Learning Objectives • Bonus • Course Design • Challenges • Safe space • Workload • Contributions • Venue • Satisfaction • Extra events • Teachers • Expectations • Value • Changes • Future • Final comments
Teachers
What is my opinion about the instructor/instructors?
(We are not looking for general flattery. Their competence and knowledge in the field? Ability to teach? Able to listen? General behaviour? Gender perspectives? Anything, good or bad.)
Comments
I loved all of them. I have looked up to Tom since I first got into magic, and seeing him in person was surreal and amazing. I appreciate how humble, responsive, and approachable all of these individuals were, and I couldn’t have asked for better individuals to learn from.
Jag tyckte ni alla tre var mycket bra, kunniga, uppriktiga. Jag uppfattade inga skämt etc som opassande.
Tims tålamod enormt.
Det var intressant att från sidan se hur en del av de yngre killarna i grupp A blev mer män under kursen. Hur ni gjorde detta är jag inte helt säker på. Håkan Bergs tuffa övningar kring being real rörde just några av dessa personer och det känns som om de transformerades.
Excellent teachers and performers, they both have their own specialities that were valuable and important to the course
I had much respect towards each teacher. I felt like they really know what they were talking about.
I think Håkan’s part was quite repetitive and it could have had more ways of saying the thing. He had one great message which was ”don’t put on an act, really be your character and be in it for real”. The fact that it was repeated several times the same way made me feel that the lesson was put together in a really short period of time (which it maybe was), but the message itself was great.
And I liked that he really was in it as he explained all that but I think that not everyone understood what he meant because there were not many ways of saying the thing. So basically if one didn’t understand what does the ”be in it” mean, the whole lesson did not make much sense and a person might have left a little confused.I feel that for me it was a great thing that the teachers weren’t native English speakers. That meant that they had to choose their words wisely and I think I understood what they were saying better, especially when I’m not a native English speaker either. I hope this makes sense…
Both Tom and Leif were extraordinarily knowledgeable in their respectful fields. Tom has done a lot of research on performing magic and the theory he teached was very practical and I felt I was capable to putting these theories in use with my own magic performances. This was very impressive, as I have read a lot of “fancy magic theory” that doesn’t really have use in real life. Leif, on the other hand, made me realize how big of a thing having a theatrical background can be for someone performing magic. After learning theatre-related topics with him, I feel like I want to get more into theatre.
Håkan’s contribution was interesting, and the lecture part was wonderfully passionate and also correct. The role of authenticity, truth and reality in an artform so full of ostensibly deceptive practices is certainly worth exploring. He was very convincing. The pracitcal exercises were a bit more problematic and could use some though. Dragging people on stage in front of everyone and insulting them may not be the most productive way to teach authenticity.
As for Tom and Leif, see my previous comments.
Tom: a born leader, great at communicating and treated each participant with respect and compassion. He set the tone for acceptance and dealing with individual issues. He is very accepting and an incredible magician!
Leif: Charming and fun. He is accepting and helpful. He makes himself available to help students at many different times and provides wonderful feedback. His clowning and humor serves him well in easing the students trepidation. An amazing performer and teacher.
Tim: Fun, knowledgeable and helpful. Spent quality time with each student request. I would like to see a little more safety enforcement and a larger classroom.
Hakan: I am still not sure what to make of his presentation. He chose a reluctant member of our class to do a simulation with him and I think it backfired. He used vulgarity with a person under 18 and seemed out of control. His demos did not have a starting point or ending point, until the last one. I talked to him afterwards and he agreed that he needed to add start/end points to his demo.
Tom was one of the kindest humans I have ever met and I feel lucky to know him. His knowledge, teaching methods, and skill are truly remarkable. Leifs classes were incredible. I will definately be using his looking methods in my upcoming shows. I LOVED Tim!! His prop making was great! If I had one note about prop making it would be that maybe he have a helper. There were times several of us were sitting around because we didnt know what to do next and Tim was helping other people. But I still LOVED the prop making!! It was an amazing experience.
