In my show, I often perform an illusion where an old, antique table floats mysteriously around the stage, without anyone touching it.  It was inspired by an experience I had over 10 years ago in southeast Asia. While on a tour with another performer in Sri Lanka, we discovered a man in one of the communities we were performing in who was performing one of the same illusions we were.  He had invested the same time, resources, and months of practice we had into creating the same illusion of levitation, but with one major difference: He was actually deceiving people. There were no spirits…it was all just an illusion.

This guy had convinced hundreds of people in his country that the levitation of the table was made possible by spirits, and that the spirits were manifesting their presence by making the table move.  I learned more than one valuable lesson that day about how easily it is for our senses to be fooled, and how simply we are tricked and cleverly deceived into believing things that totally untrue.  All because we “saw something with our own eyes,” and after all, “seeing is believing.”

You’ll have to check out our show to get the full story, as well as experience the illusion live, but for now, enjoy this clip of what was for me, a very unique presentation of my floating table illusion.  I’ve never had anyone respond quite like this before, but it’s these kind of unexpected moments with audience volunteers that continue to make my job so much fun. Enjoy…

Let’s face it…not every kid is going to be a professional magician and travel the world as a Master Illusionist.  However, I do believe that there are at least 7 HUGE reasons why every kid on the planet should learn a few tricks, and get a little into magic, even if it’s only for a season…

1. A Rise in Social Skills :: Magic provided me an opportunity to interact with others and majorly improve my social skills, and even interact with people older than me.

2. Improved Communication Skills :: Magic forced me to become a better communicator through my desire to entertain those around me.  It forces those who perform magic to process their thoughts and find the necessary words to communicate properly about what’s going on.

3. A Higher Level of Confidence :: Magic gave me the boost I needed to come out of my shell a little and finally make some friends, by displaying some talent.  As a kid, I felt like I wasn’t good at anything.  Finally, I could do something others couldn’t, and that massively increased my confidence.

4. Improved Dexterity :: Performing magic required a little bit of practice, which improved my dexterity, which in turn, made me better at other skills as well.

5. Better Hand/Eye Coordination :: My coordination also improved, and I finally learned the answer to the question, “Is the hand quicker than the eye?”  In fact, it took my hand/eye coordination to another whole level.

6. An Understanding of Trust & Respect :: Learning to keep and respect the secrecy of magic gave me a positive example of how to trust and respect something or someone, and can help your kid understand it as well.  It’s a complicated concept to grasp, and something even adults these days struggle with. Teach someone to learn to truly value the secrecy of magic, and you’ll have taught someone the value of real trust and respect.

7. A Healthy & Potential Life-Changing Understanding of Trickery & Deception :: Understanding illusions showed me just how easy it was to be deceived, as well as deceive others.  That concept transformed my life, caused me to take my thoughts captive, question things more intentionally, and even strengthened my faith.  Can imagine how powerful it’d be for your child to truly understand that what they see and hear from their TV’s and websites is NOT always the truth?

Click here to order a magic set just like the one I got for Christmas from my grandmother as a kid.  Not only will you be supporting our efforts, it’s the perfect gift!  After all, it changed my life, and you never know what an impact it could have on yours, or the lives of your loved ones… 

CLICK HERE to order now, and receive it in plenty of time for Christmas!

Still don’t believe me?  Check out the first minute of this video…

Has your child ever been interested in magic?  If so, what did I miss?  What positive development or character did you notice your child develop while learning and performing some simple magic tricks?

[Note: Facebook Note readers click here to watch the video. Facebook does not embed videos when automatically importing these posts from my blog.]

Be sure to stop by the student-filmmaker’s channel on YouTube and congratulate him on a job well done!

QUESTION: Did this film provoke any thoughts for you? If so, what were they?  Was there something you could relate to? Would love to hear your thoughts and comments!

]]> http://www.harrisiii.com/illusion/out-of-a-forest/feed/ 2 http://www.harrisiii.com/illusion/my-future-competition-jordan-the-great/ http://www.harrisiii.com/illusion/my-future-competition-jordan-the-great/#comments Wed, 14 Jul 2010 15:33:04 +0000 Harris III http://www.harrisiii.com/?p=1419 Not long ago, I received a Facebook message from someone who had seen our show in Roanoke, VA, and had bought one of our magic sets.  It included a video that almost made me cry.  It’s pretty long, and you may not have time to watch Jordan’s entire show, but you HAVE to take 60 seconds out of your schedule to watch the first minute of this video.  I promise, you’ll smile.

It’s videos like this one that make me realize the value and importance of illusionism.TV.  Magic is awesome for kids, for so many reasons, and I can’t wait to see what kind of aspiring magicians are born out of such an exciting project!  If you haven’t checked it out yet, be sure to take a look.  It’s child friendly, safe and secure, and your kids will love it! Check out the site, and learn magic tricks now: http://illusionism.TV

But first, you’ve gotta see this:  

Awesome, huh?  Please comment and tell me you almost teared up, then I won’t feel like such a softy.  ;-)

Got a kid who might be interested in magic?  Let them learn a FREE TRICK right now, without even joining.  Then, join by July 31st, and save 50%: http://illusionism.TV

[Facebook peeps click here to watch the video. Facebook doesn't embed videos automatically when important these notes from my blog.]

Nice, huh?  How about you?  Have you ever had anything painful or embarrassing happen to you, while you were around or in front of a large group of people?

For us, Catalyst came into our lives in 2005 after my friend Jason Locy insisted that I attend. We went again in 2006 and had our minds blown! We’re a part of a lot of conferences every year, but there’s something special about Catalyst.  They take excellence to a whole new level.

In 2007, we were even more blown away when I got a phone call from Ken Coleman, asking us about the possibility of being a part of the Catalyst Red Carpet Experience outside the arena the morning doors open. Shortly following that conversation, I got a call from Lanny Donoho saying that he was “stealing” us from Ken, and using us on the main stage. I was asked to come up with an illusion that helped them illustrate the theme for that year, and then do a larger illusion. A few months later, we spent about 10 minutes performing in the round for our largest audience of all time — over 11,000 leaders of churches, businesses, and other organizations from all around the world. If you missed our performance, which included one of our signature illusions, Houdini’s classic “Metamorphosis,” you can watch it in full by clicking here.

But it wasn’t just amazing to perform. I learned far more than I could have imagined. I spent an entire afternoon with Lanny and Reggie Joiner the day before the conference, helping craft my small role, and then just became a fly on the wall as they took care of last minute details and funny business. And getting to talk with guys like Dave Ramsey, Craig Groeschel, Shane Claiborne, and many others in the green room was both memorable and enlightening.

Performing for 11,000 leaders is quite an experience, and made for our most memorable Catalyst moment!  What about you? Have you been to Catalyst? If so, what did you think? What was your most memorable Catalyst moment?