Let me be perfectly clear from the very start - I can't stand magicians.
Not personally of course, although the profession does tend to attract a sanctimonious type that I find irritating. The problem is that I don't like being tricked, or maybe just deceived.
In a contradictory way I find optical illusions fascinating, a trick that’s played with my perception of reality. Humour is a trick that’s played both verbally and visually. You expect one thing and you get another which creates a surprise and makes you laugh. In both cases the deception is a pleasurable experience which I actively seek.
So why, when the Ace of Hearts is revealed or the coin is pulled out from behind my ear, do I have the strong desire to grind my teeth and fake a smile? The reaction is completely irrational.
I think it comes down to two things.
First, the trick is presented as “magic”, a supernatural event that I’m asked to believe is true when I know for a fact it’s nothing more than misdirection, sleight of hand or some hidden artifice. So the magician is lying to me from the start, which is never a basis for a healthy relationship.
But the core of the problem is: I need to know how it’s done. I’m happy to be tricked so long as I can understand how I've been tricked. Like a joke, the pleasure is in the reveal.
My admiration for the trick or the practitioner would not be lessened by knowing how it was done. I’m fully aware that many of these illusions take hours of practice and immense skill.
So perform the trick, show me how it’s done and then do it again. I’d be delighted by the performance and be fully appreciative of the magician's art.
That’s it really. I don’t like being tricked and not being able to work out how it was done.
Recently it’s become clear we’ve all been conned by the most audacious misdirection that’s ever been attempted. A deception that’s been centuries in the making, involving numerous parties, malicious intent and a healthy dose of conspiracy.
Working out how and why it was done is the subject of this newsletter. I want to be the person in the audience that smiles to himself when the curtain is finally lifted and the people around me gasp when they discover that the valuable item that they have protected for so long has completely disappeared. In the end the item still vanishes but at least I would have known how the trick was done and where the item disappeared to. For the rest of the spellbound audience, the show is almost over and we are heading for the big reveal.
So what is the subject of this amazing disappearing trick?
A rabbit? - A dove? - A pretty assistant? - A horse? - The Eiffel Tower? Of course not, that's all a bit passé and it’s been done before. This is the big one, the trick to end all tricks, the greatest deception of all time.
It’s your personal freedom.
So settle down, grab the popcorn bowl and enjoy the final act.