New Zealand Blog

Since this is more of a magic blog... with things in it that non-magicians probably don't want to read, I've started a blog focused just on my trip to New Zealand. If you're interested, here's the link:

http://abroadinaotearoa.blogspot.com/

Astonishment in Aotearoa

I'm writing from Aotearoa, the Land of the Long White Cloud. In English, Aotearoa is crudely translated to "New Zealand." It's a small island nation off the coast of Australia with rolling hills, beautiful harbors, glaciers, many species of endangered flightless birds, flocks upon flocks of sheep, and, of course, it's home to the legendary hobbits.

Fortunately, it seems my very presence on this island has driven New Zealand's monkeys into the sea... where they are all currently permanently checking their eyelids for holes. What does that mean? Go ahead. Check your own eyelids for holes. Check for a minute or two... and then imagine doing that for ETERNITY.

While you check your eyelids, I'll go ahead and talk about my experiences these past few days. It's been wicked fun... and, as they say here, totally sweet as!

Yeah.. er.. By the way, since I didn't manage to take my camera out of my bags yet for this four day orientation, I'll find pictures online to show you what I saw.

July 2nd: I got onto an Air New Zealand jet from LAX. On the plane, I watched 21 (about Black Jack) while the flight attendants served some of us free red wine and coffee. I was a little surprised by the wine, but it was a sign that I had left the States.

July 4th: After thirteen hours on a plane, I discovered that a giant line in the middle of the Pacific Ocean has eaten the 3rd of July. I also discovered that it was no longer 7/4. It was 4/7. And, worst of all, it was winter.

I called home, traded my nice, green rectangular dollars for colorful and strangely cut Monopoly money, and set foot onto Middle Earth. I discovered that food here is called "kai," and the comment "sweet as" actually means "cool" or... "awesome" or.. something like that. It's not actually a comment on.. you know... er.. yeah.

The organizers of the IFSA-Butler program picked us up from the airport and helped us combat our jet lag by spraying water on us every time we drifted towards sleep. No... wait. Nature did that all by itself. We went for a wander around our orientation place, also known as Shakespear Lodge. I watched two giant, hairy pigs eat the previous day's leftovers, learned a bit about the sheep shearing process, and dodged sheep poo and puddles of water on a hike (here, a hike is known as a tramp) up a hill towards a lookout point. There, I saw the beautiful scenery, the faraway city of Auckland across the bay, and a small island where the nation's indigenous animals and plants are watched over and protected.

I stayed in that blue house there.

I'm disappointed that I didn't managed to dig my camera out of my luggage by then, but the staff and my fellow IFSA-Butler students took a lot of pictures. At one point I'll get those pictures from them, and I'll put the real ones up.

Once the wander around the place was over, we went back to the Lodge for some kai (food).

The beach where we kayaked.

Then, with my leg muscles sore from the short hike, I jumped on a kayak with another student and paddled a bit around the shore. There was a shipwreck by the beach (literally), a constant wind pushing us back, and a little shore with little crabs, snails, and sharp rocks. I hopped around a bit on bare feet before paddling back. On our way back, one of our kayaking guides decided that we should play a little game. We pulled two kayaks together. My fellow rower and I sat, straddling the two boats, and used everything we had in us to pull the two boats together... while the other two rowers stood up and rowed...

An authoritative voice ordered all four of us to stand.
All of a sudden, three of us were standing. I was still sitting, trying to stand... and - no - the boats were separating. I sat back down, trying to pull the two together. Without my partner, I failed.

And, needless to say, I happened to be one of the three people there that day who fell into the cold, winter salt water.

After some more kai and a quick warm rinse in the shower, we went to some hot springs where we could finally warm up and relax. There was more kai after that and, finally, at 8pm, I hit the sleeping bag.

5 July: The next day, we started off with a morning Pub-less Quiz that both tested and informed us about basic New Zealand stuff. The Quiz was formatted as a multiple choice competition between small groups. At one point or another, each group had to give a little presentation/skit/song/dance/anything about the previous day. I used this time to introduce a little magic to the trip... and did that one, you know, where "The card just went all the way to the other side."

Heh.. it wasn't too hard, but it was effective. And fun.

Then came the Rogaining. I think it stands for... "Recreational outdoor gaming activity involving navigation." It was basically a gigantic scavenger hunt across the entire establishment... up and down small mountains, across electric fences, through sheep paddocks and poop hills, across streams and small rivers, and... well... wow. My leg muscles swelled and ached, my hiking boots are covered in mud, and I was soaked in the cold rain. But wow. Despite all that, I have to admit... it was kinda fun.

And, if you were wondering, my group got 5th place out of 8th. Not great work, but not too shabby either.

After getting wet and eating some kai, we went out onto a grass field near the beach (I guess everything here is near the beach) and learned to play Rugby. It wasn't too hard. The back and forth movement is tiring on the legs, but they're getting used to the movement... and hey - I think my defense isn't too bad.

