"The tale of effect" was a literary term used to describe gothic or horror stories in the first half of the nineteenth century. "Effect" meant the total impression or emotion imparted by the story. Edgar Allan Poe claimed that the primary objective or purpose of a story is to achieve a unified effect. The effect might be horror, mystery, beauty, or whatever--but once decided upon, everything in the story should work toward this controlling purpose. Poe wrote:

"A skillful literary artist has constructed a tale. If wise, he has not fashioned his thought to accommodate his incidents; but having conceived, with deliberate care, a certain unique or single effect to be wrought out, he then invents such incidents--he then combines such events as may best aid him in establishing his preconceived effect. If his very initial sentence tend not to be outbringing of this effect, then he has failed in his first step. In the whole composition there should be no word written, of which the tendency, direct or indirect, is not to the one pre-established design. And by such means, with such care and skill, a picture is at length painted which leaves in the mind of him who contemplates it with a kindred art, a sense of the fullest satisfaction."

(See entry for "effect" in Harmon's _Handbook to Literature_.)

Poe's artistic theory could be applied to creating magic routines, acts, and shows!

Very interesting. Thank You, Alan, for this different angle and prestigious recommendation.

Excellent food for thought.

Well, yeah, but that sounds like a lot of WORK!


;)

There is an interesting thread in Food For Thought called "Guinn on patter" that encourages us to do this "lot of work" for that's where "real magic" is hidden.

:)

That approach presumes access to an ideal reader.

Liquor is still quicker

Strong Magic on cocaine.

I don't think an ideal reader would be necessary. If done right, a simple person would feel the intensity as it blazed over their heads.

Jonathan may be alluding to the untimely and alchoholic death of Edgar Allan Poe.

(Someone famous once accused Poe of being 1/5 genius and 4/5 fudge.)

I believe Josh is right, though. Even as children we were able to enjoy hearing father read "The Raven" on Christmas Eve as he sipped on his spiked eggnog.

I do think it's easier to compare creating magic shows to writing ghost stories than to compare it to some other art forms.

And please remember that routining is even important as regards drinking:

Liquor before beer--never fear.
Beer before liquor--never sicker.

5 Let each magical act represent a complete, distinct, and separate entity; compromising of nothing beyond one continous chain of essential details, leading to one definite effect.

6 Let every accessory and incidental detail be kept well "within the picture," and in harmony with the generay impression which is intended to be conveyed.

7 Let nothing occur without an apparently substantial cause, and let every potential cause produce some apparently consequent effect.

From Masklyne's 24 rules

Don’t them rules cover it?

lol... yes! If we just tried and use the "Our Magic" rules as a template, the other problems would be gone.

Well... mostly anyway. Keep in mind that those rules were written with the stage performer in mind. While many of them carry over, some don't fare as well for the close up performer, and there are things about close up and strolling that simply aren't addressed in Our Magic. Still, it is most definitely one of the handful of all-time greatest magic text, and worthy of study by every serious student of magic.

That's very true. I was sadly being very myopic in my thinking. I do tend to view them in relation to a stage performance as that is the thrust of my teaching and performance applications.

Farmer, Bob. The Looking Glass, N° 1 February 1996 by Richard Kaufman; p. 26, Stealing the Hotel Tao. The script is inspired by Miami Vice, with the Kings illustrating 4 kilos of cocaine and the Queens being two dealers. This is a neat version of the Hotel Trick which could also show two dealers (two jacks) working on two schoolboys each (four small cards) but the dealers being isolated for arrest and the four boys saved by magic.

Yes. We should use subplots, multiple characters, counterpoint, texture, variety, and surprise very carefully and within a unified design.

I'm not sure how Maskelyn is using the terms "act" and "effect" here. I'll have to go look again.