Dear Friends:
Our guest contributor this month is Magic & Mystery School long-time student, contributor and friend, Judge Gary Brown. A magician and writer, having authored Wandcraft, The Coney Island Fakir, and a host of magic articles, Judge Brown is also passionate about inventing and creating original magic, having developed more than a dozen original effects that have been released to magicians worldwide. In this Museletter, Judge Brown encourages magicians to embrace challenges as a way to enhance their craft and spark ingenuity.
Rising to the Challenge
by Judge Gary Brown
“Alexa, play the song again!” I snapped, growing increasingly frustrated. On the table before me lay a trio of vases and a piece of rope with which I could demonstrate a series of astonishing animation and levitation effects. My plan was to offer these pieces set to music to meet an upcoming challenge called “The Silent Treatment,” concocted by members of the Long Island’s Sleight Club. The idea was to perform a favorite routine without words, so I was going to use a piece of magic-themed music. So while Alexa played Pilot’s 1975 jaunty pop single entitled “Magic,” I ran through the routine again. Dozens of rehearsals notwithstanding, it still didn’t feel right.
Then I had a flash: change the song. I said “Alexa, play ‘Extraordinary Magic’ by Ben Rector.” I tried again. This time, it went like clockwork. The evocative tune had just the right tempo and created the perfect mood for the performance. I had learned something important about rhythm, movement, and magic, while adding a lovely little piece to my repertoire.
Participating in magic challenges can be fun and exciting. More importantly, such exercises provide an inspirational incubator, nurturing the kind of directed play and guided experimentation that can drive innovation. For the imaginative performer, participating in challenges can open new avenues to original magic. Producing a performance piece that meets the requisites of a challenge often requires researching and combining methods, developing or adapting gimmicks, building props, refining, handling, and/or writing new scripts. These efforts represent the basic building blocks of magic invention.
If you’re lucky enough to belong to a vibrant club or an informal group of magicians with whom you collaborate, I’d urge you to introduce the idea of challenges. If you don’t have access to such a group, you may have to find one or form one. Alternatively, participation in Magic & Mystery School events will provide similar incubator opportunities.
Of course, to participate effectively, you’ll need to pull these things together on a schedule. Here’s where my suggestion could be seen to run afoul of conventional wisdom. “[We often tell ourselves,] ‘I simply must have this magic trick ready for the show/magic club meeting tomorrow night!’” Eugene Burger wrote. “Don’t you see this is the statement that is destroying
magic, both as an art and as a craft?” This is powerful and important advice when it comes to practice. Inadequate, hurried preparation is anathema to polished performances.
For the inventor, however, I believe the primary problem is different. Innovators run the risk of staying in the theoretical indefinitely. You can tinker with an idea for years without producing anything of value. Thus, imposing a deadline for a deliverable—in our example, a challenge—can spur production and creativity. The difference is that you are not expecting to produce a pitch-perfect presentation. The goal is to build and test a concept. That test might fail, so one has to make sure the stakes are low, and the audience will be forgiving. Yet, by holding to production deadlines, you will become more prolific. “The secret to making things,” Michael Weber notes, “is to make things.” a phrase that has become my creative mantra. (David Regal, Interpreting Magic at 533). In the same spirit, Jeff McBride likes to say, “a goal is a dream with a deadline.”
Working on a challenge piece will help you hone your skills and may, with a little luck and perseverance, drive you to produce something astonishing. As I reflect back on some of the innovative magic pieces I’ve been able to develop, many have their roots in magic challenges:
Material-based challenges – like “Dollar Store” or “Thrift Store” events, will prompt you to rely on ingenuity to convert something you find into something useful. Theme-based challenges can go well beyond the traditional magic club “rope trick night” or “Tarbell nights,” by identifying a topic subject to interpretation by each performer. During the pandemic, Carisa Hendrix (a/k/a Lucy Darling) moderated the Spark Creative Facebook group that provided a weekly prompt, like “small” or “luxury,” which inspired members to produce short responsive videos. My local group has dabbled with quirky themes like “That Ain’t Right!” or “What Should I Do With This?” generating broad inspiration. So if you’d like to learn to develop original magic, and have some fun along the way, take or create a magic challenge. You won’t regret it.
