The Ultimate Visual Experience . . . Reading

The Ultimate Visual Experience . . . Reading
By Jeff Stone

Have you ever read a novel then later watched the movie? What happens? One thing that’s happened to me is that the actor portraying the character in the movie does not look anything like I imagined the person when reading the book. Have you ever seen a radio talk show host or disk jockey for the first time after listening to him/her for several weeks/months/years? The same thing happens. Why is this? The answer is simple, we as humans have vivid imaginations. When we read, first of all the details are much deeper than they might be in a movie.

How many of you have read any of the following books, before watching the movie:

• Da Vinci Code  (Dan Brown)
• Harry Potter (J.K. Rowling)
  
• Contact (Carl Sagon)
• Timeline (Michael Crichton)

As always, many parts from the book didn’t make it into the movie. Why? Time constraints is, of  course, a big one. However, something that people often don’t think about is that some of the details found in the book are very difficult to translate to film. When writing technical manuals such as a magic book, there are pros and cons to book vs. video.

On the one hand, it’s very valuable to see an effect performed. On the other hand, when you watch it, you often end up duplicating the mannerisms and exact tone, patter, etc. of the performer you are watching. It never quite becomes your own.

Take a look at the two videos below. The first one is my performance of Jacked Up on Jay Sankey’s Underground Jam. The second one is someone else performing Jacked Up. Watch mine first. Then watch the second one. Pay close attention to the patter:

Don’t get me wrong. It’s flattering to see a post of someone doing my material. However, the unfortunate thing is that he is performing it as me, not himself. Back in the good ol’ days when books were all the rage, you would have to come up with your own presentation, and you would have to work much harder to learn the material. I’m all for learning stuff faster and easier, but sometimes things are better left for the written word.

Rather than try to convince you that DVDs are bad (they’re not), I’m going to try to convince you that books are good (they are). Both media have their place. It has been my experience, and probably yours to, that reading is and should be a visual experience. So those who are visual learners, no worries, reading is visual. Before reading the Root and the Branch, I should mention that I’m indebted to Clay Neves for the super clever title of this article.

Root:

Let’s remember our roots. This month’s root: Reading. I just watched the whole 6 DVD set of Malone Meets Marlo By Bill Malone. They were brilliant, and it was great to see someone else doing Marlo’s work. However, the funny (maybe even ironic) thing is that watching these DVDs got me motivated to go back and re-read all of my Marlo stuff. There are some serious Gems in there gang.

Remember, remember that reading stimulates the brain on so many levels. It’s a visual experience. It gets your imagination going. It sparks creativity. One of the questions I get asked a lot is how do I create magic. One of the main answers I give is that I read . . . A LOT. I read magic books, computer books, religious books and novels. The more reading you do, the more open your mind will become and thus the more receptive you are to ideas.

Branch:
Let’s build our branches. Your challenge for the month is simple. Go buy a magic book. If time are tough, dig through your old magic books (or borrow one from a fellow magi). Either way, get your hands on a magic book that you’ve never read before, or that you haven’t read in at least 3 years. Then READ IT! I’ll shut up now, so you can read.

Now go study the classics, and go discover your true magical self.

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