Picto Transpo

This is a fantastic trick and routine devised by Gene Anderson. Check out his website at www.geneanderson.com. For me the key theme of this trick is substitution or a transposition which is of course one of the main themes of the cross of Christ.

Check it out. Although it is expensive you can get it made if you follow the directions from his excellent Semi Pro lecture notes.

Picto Transpo

EFFECT: The performer draws a humorous caricature of a spectator and the spectator draws one of the performer. Each signs his/her name on the back of the picture frames and they are openly placed into envelopes held by the artists. To make it clear that nothing has happened (yet), the performer removes his frame from his envelope and shows both his drawing and his signature. He replaces his frame in the envelope, and with a magic word the pictures change places. He immediately withdraws her drawing from his envelope, while she withdraws his from hers. The routine is entertaining throughout and baffling at the finish. Click here for reviews and testimonials.The drawings can be individualized and are easily adapted for holidays or special events. I find it's a particularly nice effect for a male performer to use involving a female spectator: it's novel, non-threatening, funny and ends with strong magic. In my show it is always in second position and the first time I involve somebody from the audience. The reason is it establishes how I treat guests on stage: with dignity and respect. That doesn't mean we don't have fun together, but not at their expense. The routine is both fun and a fooler, and it subtly establishes the norms of conduct for both my audience assistants and me.THE PROPS look like normal articles - not special magic apparatus - and something you could probably buy at any office supply store. In reality this is an updated slate effect, and my original version used posterboard in picture frames. I performed the posterboard version for almost 30 years. Many magicians who saw me lecture or perform inquired about using dry erase whiteboards, but dry erase materials have technical and performance limitations. with white board cleaner. The result is a much superior product.

Christian Magician's Society

Fellowship of Christian Magicians

There is a well established worldwide orgainisation called Fellowship of Christian Magicians. They are committed to promoting th Christian message through the use of performing arts. I first heard about this group in the UK when a Church Army evangelist called Captain Tony Maidment first introduced me to the concept of using magic as a tool for sharing the Gospel. They have annual conferences, a magazine and are a genuinely fun group of people to hang out with and learn new things. Past presidents include Henry Smith, Paul Morley and the much missed late Pete McCahon.

You can find more free Christian Resources at their website. www.fcmuk.org/freebies.htm
These range from free gospel magic downloads to advice on prop maintenance.The USA is home to the orignal Fellowship of Christian Magicians and they are huge. They have several chapters around the country and hold regional conferences.

One of my favourite magicians to watch is Duanne Laflin who is a true professional. Along with his wife he presents stunning and colurful magic. He has a passion for sharing Christ and his collection of books take pride of place on my shelf.

If you are looking to grown and learn in your hobby of using magic tricks to share your faith. Then this society is a great place to start and continue.Blessings

Geoffrey Durham and the Art of Preaching

I recently visited the Wolverhampton Circle of Magicians. The guest speaker that evening was Geoffrey Durham. He is a highly successful British magician whose career has spanned several decades in television and theatre. He was a compelling speaker and addressed the issue of how to communicate with an audience. Along the way he illustrated his talk with the multiplying Martini Bottles, an excellent rope routine, the biggest hydrostatic glass trick I have ever seen (he had it custom made by finding a glass blower - now that's a sign of a real professional!)

He also presented and explained his Himber ring routine which is fantastic. The thought and attention to detail was a real lesson in planning and care. All these effects though were to illustrate his Seven keys (or principles) to presenting an effective magic show. His emphasis throughout was that it is the personality of the performer which is paramount not the trick which is performed.

As Geoffrey Durham continued to expound his seven principles it really struck me that his principles would equally be effective in improving the communication of preachers. Someone once said that preaching is communicating the Word of God through personality. While I would not steal his talk point by point (You can get his excellent book Professional Secrets for a more detailed discussion of his ideas), I think it is worth exploring some of his ideas in the context of improving the preaching of sermons. As Geoffrey Durham used magic tricks to highlight his principles so I will use Gospel magic tricks for the same purpose. This will be the subject of my next seven blogs. So watch this space.

Derren Brown and Gospel Magic

One ministry I think Christian magicians have is to be a witness to other magicians.

Unfortunately we often give a bad witness when we do give poor quality performances. However we do move in the same circles as other magicians and this is a fantastic privilege. When I worked with other professional magicians in Dubai I met some amazingly talented people. They came from all over the world and it was an awesome privilege to work alongside alongside with entertainers from India, Argentine, Chile, Pakistan and Iran!

