The Prestige of being The Illusionist

The Prestige
The Illusionist


Ok so I've watched "The Prestige" again and this time I watched it so that I could compare it with another movie "The Illusionist". Both movies are great and I'm saving you the time because I'm not writing a review here.

What I'll be talking about here is more on it's effect on me as a magician. Well the tricks done on both films were really very good. Although I'd still go for the Prestige because all the tricks here (except for the transported man) were done in the way that it would have been for a live audience. The Illusionist however used Hollywood Magic but still it is a good movie.

However as a movie both had inspired me to become a better magician. Well how I wished that Christian Bale or Edward Norton's charms rub off me so that I could charm audiences. If that was possible I would have been a high paying magician now right? Anyway what I'm saying is that it gave me ideas on presentation which most magicians lack. I remember someone told me that someone who just shows tricks is not a true magician. A true magician is someone who connects to the audiences hearts and minds by his tricks. In other words presentation is the key to become a true magician.

Also there is one important lesson I've learned from the movie The Prestige. It goes " No one is impressed by the secret's it's what you do with them" (It is what actually Christian Bale told the kid on the picture on top) Anyway In connection with what I was talking about presentation. Telling the secrets of the tricks makes you simply a presenter of clever puzzles. Magic is a form of entertainment that challenges the mind the most, so revealing it defeats its purpose.

Anyway to wrap it up, my life doesn't just revolve around magic you know. I also watch films (although these two's theme is magic) so that I could get better insight to become better in what I do.

Lessons from Kung Fu Panda

Warning may contain spoilers below.


It tells how Po the panda began his quest to become the dragon warrior that saved the valley of peace from the evil Tai Lung the snow leopard. Legend has it that whoever had the dragon scroll would become the most powerful warrior ever.
I saw this movie last week and it was so hilarious that I think the audience's jaws would have dropped. The scenes were really very funny thanks to the witty humor of Po mixed with the contrasting characteristics of Master Shifu. Anyway you should really watch the fil to get the feel of what I'm talking about.
Back to the topic, Kung Fu Panda has a lot of lessons that we could learn and apply to our lives or in my case as a magician. With this I would like to share two important lessons that I've learned from the movie.

1. "There is no price for awesomeness"

This holds true to us magicians, simply because it's what we do. We make seemingly ordinary objects awesome to our audiences. The tricks that we do and the applause from the audience after the trick is really most rewarding and can't be paid with whatever price. So to sum it up no matter how simple the trick that you do so long as you get your audience's appreciation and awe are enough to make a magician make more thing awesome.

2. "There is no secret ingredient... I just believe that it's special"

This is what most magician's forget: to believe in their own tricks. Most beginning magicians are very much into the technical aspects of the trick that they forget that in order for the trick to become most effective they should believe first the trick. I clearly remember this when a foreign magician visited the Philippines around a few years ago. His tricks were actually handled with precise techniques but apparently it became too technical that it became so boring. Even in his patter he follows his script so much that it became really boring. Anyway let's forget about him and let's just remember that in order for magic to work one must first believe in what he could do. In that way no matter how simple the trick is it would be the best one that they'll ever see.

Remember to visit these sites to learn real magic

Marvelous Magic

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