Well guys this is my first ever essay about magic so please remember there might be a few errors and some times where my point becomes confusing. Go easy on me:).

Why do we all love magic?

This is a question I’ve been mulling over for quite a long time. Why does making a simple card keep coming to the top of the deck amaze and fascinate us so much? Why does pulling a coin out of a child’s ear make them smile and giggle and remember you for the rest of their life? Why are we so intrigued by such simple feats of ‘magic’.

Some people say that it’s the mystery. I don’t think so. Though I love the mystery and love trying to figure out how things are done, I rarely get satisfaction from it. Others say the trick is what does it. I don’t like this theory either because it makes everything that is magic seem rigged, staged, and well, un-magical.

The true magicians which everyone connects with are the ones who know the truth, the ones who know that you have to be able to take people away from their scheduled, routine lives and take them somewhere they’ve never been before. A place where an objects solidity doesn’t stop things going through it, a place where gravity doesn’t stop a card from flying through the air, a place where an object can disappear and re-appear as many times as they want.

This in my opinion is what real magic is, this is the reason everyone loves it. Not palming a card perfectly, not false shuffling a deck, or double lifting a couple of cards. The real magic is what happens between the magician and the spectator. The connection between both of them. The connection which allows the spectator to give control to the magician and be amazed by what happens.

The times I’m truly amazed are the times when I’m taken away from everything happening in the world. The time when I find myself walking through an alternate universe with this magic man who can change the rules and make everything seem good again. These are what I consider the real ‘magic moments’.

The moments between the spectator and myself are what I live for. I go home and spend hours practicing merely for the few moments when I’m with an audience who is amazed by everything that happens. The audience, which when they leave you, has a new perspective on life. The audience which can go home and brag to their friends that they saw a guy make a card fly and then stick to the outside of a window! These are the moments I live for, through the good and the bad magic has been there, casting a soft glow on my life and adding a bit of fun to everything. So lets all go out and bring some magic to the people.

-Matt

Wow! I can't believe you haven't written before now. That was a great review... it wasn't confusing at all, and had nearly no errors. I loved it, and it really made me think why I do magic. Great job.

Thanks very much. You just made my day.

-Matt

Nicely done

Excellent.

All too often I hear 'all-too-proud-of-themselves' sleight-of-hand snobs declare that 'only pure sleight of hand is magic.'

I disagree. Magic is the effect left on those you perform for. It doesn't matter whether your 'miracle' is achieved by sleight-of-hand, a hidden gimmick, misdirection, psychology, little-known scientific principles or clever mechanics. The effect and the rapport that goes with it is the heart of the art form.

Again, great essay.

I tip my hat to you (if I were wearing one)

awesome, superb, incredible

This is an awesome essay.... You really describe in detail why most of us do magic... I do it in school just to get myself and other people in my school out of reality, it can get really boring in school so i take out some cards and perform some tricks. The best kind of connection is through magic especially if you show a girl you like an effect and it just amazes her so much she kisses you (its happened to me before and it was awesome )

but anyways you really get an awesome point across.

good job you actually helped me out with thinking of an awesome effect at the same time

Ah man, I'm awesome!

Haha just kidding, i'm not that full of myself.

-Matt

I really like your essay, well done.

I love magic just for that reason. That reaction you get from your spectator when you do something really cool.

conman54-

I really like your essay, well done.

I love magic just for that reason. That reaction you get from your spectator when you do something really cool.

conman54-

great essay but i think there are more reasons than you stated.

i, for one, absolutely love all things fantasy and sci fi. stargate to farscape, LotR to david eddings (not harry potter though). but i cant recite a few words, wave my hand, and do some real magic. but being able to recreate the same thing by alternate methods gives me satisfaction. this again ties back to the main point of the audience giving the illusion that i can do magic.

but some may perform magic for other reasons. power or fame or even money. some may perform it simply to be admired, eg, a father doing a trick or two to his children for admiration.

but the spectator factor does have to be the key factor, but there are others

when i read that, that song "Do you belive in magic" poped in my head while reading it lol


great essay!


-MagicTay

Yes, i'm sure there are many points that magicians love that I wasn't able to incorporate into my essay but I was just pointing out what I thought that the reasons were. I guess my title is a little bit misleading.

-Matt

That's a nice read that is, only thing I'd say is it's a shame it's so short. It agrees quite nicely with my Impossible is Nothing essay I posted the other day.

I like your point that magic takes us away from our daily grind, transports us to a world of infinate possibilities, of joy and wonder without the tedium of rhyme and reason, or of logical thought. A world where, as you say, impossible things can happen just because they can. A world where you don't make the rules because you don't care about them, hang the rules! Who needs rules in a world where coins can float? Or cards can vanish? Or shortish men with interesting accents and lisps can read your mind?

I see we're singing off the same hymn sheet here and I like it; always nice to find someone who agrees with you.

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