What Kind of Magician Are You?

What role do you play in life or on stage?
 
What role do YOU most often play when you perform magic? Do you think of yourself as a Trickster, Sorcerer, Oracle, or Sage?
 
Following is the philosophy of “The Wheel of Life of the Magician.” 
 
Many of you have seen my now semi-famous chart of the “Wheel of The Magician” that was created by my study of magicians for over 30 years. You can see it here:
 
https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=10223894294174601&set=a.1034651675898
 
Who are you on an archetypal level?
 
Some people pass through all of these personas as they grow in the art. Some develop their work and dive deep into one role. Some go their entire careers totally unaware or unwilling to work their magic, or live life on mythic level. There are a multitude of personas and characters to explore, and many shades in between each role.
 
In creating graphic art, there are three primary colors: red, yellow and blue. Many shades of color can emerge out of these. Likewise, infinite novel, and colorful variations flow from our four primary magical archetypes of the magician! Below are just a few of the primary archetypes. Hint–you can always play more than just one of these four roles! What is your primary persona?
 
(You can “find yourself” in our next class series!)

The Trickster is the disruptor who turns our reality upside down. Learn the ways and means of master tricksters, and how to use them to capture people’s hearts and minds.

The Sorcerer is the hero who captures and concentrates magical powers, and focuses them to work their will upon the world. Yet, it takes more than mere tricks to become a Sorcerer; it takes discipline and many skills. In this class, we will focus on theatricality, character, and presentation.

The Oracle is the master of the inner world – a visionary who taps into our inner landscapes, can appear to read minds, and can even predict our future. In modern times, these oracles appear as mentalists, mind readers, and mystery entertainers.

The Sage is the keeper of the inner secrets. The real secrets of magic are only passed down from master to student, in whispers. The Sage is a collector of knowledge, experience, and hard-earned wisdom. When you tap into your inner sage, you have the entire history of mystery at your fingertips.
Which one are you?
 
If you are a serious student of magic, art, and philosophy…
 
I invite you to take a very personal journey with me, and explore real secrets of these archetypes that will be revealed in my upcoming class. Registration is now open!
https://shop.magicalwisdom.com/event/the-four-faces-of-magic

Super Star David Copperfield!
 
David Copperfield will be our very special guest with us for Mystery School Monday on September 14th, and we will talk about how the cinema has influenced his magic and television shows. We are incredibly excited to have David as our guest. This is a very special opportunity to hear a true Master of the Art.
 
Movie Magic
 
Magicians are often ahead of their time. Many of you might be aware that magicians were pioneers in the Art of Cinema. Many people consider Georges Méliès to have been the father of cinematic special effects; however, there were magicians before him that blazed the trail… And I have been walking that trail recently and exploring the history of magicians in the movies.

I’ve always had a passion for live theater, and have always considered myself a theatrical performer. These days, everybody is living in front of the computer, a medium that isn’t quite television, and yet isn’t cinema either. It is something new and unusual, and an unexplored frontier. We here at the Magic  and Mystery School are exploring it.
 
I’ve learned many things from watching great movies, and I am working to put them into practice in our online presentations. Recently I’ve been seeking inspiration from Masters of Cinema.
 
During these last few months, I have avoided watching movies. However, there are some great inspirational movies that magicians must see in order to understand how the general public perceives magic.
 
In recent years, movies like The Prestige and Illusionist have given magic an elegant Victorian mystique.
 
There seems to be a pendulum swing between sophistication, and making other movies like The Incredible Burt Wonderstone, The Great Buck Howard and most recently, Magic Camp by Disney, which all portray magicians as ego maniacal comic characters, using magic to get attention — and in many ways they might be correct!

I’m curating a list of magic movies that inspire. What are some of your favorite magic movies? I’d be curious to know!

Wikipedia has an extraordinary list of magic movies to explore–take a look for “Movies about Magic”

Each Monday on Mystery School Monday we will explore magical archetypes in the cinema!

Join us at https://shop.magicalwisdom.com/i/mcbridemagic-tv

Take a look at these amazing new classes we are offering and also know that we are offering financial aid in the form of a stipend, in case you need help attending our online classes. Go to
https://shop.magicalwisdom.com/events

See you in the online classroom! It is our amazing new home and we invite you to join us!

Jeff & the Mystery School faculty

New Days and New Ways to Learn Magic

Remember the good old days?
 
What is the most wonderful memory you have from your school days? The school play, a school dance, the talent show? I remember my favorite teacher Mr. Stedman. He was the music teacher.
 
Mr. Stedman taught music like it was a game! He let us students PLAY music. And, he allowed me to share my passion for magic, as well as my passion for music. That’s why I think, even at a young age, I was combining different artistic disciplines together to create “Fusion illusion.“ That’s what I called it back in those days–a combination of magic, theater, music, and dance.
 
What made Mr. Stedman’s classes more fun and effective? It was a unique combination of teaching, doing, play, and study, that made a huge impact on my performance skills and knowledge base. Now I can look back and see how his inspiration helped me make the following important discovery.
 
HOW we learn is as important as WHAT we learn!

New Days & News Ways of Learning Magic
 
There are many ways to take in information. The world is moving so fast these days, that I thought it was important to create a new way to study and learn magic.
 
Each of us learns at a different speed… 
 
I am a very slow and steady learner. Other people digest information at the speed of light.
 
How do you satisfy so many different styles?
 
Most people are either readers or “visual learners.“ Still others like to listen to podcasts, and other audio training materials.
 
Our master key system of magic training combines all three!

The McBride Master Key System of Magic Training

Our Mystery School team has developed a new teaching system that is a combination of:

1. LIVE – Online, interactive real-time classes.
2. Follow up study videos where students can learn at their own pace, stop the action, and review and renew their skills.
3. A “Bonus Bundle” of Printed materials, books, PDFs and other important documents that you can refer to for research and study for the rest of your life!

