Magic or Illusion

     You will find a street performer in pretty much any big city. Some are playing instruments, some dancing, and some are doing so-called magic tricks. I have never believed in any such magic. In fact, there was a couple tricks I learned as a kid from my peers and had a lot of fun presenting my magic to my friends. The thing that I always knew was that there was some trick or reasonable explanation behind all of it. There was no "magic", but rather usually an optical illusion or something that mathematics could explain instead of something magical. Sometimes when I see performers on the streets doing their cool tricks, I wonder what exactly they are doing to execute such a performance, and if there is any training that goes behind it. Some people are so adamant that what they are doing is magical, that they convince others to believe it as well. 

    From my readings, I have discovered that magic tricks did not just come about recently, but instead can be found dating back to ancient time periods. Different magic tricks were performed on the streets as entertainment just as they are now. People in the Renaissance periods performed in markets and sometimes for people of royalty or high society. There was even people who would use their tricks to distract their spectators and steal from them. This reminded me of my experience in Italy studying abroad this summer. While pick-pocketing is a known common crime in Italy, it is also common for gypsies to be seen in crowded areas as well, performing alluring tricks and stealing from those they try to perform for. I actually witnessed the gypsies trying this multiple times while I was abroad, and even to one of my friends before we stopped it. People are creative with their ways of making money.  I have also heard of sorts of gambling magic tricks that have been done as well. The dealers will slide around coins under cups or tell someone to pick a card, and the dealer will somehow fool the person for money. In our class textbook, there is a common act called the "Cup and Balls" trick. This trick involves starting the ball under one cup and in the end, it's under another cup. Luca Pacioli, a magician in the Renaissance period, said "Commoners will consider it a miracle" in his book De Viribus Quantitatis where he wrote about the method to his tricks.    

    Because of some of these deceitful tricks, it is no wonder that most people have a view of magicians as con-artists, scammers, or shady people. I feel that way mostly as well, but it makes me ask myself the question also of where these feelings can also come from. There is a rich history of these types of magic tricks and people associating those who performed them with evil, trickery, and scams. From the video shown in class the other day of the street performer showing his skills of "levitation", a lot of magic tricks can be extraordinarily real looking, and some people really believe that it is real sometimes. I think that there will always be some sort of logical explanation behind it all - no matter how real it can look sometimes. 

    From the history of ancient magic tricks to the magicians of today, it really comes down to the skill of illusion. These tricks should be credited to their illusive and mysterious nature because today we know that these tricks cannot be real, but they are impressive all the same due to how they are done. These illusions can take a great amount of time and practice to master, and this is the reason I think they are still popular and entertaining today. It is not necessarily magic that makes them so intriguing, but the method instead.