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MAGIC
By
MISDIRECTION
CHAPTER TWELVE
Just what response should a magician expect to stimulate in his spectators?
I have indicated what I believe should be the overall objective for magicians. This is the substance of SHOWMANSHIP FOR MAGICIANS. But by the nature of his medium of entertainment, the magician must have a secondary objective. This objective is the response aroused in the spectators as the result of his impersonation of a magician, an impersonation of a person employing a supernatural agency.
It is only an impersonation. Let this be clearly understood. It is merely a representation, in the magician's definite knowledge. Definitely, to the average spectator, it is nothing more than make-believe magic.
So, since everybody understands that the magician is not really accomplishing miracles, since all know that the magician is not employing supernatural agencies, it can hardly be expected that the response to modern magicians should be similar to the spectator response were it possible for the performer to accomplish real magic.
If real magic were being exhibited, the emotion aroused would be akin to wonderment, amazement, mystification and awe. But none of these reactions would carry any connotation of an ability on the part of the spectator to understand how they were accomplished. There would be no implication of a problem that might be solved. This is because real magic is accomplished through supernatural means, and the supernatural simply is not fathomable by mere mortal mind.
Rarely, you may be certain, will the magician encounter any response like this with the average spectator.
On the other hand, any emotion aroused by the modern magician will always carry connotations of a problem with a solution. It follows, then, that the response will include states like perplexity, puzzlement, bewilderment. All of these are a species of bafflement.
If the spectator is puzzled, he is mentally baffled by such complication or intricacy that his mind finds solution difficult. But he knows there is a reasonable, natural solution.
If the spectator is perplexed, his puzzlement is further complicated by implications of uncertainty as to the right solution. Yet, still accepted is the certainty of there being a natural solution.
A bewildered spectator experiences a bafflement akin to perplexity, but bewilderment stresses a confused state of mind that makes clear thinking practically impossible.
And so one may go on and find the spectators distracted, nonplussed, confounded, frustrated, thwarted and circumvented. Still present, completely eliminating any possibility of suspicion of supernatural agencies, therefore eliminating any responses related in any way to those which come from a supernatural stimulus, is the knowledge that the magician's method is solvable. What he seems to do, impossible as it seems, becomes a problem and a challenge to the spectators. The effect seems to say, "Figure it out if you can!"
Thus, when we encounter the word mystify in connection with a magician's performance-white magic, not black-we encounter two different meanings and senses. One meaning, the one used with real magic, implies an incapacity for comprehension by the human reason. But there is no such implication in connection with modern magic. Modern magic is capable of being comprehended by the human reason. It is not a miracle. It is a solvable problem.
When we say that a spectator is mystified, referring to our magic, we mean that he is baffled. His bafflement is a species of perplexity caused by concealing important facts or factors or by obscuring the issues. In this sense only is mystify a valid word to use in connection with a magician's performance.
Since bafflement and its various shades of meaning, including mystification, mean frustration by confusion-by concealment of important factors and by making intricate-successful deception is exactly the act of doing these things plus blocking the spectator from penetrating through them to solution of the problem.
The entire result is achieved through the spectator's mind. What this spectator perceives through his senses simply is not important, if his mind is not deceived.
Let us go back a few decades. Prior to the time of Robert-Houdin, magicians concealed assistants in deeply draped tables. When the magician wanted to cause something to disappear or change, he deposited the thing on this table and covered it. The assistant would then remove the object or exchange another in its place, under the cover. As far as the sense perceptions were concerned, the spectators had witnessed a trick. The eyes saw something disappear or transformed to something else.
But the mind was not convinced-not while all of that space was available for hiding a hireling. Was the spectator mystified? Now suppose a pair of mirrors was used below the tabletop, a pair of mirrors similar to that used in The Sphinx Head illusion. This would make the space below the tabletop appear to be open, with no space for the concealment of an assistant.
Now the perceived thing is not contradicted by thought processes. It is deceiving because the understanding supports the senses.
Definitely, the important thing to attack in successful deception is the mind. And equally definitely, this factor of disguise, discussed in the last chapter, is most important when it is directed at the mind and understanding.
Psychological disguise takes several forms.
One of the most important forms of disguise to circumvent the understanding is simulation.
It has been made clear before in this work that simulation is the act of presenting an imitation to the spectator's perceptive senses. It is the assumption of an appearance similar to something else than it truly is. It is a counterfeit appearance.
