Stuff

So, what made me not write my book?

Well, have you ever been to the Wellcome Collection? If not, and if you are in London, especially near Euston, make a visit. They have displays and events on science, the body, medicine and more.

And some years ago they had an exhibition about magic. It was pretty good.

Afterwards, I was looking at the dedicated books in the bookshop, and found this: Experiencing The Impossible, by Gustav Kuhn.

So now we know. My Web searching skills are not so good.

Now, you can find this book easily enough, new copies and used. While it’s not really what I was aiming at, it does a good job and is worth a read. It has some faults (what book doesn’t), faults I could see mine would have only worse. So that was the end of that.

Oh well…

So, I had this idea about writing a book, or at least a slim volume, on magic.

When people see a magic act, what do they expect to see? What do they actually see?

Why do they clap? Is it because others are clapping, or they are genuinely entertained by mystery and a suspension of disbelief, or because they acknowledge the magician’s skill and dedication?

(Actually, as a sideline to that latter, let us acknowledge that for so many illusions, it’s the assistant who does all the work and has all the skill. Look at this famous clip. To his credit, Harbin did design the trick, but he talks a lot while the girl does the contortions inside that box to make the effect:

Ah classic, sexist clips and all.)

What’s the point of stage magic??

Magic is made for TV. It’s somewhat different from magic on stage. In a theatre, people are watching the act from all sides and above and below. On TV there is just one viewer, the camera. You in TV land don’t get to watch what you want, you get shown just what the performer and producer want you to see, with the dodgy/tricky bits hidden.

They always used to say no camera tricks, being non-specific about the meaning of the word ‘tricks’. They don’t seem to say that any more, and certainly some magicians in recent times have used technology to, er, enhance their performances. And there’s some neat editing.

My first memory of magic on TV is watching David Nixon in the 50s and 60s. Nixon was a tall, bald, rather elegant and well-spoken chap. He was intelligent and appeared on many quiz and panel shows. He had a hand in introducing the Mellotron to the UK, and Basil Brush. He was also a heavy smoker. However entertaining Nixon was, he was not a great magician.

And Ali Bongo…