I was having lunch with a magician friend of mine today at a local Chinese restaurant. The restaurant was typical of almost any such establishment you can find throughout many parts of the world. The food was great, but the surroundings left much to be desired.

Anyways,we started talking about the issue of exposure and the terrible effect it has on spectators when a method is revealed. That look of utter disappointment on the spectator's face is where the real harm lies.

That's when my friend suddenly came out with the comment that, "Magic is like eating in this restaurant". The comment came out of nowhere and made absolutely no sense to me - until he explained it.

When you go into a restaurant like the one we were dining in, you wanted great food -you expected great food - and usually, that's what you got. But, if you ever walked into the kitchen of that same restaurant, you'd instantly lose your apetite and never eat there again. You know something might be going on in the kitchen, but part of you just doesn't want to know.

That is the willing suspension of disbelief.

Kent

Actually, what your friend is talking about is called "denial", that is, you know something to be true, but you refuse to believe that it is. In your friends illustration he believes that if he goes into the kitchen in a Chinese restaruant he will find horrid conditions that would destroy his appetite. To avoid this he denies that this is the case and simply avoids visiting the kitchen. I have to say though that it was a very creative attempt at an analogy.

Suspension of Disbelief happens when you are watching something that you know to be unreal and yet you 'pretend' that what you are whatching is 'real'. In one sense it is pointless to watch someone claiming magic powers if you refuse to suspend your disbelief in magic long enough to enjoy the illusion proffered by the performer. When you watch Hamlet you don't sit and say over and over, "He is not really a Danish Prince, he is not really a Danish Prince..." Again, it is pointless. Theatre is itself a kind of illusion in which we participate by pretending that the actors are in fact the characters they portray.

I applaud you for bringing your frineds idea to the forum for it helps in clarifing what in fact is happening when folks watch magic. Are they watching magic or are they watching clever puzzles that 'need' to be figured out?

We sit as magical performers on the horns of a dilemma. Do we claim magical powers that we really can't justify? Or, do we claim to be something else that we can? I have come to the conclusion that what we do are illusions. I am now, Brad Burt, Illusionist.

Do you see the dilemma and the kind of schizophrenic world we inhabit? We say we are magicians, but no one really thinks that we are. Anyone who does is either naive or stupid. Right? Look at the vitriol directed at Blaine for making folks 'think' that he might in fact do 'real' magic. Oh, horrors! Maybe someone in our profession can REALLY read minds and make cards do miracles!!

Come on. Admit it. Wasn't it fun to have folks come up and tell you they thought David Blaine was the real deal and then you showed them that YOU could do the same stuff or better? Best,

You know........I'd like to ping off of Brad's comment a tiny bit: I've taken a lengthy hiatus from magic, but have recently decided to come back........frequently, for reasons I don't entirely understand, I think of a lecture I attended featuring Ken Simmons.....great coin and card worker. I was a member of IBM ring 266 in Tyler, Texas and his lecture was [mostly] focused on card work (this was in the mid-90's)............

as I watched him work, I noted, within myself and (presumably) within the demeanor of those around me (magicians, mind you) how we "gave ourselves over" to him.......the first few effects were so mind-blowing, that I essentially just sat back and let him hypnotize me...........interestingly, I also noted how he could do moves and sleights that were even more bold and I lost my "hey, I caught you" mindset. I even commented, "It's funny how once you "kill" an audience early in your performance, you can actually get sloppier and they still are entertained." I've thought about this psychological effect many times.........I think suspension of disbelief is built upon this idea.......what do others think?

It isn't.... its something completely seperate imho unless you intentionally weave them together.

I personally dislike suspension of disbelief.

I *want* them to believe in everything I'm doing and still be amazed at the outcome.

To sit there and do a false shuffle, and them knowing its a false shuffle but thinking "well I'll play along and act like its a real one"... that is Suspension of disbelief but where is the magic???

I don't want them to suspend the belief that it is a stacked deck, I want them to *ACTUALLY BELIEVE* its a shuffled deck.

I want them to watch everything very closly, beliving everything they see and STILL not fathom how it could be possible.

I think if you try to invoke suspension of disbelief you are doing a disservice to your magic as some of the impact will be lost if they are only pretending to believe your claims rather than actually believing them.


I'm not saying you should claim real powers, and I'm fine with a disclaimer saying that you have no special powers.... but after thad disclaimer, show them something that is *impossible* and have them believe it.

I agree with you daegs. The more they disbelieve, the harder they fall when they can't see through you!

Darwin Ortiz sums it up nicely in Strong Magic. He explains that suspension of disbelief is akin to going to the theatre and watching Peter Pan. When he's flying around everyone knows he's on a thread but in order to truly enjoy the experience they must suspend their disbelief and emerse themselves in the play.

