Smoke and Mirrors
Topic : *Magic*
Source : The
character of Gob in Arrested Development and
other experiences with magicians.
Description : When I
sat down to think about magic for this blog, I immediately thought of
Gob, played by Will Arnett, in the tv show Arrested Development.
Gob is a magician and takes his work very seriously. He was part of
the Magician's Alliance (although he was later kicked out), a group
of magicians dedicated to keeping all the tricks to their illusions
secret. Gob always employs a host of different things to excite the
crowd : pyrotechnics, music ( always « The Final
Countdown » by Europe), smoke machines, dancing, etc. Although,
his tricks never seem to work, he believes that all the hype is
worthwhile.
As
I was thinking more about magic, I asked my fiancé
if he had ever been to a magic show. He said he remembered going to
one in kindergarten. The magician, an old man dressed in the typical
cape and top-hat, said that he would pick the kid with the biggest
smile to come up on stage. My fiancé
apparently had the biggest smile, so he was allowed to be the
assistant. He doesn't even remember the trick though, just that he
pulled in a string and a box fell apart.
Analysis/Commentary :
In both of these cases, the actual magic didn't seem to matter much
at all. Only the environment and feelings of the crowd were
important. Gob doesn't care if his magic works, as long as he looks
« cool » doing it. My boyfriend doesn't remember the
tricks performed in the magic show, but he remembers being a part of
it. Luhrmann explains in the book that many times people are so
overwhelmed by the feelings that they experience in during rituals
that they are heavily inclined to attribute those feelings to magic.
The environment that magicians create can be pretty impressive, even
if their tricks aren't.
(see video below)
As a kid I was really interested in magic, but the opportunity to get involved never really arose; I most definitely would have had the biggest smile if a magician had come to my elementary school. The perplexed people in the magic videos I saw were more important than the tricks, I think you're spot on with the idea of magicians creating atmospheres of curiosity and mystified people, without needing impressive tricks to create a good performance.
ReplyDeleteI definitely see where the environment in a magic show creates the right ambiance for people to become excited and believe in what they're seeing. At my high school grad night we had a hypnotist come and do a show and he was wearing a top hat and tuxedo...he "hypnotised" a group of ten students up on the stage. He had them all do silly things like dance around and start laughing uncontrollably. The audience was completely awestruck, and it didn't matter that they were all probably just going along with what he told them to do, it was all about the humor in the crowd.
ReplyDeleteThe first thing that came to my mind was harry Potter when I saw "magic". Your example is great in the fact that it does just come down to the environment's mood and the audience. I think that the belief of "magic" is what makes magic real.
ReplyDelete