Perceptions through Magic and Psychology
Boston Magician Joe Ferranti’s thoughts on Magic and Psychology
Born with Opportunities
Like many of us, I have been lucky by birth… born into the middle-class. I have had the good fortune of attending “good schools”. A college education was not a foreign concept when I was young, although I never finished my degree. I made my living in the “working class.” Which has helped balance my life with humility.
How we perceive.
So, what does this have to do with people, being people. Well, we may talk differently, or have more refined taste. But, whatever your position in society, we all share identical “programming.” We perceive events through our eyes and interpret what we see in our brain. All this works to the advantage of the magician. No matter your status, a properly structured magic effect entertains with no class or intelligence distinctions.
Magic “Tricks”
I get paid to entertain with magic tricks. Yes, as a magician, we tend not to use the word “tricks!” There was a time when I had expectations that an audience should embrace a “suspension of reality”
As a beginner magician, it was frustrating when my first audiences spent the entire time trying to figure out my tricks, often interrupting. I could write a book about this, but no need, as Darwin Ortiz has already done it.
In time, the beginner learns that the close attention paid by spectators is the very thing that gives the strength to the over-the-top reactions we receive during our performances. The “dance” with our audience is difficult to learn, but a necessary step to becoming a magic entertainer.
The Human Condition
People, well, are just people. Wherever you come from, your senses work the same. You perceive motion and anything which makes common sense in the same way we all do. It’s universal. So, my job is the same, whoever I perform for. I do not change my personality. I am what I have always been. A polite middle-class kind of guy that you will want to have around at your next party.
