Magic is psychology. If you are perpetually successful at genuinely fooling people with your magic performances, you are a psychologist. I do not mean successful monetarily; I mean successful magically. In other words, if you find it easy to trick the human brain, you either have a sound fundamental understanding of the science of the mind, including mental states and processes, or you are just very lucky.

Over the years, I have played hundreds of thousands of games of poker, backgammon, cribbage and pool. Many times, I have lost a game to an opponent after having a huge advantage, only to have him find extreme fortune with an incredibly timely “one-out river card”, a highly improbable series of dice rolls, consecutive monster cribs, or a miscue resulting in a lucky drop. I remember hearing some of these opponents use the phrase, “I’d rather be lucky than good!”

My favorite definition of Luck is this:
Where preparation meets opportunity.
Without preparation, there is no Luck. Without opportunity, there is no Luck. Luck is where they coincide.

When playing games, it is always nice to get lucky occasionally. However, luck is not something on which one can rely and be consistently successful. For that, it takes being Good.

Magic is not a game. Luck should play no part in magic. A successful performance demands a Good performer, and a Good performer must have a firm grasp on the psychology of magic.

The most important psychological concepts in successful magic are the roles of the conscious and subconscious minds.

Your conscious mind is the part of your brain that is actively processing the inputs from your five senses, and desperately trying to make sense of it all. This is the part of your spectator’s brain that is concentrating on remembering their selected card, calculating how many coins should be in your hand, holding the end of a rope while you cut it in half, squeezing their fist tightly so the ball can’t escape, etc.

Your subconscious mind is the part of your brain that is assessing the big picture. This is the part of your spectator’s brain that is processing things such as your body language, tone of voice, nervousness, confidence, assertiveness, tension and naturalness, as well as rudimentary logic.

The subconscious mind is not unlike the security software on a computer that runs in the background to protect the system and user from potential evils. While you are surfing the internet, downloading files, checking your e-mail and paying your bills online, you are not consciously aware of the processes your computer’s security programs are going through in order to protect your system, your data and your identity. Likewise, your subconscious processes are running around the clock, without your knowledge or ability to control.

The subconscious mind is acutely aware of what is going on around it, and is highly efficient at detecting anomalies. However, it often fails at actually identifying the anomalies.

Most magicians will admit that they have experienced the following scenario:
You are in the middle of a trick which is progressing very smoothly. The spectator seems to be completely fooled and unsuspicious. Then, without warning or explanation, the spectator jumps to the edge of his seat, his eyes open wide, and he begins “burning” your hands with the heat of the sun. He instantly becomes suspicious, untrusting, uncooperative, skeptical, and maybe even combative. Where did this come from? What triggered this?

What triggered it was this:
Something that you did or said during your performance attracted the attention of their subconscious mind, initiating a series of mental processes resulting in a more careful conscious inspection of your actions. Essentially, the subconscious mind has detected a potential “security breach”, and has ordered the conscious mind to identify it.

Here is a simple example:
You have learned a sponge-ball routine and you are certain you are ready to perform it. You have rehearsed your false transfer dozens of times in front of a mirror. As far as you are concerned, it is flawless. But, when you perform the routine, your spectator is not fooled at all by the move. Why weren’t they fooled when it looks so good in the mirror?

Sometimes we focus too much on fooling the conscious mind, and not enough on fooling the subconscious mind. In order to trick the human brain, and convince it that it has witnessed the impossible, we must fool the conscious mind. However, fooling the conscious mind becomes so much easier when we concentrate on fooling the subconscious.

Take another look at that false transfer in the mirror. Forget about angles for a moment. Forget about flashing the ball. Assess the move with your subconscious mind. Does it look natural? Does it look smooth and simple. Are there no suspicious pauses or awkward hand positions?

Try approaching the problem this way:
Pick up the sponge ball and simply place it into your other hand. Watch yourself do this in the mirror. Do it again, and again, and again. Do you see how natural that looks? Of course, it looks natural because you are really doing it!

Now, get your false transfer to look as similar as possible to the actual transfer. If your false transfer looks as natural and legitimate as your actual transfer, their subconscious mind will remain relaxed, unsuspicious and appeased, and will have no reason to alert their conscious mind to raise its level of attention.

Fooling the subconscious is indeed the key to successful magic.