1Eugene Burger: Final Secrets, Lawrence Hass, with additional material by Eugene Burger (2021) at 5.
2 Regal, David, Interpreting Magic, Blue bikes productions (2019) at 533.
Did you know I got into magic by accident? I was looking for a book on drumming in the library, and right next to them…aha–the magic books! I took one off the shelf, and it changed my life. It was the sound of drums that led me to magic.
Jeez! Kids Today!
Unlike today’s kids, I didn’t learn my magic or music skills from YouTube. I wasn’t watching videos, playing computer games, or scrolling through social media to absorb information. How did I learn my magic and music? I read books and took private lessons from masters. I marched to the beat of a different drummer…and his name was Bey Perry.
WHAT! You’ve never heard of Bey Perry? It’s ok, there’s very little written about this great jazz drummer on the internet, so this might be one of the longest pieces out there on him. There’s only one photo of him that exists, and here it is.
Bang the Drum
The year was 1970, and I wanted to be a rock ‘n’ roll drummer. The radio had influenced me but I couldn’t learn drums just by listening, so my parents took me to drum lessons at a local music academy. They handed me drumsticks, some sheet music, and a practice pad – this little thing that barely made any noise. I thought it was stupid. I wanted to make noise. But I needed training, and my parents knew that. Dear God, if I was going to make noise, I needed proper training.
They asked around the Catskill Mountains, which was a hotbed of entertainment back then. That’s when they found a restaurant called Château across from the Monticello Raceway. It featured The Bey Perry Trio, Plus One. I guess that was the cool-cat way of saying quartet.
Bey was the band leader. He was an African American jazz drummer, and wow, he was super slick–a very cool cat. My parents took me to see him, and he was indeed a master drummer. Not a loud, thrashing, rock ‘n’ roll drummer, but cool, calculated, and incredibly talented rhythmically.
I wanted to be Ginger Baker, Ringo Starr, or Keith Moon, but Bey Perry introduced me to modern jazz drum masters, and we listened to Gene Krupa, Max Roach and Buddy Rich. That rocked my world – no, in fact it “jazzed” my world.
My parents drove me to his home in Monticello, New York. He had something I’d never seen before – a finished basement that looked like a nightclub, complete with a bar, a piano, and an amazing drum setup. I never got to play his kit, but I spent many hours by his side, learning my rudiments.
No, I didn’t learn from the radio or television. I learned from a master, and that is something I treasure. Bey taught me the history of rhythm. He knew I just wanted to be a rockstar and humored me, but rudiments are rudiments, and I had to learn them, all the terminology, and all the motions. I look back on those days fondly.
As a Black jazz musician in the Catskills during the late 1960s, Bey blended cool, calculated jazz drumming with an infectious passion for teaching. In his basement-turned-nightclub in Monticello, New York, he shared not only the technical rudiments of drumming but also a deep sense of musical history and rhythm’s soul. Though his name may not be widely known, his legacy lives on in the hearts of his students–a testament to the power of one-on-one mentorship, in an era before YouTube and online tutorials.
Two Seats Open
Due to last-minute cancellations, two seats have become available in the Master Class for Mentalism, Session 2, taking place live in Las Vegas at the House of Mystery October 21-24. At this Special Master Class, all of the performances, talks, and breakout sessions are focused on the performing art of MENTALISM. Taught by Jeff McBride and Dr. Larry Hass, our special guest for the class will be ROSS JOHNSON, perhaps the most successful corporate mentalist in the United States. These seats will be quickly filled, so reserve your spot today! https://shop.magicalwisdom.com/events
Lucky Me = Lucky You!
I think back on those days and how lucky I was and how special it was to take “live in-person” classes with a master. Now, it’s your turn! I’ll meet you online or here in Vegas – your choice! Let me know, then set a time for a Zoom class with Abigail at 702-450-0021 or email her abigail@mcbridemagic.com.
Take a look and click the video below. This is your invitation to join us at the Magic & Mystery School.
It will not be an accident if we bump into each other online on Monday nights or in Las Vegas. Instead, let’s call it…synchronicity!
