It's Magick?
by P. Craig Browning

Admittedly I’m allowing a bit of the old "Craig Monster" to come out of his cave in this article with a more brutal sense of critique when it comes to this strange world we are all vested in and the various contrasts we can encounter. For an example, how a genius innovator found it more important to take his official leave from one of the more “exclusive” mentalism forums, so as to embrace the famed green slime pit simply because he believes he is getting a more positive mode of VIP treatment there vs. being around working pros from within the Psychic Entertainment industry; those of us that were doing such things long prior to the start of “the trend”. But as they say, "water will seek its own level", i.e. hanging around a bunch of wannabes and arm-chair-experts that do maybe a dozen shows a year might be all he can handle.

But then I step back and find more when it comes to contrast, in this case another native to the UK, Paul Brook, who has been slowly cultivating both his name and image and is thus pending a BBC TV spot while gaining exceptional accolades presently on his latest contribution to our world in the form of an amazing book entitled "Alchemical Tools". This is a manual that numerous old salts (myself included) have placed on the "must-have" list for those that are serious about creating magick versus doing tricks. This is a handbook for the mentor as well as the student but more importantly a guide to the art of effective communication… or should I say, manipulative communication technique? The sort of thing we’ve seen in years past via the likes of Kenton Knepper and company but also that subtle side of magic that seems to go mostly ignored and shrugged off by the very same clowns that get frustrated time after time simply because they aren’t getting the kind of reactions they expected from their trick (so the trick must suck, has been over hyped, etc.) Far be it that the idiot doing the trick take some responsibility or better yet, the magic clubs out there fulfill their obligation in guiding such arrogant fools in the right direction, helping them understand that “the secret” to any effect ain’t so much how it works mechanically but how we present it – all of that subtle language stuff you shrugged your shoulders about and thought to be to “long haired” being the very thing your attempt in doing magic lacks!

One of the forums that I frequent is the TalkMagic group in the UK. Recently I encountered two very different individuals on this forum, both of whom came forward with similar questions about creating “an act”. The first lad peeked my interest in that he seemed willing to do the footwork and more importantly, to listen to those that actually have experience working in the world of grand illusion. He had a professional attitude in what he wanted and was willing to do in order to make things happen. The second lad was your typical Lord Fauntleroy-type personality with his head in the clouds and the belief that mommy and daddy will fork out the hundred grand or so he needs for that John Gaughan magic kit.

Did I mention the term “spoiled brat”?

I’ve watched this scenario far too many times over the years: the know-it-all child who wants it all but isn’t willing to accept guidance from an experienced source or two. But then most of us had a stubborn streak running through us at that age: when you are 18, 19 and 20, you know all the answers and no one is going to get through… That is, unless you are in that 1-2% group that honestly don’t want to be like the rest, who honestly wants to make a genuine go of it and who is willing to put in those 18 and 20 hour days, seven days a week, in order to get there.

It is as my buddy Jon Stetson says whenever young people ask how he got so successful:“I get up way before noon and get to business.”

Yes, this business is filled with contrasts as well as contradictions: there are more people in this one sub-culture that are better than any noted commercial entity than you will find in any other industry and yet, none of these master-class showmen seem to be able to do more than hold down that day job, give half their pay-check to the team at E or Outlaw and then bitch on the forums because they are being heckled or they can’t get this or that to work, etc, etc, etc…

In the opening pages of Paul’s new book he shares a story about a young man that he’d taken under-wing to teach mentalism. For no other reason this book is worth every bit of the $80.00 being asked in that the lesson shared in this tale is priceless, the kind of story I’ve lived out time and again with young people that think me “too tough” when it comes to my role as a mentor and a guide, most failing to realize that my toughness comes from my passion for this art of ours as well as my concern as a human being (a parent actually, that doesn’t want to see his progeny making some the same mistakes or experiencing some of the same hell I knew at their age when paying my dues and fighting the fight). I’m tough, just as Paul and others of us are tough, because we want to see you, our living testament, go further and accomplish greater things than we have in the course of our life and yet, in your youth, you find the audacity to call us fools and to tell us that we don’t understand or that’s not what you need right now…

The catch is, when these know-it-all novices stand toe-to-toe with the serious students of magick, they fall flat and wonder why. They don’t understand how someone -- such as Paul -- can present a single card effect over a 20 minute period and have his audience captivated, sitting on the edge of their seats and literally spellbound while they, with their dozen-and-one tricks… though they get applause and kudos, don’t gain the support and public adoration of the former.

I have said it at least a million times: my job is to create but one single illusion – me! This is what makes us “the magician” vs. that dime-a-dozen jester type that can be comical and amusing, just not enchanting, not memorable. Yet, like so many of my peers, those of us that have trudged through the trenches few know anything of, I can walk into a room of strangers and not present a single “trick” and still be referred to as being “magickal” or “wizardish” as one lady put it. Why?

Well, the truth is quite simple; I create magickal experiences and that is exactly what I strive to pass on to those that entrust me as their mentor or guide and exactly what Paul brings to the fore in this amazing tome.

No, I’m far from being picture perfect when I perform, especially now days. I find myself suffering from that classic prize fighter’s condition: the heart being willing along side the mind but the body just can’t do it any more. This is another side of that long pole we’ve been looking at, where contrasts and opposition seem to be found.; that world of the educated old dogs who’ve found their way to pasture, in some instances a couple of decades early. The best that we can do is pass it on, to teach the young who have genuine promise, like my kinder, more reverent lad in the UK whose seen fit to share some of his monkey business with me. Who knows, maybe some day I’ll catch he and Myrtle here in the States doing their thing in Atlantic City or even Disneyland…

The trick is we simply need to remember how to believe in magick and stop being so arrogant about everything we think we already know. Especially when we are young or venturing into new territory.

At least it’s something worth thinking about, wouldn’t you agree?

Craig Browning