“Magicians are actors pretending to be magicians.” Jamy Swiss wowed the crowd and backed up his statement in a lecture through the Penny Stamps Distinguished Visitor Series. While I knew that the Art and Design students are required to attend these lectures, I didn’t realize that Michigan Theater would be packed. When I walked in, almost all the seats were full and I wished I had arrived earlier so I would be able to sit in the front and get a good view of the cards used in the illusions.
In addition to being good actors, magicians must be good storytellers. The card tricks would have been boring if Jamy Swiss had not told a funny story to go along with it. And oftentimes, the stories were used to guide our thinking—in the wrong direction! When breaking down one of the tricks, Jamy Swiss emphasized that he said, “Queen of clubs” three times to keep us thinking about that particular card. Good storytelling is the one of many methods used to deceive the audience.
Body language also affected perception of the illusion. The best example was the standard “disappearing coin trick,” the one where you think the coin is switched to the left hand, when it really just stayed in the right hand. In order to fool others, magicians (or sometimes grandpas!) use body language to send the message that the coin is in the left hand. By shifting his weight to the left and looking at his left hand, the magician sends an unspoken message to the audience that the coin is in the left hand.
Perhaps the best way for a magician to deceive the audience is…to lie! In one card trick, he pulled out a red 8 and black 6 and asked a volunteer to put them back into the deck. He then proceeded shuffle the deck, pull out a red 8 and black 6, and proclaim, “And here they are!” The catch: he pulled out the other red 8 and black 6. Essentially, he lied to us. With enough confidence, he was able to convince us that he told the truth. There was no “magic” in these tricks. He was just a good liar and a good actor!
I truly enjoyed the lecture; it was entertaining and interesting. Afterwards, I found myself walking back in silence though my friend was right next to me. I was trying to figure out how Jamy Swiss managed to fool us every single time even though he told us all the secrets!
