Theory Resource Guide: Discourse In Magic

Discourse in Magic

Theory Resource Guide

Jonah Babins

Theory Resource Guide An introductory guide to exploring magic theory with books and other free resources

Written by Jonah Babins

discourseinmagic.com

Theory Resource Guide discourseinmagic.com

Let’s Jump in! Magic has a massive marketplace. With A few google searches you can find buckets of information, but there seems to be something in common with everything you find. It’s all tricks! Don’t get me wrong, we can’t do magic without tricks, but too much of our time (and dollars) are spent on tricks, gimmicks, books about tricks, handlings, variations, etc.… If you’re reading this you have enough tricks RIGHT NOW to fool people for the rest of your life! Here at Discourse in Magic we think that we should be shifting the focus of our magic practice and study time to think more about theory and less about new effects and finger positions. Since it’s 2016 and you’re probably spending lots of time on the internet discovering magic, we want to make it as easy as possible for you to discover new theory and new approaches as well! Getting better at understanding THEORY in magic will help you make the magic you have BETTER, and if you’re not yet convinced that you can stop buying tricks already, you’ll be happy to know that a better grounding in theory will help you with WHAT to buy so that you don’t have a box in your closet full of magic you don’t use. THAT’S WHERE WE COME IN! Discourse in Magic is a podcast and website full of magic theory, tips, conversations and resources to improve your magic. We want to make sure it’s the BEST home for all of your exploration and conversation. When we launch on April 30th we want this website to be perfect. As a thank you for being interested we put together this FREE Theory Resource Guide guide with top notch resources.

Theory Resource Guide discourseinmagic.com Since everybody is in a different place with their magic, we made sure to include both free resources and paid resources. The important thing is that once you pick a resource, start taking action. Do it by taking notes, visualising, commenting on what you learn. NEVER forget to record the new ideas you come up with! There’s enough information here that if you pick just one of these resources to explore you will reach new heights in your magic. Tyler and I are math students, so we love breaking things up into finer parts. We try really hard to take complex ideas and make them black and white. If you read something new or exciting that challenges what you think, WRITE IT DOWN! Maybe set it aside for a day and let your brain brew on it. Then, come back with a fresh mind and start the visualization again. It will help make things more concrete, even if you’re not someone who writes things down. You’ll notice that many of these resources are books. That’s because BRILLIANT magic educators pick their words much more carefully in books than they do on video, most of the time. Often times 1 sentence you find in a great theory book can act as a mantra. I know it has for us. Here are some GREAT resources to start you’re theory journey! Write things down in the margins. Take notes!

ENJOY!!!

Theory Resource Guide discourseinmagic.com

Books & Other Paid Resources

While we are going to try to provide you with as much FREE content as possible, sometimes the elite content costs money. That’s what makes it elite. We promise that if we ever point you in the direction of a resource that costs money it’s tested and a favorite not only by us, but by people we trust!

Strong Magic – Darwin Ortiz If you perform magic, specifically close up magic you need to read this book! Strong Magic is perfectly described by the subtitle “Creative Showmanship for the Close-Up Magician”. This book is a wealth of information in all areas of close up magic. Darwin talks about style, timing, meaning, tension, misdirection, multiple climaxes and everything else. Just the collection of this information is an incredible feat. The fact that it’s good and correct and often definitive information is even better. Appealing to our logic and mathematical desires here at Discourse in Magic

Theory Resource Guide discourseinmagic.com things are broken down into steps and options that make very clear what magic can do. Every day that you haven’t read this book you are stopping yourself from becoming a better magician. Darwin touches on absolutely every area of magic performance theory possible. Breaks things down into rules, steps, and explains everything in great detail. This is some of the clearest writing in magic and it happens to be about THE most important subject. There’s more information in this book than you will ever need in your study of magic theory, but alas we are consumers so the least I can hope for is that it will be one along your journey! This is the #1 book on this list for a reason, get ready to change the way you think about the finest details of your magic.

Theory Resource Guide discourseinmagic.com

The Magic Way – Juan Tamariz This book reaches into the specifics of how to accomplish astonishing magic through the elimination of false solutions. The elimination of false solutions is the idea that each trick has MANY methods as to how it could work. It explains that as magicians we need to decide which theories our audience are going to suppose during the effect and tactfully prove those are not going on in the course of the effect, ultimately leading them to the perfect experience: The Magic Rainbow. This book is based on 1 principle that will permanently change your magic. There are examples, photos, and analysis so deep that it will change what it means for you to do a magic trick, into the way magic should be. Personally I found it most helpful as an emotional tool. Juan does an incredible (perfect) job of phrasing the journey of taking an audience member through an effect as riding a chariot with horses, some that fly, doors, ladders, impossible objects and a giant letter P. If that sounds like a confusing made up LSD trip to you, welcome to the world of Juan Tamariz. Juan is OUT OF HIS MIND in the best way possible. If you haven’t heard of him yet stop everything you are doing and check it out! Ps. guess who wrote the foreword in Strong Magic?

