The Magician’s Wand, Part 3

THE WAND OF THE WIZARD Several thousand years ago, the ancient Druids of Great Britain carried wands, usually made from a hazel or mistletoe branch, with a pine cone attached on one end in honor of Dionysus, the god of the vine or trees. This wand was later called the Priapic wand, named after Priapus, the Roman god of procreation. Priapus was often equated with Pan, the nature deity of Greece....

Sound Advice, Part 3

THE PROFESSIONAL $500 OPTION: REMOTE COMMANDER IV I am very, very impressed with Majiloon’s Remote Commander IV. In a few brief words: simple, reliable, flexible, high-quality and professional. WHAT IS IT? The Remote Commander IV is a small FM radio frequency transmitter, receiver and, in my case, a mini-disk (MD) player for performers, DJs, and audio technicians. The MD player allows you...

Good Directors Cut!

Few things are more enduring than the Zen thought “less is more.” In the creation and brainstorming period of a new piece, nothing gets edited; everything is put into the heap. I tend to overload each new piece with many layers of esoteric symbolism in an attempt to make it more profound. One day, I was rehearsing a routine in my studio. After many disappointing attempts to get the...

Looking Beyond the Trick

When I was a beginner in magic, one of the things which I firmly believed was that in a magic performance everything centers on the strength of the magic trick. Among beginners — and sometimes even among those who have been involved with magic for a long time –specific magic tricks are often referred to as “reputation makers” or “show stoppers” or even...

“Jar of Fools” by Jason Lutes

In the early 1990s Jason Lutes, a writer and artist living in Seattle, received a Xeric Foundation Grant. And we’re lucky he did. Because it provided him funds to complete and publish his first comic book, Jar of Fools. A two-part story originally issued in separate books, Jar of Fools is now available in a single volume. Calling Jar of Fools a comic book is a bit like calling Crime and...

The Magician’s Wand, Part 2

THE STAFF / CADUCEUS CONNECTION Long rods or staffs were generally used by the animal keepers (shepherds) and wise men of the tribes. In the Old Testament is recorded the stories of Moses (and others) who performed magic with their rods. In some magical traditions, the act of the magician touching his staff to the Earth represented the directing of consciousness towards Humanity. If he, instead,...

Sound Advice, Part 2

REMOTE MUSIC SYSTEMS THE AFFORDABLE $75 ADVANCED AMATEUR OPTION If you must be on a strict, economical budget, try this. Go to Radio Shack and get a $25 wireless on off remote to switch that plugs into a standard electrical outlet. It uses radio frequencies, not infrared signals, so you can hide the key-chain sized transmitter. It sits in your pants pocket, or you can sew it into your costume...

Spiritual Strength & Introspection

Do you consider yourself a performing artist, more a magician, or is there even a distinction? I consider myself a hard-core magician. Any influences as far as performance art is concerned? I seriously studied the performance art movement in the 70’s and early 80’s. There were people like Joanna Went, the Kipper Kids, Laurie Anderson. I started reading “High Performance...

Ten Important Points to Consider

We’re going to talk about magic, not simply about how magic tricks work but rather about a question that is, I think, much more important: “What is the process by which we learn to perform magic effects?” A process hopefully that ends with a magical performance that is both deceptive and entertaining.” I suppose that there are almost as many views of this process of how...

“The Knife Thrower and Other Stories” by Steven Millhauser

I recommended The Knife Thrower and Other Stories during my “Literature for Magicians” talk at the last Mystery School. It may seem odd to recommend a work of fiction to magicians, but I feel that this book (and Millhauser’s work in general) has not only provided me with hours of enjoyment, it has taught me a thing or two about magic. I’m of the opinion that it’s...