Optical illusions are not magic.... by themselves. If you think they are you need glasses.

I'm sorry to be the one to disillusion Mr. Homer, but the vast majority of what one reads on The Magic Café is not magic either. It (including optical illusions) is no more than trickery, visual or otherwise.

But don't tell anyone.

... Doug

AMEN Doug!!!

Optical illusions can certainly AID magical illusions.
Years ago I designed a Doll's House which used a forced perspective interior to make the space within appear to be deeper than it was. Later I used a more sophisticated version of this in an illusion to produce a horse.
And, aren't many mirror illusions really optical in nature? And don't they create the illusion of a magical effect happening?
Dennis Loomis

If optical illusion aren't magic, they should be.
Try doing most of the large "tricks" without the use of optical illusion.

MagicRMA

Winslow,

By itself, a folding coin is not magic. Neither is a deck of cards or any other prop we use.

What turns props/illusions etc... into magic that entertains an audience is the magician.

James.

The Black Art Principles are not magic themselves either!
Still they have been used over and over to this day in the best Illusions we know.

Optical Illusions can be presented in a very magical way.

Think of this, you may know the fork or pen that looks like made of rubber if you wave it the right way.
I do it, some people might even recognize or remember the trick, but I tell them that they didn't look close enough and bend the pen one time for 90 degrees with both hands!
Sleight of hand, both simple stunts, but the combination makes a powerful piece altogether, so don't dismiss phenomenal elements too easy as part of a magic show.

Hope this gave a different angle,
Mandrake

I agree with you.

I also need glasses.

We usually disband this formality in colloquial speech. Imagine the following conversation:


Bill: Have you learned any new magic?

Steve: Yes, I learned “Twisting The Aces” yesterday.

Bill: That is not magic, that is a means to an end.

Steve: Excuse me?

Bill: You can’t learn a trick and call it magic. Magic is either supernatural means or power, OR the art of producing illusions by sleight of hand. I looked it up in the Merriam-Webster dictionary.

Steve: Learning this trick IS learning part of the art of sleight of hand.

Bill: No, a trick is just sleight of hand.

Steve: A trick doesn’t have to be sleight of hand.

Bill: According to the dictionary, all magic tricks are sleight of hand! Sleight of hand refers to a conjuring trick requiring manual dexterity or a cleverly executed trick or deception or alternatively, it refers to skill and dexterity in conjuring tricks or adroitness in deception. None of these are actually magic. That’s why we call them magic tricks.

Steve: Huh, you’re saying that they’re magic tricks, but they’re not magic!

Bill: Yes, that’s right.

Steve: OK, but you said that one of the definitions of magic is the art of producing illusions by sleight of hand. I AM learning the art of sleight of hand.

Bill: Ok, then that IS magic, but the trick you are learning isn’t magic!

Steve: Go away! You are way too literal for me.

Bill: Actually, calling me literal isn’t strictly correct either, I take liberties with …

At this point, Steve puts on headphones and turns on loud music.


My point is NOT that your post is being too literal, I'm glad you posted this topic. I learned something from looking the word, "magic", and the phrase "sleight of hand" up in the dictionary.

Bill, heck of a post - I too learned something. If you perform magic long enough you start to have conversations with yourself. Ha ha - seriously great points!

Bill,

I agree with you about the routines having less connection with the 'magic' than most folks would like to believe.

The moves and routines are good learning tools, lessons and reminders of how magic works for people. In and of themselves they are little more than trite rituals burdened with artifacts and behavior from other ages. It usually suffices as a "bridge of *sses" that to make the magic work, the student has to step outside the routine as presented to include some personal and current context.

Way to go dude!!

The very best Optical Illusion I've ever seen was the Needle Through "Inflated" Balloon.

It actually looks like it penetrates the latex without causing the contents to burst. You see the needle in the balloon. It is removed without damage to the balloon. The balloon is then burst to prove it is a real balloon.

It looks soooo real!!!
That's very Magical to me.

You sure it was an Illusion? (Yes, I'm serious!)

/Matias

What else could look so Magical except something that is exactly what it appears to be. "What you see is what you get."

It's really happening right before their very eyes. No trickery, (O.K. very little.) just excellent uses of scientific principles.

The balloon is blown up. Everything normal.
A large (not so normal) sharp needle is examined.
A little lubricant is secreted into the equation.
The needle is pushed right through the balloon, sometimes even while threaded.
The balloon seems to be unaffected even though you could clearly see the needle inside the balloon (Because you use clear balloons).
Then to prove the balloon is normal, you toss it up and burst it with the same needle.

Can you get any more real? The illusion is that you must have "done something". Just like when you wave your wand, it gives them a sense of MAGIC happening right then. It’s the ILLUSION OF A MYSTICAL POWER.

Sure it's a trick, but it's a good illusion, of an illusion.

Yours respectfully and I’m thoroughly enjoying myself.

It's not an optical illusion. It's a physical trick.

Hideo Kato

Yes it is a physical "effect". But the events are not exactly as they appear.
It couldn't be performed without a little Magic preparation and some secret principles being applied.

The Illusion is that you are doing the impossible.
Just like acting like a Magician will never make you a real Magician. It's just an Illusion.
You are not the real thing.

But Hideo, the real ILLUSION is that the balloon is !!!UNHARMED!!! When it REALLY IS DAMAGED.

Isn't that what an illusion is? You've broken the physical laws of the universe and done the impossible.

(Just a little more food for thought) Keep on Smiling.

Hideo Kato,

If one were to assemble the materials for an optical illusion, then do something to demonstrate the illusion property of the configuration; would the criteria for 'magic trick' have been met?

So how about the Optical Illusion where you hold both of your forefingers, pointing towards each other, a foot out from your eyes and about a half an inch apart, and let your vision blur, or cross your eyes a little.

You will see the image of a floating sausage like object in between your fingertips. This appearance is only an Illusion.
_______ ___ ________

Even though the topic for this thread says, "Seeing is believing", I see it, but I don't believe it.

An optical illusion is really a mental illusion. Optical is only what your eyes are able to perceive, bouncing photon's. The brain is the computer that interprets what those photon's represent. The brain is the most mysterious part of the human body and the most complicated, yet the brain is the only part of us that can be deceived. Our world is the interpretation that our brains offer to us. Do we all see things the same?
"Red is gray, Yellow white, but we decide which is right. And which is an illusion?" -Moody Blues
Iven

My head hurts!
Surely all Magic are optical illusions?

"I cant believe my eyes!"

Magic is a feeling

a percieved optical incongruity is sometimes an illusion

I suspect one could present or reveal an optical incongruity as the climax of a routine. would this satisfy the criteria of the original question?