I’ve loved magic since I was a little kid — In fact, I still have some of the magic-show-in-a-box sets that my aunt Val gave me when I was growing up — and I always wanted to be a member at the Magic Castle, but I couldn’t, because I wasn’t a real magician. Recently, though, the Castle changed its rules, and started allowing a select number of non-magicians to join as associate members … and I was allowed to join! So now I can go and watch magic whenever I want, which is awesome.
Last Friday, Anne and I went on a double date with Chris Hardwick and his girlfriend, Lydia, to the Magic Castle. We had a nice dinner, and then we spent the evening watching magic shows, including a mind-blowing closeup show that we saw from the front row.
While we were sitting in one of the shows, laughing and gasping and marveling at the magician on the stage, I realized that the real power of magic, and the reason that I still love it now, at 42, as much as I loved it at 8 and 10 and even into my surly teens, is that when we get to watch a magician perform, we can feel the same sort of wonder and delight and joy that we felt the first time we saw magic when we were kids.
I think I’m going to dig out my books on sleight of hand (for you fellow magic enthusiasts out there, it may please you to know that I still have my original copies of Now You See It, Now You Don’t) and see if I can rediscover some of the skills I once had. Maybe I’ll take some classes at the Castle, too, when I have time.
Ah, time. If I were a real magician, I’d wave my magic wand and create more time for myself. That’s a trick worth learning.
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Say hello to Bonnie Gordon, keeper of bookcases and bringer of spirits, next time you’re at the castle. She’s an absolute sweetheart!
Ditto, she is quite the amazement.
I find close up magic to be the best. I can usually make up a “how” for the big stuff, but when you’re sitting there, right with the magician, maybe even with the magician’s hands ON you, it’s impossible (for me) to figure out. I got to go to The Magic Castle on a tour a million years ago and it was amazing. I’m so jealous and happy for you that you get to go whenever you want.
Wil, I feel the same way. I used to be way in to magic when I was younger. Now I’m an ‘adult’ with a desk job…
One of my pride and joys is my copy of Tricks You Can Do by Howard Thurston.
I’ve always been into magic too. I bought Bobo’s Modern Coin Magic years ago and working on learning all of the slights. I can still do seven or eight coin vanishes. I think I may have showed you my best one years ago.
Those books we had as kids are crap though. I’m now convinced that becoming good at magic requires study of the psychology of misdirection.
If you want magic extra time there are things you can practice to have more lucid dreams. I am a harried mom with 3 little ones at home and I don’t even feel like I have time to think. I listened to “Dream Yoga” and the practices worked for me. I am not looking for enlightenment just time to myself.
It does take practice but I have had lucid dreams and I can go for a run on my own private beach or float in a pool or even fly through the sky. For my next trick I am going to walk through walls.
When I first started I would realize I was dreaming then immediately wake up because I thought no one was taking care of my kids but I got better at staying in the dream.
I just had to share my two cents worth. I hope it can help.
Wil, congrats on getting your membership to Magic Castle! Turns out going there often isn’t just fun – it’s actually good for you. 🙂
A number of people are studying the connection to awe and happiness and it looks like experiencing awe not only increases our overall well being but also seems to give us the sense that we have more time.
http://greatergood.berkeley.edu/article/item/can_awe_buy_you_more_time_and_happiness
Just some psychology-nerd info for you. 🙂
Welcome to the club!
Thanks to this, I’m now taking my kids to see Penn & Teller this winter. (They already have books on magic and sleight of hand.)
Earlier today the phrase “Now you see it, now you don’t” came randomly to my mind, and now I read this post!
I hate magic (sorry) because I can’t find out how they do the tricks. The Masked Magician was my hero.
Sil, there are many folks out there like you, who see magic as a challenge…you v. the magician. I tell the people for whom I perform that if it’s a challenge, I’m going to win 95% of the time, ’cause I have the advantage of knowing what’s going on and what I’m doing, and I can use that knowledge against you.
However, if you’ll allow yourself to suspend your disbelief, if only for a few moments, I think you’ll get a sense of what magic can be about. For me, as a passionate hobbyist, it’s about sharing with others the “moment of wonder” I feel when I see an effect that blows me away, either through the simplicity of the magic or the unbelievable “this cannot be” moment. For me, that comes through the simplicity of close-up, sleight-of-hand with cards, and occasionally coins. (And no, I don’t say, “Take a card, any card.” You’re welcome.)
Magic shouldn’t be a challenge. Magic should and can be a way to simply have fun, and to restore that sense of wonder we may have felt as a kid. Please give it a try.
I was heart broken when I missed the chance to attend the ‘Young Harry Houdini’ screening and Q&A you did at the Castle. I’ll keep my fingers crossed in hopes there will be a “next time”. Anyway, welcome to the club!
Welcome to the club Wil! Hope to see you there someday!
Welcome to the club. Being an Associate member is great but audition to be a magician member. It opens up all the Magic Castle has to offer.