Psychological simulation, one form of psychological disguise, is simulation that influences the mind principally. It reaches the consciousness of the spectator in such a manner that it sways the understanding. It may be physical in character, but it is of such a nature that its effect is principally upon the spectator's understanding, rather than upon his perceptions.
Especially, psychological simulation is behavior.
In The French Drop sleight mentioned previously, when the right hand pretends to take the ball from the left, the right hand physically simulates containing the ball. It gives an imitation of a hand that contains something. It assumes a physical position similar to that which the hand would assume, if the ball actually were held.
The physical phases of the simulation, while necessary, are not the convincing ones necessarily, however. It is principally due to the way the performer acts that the spectator's mind is convinced.
Let the magician take this pretended ball with the identical simulation physically. but let him forego any supporting behavior. Instead, suppose he were to allow his eyes to linger upon the left hand, where the ball secretly reposes. Suppose the words he were to use, and his tone of voice, were to convey some degree of uncertainty. Suppose any sort of lack of convincingness and naturalness should become evident. Suppose any of his behaviors were in conformance with the true state of affairs. Imagine that the performer meticulously observes every detail necessary for successful physical simulation. But if his behavior, his attitude, every subtle nuance does not conform to, and support, the physical simulation, he will not deceive the spectator. How can he, if he goes through the motions with his behavior telling the spectator that the ball is not in the right hand?
The psychological simulation necessary is not difficult here. If the magician actually were to take the ball in his right hand, his attention would follow the location of the ball. This is because the ball is the subject. It is the center of interest. Since the left band no longer contains the subject of the trick, the performer's interest in that hand is finished. The performer must, also, convince himself that the ball is in the right hand. This carries with it all of the little subtle psychological gestures, attitudes, behavior, that would be evident if the ball were in the right hand. What the performer says, and his manner of saying it, is influenced by the presence of the ball in his right hand. He must not do anything with his right hand that he could not do if it actually contained the ball.
When the magician apparently produces a large bowl of water from beneath a foulard, his arm gives the physical simulation of the presence of the bowl. But the posture of his body, the tension of the muscles of his arm and legs and back-all-simulate the presence of the bowl and its weight. The expression on the performer's face reflects the physical tension. It reflects his care and anxiety not to spill the water on the floor or upon himself. The words and the tone of voice are directed at the presence of the bowl.
In a like manner, the performer who simulates placing the egg beneath his armpit in The Egg Bag routine, psychologically simulates the presence of the egg in addition to the physical simulation of keeping the arm pressed tightly against the body. His attitude seems to convey just the opposite intent to the spectators. He seems to desire them not to realize where this egg is. Yet, through behavior, expression, attitude, voice, he unmistakably convinces the spectator that the egg is beneath his armpit, if his enactment of the necessary details is convincing, and if something that has gone before has not betrayed this to be but a bit of by play.
When Frakson simulates the plucking of a cigarette or a coin from the air, the mere revelation of the cigarette or the coin is not sufficient. No. First, he sees the object. Then he indicates where it is, with an expression of happiness that it is there. Then he goes through the physical simulation of reaching for it. When it is revealed, he eyes it, with some astonishment that it was actually there. Then he expresses joy that he succeeded in getting it. And, having gotten it, he looks for more. Everything he says and does conveys the idea that the cigarettes are invisibly floating about in the air. Nothing he says or does conveys that the cigarettes are actually secreted somewhere about his person.
Cardini's production of fans of cards is similar. If his simulation stopped with the mere physical simulation of plucking the fans from the air, he would not be the superlative deceptionist that he is. Anybody-well, almost anybody-can backpalm a fan of cards and reproduce them at his fingertips. But very few have the acting ability of this superb performer. More than his technical skill, more than his ability to hold a number of cards concealed behind his hand, is his acting ability which is directed toward psychologically simulating the catching of cards from the air. The psychological simulation sells the presence of the cards in the air. The actual production of the cards merely confirms it.
In The Grant Rope Trick it is necessary, at one portion of the routine, to simulate cutting a rope. Actually, the ends, which the performer seems to create by the cutting of the rope, are there all the time. The performer does not cut the rope. He merely simulates cutting the rope. Since he does not cut the rope, there can be no actual physical simulation of the act. All he can do physically is to go through the necessary motions. The psychological simulation has to convince the spectator. The physical effort necessary to cut the rope must be evident. The timing of the dropping of the ends must conform to the timing that would occur if the rope were actually cut. The performer's attention must be concentrated upon the act of cutting. This attention must linger just so long. Then, the rope having been cut, the performer turns his attention to new phases. But everything-the expression on the face, the look of concentration, the muscular strain necessary to operate the scissors, the dropping of the ends, the movement of the hands, what is said and its manner of being said-all of these details must simulate cutting a rope.
