS LIKE THIS UNDERLYING STORIES, SHAPING THEM IN QUITE DIFFERENT WAYS?

After all, this cycle of self-destruction only describes a certain type of story, with an ‘unhappy ending’. What about all those stories which have ‘happy endings’? Were there any similar basic patterns underlying these too?

- END OF EXCERPT

Note: The presented model for stories is bleak because the author is referring to stories in which the main characters stray from the correct path. They are not able to overcome their fatal flaws and fully develop into who they are meant to become, which is why their stories end in despair and death. As Booker writes later on in the book, "There are... a great many stor[ies in which] somehow ‘going wrong’, in terms of failing fully to realize the basic plot... lies behind [an unhappy ending]. As we shall see, the question of how and why stories can go wrong in this way, usually leaving us, the audience, with a dissatisfied sense that something has somewhere gone adrift, provides some of the most significant clues of all as to how stories work and what they are really about." We'll be exploring the duality of light and dark stories in later posts.

I first became interested in stories by accident. As a teenager I would watch the hit television show, Supernatural. The creator, Eric Kripke would always reference the The Hero's Journey as a blueprint to the series' story (first five seasons). The way he talked about this "Hero's Journey" and it's importance fascinated me so I started researched it. The concept of The Hero's Journey was introduced by Joseph Campbell in The Hero with a Thousand Faces (1949). Campbell, through his studies of the world religions and mythologies kept identifying the same themes and structures in stories all over the world at different times. His research led him to believe that these stories were part of one larger story, humanity's story and that these stories exist to make sense of and guide us through life. 

As I read more and more about stories I became very interested in where they came from and the role they play in people's lives today.

Join my journey to explore why we need stories.

PRAISE FOR

THE SEVEN BASIC PLOTS

WHY WE TELL STORIES

"This is the most extraordinary, exhilarating book. It always seemed to me that 'the story' was God's way of giving meaning to crude creation. Booker now interprets the mind of God, and analyses not just the novel – which will never to me be quite the same again – but puts the narrative of contemporary human affairs into a new perspective. If it took its author a lifetime to write, one can only feel gratitude that he did it." - Fay Weldon

#story #storytelling #humanity #hero's journey #joseph campbell

[mahdithemagician]

The Nature of Magoc

NATURAL MAGIC

VS.

NATURALNESS

A Baroque Transposition As Performed by Arturo de Ascanio

Natural magic is the disorderly attempt to create or produce harmonious actions through flawed observation of law and order.

There exists laws and rules to everything in existence and the history of humanity is one of observing what we can and trying to apply what we perceive to influence, control, and direct the world.

When we correctly understand what we observe and why it is happening we are able to apply those concepts to achieve desirable effects for real. The history of magic is filled with people misunderstanding the world around them and trying to, or pretending to create those same desired effects but with a distorted understanding of cause and effect.

"If my analysis of the magician's logic is correct, its two great principles turn out to be merely two different misapplications of the association of ideas. Homoeopathic magic is founded on the association of ideas by similarity: contagious magic is founded on the association of ideas by contiguity. Homoeopathic magic commits the mistake of assuming that things which resemble each other are the same: contagious magic commits the mistake of assuming that things which have once been in contact with each other are always in contact. But in practice the two branches are often combined; or, to be more exact, while homoeopathic or imitative magic may be practised by itself, contagious magic will generally be found to involve an application of the homoeopathic or imitative principle. Thus generally stated the two things may be a little difficult to grasp, but they will readily become intelligible when they are illustrated by particular examples. Both trains of thought are in fact extremely simple and elementary. It could hardly be otherwise, since they are familiar in the concrete, though certainly not in the abstract, to the crude intelligence not only of the savage, but of ignorant and dull-witted people everywhere. Both branches of magic, the homoeopathic and the contagious, may conveniently be comprehended under the general name of Sympathetic Magic, since both assume that things act on each other at a distance through a secret sympathy, the impulse being transmitted from one to the other by means of what we may conceive as a kind of invisible ether, not unlike that which is postulated by modern science for a precisely similar purpose, namely, to explain how things can physically affect each other through a space which appears to be empty." - James George Frazer

Arturo de Ascanio considered A Baroque Transposition to be one of his Minor Miracles. It is a beautiful piece of magic in which he combines both nature and naturalness in order to enchant and deceive.

NATURAL MAGIC

The natural magic is played out when he invisibly grabs the two cards, flutters his hand, crosses his arms over, and invisibly exchanges them. This is not just a playful act which demonstrates what is suppose to magically transpire with those two cards. This is the magician enacting out an imaginary magical ritual which supposedly causes the two cards to transpose.

This magical gesture is of extreme importance because it not only narrates the plot of the effect to the audience, it also apparently is the cause of the magical effect.

MAGIC MAKES SENSE.

Magic makes sense because it is supposed to make sense. The reason magic creates a feeling of wonder in us is because it follows logical rules. The magician has power and knowledge to influence this world. The magic must flow in alignment with logic from either or both the magician's power and hidden knowledge.

Nothing random that is presented is ever considered to be magic. Mystery does not equate magic. Something that is not understood can be mysterious but it is not always magical. The reason magic works is because there are rules that we all understand and the magician is apparently able to override those rules through his or her power and knowledge.

We know that playing cards are lifeless inanimate objects coated with ink. This ink doesn't randomly change or transform every single second in front of our eyes. If we had a computer screen in front of us showing two cards, one on the left and one of the right, and every second the program caused these two cards to switch places we would understand that the computer has a code that's written to create an image and that our computer screen lights up every single pixel to correspond with that program. If we had even the most basic experience with computers this situation would not create any wonder in us as we would understand that computer screens are able to produce different images instantly. Physical objects such as playing cards are different. We know these objects are stable and inanimate. These rules are observed and understood by the audience.

If two different cards were to suddenly change places we would understand that something impossible happened but this may be confusing as it brashly conflicts with our understanding of reality with no cause or explanation. When a magician presents two different objects and acts out a ritual that connects with us emotionally and logically we experience wonder. That wonder is the effect of witnessing natural magic.

UNNATURAL NATURALNESS

Above we explored the art of natural magic, which is magic that is unscientific; meaning not real, but logically understood, processed, and accepted by people when they experience it.

That is the naturalness in the artistic side of magic. Naturalness also occurs in the technical side of magic and has a separate definition and effect. The artistic naturalness is used to create a narrative and the technical naturalness in magic is used to deceive.

A magician deceives through presenting a sequence that is incorrectly accepted as corresponding with reality. This is achieved through many means which all rely on the audience not actually understanding what is actually occurring in front of them.

EVERY ACTION THE MAGICIAN MAKES MUST LOOK LIKE IT SHOULD.

 In order to successfully execute these deceptions the magician's actions must appear natural. Any unnaturalness will draw the audience's attention so that they question the validity of the magician's actions.

Imagine, if you will, seeing a magician shuffle a deck of cards carelessly throughout an evening's performance. Let's say the magician now asks a member of the audience to draw out a card, commit it to memory, and place it back in the pack to lose it. Now the magician suddenly very carefully "shuffles" the pack. This shuffle is nothing like any of his other shuffles that he performed throughout the evening. The audience may not necessarily be able to follow this new shuffle with their eyes but they feel that magician is somehow controlling this shuffle and that their card is not actually lost.

“Here is natural instinct and here is control. You are to combine the two in harmony, now if you have one to the extreme, you will be very unscientific. If you have another to the extreme, you will all of a sudden be a mechanical man, no longer a human being. It is a successful combination of both. Therefore, it is not naturalness or unnaturalness. The ideal is Unnatural Naturalness or Natural Unnaturalness.” - Bruce Lee

One of the primary objectives of the magician is to enchant the audience with their magic and in order to accomplish that goal the audience must be deceived. The audience may or may not know that the magician is deceiving them through their physical actions but they must not suspect or feel that any deception is taking place.

The magician works in two realities; one that only they see and one that they present to the audience. Once the audience feels that they are being cheated the spell is broken, they are able to penetrate the magical atmosphere and see what the magician is trying to keep hidden instead of the offered narrative.

Everyone of the magician's actions must seem natural even if they don't correspond with the truth. It is necessary to study and practice in order to achieve this unnatural naturalness.

These are two tools used in magic used to enchant and deceive. Arturo de Ascanio was a master of structuring his magic effects in order to exploit the two types of naturalness apparent in his body of work.

#magic #natural #naturalness #unnatural #narrative #Youtube

[mahdithemagician]

The Magical Atmosphere

The following is an excerpt from Pipo Villanueva's blog.

“MAGIC BEGINS WITH RESISTANCE, AT THE POINT WHERE RESISTANCE IS OVERCOME.”

It was that night in Madrid of 1954 when everything changed. I was not there but I’ve heard the tale many times and I’ve recreated it in my mind many more. The great Fred Kaps (1926-1980) was there performing a clandestine close-up session for a little crowd. They were deeply captivated, surrounding him squashed in like sardines trying to get a good view of the improvised stage. There was a special thing floating in the air, it was as if that night at that very place nothing were impossible.

