A Reintroduction: What is magic for?

It was in Memphis.

At an iHop or an Olive Garden or maybe just a local mid-sized restaurant with dim lighting and square tables pushed and woven together with a plastic tablecloth. I'm not entirely sure. Those aren't the details that stick - especially not when more than three years have already come and gone.

But I had gone to a local meeting of the International Brotherhood of Magicians. I was the only female magician there. There were others, of course, and I asked about them, but they weren't there in Memphis when I was. I never met them.

It didn't matter too much. I rarely ever had the chance to hang out with other magicians before. It was thrilling to get the chance to speak with older magicians - people with way more experience than I, who had great insights on my performances when I asked for advice, and who knew so much about magic in general.

That particular evening, after the meeting was done and we were all relaxing over dinner, some of the younger magicians (those who were closer to my age) were showing each other tricks. An informal magic jamming session, as they call it. It was at this moment that one of the other magicians, a young man who was only slightly older than me, asked me to perform a trick.

I nodded slowly and agreed. Even though I had practiced and performed magic for as long as I can remember, I had only just started to find other magicians, only just started hanging around them. Remembering my background as a street performer, he made a comment that has stuck with me to this day.

"You seem to do magic that's designed for laypeople to watch."

Not in quite those words. I can't remember the exact words, but the meaning they conveyed was clear.
My response at the time was silence. I just nodded. My tongue was tied, as usual.
In my head, though, I knew what I wanted to say.

"What other kind of magic is there?"
What is magic for?

And why am I thinking about this question again now?

I have started street performing again, after a two year hiatus. It's too bad that fall is almost upon us, but I'll do my best to keep it up, somehow, someway. Out on the streets of Chicago, I have found help and guidance from two amazing street magicians. Other street performers have helped me out as well. They may not know magic, but they're some of the best performers I know. They know how to stop a crowd, they know how to keep them, and they know how to convince their audiences that something valuable is happening.

They've made me think a lot about magic and magicians and why we do what we do.

(I've also just finished reading Lev Grossman's Magicians trilogy. Quentin, its protagonist, also asks the same question at some point. What is the purpose of magic? Their magic is, of course, entirely different from the kind of magic I'm writing about here).

Magicians are awesome people. I have a lot of respect for the magicians that I meet in magic clubs and elsewhere, and I'm giddy with excitement every time I meet one of them.

At the same time, I get nervous when I am performing for them. Sure, as a female magician, I sometimes do feel like I have to prove myself. And that's on me, something that I have to work through in my head, especially since so many of the other performers are so supportive.

But the root of this problem is in the purpose of magic itself. Performing for magicians is different from performing for laypeople. In the second case, the goal is to amaze, to entertain. In the first, the aim is (I think) entirely different - to show off a set of skills. It becomes less of a magic show and more of a juggling act. I'm not sure.

So why do we do magic?

For community? To show off our skills? To juggle cards and coins? To entertain? To astonish? All of those reasons are valid. There isn't one reason that is superior than any others. I'm just curious. What's your reason for taking up this art form?

That question, along with recent interactions with other magicians and street performers, have drawn me back into writing this blog. My goal, now, is to update this blog weekly. I'll make a post every Monday evening. If all goes well, maybe I'll go for a bi-weekly blog... but I'm going to stick with baby steps.

Let's try a weekly blog first. And if you guys are out there, and if you guys happen to read this, please feel free to comment. I would love to hear your thoughts.