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acchessor Elite user Nebraska 402 Posts |
Hey guys. I am looking into the book Magic and Meaning by Burger and Neale (probably the expanded version), and I haven't seen many reviews here on the Café, so I was wondering what you guys thought of it. I am very interested in Paul Harris's philosophy about magic as presented in AoA and True Astonishments, and I'm looking to create motive and meaning in what I do and to see if/how it impacts the audience. Would this be a good book for me?
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Mike Powers Inner circle Midwest 2983 Posts |
I just finished reading the new edition, having already read the original once. It's an excellent book. It should get you motivated to really work on your "tricks" to turn them into "magic." It also contains much valuable info on how to accomplish this. I also just reread "The Experience of Magic" (Burger) which is another very valuable book which contains some of Eugene's scripts for some of his best stuff. It shows you what can be done when good scripting is used.
The turning point for me was making the following deal with myself: No email or surfing until I spend 1 hour on improving my magic. I have added an extra half hour of reading to that for a total of a 90 min. commitment. I created a spreadsheet with a four row section for each day of the week. I can enter what I read and for how long. That leaves three rows for entries like "practicing rope routine" start time, end time and a calculated total time. I also leave a video cam set up for rehearsal time. It's good to distinguish between "practice" and "rehearsal." Practice could be smoothing out a move or going completely through a routine so that the routine can be executed on "auto-pilot." Once enough practice has been put in on a routine, it's time for rehearsal. This requires a script and/or music etc. It should be done like a dress rehearsal in the theater and it should be video taped. In rehearsal you have to go all the way to the end with no "do overs." You have to pretend that the audience is there. So any mistakes have to be treated as you would in a live performance. That's tough, especially when you watch the video afterwards and know that this is what the audience would have seen in a real performance. This sounds like it takes a lot of time but it really doesn't. It could be 30 min a day. That's better than 3 hours on Saturday. A commitment to daily practice/rehearsal with a video cam nearby will make you a better magician in short order. It took me a long time to finally make that commitment, but I am very happy that I did. McBride calls it the choice between "purchase" and "polish" which is effectively between doing "tricks" and creating "magic." Mike
Mike Powers
http://www.mallofmagic.com |
mumford Special user 652 Posts |
Magic and Meaning is good, recently two other books in this vein have come out that are worth a look. Transformations by Hass and Beyond Deception by Beckwith. All three are written by McBride alumni.
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Donal Chayce Inner circle 1770 Posts |
If you're endeavoring to instill more meaning into your magic, then reading "Magic & Meaning" is a no-brainer. I also strongly suggest you read, if you've not done so already, Eugene Burger's "The Experience of Magic." To say that book made an immediate and profound beneficial impact on my magic would be an understatement.
I'm presently re-reading it--something I do at least once a year. |
Mike Powers Inner circle Midwest 2983 Posts |
I'm reading the Hass book (Transformations) right now. Very good.
"The Experience of Magic" is Eugene's favorite of all of his writings. It's great. Mike
Mike Powers
http://www.mallofmagic.com |
JanForster Inner circle Germany ... when not traveling... 4190 Posts |
...not much to add, it's true, excellent books. "Designing Miracles" and "Maximum Entertainment" should be read also. Jan
Jan Forster
www.janforster.de |
motown Inner circle Atlanta by way of Detroit 6127 Posts |
This is one of those books that really makes you think. I'll have to check out the new edition.
"If you ever write anything about me after I'm gone, I will come back and haunt you."
– Karl Germain |
acchessor Elite user Nebraska 402 Posts |
Thanks for the replies so far. Could someone go over the contents of the book and some chapters which they gained the most from in impacting their magic?
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Donal Chayce Inner circle 1770 Posts |
Eugene and Bob didn't so much co-write the book as they wrote sections of it individually and then assembled the parts into an organic flow of themes and ideas.
There are 15 chapters, only a few of which actually explain (or "teach") any tricks. (That's not what this book is about.) Of these, I found the discourse contained in "Conversations", "The Magical Experience", "Matinee Magic", "Are Card Tricks Card Magic?" and "Meaning in Magic" to be exceptionally thought-provoking and insightful. |
Carlos Hampton Veteran user 363 Posts |
Is anyone interested in selling this book? I am looking for the expanded version please.
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pf70ds New user 32 Posts |
Magic and Meaning is a great book- as is all of Eugene's and Bob's material
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Maestro Special user 801 Posts |
I much preferred Eugenes writing to Bob's. I found some of the chapters a little bit too esoteric, especially the bits about shamanism. Overall I founds some of the chapters very interesting and others that I had trouble even getting through.
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