Almost inevitable the subject of religion comes up when we are 'resting' between shows and it has proved a reminder to me that although I am dealing with some of the most cynical people in the world when it comes to believing in miracles - these magicians share the same desire as I do in trying to make sense of the world we live in.

Recently I read Derren Brown's book "Tricks of the Mind". It is an excellent read but troubling for me as Derren ( a famous and successful television magician and mentalist) makes no secret of his sceptism of all things religious. Derren is an incredible performer. His television programmes blow the mind and he is very, very good at what he does. As an entertainer his style is compelling, convincing and sometimes outrageous.

In his book, he describes how he converted from Evangelical Christianity to scientific atheism and goes on to express his pity for those who believe in the Biblical accounts of Jesus. His encounters with various Christians and churches are described and it made me cringe - and sadly I can understand his aversion to some forms of religion.

It's not just Christianity he pans though, at the end of the book he aggressively denounces the whole Spiritist movement and exposes the guillible victims of seances and charlatans who seek to contact the dead.

Derren was clearly influenced by the work of Richard Dawkins and refers to him throughout. Dawkins is an unrelenting Biological Determinist from Oxford University who sees the concept of God as a rather sad means to enable humans to justify their existence and make sense of the world. Derren constantly approves of science as the only measuring stick for truth.

My response to his book as a Christian reader is this:

"Derren I am sorry for the graceless way in which some Christians have treated you and for the experience of manipulation you so clearly described in some church services.

But science as the only measure of truth is a seriously limited way of understanding and living life. The whole premise of science is that it seeks to observes visible data and discover the principles which govern our universe. (If our universe is just a random accident - where did these universal scientific principles come from I wonder?) There are some things which science can never measure. For example; it cannot measure my love for my wife and children. The scientific method cannot prove if yesterday ever happened! God cannot be put in a test tube.

Scientific evidence for me builds a convincing case for the existence of a personal creator God and it is interesting to see more and more the number of sceptic scientists coming to that conclusion. A great book to read Derren would be The Case for a Creator by the journalist Lee Strobel. "

As for Gospel magic - it is simply a visual aid for me to teach those who have grown up in a visual culture the astouding reality that 'Truth' is a person - Jesus Christ.

God Bless you Derren Brown.

Penn And Teller Cups And Balls

Every magician needs to learn at least one routine with the cups and balls. Penn and Teller do a master class in this. Even when they explain the routine it is so effective you still end up being fooled! Not Gospel Magic - but these guys are original and show the level of skill which we should all aspire to in the magic world. Enjoy!

Kids Thought: Where's Jesus

More Terry Owen magic using silks. Simple, visual and memorable.

If you cannot be heard . . .

I was in Doha recently and was asked to do some magical entertainment for a society ball in the evening. It was in a top flight hotel - really posh. A huge banquet hall was used and over 300 guests in all their finery were sat around the room around 30+ tables.

My first problem was that the stage was in the middle of the room surrounded on all sides by the audience. It felt a little bit like being in a boxing ring . . .

I went dizzy turning around to make sure the audience on all sides could see what I was doing at any one time.

Worse though was that the organisers of the event having splashed out huge money on the entertainers stinted by not getting a decent sound system.

It was terrible. Nothing could be heard. The MC squawked helplessly, the guest ambassador's speech was completely ignored and it killed my act stone dead. The sound engineer was either incapable of fixing the system or simply did not care. So for twenty agonising minutes I was exposed to a room full of people who could not understand a word I said. Although the magic was visual and people who were interested could understand the effects, it simply was not enough. There was no connection with the audience on an emotional level.

If you cannot be heard . . . you might as well not say anything.

The light show dancer who followed my act had it even worse. The sound engineer refused to play her music (which she had rehearsed to for over a month) and played music which had no rhythm or beat. She was so upset afterwards she nearly cried. Our entertainment agent was furious.

Ahhhhh! . . . Life in the real world outside church eh! . Come back my beloved congregation . . . all is forgiven!

The only redeeming feature of the night for me was the requirement to do table hopping magic - and with thirty plus tables I had my work cut out for me. It did assuage my guilt that I was earning the fat fee I was getting paid. At least at the table I got to talk with the people, and there was a connection and the magic was appreciated.

The moral of the story - invest in a decent sound system. If you have something worth saying - make sure you are heard.

It especially seem to me that churches stint on the pa systems too and this is a tragedy. We have something worth sharing.