Magical Musings

I was away over the weekend. I attended a magic lecture by magician, Allen Okawa. Allen is a friend of my late-friend Roger Klause who was a major influence on many magicians worldwide through his ideas and tutelage. My friend, Sid introduced me to Roger in 1998 on my first trip to the USA as well as my first magic convention.

Thai organiser Sid and Hong Kong-based professional magician, Sean McFarlane chat about magic

I enjoyed Allen’s variations on some of the classic plots in magic, mainly on cards, coins and novelty magic (for instance with cowry shells). He was entertaining, too, and that is as important in performance as in lecturing. The younger audience in attendance also left with a shift in their perception about magic. Magic is more than showing tricks to each other; it is about experiencing the human condition through each illusion. Art evokes emotions, deeper thought, and feelings.

Allen Okawa strikes a pose with lecture-attendee

What came across as important, too, was the naturalness in the way he handled an object or tool. Anything arousing suspicion destroys the illusion, and the art is in creating the illusion. A magical presentation is about theatre, and how the actor plays the part of the magician convincingly. David Copperfield, Lu Chien and David Blaine are actors on television and/or stage who display their art, as artists, through their playlets. Each act is a recreation and dramatisation of humankind’s ability to defy the laws of nature: produce, vanish, destroy and restore, and transport (across time and space) objects, livestock and people.

How much magic do you enjoy in your life?

What Makes You Think I Owe You?

I was reading, Shade’s blog – he is a secondary school teacher with excellent sleight of hand skills in magic, particularly with playing cards. He wrote a pertinent piece about how young magicians would approach him and insist (if not demand) that he teach them magic methods. I agreed with his observation that these neophytes have little respect for the Art, for I think people have reduced their respect for other people’s time and expertise.

I call this the ‘You owe me’ mindset.

What makes us ‘owe’ you? Isn’t that about obligation? When somebody says ‘much obliged’, it has a different meaning to ‘obligated to you’. Do we need to be obligated to anyone? What about the notions of ‘paying back what I owe you’ and ‘paying the debt’? Why should it be ‘you owe me’?

The attitude employed by those with differing values – mainly, obligation – owes itself to the fact that the perpetrators of obligation have a reciprocal, but imbalanced approach to returning the favour. It is the ‘I help, but you owe me, and need to pack me back in full, and then some’ mindset that rattles the chains of generous persons. Generosity of spirit is about one’s willingness to assist without thought of reciprocity otherwise, generosity has an ulterior motive.

In Guy Kawasaki’s ‘Enchantment’, he suggested that when the Law of Reciprocity (as studied by Robert B. Cialdini, PhD) is applied, no expectation should be considered. If you expect something in return for helping somebody, then it is not true helpfulness or generosity.

Another angle of this ‘con’ is that ‘I am in the know’ therefore you should share. In our magic clubs, this mindset prevails and amateur magicians who have not spent time in the trenches believe that those who came before them are obligated to share everything of value to them – such as secrets. I find this annoying and useless for little is to be gained when information is freely dished about. Unless you pay for something, you won’t fully appreciate its true value.

The same goes for ‘coaches’ who willingly share their skills and applied experience with new endurance athletes. Educators (including coaches and mentors) do not expect anything in the way of payment, but are amply rewarded when students learn and fully apply themselves to building their potential. Teach, or hoard knowledge – there are no two ways to this deal. Dubious teachers will exploit knowledge and information which is not theirs to give. Their claims of expertise and professionalism will implode when their values surface to reveal their true selves. Mind you, it would be nice to reciprocate for these generous teachers and coaches however you do it out of the goodness of your heart. Parasites die when they over-feast on their hosts.

In the professional world, such unfair leverages exist. Arms are twisted into submission because assistance is seen as a ploy, leverage point, pressure point, and the creation of strategic relationships. It all boils down to one’s values. What do you stand for? What do you value in your relationships?  Do you give more than you take?

How about moving from ‘owe’ to ‘give’? Give willingly, or not. If it is not yours to take, stop asking for it!

Having Friends Over

When was the last time you had friends over for dinner? Have you invited friends to join you on a vacation tour? Have you invited close confidants to give you feedback on a public presentation you made? What was that like?

It is a tough decision when you have limited spaces and group dynamics can be challenging. Who sits next to who matters, as it will affect the energy of the group if there is any hint of awkwardness and residual resentment. Our workplace is rift with an abundance of confusion and misunderstandings.

A few hours ago, on Sunday evening, I invited a dozen guests over to my magic club’s 60^th anniversary gala show. This show featured some of our best professional talents in magic. We showcased an astonishing array of magical acts including J C Sum and Magic Babe Ning, Jeremy Pei, Jeremy Tan, Gician Tan, Joseph Then (ventriloquist) and Sherman Tang. American, Jay Scott Berry who is a musician and magician was our only overseas guest artiste and lecturer.

I was glad I invited my colleagues and good friends. They in turn brought along friends and family who they thought would enjoy the experience. It is important to place our sense of faith and trust in our friends, colleagues and associates. Having made that decision to invite them, I was also glad that they enjoyed the event, as I was mindful of their commitment to attending. It is so good when everything falls together well.

Thank you for making my evening special, my friends!

Too Good To Be True

My friend, Dr Lennart Green is from Sweden. He is a physician turned professional magician. His expertise is with playing cards. When he was younger, and doing the late shift at the hospital, he used to amuse himself with card magic. He learnt some basic card moves from only one magic book – that was it. What spewed forth from his fertile and creative mind was unorthodox, original and impressive.

Every three years, the international magic community organizes FISM – the equivalent of the Olympics of magic. In 1985, he was disqualified despite a dazzling performance. Stumped by his amazing performance, the judges incorrectly concluded that the spectators who helped shuffle his cards were stooges. The gentleman he was, he did not create a fuss. Six years later, he won the competition (in the Close Up Card Magic category) hands-down, and tossed the deck to the judges to inspect. He has not looked back ever since.

Described as the uncle who asks you to ‘pick a card’, Lennart can create near-miracles from his, apparently, clumsy handling of the cards. He talks about chaos theory, fractals and statistics and the deck re-orders itself. His Laser Deal is bizarre, as dealt cards vanish instantly in the beam of light.

Here is a lecture he did for the TED network. TED is an annual symposium for Technology, Entertainment and Design. Enjoy!