Home video of Arturo de Ascanio's weekly tertulia (informal sessions). You can spot a very young Miguel Angel Gea. Who else do you recognize?

A young Spanish stage magician was in the audience, Arturo de Ascanio (1929-1997), later he would become a master of the art and one of the most relevant figures in magic too. That night Fred Kaps turned Arturo’s world upside down and changed his life forever, and with it the life of many others that would come later. Arturo abandoned stage magic and focused in close-up magic, trying to understand what he experienced and how it was possible to recreate it. He became a very successful lawyer and an extremely cultivated person, magic was never his day job but his passion and obsession. The quest for the “Magic Atmosphere” would accompany him all his life. Arturo theorized, conceptualized and put into words the empirical knowledge of the magicians laying the foundations of the so called Spanish School of Magic inspiring magicians from all over the world to this day.

“MAGIC ATMOSPHERE: The magical atmosphere (and I do not pretend that the concept is new) is the feeling of magic, surprise and mystery that is achieved when the magician executes his effects so that the spectators cannot see, let alone suspect, the secret cause that produces them. The spectators DO NOT SUSPECT even the EXISTENCE of that cause, and the series of effects always catch them totally unprepared. That is to say, the magical atmosphere occurs when, in a sequence of effects everything happens as if the authentic magic really existed. Effects and emotions develop so naturally and so unexpectedly that the effects produced are really mind-boggling. Conceived in this way, the magical atmosphere is the SUMMUM of perfection to which every magician can aspire.” - Arturo de Ascanio, 1958

Arturo would also become close friends with Fred Kaps and years later would remember his experience that night like this:

“I was totally dazzled, shocked. This was something else, it was impossible to think that could even exist…”

That was how two legends wrote a great episode of the history of magic.

Read the rest of Pipo's blog entry here: http://pipovillanueva.com/january-2017-arturo-ascanio-the-magic-atmosphere/

MAGIC AS A PLACE

Everyone has an inner world. Some inner worlds are richer than others. The world of magic is very deep and the role of the magician is to get the audience to choose the leave their own world and enter into the magician's inner world. This inner world is one that is abundant with possibilities, contradictions, and impossibilities. When the magicians enters the scene he is entering everyone else's world and those worlds are not magical worlds, in fact, those worlds are hostile to magic. In those worlds the impossible stays impossible.

INFILTRATE. DESTABILIZE. CO-OPT.

The role of the magician is to destabilize the audience. This is accomplished through the opening effects which are designed to undermine what the audience knows about the rules of the game. Once the audience understands that strange things are happening the magician co-opts them.

HOW?

THE AUDIENCE IS ASKED A QUESTION.

THEY DON'T RECOGNIZE IT AS A QUESTION BECAUSE THEY ARE ASKING IT TO THEMSELVES.

FRED KAPS DE GOOCHELAAR

(Dutch for THE MAGICIAN)

The question is a question that they know the answer to. They know the answer in two ways. They know the answer that would be correct in the real world and they know the answer that would be correct if they were seeing real magic.

Imagine a spectator is asked to select a card. They select the 5 of Spades, signs the card, and loses it in the middle of the deck. Where is the card? Somewhere in the middle. The magician passes the shadow of his hand over the deck explaining that this makes the signed 5 of Spades rise right to the very top of the deck. The magician asks the spectator to turn over the top card which she does and finds her signed card in her hand having been mysteriously risen through the whole pack. Again, the magician asks her to place her card anywhere she would like in the deck, which she does. The magician asks her where her card is and she responds that it's lost somewhere in the middle. The magician nods, raises his hand over the deck and mysteriously passes his shadow over the deck. He asks her where her card is. The deck hasn't moved. Nothing has seemingly happened but now she has two answers to that question. Both are based in observation and expectation. She knows she lost the card in the middle of the deck and she knows that when the shadow of the magician's hand passes over the deck that her signed 5 of Spades will inexplicably rise up to the top of the deck.

The audience's world has been infiltrated and destabilized. The magician's world has been introduced and it's principles observed. The audience now has a choice to make.

WILL THEY CONTINUE TO RESIST

OR

ENTER INTO THE INNER WORLD OF MAGIC?

Not everyone will enter and all who do will come in their own way. 

Fred Kaps would serve as a mentor to Ascanio and young Arturo would eventually create and improve many classic plots in magic. Fred Kaps and Arturo de Ascanio are highly revered by magicians aspiring to excellence worldwide. The Magic of Ascanio is published by Páginas Libros de Magia and contains many essays, techniques, and material from Arturo de Ascanio.

#magic #atmosphere #performance #spain #inner world #Youtube

[mahdithemagician]

Secrets Were His Life

"SPELLBOUND THEY GATHERED, FAR AND NEAR TO SCAN, THE WEIRD POWERS OF THIS WONDROUS MAN."

William Ellsworth Robinson greeting World War I veterans at a 1915 benefit performance. This is the only film record of Chung Ling Soo that exists today.

TO SAY CHUNG LING SOO'S DEATH OVERSHADOWED HIS LIFE IS AN UNDERSTATEMENT AND ONE OF THE GREATEST TRAGEDIES IN MAGIC HISTORY.

THE STORY OF HIS DEATH IS NOTHING WHEN COMPARED TO THE STORY HIS LIFE.

Born William Ellsworth Robinson on April 2, 1861 in New York, he was known as Billy Robinson to his intimate acquaintances, as The Man of Mystery to his first audiences, then later as Achmed Ben Ali, Nana Sahib, Abdul Khan, and Hop Sing Soo before finally settling on his greatest role, Chung Ling Soo, The Marvelous Chinese Conjurer.

William Robinson was a contemporary of Herrmann, Kellar, Thurston, Maskelyne, Devant, and Houdini. He was highly esteemed in his field for his work onstage and behind the curtains. He was also one of the most secretive men who ever lived both, personally and professionally.

SECRETS WERE HIS LIFE. 

His untimely demise cast a fog of mystery which enveloped and obscured the life of one of the greatest magicians who ever lived.

WHAT WERE HIS SECRETS?

What took place between the beginning of his career, when he invited his audiences to enjoy "little experiments, which endeavor to prove that seeing is believing" to the end where he played the most prestigious theaters and was billed as:

A GIFT FROM THE GODS

TO

MORTALS ON EARTH

TO AMUSE AND MYSTIFY

Growing up in New York, the young William Ellsworth Robinson was able to watch the great magicians who performed at Barnum's or the New York Coliseum. He witnessed Robert Heller on Broadway as well as Signor Blitz when they brought their world class shows to town.

Robinson's passion for studying secrets began when he first read Modern Magic by Professor Hoffmann. This was one of the most important books ever published in magic as it published the true secrets of professional magicians. The book also gave many detailed designs of conjuring apparatus assuming that every reader was a skilled metal or wood worker. Unable to afford the expensive conjuring apparatus revealed in Modern Magic, the young Billy Robinson took a job in a brass foundry and learned the art of shaping and crafting metal. Young Robinson started to make his own props and when he showed his handiwork to Francis and Anthony Martinka, they gave him a job at their world famous magic manufacturing company and shop, the Palace of Magic.

It was in Martinka's workshop that William Robinson continued his education and developed his skills for years as he built props, apparatus, and illusions for local and travelling professional magicians. By his early twenties, Billy Robinson was an expert in magic.

As he progressed in his art he began spending more and more away from Martinka and America and more time onstage in Europe, seeing increasing success with his Achmed Ben Ali act, which used very novel principles in deception that had been honed to a fine art by Robinson after seeing it in use by Auzinger. The act attracted the attention of some of the biggest names in magic including Alexander Herrmann and Harry Kellar who saw Robinson's devices and expertise as the future of magic.

Over dinner Kellar offered William Robinson a part in his show. Herrmann was planning a tour featuring his two new illusions: Black Art and Le Cocon. These two illusions were ones that Robinson had stolen from Auzinger and that both Herrmann and Kellar wanted so badly. After delaying Robinson finally accepted Kellar's offer to come perform in the show and work backstage for the sum of $60 a week.

Robinson worked with Kellar for some time, learning as much as he could, before departing from his show and joining Kellar's rival, Herrmann's show. As that ran it's course, Kellar realized how much he needed Robinson to succeed and lured him back to the Kellar show with brand new illusions he needed Robinson to build. Kellar correctly calculated that Robinson would eventually get bored with Herrmann's show and want to work on something the world had never seen before.

ROBINSON WOULD GO ON TO WORK ON MANY PROJECTS, ALWAYS WITH AN EYE SEARCHING FOR PIECES OF MAGIC WHICH HE COULD EVENTUALLY USE IN HIS OWN SHOW.

HE WAS RUTHLESS IN HIS PURSUIT OF MAGIC.

One of the darkest blemishes on his name was when he agreed to work with Zanzic on fleecing the public with fake séances using state of the art magic methods. One of their clients was a wealthy German businessman who wanted to spend an hour with the materialization of his wife's spirit, alone for an hour. Zanzic hired a prostitute and made the necessary arrangements to convince the client that he was being reunited with his dead wife. Unfortunately the German businessman died of a heart attack while in bed with who he believed was the spirit of his wife. When Zanzic and Robinson heard the prostitute screaming they burst into the room and tried to dress and sneak the dead body out, only to be caught by the German businessman's servant, who immediately called the police. The magicians explained the situation, bribed the police, and left town.

