Happiness At The Card Table
Written for Northern Peeks Magazine (2018)
Happiness- “good fortune; pleasure; contentment; joy.”
I think it’s easy to assume that the youth in magic today, don’t read books as much as magicians used to back in the day. However, I think I can speak for the youth community, when we do pick up a book on magic, and learn something we have never seen online before (which is most things), it’s special, and makes us all realize how much we have been missing out on. The holy grail for most of us “move monkeys” has to be The Expert at the Card Table, and when a group of us had the opportunity to hold and flip through a first edition copy, it was quite the trip to think about the world of magic when the book first hit the market. A deck of cards would not be an extension of our bodies if it wasn’t for this book to enter the world. I myself, with a deck of cards in my hands, feel unstoppable.
How could the act of deception be my main source of happiness? How is a magic trick not an act of impossibility but the emotion of pure bliss and joy? Being the operator of the deck of cards that is creating these unbelievable moments is my escape to pure joy. The audience on the other hand can connect with the impossible act so closely and create the emotion of magic for themselves, which can be described as their pure happiness. This isn’t the case for everyone however, some people find their happiness in much different avenues, such as their next adventure, or their next pay check. While speaking with others, It was surprising to hear about how many people have not found the happiness in their life, it found them. Their happiness was discovered in a natural way, by creating something beautiful. Happiness is all around us, not just written as a definition in a textbook.
For myself, the act of feeding my obsession is my source of happiness, I feed the addiction of making the impossible, possible. Studying books such as “The Expert At The Card Table” gives me great joy to learn the bread and butter of one of the greatest card technicians to ever live. I find the learning of new sleights and cheats very fun, however I find my happiness in sharing these unbelievable moments of astonishment with the people around me. I find magic one of the purest art forms out there, as it creates an unexpected, overwhelming moment of happiness. Being an artist is never something I thought I would become, it wasn’t something I wrote down in grade school as my dream occupation, it just found me.
Being able to talk about happiness with the people around me was a special opportunity. Hearing how others find their pleasure allowed me to think about how I sourced my happiness on a deeper level, and how I could create more joy in my life. I heard Peter McKinnon say that: “You cannot force happiness, you just have to express your emotions in the only way you know how, which is art”, which I find mesmerizing.
Happiness isn’t just an emotion, or a feeling. Happiness can be felt internally, or expressed externally through something tactile. Whether it be a magic performance, or visiting an art gallery to share this feeling, happiness is all around us, you just have to look a little deeper. “When times get rough, and you are presented with those roadblocks, make good art; because everything you need, is already inside.”
-Jason xx