I believe that the two most important factors in fooling the subconscious are:
1. Every motion must look natural
2. There must be a logical reason behind every action

Just as unnaturalness will trigger a suspicious subconscious response, so will illogical actions.
If the subconscious detects no logical reason for one of your actions, that action becomes suspect, and the consciousness is put on alert. It is as if the subconscious mind is tapping the conscious mind on the shoulder, and saying, “Hey consciousness, I can’t tell you exactly what is wrong here, but something just doesn’t seem right.”

That mental shoulder-tap is what moves the spectator to the edge of his seat. And that is precisely what we magicians must try to avoid.

I suggest that we all take another look at the magic we perform. Analyze every action…every word. Is there anything there that might disturb the subconscious? Are the two important factors above obeyed?

Just a minimal change in the way something is presented can have a tremendous effect on the end result.

I am sure that you will find, as I have found, that magic is so much more fun, rewarding and inspiring when your spectators are relaxed, cooperative, truly interested, completely fooled, and genuinely appreciative of the magical experience.

Well, that’s my two-cents worth. What are your thoughts on the role of the subconscious mind in magic?

Whoa - you must use JUMBO pennies!

Danny,
Good one!
Brett

Brett..Great Post!

My Conscious Mind thanks you..My Sub-Conscious mind thanks you..and I thank you.

Rich

Brett,

This is an excellant post my friend. Thank you for writing that!

Best.
Steve

Luck is probability coming through....

Just food for thought. This IS a Café, after all!
Brett

All good stuff here.... no arguments. some add notes to the discussion are this.

Most magicians are lousy mimes. the art of mime is to create an alternative reality parallel to a normal one.

EXAMPLE: I do a bubble trick with a balloon where the bubble of air is pulled off and place back on the un-inflated balloon. During the act I pull off the bubble and look into my hand at the pretend bubble, then I offer a view to the closest spectator. You know nobody has ever said there isn't anything there!!! because my belief is so real to them at the time frame.

things to believe while performing:
• I really didn't find your card. How does your face look when you can't find your keys?

• I am reading your mind. Mental energy would bun some calories (saw this on the science channel) Sweat it out a bit.

• It flies from here to there. Trace a line with your finger in the air.

• Did you feel that? There are several ways to creep people on this aspect of magic. Mentally shutter, use of a device like electric touch, use strange textile object (super soft sponge dampened), touching the spectator with a cold hand or finger (held on a glass for a second or two).

Anyone else?

Mark,
I appreciate all your comments. Soliciting other people's thoughts on this topic was my intent.

However, I'm afraid that the length of my post (my JUMBO pennies...thanks Danny) may have sent many readers running screaming.

Your insight on "luck" was well received. I'm sure most magicians can remember scenarios where we were able to take advantage of incredible, yet unexpected, good fortune during a performance.

So, I will concede that luck can play a role in magic. But, not a large role, nor a reliable role. Remember, I wrote, "...luck is not something on which one can rely and be consistently successful".

You can hand someone a deck of cards and have them shuffle them thoroughly. Have them name any card in the deck out loud. Now, have them deal the cards into a face-down stack on the table. Instruct them to stop dealing at any time they so desire, and turn the very next card face-up onto the table.

Statistically, they will turn over their announced card 1 out of 52 trials (assuming the jokers have been removed). When it happens, is it luck? No. It's glorious, but it's not luck. It's manifested probability.

My point is that you can not count on that sort of thing happening consistently. You must have a "plan B" ready just in case. "Luck" happens when you have developed a "plan A".

In other words, without having prepared for the inevitable opportunity, what could have been "luck" will instead be a potential miracle that never happened.

Excellent guidance on "things to believe while performing"!!

Thank you very much for your response!

Brett

Brad, you are absolutely right about the mime stuff. One good thing about being around in the seventies was mime was so big a lot of us trained in it and believe me, as messed up as mimes are, the stuff is very valuable to the magicians.

Brett, you need to relax.

Hello MagicSanta!
I agree with you and Brad on the value of miming.
However, I don't understand your comment about me needing to relax. Please explain.
Thank you,
Brett

You are trying to over think that which is basic. In Georgia we use to say if you can't dazzle 'em with brilliance baffle'em with BS. Not that what you are saying is BS but you are taking an aweful long road to go a short distance. So relax, it isn't rocket science, it is magic.

If you have a deck of cards you have a one in 52 chance of turning over any card. If you then shuffle the deck you again have a 1 in 52 chance. It doesn't mean you will turn over a specific card 1 in 52 times. Since each time you do it the previous turns don't have any impact on the present choice. Based on your logic if trying to blindly pick four aces with each ace being picked your odds increase because there are less cards in the pool.

