Working skepticism into a magic routine?

wackyvorlon · 1st June 2009, 05:26 AM

I was wondering if anyone might have thoughts on working skepticism into a magic routine, or even building a routine around skepticism. It seems that magicians and psychics, etc. share many of the same techniques. Just that the magician is more honest about it.

firecoins · 1st June 2009, 07:14 AM

Jamy Ian Swiss works skepticism into his act. Penn and Teller also do.

Wowbagger · 1st June 2009, 09:34 PM

The trick is to not accidentally insult your audiences' intelligence while doing so.

greymatters · 3rd June 2009, 09:49 PM

Richard Wiseman uses magic to help teach concepts of skepticism. Check out Quirkology for more detail on his work like this.

Here's a great example:

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I AGREE

vIQleS · 4th June 2009, 02:09 PM

Luke Jermay...

umm...

This one:

http://www.penguinmagic.com/product.php?ID=1703

His presentation is all about psychics - THE SCAM...

IIRC he's quite vehement in trashing the woo - I'd probably present it a little more diplomatically...

1st June 2009, 05:26 AM	#1
wackyvorlon Critical Thinker Join Date: Dec 2008 Location: Sarnia, ON, Canada Posts: 317	Working skepticism into a magic routine? I was wondering if anyone might have thoughts on working skepticism into a magic routine, or even building a routine around skepticism. It seems that magicians and psychics, etc. share many of the same techniques. Just that the magician is more honest about it.

1st June 2009, 07:14 AM	#2
firecoins Illuminator Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: Nyack, NY Posts: 3,065	Jamy Ian Swiss works skepticism into his act. Penn and Teller also do.
	__________________ NY Paramedic, skeptic, 9/11/01 Reality-ist. I am both right wing nut and left wing lunatic. Deal with it.

1st June 2009, 09:34 PM	#3
Wowbagger The Infinitely Prolonged Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: Westchester County, NY (when not in space) Posts: 7,725	The trick is to not accidentally insult your audiences' intelligence while doing so.
	__________________ WARNING: Phrases in this post may sound meaner than they were intended to be. SkeptiCamp NYC 2009: http://www.skepticampnyc.org/ Photos and Stuff Now Available A conference on science and skepticism where *you* could be a presenter!

4th June 2009, 02:09 PM	#5
vIQleS Muse Join Date: Dec 2005 Location: Auckland NZ Posts: 730	Luke Jermay... umm... This one: http://www.penguinmagic.com/product.php?ID=1703 His presentation is all about psychics - THE SCAM... IIRC he's quite vehement in trashing the woo - I'd probably present it a little more diplomatically...
	__________________ ==--New NZ Skeptical Podcast--== TheCusp Episode Zero is Live!!! http://thecusp.org.nz RSS feed: http://thecusp.org.nz/podcast/rss