Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: MONDAY, October 17, 1994 TAG: 9412200057
SECTION: NEWSFUN PAGE: NF1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: NANCY GLEINER STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
When Fuller changed a dollar bill into a $10 bill right before my eyes - not more than a foot away - I asked the same question you would have -``How did you do that?"
"As well as I could," he said.
"Did you have anything hidden in your fingers?" I asked.
``Did you see anything?'' he said.
I knew I wasn't going to learn any tricks of the trade from him.
Magic makes the impossible seem possible. And good magicians make it look easy.
When Murphy was learning magic more than 30 years ago, there were only one or two other people in Roanoke who knew anything about it. Mostly, he taught himself, ordering tricks through catalogs and developing his own style.
``The way each magician does a trick is totally their own way of interpreting it,'' he said. Although a lot of magicians do the same tricks, you'd never realize that because they look completely different.
``David Copperfield can take a trick that might have originally cost $1.50 and make it outstanding,'' Murphy said. A perfectionist, Copperfield works out every tiny detail of each trick, practicing it hundreds of times before anyone sees it.
A lot of the magic is in what happens before a trick is done, in the preparation, and in how the trick is performed, the timing, the sequence or order of how it's done, and where the audience's attention is directed.
The spectators should not know when the magic really happened.
``Most of the time, the secret of a trick is so simple, the mind is thinking of harder ways that it was done,'' Fuller said. ``If I told you how it was done, you might feel foolish. Besides, it would take the amazement away.''
Five years ago, Fuller bought three tricks at a magic shop and then spent most of the next six months reading books on magic.
``During that time, I read over 350 books,'' he said. ``I knew from the time I did those three tricks that this is what I wanted to do forever, so I had to make up for lost time.''
Fuller, who had been a house painter for 12 years, now is a full-time magician who owns The Magic Connection at Towers Mall in Roanoke. He performs and teaches classes.
In the years between Murphy's and Fuller's magic, not much has changed, yet almost everything has changed. The basic secrets of the tricks have remained the same, but the techniques and technologies have improved.
Kids are harder to perform for than adults because, for one reason, kids use their imaginations every day - they have imaginary friends, have stuffed animals that come to life (like Calvin and Hobbes) and see magical things happen on TV.
They also believe that adults can do things they can't. ``When I say, `I can make this ball disappear,' kids say, `Sure you can, you're supposed to be smarter than me, go ahead,''' Fuller said.
Kids think differently from adults, too. If an adult hears the sound of two coins clicking together, he or she might think they were both in the same hand. But a child might want to see those two coins because he or she didn't actually see them in the hand.
Once, when Fuller was performing at a day-care center, he told the children to watch his closed hand to see what would happen at the count of three. One, two - on three a big box of Legos fell off a shelf, clattering all over the floor. The children, amazed, thought this was the trick and talked about it for days.
In magic, timing is important.
Being a good magician involves a lot more than just buying a trick and practicing it. Magicians are actors, too, costume designers, prop-makers, and directors of their own shows (unless they're very famous).
Learning to be a magician can give you more self-confidence, teach you to speak in front of other people, help with reading skills, and even help you to follow directions.
A lot of times in school, it's the smart kids, or the athletic kids, or the good-looking kids who get the attention. Fuller has seen even very shy kids begin to open up when they learn magic.
``They're doing something other kids can't,'' he said, ``and they've got a secret.''
Fuller teaches introductory magic classes for kindergartners through fifth-graders and more involved classes for ages 9 to adult, including everything from demonstrating tricks to how to handle volunteers (kids volunteer a lot more than adults).
``If you buy a trick or kit, all you have is the equipment and instructions,'' he said. ``The first thing you read is the secret and you figure it won't fool anyone because it's so simple, but you're seeing it from the wrong side. It's better to see the trick first, then learn the secret.''
If you can see how the trick is done, and done well, you'll realize how it can fool people. Fuller recommends bringing tricks to his shop where he'll demonstrate them for you.
He once bought a trick but, after trying it, figured no one would believe it. He tried it on his wife and ``her chin dropped.'' That told me you can't go by what you think of the method, you have to go by the reaction,'' he said.
Magic is a wonderful hobby anyone can do, "if they practice and work at it,'' said Murphy.
He helped found the local ``ring'' (group) of the International Brotherhood of Magicians, open to anyone 12 and older with a serious interest in magic. The group includes students, a lawyer, a minister, a fireman, a college professor - all ages and occupations.
When I asked James Murphy his favorite trick, he told me about pulling threading needles in his mouth and then pulling the thread out of his mouth. When I asked how he did it, he said, ``Carefully, very carefully.''
by CNB