Magic Workshops

Art of Magic - Chicago
2019-07-08 09:00 - 2019-07-10 16:00 (America/Chicago) | Chicago Magic Lounge, 5050 North Clark Street, Chicago, IL, 60640, United States
A workshop on how to create new magic effects and magic routines.
Required prerequisite knowledge: General knowledge about conjuring.
The Art of Magic workshop have so far been given in Sweden, Norway, England. It is primarily meant for long time professionals but is suitable for anyone who desire to take their magic a step further. Through a series of in-depth practical exercises (which often are hilarious and exciting), you’ll be led to re-examine and question old ‘truths’, get a better grasp of the techniques that makes magic deceptive and dramatic, and get your passion for the art rekindled. Not to mention that you’ll discover that you possess a creativity that you didn’t think you had.
None of the exercises rely on dexterity or sleight of hand.
Instructor
Your instructor is the Swedish magician Tom Stone, recipient of the Creative Fellowship award 2015, and author of several books on innovative magic. Tom is well versed in the magic theory and the practical performance craft, and his teaching method is fun and enabling.
Schedule
Monday, July 8

09:00 – 10:00 – Workshop: The Effect!
10:00 – 12:00 – Workshop: Dramatic & narrative tools
12:00 – 13:00 – Lunch.
13:00 – 14:00 – Workshop: Misdirection á la Ramsay.
14:00 – 16:00 – Workshop: The Science & Crossing the Gaze.

Tuesday, July 9

09:00 – 10:00 – Workshop: Deceptive Structures A
10:00 – 12:00 – Workshop: Deceptive Structures B
12:00 – 13:00 – Lunch.
13:00 – 14:00 – Workshop: Deceptive Structures C
14:00 – 16:00 – Workshop: Motion Vectors

Wednesday, July 10

09:00 – 12:00 – Bringing it all together.
09:00 – 12:00 – Applications in your own work
12:00 – 13:00 – Lunch.
13:00 – 14:00 – Performance.
14:00 – 15:00 – Evaluation.

Learning objective: On completion of the workshop, the student should:

Be able to practice and apply misdirection, dramatic techniques and non-linear methods.
Be able to confidently work with the brainstorming process in relation to any given theme.
Be able to cogently discuss, research and experiment with colleagues in both magic and related artistic fields.

Guidelines
In general:
Make sure you have pen and notepad. You will get hundreds of ideas, and any idea not written down will be instantly forgotten.
You will probably want to document some of the work you do, so make sure you have plenty of free memory in your devices so you can film and photograph your ideas.
A good idea is that all participants collaborate with the notes and create a mutual document afterwards.
Exercises in misdirection:
Bring a few coins in a size that is comfortable to you to palm.
Also, bring a few identical small objects that are comfortable to finger palm (maybe small rubber balls, balls from Cups & Balls, small toys, marbles, pebbles from the ground… anything).
And one object that can act as a magic wand (a wand, a drumstick, a large pencil, a stirring stick for drinks… something).
Exercises in structure and routine construction:
You need to bring 2-3 simple and short tricks that you can perform. It does not need to be good or advanced tricks, it can even be something from a magic set for kids. But they should be different, not too similar. The purpose is to learn how to build the structure of a routine or an act, so the nature and quality of the actual tricks are not important. The simpler the better.
Creativity exercises:
Bring a small kit of your favorite solutions.
If you like to use magnets and strings to solve magic problems, bring magnets and strings.
If you often solve magic problems by gluing stuff together; bring glue.
If you tend to use black art; bring black material.
And if you don’t have any favorite solutions to magic problems, don’t worry; just bring yourself.
Application:
On the last day you will apply all the new knowledge on your own material, so bring a trick or routine you want to work on. Preferably, choose either a very old routine that you’ve become awfully tired of and want to breath new life into, or a rather new piece that you still are in the process of figuring out.
Music:
For some of the exercises you will likely want to add music, so load up your devices with a good assortment of music in various moods; upbeat, sad, happy, spooky, dramatic, soft, rhythmic…
The Venue
The workshop is held at Chicago Magic Lounge in the Andersonville area in Chicago.
Limited seats
The workshop is limited to 12 attendees, and the seats tend to go very fast.
Meals and Lodging
Meals are not included.
You will need to arrange lodging on your own. Search for “hotels near Andersonville” on Google, or enter the area “Andersonville, Chicago” into AirBNB, or check via our Facebook page whether there are any local participants that might have a guest room to rent out.
Cancelation policy
If you cancel before June 24, you will get the full amount reimbursed.
A cancelation June 24 or later, but before the July 1, you will get 50% returned.
Cancelation on July 1 or later, no reimbursment.
If you want to ask former participants questions, to figure out if this might be for you, several of them can be reached on this Facebook page.
Price:4700 SEK. That is about $4700 USD or 4700 euro. (Choose your currency below)

Conjuring 2019
2019-07-29 09:00 - 2019-08-09 16:00 (Europe/Stockholm) | Sigtuna Folkhögskola, Manfred Björkquists allé 20, Sigtuna, 193 22, Sweden
This is a 5 day hands-on workshop in conjuring. There will be loads of exercises in misdirection, dramatic and deceptive structure, as well as in prop making. We will examine magic theories, apply them and discuss them in the context of performances. The course is suitable for those with moderate experience as well as experts. We will work from early morning to late night and you’ll find it both challenging and rewarding.
The workshop is led by Tom Stone, who is the author of several technical books on conjuring arts, as well as a performer, consultant, speaker, creator and teacher of the subject. He was awarded the 2015 Creative Fellowship by the Academy of Magical Arts.
For the lessons in propmaking, you will meet Johan Davidsson. Johan is is long time craft teacher with specialisation in historical crafts.
He has been teaching craft workshops since 2001, in woodworking, leather craft, silversmithing, textile arts to name a few.
The workshop is given twice this summer, since the interest was very high in 2018.
The first time is during week 31 (July 29 to August 2). Application form Filled!
The second time is during week 32 (August 5-9). Application form Filled!
Learning objective: On completion of the workshop, the student should:

Be able to practice and apply misdirection, dramatic techniques and non-linear methods.
Be able to confidently work with the brainstorming process in relation to any given theme.
Be able to cogently discuss, research and experiment with colleagues in both magic and related artistic fields.
Be able to use small tools to build props.

