Hello all. Having lurked here for a while, and after reading the wonderful message "to lurkers" ... I decided it was only polite to "join".

My name is Brian Davis, and my primary job is ... I guess you could say 'teacher'. I teach physics, astronomy, biophysics, and similar subjects at a local university. I'm also a parent of three (one in college now), which keeps me busy. And happy.

I did not actually dabble in magic as a kid; I became interested a number of years ago on a cruise ship, when in a little "teaching demo" a magician (I wish I remembered who) demonstrated a number of tricks, and I learned PN (although I didn't know the name at the time). I was taken by this, and have had a blast for many years practicing it, and pulling it out on cruise ships, trips, in line at theme parks… wherever I thought it might entertain someone (often but not always kids). Simple, fun, adaptable ... uses common items, and can be perfumed close-up, surrounded, or to larger groups. And, there I stayed, for several years ...

Earlier this year, I had the good fortune to watch Shawn Farquhar aboard a Disney cruise, and was entranced ... the magic was great, but the *performance* was amazing. He performed "Shape of My Heart" and "Unwritten", and I loved the way both of them were assembled and performed. I was bitten by the bug, again. Later on a different cruise I met Charles Bach, who also did a "teach-in" onboard, and was great in a different way ... open and accepting, not just teaching the trick, but communicating (to those that listened) some of the physiology behind the performance. I actually bought his CD, and explained that I had only done the "three different sized ropes into the same length" trick before. He *immediately* named it, and said with great enthusiasm ... "can I see it?". I explained that I had actually given away the ropes I had to a served on-board, because they wanted to try it ... and less than 2 hours later, a new set of PN ropes were in my stateroom. with a card. That I'm going to keep.

PN had hooked me on the nifty tricks; Shawn Farquhar had hooked me on the art of performance; and Charles Bach had hooked me on magicians as peers and friends.

After watching Charles' DVD, I noticed he recommended Mark Wilson's Complete Course In Magic, so I selected that and have started working in it (not through it ... there are certainly some things I have a preference to over others). Trying to figure out what ropes to use for the best PN lead my to the Youtube videos of Whit "Pop" Haydn, and although I have *no* business trying things at that level I ended up buying four of his booklets… mostly because I wanted to learn the Mongolian Pop Knot (and as a pleasant surprise, I discovered I had already puzzled out some of it before seeing it). But the one I probably have learned the most from there is learning not new tricks, but *why* a performance has impact, how to contrast it to hang together and engage an audience (as a teacher especially I find that subject important). I've been reading here in the Café Dick Oslund on some of the same topics (& many others) ... it has been informative and thought-provoking to say the least.

As to "why" ... do I need a reason? I learned to juggle (a very little) in graduate school because working with my brain all day on quantum physics, I needed something different to do… and juggling, rock climbing, cave exploring, all were partially outlets for that. Magic is, at this point, the same ... it's different, and allows me to grow in new and unexpected directions. I'm not aiming at starting a business ... not at making a single dime. But I love entertaining people at random at football games, in lines, etc. Watching the thrill of discovery or delight in someone's eyes is one of the reasons I became a teacher ... and it seem to be the same with simple magic.

I'm learning because it's fun, and I think it's important to learn new things. And I'm performing because it's a delight.

I do tend towards at this point the lowest bar on props ... I want to be able to walk around with it in my pocket. A deck of cards is good, and I'm (slowly) learning to manipulate a deck (this comes from a guy who was never able to do a simple shuffle as a kid), but I still tend towards ropes. I've thought about getting Fibre Optics ... but until I've mastered what's in Complete Course, and Mongolian Pop-Knot, and a little $2.95 "42 Amazing Tricks & Stunts with Rope" booklet I lucked into… why develop more tricks, when I don't yet have the performance mastered?

I also think Whit's argument against originality in magic is a reasonable one. But I'm a physicist; we *like* trying new things and learning, just for the shear joy of learning. I worked out a simple way to take the PN and at the finish end with three ropes all the same length, to hand out, and developed it to have the spectator do the magic… and it was *great* seeing my family (who had seen PN way too many times by now) suddenly be shocked all over again at what had happened.

OK, that's enough ... too much, probably. But, I figured back-story was about the only thing I could contribute at the moment ... so I thought I'd get it out. Thank you all for creating a very wonderful welcoming space, that is notably free of most drama, and *also* free of "spoilers" ... that's a rare combination on the internet nowadays, and I hope I can contribute.

Welcome! Thank you for sharing your story. I'm sure you'll have a lot to contribute to this community.

Welcome Brian Davis,

I enjoyed your back story and I like your attitude (and your role models).

I like it when a post makes clear that anyone of us can be an inspiration to someone to start in Magic. I hope we all take it to heart and rise to the challenge.

I look forward to your input.

-Mary Mowder

So good to welcome another man of science to the Magic Café!

Absolutely amazing introduction, thanks for joining us here on TMC and sharing your story.



Dave

Welcome Brian Davis! Very nice introduction. I am also a physicist (currently a postdoc). I joined the Café recently. Great to see a fellow physicist here.

Welcome to the Café Brian and thanks for sharing this excellent story!

Brian,

Welcome to the Café. I enjoy science but am an engineer, not a teacher. I think you could couple magic with your teaching and have the students attention, while learning at the same time. There is Science of Magic section in this forum and that would be a good start. And since you already have PN down and working on Pop's Pop Knot, maybe you could talk about "string theory". LOL

One of our ring members taught Chemistry and would give a Chemical Magic show every year. Students would look forward to it...
Again, welcome!

Hi Brian,
Welcome to the Café. Thanks for the interesting story. As a chemistry teacher I have a lot in common but the prop I always carried was a tt with a red silk. Amazing the unexpected situations in which I could bring it into play.
I used PN for years in shows, but moved to fibre optics which I highly recommend - it uses exactly the same props but more eye-popping moves.

Richard

Brian,
I was a contract instructor for Penn State and taught Electrical Engineering. My classes always enjoyed the occasional trick. Never an electronic trick, rather just the old fashioned kind. It doesn't have to be related to the day's topic. But it does put you on a good basis with your students.
Woody

Hello Brian!

Somehow I missed your first post last October. I "stumbled" on it yesterday. Your OP caught my attention, --and, KEPT IT!

Thank you for your kind words about my scribblings!