If we then take a look at David Copperfield and his 'flying' illusion we can see there is no need for an audience to suspend disbelief. He goes to great lengths to convince people that there are no wires. Every solution that a skeptical, non-belief suspending layman could possibly think of, is destroyed.

The same can be applied to close-up magic. The more someone disbelieves and the more they try to work it out; the more they back themselves into a corner without any possiblities.

It's like comparing performing for thinkers and non-thinkers (ambitious card used in the example below).

1. The non-thinker is more likely to sit back and say wow the card jumped to the top, I don't even wanna think about how it's done.

2. The thinker will think: 1. he's moving it to the top with sleight of hand (and watch closer) 2. It's going up his sleeve (wait a minute, his sleeves were up!) 3. There's a duplicate (oh wait.. no, it's signed!) 3. Now I got him, it's already on the top (oh bugger! It's in his mouth!!)

From this I believe that to suspend disbelief means to not watch closely.

It's when people watch closely and resist being fooled that you can really create astonishment.

Just my thoughts

James

Exactly, exactly, exactly guys! That's exactly my point above when I referenced Blaine. Isn't it more fun if they really think that maybe you CAN do some 'real' magic? If only for a moment?

This brings in something I've never shared before: The Brad Burt Magic Trivia Index. I assert that most of what we do is trivial. We don't produce money from the air, we don't heal the sick or stop wars. We do card tricks. Here though is how the Index works: The closer you get in a magic presentation to showing something that is NOT trivial either in context or in manner of effect the closer you will get to it being ACCEPTED as real.

Here basic psychology comes into play. Why is mentalism more powerful than magic even when the effects generally are not as powerful visually? Because Mentalism more directly affects the mind! AND...the effects are more easially accepted as 'real' by the audience because they are less TRIVIAL to them!! Consider the following illustration: Let's say that you perform a perfect coins across. Here's one of the most magical effects possible. Matter transposes from one place to another with no apparent solution as to how it was done. Must be magic right? But, here's the thing...good trick, but who cares? Now, some guy comes out and does a basic prediction effect. The crowd goes wild if only internally. Why? Because, the 'possibility' that this guy 'might' be able to look into the future and tell YOU how to avoid some catastrophe or make you money is a much more compelling AFFECT. Ergo, it is less trivial. Ergo, it will be more easily accepted as 'real'.

Now, my Index may seem 'trivial' to you, but look at it as a device that can help you measure how 'strong' you magic presentations will be. Consider the following and answer the question as to which is stronger: A solid gambling exibition or a really magical cups and balls routine?

Let's get some answers and then I'll tell you what I think and why....All best,

Here's my answer to the above: The Gambling Routine. The reason is that no matter how magical the Cups and Balls routine the Gambling routine will have a higher resonnence with most spectators for the same reason that folks play the lotto. The idea that the magician might in fact have some information that will illuminate gambling and give some advice on how to win is virtually a guarantee of not only success, but the close attention of the watchers.

The higher the index of meaning that a routine has whether inherent or by association with the patter the higher the index of attention will be by the spectators. Best,

Though I do agree with Mr. Burt, I assert that there is nothing inherently wrong with the "suspension of disbelief." As argued above, when attending a theater performance, one must not constantly struggle with the fact that the actor is not truly the character.

I, as a magician, consider myself in the same "stage" light. When I say that I have magical abilities, I do not expect that the spectator is "naive or stupid," but that the spectator understands the relationship between an actor and his audience.

A good, magical illusion should tell a story. It should include the spectator (as Mr. Burt has suggested). The more inclusive the trick, the more significant it will be in the mind of the audience. A magician must not be thwarted by fear of an audience supressing their disbelief, he must embrace it as a humble truth to an art as old as invention.

If there is no Suspension of Disbelief, if even for a moment then there is NO magic. All we have to offer then are just clever puzzles. This is why the stronger the effect the more powerful will be the 'sense of wonder' that invades the watchers mind. The more likely that they will look at what you just did as IF it was somehow 'real' and 'magical'.

This is also why shorter, clearer and single effects are ofter more powerful than longer multi-part routines. The focus of the spectators is more zeroed in and there is less confusion. Remember the Dental Dam penetration? I remember vividly the first time I EXPERIENCED this trick. I pushed the coin through the rubber dam and it freaked me out. I was simply shocked. It remains to this day one of the most magical of tricks for me. Look at the simplicity: No elaborate story. No long winded justification for what was happening. JUST MAGIC. Pin point effect with no explanation that left me speechless in a way that much more complex and pretty routines have never done. Best,