Very good.
Only Håkan should give more space to students instead of improvising himself. The trio study-model would work in his lecture as well. We all wanted to explore status.
Tom, was very good (I had experienced him from our local Magicians club when he came to lecture so knew he’d be good). Leif was encouraging and supporting and had such an expressive face. Tim was incredibly patient and so good at explaining what to him is easy, never once did he make a student feel that they weren’t up to the task and Hakan perhaps could use a few less swear words whilst “Keeping it Real”, but his class has probably given me the most to think about and take-away from the course.
I am so happy that i got to get to know them.
All of them have taught me loads of new techniques I’ve started to apply in my performances and in my everyday life.
The first day was already full of theory lessons for which i haven’t prepared my self enough. I haven’t had enough sleep in advance which has affected my attention in Toms lessons a little bit. However, they were so interesting and kept me vigilant. I couldn’t afford to not hear it. As for lessons with Leif, I have some background in theater so a few of the things weren’t so foreign to me. But still, hes showed us what the true meaning behind being a clown is.
Tim is like the American granddad I’ve never had. Supportive in everything and really creative. The methods and the determination to find them is incredible.
Håkan’s “Being real in acting” has absolutely changed the Game for me.
All teachers had distinct visions and methods and taught them clearly. I feel that in all classes there was an interactive feeling and we could ask questions and contribute. Keep this up! Maybe stimulate the students to reflect on the topics with regards to their own work even more.
Tom
I think all the lessons are super important. Maybe providing more actual examples in some of the topics would make it even better.Leif
Very helpful and practical guidance for presentation. I was hoping the lesson for directing can be longer so we could see more obvious differences after being directed. And maybe we could also tried to direct each other.Tim
A great experience.One concern for me was that the things we did was a bit dangerous, if Tim could give us more warning or protections at the beginning it might be even better. Nothing happened to us but who knows.
Håkan
I think he made his point very very clear. At first I was kind of shocked by his approach, but somehow I understood at the end. Actually this lesson made me think quite a lot.
Tom- So naturally aware of the dynamics happening. I was extremely impressed with the announcement at the beginning of the course that “we are all magicians first, and gender second”. It helped set the tone for the week and what will/will not be tolerated. The teachings were useful and immediately applicable. I felt comfortable asking for help and also gained trust in myself to perform.
Leif- I cannot express how happy I was to participate in theater exercises. Everyone, artist or not, can benefit from connecting their voice to movement (in my opinion). The exercises got us out of our comfort zones and explored new ways of expressing yourself on stage. Leif is a strong instructor and I enjoyed the lessons.
Tim- I’m still blown away that I got to make things with Tim Star. What an amazingly supportive instructor! I kept hearing “you can do it” all day and it was so empowering. Before stepping into his workshop I never would have thought I could operate some of those tools. I left feeling confident and accomplished.
Håkan- I could see where his lesson was trying to go, however, it was not clear. In the end I got the overall message, but it was not executed well. I think had he explained the exercise and what was going to happen it might have been different. He chose a 17 year old to be his participant and repeatedly said “fuck you” in his face, making him visibly uncomfortable and then all of us watching uncomfortable. Since we didn’t know the exercise or what was supposed to happen, it felt like watching a bully. I don’t want to speak for anyone else, but I looked around and kept asking what was happening and everyone shook their head in confusion. The second person that was brought up was taunted for their clothing in front of everyone. It felt drastically different from anything else from the week and left, me personally, confused. My suggestion would be a clearer structure and less negativity unless explained in the exercise.
Tom – I loved his way of being. His well thought out concepts and interesting reflections was very nice comperhend and work with. I think he was a little hard on himself, he got thrown off a couple of times but it didnt matter, we are all humans as a whole it was amazing! Thank you!