After rugby dried us up, it was time for the "activity of your choice" time. We could either do some rock climbing (up and down a wall), shoot some arrows in an archery session, go mountain biking, or try our hand at mountain boarding.

I decided to take the risk... and go down a giant hill on what was, essentially, a skateboard.

Yeah. Um. I screamed a bit. Fell a bit. Twisted my ankles and legs into weird positions. Fell face first into sheep poo... and turned my pants into a yucky brown color. That's all. Wasn't much to it.

Then I showered. Was briefed on the correct procedure to use in the Maori welcoming ceremony. And fell asleep soon afterwards (thus missing my first chance to watch an All Blacks rugby game).

6 July: The IFSA-Butler staff separated us into Auckland University students and Canterbury students. We were briefed on academic information and campus life... then we learned two Maori songs and an American one (Amazing Grace). We packed and loaded the trucks. While we waited to leave, the guys played cricket...

We went to the Auckland Museum and then we headed off to the Marae...

Since it seems I've gotten to the point where I'm skipping over some major details, I'll save the Marae visit for another day. I want to do this part some credit. I'll be back later to finish this up. Good bye for now.

More Random Pictures

Gah.

I didn't get anyone to take pictures for Casino. Ah well. The blog's filling up with a lot of words again... so I pulled up my pictures from that one performance that I had before. This picture is from the same time and place as the other one.

I am obviously... reading her mind. Yep.

And... this one makes me scared, nervous, and exhilarated all over again.

Casino!

Casino is an annual charity fund raising event at Amherst College. Volunteers and organizers transform our dining hall into a casino. With professional black jack and poker tables, steadily spinning roulette wheels, and a semi-formal dress code, Valentine Hall is transformed into a believable corridor straight out of an Atlantic City casino.

Yeah - it doesn't quite live up to the Vegas standards, but... for a college campus dining hall, I'd say they did a pretty good job.

Anyway, for the even took place from 10:00pm to 1:00am Saturday night. It was Casino's 40th Anniversary, so they had maxed out on their resources; organizers had fenced off a 21 and over champagne section upstairs, set up a dance with the school's most popular jazz band, and added a high-stakes raffle. There was a car (I'm hopeless with cars... all I can say is that it was blue and chubby), a plasma tv, iPods, and several other possibilities for raffle winners.

And... they, of course, hired a magician.
Ok. Maybe not. It was a charity event... so, more like, the magician volunteered.

I was going to perform, take random breaks, look around, and join in the underaged gambling fun. However, as I performed by the entrance to the event, a river of people flowed by me. Faces came, stayed for a length of time, and left... only to be replaced by new faces. Because I could watch these faces change, I knew when I could repeat effects. The night was similar to a table hopping gig. The difference? I stayed still, and the guests hopped from table to table.

I talked nonstop for nearly three hours, performing old effects, trying out a few new ones, and swallowing a stutter when the college's President stopped by to see something.

By the time 12:30am came around, my throat screamed out form water. I finally looked at the clock and found that two and a half hours of passed, and I hadn't noticed. I decided to give myself a water, cheese, and cookie break... look around... then performed for the last fifteen minutes.

Those last fifteen minutes, I believe, started out as the worse few minutes of that night. I could perform my effects fine, but I was beginning to stutter. Words that my tongue had previously naturally formed - words that rote memory had instilled into my routine - tripped and fell over themselves. My throat bothered me... and I took constant gulps of water. I didn't want to end my performance on a bad note, though, so I turned to silence.

I've performed in silence before. Silence fits my style, and silence fits the atmosphere that I want to create. Key moments of silence - change in tones - and other things... those seem to be the best choices. But, what if I channel Amherst's magician graduate... what if I channel Teller and perform entirely in silence?

That night, I ended with effects that were visual enough to ignore verbal cues. I remembered that I had fellow magician Eric Sias' favorite toy. I've used them in practice before, occasionally in private friendly performances, but never for the public (other than that one time as Joan of Arc). But they were the perfect silent tools... and, so, the deck became haunted, the glasses flipped up, and the bottles tipped over.

It was... fun.

And that's all I have to say. Thought I'd share. Once Spring Break starts, I'll post some more... philosophical stuff. Right now, though, I just wanted to share my fun. Maybe, in the midst of this sharing, someone would be able to find my lost voice for me.

Magic as Theater

I am standing in the middle of a red room, surrounded on three sides by chairs and college-aged students. I can see them if I look, but I don't. There's no reason to; I'm not talking to them.

I am, instead, talking to Reigner. He's the intruder, trying to fool me into thinking that he's the King. I laugh at him and raise my torch up into the air.

"Reigner, is it thou that thinkest to beguile me?"

