Considering I never liked magic and magicians I have to admit that the experience I am about to talk about totally surprised me (in a good way). I was recently invited to attend a magician training and show with my son who was the Child Reporter for First News to cover the UK release of the animation film The House of Magic on 25th July 2014.
Frankly I was more excited for Diego to do well in his task than in the magician but…..I was quickly hooked into everything magic-related.
We headed to Davenports House which is the real house of magic in London and situated in a room that resembles a dungeon at Charing Cross Underground station.
We did not know what to expect so when the Magician started showing us all his best secrets we all lighted up! After a lifetime spent trying to understand how magic tricks are done, we finally found out different types of magic with cards, ropes and ‘circus-trained’ paper clips.
I am aware that I will never be able to enjoy magic shows again in future. But at least I will watch Diego perform these tricks to his grandmothers who will definitely enjoy his young and relatively inexperienced shows.
The magician, who was trained at Davenports House himself, managed to surprise us again at the end with new tricks up his sleeves (literally). Overall I truly enjoyed this experience at the House of Magic.
Amelie performing the circus-trained paper clips trick
Diego, 8, and Amelie, 7, who were among the youngest magician trainees, loved all tricks performed with the cards as well as the disappearance and reappearance of coins. They also enjoyed the Mis-direction (although it wasn’t One Direction!), i.e. when the magician diverts the attention of the audience elsewhere while he sets the trick up in front of the audience. This requires not only good knowledge of the magic tricks but also drama skills as the magician needs to set the scene and create the atmosphere as well as involve the audience and distract them while he performs the tricks without being caught.
The magician told us that among the professionals card tricks are highly regarded as the poetry of magic because of their special ‘natural’ powers: there are 52 cards like 52 weeks, 4 suits like 4 seasons, etc.
The three Golden Rules of Magic not surprisingly are the frequent practice, the secret nature of the tricks, avoiding repeating the performance of the magic in front of the same audience.
I am pretty sure the magician will regret having taught these kids and their parents his tricks …. 🙂
