Prestige
Posted: January 5th, 2003, 10:55 am
I'm just now reading "Strong Magic" and find myself in the can't-put-this-down camp. As is always the case, it's the "things you just learned for yourself" items that tend to jump off the page, and the section entitled "Prestige" is one of those for me.
Last week I was the "surprise" feature at a grown-up's birthday party, and I came barrelling into the couple's home with all of my magic stuff, and in the few minutes it took me to set it all up, I was of course bantering with the quite-surprised guests in a playful manner. I had no specific plan to mention it, but in answer to somebody's question, I revealed that I was the President of the Albuquerque Magician's Club.
Guest: "Whoa! Becca [hostess] went right to the top!"
Me: "Oh, yeah! When she called, she said 'Nothing's too good for Jack [birthday boy]!"
I can hardly describe the impact that this information had on the way that these people perceived my magic - and I hadn't even planned to say a word about it. I would have thought it was boastful and irrelevant.
Darwin Ortiz writes that sharing such information with one's audience is not bragging, but is actually for the audience's benefit. "They want to love your magic; you just have to give them permission to do so."
Well. Permission granted, and now I know.
Last week I was the "surprise" feature at a grown-up's birthday party, and I came barrelling into the couple's home with all of my magic stuff, and in the few minutes it took me to set it all up, I was of course bantering with the quite-surprised guests in a playful manner. I had no specific plan to mention it, but in answer to somebody's question, I revealed that I was the President of the Albuquerque Magician's Club.
Guest: "Whoa! Becca [hostess] went right to the top!"
Me: "Oh, yeah! When she called, she said 'Nothing's too good for Jack [birthday boy]!"
I can hardly describe the impact that this information had on the way that these people perceived my magic - and I hadn't even planned to say a word about it. I would have thought it was boastful and irrelevant.
Darwin Ortiz writes that sharing such information with one's audience is not bragging, but is actually for the audience's benefit. "They want to love your magic; you just have to give them permission to do so."
Well. Permission granted, and now I know.