The Importance of Being Idle

Do You Believe In Magic?

Why are people amazed and out-raged by magicians?
I'm thinking particularly about some videos of Criss Angel I've seen lately, and the comments I've heard associated therewith. Most people take the dismissive "It's a trick" route, but some are quite angry at being fooled, and a surprising number of people have even gone so far as to claim that what he's doing aren't tricks at all and are in fact evidence of supernatural abilities. To these people I have to say: WAKE UP! Of course they're bloody tricks! That's what magicians do: they invite you to look closely (although not necessarily at the right things), they tell you up front they're gonna trick you and then despite your best efforts to catch them out, they do it anyway. I'm not denying that His illusions aren't impressive, cos they bloody well are, but they ARE illusions. Do they require prodigious mental and physical skill and discipline? Of course they do, otherwise everybody would be doing them. I think the "it's just a trick" route is as dismissive and almost as ridiculous as the "he's magic!" approach, because the one thing you should never underestimate is the extreme lengths illusionists will go to to achieve seemingly minor effects. In fact, the insane amount of behind the scenes work is PART of the trick. There is a well known story of a magician whose name I can't recall now, who famously had the entire ground floor of his house put on hydraulic lifters, so he could surreptitiously raise floor level a few inches so that dinner guests who arrived wearing hats couldn't wear them to leave the building without knocking them off on the door jambs. You should NEVER underestimate the lengths illusionists will go to. But seriously folks, get a grip.
I should've been a magician, I realise this now, as it satisfies my twin desires to both show off and be the smartest guy in the room. I probably still could be, although my lack of dexterity in my left hand, whilst better now than it has been in many years, isn't exactly what you'd call normal.
'Set List' by The Frames is one of a very small number of live albums I'd unhesitatingly recommend to anyone. Normally I find live albums to be very un-involving unless you happened, by happy coincidence, to be there on the night of the recording, in which case it's like having a sonic photograph of the event. If on the other hand you weren't there, then generally they're just surprisingly sterile records of fun things you didn't get to do. 'Set List' isn't like that. I don't know if its the sound quality, the astonishing musicianship, the obvious enjoyment of the crowd or whether it was recorded in a small venue or whatever, but the magic of the live show is preserved (or at least a portion of it is, maybe The Frames are even more awesome if you happen to be in their presence). For whatever reason, its a cracking good record and I'd recommend you seek The Frames out with all alacrity, and don't be put off if you find the obligatory live album, 'Set List' is still worth getting even if you don't know the material, cos believe me, you soon will.

posted by BadMonkey @ 6:57 PM