MiloCast

This is my bike. Getting my motorcycle license is something I thought about doing for years. After finally doing it, I realized that I was procrastinating for no reason, and the joys of riding should not be put off.

In honor of the summer weather and my commitment to re-releasing my old podcasts, here is one I did on the topic of getting your motorcycle license. Enjoy.

Download the mp3 here.

You can usually identify the people who are fairly new to magic as soon as they enter the shop. The first thing they ask the shop owner is “What’s new?” Soon they will learn. To abuse an overused analogy, the new stuff is a snowflake on the tip of an iceberg. Not only is this an accurate visualization for the usual reason (it hints at how much more there is than meets the eye), but it’s also accurate in that the enormous bulk of magic history supports the “new” stuff, which would be nothing without it.

It is often said that there is “nothing new under the sun.” In magic, this is also a safe assumption. Any new effect for sale is just a new combination of old elements. Improved in some cases, but probably nothing that is going to shake the magic community. There are only so many principles in magic. Once a magician is familiar with these, seeing most tricks for the first time gives a pretty good idea of the method*. A magician also sees the world a little differently than most people for the same reason; these insights are what I’m trying to share with my readers, to help them make more educated decisions in their daily lives. The lesson here for magicians is that you have plenty of amazing magic already — just take the time to study the material you have already bought. The lesson for us all, however, is much more important.

In magic and in life, there is a tendency to collect. Get a better car, get the newest magic book, get the fastest computer, get the coolest mobile phone. There is nothing wrong with wanting or acquiring any of those things, but what about the things you had wanted just as badly, but now have? Spending time with friends or family, or reading the classic magic texts, or just sitting outside reading a book and drinking iced tea are all experiences you will enjoy, and they can’t be bought. This is not intended to be a “stop and smell the roses” article, however. I personally enjoy looking ahead to the unknowable and unobtainable. But consider whether your object of desire will fulfill your true ambition. Will that newest magic trick make you a better magician? Will that newer cell phone really help you communicate or organize your life better? If so, go for it. But if you have gold sitting at home on your shelf or in a drawer, try dusting it off and letting it shine.

*By the way, consider this before taking up magic as a hobby. If you love watching magic, and don’t plan to perform magic regularly, maybe reconsider. It gets harder and harder to be fooled, and that takes away most of the fun of watching magic.

Another week is drawing to a close, and it has been fun for me. I hope all of you have enjoyed it as well. I wanted to be sort of lazy tonight and not write a well-thought-out piece, so here is some info and news about the future of this site.

1. Podcasts will be coming soon. A couple of years ago, I did a podcast which I also called the MiloCast. I will be re-releasing those files, as well as new ones. The new ones will be audio versions of some of the articles on this site, and maybe little extras as well.

2. Comments no longer require registration. I have had to add a “captcha” tool, but that’s pretty standard and helps avoid spam.

3. If you have enjoyed any of my posts, please tell a couple of your friends. I’d like to see more lively debate in the comments to the posts. Especially now that it’s easier to leave a comment.

4. Where’s the feedback? I haven’t heard any comments from anyone except a few of the people I personally invited to the site. Maybe the blog is too new, but I figure I must have said something that some of you really loved or really hated by now. You can leave comments, or see the “About” page at the top to get my e-mail address.

5. How is everyone liking the frequency of the posts? On the one hand I want to update often so the site doesn’t get boring, and you keep coming back. On the other hand, I like to write original, well-thought-out articles which will remain relevant for longer than the latest Paris Hilton gossip. I’d like to see the discussion threads for some of the posts go on for days or longer; just because I’ve put up newer posts does not mean that I have abandoned the older ones.

Thanks for coming back to view my articles. I can’t wait to see where this blog and community end up in the coming months.

There was a story in the news this week about a preacher in Uganda who has been arrested and accused of using a magic prop to dupe his followers into believing he could perform miracles, and thus was able to collect a huge amount of money in donations. Don’t worry — this blog is still about my original writing, not a rehash of the same stories everywhere else like in other blogs. I bring this up because it led to another phenomenon I see way too often.

I am a member of several magic forums, where magicians discuss ethics and share their opinions and reviews on magic books and favorite magicians. I posted a link to a Reuters story about the Ugandan priest in two of those forums, hoping to start a discussion. On one of the forums, the owner of the site asked us not to get into a religious debate after people began discussing how religious and “spiritual” leaders have used trickery to control people. On the other forum the thread was simply erased from existence.

Now why should that be? Not only on forums where the subject could veer toward “off-topic” status, but we are even taught from an early age to avoid the topic of religion in “polite conversation” at work or in public. People pretend that we do this out of “respect” for the beliefs of others. This is a lie. The real reason the subject is taboo is that it nearly always ends in anger, and practically never ends in agreement. Read any news source, and you’ll find that nearly 100% of the violence taking place on the planet on any given day is over religious differences.