William Robinson would continue to acquire, develop, and shuttle secrets to and fro when the price was right. This was a man who knew magic as well as anyone and as his value grew so did his reputation for duplicity.

NO ONE REALLY TRUSTED HIM AND AT THE SAME TIME

THEY COULD NOT AFFORD TO NOT TRUST HIM.

#secret #thief #intellectual property #magic #history #Youtube

[mahdithemagician]

Magic Is The Art of Transformation

Richard Valentine Pitchford was born in Mumbles, Wales, November 24th, 1895. This beautiful mind and nimble fingers descended from hardworking parents who filled roles of clergymen, a watchmaking jewelers, theater-owners, and bandleaders. As a child he would become enchanted by Chung Ling Soo and developed an interest into the fine art of magic. Lafayette, Liepzig and Van Hoven would further the boy's growing passion for conjuring.

Legend has it that as a caretaker for a billiard parlor, the young Richard would become intimate acquaintances with billiard and gaming hustlers. From them he is said to have become initiated into the art and science of manipulation.

During his tutelage he studied with a world class billiards player, George Gray, and he himself developed into a billiards player of note. If the Great War had not have broke out it is very likely he pursued his ambition to turn playing this game into a career.

Cardini, The Suave Deceiver with Swan on board an oceanliner after a run of shows in England.

In France with the King's Shropshire Light Infantry, Richard practiced with a dirty pack of playing cards. The trenches were cold and damp and he is said to have worn gloves to stay warm. The world would eventually sit breathlessly watching cards appearing in fans from these same gloved hands.

"TWICE WOUNDED IN FRANCE AND SHELL-SHOCKED, I WAS IN A MILITARY HOSPITAL IN LIVERPOOL. ALL DAY LONG I PRACTICED TRICKS. INDEED I WAS SO CONSTANTLY MANIPULATING CARDS THAT THE DOCTORS, THINKING I MUST BE INSANE, PUT ME IN A MENTAL WARD." - RICHARD VALENTINE PITCHFORD

T. Nelson Down's classic book, the 'Art of Magic' was a constant companion in the trenches. In 1916, mid-way through the war his body was found almost lifeless at the front. These injuries are believed to be caused by a blast concussion. Reports were circulating that he had been Killed In Action. He was revived in a field hospital and suffered from severe shell shock.

During his recovery he would ask for playing cards and practiced non-stop. Thinking he was mentally ill for wearing gloves and repeating the same manipulations with cards all day the doctors had him incarcerated in a mental hospital in Southhampton, England.

"LEARNING HOW TO DO CARD TRICKS SAVED MY REASON,"

Richard's first audiences were soldiers and physicians. Deeming him harmless he was eventually released and given the chance to audition in front of a manager as a musician but did not make an impression. Dejected he decided to work as medium, reading minds under disguise as a woman named Madame Juliet. Struggling as an artist he traveled the English country performing his own magic act at the various music halls. His health and finances endured many tribulations at this period of his life and he ended up being employed by Gamages in London as a magic demonstrator.

One day at Gamages a very short, extremely well-dressed man walked into the department store while Richard was practicing vanishing cards. In those days Richard constantly practiced, even in public, and when he noticed this short man watching him he asked,

"EXCUSE ME SIR, IS THERE ANYTHING I CAN GET YOU?"

AND THE LITTLE STRANGER REPLIED,

"YOU'RE VASTING YOUR TIME, YOU'RE VASTING YOUR TIME!"

RICHARD RESPONDED,

"WELL, I'M JUST DOING A LITTLE PRACTICING."

THE LITTLE STRANGER TOOK THE CARDS AND SAID,

"IF YOU VANT TO VANISH A CARD, HERE'S THE VAY YOU DO IT!" AND SUDDENLY HELD UP A CARD AND IT JUST SEEMED TO VANISH INTO THIN AIR...

Both hands were empty, there was no reversing or maneuvering of any kind; the card just seemed to melt away.

The little stranger dropped a visiting card face down on the counter, walked away to the lift and went downstairs. Richard looked around to see if the vanished card was on the floor, but it was not there... it truly had vanished!

When Richard recovered from his astonishment, he ran to the lift, went downstairs, out of the store, and looked in both directions up and down the street, but the stranger had gone. Richard returned to work and remembered the face down visiting card that was left on the table. He turned it face up, and on it was written:

MAX MALINI

HONEST TO GOODNESS, I ONLY CHEAT A LITTLE.

THIS WAS THE ONLY TIME THESE TWO LEGENDS WOULD EVER MEET.

Moving ever onward Richard found work as a crew member on a cargo ship and sailed the world. Falling in love with Australia he underwent another transformation and became, Val Raymond, The Australian Gloved Card Expert. He found work on an ocean liner as a steward and was given the job because management like that he could also entertain the passengers, not with his card magic but with his ventriloquism.

Cardini, The Suave Deceiver

Landing in Sydney flat out broke he decided to try his luck at the Tivoli circuit of theaters. He prepared himself by pounding back two Scotch & Sodas and stormed the stage in his street clothes. His card manipulations dazzled the onlookers and he was booked on the spot and advised to change his stage name as another man named Val Raymond was known to be wanted by the police.

Houdini had many imitators who would perform under his name or derivations of his name such as Whodini. Richard was advised to take on Houdini's name as it could boost his career and instead of throwing the idea away he thought about it and came up with the most iconic name in magic,

CARDINI

Under this name he would conquer the world, giving commands performances at the ends of the Earth for Royalty, Presidents, and Emperors. The name CARDINI would be featured on all the most prestigious theaters in the world and at the top of every bill he appeared on. He was considered to be an absolute sensation by everyone who saw him perform. Cardini is the single greatest artist ever to become involved in magic. Cardini became the most imitated and iconic act in history. His act soared above all other acts in magic and is perfect.

CHANGED LIVES

Richard Valentine Pitchford transformed from a casualty of war into CARDINI, the greatest artist of all time.

Max Katz Breit came to America as a poor Polish immigrant and became MAX MALINI, the Conjuror of The Century & Royal Entertainer.

William Ellsworth Robinson went from being a struggling magician to CHUNG LING SOO, The Marvellous Chinese Conjuror.

Erik Weisz spend his formative years as a starving artist only to become HARRY HOUDINI, the world famous magician & escape artist.

Héctor René Lavandera lost his hand as a child, then went from being a clumsy bank clerk to being RENÉ LAVAND, a sensational card magician.

אורי גלר spent his early life in a Kibbutz, was injured in the Seven Day War as a paratrooper and survived to create a new field in magic and become URI GELLER, a global phenomenon.

A small boy was born without hands or feet and began his career as a nameless exhibition at fairgrounds only to become MATTHIAS BUCHINGER, The Greatest Living German.

An American child lost his sight at an early age only to become RICHARD TURNER, the World's Greatest Card Mechanic.

A young runaway and homeless youth would become Kellar's successor and conquer America as HOWARD THURSTON.

Orlando Carmelo Scarnecchia dropped out of the 8th Grade and went on to become a best-selling author and expert of gambling under the name JOHN SCARNE.

David White was born with his feet turned in and with small lungs only to revolutionize magic as DAVID BLAINE, the celebrated magician and endurance artist.

Mahdi Gilbert was born without hands or feet and went on to become MAHDI THE MAGICIAN, one of the greatest magicians in world history.

"THERE IS REAL MAGIC INSIDE OF EACH ONE OF US. IT'S A MAGIC THAT WE ALL HAVE THAT ALLOWS US TO FULFILL OUR DREAMS AND TURN THEM INTO REALITY, AND ALL YOU HAVE TO DO IS BELIEVE IN YOUR OWN MAGIC AND THEN NOTHING IS IMPOSSIBLE." - DOUG HENNING

#magic #history #inspiration #transformation #magician #Youtube

[mahdithemagician]

The Bird With One Wing

I HAVE AN IMAGE THAT HAUNTS MY MIND FROM A STORY I HEARD A LONG, LONG TIME AGO OF A BIRD WHO LOST ONE OF HIS WINGS.

He spent many years trapped on the ground and in despair he would look up each day longing to be up in the sky completely liberated. The rest of the story is a blur in my memory but when I think of René I can’t help but feel that the bird turned out alright and that he found a way to fly again beautifully.

“It Can’t Be Done Any Slower” is a catchphrase used by Héctor René Lavandera, known to the world as René Lavand. René was born September 24th, 1928 in Buenos Aires and was only 7 years old when he learned his card trick. As a 9 year old child René would suffer great tragedy when he was hit by car while playing in the streets during Carnival, an accident in which he lost his right hand.

"IT WAS AN ACCIDENT THAT DEFINITIVELY DETERMINED THE PATH I WOULD TAKE. IT SEEMS AS IF I OWE SO MUCH TO THAT CRUEL TWIST: MY DISTINCT PERSONALITY, MY ARTISTIC CAREER, MY SUCCESS IN THE WORLD."

