Last Thursday, IBM Ring 17 (the Sid Lorraine Hat and Rabbit Club) was treated to a lecture about the Psychology of Magic by club member Gerry Frenette!
As you may be aware Gerry:
- has been building magic props and illusions through his company Magic Makers Illusions since 1985,
- previously released a series of DVDs, Building Your Own Illusions, The Complete Video Course, parts one and two,
- recently released his memoir "My Life as a Magic Maker" at Amazon (more on that at the end of the post).*
We made the trek to the club on a cold January night, learned a lot, and had a really good time!
In his lecture, Gerry:
-
demonstrated how assumptions are a powerful tool to use and can sometimes be stronger than "proving" (proving can ruin the psychology of
assumption)
- showed many of the assumptions that can be involved when using a Vortex tube
- did some magic with his assistant Gwendolyn the Psychic Chicken and showed us something that once fooled Jeff McBride
- got knotty with a piece of rope
- ran though some thoughts about using a card box
- did a beautiful Coins Across for young volunteer Andrew
- talked about illusion design and worked through examples of how to make an illusion look smaller than it is (showing examples with boxes, illusion bases, and mirror frames)
- discussed the importance of looking at things from the perspective of the audience
- showcased his poker skills against David S, Rob F, and two other volunteers (and teased a story from his book which describes how he almost lost big with this "always winning" poker routine),
- shared some interesting sub trunk stories
- highlighted more psychological sleights while performing his Chop Cup routine and Slydini Paper Balls for volunteer Nicole (and as a bonus tipped another story from the book, where he stayed in the moment with a drunk audience volunteer and performed an effect powerful enough to be considered a reputation maker!), and
-
talked about his recently released memoir "My Life as a Magic Maker" at Amazon!
This book starts from his childhood in Amherst, Nova Scotia and is chock full of entertaining stories from Gerry's magic journey, including: early days of illusion building, working with Dean Gunnarson, CRA audits, being suspected of money laundering, thoughts on copycats & exposure, career highlights, a plethora of photos from the past, and more!
(No magic secrets are revealed in this book. It is intended for magicians and non-magicians alike!)
It was an entertaining and informative night! Thank you very much Gerry!
--
* What people are saying about "My Life as a Magic Maker" ...
From the January 7th
Facebook post by Matt DiSero:
From the January 7th Facebook post by Blair Marshall:
"Gerry Frenette has put together a fun read with lots of photos of "the big stuff" ( no secrets though lol) and it's available through Amazon. 🙂"
Customer reviews from Amazon:
MScott - 5.0 out of 5 stars Fascinating & fun to read!
Reviewed in Canada on December 30, 2023
Verified Purchase
Couldn’t put it down. As a lay person, I felt I stepped into the author’s entertaining world of magical illusions. Buy it & be amazed!
Raman Sharma - 5.0 out of 5 stars One of the Best Books I have read in a long time!
Reviewed in Canada on December 29, 2023
It did not take me long to realize that this book is not just for Magician's. The author does a great job in making the reader live through his experiences. I definitely feel more inspired after having read this book, and will definitely be recommending it to my friends.
Paul - 5.0 out of 5 stars Great book!
Reviewed in Canada on January 4, 2024
Interesting and fascinating to read all the way through!
Disclosure: I received a free copy of "My Life as a Magic Maker." The opinions expressed above are entirely my own. I did not receive compensation for the writing or the publishing of this article.
