We are creatures of habit, aren’t we? Everyday we do things that are so common and so rote that we forget that we’re doing them. Have you ever finished taking a shower and you weren’t sure if you washed your hair? That’s a common phenomenon. You are in such a routine that you just wash your hair as part of your ritual, but you never notice that you’re doing it.
This can be used to your advantage as a magician. I had an experience the other day that absolutely solidified my theory. I use a laptop, but I rarely use the built-in mouse. Rather, I use a wireless USB mouse that I plug into my laptop. Without fail, I sit down at my desk, look at the screen and place my right hand, without looking, on my mouse.
I do this thousands of times per month, and have done so for the past who-knows-how-many years. Every once in a while, I’ll start packing up my laptop to put in my brief case and I’ll put my mouse away first. Then I’ll get distracted and leave my desk for a minute.
Well the other day, I did this. When I came back to my desk, I sat down, looked at the screen and placed my right hand, without looking on my mouse, except my mouse wasn’t there, or was it? For a split millisecond, I actually felt the mouse in my right hand. It then suddenly dematerialized right inside of my right hand. Talk about an amazing magical moment of astonishment.
I’ve done this, now, 2 or 3 times. It’s an absolutely incredible feeling. Of course, the mouse was never there, but I’m so used to it being there that it seemed like it was there, and it seemed like I saw it and it seemed like I felt it. Then when reality kicks in, it seemed like it vaporized. Very powerful feeling.
This, in psychology, is a form of conditioning… the old Pavlov’s Dog theory, right? What’s incredible about this is that if you can condition your audience to believe that there really is 3 coins (rather than 2) in their hand or if you can condition them to believe that you really put the card under your hand (ala rub-a-dub vanish), then you can really create a powerful feeling of magic. Not just see magic, but feel magic.
Of course that feeling is the ultimate goal. So think about the vanishing mouse the next time you perform for your audience.
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