The subconcious mind that as magicians we want to 'trick' is done with subtle methods. For example if you go out of your way during an oil and water routine, mine for example, to show a card is a black card the spectator will make a concious thought of 'well, if he showed me that card and it was black it was because he knew it, so why didn't he show me the next card?'. So to get across that the card is black without triggering that thought I reach up and push my glasses on my nose and during that action I can see the spectator seeing the card. What then happens is they subconcious mind registers it but it only can help your routine when it enters the concious mind, so the spec now thinks later "hmmm....when he reached his glasses he didn't know I saw it but that card was black so all those cards were black, how the heck did they turn red?". Another example is in Raj Madhoks Open Perception when a card is noted by the specs because it is there but its presence, never called to their attention, is the key to the effects success. Why? Because it rises to the concious mind.

Magic isn't based on luck nor probability, mentalism to an extent is, but magic if done right doesn't leave a door open. You know what card they picked or you know how to find out what card they fixed and the only time you miss is if you screw it up.

I'm glad you like naturalness, I thought it was a good idea when Vernon said it. Do note I am prepared for you to take this whole thing wrong. By the way, is Ricky G's still around in Charleston?

MagicSanta,
Sorry, I'm not familiar with Ricky G's.

You are right...I do over-think things. That's just the way my brain works (hyperanalytical). I believe my magic benefits from this way of thinking, since I assess every minute detail of my performances (every action, every word).

I was a nuclear physicist for 19 years before going full-time pro. That sort of career tends to foster an analytical approach to even artistic endeavors.

In the future, I will try to prevent my over-analysis from creeping its way into my Magic Café postings. I'm new to this forum and didn't realize that brevity was essential.

I didn't take what you wrote "wrong". I appreciate everyone's comments. I really enjoy this forum!

I hope everyone is having a good day. I'm off to an interview. I'll be checking back in soon.

Brett

Wonderful Post, I couldn't agree with you more.
-Dilanyan, Hayk

My father was (now retired) a nuclear physicist and also an engineer (his first degree was in geology of all things) but he had the ability to communicate clearly and without the negativity that goes with physicist and engineers, who we all know tend to be lost souls.

Just remember, if someone asks the question at a spring fed creek "hows the water?" they don't care about the lack of volcanic fissures and the poor heat retention of water, they just want to know if it is cold or not.

Now, Mr. Nuke, go and look at your 52 card idea.Brevity isn't neccessary, but it helps at times not to bury good ideas. Give my regards to Charleston, been awhile since I've been there

Ahhh but you can have someone shuffle a deck of cards and name two cards say a 2 and a Jack, ribbon spread the cards and 95% of the time have those two cards will be next to each other in the deck. The other 5% there will only be one card between them.

World's Easiest trick Ellusionist DVD.


BTW it is BAD not Brad, Actually it is MARK. Come on Santa haven't I been a good enough boy?

I think the biggest thing for a magician to realize is what is LUCK and how to recognize it. Much of our story line of magic is supposed to be based on luck or something real close to it.

How does lucky look? How do you react to luck? What should look like in the real world?

But Brad is such a tough guy name.... I know you are Mark but the name Brett tossed me into a BR mode.

95% of the time a deck of card when spread will have a jack next to a two and five percent of the time there will only be one card between them? So 100% of the time a jack and a two are with in a card of each other? That is nonsense not statistics. If perfectly spread from first position the range of cards would be 16 cards thus leaving the majority of spaces open. There is the idea that two like cards will be next to each other in a spread in most cases but it becomes different if you call the cards as you did. It is the same as the idea if you have a room with thirty people that the likelyhood that two of the people will have the same birthday is very high. If you point to a person and say that individual will share a birthday with one of the thirty the odds collapse. Statistics have purpose but they usually have to be based on facts. I don't remember everything about them but thank goodness I remembered enough to pass a test yesterday for a job (now I have to see if I am accepted to go in front of a management board) on breaking down statistics.

Bad,
Now you are going to make me do some research...lol. That trick, I believe, has been around much longer than Elusionist. It is remarkable how high the percentage is. First time someone showed me that....I couldn't believe it...it happened 12 times in a row. Thanks for reminding me of that. I'm looking at myself in the mirror, cuz I just had luck that you reminded me of that trick...lol
hhmmm....looking lucky looks weird...or maybe it's just me.

Patrick

Very high percentage but 100 percent?

Interesting stuff here. This ought to be moved to the Food For Thought section.