I sometimes watch magic on TV as they are taking people’s watches wtihout them noticing and I always thought I would notice – until it happened to me. I have no idea how he did it as I have quite a hard time getting it off myself, the strap is quite stiff so pushing it out of the buckle is quite hard and impossible without wriggling the strap. I was dumbfounded.
Watch it, though, if you get any good with cards, players on Tabletop will accuse you of cheating. 😉
No matter what anyone says, putting skill points in “Sleight of Hand” in later levels is never a bad thing.
Hope to see some Wil Wheaton magic at future cons!
I’m a magic lover, too. I got to see Harry Blackstone live almost 40 years ago, and I’ve been hooked ever since. My personal favorites to perform were always card tricks, because they’re so f2f & personal.
Sounds like you guys had a great night. This is cool, magic!! Yes sir let us see the magic lol and the bloopers .. hehe .. have a great evening .. 🙂
Thank you for the hat tip to the AMA, Wil. I’ve been a member for more than a decade and you’ve picked an awesome time to join us. And thank you also for delivering on one of your finest reading performances in Ernie Cline’s “Armada”. I didn’t think you could top “Ready Player One” but you did. Hope everyone picks this new audiobook up. https://mobile.audible.com/productDetail.htm;jsessionid=2FB3B34D4299869BADEAAB57528CE003?asin=B00VN0Q8XY
Wow – you are 42! Everyone here knows now that YOU are the answer to life, the universe, and everything! Just kidding – saw the age statement and played with it a bit.
I, too, like magic but have always hated it when on TV, the camera cuts at a crucial point and can only think, did the director cut to make an interesting show or did they just now play us all?
My grandsons love it when I make something disappear and then pull it out of their ears. The key to magic is – distraction. Look how the guvment distracts us all from what they are doing in the background.
Ok, I’ll quit now. Thanks for sharing with us!
Wow. I literally just picked magic back up a few days ago, after not doing anything with it for years. Be warned, the rust—and the struggle—is real. My hands remembered NOTHING.
Will sooo happy to hear you are a magic enthusiasts. Hit me up if I can be any help. I am one of the creators of magic effects in the art of magic. [email protected]
http://www.justinmillermagic.com is my web site where I sell visual and powerful magic to students of the art all over this world.
JM
Welcome to the family! You know there are classes at the Castle, and you’ll work with really good people and brush up your skills. Give it a shot!
And yeah, Bonnie is awesome!
Scott Jenkins
Does Wil ever read comments? He’s awesome.
Also, it’s cool he got into the Magic Castle, I can’t even get into White Castle.
So envious! You have to be invited to go there. Glad you and company had a good time, relaxation (non-performing) should always be part of your routine.
You’ve probably already seen this clip, but if you haven’t and you like close up magic, ya gotta watch it https://youtu.be/M900KzbIFtk
This one as well.
I agree magic is really cool, but that feeling you get when you see the tricks and can’t figure out they’re done – especially with close-up magic- is they same wonder some of us feel when we watch talented pros playing the sportsball.
I can watch old NFL Films specials of Walter Payton and just marvel at his abilities. I have run with a football while my friends try to tackle me, and it was nothing like what Sweetness could do.
And the wonder I feel about how he was able to do those things is the same thing i feel when a magician makes a coin disappear even though i am holding it in my hand
When you say “saw a show from the front row,” I can’t help picturing Sheldon Cooper, standing just outside the door after hearing that the show is sold out, and screaming “WHHHEEEAAATTTTOOONN!!”
Yeah, I know – fiction vs. reality. Still, it made me smile…
Also: the “Magic Castle” sounds cool. Is there such a thing in or around New York?
Brian, nothing dedicated like the Castle. However, Monday Night Magic is a regular fixture, and guys like Steve Cohen and Dan White perform regularly in upscale venues.
Wil—who did you see? A little love for the magician will go a long way.
Thank you for the positive details of your continuing experience with magic, Will.
It will, no doubt, be with you in some pleasant manner for the rest of your long life.
I’ve been at this game for 42 years, man and boy, and still cannot wait to get back to the Castle every evening, to perform, to socialize with like minded (and self admitted) magic nerds, to learn, and, just as importantly, to teach, in continuation of the artistic cycle.
I will be one of the instructors at the Castle’s ‘Magic University’ beginning after Labor Day, and I also teach private lessons, one on one, if you ever feel the need.
Best, always, all ways,
Phil Van Tee (A. K. A. ‘El Ropo’)
P. S. you will absolutely LOVE being a ‘magician member’, if only for access to the lectures and to the world’s finest and most accessible magic library.
I remember seeing the Magic Castle on some television shows way back and thought it would be an awesome place to experience. I hope to hear more of your experiences.
One question I am confronted with: are you really Benjamin Button? You have mentioned your age a couple of times, but I could swear that you started at 44, then 43, and now 42. Have you found the secret Fountain of Youth? Or are you now initiated into the secrets of Merlin?
Welcome! As a fan of yours and a fan of magic, it was certainly a delight to see you and your wife in the Castle newsletter as new members.
PS – If it wasn’t for that pesky “being busy with life” thing, I’m sure more than enough fellow magicians would be willing to help you unlock “Magician Status”.