Among the many things that fascinate me is the art of slight-of-hand, popularly known as close-up magic. Nobody’s every going to confuse me with Blackstone, Mark Wilson, or the other magic greats, but I can do a number of coin tricks that are good enough so that I don’t embarrass myself. Back in the day, I worked my way through college, playing guitar, singing, and doing table magic at restaurants. It was fun, and, oddly enough, taught me some valuable lessons about marketing. So in the vein of the book Everything I needed to know, I Learned in Kindergarten, here are my thoughts regarding lessons learned in magic that can be applied to marketing…

1. The story’s the thing. Anybody can learn to do tricks, but it’s what magicians refer to as “patter” that separates the great magicians from those that are merely technically proficient. Patter is storytelling, plain and simple. When you get wrapped up and involved in a compelling story, the magic trick becomes as much illustrations for your story, as it is the only thing you’re selling. As such, the story not only enriches the trick, it also makes the trick more believable, and more enjoyable for the audience. 
2. It’s all about controlling where they look. Misdirection, it’s called in magic. In other words, when you’re performing a coin vanish, you don’t want your audience looking at where the coin really went…you want them looking at where you pretend that it went, so they can be amazed when it appears to vanish. A good magician knows how to get audiences to look where the magician wants – not really to deceive them, but with the intention of amazing and delighting them. (Misdirecting audiences solely to deceive them would be wrong. I guess that would be “black magic” in a way…)
3. Never peform a trick without practicing it first. It’s kind of like the old adage, an attorney never asks a question to which he doesn’t already know the answer. If you perform a magic trick without sufficient practice, you’ll end up screwing it up, sooner or later. Your magic must be flawless in order to preserve the illusion of magic. 
4. Simple tricks can be every bit as effective as big, expensive illusions. Magic – and magicians – fall into a number of categories or disciplines. I do table magic, sleight-of-hand, close-up stuff. Very simple. Big illusions like sawing a lady in half, vanishing elephants, et cetera, are not in my repertoire. While those kinds of magic are certainly appealing, I can mystify and amaze an audience with a silver dollar I carry around in my pocket. And I don’t have to rent a warehouse for all those props, either. 
5. You’re not a magician until you believe you are. Performing magic tricks is all about creating illusions, including the illusion that you have magical, supernatural powers. Think about it…if I could REALLY pull coins out of thin air, why would I need a day job? But the deal is, if you present yourself as a magician and don’t allow your audience to think anything to the contrary (i.e.: getting your bluff in on them early), you’ve survived the biggest test. It’s all about attitude – if you believe in yourself, they’ll believe in you. Otherwise, you’re just deluding yourself. 
6. It’s not rocket science. But you have to make it look like it is. I can teach a simple vanish to someone in about 10 minutes, and get them to the point where they can work the trick in front of me where I buy their misdirection. If they practice it, they just might bloom into the next great magician. However, none of this stuff requires superhuman strength, an I.Q. above 120, or some great, magical bloodline. What is essential is making the audience believe that not everybody can do the trick, once they learn the secret. There’s a reason for all the abracadabra and hocus-pocus stuff. It makes people believe that the magician has some exotic knowledge that they themselves do not possess. It’s the trappings of the art, and they exist to impress the audience. 
7. Talent is not absolutely required. But it sure helps. There’s certainly a “talent” part of the equasion, but I know plenty of magicians who have the mechanics down pat, and lack that spark that will make them great entertainers. They’re not “naturals” – in that they don’t have the “gift of gab,” or they can’t spellbind the audience with their stories alone. That’s okay. Not everybody can be Mandrake or Merlin. But if you were to watch a really talented magician do the very same tricks as a magician that just doesn’t have that creative spark, you might not even recognize the routines as featuring the same tricks. Think of it as the difference in a gourmet burger and a Big Mac. They will both satisfy your hunger, but one of them is mouth-wateringly delicious. And the other one isn’t. Which would you buy, if given the choice?
8. The more believable your magic is, the more you can earn from it. If you’re really, really good, you can command some big bucks, touring the country, doing corporate events, performing in big clubs, and so forth. If your act is new, original, compelling – you can charge more for your work. If it’s technically proficient but otherwise kinda “me-too,” you’ll never make as much as the leaders. 
9. You’ll know ‘great’ when you see it. To this day, when I see a really great magician perform, I can’t help but grin like a 10-year-old kid. There may be a part of my brain that tries to analyze the trick and figure out how the illusion works, but the big part of my brain is given over to childlike delight. Did you know that kids are always the toughest audience for a magician – and (paradoxically) the best? It’s because they have a built-in B.S. detector that’s always set on “stun,” but if you can get past that, they are so ready and so willing to believe, that they’ll love everything you do. Great magicians and great illusions just grab me and take me away from the daily grind, to a place where I can experience the kind of wonder and amazement I did when I was a kid. That’s really cool – and really valuable. 
10. A little mystery is a very good thing. Ever badger a magician into revealing the secret to a trick? The pros simply won’t reveal a trick – even a simple one – to someone who’s a non-magician. It’s more than job security and self-preservation…knowing how the trick works forever spoils it for you as magic. You can never un-ring that particular bell – once you know how it’s done, it’s no longer magic. When your audience doesn’t know how you did it, but still appreciates the illusion, you’re a magician. If you reveal all your secrets, you’re just some guy that knows how to deceive people in order to entertain them. 

This entry was posted on Saturday, October 11th, 2008 at 7:13 am and is filed under marketing.You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.