Paintings, sculptures, and poetry/songs are often thought of as "deep" which has a bit of an ambiguous meaning, but I think you know what I mean. Are there any routines you do or know of that might fit into this category? Eugene Burger's gypsy thread routine comes to mind.

Several presentations of Zombie might qualify such as that of Ian Garrison (MagicIan)

also, check http://www.themagiccafe.com/forums/viewt......orum=134

Check out Robert Neale's books for deep and dark. He can take a double lift and turn it into something about God, the Devil, and The Meaning of Death and Life before you finish turning the card back over.

Change the tonality, pacing, costume and you get comedy... easier to figure out what you want for your audience then take a tack that works for your character when performing.

It's difficult to note that one routine is "deeper" than another. I've never seen a really "deep" magic routine in the manner asked for. But, that may just be me. In fact...the "deeper" a performer tries to make a routine the more humorous it strikes me. Or, in many cases bores me.

Magic IS frivolous. It's nonsense meant to distract folks from there day to day. Consider: IF magicians could really do something "deep", we'd be magically feeding the poor or curing children with cancer. No ones expects that of us and they shouldn't. But, that does not mean that magic isn't worth doing. It just means that there is nothing funnier than a magician who takes themselves too seriously. It's NOT real. The coin really IS retained in a nifty fashion in my other hand. One of the rings has a...well, you get the idea.

On the other hand....I would love nothing better than to discover that magic tricks has some value IN curing children of cancer if only because it makes them laugh and laughter makes your glands produce "good stuff" and not bad.

I often think the comparible work in magic is "strong". But then there are also "deep" moments that come from the magician him/her self. When I heard about Pop Haydn teaching a blind girl a magic trick that fooled her mother, thinking about all the depths of emotion between mother and daughter, I thought this is "deep". Lynn

Check out the work of Ricky Boone, personal in his book, and the impact of the "Vanishing Wheelchair Project."

Teaching a disabled person how to perform a magic effect in front of strangers can positively effect/affect their lives.
The people who come to their shows are also effected in positive ways -- not from "being entertained," but from being part of something very magical.

One young woman had not spoken for six years after her debilitating disease forced her to a wheel chair. A friend started bringing her to the magic workshops and shows.

She how has chosen to sing rather than "do tricks" -- pulling herself up to stand crookedly behind a mic and sing to standing ovations.
While she doesn't speak coherent sentences she can sing beautiful songs - something her doctors say is impossible.

-- and she still comes to learn magic tricks even though her crippled hands can't do most of them. Why? She wants to encourage others to overcome their own limitations.

You say, "Magic IS frivolous. It's nonsense meant to distract folks from there day to day." Sad. Grammar may be frivolous, but magic is only limited by one's imagination.

Robert Neale's book "Life Death and other card tricks"...
:)
http://www.qualitymagicbooks.com/allmagi......e-neale/

Be sure that a program that has meaning and that requires thought from the spectators is put in a proper venue such as the theater where people expect to be stretched and emotionally challenged.

Most people at a cocktail party, bar-mitzvah, wedding, variety revue, or nightclub just want amusing and lighthearted entertainment--not a reading from "Book of the Dead."

Twilight Zone was a series that used stories of the impossible for entertainment. Sometimes the stories were deep and meaningful, sometimes they were light and fanciful.

What makes the subject of the impossible interesting and theatrical does not have to be serious and "deep." All that is needed is an interesting and amusing character with an engaging backstory that is both hinted at and affirmed by the presentation of the impossible: Dr. Who's sonic screwdriver actually works and the Tardis actually is bigger inside than out. Peter Pan can actually fly. Dracula really turns into a bat or wolf. The king of another planet creates magical games for a little lame girl with his alien technology.

If you have an interesting and remarkable character for the audience to meet and engage, one who does remarkable things--for most performing situations that is more than enough. You only have five or ten minutes in walkaround or restaurant work with a crowd--it is a place for light poetry: Ogden Nash, not Ezra Pound.

The important thing in building a routine or act is to answer the questions. Who is this guy "the magician?" Why is he here? Why is he performing for this group? What does he want from them? What does he want to give them? To create the character and story, you start by answering the questions.

Of all the Arts in the all world there is no deeper Art than Our Magic. It is essentially about proving that nonsense is true which makes it a dilemma. The deepest things in life are as Our Magic. What is the meaning of life? Nonsense that is apparently true! Love is Nonsense according to science but there it is. The human being is half sensible and half nonsensical and not Spock, son of Sarek.

And the magician is playing at being a charlatan. His mask keeps slipping so that the audience can get a glimpse of the Trickster behind the Magician.

There is nothing deeper than that which is bottomless and since they cannot get to the bottom of magic it is world without end. Magic is altogether evocative of the deep. The Mayan symbol for magic is a hand in water grabbing a fish on notion it water is another world. How deep is a free range egg bag?

How much range does an egg ever need?

Hmmm, We will have to think about that in depth.

Pop, I always read your posts with the greatest respect. May I ask why you frequently mention that the magician presents as a charlatan? Your character embodies that premise wonderfully. But why do you generalize that premise to all magicians? Is it because audiences know they're being fooled, so we might as well keep it real in that way?

So, follow-up question: is mentalism different because audiences still allow that some people might have the power to read minds and predict the future? Therefore a mentalist needn't present as a charlatan?

I don't follow your question. I don't think that a magician presents as a charlatan. I don't know what you are referring to...?

Magic can be presented with the seriousness and earnestness that it approaches charlatanry. I don't recommend it.

Pop, this statement by you is what I was referring to.

David

The magician "pretends" to be a charlatan, that is--a mindreader, sorcerer, time-traveler, inventor, etc.--but the audience "knows" he is a fake. He can't really travel through time, make metal bend and so on. He pretends at being one of these things, but everyone knows it isn't true. That is the point. If he really convinces his audience he is real, there is no dilemma, no game, no fun. He/She IS a charlatan then.

Pop is a trickster/conman. He pretends to be a charlatan: magician, inventor, time-traveler.

Come closer! Draw closed the curtains, stoke the fire and gather around, for I have another dark tale to tell. As you unfold the tale of "Wild Bill" Hickock and his untimely end, you tell of the five cards he was holding when shot. This tale must be presented with such seriousness and earnestness that it approaches charlatanry in the way of the American story which has a surprising and amusing ending when done in the Henry Christ way. We have seen some great stage magic performed in the same way, where magician performs very seriously but in the end, he removes his mask, smiles and takes a bow as if to say we are only playing. All is well that ends well as they say. I think getting them to think this could be real, this is real, is High Art. However, it is not art they can appreciate unless they know it is art at the end of the day. The charlatan leaves them hanging there, thinking it is or could be real.

Thank you, gentlemen.

David