The words pick a card must have been uttered a thousand times last weekend at the Marriott in Fort Collins as a few hundred magicians gathered to advance their craft. The 15th Annual Magic in the Rockies conference was a huge success by all accounts… and I had a blast. I’ve written about my involvement with magic in the past and even did the proud Dad thing by showing video of my kids performing their first magic routines on stage. I grew up in a family of magicians, so I’ve been to dozens and dozens of magicians conventions. I always come away from these experiences excited about the art and hopeful that young people will continue to show interest. The video below will give you a brief glimpse of what happened for three solid days at Magic in the Rockies.
Okay, it’s not science… but I’m so proud that I just had to share it. Mark and Scott are our twin 5 year old boys who have both taken a liking to magic. It probably doesn’t hurt to see their brother Jack (who is now 8 years old) performing his magic tricks on stage. I was recently invited to be a featured speaker at the SPLASH Summer Conference presented by Frog Street Press in Dallas, Texas. Mark and Scott performed this trick on stage in front of almost 1,700 teachers and they had a ball. The boys couldn’t understand why everyone was getting up to leave at the end of their trick. You’ll see why.
Should magic tricks be used as a way to teach science in today’s classrooms? This question and about a dozen more were asked of me during an interview for an international magazine for the Society of American Magicians. The author of the article, Lindsay Smith, wanted to know my thoughts on a current trend in science assemblies and before-and-after school science classes being offered in many elementary schools throughout the U.S. The issue for magicians is one of exposure – teachers or science demonstrators who are exposing secrets of magic in an attempt to teach science.
What are your thoughts on this? You can read an excerpt from the interview that appeared in the September issue of M-U-M by clicking on the “more” link below. Should science demonstrators / teachers use tricks from a magic shop to teach science?
People often ask how I got excited about science. Who was the great chemist who influenced my life?
I grew up in an unusual family. My first recollection was when I was three years old, peeking through the curtain at the Paramount Theater, watching my dad cut my mother into three pieces. Dad would close the show by eating fire. That my Dad could eat fire had amazing applications to my days in kindergarten – I took my Dad to “show and tell”?.
Growing up in a family of professional magicians, I learned how to think like a magician. Magicians always start with the impossible and move to the possible.
All things are possible. The difference between magic and science is the secret. Unlike magicians, science teachers get to create intrigue and wonder, but also reveal the secret. It is a beautiful approach to use when we are teaching science.
