Hidden in plain sight.
This common idiom suggests something which defies detection by being too obvious.
The core strategy of this book is a perfect manifestation of this idea.
Repeated in a myriad of different ways right in front of us…
and yet invisible.
Once appreciated, I submit it also implies that great filmmakers…
are far better magicians than we are.
“And when you read about magic, think about screenwriting. You’ll be surprised at what you discover.”
-Brian McDonald, Ink Spots
The greatest creations in film dwarf our own in several important respects.
Not only the deft use of their artifice — in which they conjure illusions with much more care than we do…
but also because they use their magic to reveal deep human meaning…
something our magic rarely, if ever, does.
Film and magic have intertwined histories…
though film seems to have undergone a much quicker evolution.
In a sense it became what magic should have.
It has also, though more recently than magic, suffered what appears to be a similar fate.
When its practitioners forget or abandon core fundamentals…
and instead confine themselves to the most trivial aspects.
I once read UK magician Michael Vincent suggest that magic…
should “go underground for 10 years.”
He attributed it to a conversation with Jim Cellini. (Thanks, Michael.)
I agreed with this statement back then…
before the full immersion street performance granted me.
At the time, I thought that magic was less than.
That it was not “magical” in the fairy tale sense.
Now, more than a decade later, it’s a bit clearer.
I now think it possible that Michael and I were reacting to something less obvious.
That Magic had disappeared long before Michael’s remarks…
and only magic remained.
A term which denotes only tricksterism now.
The knitting together of magic and Magic remained only a common misuse of language.
The deep history of Magic had long ago become untethered to magic.
It was this evolving realization that set me on the path toward what I now call…
The Secret Gate.
It represents a return to the roots of Magic.
I have affected a convention throughout the book.
I use the term “magic” with a lowercase m to represent the performance art of magic, it’s practitioners, and the magic community.
I use the term “Magic” with a capital M to signify the transcendent experience of wonder.
This feeling of Magic people connect with at a visceral level.
Within the last couple of years…
I stayed with friends (one a fellow magician) for a few weeks in Madeira Beach, Florida.
In the guest room, my friend’s shelves were full of magic books and lecture notes.
Every night I was there, I would leaf through another pamphlet I had never seen, or ever had access to, before.
One evening, I came across a blue-covered set of lecture notes.
As I read, one page caught my eye and whisked me back to the very beginning of this journey.
The notes in my hands that evening were like a rearview mirror upon which to reflect.
The title was “Using Your Head” by John Carney.
According to John…
“I can only guess that that was late ’90s or around 2000. I only printed about a hundred or so. Not really sure.”
On page 14, something caught my eye:
“After reading Nelms book and concurring wholeheartedly with the author, it dawned on me, much to my chagrin, that none of my tricks had meaning.
I became depressed and lost interest in magic for a while. Then I reset my sights.
Over the years I have strived to change this unfortunate oversight. After many years of study, I can say confidently, that now about 5–10% of my magic has some meaning.
Doesn’t sound too impressive does it? But I’m trying every day to up my percentage. It’s not a job for the timid or lazy.”
- John Carney, Using Your Head
It is to his massive credit that John recognized this issue.
This same issue confronted me.
It is the oldest, most pernicious and insoluble problem in the history of magic.
I now have an answer.
Once you understand and take action on the ideas herein…
100% of your magic will have meaning.
Not 5% or 10%.
Not 87.8%.
100 percent.
This isn’t to suggest you will be able to bypass doing the real work.
It only means you’ll finally have the tools you need.
I imbue this book, like my podcast before it, with the same goal.
If I can help even one person, it is a success.
Anything created now will live on in digital eternity, and I hope this reality means…
I can help at least two people.
One final facet of this whole journey occurred to me as I wrote this book:
A magician, Georges Méliès, created one of the first and most influential films in cinema history.
“A Trip to the Moon.” (1902)
A fantastical, surreal film with cutting-edge special effects.
75 years later, George Lucas launched Star Wars…
another fantasy space epic with cutting-edge special effects.
The biggest film franchise in history.
My lifelong relationship with what is now called “Star Wars: A New Hope”…
started in a theater when I was 4 or 5.
In a picture dated Christmas ’79, I am holding up a Han Solo figure.
In some weird echo reverberating through time and space…
the universe has flexed back onto itself…
and laid this answer in the path of another magician.
My path.
Now you have this answer within these pages.
A magician influences cinema…
which in-turn (more than 113 years later) influences magic.
Or as Darth Vader once remarked…
“…the circle is now complete.”
Thanks, George(s).
Dartagnan
Milton, Georgia
April, 2020
This is the preface to my 2020 book “The Secret Gate: Unlock the Path to Real Magic.” available here in both digital, print, and audiobook format.
You can also view the book trailer here.
It is a clarion call primarily for people interested in the art of performance magic to move from mere trickster to actual Magician.
It will also be valuable to fans of storytelling, film, and understanding Star Wars beyond a superficial level — there is a chapter of the Appendix devoted to Star Wars: The Last Jedi 😉
