How Cool Is Magic Society?
Most of the time when I tell someone that I’m a magician, they respond with either “Wow!” or “Cool!” Both of these responses are of course fine with me, but the latter is something that always makes me giggle. If only regular people knew how unbelievably dorky magicians really are.
If you read my piece about joining The Magic Circle (I got in by the way) then you may have a certain picture of what magicians are like. Indeed some magicians (I’m looking at you, Brendan Rodriguez) are very cool. Most however, haven’t evolved much past the kid in junior high who hung out with the beardy old men who play with cards, because the magicians didn’t taunt them for not being cool. Deep down, even the coolest magician is still one of these guys or gals.
I know a magician most other magicians think of as, what’s a nice way to say it? A jerk. He’s a very, very good magician, and a huge jerk. When this is brought up among his admirers (and I count myself as one) the typical explanation to his behavior is this: when you were a kid, going to movies with friends, attending the high school dance, learning normal social behavior, he was sitting alone in a room with a deck of cards. While this doesn’t describe the childhoods of all magicians, all magicians fall someplace on this spectrum.
The magicians regular people see in TV and in film are the very best our profession has to offer: slick, polished professionals. Most of the great thinkers however, are not performers and do not plan to be. They are, in the best possible way, nerds. Many are in professions other than magic that pay better and/or provide a lifestyle they prefer, and this is just fine. They give us the fruits of their contemplation and we are all very thankful for that.
When I told my laymen (what magicians call non-magicians) friends I got into The Magic Circle, some asked me what house I was going to be sorted into. Others asked me what special rights or powers this granted me. I tell them mostly I’m just interested in hanging out at a private bar with my friends. My dorky, dorky friends, whom I love.