I have new classes, and I invite you to join me live online, and get the MCBRIDE MASTER KEY SYSTEM as part of the training experience.

• 

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Innovations in Magic Teaching

I think about new ways to teach, and I think I’ve discovered something radically different than in the past. Now that we have everybody on Zoom, there is a new way to learn magic. My life classes, combined interactive real-time classes with extraordinary training videos, PDFs and other support materials. Some of our classes are over two hours long, and you will also get Bonus materials. The bonus training package that we called the Master Key has hours of exclusive training videos.

“This is the best parlor magic & stage magic course ever created!”

– Paul Craven, UK

More than mere trick teaching, THE McBRIDE MASTER KEY SYSTEM contains lessons in showmanship, presentation, psychology, philosophy, and much more. We have created a whole new way to learn magic you can see it here.

https://shop.magicalwisdom.com/events

You can get more information by contacting Abigail at 702-450-0021 or abbimcb@gmail.com
Register now online for the upcoming classes:

See you in the online classroom!
Jeff 
 
Jeff McBride
Website | Promo Video
Cell: 702-245-7282 Office: 702-450-0021
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The 2020 Magic and Meaning Conference GOES ONLINE!

From Dr. Larry Hass, the Dean
 
It is my pleasure to announce that the Mystery School’s annual Homecoming event—the Magic and Meaning Conference—will be happening this year, and it will be ONLINE.

As the pandemic surged in recent weeks, it became clear to the School’s wisdom team that the Conference could not proceed as an in-person event this October. This was true both for health and safety reasons, but also because so many people are reluctant to travel for the foreseeable future.
 
This is, of course, deeply disappointing: The Magic and Meaning Conference has been our community’s time to gather together, re-connect, and re-charge our love of magic that matters. And yet, throughout the pandemic, the Magic & Mystery School has built upon its long experience with the Zoom platform to design and deliver online programs, courses, and seminars that have achieved very high quality. For example, just last week, Jeff, Lance Burton, and I delivered two full days of the Online Lance Burton Teen Seminar. There were seventy-six teens, great teaching content, special guests, lots of breaks, and outstanding engagement from the teens.  From every perspective, the program was a smash success.
 
And so, we are excited to pivot the 2020 Magic and Meaning Conference into an online format. The Conference will be held Saturday and Sunday, October 24-25, 2020, from 10:00am to 4:15pm PACIFIC, each day.
 
We’re pleased to announce our 30^th anniversary Special Guests: Lance Burton & Jade—both of whom have confirmed they will be with us for the virtual conference!

We are planning to emulate the in-person conference by featuring online versions of its most beloved events. For example, there will be:
 
— 12 Presentations (P-E-P Talks) from attendees. See the Call for Presentations  here: https://www.magicalwisdom.com/about/call-for-presentations.
 
— Guests of Honor and their Presentations
 
— Ensemble Shows featuring members of the community
 
— Small Group discussions (using the breakout room feature of Zoom)
 
— Special Events, such as celebrating the 30^th Anniversary of the Magic & Mystery School, the Festival of Wands (our archetypal magic tool of the year), and a Broken Wand Ceremony.
 
One important benefit of shifting the 2020 Magic and Meaning Conference to an online event, is that it now becomes accessible to magicians from all over the world.
 
To help make it possible for people to sign up in these challenging times, we have set the tuition for the conference at $145.00. Also, since this is an online program, people are eligible to apply for a need-based stipend that will cover 50% of the tuition. To see if you qualify, go here: https://www.magicalwisdom.com/scholarships.
 
We hope you will plan to join us for this incredible celebration of the Magic & Mystery School’s 30^th Anniversary!  Sign up now at: https://shop.magicalwisdom.com/event/magic-meaning-2020-online for an incredible weekend of magic and mystery with our tribe!

Jeff McBride – Hard Core Magic

Hard Core Magic

QUESTION: What separates an “OK magician” from a GREAT magician?

ANSWER: “THE CORE ACT.”

Great magicians have developed a formula that makes an unforgettable impact on their audiences. World-famous close-up, stand-up, and stage magicians have developed THE CORE ACT to perfection. What are the essential ingredients to THE CORE ACT? 

• AN EYE-POPPING OPENING — How to grab attention and sustain it.
• SHOW-STOPPING MIDDLE ROUTINES — Sharing your personal message with your magic
• A STANDING OVATION GRAND FINALE! — Leave your audience breathless and wanting more!

In the past, THE CORE ACT took years and years to develop. However, now, because of the miracle of our online training programs, you can meet me in our virtual classroom, and I can personally guide you, step by step, in creating your own CORE ACT.

I can help you shave YEARS of frustration off your learning curve. I can also save you from wasting money and time, and direct you to make wise choices with your energy and finances.

1. You will learn new magic routines, and develop powerful techniques that you will use for the rest of your life.
2. You will learn how to take magic effects you already perform, and personalize routines to fit your style and character.
3. You will learn presentation and performance skills, that will help you connect to your audience, and make your show a memorable theatrical experience.

I only hold these skill-building classes once a year. They are priced affordably, and we even offer financial assistance with our new Stipend Program. Our School believes in giving you a helping hand during these challenging times.  
https://www.magicalwisdom.com/about/scholarship-program

Please join me for this life-enriching, skill-building series.

Learn more and register at: https://shop.magicalwisdom.com/events

(Note: The first listing is for all four classes, but if you wish to take just one or two, you can scroll down the page and register for each one separately)

Yours in better magic,
Jeff McBride

Questions? Contact Abigail (702) 450-0021
Email: Abigail@mcbridemagic.com