Once again, I believe the question “Why?” is in perfect order. The answer is simple. You simply can not have a reasonable conversation or debate about beliefs which have absolutely no evidence to back them up. Every religion falls into that category. Therefore, people who truly believe those things are incapable of having a normal conversation about those beliefs. They lack a necessary component of reason regarding those topics, which is that you must always be willing to change your mind about anything if the evidence is against your current position.

The sad part is that many of these people are intelligent, educated, and perfectly capable of holding their own in intellectual debates about topics where they have expertise which has come from the study of evidence. It is only in this one area that they refuse to be intellectually honest. If only we know how to get people to treat their religious beliefs like everything else they have ever read or been taught, we might find ourselves in a world of peace.

It seems that a majority of Americans enjoy convincing their children that a fictional character exists who brings presents at Christmas. Even many atheists, who wouldn’t for a moment consider teaching their children about a fictional god. In fact, most of them probably grew up believing the same thing, and don’t consider themselves any worse off for the experience.

I have two strong reasons for disagreeing with this practice. First, it is actively deceiving the child knowing that the story is not true. I brush aside any arguments of “it’s fun for them” as irrelevant. If you wouldn’t tell them that the moon really is made of green cheese or that jelly beans grow on trees, why should this be any different? You are actively encouraging them to believe nonsense, which will teach them to accept as true something for which there is no evidence, instead of thinking skeptically. Do you really want them to accept any stories without question — even from you?

Secondly, selling the Santa story to them encourages greed and a sense of entitlement. If you believe presents come magically at no cost to your parents from a magical man who delivers them with joy, having spent his entire year with no other goal in mind, why shouldn’t you write a long, long list? If your parents needn’t be satisfied with your behavior to earn you a pile of presents, you learn quickly that authority figures can be disregarded without penalty. And don’t think that the sense of entitlement evaporates when they stop believing in Santa.

For these reasons, and simple intellectual honesty, I will not be a party to this deceit, and I would encourage you to give it some thought before you participate in it just because it’s what is considered “normal” in our society.

I was listening to a podcast today and the topic was abortion rights and laws in the United States. During the discussion, the panelist from Planned Parenthood repeatedly referred to the opposition as “anti-choice.” This caught my attention immediately, because it addresses something which has annoyed me for quite a while. The two sides of the debate are pro-abortion rights and anti-abortion rights, not pro-choice and pro-life. By playing games with words, both sides confuse the issue and make it more difficult for the public to understand. Sadly, I believe that this is not unintentional.

Let’s start with the “pro-lifers.” A lot of these people support the death penalty, so we’re obviously dealing with a meaningless term. Secondly, have you ever heard of anyone who was anti-life? The simple fact is that these people are trying to gain support from the ignorant by calling themselves something that no reasonable person could be against on face value. So-called “pro-life” people have murdered doctors who have performed abortions, which should put the entire movement to shame — especially since those murderers are not widely condemned within the anti-abortion-rights movement. Lastly, most of these people, or at least the ones who make themselves heard, are basing their arguments upon religious beliefs. That is wrong and unconstitutional. I have yet to hear any objective, non-emotional reasons why abortion should be outlawed.

Now on to the “pro-choice” crowd. Unlike the beautiful irony of the “pro-lifers” for the death penalty, I don’t have anything really funny to say about the “pro-choice” name. I have never heard of a pro-abortion-rights advocate who was against the right of others to make other choices, nor have I heard any speak out against vegetarianism, SUVs, nudists, or freedom of religion. However, they are guilty of the same thing as the anti-abortion-rights crowd. What person in their right mind is anti-choice?

Why can’t we have a public discussion on a topic without all the spin? Until we do, I’m afraid we’ll continue to go nowhere, or progress will take a lot longer and victimize a lot more people in the meantime by withholding the rational options or promoting the irrational ones to the public. This is a tragedy, considering that so many Americans don’t seem to be able to think skeptically about anything other than reality television.

In this blog I have been exposing some of the principles behind the art of magic. I have not revealed the methods for any magic tricks, but have educated the reader in general methods which they may use to their advantage in daily life. This caused me to think about why magicians’ secrets are so closely guarded, and I believe that many people have a misguided set of beliefs that I would like to address.

First of all, you can forget about any notion of smug superiority because we know things you do not. You may have gotten that impression from the one friend who knows some “bar tricks.” He probably loves doing “impossible” things and inviting you to try, only to laugh when you fail. While they may consider that to be “magic,” I think it’s a puzzle, which is a completely different thing.

In reality, most magic would lose any appeal if you knew how it worked. There’s no such thing as real magic, so “magicians” cheat. But it’s for a good cause. We don’t do it for our own pleasure, we do it for yours. Well, that’s not entirely true. We do it because we enjoy watching you enjoy it. So you see, all magic is altruistic.

