Magicology: The Study of Magic

1. Which magic book has had the most impact on the magic you perform today?

I never read any magic books until a few years into my professional career; in my persistent goal to keep all of my material completely original and uninfluenced I kept and still keep quite a distance from magic. The only reason I started to read magic was to research my own ideas. I have found myself very inspired by a lot of written material and do enjoy discovering other magicians through their work as the performer usually interests me more than the material, Absolute Magic and Pure Effect inspired the mentalist in me, which in turn opened a platform for adapting Derren Brown’s performance principals to my own performances.

2. How did you came to use cards as your method of "survival?

I always wanted to be a professional poker player but every time I played I lost, so through developing my poker skills I grew a fascination with control over playing cards. As I was learning psychological skills for poker I was also learning cheating techniques (for fun) which inadvertently became another fascination which I took a little too far. After a few years in poker I almost lost my life through my interests, but not wanting to put the cards down my displays for sleights were mistaken for magic, and my interest began.

3. Did you have any kind of mentor or source that instructed you how to “count-cards” or bet?

A guy called ‘Scales’ taught me a lot but it came a little too late. Discovering card counting had a big impact on my life, the challenge of building on my memory to such a level as that of a card-counter impressed me immensely, I spent months without resource just trying to memorise things, books, car licence plates, mathematical equations… I even learnt how to speak backwards, not so that I could but so that I knew how to use my memory for something un-natural, then I memorised a stack of four shuffle decks of cards but I soon realised that the order was irrelevant as it was the dealt cards that mattered as they would indicate which cards were left in the deck. It wasn’t until a year after I stopped card counting that I met Scales, who offered me a card counting technique that doesn’t even require a memory system, but I’m richer in knowledge from building my memory, and richer in deception from meeting Scales.

4. When you got into being a magician/ visual artist/ card handler, what was/ is your main
goal?

I never liked magic in the beginning and only saw it as a legitimate way to make money with playing cards. Magic for me was one of the few things that saved me from a destructive life, it opened a platform for my obsession with subterfuge where I could continue my sleights and rouges without the risk it once had for me. I heard about the local Magic Circle a year into my career, I auditioned and learnt so much from the interview, non of the committee believed my story, they didn’t believe that I hadn’t learnt from magic books or videos or even heard of some of the magicians they spoke of, they said things like ‘we know that’s your… “story,” but how did you really get into magic?’ and ‘We’re all fellow magicians here, you don’t have to play your character in front of us.’ I spent a few days trying to fit in with them and understand their ways but all I found was negative attitudes toward my style and angle of performing honest sleight of hand without dressing it up with top hats and fairy dust. It wasn’t about being successful for me, I just wanted to make a living at what I was good at, but after my experience with the circle I wanted to become successful enough to be a part of something that would offer an alternative to the old worn-out narrow-minded industry standards set by such organisations as the Magic Circle, so through my art I always am to express that, to show people that magic isn’t limited to magic wands or producing doves, it’s in style, attitude, and ultimately is expressed however the performer sees fit without intervention from magic circles there to approve or deny. Magic is in the art of the performer and not his repertoire, and this is something that cannot conform to guidelines.

5. What do you think magic should be like?

Honest, inspirational, exciting and challenging. As magicians we should take full advantage of the platform we’re given and aim to provide the most affecting experiences for our spectators. I believe that in magic, the magician is not the star, it’s the spectator who deserves the spotlight, magic isn’t about ‘hey look at me and look what I can do’ it’s about ‘look what magic did to you, look how it allowed you to react and how it affected your day, year, life.’ It’s a shame to see so many pop-star magicians obviously abusing the art for fame and popularity, magic deserves much more than that and I hope the next/current generation of magicians don’t try to follow in line.

6. What’s wrong with the magic community/ industry today?

Where do I begin? Lets just say thank god for Theory11.com and the impact it’s had on the industry, it was long overdue and people are beginning to realise that the industry needs to adapt to the magician and no longer expect the magician to adapt to it.

7. The world is full of deceptions and a lot of them lead to bad things, but in your case it led to something good (productive), what do you recommend people to do when they are facing these "deceptions" and how can we make them into something good?

It’s still difficult for me to look back at what I went through to learn my lesson and it’s a memory that doesn’t fade, the best advice and lesson I can teach is by telling my story and using myself as an example of how evils can be adapted for positive use. I almost lost my life, it doesn’t get much worse than that, and that comes very easily with deception. I’ve read about magicians who’ve tried to take their skills into a poker room only to fail to terrible consequences; a good friend of mine once said that ‘a magician who can also cheat at cards is a good magician, a cheat who can do magic is a dangerous man.’ The only reward deception has in the real world is money. Deception in the art of magic offers that and so much more; connections, friendships, unforgettable experiences, freedom, recognition, expression, creativity and a reason to have faith to aim for something positive, powerful and respectful. A friend of mine stole cars as a youth; he now works as a mechanic where his deceptive knowledge is put to good and positive use. For every evil, there’s an equal and opposite positive.