Leif – A very nice and kind interaction. It was fun taking part in his classes! One thing I didnt like was that he started too many sentences with “Do you know what I hate,” or “Even worse,”. States like this sucks energy from me and I think most of them could have been avoided by saying something like “Something that is imprtant but that many forget,” or “It’s also easy to forget,”. But for me, overall, fun and important knowledge! much more important than I think many of us would like. Good sleight of hand is nothing without context, narrative and acting. Thank you!
Tim – I just loved it. He was so nice and fun to be around. As a teacher myself I was blown away by his force. Constant work with basically no breaks and different students with different needs but he kept up, I would have been done after half of his day. His way was a bless and a curse, because he inspired us to make more things than he had time for. His workshop suprised me and inspired me more than I thought it would. I’m very confident to try to make most of the things I need in the future! Thank you so much!
Håkan – Wow, his way. Yes his workshop was super nice but his performance hit me like a punch in my heart, profound. It inspired me to never second guess. If I’m going for something I’m going for it 100%, the moment will be everything! What a great way to end the week. Thank you!
Their humbleness with competence and a genuinely desire to teach worked very well. The instructors were all helpful and dedicated to helping the students. The work on misdirection with Tom Stone and the lecture with Hakan especially changed my life.
Of course we had different teachers with different approaches to teaching. I already knew Tom and I saw his lecture so I knew what can I expect. He is very humble when it comes to sharing and he is very skilled too, although he was saying that the tricks that he showed us are shit. When he explained us new concepts, he also had interesting story or example for it.
Leif was actually very similar to Tom also very humble. In teaching, he was very kind, and he listened to our thoughts as well. He had great thoughts about directing people.
Tim was very helpful when something maybe didn’t work in prop making. He explained it very quickly, but it was enough for us to understand. He was also casually showing us great inventions he invented just like it would be normal.
And Hakan in the end was awesome. We tried with my friend the exercise of being real and it’s really inspiring to try it and I think this will also help me a lot in the magic.
It’s fun to see how different every instructor was. Every one had their opinions which they didn’t present as the only truth. Everyone of them was able to answer questions and listen. Tom already lectures a lot but Leif and Håkan, you should too. The best stuff I’ve learned ever.
Very good fitted instructors. I’d love to see more of Håkan, as his lecture was helpful and very inspiring. Also, in group B I would’ve enjoyed more time with Tom. Also, I would prefer if the sessions with Tim Star were over two days, instead of everything in one day.
All of you did a very good job. All of the instructors were skilled and very good teachers. I always got help if needed.
If I would’ve had anything bad to say about any of them, I would’ve gladly written it down. But the truth is that they are all extremely competent, well behaved and incredibly warm and sympathetic in their teachings. But to avoid any flattery, I will end the answer here. 🙂
Tom: Great knowledge and instruction.
Leif: Very helpful with the final exercise. And I really enjoyed the theatrical exercises.
Tim: A master magician, who is kind, patient, and encouraging! Bravo!
Håkan: Very difficult to put “being real to words”, but I felt that he did it really well, and now when I think about doing a show, I think about what Håkan said: “If you don’t do it 100%, it will always be bad…”
Tim sits with a lot of insights, from an area that may not be as easily accessible as magic theory in general. Much appreciated! He is also very friendly and helpful, perhaps a bit too nice sometimes. Felt very sorry for him having to go and get more material.
Leif is as well very knowledgeable and it is impressive to see how how the acting part takes a normal piece and makes it something different. I sometimes feel his sessions are the hardest, and sometimes I wonder if the group could benefit from more directions to push us toward becoming better. Some times if feels like we try things out, but repeat the same mistakes over and over, in a way.
I am a theoretical type and I really like the insights and scientific approach to how and why things work they way they do, that Tom shares. It really resonates with me!
Håkan’s session was interesting as well. The exercises we did was good, he pushed us to be more “real” which I think was good. A good addition to the sessions with Leif. In the lecture-part of the session it sort of got stuck in the same message. Either we could have done some more exercises, or the content could have been expanded.