As a young man René fell into a gambling addiction and lived as a gambler. As his technical abilities improved he considered making his living as a cheater but knew that it was an empty road. René was 22 years old when he began working at the Banco de la Nacíon Argentina, a job which paid the bills while he honed his art. In the corner of his desk he had hidden a deck of cards and in the corner of his soul… many dreams.

“INSTEAD OF FEELING SORRY FOR HIMSELF, HE STARTED TO PUSH HIMSELF, TRYING TO COME BACK TO LIFE, FEELING THE FIRE THAT FLOWS THROUGH THE VEINS OF MEN WHO WANT TO PUSH BEYOND THEIR OWN LIMITATIONS. A FIRE THAT NOTHING AND NO ONE CAN EXTINGUISH. PROOF THAT LIFE IS STRONGER THAN DEATH AND THAT LOVE IS STRONGER THAN PAIN.”

- Ascanio on Lavand

At 32, he debuted on stage at the Tabarís Theatre in Buenos Aires. René’s magic was like nothing ever seen before. Everything that came out of René was beautiful. He has “a way of looking, of being, of moving, that is harmonious and dramatic”. He spoke of life as a marked deck, shuffled by the hand of God and in his hand a deck of cards appeared to be pieces of cardboard painted with strokes of dreams, lies and love. René would speak poetically, his stories filled with imagination and beautiful metaphors. René Lavand was so highly regarded by his peers that famous poets, authors, and songwriters such as Rolando Chirico, Ricardo Martín, and Don Atahualpa Yupanqui wrote stories, poems, and lines for his exclusive use.

René achieved tremendous success, appearing on The Ed Sullivan Show and The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson as well as countless other programmes internationally and was able to tour the world performing his magic.

The line he used to close several of his tricks was "No se puede hacer más lento", it references the slow, graceful, confident and determined manner in which he moved and is also the title of his signature effect.

I couldn’t do anything with a deck of cards when I started to study sleight of hand. I remember watching a video of René perform “No se puede hacer más lento” and dreamed of being able to do magic like that one day. It was the first piece of magic that I really dedicated myself to learning and I’ve been studying it since I was 17 years old. It’s a piece that I’ve grown with and has grown with me and I always perform it as a tribute to René who has had such an impact on my magic and my life.

When I was 22 years old I heard that René would be performing his show in Italy. Even though I didn’t even have a cent for the trip I forced myself to find a way to get to Italy to see him. By the time I arrived to the theater in Italy I was exhausted, having traveled for almost 2 days without sleep. I was so tired that my eyes kept closing and I would drift into microsleeps until one time I opened my eyes and René was on stage preparing for the show. I was wide awake by the time the show started and René performed some of the most beautiful magic I have ever seen. In his old age I honestly expected him to have slowed down technically but he amazed me as he, without hesitation, executed his incredible sleight of hand flawlessly. The stories he told were so touching that the audience was in tears.

I’M SO HAPPY THAT I WAS ABLE TO MEET RENÉ WHILE HE WAS STILL ALIVE. THAT’S GOING TO STAY WITH ME UNTIL THE DAY I DIE.

If there is someone in the world who is alive who you want to meet please don’t wait.

DO IT TODAY, AND IF YOU CAN’T DO THAT TODAY THAN YOU SHOULD AT LEAST START SERIOUSLY PLANNING IT RIGHT NOW. YOU DON’T HAVE FOREVER AND NEITHER DO THEY.

YOU WILL NEVER REGRET IT.

René said that audiences, in their final applause, gave him the sensation of having arrived to rescue him and he would usually end each show with a story that his friend Rolando Chirico wrote on a paper napkin:

“Thank you. Yes, I did forget something: my farewell story.

An old Oriental magician lost his right hand at the height of his fame. He suffered greatly. With that hand he had entertained thousands of children and adults.

One day he cursed the gods of fate and he was condemned to eternal sleep. He was condemned to live in a cage which could only be opened by one’s right hand. He passed many cruel years there.

But one day, unexpectedly, the door opened. He rushed out crying tears of joy thinking that at last he had been forgiven; but he was struck paralyzed when he noticed that from the handle of the door hung his right hand.

From those long forgotten ages of the past, his lost right hand had come to rescue him.

I want to say to you here, ladies and gentlemen, that tonight you and all of the audiences of the world, are for me precisely that:

A KEY THAT OPENS MY CAGE… FOREVER.

THANK YOU.”

THANK YOU RENÉ!

#magic #magician #argentina #beautiful #inspiration #Youtube

[mahdithemagician]

A Real Magic Love Spell

MAGICIAN USES REAL MAGIC LOVE SPELL

I LOVE YOU, I LOVE YOU, I LOVE YOU.

I first heard about Howard Thurston's mantra from Jim Steinmeyer and became obsessed with it. What did he say? Why did he say it?

Audley Dunham met Howard Thurston and in his youthful enthusiasm, asked Thurston,

"When the curtain rises and the music stops and you raise your arms halfway—you say not a word and you look up at the gallery, then the balcony, then the main floor and you look like you're going to say something, but you don't till you start the show."

Thurston interrupted Dunham and said,

"Oh my boy, I DO say something. From the gallery to the main floor I am saying across the footlights,

'I LOVE YOU. I LOVE YOU. I LOVE YOU.'

I am sending my love across the footlights each and every show I do."

Excerpt from Conjurors and Cornfields: Magic on the Indianapolis Stage By Thomas A. Ewing

Howard Thurston was one of the famous and successful performers alive in his day. Very few people remember him today yet there is an ongoing debate in the magic world whether he was as famous or even more famous than Harry Houdini when they were both alive.

WHY WAS THE FIRST THING

HE DID WHEN HE CAME OUT ON STAGE SOMETHING THAT NO ONE IN THE AUDIENCE KNEW ABOUT OR EVER REALIZED?

WHY DID HE TELL PEOPLE WHO WOULD NEVER HEAR HIM THAT HE LOVED THEM?

Let's see what people who knew him had to say...

"I have stood in the wings many times as he began his performance. When he appears on the stage, the music is playing loudly. Quickly, and seemingly from nowhere, Thurston produces huge, dripping fish-bowls, bouquets of flowers, and ducks that quack and flap their wings. Dur-ing this first assault upon the attention of the crowd, Thurston is looking smilingly across the footlights and saying

"I LOVE YOU ALL — EVERY ONE OF YOU."

No one out front hears him, but he has a theory that the emotion which he evokes in himself spills out over the orchestra pit and establishes an instantaneous entente cordiale. It sounds sentimental, but Thurston's box-office receipts are quite realistic."

Excerpt from Illustrated Magic By Ottokar Fischer

ACCORDING TO OTTOKAR FISCHER THE REASON WHY THURSTON WHISPERED INAUDIBLY, IS THAT IT

SOMEHOW

HAD AN EFFECT ON HIS AUDIENCE.

"Dad would stand in the wings as our overture was being played by the orchestra, jump up and down to "rev" up his psyche, and quietly tell his waiting audience,

"I LOVE YOU. I LOVE YOU!"

Then he'd stride joyously onstage to stand in the spotlight exuding that love...

AND HIS AUDIENCE LOVED HIM RIGHT BACK!

IT

NEVER

FAILED HIM."

Jane Thurston (his daughter) in M-U-M

HE NOT ONLY DID THIS ONSTAGE BUT ALSO

BEHIND THE CURTAIN

WITH

THE SAME EFFECT!

Thurston's daughter, Jane believed that the audience could

FEEL

THE LOVE

RESONATING

FROM HOWARD

AND THAT THEY RESPONDED BY

LOVING HIM BACK!

"Many people recalled his graciousness on stage; he was, after all, famous for standing behind the curtain, just before each performance, whispering over-and-over, "I love you" to his audience, an effort to express his affection, drawing them in from the first moments of his show."

Jim Steinmeyer in Genii

He stood behind the curtain during each overture, hidden from the audience but whispering to them his pre-show mantra, "I love you all.... I love you all...." He realized that his success was expressing that love on the stage.

Jim Steinmeyer in Hiding the Elephant

WHAT WAS HAPPENING HERE?

HOW IS THIS POSSIBLE?

In a presentation by Jim Steinmeyer at the 75th Anniversary Genii Bash, Jim recounts this story about Howard Thurston but goes into more detail.

HOWARD WOULD NOT ONLY SAY THAT HE LOVED THEM BUT EXPLAIN TO HIMSELF WHY HE LOVED THEM.

I LOVE YOU, I LOVE YOU, I LOVE YOU.

I LOVE YOU FOR COMING TO MY SHOW THIS EVENING OR I WOULDN'T EVEN HAVE A SHOW.

I LOVE YOU FOR ALLOWING ME TO DO WHAT I LOVE TO DO FOR A LIVING.

I LOVE YOU FOR LETTING ME TRAVEL THE WORLD AND MAKE MY OWN DREAMS COME TRUE.

THURSTON WOULD FIND REASONS TO LOVE HIS AUDIENCE

AND

EXPRESS THEM.

DURING MY RESEARCH INTO THURSTON I STUMBLED UPON HIS PRESENTATION FOR THE LEVITATION OF PRINCESS KARNAC WHICH SHED SOME LIGHT ON ALL OF THIS...