Theory Resource Guide discourseinmagic.com

Designing Miracles – Darwin Ortiz You’ll notice that Darwin Ortiz holds two of the top 5 resources. Before I read Designing Miracles I judged a trick on my instincts and if the magician flashed and accidently exposed the secret or not. Those are the type of judging techniques that laypeople judge magic with. Shouldn’t I have better tools? Well, now I do! After this book, my mind is a toolbox to better understand magic. The way a cinematographer watches a movie, and understands the finer details, successes and mistakes of the creator, I now have tools to help me better understand my magic and the magic of others. I’m now able to critique and identify weak points and strong points in tricks. This book taught me not just what to look for but a deep understanding of magic. This is very different from his previous book in that it’s not at all about showmanship, but instead about creating impossible illusions. This is highly recommended, especially if you plan on creating original magic. This is the RULEBOOK for magic. It is one of a kind and a magic library ESSENTIAL.

Theory Resource Guide discourseinmagic.com

Maximum Entertainment – Ken Weber Stage performers stop what you’re doing and get this book! Maximum entertainment is an encyclopedia of everything to do with being a magician on stage. Some of his “I should have known that” type of advice is critical like why he recommends a handheld mic, and why we NEED another mic for volunteers that come on stage if we’re going to ask them questions…. I should have known that. In the depths of the book, some of his advice is very specific to performers who do specific things or have specific problems (I now know what to do with all of my sweat while on stage!). The best way for me to describe this is the stage magic and mentalism counterpart to Strong Magic. He is very detailed and the content is very actionable. If you want to be on stage, or want to be on stage MORE this is what’s going to help you make your show absolutely perfect. Ken’s background is from performing, but also critiquing shows. This is the best type of learning as his knowledge doesn’t just come from his experience, but his experience of others. He has loads of hours of performance and critique logged and it shows in the detail and accuracy of his content! He critiqued magicians (whose names you know) at magic conventions and spoke the next day about the faults in their shows. Everybody told him that he shouldn’t do that sort of thing, but it granted him the ability to write an incredible book. If you haven’t heard of his name, that’s because he GRACED us with this book as a contribution to the magic community, but doesn’t hang out here all that much.

Theory Resource Guide discourseinmagic.com

A Magic Teacher (not a book) The problem with most bad magic isn’t that the magic is bad it’s the performance that’s bad! Having a magic teacher, mentor or tutor will move your development mountains. Like we said before, good magic tricks are not hard to come by. Good magic performance is! We have all seen Paul Daniels AMAZING Chop cup routine (RIP), and we know that you can buy a chop cup at any good magic store. We have all seen amazing ambitious cards, and cups and balls, but those are taught in beginner books and magic sets! The difference between doing a chop cup routine that is interesting and memorable, and one that is annoying and repetitive is a matter of timing, storytelling, words, expression, movement, and a boat load of other things. Getting immediate feedback from an experienced professional is absolutely priceless. A good teacher is one that will help you perform like you ACTUALLY would for spectators (non-magicians) and give you critique on things in your magic having to do with the interaction, the entertainment and the experience as well as help you reach your magic goals! Note: tell your teacher in advance what you want to learn each lesson so that he can dive into the finest detail. If you yourself can dive into detail about what you want to learn and what you want advice on and what you want to know, it can make a huge difference. My first real magic teacher charged me $100 per hour. I think I only met with him 4 times, which is a TON of money. But it skyrocketed my learning, and my ability to do GREAT magic.

Theory Resource Guide discourseinmagic.com

Free Resources & Tools

Depending on where you are in your life, (in terms of magic or your budget), you might not be able to spend a ton of money on a teacher, let alone books. It’s understandable if you don’t have the money to spend on those high quality resources. We’ve put together some other high quality resources that are completely free and will help you in your Magic and theory journey!

Theory Resource Guide discourseinmagic.com

Magic in Mind – Vanishing Inc. eBook I don’t know how Joshua Jay was able to legally collect ALL of this material and distribute it but OH BOY. There are essays from the biggest names in magic like Darren Brown and Tommy Wonder with incredible information opinions, ideas and theories. This is THE best piece of theory that you can get RIGHT now without even moving. This is better than a lot of payed content out there (maybe because it has excerpts from them?). It’s a Journey, and one that can be followed along with a notebook, or paper to jot down ideas even though it’s from so many perspectives. The unique thing about this is because it’s made of excerpts from different writing there are different opinions throughout. You will definitely find magicians who agree with your thoughts and some that totally disagree with them. That’s good! It will help you understand why you think what you think, and also give you the opportunity to think something different. This is an UNREAL starting point if you are trying to get into thinking about your magic in a more critical light. Even though there’s an array of opinions from many authors. The book is well organized since it takes you through step by step from the beginning of your show all the way to the end, and everything in between in terms of theory. Please check it out at Vanishing Inc in the free downloads (IT’S FREE!!)

