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Abracadabra to fill the air (Article)
_________________________________________________________
Abracadabra to fill the air
Regional gathering attracts magicians for lessons in trickery
From the Huntsville Times (Hunstville Alabama)
By PATRICIA C. McCARTER
Here’s what John Tudor keeps in mind when he’s developing a new trick: What would it look like if it really was magic?
That’s because 25 years ago, when he was dabbling in magic, Tony Slydini, the “Master of Misdirection,” asked him at a magic convention, “Are you a magician, or do you just do tricks?”
Tudor was a star-struck teenager, and he couldn’t come up with an answer for his hero. Shortly after that, he did.
He wanted to be Merlin, not just some trickster.
At the South Eastern Association of Magicians convention held at the University of Alabama in Huntsville this weekend, Tudor and other accomplished magicians are sharing what they know to help aspiring sleight-of-handers get a little closer to creating magic.
It’s all about misdirecting the audience and a sense of show biz. The 100 or so people attending the workshops already have some knowledge of magic, but the professional magicians break each trick down to its tiniest parts so their observers learn to do it themselves. Magic tends to lose some of its magic once it’s explained, but that’s the only way they can recreate it.
The magic rings aren’t really magic. The out-of-nowhere red rose was there all along. And the rabbit couldn’t come out of the hat if it wasn’t for spandex (but we’re not saying who is wearing it.)
Tudor said sharing magic’s secrets doesn’t put an end to the magic. It keeps it going. Some of the tricks he does today are 500 years old or older.
“The secrets are already available to the masses if they really want to know how it works, but they really don’t want to know,” said Tudor, 44, of South Carolina. “When you’re watching a magic show, you’ve signed on to the willing suspension of disbelief.
“You know there’s no such thing as magic, but you sure like the feeling of ‘ahhhh’ when a magician performs a trick well. That knowledge needs to be passed on.”
To do that, magicians sell their lecture notes and DVDs and work conventions. Tudor said there’s a magic convention somewhere in the world almost every weekend.
With the success of the “Harry Potter” books series, Tudor thinks the world is rediscovering the magic of magic, “even if Dumbledore doesn’t go around pulling rabbits out of hats.”
“Is magic good or evil? It depends on what you do with it,” he said. “It’s deception, but it’s an honest one, one with a happy ending.
“It’s a gift, not a rip-off.”
© 2009 John Tudor