THE EFFECT IS SIMPLE. THURSTON COVERS THE PRINCESS WITH A CLOTH AND MAGICALLY MAKES THE HER FLOAT. AT THE HEIGHT OF DRAMATIC TENSION HE PULLS QUICKLY AT THE CLOTH TO SHOW THAT SHE HAS VANISHED IN MID-AIR.

Here is a short partial video of Thurston performing this effect from the 1930s.

Thurston's presentation of the Levitation is one of magicdom's all-time highspots.

SETTLE BACK AND VISUALIZE THURSTON WALKING TO THE FOOTLIGHTS.

"On the seventh day of the seventh month in Allahabad, in Agra and Delhi, a High Priest in the Temples of Love places a young lady in the air just as I shall place this young lady in the air. Then lovers, lovers from all over the country who are not satisfied with their love affairs, who would like some mystic spell cast over the one they love or the one who loves them, gather into these temples for the blessings of the High Priests.

"We have brought with us from Allahabad, by special arrangement with the British Government, a High Priest from the Temples of Love. Hitherow, Abdul, Hitherow.

(Abdul enters from second left entrance.)

"Speak, Abdul, speak as you spoke in the Temples of Love in Allahabad, and around you and this young lady I cast the mystic spell. Speak.

(Abdul makes a speech and kneels down.)

"Rise, Fernanda, rise.

In the name of the Yogi and the wise men of the Orient, I command you to rise.

Safely, securely, rise Fernanda. Rise,

(Abdul makes short speech. I walk under Fernanda and pointing to her say—)

"Rest, Fernanda, rest. With nothing above, nothing below, rest.

(Then usual talk on Levitation, passing hoop around and then out to the audience.)

"For more than ten years I have presented this marvel in public and I have learned that a great many people believe that the young lady is held in place by means of wires, that wires are holding her up there, or that electromagnets are holding her or that she is a dummy figure inflated.

None of that is true.

This is such a strange weird wonderful affair and I am so anxious to convince you that she actually floats in space without any support that this evening I shall ask on the stage a number of ladies and gentlemen.

Anyone may come.

Lawyers, doctors, scientists,students, those interested in the occult or mysterious. Come right down the aisle and on the stage. Come as quietly as you can please. Start right away for in a few moments there will be so many coming, you can't come.

(Committee on Stage.)

"Now if I can convince these gentle-men that this young lady actually floats in space with nothing above and nothing below, that she rests in air like a balloon, does it not resemble a miracle? I ask you? If we drop a feather from our fingers no known power will prevent that feather from eventually coming to the ground.

This young lady weighs more than a hundred pounds and she could remain there as long as the mystic spell is over her.

"Now, if I can do one wonderful thing, why not another? I say this for the reason that the old High Priest in Allahabad with whom I spent three years in study in the mountains, said to me

'THURSTON SAHIB, THURSTON SAHIB,

KEEP IT A SECRET FOR TEN YEARS AND REMAIN TRUE TO THE FAITH, MIND, I SAY TRUE TO THE FAITH

AND YOU SHALL HAVE THE SURAKABAJA BLESSING!

SURAKABAJA MEANS,

AMONG OTHER THINGS,

THAT THOSE WHO LOVE SHALL BE LOVED.

THAT ANY ONE TOUCHING THE MYSTIC RING PLACED ON THE FINGER OF THE YOUNG LADY BY THE OLD HIGH PRIEST IN ALLAHABAD

AND MENTIONING THE NAME OF THE ONE THEY LOVE

AND SAYING 'I LOVE YOU'

AS I SAY SURAKABAJA THREE TIMES,

AND THAT PERSON WILL LOVE YOU AND YOU WILL LOVE THEM AS LONG AS YOU LIVE.

IT IS TRUE IN INDIA, TRUE HERE.

"Give me your hand, sir

(Man walks to me)

What is the name, the first name of the young lady you love? Don't laugh. We are all in love, everyone of us, whether we love our wives, our husbands or our sweethearts. Come sir, what is her first name? Alice.

The young man will step forward, touch the mystic ring, raise his right hand and say 'Alice, I love you' as I say Surakabaja three times and Alice will love him and they will love each other as long as they live. True in India, true here.

(Lead man to the ring.)

"The ring, sir, placed on her finger by the old High Priest in Allahabad. The ring of love, the ring of life, the ring of luck, the ring of health. Touch it gently. Touch it. Now place your hand above her, below her. Raise your right hand in the air. I want you to walk around her. Look up, look below, look everywhere. Now face the audience, raise your right hand in the air and say as loud as you can 'Alice, I love you' as I say Surakabaja, Surakabaja, Surakabaja. Give my regards to Alice.

(Man takes his position at side of stage).

"Now this concerns everyone in the audience, so hear what I say. As the next person touches the ring, raises his right hand in the air and mentions the name of the one they love and says I love you, then everyone in the audience who are in love, and we are all in love, every one of us whether we love our wifes, our husbands or our sweethearts, mention earnestly the name of the one they love and they just say to themselves 'I love you' then that person will love you and you will love them as long as you live. True in India, true here. Give me your hand sir,

(Repeat the action of the first man with the second.)

(When man raises his hand in the air I say)

Hear me, hear me,each of you, I bring to you now the love blessing from India. Now is the chance to cause the one you love to love you. Seal your love for eternity by mentioning the name of the one you love, when I say Surakabaja, Surakabaja, Surakabaja

(Man takes his place)

"Now if you gentlemen have any idea or explanation as to how the young lady is kept in space, I ask you to explain it to the audience, and if you would like to examine it further you may do so, I say this with the knowledge that you cannot, not unless you have lived in India and understand the Yogi philosophy.

(Have the committee walk to left side of stage and say—)

Abdul, Abdul, Hitherow. Speak. Abdul speaks and gives your love blessing to all those who have gazed upon this wonderful sight.

(Girl is lowered and brought to life while Abdul speaks. Girl remains on stage and I say—)

"For more than twenty years I have searched this world in every civilized country and most uncivilized countries looking for mystery for I have learned by experience that the American public demands of a magician mystery bordering on the supernatural. We have searched diligently. Been blessed by the old High Priest in Allahabad and now, ladies and gentlemen, comes the hour of my ambition, to present to you a miracle or what resembles a miracle right in the center of this stage surrounded by these gentlemen on all sides and challenge them to discover any deception.

"Allow me to present Fernanda. Many of you have read of Fernanda. She has been the subject of the discussion in scientific circles for several years. No one knows the secret. Born of Italian parents, raised in the Temples of Love in India and the only white woman ever permitted to leave those temples with a knowledge of the Yogi power. Come, Fernanda, Come.

"Rest Fernanda. Dream Fernanda. Sleep Fernanda. Dream of the banks of the Ganges. Of the wise men of the Orient. Rest, Fernanda.

(Try to put her to sleep. Step behind her expecting her to fall. She stands still. Shake her gently by the shoulder. She looks in the audience and nods her head.)

A very sensitive young lady. A wonderful psyche. She can scent your very mental conditions. She says there is a disturbing influence in the audience. Someone is thinking to themselves and probably saying, 'That's one of Thurston's tricks. Nothing supernatural about that". We don't ask you to believe there is anything supernatural about it. We would be amazed if you did. But there is something mighty strange and mysterious about it and I want you to watch carefully and closely.

(Bring two men from committee and stand them in front of Fernanda)

Now gentlemen I ask you to watch carefully and closely. Try to discover, if you can, anything that looks like deception or illusion and if you do, raise your right hand and stop the performance and I'll give you $1,000 and I'm going to present a miracle right in the center of the stage.

Fernanda sleep, sleep Fernanda. By the power of my right hand, I command you to rest and sleep.

(Fernanda falls back, caught by two assistants)

"Rest Fernanda. Dream of the banks of the Ganges, and sleep Fernanda, sleep. Watch Fernanda's face, gentle-men, watch her face. Rest Fernanda, rest. While your spirit flies out over the mountains and seas back to the Temples of Love in India. Dream of the banks of the Ganges, of the wise men of the Orient. Rest. Rest

Give me your hand, sir. I want you to see that she is breathing naturally. Careful, don't disturb her. She is half dead, half alive. Gentlemen, I want you to form a human circle around the young lady. Take hold of one another's hands and walk right around coming a complete circle.

(I go in the circle and say—)

Now gentlemen, whatever may happen to you... whatever you may see or feel or hear, I ask you in the name of the High Priest, and for your own safety and the safety of the young lady hold tightly to each other's hands and do not break the mystic circle and watch, watch.

In all our lives from our childhood, there are certain events that stand out in our minds that we cannot forget. I am to show you something now, ladies and gentlemen, that you will remember as long as you live. If anyone should describe to you and tell you what you have seen here this evening unless you had seen it with your own eye, you could not believe it. For it cannot be performed except in the mystic circle. Join the mystic circle.

(I place the hands of the men together and step inside of the circle and say—)

Now, gentlemen, hear me while I talk. You are all strangers to me and I want you to watch carefully and closely and learn if you can, something of the strange power that surrounds this stage. See what becomes of the young lady. Watch, watch, I say, and if you discover any secret I will give you one thousand dollars. You, sir, at her head, and you at her feet, and you in the circle. Look up, look below, look everywhere. Behold a miracle.

