Life’s Little Surprises

Life is full of surprises. Sometimes we even surprise ourselves. I once wrote these words to a new magical friend: “Everyone has their niche, the thing they are really good at.  It looks like you have found yours in escapes. I haven’t found mine yet, but it’s still early.  One thing I am pretty sure about is that it is not cards.” These were, as my mother used to say, famous last words, for it was not long after that that I started to see cards in a whole new way. It is amazing how quickly our attitude about things can suddenly change when our perspective shifts just a little.
 
When I have thought about cards in the past, I always thought about card tricks, and right up until the time I started taking a course through Chavez Studio of Magic, I had never seen cards fanned. I had no idea there were such beautiful decks of cards available or what one could do with them. I had never seen the beautiful flourishes described in the course. But now, now my eyes were opened to the beauty and the skill that could be had with just a simple, inexpensive deck of cards. These things nearly made my eyes pop out. Imagine, if you will, fanning a deck of cards and suddenly all the numbers and faces fall off and the cards are completely blank! One quick movement of the hand and a dragon displays on the back side of the cards. Like a kaleidoscope, the patterns seem to change at will.
 
The first thing that happened was that I discovered fanning decks with their beautiful and amazing designs. The course did not explain to me what a fanning deck was, only that I needed to buy one. So I jumped on the Internet, that amazing place where just about everything resides, and I found a fanning deck, purchased it, and started practicing with it as soon as it arrived. I did not notice anything unusual about it until I started practicing in front of a mirror. All of a sudden, I noticed something quite surprising! Being a magician, I cannot really tell you what I discovered, but I had to sit there and stare at those cards until I finally figured out why what happened, happened. It was the most amazing thing!
 
The coup de grâce, however, was when my Bill White CDs arrived in the mail. Suddenly, in my mind it all started coming together and “Ellen Diamond” was born. I was so inspired! But then, music does that. I dreamed of flourishes that would fill up the music track that I selected for my first performance, but as with all things, it takes time and practice. Like a tennis player who spends all his time chasing the ball when he first starts learning to play tennis, a person new to the art of card manipulation will spend most of his time picking cards up off the floor (especially when it comes to learning “Niagra Falls”). The good news is, I am not dropping cards on the floor anywhere near as often as I was. 
 
Where is the little child in you-you know, the one whose eyes became as big as saucers the first time you saw a magic trick performed? Have you ever thought about doing it yourself? You can, you know. Imagine-an imperceptible movement here, a little misdirection there, and suddenly-magic happens!
 
The best part about card magic is that cards are portable and inexpensive, and magic can take place just about anywhere. Who knows, one day you might see “Ellen Diamond” on the marquee-or better yet, perhaps your own name. Dare to dream! 

Copyright © 2009 Jayne Baer. All rights reserved

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