Science of Magic Insights
Everything you missed at the Las Vegas conference for magicians, including a special talk (he talks!) from Teller.
The biannual SoMA International Conference, which took place last week, focused on understanding the nature, function, and mechanisms of magic.
The conference began with a review of research into the science of magic. In what was the first of many graphs over the two-day conference, Matt Tompkins presented a graph tracking the experimental research related to performance magic or magicians.
Tompkins' science of magic bibliography demonstrates that magic has been studied since the earliest days of experimental psychology, with an explosion of interest in recent years.
Tompkins also observed that scientists tend to strip down phenomena to understand what’s going on, whereas magicians layer deceptions up to obscure the secret methods at work. Magicians treat their audiences like a laboratory. By testing reactions, they learn to become better.
Carisa Hendrix's lecture was full of practical advice. In her talk, she explained how she uses data to improve her magic. She analyzes show recordings to increase the ‘laugh per minute’ count and keeps track of spectators' choices over time to help her craft the perfect prediction in a future show.
Hendrix shared her thoughts on the conference with One Ahead: "I was overwhelmed not only by the number of new ideas I could use to strengthen my magic but also by the environment of healthy debate and open curiosity.”
What followed was a series of mini-TED-like talks on a range of topics. Attendees heard about the links between magic and military deception, how the words and meanings used to describe magic have changed throughout history, change blindness where small changes go unnoticed, choice blindness, and how that can be used to manipulate religious beliefs.
One of the most fascinating insights was from Leah Orleans, an acrobat, archer, and street performer, who explained how suspense and the potential for failure had a direct impact on her income when she passed the money hat at the show’s conclusion. It turns out that trying and failing the finale stunt three times resulting in more money in the hat than succeeding the first time!
An interview with Teller of Penn & Teller ended the first day's program. There was some discussion about misdirection, as that topic is often studied in the lab with eye-tracking tech to see if spectators really do look where the magician wants them to.
Teller doesn’t see the value in these studies and would be more interested in a mind tracker. For Teller: “Misdirection is the story you get the audience to tell itself.” This much more holistic approach might be worth pondering more so than the frequently used descriptions of focus, attention, and perception.
Teller was keen to stress that magic is an intellectual art form but that beauty is essential. The two can coexist without conflict.
On the second day of the Las Vegas conference, the winner of the “auditory trick challenge” was announced – an international competition encouraging magicians to develop a magic effect that only relies on sound. There can be no other senses involved, and there can’t be any speaking either.
Before the winner was announced, attendees heard Tyler Gibgot, a magician and researcher, talk about what it means to him as a blind person to be able to participate in magic.
