Other Visions

A Journey Back Into Darkness:
Getting to “At the Mountains of Madness”
by Steve Osborne

I was raised traveling around the world as a young child. I was able to experience: old Europe and the transition to modern conveniences; Alaska as a truly remote wilderness that required a self-sustaining spirit to insure that you survived; the U.S. as a vast array of different communities that seemed to be interminably far apart; and more. One thing to which I always paid attention, which is difficult when you have ADHD, is the magic I found in each area visited, which led to a deep, abiding interest and love for all things out of the ordinary.

As I entered my early 20’s, I was introduced to a magician with whom I worked in the military. He noticed my interest in his work and asked if I would like to apprentice under his tutelage. Of course, I immediately accepted! I had owned the cute, children’s magic kits from a very early age; however, I had never had the opportunity to study with a real magician.

Ken was a great performer. I would watch our co-workers’ reaction to his tricks and listen as they tried to figure out the logistics behind one performance or another. For one and a half years, I studied with Ken, who introduced me to the local magic shop owners, got me started in performing for small parties, and made sure I had the gimmicks I needed to perform a routine. He was a good instructor from whom I learned quite a bit; however, there was something always missing.

As the years progressed, I did not make the time to further my presentation. I was still trying to find out what, exactly, was missing from what I had learned from Ken. I continued to perform small, impromptu tricks for my children, my family and friends. For the most part, however, my involvement with magic was dwindling. I would visit magic stores and look at the latest and greatest technological toys, and stare in wonder at magicians on stage. But, I never forgot my longing to practice this art.

About 6 months ago, I began to take a serious look at returning to active practice and participation. I did the requisite Internet search, found a good online store, and joined some forums, which I read extensively. That is when it hit me; I had found that for which I had been searching all this time. This revelation, an epiphany really, has changed the way in which I approached the art, and I have been rewarded by a significant change in how my performance has been received by my participants.

What was missing? To answer that, I first want to state that I am in no way demeaning or belittling any magicians; what works for them did not work for me. Like anything in life, this is a personal journey… albeit, one that I hope will have positive effects on others.

To answer the above question, I noticed that magic tricks, and their accompanying gimmicks, have become the primary focus of the performance; the culmination of the trick is the complete culmination of the story. Thinking back on my old mentor, it was true, even then. The invisible string, the sponge balls, the magnets, hidden devices and such have become, or have been, the primary focus of magic, and even mentalism. I started looking at the performances of some of the most well-known magicians and noticed that, for the most part, this is true, the tricks and gimmicks are just on a much grander scale due to a higher budget. I have noticed that even the presentations, the gestures and gesticulations, center around the trick, itself. I was watching a floating/flying presentation of a particularly famous magician and noticed that everything he did was centered on the one trick he was performing at that moment. To me, this started to look ridiculous, rather than mystical. Do not get me wrong, this magician was, and still is, very successful, people obviously are entertained by this type of magic; however, it really solidified the ideology of my involvement in this business.

What I decided was that I wanted any form of magic, mentalism or legerdemain to be secondary to the story, a supporting cast, if you will. In short, I wanted my act to be just that, a performance which involves people at an intimate level with calculated surprises to accentuate the story that we weave together.

In order for this to be effective, I first must define my persona, my alter-ego. This alter-ego may, or may not, share the same name as myself, may only appear for 15 seconds or 60 minutes, and may be a little bit of my actual self, but in the end, it is just that, an act of creativity and imagination.

Furthermore, I determined that there must be a story attached to this alternate development, the reason why he does something or approaches a person. To facilitate this, I created an artificial history attached to that persona which generates interest in certain aspects of “magic:” voodoo, mentalism, spiritualism, and the bizarre. With that in mind, I found opportunities to inject the persona’s story and belief in everyday conversation, in group situations and in contrived performances. Like I mentioned earlier, the reactions I have since received from people have been phenomenal.

At this point in my life and development, I have since found other performers that have walked down a similar path on which I now tread. I have found works and references to Tony Corrinda, Docc Hilford and, just recently, Craig Browning. What I have been developing, without actually realizing that this has been defined and visited beforehand, is a theatrical performance that emotionally involves the audience through the use of well-rehearsed, timed mental effects, magic tricks and gimmicks. This is precisely where I want to be.

As I move on to the future, I have goals to which I aspire. My short term goal is to put on a one-person theater show for Halloween 2007, after the manner of Hilford’s “At the Mountains of Madness.” I hope you join me further on this voyage of discovery and exploration where I will share with you my thoughts, triumphs and failures.

Steve Osborne