Mailbag #139
/You know I’ve been a Jerx fan from year one. I’ve performed Jerx style presentations as one offs throughout that time, but this year I decided to make an extra effort and perform for my class. Admittedly, a teacher performing for a class sounds like it wouldn’t be a good environment for the Jerx, but I am a theatre teacher […]. So in many ways the Jerx style just feels like more of the make believe that we all engage in on a daily basis in the class.
I’ve always enjoyed the response to Jerx magic, but this is the first time I’ve had the same group seeing Jerx style magic over a period of a whole school year and it made a big difference in the experience because they “got it.” When you do Jerx magic as a one off, people are generally amazed but confused as to their role as you’ve often discussed. But with this group, it didn’t take long for them to understand their role and play along. The magic time became the highlight of their week/month. Sometimes they played along by saying things like “oh sure, oh wow, oh yes that’s totally true” in a sarcastic type way that shows they know it’s a game and I played back with similar tones as I doubled down on the ridiculousness, and other times, I could tell they genuinely didn’t know what to believe. […]
But the biggest thing I noticed was that I would hear them talking about the fiction that we created and not the tricks. […]
What I saw was that it truly did leave them with stories. Stories that I know they’ve told outside of the classroom. […] It is evident this year more than ever that creating a fiction they can get fully immersed in—even while knowing it’s fiction—is the most rewarding type of magic to perform for the magician and the audience.—MH
I wanted to post this email because it reminded me of a point I haven’t made enough about the long-term value of non-magician-centric magic.
What I noticed when I used to perform in a more traditional style, was that I’d get amazing reactions at first. The first few tricks any individual saw me perform would get a 9 or 10-level response, almost regardless of what they were. But over time—in the months or years that followed—it was a steady decline. Eventually, no matter how strong the effect was, the best I could get was, “Oh, hey, that’s neat.”
It wasn’t that the material had gotten weaker. In fact, it was often much stronger. But the novelty had worn off, and that magician-as-special-being framing has a shelf life. Everyone in magic just kind of accepts this: the more someone sees you perform, the less they care.
But I’ve found that by shifting the focus off yourself, you can maintain—and even increase—people’s engagement over time.
Instead of an ever-diminishing reaction to demonstrations of your powers, it becomes something more like tuning in for the next episode of a favorite show. People look forward to it. They want to see what the next story is—because the story isn’t always, “The magician did something impossible.”
That’s what makes this style so strong for those of us performing for friends and family. Once people have time to “get it,” they can become genuinely invested in the interaction over the long term, and it builds on itself.
It’s why I always struggle when people write asking how to adapt this style for professional performances. I’m not sure it’s necessary—or even helpful. When people buy a ticket to see a magician, they expect a magician-centric experience. That’s what they came for.
But in long-term settings, that style tends to wear thin. This one doesn’t.
I've been playing around with your calculator app (I made an android version for myself that has a blinking cursor and no numbers, like Android does in its calculator app when cleared, see screen recording attached), and one thing I've added to make it more convincing is haptic feedback. You tap anywhere on the screen, and you get a little vibration like you've just pressed a button. You can add it to your app by adding this code right under "</style>"
<script type='text/javascript'> window.addEventListener('DOMContentLoaded', function () { document.body.addEventListener('touchstart', () => navigator.vibrate(1)); }); </script>I've made a github account and uploaded my Android version (and updated the readme for it) for sharing this out publicly.
https://github.com/ajd-42/fakecalc
I've never really used my phone in my magic before, but your calculator force gave me a bunch of ideas and got me pretty excited to tinker with it, so thank you for that. —AD
Thanks to AD for providing this. On the iPhone there is no haptic feedback with the calculator (at least not with mine) so this isn’t a subtlety that’s necessary for me But if you’re on Android and building up a version of the calculator tool I wrote about a few weeks ago, this might be useful for you.
How do you feel about people sharing details of the new book on social media/youtube etc? —SA
I get this question a few times whenever I send out a new book to supporters at the highest level..
While I understand the motivation to post about the books, if it was up to me, people wouldn’t. It’s not that I’m trying to keep the book itself secret. It just doesn’t help me in any way. It only causes more people to write me who want a copy of the new book. That would be great if this was a typical book-selling operation. It’s not. I don’t have copies of the new book. There may be a few copies (five or less) that are available when everything is all said and done, but those will be offered to supporters at the lower level first and will be gone almost immediately.
This isn’t about me trying to artificially make the book seem more mysterious or create some corny buzz about “the book you can’t talk about.” It’s just that it feels weird to me for people to talk about it outside of conversations with me. I don’t know how it reads to others. It may just read like a standard magic book. But when I write it, I’m sharing the stories of actual performances. So it feels more personal. I think I once said it’s like having someone review your family’s annual Christmas newsletter.
My preference is, if people have something to say about the book, they’d say it to me, and if it’s more broadly interesting to people, I can share it. But that might just be me being overly precious about things.
Let me finish with some general statements for anyone who’s new here about the book and supporting the site generally.
I do not sell expensive books. I write a site. People support the site. And occasionally those who support it at the highest level are sent a book as a thank-you. Regardless of what a few of those books have resold for at auction, people who support me aren’t buying an expensive book. I’m gifting them a $20 book. This is the public television model where you donate $150 for a Josh Groban CD. If that framing makes you less likely to support the site, please don’t.
The $25 support level is called the Rich Uncle Millionaire level. This is intended to be a joke, as if supporting at that level is some kind of reckless indulgence only the wealthy could afford. If you didn’t get that joke—if $25 here or there is even noticeable to you in your bank balance—please don’t concern yourself with supporting this site. That goes the same for the ten dollar level.
I always post the best, most widely useful ideas on the site for free. That’s all you need to follow along with the philosophy here. The books are more specific—individual tricks and examples that build on the broader ideas. You won’t miss any core concepts if you don’t get a book.
At the same time, if you do enjoy the site, and you’re comfortable financially, I think it’s a mistake not to support it. Not just for my benefit. But I’ve always felt it’s beneficial to the supporter to back the things they like. You can check out the links above to see how to support the site.
So to answer the original question directly: I don’t love it. But whatever.
Perhaps I’ll avoid the issue altogether by making the next supporter bonus a custom windbreaker.
