Hi Magic
You have been so good to me. You give me work, and bread- it's not about the money entirely! You give me plane fare so I can see her. You give me, an escape from the stress of missing her. You give me an outlet for when I have no one else to turn to. You give me the crowd! To loose myself in, and immerse in their reactions. You give me the ability to make people happy! You give me social skills, because I am a social retard at heart. You give me a passion I can pour my heart into, and if I do, you love me back! I love you, art of magic. You give me something to commit to, and build, and stay with for the rest of my life. You give me knowledge of self, and through you, I can see all my flaws and imperfections, but also my strengths, too. Because of you, I know I am slow: in speed of mind and hands. Because of you, I have patience, and the drive to polish my mistakes. Musashi had his sword, and the reflection of himself on his blade. I have that, too. You are my sword, magic! And I serve you and others through it. I find God through your practice: the divine feelings of baby-mind astonishment I give to others, the compassionate heart of wanting to perform for others, the peace of accepting how things come out, the freedom of being able to embrace my eccentricities in performance, the rhythm of being able to dance with my hands, the sight of things greater than myself in showing my spectator something amazing, and...her! I met her through you, magic. I don't know where I'd be or what I'd be without you, magic. I love magic. If you are a magician and are reading this, examine your relationship with this awesome art form, and fall more in love!
-antidote
Wednesday, September 29, 2010
Tuesday, September 21, 2010
God Loves Magic
A holy man from Cebu City, Philippines, came to my place today to lead a prayer session. While eating, he walked up to me and asked if I still did magic, and if so, how was it? "Maayo ra," I tried to say to him, showing him I had bisaya up my sleeve. Means "it's good," I think, and I proceeded to say "akong trabajo" (it's my work). He said he loves it because...
it makes people happy. And asked me to keep doing it for that reason.
When I was in Cebu City, my girlfriend Agnes said she loves watching the reactions of the people I do magic to. They are the paintings, I told my friend mark on a drive across the state of Florida. We divulged on this topic for some time. I once remember a horrible set I hit at Agnes' apartment. It was one hour of me freestyling under-practiced sleight of hand on her skeptical cousin in laws. I could seriously hear them calling me out on 50% of my sleights during the set, as my bisaya has been improving with each visit to that city. I remember later that night, she texted me thanking me for the set, because I had no idea how happy it had made them. While I was busy focusing on me, little did I know that it made them laugh and smile and end their day memorably.
People are happy, and if you can make them that, or bring that out of them, you are doing God a favor. You are blessing their day with a moment of positive energy. It's an intangible contribution to the world, the feeling of astonishment, happiness, laughter- all of the above. To extend a simple coin trick to a kid in a corner is like giving them a million dollars.
I'm more and more realizing the position us magicians are in to serve God and love one another through this art form. The simple un-indifference shown by taking time out of your day to show someone something incredible, something they've never seen, is an honor to transcend.
I do magic, because people like it. People love it. They smile when they see it. They see differently when they see it. They feel deeply when they see it, and sometimes forget explanations and blindly believe. This feeling of Jadu, or jade, or something precious as the Hindus call it, is a slice of nice. I have a pie of that in my existing repertoire, and skill set, regardless of my bad sleight of hand and performance imperfections. I serve magic. I Jadu magic. Dr. Irizari, the holy man from Cebu simplified everything I do to one reason only: it makes people happy. And because of that, I am blessed to say that I am happy with what I do.
-antidote
it makes people happy. And asked me to keep doing it for that reason.
When I was in Cebu City, my girlfriend Agnes said she loves watching the reactions of the people I do magic to. They are the paintings, I told my friend mark on a drive across the state of Florida. We divulged on this topic for some time. I once remember a horrible set I hit at Agnes' apartment. It was one hour of me freestyling under-practiced sleight of hand on her skeptical cousin in laws. I could seriously hear them calling me out on 50% of my sleights during the set, as my bisaya has been improving with each visit to that city. I remember later that night, she texted me thanking me for the set, because I had no idea how happy it had made them. While I was busy focusing on me, little did I know that it made them laugh and smile and end their day memorably.
