Magic and the Power of Contradiction
Understanding assumptions to create surprise.
Let me paint you a picture.
Your name is Kevin. You’re a huge fan of magic. At this moment, you’re in Hollywood at the mecca of magic, the world famous Magic Castle. You’re dressed in full evening attire, sat down, ready to watch the top magicians in the world perform their best acts. You, in this picture, are me, prepared to see magic.
What you end up seeing is not magic. You witness an hour-long serenade by a silent, middle-aged magician with a plastered-on smile, wearing a leotard and dancing with streamers. (This is not an exaggeration)
At one point she produces, from an “empty cage”, a morbidly obese Persian cat wearing a tiara. In her finale she brings an unfortunate volunteer onto the stage, puts a way-too-big magician’s tuxedo smock over his front, sticks her arms through its sleeves, and puppeteers him as he stands there being an extremely good sport. It brings me horror to think that there are at least 60 people existing on this planet who, when I tell them I perform magic, they now think of that. But that’s par for the course of magic.
Magic as a performance art is a contradiction wrapped in an enigma wrapped in cellophane and sold for $25 at the Disneyland magic shop. It is absurd, comical, and yet can move people profoundly — or if not profoundly, at least intensely — because it contradicts our most fundamental belief: our understanding of what is and what isn’t real. When you see a good magic trick, there is a moment of disbelief; a gap of cognitive dissonance. What you see is not what you know.
It is this contradiction (many magicians would like you to believe, for they would be so lucky to be mentioned in such company) that is at the heart of every symphony, painting, poem, and song that has ever existed in this world. This contradiction is surprise.
For the experience of contradiction to occur, a magician must rely (1) on their understanding of how, where, and why people place their attention and (2) the assumptions people make. Assumptions and attention. They must understand the logical flow of another person’s perspective and exploit it to their advantage.
It is an undeniable truth that we are pulled most strongly by our baser needs. We are all rational, kind, generous and forgiving people — that is until we are hungry, or tired, or bored, or lonely. This truth gives contradiction its power: it is the one place where we cut through to that foundational core of our humanity. It provides the same laser focus we experience when we really need to use the restroom, and we’re 30 minutes from the next exit on the freeway. This focus is invaluable for experience creators.
All experience creators should be aware of this power, and the two things we use to utilize it: assumptions (what people know) and attention (the brief flash in which we hold their attention). Break the assumptions and hold their attention.
This is true for the magician, the comedian, the writer, the artist, the musician, the designer, the advertiser. And it’s true whether with an illusion, a punchline, the shocking technical beauty of a brushstroke, or a single note purely ringing through a dusty concert hall. To be a good artist one must be a master of surprise. It is no secret, that to hook with the unexpected is more powerful than perhaps anything else.
The surprise inherent in magic is what gives it its power. The playing on the field of reality creates the gap of awareness, shedding light on our own ignorance. The acknowledgement of ignorance, in turn, can mean a window to new knowledge.
Even if that window frames a magician waving streamers, with a royally fat feline in tow.
