Yo,

I had a double purpose in what I wrote below in the previous essay. The first was simple: Explore an aspect of magic that is commented upon in passing, but is seldom looked at in any kind of depth. That is of course....secrets and the concept that magic should be kept secret as much as possible.

Second, I attempted to do double duty with essay with the idea that once it was out and in circulation that I would talk briefly about the 'other' thing. That other thing is EMOTION.

Look at ANY magic presentation that you would classify as boring. I don't care what or who. The magic 'itself' might grab you. It might even entertain at some level, but if the presentation itself is boring you will not 'feel' as if you got your moneys worth. But....ADD emotion and the presentation of even the most mundane effect takes off.

In the above essay I attempted as much as possible and within limits that I set for myself to attack the problem of 'secrets' with an emotional appeal. See if you can pick it out.

If you could do ONE thing and ONE thing only to boost your ability to work wonders for folks it would be to project an EMOTIONAL APPEAL to your audience. This is done by how you look, speak and internally emote and project that emotion via how you look and speak.

Emotion in most cases could be as simple as just projecting enthusiasm for the subject of your presentation. If YOU look as if you could care less about what you are doing then there is little or no reason for your audience to care!

And, so....you HAVE to care about 'magic', what it is and what it does. You HAVE to care whether you REACH folks with what you are doing. A simple effect done with verve and enthusiasm can get you real connection with those watching.

Note, that I am not talking about an obvious and phony enthusiasm. You HAVE to love magic and love the doing of it. You have to be in effect .... real. You can do this if you lack the ability at the outset by in fact practicing! Tape yourself doing magic and see HOW you appear to YOU???

I have been looking for years for some special technique that would allow folks to improve their appeal in this area of presentation WITHOUT looking phony!

Understand that enthusiasm is not necessarily a broad kind of thing. It's not a guy barely able to contain his laughter, etc. I may be that! But, many times enthusiasm will come across from a performer that gives you the impression that he's a tightly wound spring just waiting let loose. It's an attitude that says what I am about to do IS ... REALLY ... COOL and you folks are going to love seeing and experiencing it with me.

Best,