Surakabaja, Surakabaja, Abdul, Fernanda, Allah, Allah, GO!

Edited Excerpt from Hugard's Magic Monthly

AS SOON AS I READ THIS PRESENTATION I REALIZED WHAT WAS HAPPENING. THE RITUAL THURSTON IS EXPLAINING IN THE LEVITATION OF THE PRINCESS KARNAC IS NOT JUST A PRESENTATION TO HIM.

IT IS HIS LIFE!

SURAKABAJA IS NOT GIBBERISH, IT IS A MAGIC WORD.

THE SPELL HE IS TRYING TO CAST IS REAL.

AND HE BELIEVES IN IT'S POWER.

HE REPEATS THE MAGIC WORDS,

I LOVE YOU,

I LOVE YOU,

I LOVE YOU,

THREE TIMES.

JUST LIKE IN THE HIS STORY. HE BELIEVES THAT THE WORDS HAVE POWER. IT IS SOMETHING THAT HE BELIEVES SO PASSIONATELY IN THAT HE ACTS IT OUT, REAL-LIFE IMITATING FICTION EVERY NIGHT, TRYING TO CAST A SPELL OVER HIS AUDIENCE.

IN HIS SHOW, THE WORDS ARE A FALSE EXPLANATION OF THE MAGICAL EFFECT WHILE IN REALITY THEY ARE THE SECRET TO HIS SUCCESS AND HIS MAGIC.

THE MAGIC WORDS WORK...

ALL BECAUSE HE BELIEVED, PRACTICED THEM IN SECRET, AND REMAINED FAITHFUL TO THEM...

THE SPELL HAD BEEN CAST...

MAGIC IS REAL.

NOW MY FRIENDS, IF YOU EVER SEE ME OFF TO A DISTANCE AND MY LIPS ARE MOVING, KNOW THAT I'M NOT WHISPERING "SURAKABAJA, SURAKABAJA, SURAKABAJA" BUT "I LOVE YOU, I LOVE YOU, I LOVE YOU" IN THE HOPES THAT YOU'LL LOVE ME TOO.

#magic #history #magic spells #spellwork #karnak #Youtube

[mahdithemagician]

The Heart of Magic

I stumbled across this recollection from a magician and thought a lot about it over the years.

ONLY TWICE

BY MIKE ROGERS

I only saw him twice, both times occurred in the same day, but how different each time was. It happened during a combined IBM-SAM convention in New York City. I believe the year was 1964. New York City also hosted a World's Fair during that year. I had never been to NYC, never been to a World's Fair, never ridden on a subway train, and had never seen most of the famous names in magic. So there was something to see and do no matter which direction I turned. At that point in my life magic ruled, and though I did see the many attractions, seeing the magic came first. If that were not enough I was also on one of the evening shows as well as working the close up show. So I kept busy.

I'm rambling. I started to tell of seeing a certain magician only twice. The convention was loaded with famous magicians, and I naturally tried to see them all. I can't begin to say who impressed me most, for there were too many to remember. However, there was one who left his mark in my memory that will never be erased.

I had heard lots about him, we all had. Anyone having Stars of Magic knew of him. He was one of the Ten Card Stars. Those in the know frequently alluded to him as being the one magician more ready for the TV industry than any other back when TV was in its infancy. Had his life gone in a different direction it may have happened. It was said that both his performing style and material were the most baffling and entertaining of any magician. Alas, a career in TV was never to be.

At the time he was living in Greenwich Village, and most insiders at the convention didn't feel he'd make an appearance. He wasn't booked for any of the shows or lectures. His life style was such that a magic convention was low priority. The insiders were wrong. He showed up.

It was rather early in the day, probably mid morning. There was not much going on in the way of organized activities. Most attendees were mingling between the dealer's room and the lobby, or still lingering over a final cup of coffee. Times like this become extremely social at conventions and it's a time to renew friendships. Magicians were everywhere, with no one doing much of anything. There wasn't much of anything to do. You have been to conventions and know the scene.

Then it started. A circle of eager magicians simply appeared in one section of the hotel lobby. Something big was about to happen. It was electrifying. Someone of importance was about to do some magic. Everyone wanted to see, and the crowd grew bigger. The circle became larger as the eager rank and file squeezed in for a better viewing position. There he was, in the center of the crowd, in the spotlight so to speak, wanting to perform, and willing to perform. He had a deck of cards and a few coins. We were in for a treat. We live for moments like this, or so it seems.

It didn't happen. Things weren't right. The magic didn't occur. No matter how he tried he couldn't pull it off. He was a small man, in need of grooming, and rumpled. His hands shook and he complained of not being able to see well. He asked others for the loan of their eyeglasses in order that he might better see the magic he wanted to perform. He tried a few pair of glasses, none solved the problem, and he became frustrated. He mumbled, making little sense. He was a man on the edge, and not the good edge. He accomplished no magic, but instead stormed out of the hotel, a man having lost all dignity and pride. He was a man beaten down by his own hand. He was, in fact, exactly what some described him to be. We had heard about his life.

We didn't see the magic that morning, but we did hear the stories. We were assured that he was indeed one of the greatest. We assumed that was history. But wait, I'm not finished.

About ten hours later, during the evening, the little man returned. Again, the large circle formed in the lobby. Though he was small in stature he was big in style. He was not rumpled and unkept. His hands didn't shake, and he was wearing his own eyeglasses. This was a man in total control, he knew it, and he was ready to perform some magic. He was the same man we saw earlier in the day, but then not the same man. Using borrowed quarters he did coin magic beyond what you can imagine. His methods were not complex, nor were the effects new. His presentations were direct, entertaining, and he fooled many. Even telling us in advance what he was going to do he fooled hell out of everyone with the strongest presentation of the Han Ping Chien Coin trick ever observed. The magic just happened. You never saw any hand flexing, any hand positioning, or any other visible motion to suggest sleight of hand. This man was on. It was his night. He treated all of us to an experience of truly real magic. It was a delight and he was everything we wanted him to be. On this night he was not a beaten man; he was instead a man who had beaten the odds, at least for the evening. Sadly, not forever.

I will never forget having seen this little man and the wonders he offered. His name was Francis Xavier Finneran. In magic he was known as Francis Carlyle.

As a magician I often hear stories about magicians from other magicians in my travels around the world. One person who almost no one talks about is Francis Carlyle, which is very unfortunate. From what I understand, Francis Carlyle was one of the greatest close-up magicians who has ever lived and by far the greatest of his generation. Very little of his magic was properly documented. Probably the most in-depth explanations of his work is published in Stars of Magic. Much of his work appears scattered through different publications throughout the years but it is almost always poorly described and missing crucial details. Even his tricks in Dai Vernon’s Secrets of Card Magic Series leave a lot to be desired.

Francis Carlyle also had some personal issues, as you can tell from the story above, which contributed to him not getting the recognition he deserved. He could be on top of the world and at the bottom of a deep ocean of despair, all in a few hours. The best magicians in the world at the time knew how great he was because they had seen him at his best but most magicians had only heard stories about him secondhand or thirdhand and never got to see him be great.

To me, Francis Carlyle represented the beating heart of close-up magic. This is a man who really was destroyed at different points of his life and lived in that state but despite all this he was so great at what he did and he loved his art so much that every once in a while he could pick himself up and create pure enchantment. The spell didn’t last for long but I don’t think that that matters. I think what matters is he was still able to do it through everything.

#magic #story #alcohlism #addiction #inspiration

[mahdithemagician]

What Is The Story?

THE LEGEND OF MAX MALINI

AS TOLD BY DAVID BLAINE

One of my favorite magicians was Max Malini, he was an immigrant from Poland.

HE CAME TO AMERICA OVER A HUNDRED YEARS AGO WITH NOTHING.

HE DECIDES THAT IN ORDER TO BECOME SUCCESSFUL HE HAS TO FIND REALLY POWERFUL PEOPLE SO THAT HE CAN BLOW THEIR MINDS.

So he gets on a train and goes to Washington, D.C. and he finds one of the senators and he runs up to the senator and says,

"CAN I SHOW YOU SOMETHING?"

and he grabs the guy's jacket and he bites a button off of the senator's coat. And he has the button in his mouth and there's just some threads hanging off of the coat.

AND MALINI SAYS,

"WATCH!"

AND HE HOLDS THE BUTTON IN HIS MOUTH AND GOES *POOF* AND HE SPITS IT RIGHT BACK ON TO THE GUY'S JACKET AND THE SENATOR GOES CRAZY.

Eventually he ends up being invited to do magic at the White House, and they prepared a duck, and Malini, as they're about to cut the duck and serve it says,

"WAIT!"

AND HE WALKS UP TO THE DUCK AND JUST SNAPS HIS FINGERS OVER IT.

AND THE DUCK JUMPS UP TO LIFE AND RUNS OFF OF THE TABLE!

...AND THE LEGEND OF MAX MALINI WAS BORN.