Before he can say my name, I look around and I find him. My torch transforms into a rose the moment the light reaches the King's face. King Charles. The Dauphin. I bow my head. He calls me Joan. I smile, but he doesn't trust me. He won't trust me unless I prove myself in combat.

I pull out my weapon - a red silk, stained with the blood of the English. I wave it and a long black cane appears. I point it at the Dauphin's neck.

"I am prepared; here is my keen-edged sword."

He believes me now. As I go on with a metaphor to describe glory and the wheel of fortune for the bloody Brits, I spread my hand around a bottle. It vibrates... shakes in place until, finally, it falls over. Water spills out onto the table. I look up, completely still, as I say my final lines.

It was 10:00am on a Tuesday morning. For fifteen minutes, I played the French Joan of Arc.

--

For my Shakespeare class, my professor assigned me the task of acting out a scene from a play. Directed by a TA familiar with the theater arts, I was assigned the role of Joan of Arc in the play Henry VI, Part I.

As illustrated in the scene above, I inserted various magical moments into the scene. But the most educational part of this experience came in the acting instruction. I noticed that, when I perform, I have the tendency to step back or move my feet immediately after the climax of an act. The importance of silence in that "moment of astonishment" has long been hammered into my head.

We've all heard that magical mantra - Silence is Power.
This experience taught me something else: Stillness is Power.

It's the hardest thing in the world, to stand completely still when the adrenaline and rush of a successful effect runs through your veins. When your spectator jumps around, it's impossible not to want to jump as well. When you're nervous, it's impossible not to want to riffle the deck, spin a card, or shift your weight from side to side.

But... it's powerful if you can pull it off. I've learned to channel all my nervousness into my toes. I curl them and wiggle them under cover of my shoes... while I keep my legs still and my fingers calm. It takes a great deal of self control to conquer old habits. It takes a great deal of self control to keep that card still after a successful Ambitious Card Routine, when all you really want to do is spin that thing between your fingers.

Stillness aside, I've also heard an interesting statement: "When you're on stage, you want to speak very slowly. If it feels to you as though you're speaking at a normal pace, you're talking too fast."

Is this true in magic? I feel as though my normal talking pace is fine in close-up/walkaround situations. I also know that I talk too fast (according to my parents, at least). So I do slow down when I perform. But should I slow down that much more on stage? I wonder if anyone with any experience on stage knows how to answer that?

Then there's blocking. In theater, every line and every beat is matched with an action. Every character on stage, whether or not he or she is in the spotlight, knows exactly what to do and when to do it. They move across the stage, fall down on one knee, tighten jaw, close eyes, hug XX... etc, etc. You know what I mean. Every movement is planned out.

In stage magic, would this be the same? From a magic seminar that I was involved in this past summer, I remember Tyas Frantz saying that each stage show should have certain photogenic moments, that magicians should plan out certain visuals for the spectators.

Magicians often bloc for better angles. They bloc to make certain effects work.
But how often do they bloc... just to make something look pretty?

Aesthetics aren't worthless.
As technical magicians, we don't need aesthetics. But as magicians, performers, and artists, aesthetics are everything.

They help make magic beautiful.

And, if we can learn all this from the theater, what else does acting have to offer magic?

It's been a while...

It's been a while.

Two months, actually. Two months since I've last posted here. But no, it hasn't been two months of inactivity. It's been two months of busy schoolwork, followed by a period where I was slightly discouraged by the lack of traffic and the lack of response on this blog.

I don't really know what I was expecting back then. The idea of blogging was exciting, at first. The idea that someone out there could - and, perhaps, would - constantly read what I was writing... that was exhilarating. I remember reading through books on magic theory and jotting down thoughts, treating magic theory as an academic treats any other kind of theory. There was this excitement that came with doing something new.

But now, I realize that it was just December.

December's an interesting month. December's the end of a year... the start of a new one. It's when people make resolutions they know they're going to break. It's when people gather with friends and family, some of whom they really don't want to see.

And, for me at least, it's winter break.

New things always happen at that time of year. I tend to pick up new hobbies or embellish on older ones. I tend to learn magic. I tend to start stories. I tend to start blogs.

And then, as time passes by, I tend to... stop. It's never been hard for me to start stuff. It's always been hard to follow through. But now, sitting in bed with my laptop in front of me... I think I've finally learned something. It doesn't matter whether or not anyone's reading this.

All that matters is that I'm writing here.

The ideas here are enough. I can read this, and I can talk to myself. My fingers, tapping away at the keyboard, can tell me more about what's in my head than what a silent room can do. And, so, I write.

Yeah, maybe I'm writing for you. Maybe I'm writing for someone else in another part of the country. Maybe I'm writing for other magicians. Maybe I'm writing in the name of magic and in the name of theory. Maybe I could gather all my posts together sometime far in the future and make myself a book. I could hope that I do that, and I would be happy if I did.

But really, it doesn't matter. In the end, I'm just writing for me.

So here I am. Writing. Again.