Joe had a strict policy: If you bought it from him, he would provide lifetime support, taking you to the back end of the shop where you huddled over the countertop so he could quietly teach you the ins and outs of the trick, the variations, and the performance theory. With magic books and videos, instruction can often feel impersonal. If you have a question, Joe knows the answer, and the few times he doesn’t, he knows exactly where to find it. Furthermore, he has a vast, jack-of-all-trades knowledge of magic. Rather than go for the easy sale of an expensive prop, he measures a customer’s experience level and steers them to a useful how-to book or video. Why so lucky? Joe isn’t your typical magic store owner. And behind those cases, which made up the store’s counter, stood Joe Pon, who I was lucky enough to meet the first time I walked into the shop. Jokes and pranks on the left, backlit glass display cases on the right, filled with all sorts of magic props: cards, coins, boxes, wands, and more. The front door’s threshold felt like a portal to another world. Soon, I was venturing every weekend to Misdirections Magic Shop, one of the last great brick-and-mortar magic stores in this new age of online magic. It was a truly visceral, adrenaline-pumping experience-the start of what has become a lifelong obsession. With the deck of cards literally inches from my face, there were no barriers, physical, conceptual, or otherwise, between me and the magic. Watching magic close-up was unimaginably different. Before this life-altering moment, I had only ever seen magic done on stage from a distance. Miraculously, it repeatedly rose to the top of the deck with no discernible manipulation. He had me put my initials on a card of my choice (the five of diamonds) and inserted it into the middle of the deck. Thankfully, one of the event’s workers-mid-50s, pot belly, salt and pepper handlebar mustache-was a magician. My path to performing magic professionally began in San Francisco where, as a ten-year-old, I was bored out of my mind while volunteering at a school fundraiser. (A more recent video is adapted from my portion of the talk.) With the exposure I’ve gained from social media, I’ve managed to stay busy teaching magic to students of all levels and performing for companies like Google, Microsoft, Warner Music, and more. One of my videos, below, in which I demonstrate ten levels of sleight of hand, has garnered more than two million views and has allowed me to amass a following of over 80,000 subscribers. While preparing for this talk-two years in the making due to the pandemic-I started creating videos about magic, sleight of hand, and neuroscience on YouTube. While simultaneously studying neurobiology at the University of Pennsylvania and performing sleight of hand magic shows at venues in the Philadelphia area, I was recruited by two researchers to collaborate on their talk: “The Neuropsychiatry of Magic.” In my portion, I explained how magicians take advantage of limitations in our perceptual systems, the narrowness of our attention, and the ease with which our memories can be manipulated. Yet I found myself doing just that at the virtual American Neuropsychiatric Association conference in March of 2021.
Mind magic manual#
A handbook for the soul, a guide to health and happiness, a manual for living in the modern world, Mind Magic is a valuable and singular contribution to New Age literature.As a magician, it’s unconventional to openly demonstrate the principles of sleight of hand before hundreds of neuropsychiatrists. Built around these disciplines is a mass of practical advice on vitamin and mineral intake, colour therapy, the power of positive thinking and a host of other topics. Though all have been designed to develop the imagination and renew mind energy, each has an additional specific aim, ranging from stress management to memory enhancement.
Mind magic series#
At the core of Mind Magic is a series of exercises and projects devised, tried and tested by Betty herself. So it is as a natural extension of her talks, lectures and private consultations that she has written Mind Magic, a self-help guide that will enable everyone to experience the benefits of mind energy and healing - for themselves and for the good of others. As her reputation has grown, it has become impossible for Betty to treat personally the thousands of people who look to her for help. Her extraordinary message has touched hearts and changed lives the world over. Since her first book, Mind to Mind, was published in 1989, Betty Shine has been inundated with letters of thanks and appreciation. A self-help guide that will enable everyone to experience the benefits of mind energy and healing.
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