How to Create Magic
It’s a fish . . . now it’s a car . . . it’s a boot now. Now it’s becoming a pillow . . .
What, you may wonder, in the world is Jeff talking about. The above monologue is actually a quote from my 8 year old nephew. I was driving him over to our house, and he was sitting there in the front seat rambling on about a fish and a car, etc. I looked over at him and his eyes were closed.
I asked him what he was talking about. He told me that when he closes his eyes, he sees different shapes and images and that they just change shapes while he’s looking at them. Believe it or not, I’ve experienced this. I used to do it all the time, and I had totally forgotten about it.
When I was a kid and later when I was in the Navy, I would just lay there with my eyes closed and see crazy images. Since I’ve been reminded of this by my nephew, I’ve tried it again. It was a lot harder this time.
I want you to try it with me right now. You need to be in a dark room, and it sometimes helps if you’re a little bit tired. Just close your eyes and see what you see. When you’re done, write it down. In fact, better yet, post it as a comment below. I’m about to do it myself . . . here it goes:
I just did it, and only for a few seconds. Here are the images I saw in quick bullet-point descriptions:
- A super fast block (non-detailed) race car whiz by me from right to left in an arc
- A flash of blue light
- A bright pin point of a star
- Vibrating yellow light
- A white light popping up out of a huge toaster-like looking thing
- A number 7 in the form of a graphic where the 7 was extruding outward like a “perspective drawing.”
- The 7 turned, and it looked like I was looking at the side of an I-Beam or something
- Then I saw planks of wood next to each other. Each plank would rise like a see-saw. Then it would lower, and the next one would rise and so forth. It created a ripple like effect
That’s when I opened my eyes. After not having done this for a while, it was a bit interesting. I had to sort of look in the corners and outside of my peripheral vision to see things. The images sometimes were faint, but if I looked at them and drew my focus to them, they would become more clear. Keep trying this until you see something, even if it’s only one thing . . . write it down in the comments below.
What does this have to do with anything?
Root:
Let’s remember our roots. This month’s root: Be creative. Inspire creativity in yourself. I’m often asked how to create tricks or how I come up with presentations that I have, etc. The answer is simple and complicated all in one.
It’s Simple: Open you mind and write everything down.
It’s Complicated: Have you ever tried opening your mind? It’s not easy. Have you ever tried to write down something that came into your head only to find that your writing hand can’t keep up with your brain? It’s not easy.
Here are a couple of simple ideas that have worked for me over the years:
- Read A LOT
- Think A LOT
- Play A LOT
- Write A LOT
There’s more, but those are the basics. I’ll give you a brief outline of what I mean by each.
Read A Lot:
I read every chance I get. I’ve always got at least one book with me everywhere I go. In the last month, I read the following books:
- Psychological Subtleties 1 (Banachek)
- Psychological Subtleties 2 (Banachek)
- Psychological Subtleties 3 (Banachek)
- Born Standing Up (Steve Martin)
- Mega ‘Wave (John Bannon)
- Showmanship for Magicians (Dariel Fitzke)
- Magic Matters (Robert Neale and Robert Hass) – Still Reading
- Characters and Viewpoint (Orson Scott Card) – Still Reading
- Magic and Meaning Expanded (Eugene Burger and Robert Neale) – Still Reading
- My Journals (always)
- Genii Magazine
- Magic Magazine
- Additionally, I’ve watched several hours of magic DVDs
When I read/watch, I’m inspired. Period. The majority of my entries in my current journal start with something like this, “I was reading page 43 of Psychological Studies, and I had this idea . . .” or “I was watching Max Maven’s Video Mind DVD #2 and I had this thought.” Sometimes it comes in this form: “I was watching Hannah Montana (yes I really watch that show) and I had the idea for this illusion . . . ”
Inspiration can come at any moment. Be prepared.
Think A Lot:
When reading, it’s hard to not think. But take it further. Read a section in a book; then pause and think about what you just read. Pause the DVD to think about what you just saw, heard, etc. Ask your friends bizarre questions and see where the discussion leads. For example, Edie Brickell & The New Bohemians have a great tune called What I Am. One of the lines from that song is this: “Philosophy is a walk on the slippery rocks.” So when I heard that line, I posed this question:
Is she saying that walking on slippery rocks is a philosophical experience, or is she saying that walking on slippery rocks is a metaphor for philosophy (i.e. philosophy is dangerous). Or is she saying something else? Does it matter? No, but it led to a fascinating discussion with a friend of mine. It got me (and him) thinking. Ponder things. Wonder what might happen if (fill in the blank):
- If you had a million dollars handed to you right now . . . what would you do?
- If you could change one thing about the human race, what would it be?
- If you could really do magic, what would you do with your life?
These are three questions I just made up on the spot. Do it yourself. Make up questions and discuss them; answer them; think and ponder them.
These are all exercises to open your mind.
Play A Lot:
I constantly play with cards, coins, objects laying around. Whenever I got to Famous Dave’s restaurant, I practice various card moves with their square coasters. Often when I’m watching DVDs, I’ll have a deck of cards in my hand and practice moves that I never do in performance. I just fiddle with the cards sometimes . . . I came up with a really cool card control technique just by fiddling around. I’ve discovered various methods, moves, and techniques just by playing with props, cards, dice, coins, silly putty, anything handy. Dig through your junk drawer and pull out the first thing that you touch. Maybe it’s an old art erasers that’s been shredded up a bit. What can you do with it? Can you restore it magically to a new eraser?
Can you use its properties to double as something else? Can it be used as a gimmick? Maybe you can come up with an eraser matrix effect or a broken and restored eraser effect. Great for the office or for school. Whatever thoughts about it come into your head, write them down, even if they seem stupid or impossible.
Reading, Thinking and Playing all have to do with opening your mind as mentioned in “It’s Simple” above. Next is the final piece . . .
Write A Lot:
Write everything down. Always have scratch paper or something nearby. I carry my journal pretty much everywhere. When I filled up my black journal (the one in pencil in the video shown below), I stopped writing for a few months. I felt like I didn’t have any more ideas, so I quit writing. Then I decided to buy a new journal (a bunch since they were on sale for a quarter each at Walmart). The moment I designated a book as my journal, I had a ton of ideas. I couldn’t keep up with them as I wrote them. I think part of what makes journaling (I made that word up) work is the fact that you commit yourself to doing it. Suddenly the ideas flow.
Branch:
Let’s build our branches. The branch is simple . . . Open your Mind and Write Everything Down. 🙂
Go get a journal if you don’t already have one. You may want to consider re-reading Brad’s three journal articles:
Next, read, think and play every chance you get. Journals inspire me. I’ve created a video of my journals that hopefully will inspire you: Journal Video. Hopefully that video will a) inspire you to start keeping a journal and b) inspire new ideas for effects or other ideas. As I mentioned above, just the act of having a journal inspires the thoughts to come. The very expectation of ideas brings them forth. Build the expectation; thus if you build it they will come.
No go study the classics and go discover your true magical self.
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