dgmagic - UK magic blog by magician Dan Gifford

I’ve just finished reading the excellent ‘Art of Astonishment’ series of books by magician Paul Harris. (That and work have kept me away from the blog for a bit!)

The 3 volume set includes most of his published effects from the last 30 years and is full of highly imaginative close-up magic. As I read through, I realised I had seen many of the effects from other magicians’ performances without knowing Paul Harris was the originator. I think that’s a great indication of how good the material is.

The theme that runs through the books is that magicians are facilitators helping the audience to experience astonishment - that childlike feeling of wonder when you see something inexplicable. It is that moment before the applause and laughter when people gasp and their mouths drop. As we grow up we are conditioned to reason things out and we lose our ability to feel ‘astonishment’.

Children are in this state almost all the time, because everything is new and amazing to them. That’s why performing sleight-based magic for young children often doesn’t work because they just think ’so what?’.

Getting to the point where the audience feel like you are helping them can be quite difficult in commercial situations. You often don’t have time to really get to know people and many audiences automatically slip into the ‘magician vs. spectator’ scenario because that’s what they’ve come to expect from magicians they have seen before.

The book does outline practical ways to facilitate and extend the moment of astonishment. For example, by not belittling the moment when the magic happens with jokes or body language, and by expressing a little astonishment yourself. These are subtle things that many of us magicians may do all ready, but it is very interesting to have the theory behind magic analysed like this.

This was supposed to be a bit of a review, but it’s turned into another ramble. Suffice to say ‘The Art of Astonishment’ is a great series of books I’d highly recommend.

I had a great few days at the IBM Convention in Southport and have returned with a head full of new ideas and a significantly lighter wallet! I only stayed for three days (I had gigs over the weekend), but that included lectures by Bill Malone, David Williamson, Rocco, Bob Sheets and Lennart Green which were all excellent.

I took something from every lecture: Skullcracker, a bill change by Bob Sheets is the no-gaff version of this effect that I’ve been looking for to add to one of my routines; The possibilities and power of using your sleeves from Rocco (magicians don’t really do that do they?!); and some interesting self working (!) card tricks from Lennart Green. (At one point in Lennart Green’s lecture he produced the wrong card. He then proceeded to change the wrong card into the right one by simultaneously flicking the correct card out of the pack with his left hand, catching it in his right hand and lapping the incorrect card. His explanation of how to do this wasn’t mush longer than the previous sentence! I think he concentrated on the self-working card tricks because explaining just one of his special moves would probably take an hour.)
The main thing that struck me about the top close-up magicians such as Bill Malone and David Williamson is that they are entertaining even when they aren’t performing magic. Of course, their magic is stunning as well.

Steve Dela won the close-up magic competition with Alex Moffat second and Will Gray third. Both Alex and Will are originally from the Leicester Magic Circle which shows the quality coming out of our club.

My performances went well (although obviously not well enough!) and from what the judges said, the marks were very close so I think I was a contender. Of course, it’s not much consolation because I enter it to win it, but there you go. I’m not bitter. Honest.

You can read a lot more about the convention at http://opusmagazine.blogspot.com/ . JJ was actually posting while at the convention - there’s dedication for you!

In a couple of weeks I will be joining hundreds of magicians at the International Brotherhood of Magicians convention in Southport.

I’m really looking forward to it. What with moving house and the arrival of my son, I haven’t attended a magic convention since the IBM in 2005. This year, like in 2005, I have entered the close-up magic competition, so I am busy practicing and tinkering with my routine.

Details of the convention can be found on the IBM website. I am particularly looking forward to lectures by Bill Malone and Lennart Green who I haven’t seen perform live before. And the David Williamson Experience is bound to be brilliant.

One of my favorite magical effects is ‘Holey Moley’ by Jay Sankey.

For those who don’t know it, you show two washers (metal discs with a hole in the middle of each) the spectator chooses one to hold in their closed hand, you take the other and magically remove the hole. The spectator opens their hand to find their washer now has two holes.

It doesn’t form part of a big routine, it’s just a quick bit of magic that I show people when they want to see ‘just one more’.

So, I performed it for a couple towards the end of a gig last night. They were suitably stunned, so much so that the man (who was the booker) said it alone ‘was worth the fee’.

Maybe I’ll drop all my other material! I’ll just walk in, perform Holey Moley, pick up my cheque and go home……

I’ve just finished a very busy weekend of close-up magic performances.

I’ve been to Nottingham University, RAF Coningsby in Lincolnshire, Combe Abbey near Coventry, Alton Towers and Henley in Arden near Redditch.

It’s a lot of traveling, even if they were spread over four days, but I was lucky with the roads and weather. Besides, it’s good to be a busy magician isn’t it?!