AND AFTER THAT HE WAS FAMOUS FOR PERFORMING FOR KINGS, AND PRESIDENTS, AND EMPERORS ALL OVER THE WORLD.

AMERICA IS A PLACE WHERE ANYONE CAN ACHIEVE THE IMPOSSIBLE.

- DAVID BLAINE

WHAT IS THE STORY?

YOU MUST ASK YOURSELF THIS QUESTION UNCEASINGLY.

MAGIC DOESN'T ONLY HAPPEN IN THE MOMENT.

THE STORY MATTERS.

PEOPLE LIVE TO BE WITNESS.

People want nothing more to be part of a story, to be able to say,

"I WAS THERE!"

THE GREATEST MAGICIANS WERE CONSUMED WITH SPREADING THEIR MAGIC AND THERE IS NO BETTER WAY TO DO THAT THAN WORD OF MOUTH.

THE KEY IS TO CREATE MOMENTS THAT ARE WORTH SHARING.

PAY CLOSE ATTENTION to the stories you tell and the stories you hear. THINK about the greatest and most fantastic stories in the history of magic and you will find a common thread.

THEY ARE STORIES THAT PEOPLE WANT TO SHARE AND WANT TO HEAR.

MAKE LEGENDS

#magic #magician #history #legend #story #Youtube

[mahdithemagician]

Master Magician Reveals How Much Money Magicians Make

LEGENDARY MAGICIAN, FAUCETT ROSS EXPLAINS WHAT MAGICIAN’S ACTUALLY CHARGE & EARN FOR A MAGIC SHOW

Faucett Ross was recorded during his life and some of his thoughts were quoted in the book, Magic with Faucett Ross by Lewis Ganson. This is a very revealing and interesting statement by Faucett Ross discussing how much money magician’s get paid to perform magic professionally.

Photo from the Facebook Business Page of Magician John Carney

“Magicians, when talking amongst themselves about the size of the fees they receive for their various acts and performances, rarely tell the exact truth. Quite a few of them exaggerate and a large number deliberately lie in their teeth! Anyway, I’ve had several rather unusual experiences as far as the remuneration for a magic act is concerned.

I recall back in the 1940s, the telephone rang one day. It was a lady on the wire with a very lovely accent. She told me she was on the local Entertainments Committee of a Women’s Club and that they were having a Convention here in St. Joseph at the local hotel. All the girls had gotten together and thought it would be a wonderful thing if they could secure my services as an entertainer. So she asked me, “Are you working next Thursday night?” Well, I did not have a booking and told her I would be available. She said, “That would be perfectly wonderful. Now just one other question, what is your fee - you must charge something?” I told her, “Forty dollars*”.

I heard her catch her breath and she said, “Mr. Ross, you must have misunderstood me. We wanted to hire you only for one evening not for a full week”.

I didn’t get that show!

The following happened during the great depression of the 1930s (about 1935). One day I had a call from the owner of a small theatre in a tiny hamlet in Missouri - some 75 miles from home.

He told me that on various occasions he put on special programmes and always was able to get a full house.

He suggested that if I put on a so-called evening show, he was sure that he could fill the house. Whatever the proceeds were, we would split them evenly between us - fifty-fifty.

I agreed and on the appointed day, arrived on the scene. He was certainly correct; there was ‘standing room only’ as the place was crowded, mostly with juveniles.

I did the show and afterwards the manager came back stage and I congratulated him on the size of the audience. He reached in his pocket, took out a handful of small coins and said, “Mr. Ross, here’s your share”. I looked at him and said, “What does it amount to?” He said, “We did very good - your share’s five dollars**”, I said, “What!” He repeated, “Five dollars - you should be happy about that but you look disappointed. What’s wrong?” I said, “Well, I travelled about 75 miles to get here and for any kind of performance, I get ten times that amount”.

He said, “Let me tell you something, young man; we are in the midst of a depression. We have full grown men in this community who are doing back-breaking labour, working ten hours a day for a dollar a day - glad to get it. You here, you’ve clowned around on stage for a couple of hours without exerting yourself and you have received five times what one of our local men receive for ten hours of solid work, so what’s your complaint?”

No answer to that one, so I left town with five dollars. Incidentally, in fairness to him, I found out afterwards that he really had shared fifty-fifty. The admission price was five cents and some, who could not pay, got in free.

In a more cheerful and fruitful vein, not long after that I had a telephone call from Kansas City. A gentleman who was the head of a large manufacturing concern, wanted to retain my services. He said, “As for as money is concerned, I know you magicians get a high price and I realize that you won’t consent to work for less than 250 dollars.*** Will that be alright?”

In a somewhat quavering voice I told him that it would be satisfactory. As a matter of fact, at that particular period as the depression was still on, I’d have played the date for 35 or 40 dollars and considered myself well paid. Don’t often get breaks of that kind - at least I never have.”

- Faucett Ross

* $40 USD in 1940 is equivalent to around $750 USD in 2021.

** $5 USD in 1935 is equivalent to around $100 USD in 2021.

*** $250 USD in 1935 is equivalent to around $4,750 USD in 2021.

It was a remarkably poignant recollection that Faucett Ross left us and magician’s often find themselves in similar situations these days. All good magicians have a price and know their price but despite that sometimes find themselves underwhelmed or overwhelmed by a fee. When you have been performing magic professionally and selling a magic show to clients you will always find people who think your price is laughably high and others who, seemingly see your true value, assume and offer a much higher fee than you usually charge. If you are thinking about hiring a magician or booking a magic show or want to find out more about what magician’s charge please read our guide on How To Book A Magician.

#magic #magicians #business #earnings #events

[mahdithemagician]

How To Book A Magician

A COMPLETE GUIDE & CHECKLIST ON HOW TO BOOK A MAGICIAN FOR YOUR EVENT

Booking a magician for your event has never been easier and here’s a guide and checklist for you to make sure you are choosing the right magician for your guests.

LOCATION

The first thing most people do is type in the name of their city followed by “magician”. For example, they type “Toronto Magician”, “New York City Magician”, “Dallas Magician” into Google and Google creates a list of relevant web pages.

The top results on Google when you are searching for a local magician are paid advertisements (people who pay Google to be listed) and people who have good reviews on Google Business. Based on your location and settings Google might rank the results by the closest magicians in your area just as they would with other local businesses.

Then Google will try to match you with what they consider to be the most relevant results. They know that you are looking to hire a magician for an event, looking for a magic show to attend, or looking to find more information on local magicians and magic shows. You will see a mixed result of magician’s websites, websites for magic shows, review websites, and articles on the best magicians or best magic show in your city.

Usually your journey in finding a magician to hire will begin here as your familiarize yourself with what’s available. Depending on your budget and the type of event you may choose to hire a local magician or choose to book a magician who travels from out of town to your event.

Mahdi Gilbert has performed all over the country and has a rich network of the best magicians in the world. If you would are thinking of booking a magician and don’t know where to begin please contact us so we can help you find the right match for your event.

INQUIRE ABOUT BOOKING A MAGICIAN

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT THE MAGICIAN

PROFESSIONALISM

When you are looking at magician online the first thing you need to find out is how professional they are. Does the magician have a website and social media that is updated regularly? Do they have photographs and videos of them performing magic for clients at events? What kind of events do they usually perform at? How do they dress when they are performing magic at events? Does the magician have excellent reviews? Where are they being talked about and what are people saying about their magic and professional services? Let’s take a closer look.

WEBSITE & SOCIAL MEDIA

Take a look through the magician’s website. Does the website look fresh and updated? Does the website make you feel like seeing their magic and finding out more about them as a magician and a person? Do they have photos and videos of them performing and working at events? Are the photos and videos recent? Are they active on social media? Take a look through their Facebook, Instagram, and Youtube channel.

When you book a magician for an event they are representing you, your brand, your company, or your school. Keep that and mind and make sure that you feel that they are a good match for your branding and guests.

PHOTOS

As you look through a magician’s photos and videos try to picture your event and imagine how they will find in and mingle with your guests. Magicians should have both professional photographs of them and photos of themselves working at events.

You want to keep your eye out to look for a few things that will help you judge their level of experience and professionalism.

Does the audience look like they are having an amazing time? Are they laughing or do they have their jaws dropped in amazement?

Make sure that there are photos of them working in a variety of environments whether that is close-up magic for private events or onstage in a theater performing for a larger audience. Seeing is believing and you want to look at their photos as proof that they really are professional and competent and have experience working as a magician performing for all types of events.

VIDEOS

Although you can get a good sense of the experience through a photo you often want to see what it’s like to experience the magician performing magic at an event. The best magicians have usually had the opportunity to perform their magic on national television. These performances are usually some of their best and most iconic magic tricks and will have been seen by millions of people.

A television performance is usually short though and they only have time to perform one or two magic tricks. Many times the client wants to see more and professional magicians usually have a complete act online on video or full show available for you to watch. Watch their act or full and envision how they will fit into the event you are hosting, the size of the events and how people will be arranged or seated in the venue. Professionals magicians are used to adjusting the lengths of their performances to fit the clients needs.

DRESS

As you are looking at a magician’s photos and videos pay attention to how they are dressed.

