The Magic Is In The Eyes

*Yawn* I'm feeling a bit sleepy now but I don't want to sleep yet, so might as well blog a little. Today's football training was cancelled due to the small small number of people were available. I was looking forward to playing a bit of footy today so it was a bit irritating when I found out that it was cancelled. Ever since the team took a break at the end of last year until last month, lots of things have changed. I don't think the team ever going to be as strong as it was last time.

I was watching the President's Star Charity just now and there was this magician that performed. He did some illusions and there was this part where he did some close-up card magic to the President. He did the Ambitious Card Routine. It's a routine where the signed card keeps on magically jumping up to the top of the deck everytime you put it elsewhere in the deck.

Anyway as he did the rountine, his hands started trembling! And it wasn't trembling slightly, it was trembling quite hard and obvious as the cameras had a close-up shot of his hands. Well, it's like that when you do magic. I've been in the same situation before doing magic to people I hardly know. You get nervous and your hands start to shake involuntarily. Once that starts, there's pretty much nothing you can do about it. Just get the trick over and done with.

The magician's handling wasn't that good and his sleights were pretty obvious. I guess it was due to the severe trembling in his hands, which came from the immense pressure not to screw up in front of the President of Singapore, the 300 people in the studio and the millions of viewers watching at home. If he screwed up, he wouldn't be able to show his face anymore. Haha.

Talking about magic, presentation is always the key. I forgot who, but a famous magician said, "A magician is an actor playing the role of a magican." That makes sense because for the trick to have maximum effect and for the audience to believe that you possess something supernatural, first of all, you yourself, has got to believe that you do.

That's why David Blain's magic is so effective. Because he looks weird, acts weird, and does things that people consider weird. Like tearing your selected card and putting it back together again. And people readily come to the conclusion that he must possess magical powers when in reality, he doesn't.

Part of the reason I like learning and doing magic is because it not only requires skill in the hands, but skill in the mind as well.

Here, try this out. You'll be surprised at how powerful yet simple the trick is.