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Luke Jermay Lecture - Northern Magic Circle
Convention
April 2011
Spa Complex, Scarborough
Reviewed by Roger Woods
Luke Jermay may be a name known to you as an award
winning mentalist. He was described in the Convention programme as a
psychological magician. His appearance covered in tattoos is initially
startling. However, he quickly began by establishing his credentials having
worked with Penn & Teller, Derren Brown and then having his own show at O’Shea’s
Hotel in Las Vegas. He is clearly very knowledgeable about magic and related
subjects. He now has 54 publications to his name.
His lecture was interesting and challenging veering off at times into making
serious points about the state of magic. The first effect demonstrated was
“Dyslexia” where based upon a story of a blind girl who can read through her
fingertips. Luke was able to read the colours of cards in a shuffled deck by
touch alone. Luke took us through all the subtleties which were needed to present this effect properly.
Luke made the point that the more you know about magic the more you are able to
construct themes for tricks whether whimsical, supernatural or whatever. Also
thorough preparation allows you to be spontaneous in magic. He was asked what if
the spectator shuffling the cards drops them? – Answer – do a different trick!
He then demonstrated how he presented a memory effect used in his close up
presentation earlier when he appeared to be memorising a deck. He began a
lengthy explanation with a journal of magical ideas that he had kept since a
teenager only to pull the rug from our feet by telling us that this journal had
been deliberately constructed as a generic presentation tool which can be
introduced to give a credible explanation!
Luke made the point that magic is thought of as stupid and that the general
public do not like it when compared to other art forms. Directors will tell you
this. We owe a duty to elevate magic rather than view it as a collection of
tricks. Magicians are cocooned. The audience heartily agreed with these
sentiments.
Again the details and subtleties of the presentation were analysed in depth. For
example, acting like you hate yourself for getting the name of a card wrong can
create greater impact. Another technique was to appear to make a mistake in
counting cards. Deck switches were also discussed. Luke also stressed the need
for crediting and not stealing other people’s material.
In the last five minutes of the lecture Luke presented “The Outcome” a prop less
mind reading routine with three volunteers. This is a very strong display of
apparent mind reading.
All the details of Luke’s effects are provided in his Expanded Lecture Notes
2011 which were available on disc in PDF format. This is well produced and
provides a lot of material. This was a great lecture, thought provoking and
pushing the boundaries of magic that bit further.
© Roger Woods, May 2011.