8. Nowadays the rule "a magician never revels his secrets" has now disappeared mainly because of the media; what do you think about that and how do you feel when you sell your secrets?

I’m very relaxed about my secrets as a magician as the devil is in the detail… Something I love about Derren Brown is his way of offering an explanation that advertises the mechanics of the magic as something equally as entertaining as the effect itself, and this is one of the models I perform by as a sleight of hand artist. I think that you have to adapt to the spectator more than just doing a trick and saying something like ‘if I told you how it works I’d have to kill you.’ If a spectator believes in magic, show them magic, if a spectator believes in sleight of hand but not magic, display it as sleight of hand and don’t patronise and expect them to buy into a belief system. My performances are based around technique and mechanics, I never say ‘hey I’m a magician and this is magic,’ I say ‘I’m Daniel, here’s something strange/interesting’ and let them decide what it is and who I am. When I discover something new in magic I love to share it with other magicians because I know that learning magic can be hard, my main goal through teaching is to inspire creativity in other magicians by showing how easy magic can be when you think outside the box. To think that there are no secrets in magic anymore is a good reason to keep creating and developing new and more creative secrets. If people want to find out how magic works they will regardless and I don’t think it’s too bad for us as to me the skill is in the presentation, showmanship and performance skill rather than the actual method.

9. What do you like the most about magic?

What I love the most is how it makes me feel when I watch it. It’s hard to enjoy magic when you see the double lift before it happens but every so often I’ll see a magician who completely baffles me and I try to hold onto that feeling for as long as I can. The one person who consistently baffles me is Wayne Houchin, when I met him I said ‘I don’t ever want to know how any of your effects work, because I want to enjoy the magic for as long as I can.’

Moments of astonishment are few and far between these days so the next best thing is to see that reaction I long for in my spectators, it’s rewarding to know how they’re feeling, and being a part of it.

10. What do you like to do other than magic?

I’m a movie buff, it can be quite annoying for those around me as I always find a way to associate everything to a movie quote/scene and spend the credit sequence in the cinema letting my friends know which other films all the producers, writers and casting agents worked on, although it is a lot of fun for me!

Other than that I like to play with knives and order pizzas to fake addresses.

Bonus Questions

1. Knowing that your past is part of what makes us who we are now; do you regret anything about your past?

Sitting in a wheelchair for just under 6 months is a good time to regret ones actions, but everything I did led me to where I am now. I’d rather regret trying than regret never knowing. If I had to do it all again I wouldn’t have changed a thing, I’m very proud of my past as I learnt so much from my own choices as opposed to being told what to do, I’m wiser for it and never take a moment in life for granted.

2. Will "Change" be good for a live audience or will it just be feasible on camera?
Hmmmm, this could be a spoiler. Change can be done live and surrounded and with any deck, I proved this a few times at a few different conventions, however, Change won’t make his appearance until next year.

3. What is the method for "Change"?
You need scissors, glue, invisible thread, a pk magnet, some magicians wax, a double faced card, a mirror the same size as the playing card, a fake hand, your favourite method for breaching the laws of quantum physics and a toaster. Everything else should be self explanatory.

4. What is the effect for "Psycho"?

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Throughout your work I can see you love to work with psychology in your effects and in "Identity" there are a bunch of psychological forces. But I am Brazilian and I can’t use them since they are not in Portuguese. I was wondering what is the process to create a psychological force? What are the steps to follow and etc…
Language barriers can have a huge effect on psych-forces, especially those that use word-play; this is something that I never really touched on until I wrote Psycho – a book on psychological forces – which goes into the process of subtly attaching a suggestion into a sentence or word so that it goes unnoticed. The main idea is to plant a playing card in somebody’s mind so that the spectator feels that it is a natural thought and not something that was force don them. A god example I use a lot is to use the sentence ‘I want to try something with you that shouldn’t be too hard, what I need you to do…’ Instead of saying too hard, I say Two Hearts and hope that when I ask them to think of any card they will think of the Two, there are many other psychological techniques that can support this but that’s the basic idea of a psychological force.

5. Where should a starting magician perform? I’m 17 years old and live in a big city but I have no idea where or how to perform…
Anywhere where there are people in a relaxed or stationary environment, such as a bar, a party or even on a public bench or bus stop, as long as you’re not interrupting or stopping anybody from doing whatever their doing you have a lot of options. I find trains or the underground are perfect performance environments as people are just waiting for something and when they see what you’re doing it’s a perfect way to pass the time, you do however have to be very aware of your approach in some environments, I usually find away to have them approach me…

6. How do you approach people when performing magic?
I never introduce or confirm at any point that I am a magician because that’s not how I see myself, and I know from experience that preconceptions and expectations can stand in the way of performances. My repertoire is like a restaurant menu, there are starters, the main course and then deserts, and everybody has different preferences so you have to judge your spectators the best you can to offer them what you think would be their most preferred performances. The most important effect is the starter, or the opener as it will determine how the spectator bases their judgment of you. My favourite two openers are… a raven coin vanish… I’d conveniently place a magnetic coin close by and ask the spectator if it is theirs before making it vanish, I’d then say ‘it’s now in your wallet/purse.’ The spectator will then offer you a wide open platform to ‘do something else.’ …Or, money levitation… I’ll do this at bars with a spider pen and a £10 note as I stand on my own or waiting to be served, I won’t do it for direct attention, I’ll just act like it’s just a normal thing that I do, you can guarantee somebody will ask ‘how the F?’