Like in the movie “Liar Liar” staring Jim Carrey, life is full of small unpleasant things which are best ignored. Being 100% brutally honest is not virtuous — it’s harsh. I’m not an advocate of lying to children about dogs going to live on farms or — and I’ll get flamed for this one — Santa Claus, but erring on the side of “nice” every now and then makes the world a little more peaceful. Next time you see the opportunity, exaggerate the truth a little to make someone happy. And next time you see a magician, let him fool you; it’s a lot more fun that way.

Thanks to all of you who have been reading my blog. It has been a great first week. Since I sort of dove into this head-first, without much of an introduction, I thought I’d write a quick post to lay out my vision for this site.

My plan is to keep this blog updated daily, at least during weekdays. Podcasts (audio versions of these articles) will be released in the future, probably weekly.

Special thanks to the guys at the Cafe (you know who you are) for your encouragement. Last, but most importantly, my deep gratitude to all the great magicians who have educated and inspired me through their books and lectures. Without them, this blog wouldn’t be worth your time to read, nor mine to write.

I dropped by the magic shop last night, and witnessed an all-too-familiar scene. A young lad of about 12 was visiting the shop with his father, and wanted to get into magic. He was shown a dizzying array of card tricks, coin tricks, and mentalism effects. Each effect suggested for his purchase was a cheap, easy to use prop: a trick deck or something along those lines. I casually asked the kid what kind of magic he was interested in. He replied that he was new, and generally interested in everything. I recommended a single book; an encyclopedic work which would give him not only a foundation in magic, but hundreds of “tricks” he could perform. He left after buying a trick deck of cards and a booklet containing variations on the limited effects possible with the cards.

What bothers me about this experience is that this kid is going to go home and do tricks for his friends and family without a clue about the world of magic. His presentation (such as it is) will more likely than not present a challenge to his spectators, rather than an experience of magic. If the first trick is successful, he must decline doing anything else, because he doesn’t know anything else except maybe another trick or two with the same deck. Should a friend ask to see the deck of cards, he must refuse, without any graceful transition to another miracle which will divert attention from the deck. In short, what we have here is not a magician, but a guy with a trick deck of cards.

I do not worry that this trick deck will become “exposed” to members of the public; it’s already widely known, and yours for the asking and about $5 at any magic shop. I worry that his spectators will see magic as simple trickery, and not as an experience designed to temporarily free your mind from its daily routine and ordinary perception of the world. But even more, I worry that this would-be magician will quickly bore of his trick deck, and dismiss magic as a dumb hobby. All because his tricks do not inspire great reactions. Even worse, his spectators may encounter an experienced magician one day, and dismiss him as soon as they see a deck of cards in his hand, because they have “seen that trick already.”

While I usually try to tie in a magic topic with something relevant to daily life, I have no tie-in today. All I hope to accomplish is to relate the idea that magic is not about tricks. It’s about an experience. As I stated in a recent post, you must develop a relationship with the audience, and then you are free to provide them with an experience they will remember long after they have forgotten the “tricks.”

Nearly everyone has heard about magicians using misdirection to perform their magic. However, this topic is frequently misunderstood by both magicians and laymen. First of all, the term “misdirection” is a misnomer. As the great Tommy Wonder pointed out, you do not misdirect; you direct. If someone points over your shoulder and you look away, then when you look back they’re holding a rabbit, you know something is up. That’s “misdirection.” Direction is when you’re watching the red handkerchief which just appeared out of nowhere, then suddenly realize there is a vase of flowers on the table which was not there a second ago.

Awareness of this concept is important for the average person, because it may help to protect your safety and property. For example: Did you know that pickpockets will often touch you, or have an accomplice touch you, to focus your attention in one place while they steal your valuables from another? When someone bumps into you on the street, they could be working with a guy behind you who is taking your wallet. The concept is used sometimes by carjackers. You’re driving at night in a place where there aren’t a lot of people around. The car behind you at the traffic light bumps your car lightly, and you immediately get out to look at the damage and to see if they have insurance. That’s when they pull a gun and leave you stranded. Now, would you have ever gotten out of your car alone otherwise? Of course not, but the thieves knew how to focus your attention where they wanted it, so you could make their job a lot easier.

Confidence men (con men) will often use emotional manipulation in much the same way. Inspiring greed in a victim makes them easier to scam, because they lower their defenses. I saw a great documentary on cons going on in Las Vegas. One exposed a very clever swindle: A man wanders about in a public place, offering to sell a digital camera for $50. Now obviously, this camera is worth hundreds of dollars. Upon receiving this offer, you are likely to assume it is stolen. If you let your greed overcome your concern for the victim, the shifty salesman places the camera into a box, and the box into a bag, and hands you the bag. Before you can open the box, he is nowhere to be found. Why? Because he switched the bag for one with a rock inside of an identical box.

The point is, a little “inside knowledge” will cause you to see the world in a whole new light. All magicians know this. My goal is to spread these principles a little further, changing the way more people think, so we can all make better-informed decisions about what we believe and do.