Inside Magic

Mark Borkowski?s ?Stunt Watch? column in the Guardian Unlimited has featured consistently fine writing and analysis. Today is no exception. Mr. Borkowski points out that in the book Learned Pigs and Fireproof Women (by magician Ricky Jay), each of the performers were photographed smiling as they were hung, burned, dropped, dragged, chained, impaled or otherwise tortured in their act. So what? So, argues Mr. Borkowski:

?The smile primes us to expect excitement, it makes us open and receptive, and we can’t help but like and empathize with a person so patently cheerful. This is something we’re all going to enjoy together.

Not to get overly analytical about it, but the smile creates a relationship between audience and performer: we want the act to work, and even if it were to turn out a magnificent con, who cares? We’re mates, and we certainly had a good laugh.?

Mr. Blaine, on the other hand, does not smile. He does not share with the observer the sense of connection that those performers of the early days thought essential. As a consequence, Mr. Borkowski suggests, the news media write what they can. On day one, it is, ?Man Sits In Box And It’s Amazing!? and now a week into the stunt they write ?Man Who Sits In Box Is Really Arrogant and Boring and No One Likes Him.?

Check out his column for some insightful analysis. You might agree or disagree but there does seem to be something to the smile making a bridge to the audience and encouraging their participation in the event. Houdini, before he jumped into a river, hung upside down or entered into the Chinese Water Torture Cell, would share a smile with his audience ? to ensure that they…
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