When a performer does The Turban Trick, he makes the necessary hitch to cut a short end and simulates picking up the center of the long piece of cloth. It is a physical simulation, of course. But accompanying it are other subtle details of psychological simulation, such as the performer's attitude toward the portion held out for cutting and his attitude toward the spectator who is to do the cutting. He must not hold this out as if, perhaps, he is afraid the spectator may guess that the portion indicated is not the center. The performer convinces himself, even though he knows better, that the indicated portion is actually the center of the turban. And he so conducts himself.
The mentalist who holds a sealed billet to his forehead simulates reading it mentally. Here the simulation is almost entirely psychological. He is giving an imitation of a person reading a billet mentally. He does not read it off rapidly and glibly. His face reveals mental effort. He seems to be laboring under a mental strain. His information seems to come to him slowly and with great difficulty. This information is not exact, at all. It is fragmentary, sometimes ambiguous to the performer. The simulation is almost entirely behavior.
In The Linking Ring Trick, when the performer pretends to link together the rings of a chain of two, there is no physical disguise of consequence. The performer simulates taking two separate rings. He simulates causing the substance of one to penetrate the substance of the other. It is a matter of the expression of the face, the handling of the rings, the words said and the manner in which they are said. It includes assuming an attitude bespeaking an ability to cause them to penetrate each other. There is no room permitted for question or doubt. It is a positive action, giving the spectators a positive impression that the magician actually is linking the rings. It is convincingly and naturally and thoroughly acting out a role.
The Human Hen trick requires the performer to simulate taking eggs from the mouth of his assistant, one by one. Actually, of course, the eggs do not come from the assistant's mouth. A hollow half-egg is concealed in the assistant's mouth. It is revealed as each egg is apparently materialized. Without psychological simulation, the performer would appear to be doing just what he does do. It would seem to the spectator that the magician is revealing an egg that he had concealed in his hand, while the assistant retracts the half-egg back into his mouth.
Instead, the performer forces matters to appear as if the egg actually were taken from the assistant's mouth. When it is first seen-I refer to the duplicate egg now-it is seen in a position in which it would be, if it were actually taken from the mouth. The performer uses a handkerchief to grasp the egg, in order that he does not have to touch the saliva-moistened surface. The assistant assumes a position as if he were ejecting the egg into the handkerchief. The performer conducts himself as to words said, behavior, posture, apparent purpose, as if he were actually taking the egg from the assistant's mouth.
When a magician simulates placing something into a container-any kind of a container, a hat, a tube, a can, a box-he goes through the exact motions he would make if the object were actually placed in the container. His attention is upon the hand apparently containing the object. It follows along as the object is placed in the container. The opposite hand, holding the container, adjusts itself to accommodate the additional weight. The performer's attention then follows the apparent presence of the object. Meanwhile, as he would if the object actually were placed in the container, he ignores the hand that formerly seemed to, or actually did, contain the object.
All of these examples narrow themselves down to convincing acting. No matter what type of simulation is used, no matter what the simulation is for, the magician is acting out a role. He must do this well or the simulation will not be effective. He must do it convincingly or he will not convey the impression he is trying to accomplish. He must do it naturally or it will seem artificial and will arouse suspicions.
The performer who, carrying a card behind an envelope, desires to give the impression that he is taking it from the envelope, goes through every detail of motion and behavior and attitude that he would, if he actually were taking the card from it. He tears open the envelope. He opens it with his finger and peers inside for the card. He reaches in quite naturally. All of his fingers do not go inside. The position of the hand, the attitude of the performer, and his remarks, all are as if the card were being taken from the envelope. But, depending upon the immediate circumstances-location of the audience, the hand used, upon which side of the body the envelope is held-the four fingers or the thumb goes behind the envelope and press upon the card. The performer holds the card, just as he would if he were taking it from the envelope. But he holds it with one side of the envelope sandwiched between the card and the fingers inside the envelope. Then, without flourish or unnecessary gesture, naturally, as he would were he actually taking the card from the envelope, he slides the card up from behind the envelope and into view.
Again, as in all other cases in connection with simulation, the magician has enacted a role convincingly.
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