Different occasions require different clothing. Ideally you want any performer at an event to be as well dressed or slightly better dressed than your guests and the audience.

However you want to make sure that the magician is also not overdressed and looking out of place if the event is less formal. It might not be a good look if the magician is wearing a tuxedo to a private birthday party in the summer where everyone is dressed in t-shirts and shorts.

Always pay attention to how a magician is dressed in comparison to the audience that they are performing for.

Whenever you are in the process of booking a magician it always helps to discuss the event in detail and how you expect the people attending the event to come dressed.

REVIEWS, TESTIMONIALS & PRESS

When you are considering booking a magician for your event always be sure to look at what people are saying about them. Oftentimes the magician will post testimonials from clients and audience members in writing or on video so that you can get a sense of their experience was. Google Business, Yelp, and Tripadvisor are great places to start your research. Clients can review magicians on Google Business and their Facebook Business page and audience members usually rate magic shows on Yelp and Tripadvisor. Some magicians have more reviews than others and more important than the quantity of reviews is the quality. How many stars do they have? Read some of the 5 star reviews, then read some of the 4 star reviews, and definitely read all the 3 star, 2 star, or 1 star reviews. Oftentimes you can learn more about a magician or magic show from a bad review than you can from dozens of 5 star reviews. However, please keep in mind that sometimes magicians, like other businesses are victims of sabotage from disgruntled customers or their competitors who make try to leave fake reviews to hurt the magician’s business or the magic show. Use your judgement and if you have have any questions you can always reach out and ask the magician or their team about anything you see online.

Whether a magician is only working private events and engagements or has a magic show for the public they will often post testimonials. Humans are social creatures and we want to experience what other people enjoy so always pay attention to testimonials. When looking at video testimonials make sure they aren’t all from a single event. You want to be sure that the magician is having successful and good performances consistently and that should show in video testimonials filmed at different times and different places.

Not all magicians get covered by the media. Sometimes some of the best magicians in the world are relatively unknown however if a magician is working consistently and has a good show you will see evidence of that in the press. You will be able to search for them and see various advertisements for events that they have as well as interviews and articles about them. Many top magicians share these through the news section of their website, their blog, and social media accounts.

Always research the person that you are considering booking to perform magic at your event and check what has been documented about them through reviews, testimonials, as well as mentions in the press.

TYPE OF EVENT

One of the first things that a magician will want to know when you are inquiring about booking them for an event is what the event is. Are you organizing a party for a company or a corporate event and looking for a magician to entertain during that event? Are you getting married and looking for a magician to perform at your wedding? Are you a parent looking to hire a birthday party magician for children? Are you a member on your Campus Activities Board looking to bring a magic show to your campus? Are you a business looking to entertain your clients or employees? The possibilities are endless and professional magicians can adapt to your vision and work with you to create an incredible event.

When you are discussing your event with a magician pay attention to how much they are paying attention and curious about your event. The more experienced a professional magician is the more that they will want to know about your event. A true professional will ask you many questions about your event and make suggestions about how they can bring their magic to your event, where in the venue the magic will take place, and when the magic will happen. You want to find a magician that cares about your event as much as you do and is committed to making it as successful as possible. If a magician isn’t asking any questions about the event you should take a step back and really consider why they aren’t interested in knowing the details, most likely it is because they don’t care and will not adjust to ensure their presence and magic fits into the space well.

Great magicians can work in a variety of environments. Mahdi Gilbert and his partners have performed and shared their magic and magic shows during:

Weddings, Private Parties, Grand Openings, Birthday Parties, Bar Mitzvahs, Bat Mitzvahs, School Assemblies, Student Orientations, Festivals, Business Meetings, Business Conferences, Corporate Events and Parties, Trade Shows, Product Launches, Networking Events, Retreats, Cruises, Executive Dinners, Roundtables, & Charity Events.

No matter what the event is a professional magician will work with you to create the best event possible so that your guests leave in delight with unforgettable memories.

INQUIRE ABOUT BOOKING A MAGICIAN

BUDGET

Probably the most frequently asked question is how much will it cost to hire a magician? The answer changes drastically depending on which magician you are trying to book and the details of you event. Nobody likes vagueness though so let’s break down what you will get for different price ranges.

$50-$500

Almost every magician begins his or her career at this price point. For a few hundred dollars you can book a local magician that will perform a magic at your event. Most professionals very quickly move past this price point and charge more than $500 for their services. Some of the busiest magicians working today charge these prices and perform multiple shows a day. You get what you pay for though and most people who are organizing an event opt to pay more money for better quality.

$500-$2500

Most professional magicians working these days charge in between $500 to $2500 for an event. This may or may not include travel and lodging. If you have a budget over $1000 you can really begin to look at booking a professional show. Many small college campuses, small businesses, and companies are used to paying in this price range for a magician to perform for them. As always, the quality ranges tremendously and you must do your research to make sure the magician you are considering booking for your event is right for you and your guests.

$2500-$10,000

Rising stars in magic charge between $2500 to $10,000 to perform a single event. The magicians in this price range usually have made a national television appearance and have years of experience performing magic for college campuses and corporate events. Within this budget you will be able to book an incredible and professional magician to fly in for your event.

$10,000-$50,000

Many of the biggest names in magic charge between $10,000 to $50,000 for an event. Usually these magicians have toured internationally, have been featured on national television in multiple countries and have name recognition. Usually these magicians are hired to perform at corporate events for large companies and at private events with big budgets.

$50,000 +

The most recognizable and world famous magicians in the entire world charge over $50,000 to perform at a single event. Only a few magicians such as David Copperfield, David Blaine, and Derren Brown and a handful of others are able to command such figures.

HIRING A MAGICIAN

Once you have narrowed down your selection feel free to reach out to a magician through their website or the phone. Always leave a detailed message with as much information as possible as well as your contact information and what date you are looking for. If the magician is any good they will have many questions for you and begin the process of designing a magical experience with you.

Mahdi Gilbert is The World’s Magician and performs his magic all over the world in shows for the public and private events. As a magician who has performed all over the world, Mahdi Gilbert has a network of the best magicians in the world and can connect you with the right magician for your event.

#magic #magician #corporate events #event planning #show #Youtube

[mahdithemagician]

The Best Platform For A Virtual Event

WHAT IS THE BEST ONLINE PLATFORM FOR A VIRTUAL MAGIC SHOW

Before I started performing online virtual events like my virtual magic show I did research and observed what others were doing both inside and outside of my industry. One of the common things I saw events doing was streaming the event on multiple platforms simultaneously. For instance, let’s say that the main event was taking place over Zoom the host would also be streaming the event live over Instagram, Facebook and Youtube at the same time. The idea is simple; each company, brand, or school has different people following their accounts so if you want them to all see the event live then it’s best to stream it on all these platforms so that you have more eyes on the event.

The problem is that even though you technically have more viewers, a portion of them do not get full functionality and participation. Some streaming software is able to pull live comments from Facebook and Youtube and send them directly to you in real time but how does that compare to them part of your online video conference?

Let’s take a look. When I have an online virtual show I am usually using Zoom or Google Meet and I instruct everyone to turn on their video and microphone is they can. At certain moments I may spotlight individuals or groups (pin their video and display them to the room) to feature our interaction. During this time I may be giving them instructions with a deck of cards or other small objects or reading their minds. I encourage the audience to react appropriately and let everyone know their applause or amazement is not intrusive to the show because just like an in person event I generally know when people will laugh or applaud and it adds to the atmosphere of the event. Some people may choose to respond during the show through the chat feature and type their response and reaction and send an emoji to all of us. We appreciate all the interaction and participation but at the end of the day we know that the more we use the technology to bring us closer together the better and more personal the event will be. Typing a few words and emojis is nowhere near as powerful as looking into people’s eyes and engaging with them face to face.

When I studied the data I found that audiences and groups were more responsive, engaged and passionate when they are in the moment of an event and taking part in it. I decided that the best way for people to enjoy my online virtual magic shows is to require them to be in the room with me live while the event is happening.

I stopped offering my clients to stream it live on all their different social media platform accounts and instead focused on having the best possible online event take place over one platform. That way I can see everyone in the room, talk to them and have them engage me over video live. This was not a tough decision to make because instead of seeming to offer less I am in reality offering more. I am offering everyone to come together and have an equal opportunity to costar in our online event. They don’t need to just be an anonymous commenter they can share the screen and co-star in the magic show or inspirational event.

At the same time I didn’t abandon all the other social media platforms available to us but instead I focused on working with my clients to using those specific platforms as effectively as possible. I created content specifically tailored to Facebook, Instagram, and Youtube to engage their followers and promote our events. On Instagram, we would make visual 15 second videos for their Instagram Stories and on Youtube we would post a 5-10 minute video with an interactive piece of magic and promote our event. Everything that we made was designed on brand with how my clients present themselves and want to be seen. We used every single platform to preview our events and funnel people to our live, online virtual events.

Now I perform my virtual magic show, Magic In Your Hands, through Zoom, Google Meet, or a video conferencing platform of the client’s choice. We keep the event on a single platform and use every other platform as a driver to our show and events.

#magic #magic show #virtual event #zoom #google