Keep inspired,
Jeff and Abigail
Dear Friends:
Kicking off our fall season of Museletters is Jonas Cain. Jonas runs the company “Hashtag Positivity” where he works as an educator, facilitator, and coach, using magic to engage, empower, and encourage his clients.
Running Out of Runway
The only thing he remembers about that summer at the factory is a conversation he had with a woman one day at lunch. When his mother worked there two decades earlier, this same woman had already been there for decades, and he was curious to speak with her. “What’s her story?” he wondered.
“I’m saving for retirement,” she answered as they sat together in the cafeteria. “I’m going to see the world!” She had been delaying gratification for decades, saving every spare penny for someday.
Bob didn’t think much of it at the time. After all, summer was brief. He had just graduated high school and had his own someday to think about. It wasn’t until years later that he thought about that conversation again, when he learned of the woman’s death – two weeks after retirement. All those years of waiting for a someday that never came.
She was finally ready for takeoff, but had run out of runway.
One of my favorite opening routines is Bill Abbott’s “Five Card Box.” If you’re not familiar with the prop, it’s an interesting hook for the classic Six Card Repeat theme. Please don’t tell Eugene, but my routine is nearly identical to what came with the instructions – though I did make some adjustments to fit my style. Here are the important beats that make it work for me:
“This reminds me of the very first magic show I ever performed, when I was just 12 years old. I was at a [insert the type of venue or event] just like this, and I used this cardboard box. I made it myself!”
The box is introduced with the words MAGIC SHOW written on it. After displaying a stack of five playing cards, one is discarded into the box; and after counting the cards again, five cards remain in the hand! I offer to do it again, but this time with a different story.
“That story wasn’t entirely true. That may have been my first magic show for a real audience, but my first magic show ever wasn’t for a real audience. It was for my family, and they are unreal. I was just six years old.”
The box is turned around, revealing the words MAJC SHOW written in it. “I didn’t even know how to spell yet – but what I lacked in polish, I made up for in passion.”
Two more cards are discarded, yet five magically remain! I offer to do it one last time, but this time with an even different story.
“That may have been my first magic show for people, but my first magic show ever wasn’t for people. It was in my bedroom, for a bunch of stuffed animals. I was just three years old.”
The box is turned around, but the words have transformed into a bunch of scribbles. “I didn’t even know how to write yet! But I did have passion.”
More cards are discarded, yet five perpetually remain. Finally, all the cards are placed into the box – yet the box is miraculously revealed to be completely empty!
The routine ends with these final words: “Notice how every step of the way, I stepped outside of my comfort zone. I wasn’t just content performing in my bedroom. I wasn’t just content performing for family and friends. I had something special to share, and I kept growing and developing that passion to be my very best. Because if you want something you have never had, you must be willing to do what you have never done.”
I share this with you because you have a passion, and it is my hope that you are growing and developing that passion rather than waiting for a someday that may never come. Perhaps your dream is to create your own show. Maybe you want a bigger audience to share your magic with, or perhaps you want to compete in a contest or perform on television, or maybe it’s something else. Whatever your passion, the question is: What are you doing today to invest in yourself, to take advantage of the runway you have left?
Many people hold back from pursuing their passion for any number of reasons:
If you wait for conditions to be perfect, you will wait your whole life, like the woman who spent decades delaying gratification at the factory. Start with where you are, and grow from there. If anyone tries to discourage you, consider their authority on the subject, what they might stand to gain by holding you back, and what they stand to lose by letting you grow.
Yesterday’s strikeouts can only lose today’s game if you perpetually remain in a cycle of negative rumination. Learn from the experience, then let it go, so you can continue to grow. And finally, when you settle for less than you deserve, you get even less than you settled for.
We can wait our whole lives for a someday that may never come, or we can boldly step forward and perform today. Consider this your invitation to grow in the art of magic at McBride’s Magic & Mystery School – because if you want something you have never had, you must be willing to do what you have never done.
How much runway do you have left?
Jonas Cain, M. Ed. is a storyteller, magician, musician, and facilitator of fascination, helping individuals, teams, and communities experience abiding joy – at work, at home, and wherever life takes you. If you’d like to support his mission, you can get a copy of his book or subscribe to his newsletter.