Overall it was a very good team of instructions!
I love them all.
They all are so competent and really nice to work with.
Tom is even a good listener. Thanks.So interesting to hear Tim at the dinner table tell us about his life.
Whould like handle lessons with Tim in future.
All the teachers had their place. And all in together they brought a good variety to the course. They all knew what they were talking about and they were present during the workshops. They had planned the sessions well before which was a good thing. They didnt waist our time and used the thole 90 min sessions very well.
I love you all. Tim’s propmaking class was an experience of a lifetime. Håkans lesson was intense and gave me a real push to work on my magic performances. Leif gave me a lot of inspiration and tools to work on my theatrical approaches to magic. And Tom was brilliant as in the last year.
I was just sad that Tom couldn’t/wouldn’t or simply forgot to give me some input/help with my Benson Burner act. But fortunately, Martin and Jörgen were there and gave me so much input I had enough to work with. That’s why I didn’t mention it again to Tom.
I thought the three main teachers were great, and understood their material very well. As for Hakan, I think his main objective is to get better acting performances from magicians. As such, I think his lecture would benefit from being condensed to 15 mins of lecture and 45 mins of relevant acting exercises. He’s an energetic and captivating speaker, I’m sure he will make a good lecturer once he gets the kinks out.
Tom has a very good grasp of magic theory and why it works. To see him apply the theory in practice is wonderful.
Leif is very encouraging and during the course, I learned the most from him.
Tim was so nice and helpful with crafting the items. Not only that but he also shared stories and took some time to teach some of us the Vernon wand spin.
Hakan was great. I felt that his talk really put things in perspective. I like that he is different from Leif, Tom, and Tim but that the mindset and approach to magic is the same.
Instructors were great, and Tim and Håkan made a huge and important addition to the usual guys. I cannot stress enough how nice it is to have this kind of knowledge packed with this kind of friendliness and openness. Each instructor gave their all. Of course the most memorable were Tim and Håkan as new teachers (for me). Tim got me to like metal work, which is crazy. Håkan was maybe the most inspiring, his passion for this art shows every time he speaks. The fact that Tom and Leif really try to help everyone before the last exercise is really nice. Even at night when we were sessioning, Leif had time to give some great advice to one of my routines.
Väldigt generös, hjälpsam och rolig. Är
tacksam för tålamodet och att ni fanns tillgängliga så länge varje dag. Allmänt känner man sig säker som kvinna.
Honestly, I can only write general flattery about Tom, Leif and Tim. Maybe specialized, custom made flattery.
I could not see the point of Håkan’s talk (B course). I felt like he is repeating himself during an hour. But I think by the end of the talk, he managed to think though the material and find a good presentation, because the guys from group C were very happy about it.
As always very good
They all have their specialty area and they all know whats their strength.
All instructors were knowledgeable in their fields and gave their time freely both in and outside of workshop hours to help us both with workshop tasks and our own personal acts.
Every workshop taken was given with energy, and fun and also aimed at the level we are at in Conjuring C.
They are great. Sorry. Do not have any comment to improve this.
Det kan inte bli bättre alla var toppen bra jag har inget övrigt att önska.
I feel that all the instructors are down to earth teachers who are all exeptional at their own fields. It is just great to be able to learn from them.
Magnefika, lyhörda, busiga, strikta, nogranna
Tom: Interested in the solutions that are created, easy to talk to, and very knowledgable.
Leif: Calm, playful and devious. Manages to get people to do new and strange exercises.
Tim: He doesn’t only give very clear instructions of what to do he is also good at being available for questions during the construction. It makes trying new things and new tools quite easy.
Håkan: Not yet very comfortable in the role of a teacher (just comfortable) but has great potential. Regarding “realness” he is well suited to explain the need of it in performance. The philosophical discussion of what is actually “realness” for an audience and a performer could be expanded.
They all hold very high standards. We are so lucky to have them. Such a wide range and yet so deep knowledge. Impressive.