Selecting Magic to Perform

A few years ago, purely as a personal experiment, I asked myself the following question: In order for a particular piece of magic to make it into my performing repertoire are there any criteria that must be met? What features must this particular piece of magic have – or not have – for it to be something that I would like to perform? As I thought about it, several criteria did appear. I have...

The Importance of Importance

A Conversation with Eugene Burger, by Romany – Diva of Magic I first met Eugene Burger at FISM Dresden in 1997 in my first year of learning magic and was fascinated and inspired by his original lectures. I’ve still been a student of his magical theory through his books and McBride Master Classes. As the series of awards given to him by the world of magic attest: Magic Castle Close-Up...

Drawing the Line

Can you keep a secret? Do you think I’m joking? I’m not. As one who, as we say, “earns his living” entirely from the performance of close-up magic and sleight-of-hand for adults-in cocktail lounges and restaurants, and at corporate and private parties — I think secrets are important. Please don’t treat them lightly. I have long suspected, however, that the...

A House with Many Rooms

May I share some of my imaginings with you? I imagine that magic is very much like a house with many rooms. I imagine that some of these rooms are large and brightly lit and many people enter. Other rooms are smaller and darker and are inviting only to a few. I see a room for dove workers and another for magic clowns. There is a cheerful room devoted to Gospel magic and another, rather more...

Unfinished Pictures

It is a stormy night. Trees are bending in the wind. The sky is threatening. Occasional claps of thunder ring in the distance. The rain has come and soon the city will be washed clean. The sky seems to burst open, the rain turns into a storm, as we arrive at our destination. I wanted to introduce you to a friend of mine – an artist, a painter. Together, we have come to his studio and,...