They liked me, They really liked me: Barriers in magic

[princehidalgo]

I was at the college today. Out of habit I have my cards out and springing them, cutting them etc. Then I see the lovely young lady Im good friends with who works at the Daycare part of the college. She is walking these little girls around and I go up to say hey and I notice these girls are really just mezmorized by me dribbling the cards. Nothing fancy keep in mind Im not a XCM'er.I decided to show them ACR....you should see their signatures on the cards haha....but next thing I know Im walking back with the girls to the daycare and entertaining about 12 kids with card tricks like ACR, "I shouldve done it myself", and my favorite...Ghost by Greg Wilson with all the aces....Now im never good with little kids, Im horrible. When I get around kids I, to quote Dane Cook, "dont even know how to like...be in my own body". But here I was and these little kids are loving it. Its a real testament to how magic can break down barriers between people whether it is language, disabilities (deafness, mobile disabilities), or , in my case today, age, or others. Just thought I would share my wonderful experience and invite you all to share stories of your own telling how you broke down a barrier with your magic.

 

[blue shirt]

I was thinking about starting a thread like this...

Just a couple of days ago, I was up in the mountains with my musical organization for a retreat. Not knowing what to say (not many people knew me well...), I busted out a deck of Ghosts and began flourishing. I would say that nine months of practice paid off, and within seconds I had a crowd of about twenty people hypnotized by my hands. A few minutes later, I had kids shaking my hand and jumping around after performing some of the material from The Trilogy and Simply Sydney - I think I made about fifteen friends that day.

Thank you, fellow magicians, for making a day like this possible. Magic really smashes those stupid social walls that make you feel really awkward in public.

 

[Deleted member 2755]

Wow those stories are great. I'm glad you both had those great experiences. That is awesome.

Reading things like this makes me want a mod or an admin to make a sticky thread where people can post stories like this. I would check back every time there is a new post.

Well I hope that only inspired you to keep going. I wish I had a story like that to tell. Oh well, someday.

-Doug

 

[SHANE BLACK]

Thats actually a good idea. I believe an off topic would do.

 

[princehidalgo]

It would be nice to have this more out there than other threads. Alot of people have some kind of a story like this. And sinful, it will happen. And man when it does it really breaks down alot of those, stealing from Blue shirt's post above, "stupid social walls that can make you feel awkward in public.". If some real magic happens and I get to go to France this year..I will have another story to tell! Lets hope. Anyone else got story?

 

[Twozwozer]

Nice story. And to Shane, No. I think an off topic section would just turn this place into a mess. This is a Magic/XCM forum. Not a general* discussion forum.

And Also princehidalgo, the effect Ghost, is by David Stone. (Not Greg Wilson).

Anyway, I agree with Magic breaking language barriers, there are 2 small Taiwan boys staying with us for a mo, and when they ask to see some magic, when I perform I dont have to say anything, because magic is so visual.

Cheers, Tom

*General, As in, general everyday discussion, IE, not related to magic.
Cheers, Tom

 

[SHANE BLACK]

Nice story. And to Shane, No. I think an off topic section would just turn this place into a mess. This is a Magic/XCM forum. Not a general discussion forum.

Cheers, Tom

Thats funny cause you just posted in a general discussion section. Anyways it would keep alot of the mess you speak of in order but thats what I think but what do I know.

Shane

 

[princehidalgo]

well it seems that he credited Greg Wilson for it in his DVD. If this is incorrect, my apologies. And if an off-topic happens then it happens. I know alot of people are really pushing for it. I mean we are more than just magicians talking magic here right, theory11 seems like a pretty tight group im glad to be a part of, it doesnt have to be just a place to get on to merely talk magic and not life, funny stories, or in this case, great experiences, we all have parts of life when we arent performing and may be ACTUALLY PLAYING CARDS (without the cheating..haha...try it some time its quite the rush!) we should be able to talk about those things with like-minded people. Thats what magic is all about, the experiences. At any rate...id like to go back to the topic with this

dude its awesome you get to perform for people who cant even speak your language, i hope to get to do that one day.

This has attracted me since I saw Blaine performances around the world in his Magic Man Special.

Shane? No story of your own. Anyone?

 

[SHANE BLACK]

well it seems that he credited Greg Wilson for it in his DVD. If this is incorrect, my apologies. And if an off-topic happens then it happens. I know alot of people are really pushing for it. I mean we are more than just magicians talking magic here right, theory11 seems like a pretty tight group im glad to be a part of, it doesnt have to be just a place to get on to merely talk magic and not life, funny stories, or in this case, great experiences, we all have parts of life when we arent performing and may be ACTUALLY PLAYING CARDS (without the cheating..haha...try it some time its quite the rush!) we should be able to talk about those things with like-minded people. Thats what magic is all about, the experiences. At any rate...id like to go back to the topic with this

dude its awesome you get to perform for people who cant even speak your language, i hope to get to do that one day.

This has attracted me since I saw Blaine performances around the world in his Magic Man Special.

Shane? No story of your own. Anyone?

First off I agree with what your response says. As far as bridging people that speak different langauges with magic I have had a couple situations arise at the club I work at. Im the house magician for 2 places right now one of them being a night club and the other a bar/restaurant. I have had several run ins with people that speak spanish come in at the club which I speak very little of and I end up still doing magic for them anyways. I mainly just panomime if thats the correct way of spelling it, but I think you know what I mean. But people that don't speak english still have a great time and still usually end up shaking my hand and leave with a smile. That's about all I got there. But it's usually still just as entertaining for me in the end.

Shane.

 

[Sergey]

About Ghost: the vanish of the deck is very, very old, I found it in my Expert Card Technique book, Ghost is just a new handling of it, with a different kind of misdirection.

Yeah magic is awesome! I can't exactly perform that much because I have a cast on my leg (and I am much more comfortable performing magic standing up, which I can't) but there is a plus, I'm developing a Card to Cast trick, probably gonna use the Mercury Card Fold.