#stage magic

[mijamija1234]

He set the world in motion.

[ehlonna-makes-stuff]

I'm reading Experiencing the Impossible by Gustav Kuhn, and at the start of the book he brings up the question "Why do we like magic tricks if we don't like being lied to?" And his conclusion is that, actually, we do like being lied to and social psychology research shows we're actually put off by people who don't lie enough. So we're okay with magic because we're more okay with being lied to than we admit.

That doesn't seem right to me (about the conclusion vis a vis magic, not the "lying to grease the wheels of social exchange" part).

It feels more intuitive to me that the reason we're okay with being deceived is because that's the universe we consent to when we agree to be shown a magic trick? Like, you know a magician is trying to fool you. That's the point. You're here to be fooled. That's what makes it entertaining.

Consenting to ignore socially unacceptable behaviors for the purpose of entertainment is really common. See: almost every kink. Or... a boxing match, right? Sparring. In the real world, you can't generally beat a dude into the floor and expect to be friends the next morning. But a boxing ring is a universe where you've consented to set aside the social faux pas of punching someone in the face; moreover, you're both expecting it to happen. That's the whole point.

Is there something I'm missing here?

[jellipsis]

Just devised a "balloon appearance"... It's not great (visually it's great... but it's not very fooling)... but we can spider graph that tide pool later... this is my first introduction to stage magic... it (stage magic :: Bigger than parlour) didn't used to be my thing... then I remembered how important it was to me... to see Lance Burton with my dad (we were the only ones, in the family, in Vegas @ the time)... I want to be the reason people are able to share that moment with each other, UFRH.

[spartan-housewives]

Being a female magician in a male dominated world, and although she traveled from continent to continent performing for kings and queens, presidents, and millions people around the globe she still found herself trying to be accepted.  Magic was still a vastly male dominated field.  Once in England, as a lark, her British friends found a way to sneak Celeste into the elite Magic Circle by dressing Celeste up as a man in men’s clothes.  She impressed many in the club with some card tricks before exiting knowing not only she fooled them with more than just her magic.  

Bio by Dan Stapleton, from this fansite

[sistersorrow]

Fantasy trope I like: stage magicians still being considered super impressive because they find ways to do things that should only be possible with actual magic

[shepherdsofhaven]

What’s the general opinion on magic tricks and magicians(not real magic)? Do they even exist? Are they banned by the Autarchy?

There are sleight-of-hand and parlor tricks, but no one really has a career as a stage magician: why would you when people could pay to see someone who actually can do magic and can actually breathe fire and disappear and whatnot, not just fool you into thinking they did? The closest equivalent, I think, would be Hedgewitches, who can manage such a tiny amount of magic that it might as well be equivalent to a stage magician, and various performers like acrobats and fire-breathers and people who impress audiences with their feats and sleight-of-hand! But at that point, it's more an admiration of the skill involved to pull off, say, a card trick or an optical illusion, rather than anyone thinking it's "real" magic! And no one ever goes too far with it and does like David Copperfield-style magic where they make the moon disappear or conjure a horse on-stage or something, because in a world with Inquisitors, why would you actively want to portray yourself as an enemy of the state and an oppressed class? 😅 Reading an audience member's mind to say the number they're thinking of isn't very fun when there's an actual real fear of mind-reading Enchanters in the world: you'd probably summarily find yourself run down by a mob if you weren't careful, so it's not worth it to develop that kind of practice!

Some Mages also tend to be a bit snobby about such things (like charlatans who "make a necklace disappear" and ignore the physics and theorems and years of study that a real Mage would have to learn to make that happen, and also you are dismantling the serious reputation of magic into something cutesy and easy!), but others, like Red, try gamely to admire the separate skills involved!

[rawtoonage-fandom]

(repost)

A collection of drawings of Haiku as a stage magician

[rheadionne]

Now You See Me: Now You Don’t: Effortless Magic - Duncans Books and More

Having seen the previous two films in the Now You See me series, I was incredibly excited about a third installment, despite the ten year wait. I always loved the magical tricks of the previous movies and hoped for something close with this current film. After seeing it, I found Now You See Me: Now

Check out my review of Now You See Me:Now You Don’t