Schedule

Monday
9.00 Check-in.
10:30 Diningroom: Fika (coffee & snacks) + introduction of all the courses.
11:00 Exercise: The Effect as a narrative.
11:30 Exercise: Think face.
12:00 Lunch
13:00 Exercise: Subplots.
14:00 Exercise: Foreshadowing & callbacks
16:00 Fika (coffee & snacks).
16:30 Exercise: Misdirection, John Ramsay style.
18:00 Dinner
19:00 Extra event.
Week 1: The Butterfly Deck, with Ondřej Pšenička.
Week 2: “Magic – The feminist perspective”, with Sofia Lerma.
…In the evening, there’s a bar. There’s also a lake nearby for those who want to swim.

Tuesday
8.00 Breakfast.
9.00 Propmaking.
10:30 Fika.
11:00 Propmaking.
12:00 Lunch
13:00 Propmaking.
16:00 Fika.
16:30 Propmaking
18:00 Dinner
19:00 Extra event: Technology & Magic, with Simon Almers.
…The bar is open.

Wednesday
8.00 Breakfast.
9.00 Exercise: Crossing the Gaze.
10:30 Fika.
11:00 Exercise: Cancelling.
12:00 Lunch
13:00 Exercise: One ahead / One behind
16:00 Fika.
16:30 Exercise: Amodal completion.
18:00 Dinner
19:00 Extra event for female magicians: Talks on how to establish a mutual body of work.
…The bar is open.

Thursday
8.00 Breakfast.
9.00 Exercise: Motion vectors.
10:30 Fika.
11:00 Exercise: Motion vectors.
12:00 Lunch
13:00 Guest exercise, Leif Olberius: Theatrical techniques 1
16:00 Fika.
16:30 Guest exercise, Leif Olberius: Theatrical techniques 2
18:00 Dinner
19:30 Extra event: Open stage in the dining room. You are welcome to perform. Audience: Laypeople from the other courses
…The bar is open.

Friday
8.00 Breakfast.
9.00 Exercise: Bringing it all together.
10:30 Fika.
11:00 Exercise: Applications in your own work.
12:00 Lunch
13:00 Final performances
14:00 Final evaluation
15:00 Final Fika.

Loose guidelines.
The following are just advice, not rules or demands.
In general:
Make sure you have pen and notepad. You will get hundreds of ideas, and any idea not written down will be instantly forgotten.
You will probably want to document some of the work you do, so make sure you have plenty of free memory in your devices so you can film and photograph your ideas.
It might also be nice to share one’s notes with the group, via some internet solution; Google Docs, Dropbox…
For the propmaking classes:
It is good if you have clothes that you don’t have to be very careful with, preferably clothes made of natural fibers (cotton, linen…). Tight fitting clothes are better than loose fitting clothes that can can get caught in things. Closed-toed shoes is preferable. And a hairband to tie your hair back if it is long.
For the exercises in misdirection:
Bring a few coins in a size that is comfortable to you to palm.
Also, bring a few identical small objects that are comfortable to finger palm (maybe small rubber balls, balls from Cups & Balls, small toys, marbles, pebbles from the ground… anything).
And one object that can act as a magic wand (a wand, a drumstick, a large pencil, a stirring stick for drinks… something)
For the exercises in structure and routine construction:
You need to bring 3-5 simple and short tricks that you can perform. It does not need to be good or advanced (it can even be something from a magic set for kids). But they should be different, not too similar. The purpose is to learn how to build the structure of a routine or an act, so the nature and quality of the actual tricks are not important. The simpler the better.
For the final exercise:
(Optional) It is not necessary or essential, but you can bring 1-2 tricks or routines you are already working with. The last exercise is to apply as much as possible of the new knowledge on one of your own routines, but the advice is to pick either something new that is in development, or an old piece that you’re godawfully tired of, rather than something that is in your active repertoire, because most people are hesitant to change something they know works well as it is. The reason we say this is optional, is because we’ve noticed that most tend to pick something they’ve come up with during the week. Yet, it might be good to have something, for peace of mind, if nothing else.
For the creativity exercises:
Bring a small kit of your favorite solutions.
If you like to use magnets and strings to solve magic problems, bring magnets and strings.
If you often solve magic problems by gluing stuff together; bring glue.
If you tend to use black art; bring black material.
…
And if you don’t have any favorite solutions to magic problems, don’t worry; just bring yourself.
Music:
For some of the exercises you will likely want to add music, so load up your devices with a good assortment of music in various moods; upbeat, sad, happy, spooky, dramatic, soft, rhythmic…et cetera.
Finally
On the school, besides the Conjuring workshop, there are several other workshops at the same time (in writing, photographing, painting..). In the evenings, a make-shift pub will be open and the participants in all the workshops can socialize with each other. Improvised magic performances and sessions are very welcome.
