It was in 2020, while listening to academician François Cheng, that the following reflections came to me. Indeed, as a guest on the show La Grande Librairie, the author spoke about one of the founding pillars of his work: beauty.
I had fun taking notes from his interview and, as often, replacing the word "beauty" with the word "magic". The result is, to say the least, inspiring, as you will see.
The interview began with the question of the meaning of (beauty) Magic, and whether it had one: his answer was brilliant.
Theory
First, we must distinguish between the three "senses" of the word "sense" (precisely!): signification (meaning), direction (way), and the sensory aspect (sense)
Indeed, while the English language, for example, clearly distinguishes between the three concepts, the French language uses three homophones, which can be a source of confusion and misunderstanding.
For François Cheng, the language one speaks is one of the ways to access Magic (beauty). As if language were a multi-story tower, and only when posted at the very top of this tower, overlooking things, can one access Magic (beauty).
Through which sense ("sensitive") do we access Magic (beauty)?
François Cheng distinguishes three access points:
The body (sight, for example, laughing at a pun)
If we apply these definitions to the subject that brings us together here, Magic, we understand that to touch the body, the magic trick is self-sufficient in a way: the eyes see the effect, the hands touch the deck of cards, the ears hear music, the rustling of the shuffled deck or the magician's patter, etc. )
Consciousness/mind (understanding how it works)
According to the "Chengian" theory, it is through language, our script, that we touch the mind (logic, memory, appealing to one's knowledge...)
The unconscious/soul: the childlike part, the quest for the absolute that Magic (beauty) awakens within us.
The spectator's soul/unconscious: it is by means of artistic creation, our sensitivity, our sincerity, our emotion, that we can achieve a form of universality.
Methodology
To be more concrete, I tried to make this theory more practical by attempting to outline a kind of methodology, a path to achieve Magic (beauty)
1 - The choice.
First, ask yourself which emotion you wish to enrich the trick you want to present.
Laughter, for example, is often used because it is an immediate emotion, simple to validate thanks to the laughter obtained, but perhaps using only this emotion can give a monotonous, or at least unvaried, tone.
Why not use other feelings: fear, anger, sadness, nostalgia, suspense, questioning, etc.
2 - Materialization.
An emotion can be elicited by several elements.
The object used (rarity, nostalgia, sentimental or financial value...)
The music used also has precious emotional value (film soundtracks are clear proof of this: if the shark approaches its prey with such felt intensity, it is thanks to the genius of composer John Williams)
Through the artist's talent in interpreting it (i.e., not trying to overact or emphasize a feeling, in the manner of ancient theater masks, but rather trying to conceal this felt emotion: it is not the tears of an actor that move us but rather his ability to hold them back in front of his children on screen, for example)
I remember a book by actor Michel Bouquet who explained that he often went to museums to look at the more or less famous portraits displayed there, to ask himself what emotion each portrait evoked in him, and to record the facial expression that had caused that emotion in him.
With the internet, it is even easier to access all these masterpieces
It can be interesting to have a portrait in front of your eyes while writing your text, asking yourself what this person would write in your place.
You can also add this portrait to your script or notes.
3 - Memory.
Finally, by playing on memory, or rather, memories.
Let me explain, individual memory is undoubtedly the most touching, like Marcel Proust's memory, who recaptures lost time by biting into a madeleine dipped in a cup of tea. It's not just the pleasure of taste, but his entire childhood that resurfaces in the bitterness of the tea, the sweetness of the madeleine, and the comforting melt-in-your-mouth texture. What he finds again is not necessarily a bygone era or his youth, but rather a state of happiness.
As we grow up, this individual memory is supplemented by other memories: our family, our community, our collective memory (national or global)
I think that individual memory, even if it seems the most personal, is actually the most universal: learning to read, playing in the schoolyard, being reprimanded, burning oneself by getting too close to a flame, drawing, which we were told to keep our distance from, the sensation that everything is big when we are children (places, people, objects, etc.).
While more collective, official memories can sometimes be sources of misunderstanding, and sometimes conflict.
I hope this framework will inspire you, question you, and challenge you.
Thinking more carefully, isn't Magic the fusion of body, mind, and soul, into a single entity?
