Sunday, December 08, 2002
The Juggler/Magician connection
In response to my musings on the Juggler/Magician connection, Juggler Extraordinare Todd Strong shared an experience he had with the magician Ricky Jay. Todd writes:
Ricky Jay is a great magician. We invited him to perform at the International Jugglers' Association annual festival in 1983. Not only does he perform excellent magic, he comes close to straddling the line of non-magic object manipulatino with his card throwing.
I remember talking to him on the afternoon before the show. Please understand that jugglers like to juggle at the festivals. With 500 people on the gym floor, there maybe several thousand objects in the air at any given time. Ricky Jay explained to me how strange it was to see so many people practicing, and dropping, in front of each other. He went on to say that he could never imagine demonstrating any of his moves in public, until he is completely sure that he will succeed at them.
I think there's a key insight here about the distinction between magic and juggling.
Todd also shared article he wrote and invited me to share it with you. It doesn't address my "audience observation" (jugglers can have fun all by themselves, while magicians require an audience), it does shed some rather brilliant light on the relatedness of the two arts.
The illustration, which comes from one of the multitude of highly instructive animations Todd includes on his extensive site, is of Rick Rubenstein demonstrating his juggling move "Rubenstein's Revenge."
"Jugglers and magicians can be thought of as two sides of the same coin. Armed with the "Oxford English Dictionary," one can see the common ancestry of these art forms, and perhaps conjecture on how they diverged.
"Several hundred years ago, the term 'juggling' was frequently used to refer to what we, today, mean by magic. `The word 'juggle' comes from the Latin 'joculare,' which meant to jest. The word 'joke' is also derived from the same root 'jocus,' to jest. Even today a jocular fellow is someone who is disposed to joking or jesting.
"Historically, a joculare was an entertainer. We can speculate that, perhaps more specifically, a joculare was an entertainer who used her or his hands as an important part of the performance. This could have meant either juggling, as in tossing multiple objects around, as well as the manipulation of coins, cups and other magic paraphernalia. The language has evolved and become more specific. Today the word 'juggler' refers to someone who uses his or her hands to manipulate objects in an overt fashion for everyone to see and appreciate. The magician's goal is to manipulate objects in a covert fashion so the action is not noticed.
"The word 'manipulate' is interesting. One older meaning is to grip or clasp with the hands. One finds the Latin root word for hand, 'main' buried within. Since hands seem to be such an important aspect of both magic and juggling it might be worthwhile to investigate the implications. These ideas are offered in the chance that something might click with an artist who is creating a new act or help a performer better understand how to best present her or his act to an audience.
"Hands do work. People use their hands to build things. A potter works bare handed to change a lump of clay into a bowl or, for beginners, an ashtray. A carpenter increases the strength of his or her hands with tools to build a house. A general expectation is that a tangible, physical thing is created or modified as the result of the work of the hands. Hands can also work to destroy something that already exists, so perhaps it is better to think of the hands as altering things.
"Both jugglers and magicians, in a sense, shatter this common expectation, although in completely different ways. The magician, barely moving her or his hands at all, can still make a dove, coin, or other object appear out of nothing. For the average person, to create anything is a laborious process. The magician's hands seem to be governed by a different reality. That is true magic.
"Jugglers surprise people in a different way. A juggler's hands move for all to see, but nothing is created. There were three balls at the start of the routine and there are three balls at the end of the routine. After all of this highly visible activity, nothing is changed. At some level this is very unnerving to our expectations."
Ricky Jay is a great magician. We invited him to perform at the International Jugglers' Association annual festival in 1983. Not only does he perform excellent magic, he comes close to straddling the line of non-magic object manipulatino with his card throwing.
I remember talking to him on the afternoon before the show. Please understand that jugglers like to juggle at the festivals. With 500 people on the gym floor, there maybe several thousand objects in the air at any given time. Ricky Jay explained to me how strange it was to see so many people practicing, and dropping, in front of each other. He went on to say that he could never imagine demonstrating any of his moves in public, until he is completely sure that he will succeed at them.
I think there's a key insight here about the distinction between magic and juggling.
Todd also shared article he wrote and invited me to share it with you. It doesn't address my "audience observation" (jugglers can have fun all by themselves, while magicians require an audience), it does shed some rather brilliant light on the relatedness of the two arts.
The illustration, which comes from one of the multitude of highly instructive animations Todd includes on his extensive site, is of Rick Rubenstein demonstrating his juggling move "Rubenstein's Revenge."
"Jugglers and magicians can be thought of as two sides of the same coin. Armed with the "Oxford English Dictionary," one can see the common ancestry of these art forms, and perhaps conjecture on how they diverged.
"Several hundred years ago, the term 'juggling' was frequently used to refer to what we, today, mean by magic. `The word 'juggle' comes from the Latin 'joculare,' which meant to jest. The word 'joke' is also derived from the same root 'jocus,' to jest. Even today a jocular fellow is someone who is disposed to joking or jesting.
"Historically, a joculare was an entertainer. We can speculate that, perhaps more specifically, a joculare was an entertainer who used her or his hands as an important part of the performance. This could have meant either juggling, as in tossing multiple objects around, as well as the manipulation of coins, cups and other magic paraphernalia. The language has evolved and become more specific. Today the word 'juggler' refers to someone who uses his or her hands to manipulate objects in an overt fashion for everyone to see and appreciate. The magician's goal is to manipulate objects in a covert fashion so the action is not noticed.
"The word 'manipulate' is interesting. One older meaning is to grip or clasp with the hands. One finds the Latin root word for hand, 'main' buried within. Since hands seem to be such an important aspect of both magic and juggling it might be worthwhile to investigate the implications. These ideas are offered in the chance that something might click with an artist who is creating a new act or help a performer better understand how to best present her or his act to an audience.
"Hands do work. People use their hands to build things. A potter works bare handed to change a lump of clay into a bowl or, for beginners, an ashtray. A carpenter increases the strength of his or her hands with tools to build a house. A general expectation is that a tangible, physical thing is created or modified as the result of the work of the hands. Hands can also work to destroy something that already exists, so perhaps it is better to think of the hands as altering things.
"Both jugglers and magicians, in a sense, shatter this common expectation, although in completely different ways. The magician, barely moving her or his hands at all, can still make a dove, coin, or other object appear out of nothing. For the average person, to create anything is a laborious process. The magician's hands seem to be governed by a different reality. That is true magic.
"Jugglers surprise people in a different way. A juggler's hands move for all to see, but nothing is created. There were three balls at the start of the routine and there are three balls at the end of the routine. After all of this highly visible activity, nothing is changed. At some level this is very unnerving to our expectations."
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