“The greatest gift a mentor can give is to believe in the ability
of their student to become their own master.”
The Beginning was Mythic!
He was an old man, but a real life wizard. I was a young man in my twenties, a kind of arrogant, questing Grail Knight! We shared the path of magic. Magic kept him young, and his teachings helped me become wise…a perfect trade!
When I met Eugene Burger, I really had nothing in common with him except for our mutual love for magic and books. Eugene and I met at the Mostly Magic nightclub in the West Village in NYC back in the 1980s. Eugene knew I wanted to talk to him about Magic and Meaning and Philosophy, but we didn’t really share common ground. I was hesitant to talk to him – what to do?
Eugene was very clever and generous. He would surprise me by mailing me books, or leaving me books on my magic table backstage when we performed together at magic conventions. I read these books on philosophy, history, art, and spirituality, and now we had something to talk about. I was eager to call him and talk on the phone. The gift of these books might have been the secret to our lifelong friendship.
We spent many hours on the phone discussing the topics in the books and the magic of life. It was this sharing of books, wisdom, and magic that helped us create the Mystery School, a place where magicians, young and old, can follow their passion for magic.
“You Are Never Too Young…
You Are Never Too Old…
For Magic to Change Your Life!”
Did You Know?
McBride’s Magic & Mystery School has six students (yes, six!) who will appear on upcoming episodes of Penn & Teller: Fool Us this year? We can’t say their names until the show airs. We keep our secrets, but we will let you know when we can. Oh, and none of them are listed below.
“Success is not the key to happiness. Happiness is the key to success.
If you love what you are doing, you will be successful.”
– Albert Schweitzer
Did You Know?
Winning is not about age. It is about a state of mind, and about training to be your best. Buddy August says:
“Two years ago this past May, I met Jeff McBride.
I hadn’t performed magic in 57 years and today I won
First Place at the 86th Abbott’s Magic Get-Together.
Thanks to the best Magic Coach in the world, Jeff McBride.”
One of my oldest students won First Place at the Abbott’s Magic Get-Together stage competition. His name is Buddy August, and he is a self-proclaimed 77-year old teenager. His motto is “Magic makes us young again!”
“Great things never come from comfort zones.”
– Eddie Harris, Jr.
Blake Aleong is 14 years old, and he is one of my youngest students. He just won the Award of Merit at the International Brotherhood of Magicians national convention. Blake was taking private classes with me here in Vegas while attending MAGIC LIVE with his family.
Daryl Rogers won the First Place Award in the Get-Together’s “Curly’s Close-Up Classic” contest 2024. Daryl also took First Place in Stage Magic at the Abbott’s Magic contest in 2022.
Bravo Daryl! We salute our Mystery School Director of Communications for his impressive accomplishments. Daryl performs classical illusions from the “Golden Age” of magic.
International student Roger Ruiz from Cuba won First Place at the International Brotherhood of Magicians international convention. Roger is very popular on TikTok with his contemporary performance of stage magic with a Latin flair.
Roger says, “I am thankful for Jeff’s video classes. The study of his work as a Master of Magic has given me incredible foundations for artistic work, which have helped me achieve all the goals in my career.”
Learn how you can work with me in person or online here – https://www.magicalwisdom.com/about/private_sessions
Quiz Time!
What do Mat Franco, Aaron Crow, and Romany have in common? Find out here – https://shop.magicalwisdom.com/i/winners-circle
Pop Quiz!
Can you see the wrestler in this photo who was inspired by Jeff McBride?
In the News! Wrestling Magician!
“You’ve gotta have a gimmick!” is the old show biz saying. Back in the 1980s my student Del Rios created a character for professional wrestling named Spellbinder. Del was “The Magic-Wrestler.” As you can see, there was just a bit of McBride inspiration.
Meet Me Every Monday Night
Did you know that our Inner Circle Mystery School group meets every Monday online? You are invited! We can talk, and share our magic and stories about life. It is the next best thing to me leaving a magic book on your table. Take a look and see for yourself. Click the video below.
Join us – https://shop.magicalwisdom.com/m/magic-mystery-school
See you online or here at the Mystery School in Las Vegas!
Jeff and Abigail
