Greater wholes and what produces and binds them are hard to define. The synergy of, say, the media and the events being reported by them remains vague and peripheral as we keep them separated into their constituent parts. We never think we are looking through a camera lens or through the mind of a journalist, who the cameraperson or writer is and how they came to be there, what their affiliations or biases are; only what we view through their lens as if their camera or words are our own senses. Our own biases, of course, are just as hidden, and what we see is reality – that’s it.
Category: Grail
Sleight of hand versus gimmicks
The Two Types of Perennial Beginner
One of the most desired card sleights among dabblers is the Diagonal P— Shift (DPS), despite the fact that it is one of the least used card sleights. If this sounds contradictory, it isn’t: popularity is unrelated to functionality. Of course it’s possible that people don’t use the DPS because it’s difficult, but there are many difficult moves that magicians use all the time. The main reason is that the concept behind it is not particularly useful.
The Holy Grail of Conjuring
Imagine a concept that allows one to perform magic with the following features:
- Can be done seated or standing
- Outdoors or indoors (certain elementary conditions pertaining)
- Borrowed objects – no special gimmicks
- Has the appearance of real magic
- Of an infinite variety in terms of effect and method – from producing a silk from thin air to vanishing coins, making cards change, reading people’s minds – limitless
- May produce effects remembered by people for the rest of their lives
- Can be mastered to a basic level in 6 months but ideally 2 years or more