Theory Resource Guide discourseinmagic.com

A Smartphone There are two tools on your phone that are a magician’s best friend (no, I’m not talking about apps with decks of cards in them). If you aren’t using at least one of them for practicing then you’re missing out. The tools are………. video recorder and audio recorder. To be honest I mostly use the audio only. As magicians we often get absorbed in the effect and handlings and forget about the nuances of speech. We are storytellers and performers and we should be able to learn what works. If you record yourself (audio or video) when you’re performing or practicing and you play it back you’ll be able to hear exactly what sounds good and exactly what sounds weird. I sometimes like to turn on the audio before I perform an effect that I know very well for a friend without telling anyone. Later when I listen to it, and I can hear EXACTLY which parts were weird, or awkward. Yes, it’s a little bit stealthy to turn on the recorder, but you’re a magician so I bet you’re used to being stealthy by now. Just this tool alone has been one of the most powerful tools in all of my practicing, and most importantly my storytelling. Next time you record yourself performing, analyze it and show it to magicians and peers for feedback to instead of just putting it on YouTube.

Theory Resource Guide discourseinmagic.com

Performance This sounds obvious. The advice here isn’t to perform. Do that anyways. The advice is particular things to get the most out of preforming: to approach magic like you are in marketing. A/B testing: In marketing there is a concept called A/B testing where you test two types of ads, and then you measure the effectiveness to decide which type is best for your company. See where I’m going? If you’re doing close up, restaurant, or cocktail magic you are bound to be repeating the same effect 20+ times in a night. Why not A/B test the same trick two ways and see which one is best for you. If you have a 3 trick set, make it the middle one so there’s low risk for overall failure. Don’t decide before the end of the night or until you’ve taken notes. Then you should have given yourself enough information to decide which is best for you. (Or maybe you now have a wider arsenal with two working effects if they both rock) Another way to work like a marketer is to survey your audience. Not with paper and a pen. Here’s a tip: If you’re doing close up magic and you feel comfortable, before you perform or after a few tricks, tell them that you’re doing this trick at a “competition” later next month and that you need actual feedback about whatever they can think of. You’ll be surprised how open people are about feedback when they feel they are helping you instead of hurting you. Also unless your target market is magicians, the feedback of lay-people is valuable. Pay particular attention if you start hearing people say similar things, especially if you don’t ask them to.

Theory Resource Guide discourseinmagic.com

How to Win Friends and Influence People – Dale Carnegie Okay, I lied. This one isn’t free. Well it can be free… Let me discuss what it is, and then all of the ways to get it. This is a book all about being a people person, and working with people. Even if you read the book and you get just ONE new strategy out of it, you will see an incredible impact. This is a book that I would recommend to every person on the planet who interacts with people. Here are all the ways to get it: you can check out the summary on Wikipedia which is pretty good. I do however recommend reading the stories and details in the book! It really is an incredible book, which is why it’s sold 30 million copies. If you want to listen to it as an audiobook you can get 30 days of Audible for free, and download this book. You can get it on Kindle for $0.99, buy it used on amazon for $4ish dollars. Ask you Uncles or people born before the year 1980 who are currently in business if they have it on their shelf already. Or go to a library and take it out for free (if they don’t have that book I would be surprised). But then again, who goes to libraries anymore? They could have solid gold over there and nobody would know. There is a ton of ways to get your hands on the content and it will pay off in the long run no matter what. My actual recommendation is to get a paper book so that you can take notes in it for your later reference when you OBVIOUSLY come back to read it again because it’s packed with content. In this book he teaches you the simplest of principles like the importance of using people names, why it’s that’s important, what to do when you’re wrong, how to win people to your way of thinking and more! I can honestly say the knowledge from this book has gotten me out of some serious situations. This is a must have, unless you are only performing on Instagram. If you plan on interacting with people, buy the book.

Theory Resource Guide discourseinmagic.com

DISCOURSE IN MAGIC When we launch, THIS WEBSITE AND PODCAST is going to be an awesome resource for you to learn great information and actionable tips about theory in magic, psychology, things of interest, history, ideologies, tips, and everything else in between. If you are still reading and you’ve made it this far YOU are the target audience of this podcast. We are preparing for out launch on April 30th, and we really want you to be a part of it. This podcast can and will only exist with audience interaction. The eventual goal for the podcast is to know the opinions of our audience before we record so that we can speak with you in mind. We are going to make it as easy as possible for you to interact and share your thoughts publicly, and we will do our best to provide stellar content, actionable steps, and an endless list of questions all about magic! Thanks for checking out this resource guide. I hope at least one thing mentioned here was helpful or new information. If you enjoyed it please feel free to share the link discourseinmagic.com See you April 30th! — Jonah Babins, Discourse in Magic