7. What is your presentation of "Cut"?

I give the spectator the shuffled deck, ask them to cut to any card as I turn my back and look away, I then put the deck away and read the spectators mind. There are many performances for the Cut principal but this is my fav (as opposed to a force effect.)

8. What tips do you have to make a presentation stronger?
Something advertised as a magic trick is instantly offered with stigmas used by the spectator to pre judge what they’re about to see, your performance becomes detached from reality before it has even began because of the term/word magic. It’s far more effective to scrap the patter that comes with most effects and just perform the core effect as if it is really real as opposed to an effect that you have performed a hundred times and this is just one more… every performance should be done as if it’s the first and only of it’s kind… Try offering the effect as something strange, something that seems to defy reality; I’m sure you’ll find much better reactions than you would to a magic trick.

9. What is your favourite ungimmicked effect? And how/where to learn it?
I love anything direct and to the point, some of my favourites include Sinful by Wayne Houchin, Believe by Joel Paschall, and Angle Zero which is taught on Dangerous.

10. How come there are very few performance videos of your work?
Videos of performances in my opinion are like standing out in the garden watching TV through the window, close up magic is designed for live performances and there’s a massive difference between the laws of live magic and planned filmed magic. I think the greatest thing about performance videos is to see the reactions; the only reason why I put my performance of Saw on my website; the trick’s good but the videos about the guys’ reaction. Film is the main way to show the world ones magic and for me, I wanted to save any footage of my magic for a big project; Dangerous, which has been on the cards for many years but only materialised over the last year. I think if you’re going to make a video of magic performances you have to think about a lot more than just going out with a camera, because the effect has to be done for the camera first, and the audience second. Following Dangerous you’ll see many more magic performances from me.

11. What are you currently working now? And what are some future projects?
I’m just finishing up BURN + PSYCHO before I contribute toward a Randall Freeman project called PRIMER which is his take on my stack, then I’ll be focusing my work toward video downloads as opposed to books. There are a few top secret projects on the go also that I can’t talk about yet, just keep watching at my site and Theory11.com .

Again, a big thanks to Daniel Madison (www.danielmadison.co.uk )for taking the time to answer these questions.  Please let us know if you enjoyed this, and who you would like featured in our next Ten Questions With…

The original post about the False Mistake Principle: False Mistakes

An interesting topic that I like to discuss with fellow magicians is: “Where does the magic happen?”  (Please don’t make me delete a thousand comments by posting “The bedroom”…)  Are the eyes deceived via the hand is quicker than the eye theory?  Or is the mind deceived by making you believe something that is not true, i.e. the magician has a coin in his/ her right hand, when in reality it is empty.

Would love to hear your thoughts on this!

PS A reminder that you only have a couple more days to submit your questions for Daniel Madison.  You can email your questions to: info@magicology.com

Ever wish you could ask a certain magician any question you wanted? Magicology is giving you that chance! Not only are we providing you with new magic for free, but we are giving you the opportunity to connect with various magicians from all over the world.

The first magician to take part in “Ten Questions” is Daniel Madison from the U.K. From professional card-cheat to modern visual artist, Daniel has already lived an exciting life. Now is your chance to ask him any question you want!

You have until 12:00am EST on Friday, May 23rd to email your question to: info@magicology.com

Daniel will then select and answer ten of the questions (and maybe a bonus question or two if we’re lucky)!

For more information on Daniel Madison, and his magic products, simply visit: www.danielmadison.co.uk

After seeing Juan Tamariz perform at FISM in 2000, I became fascinated with something that I’ll call “False Mistakes”.  Basically, you “accidently” make a mistake, and undercover of correcting the mistake - you perform a pass, palm a card, ditch a coin, etc…  I am very excited to offer some of my “False Mistakes” tricks here on Magicology. 

The next trick that I will present is a “Card At Any Number” routine that is based on the “False Mistake” principle.  Stay tuned!

Update: Thanks to Jon Racherbaumer for bringing to my attention a few more references the Faro Slough-off. First, Bob Page and Jimmy Nuzzo were the first to publish anything regarding the Faro Slough-off. The Faro Slough-off was first mentioned in THE NEW TOPS. For more information on the Faro Slough-off, please check-out Art And Ardor at the Card Table.

Welcome to Magicology!  My name is Ryan Swigert, and this is the official site to learn some of my latest tricks, sleights, and ideas for free!  I will be posting new magic effects here on a regular basis, as well as other information geared toward the working magician.