People are happy, and if you can make them that, or bring that out of them, you are doing God a favor. You are blessing their day with a moment of positive energy. It's an intangible contribution to the world, the feeling of astonishment, happiness, laughter- all of the above. To extend a simple coin trick to a kid in a corner is like giving them a million dollars.
I'm more and more realizing the position us magicians are in to serve God and love one another through this art form. The simple un-indifference shown by taking time out of your day to show someone something incredible, something they've never seen, is an honor to transcend.
I do magic, because people like it. People love it. They smile when they see it. They see differently when they see it. They feel deeply when they see it, and sometimes forget explanations and blindly believe. This feeling of Jadu, or jade, or something precious as the Hindus call it, is a slice of nice. I have a pie of that in my existing repertoire, and skill set, regardless of my bad sleight of hand and performance imperfections. I serve magic. I Jadu magic. Dr. Irizari, the holy man from Cebu simplified everything I do to one reason only: it makes people happy. And because of that, I am blessed to say that I am happy with what I do.
-antidote
Sunday, September 12, 2010
Magician vs. Magic
What are the effects that do well? The paradox of any art form is doing what you love vs. doing what they love. Can I learn to love what they love to see? Of course! The magician's best paintings are in the faces of the crowd, and nowhere else:
- coin spins, rises, and bends in mid-air
- empty beer can seals and refills itself
- balls vanish in magicians hands and reappear in the spectators'
- chewed-up piece of gum is stretched and restored
- dozens of rags overflow from the magician's hands
- rubberband transforms into silver necklace
- forks bend and twist at the magician's will
- endless amounts of coins are plucked from thin air
- sand produced from magician's fingertips
- leaves change color in magician's fist
- eggs produced from magician's mouth
- matches jump and break at the snap of magician's fingers
- $1 turns into $100
- hot cheeseburger appears inside burning napkin
Notice anything? No cards! And most of these aren't that creatively or technically or artistically challenging to do compared to what I find myself doing- the less, the better. And all these effects can be simplified to play to a child audience.
Now this is what most magicians find themselves wanting to do:
- selected card appears in between two other selected cards
- selected card pops out of deck at the flick of a wrist
- selected card switches places with another selected card
- selected card moves inches from its original location in the deck to the top
- selected card changes into another card
- selected cards are shown in different places of the deck, lost, shuffled, and dealt out on table again
- selected card is 26th card from the top, as predicted by the magician
- selected card goes into deck and is found by the magician
- selected card isnt 9 of spades (magician knew that)
- cards dealt down in piles..magician knows where aces are
- selected cards..values..numbers..flat, 2d..paper..
- deck of cards vanish at magician's fingertips!!!
Good magic is so simple. Why is it that the older us magicians get, the more complicated we make magic seem?
-antidote
- coin spins, rises, and bends in mid-air
- empty beer can seals and refills itself
- balls vanish in magicians hands and reappear in the spectators'
- chewed-up piece of gum is stretched and restored
- dozens of rags overflow from the magician's hands
- rubberband transforms into silver necklace
- forks bend and twist at the magician's will
- endless amounts of coins are plucked from thin air
- sand produced from magician's fingertips
- leaves change color in magician's fist
- eggs produced from magician's mouth
- matches jump and break at the snap of magician's fingers
- $1 turns into $100
- hot cheeseburger appears inside burning napkin
Notice anything? No cards! And most of these aren't that creatively or technically or artistically challenging to do compared to what I find myself doing- the less, the better. And all these effects can be simplified to play to a child audience.
Now this is what most magicians find themselves wanting to do:
- selected card appears in between two other selected cards
- selected card pops out of deck at the flick of a wrist
- selected card switches places with another selected card
- selected card moves inches from its original location in the deck to the top
- selected card changes into another card
- selected cards are shown in different places of the deck, lost, shuffled, and dealt out on table again
- selected card is 26th card from the top, as predicted by the magician
- selected card goes into deck and is found by the magician
- selected card isnt 9 of spades (magician knew that)
- cards dealt down in piles..magician knows where aces are
- selected cards..values..numbers..flat, 2d..paper..
- deck of cards vanish at magician's fingertips!!!
Good magic is so simple. Why is it that the older us magicians get, the more complicated we make magic seem?
-antidote
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