Boys, Power, and Card Tricks
"Do you like card tricks?"
"No, I hate card tricks," I answered.
"Well, I`ll just show you this one."
He showed me three.
(W. Somerset Maugham, Mr. Know All)
There are a number of very real problems with card tricks and young people but these problems are quite revealing.
Boys who like them like them almost too much. Girls seldom like them.
Many boys like them as a way of collecting. They often collect other cards such as Top Trumps or Pokémon cards. In this case they collect secrets. This gives them the impression that magic is simply a matter of knowing how its done. Once they are in this mode of thought it is difficult to work on any other approach to magic which might involve performance, communication, context, humor, or fun.
Of course this is how much of the teaching they have been exposed to teaches them to regard the acquisition of a skill. They are often tested more on how they remember things than how they use the things they know.
Once they remember a card trick they perform it as a test for the spectator. If the spectator fails they have won. That's it.
The appeal of card tricks is obvious when you think about it. They spend so much of their time under the control of others and being tested on things they want some revenge. This is why they relish building and sorting large collections of Pokémon cards. They have the knowledge. They are in control. And they only get tested by their peers. If you have ever had a kid testing you on what Dusclops' special power is you'll remember how much they enjoy turning the tables in this way.
I suggest teaching card tricks to young boys as a swapping game. If they show you a card trick and reveal how it is done then return the favor. Obviously you want them to move beyond this trickster phase and get them to see that performing magic can be more than a test but its a good way to begin really communiciating. If you stick to simple puzzle type card effects you wont be revealing much and the value will be more in the gifting behavior than in the puzzles.
Note: Dusclops' special power is that it can hypnotize his opponent by "waving its hands in a macabre manner and bringing its single eye to bear." Sounds like a magician to me.
"No, I hate card tricks," I answered.
"Well, I`ll just show you this one."
He showed me three.
(W. Somerset Maugham, Mr. Know All)
There are a number of very real problems with card tricks and young people but these problems are quite revealing.
Boys who like them like them almost too much. