I’ve been playing catchup on my magic bookshelf lately – reading through (or finishing off) books that I haven’t gotten around to. The latest is Art and Magic by S.H. Sharpe.
Though I’m only 150 pages in, I happened across a concise phrasing of an idea I regularly try to communicate to other magicians. He writes:
“The magical effect and its manner of presentation inevitably express an inner idea, whether it be trivial or profound, whether it be done consciously or subconsciously.”
Magic as a craft is certainly about technique and tactics. About taking a trick and presenting it effectively or making a script compelling for an audience. About intelligently editing and honing the communication of the piece.
But magic as an art is always about expressing something from the performer to the audience. Sharpe so effectively gets across the idea that every magic trick has inherent in it a meaning. A profundity of what the illusory effect is trying to communicate to an audience.
We are saying something (about ourselves and our magic and our opinions) with each trick that we do; whether or not we take the time to process it and hone that message into something representative of us.
What are you saying?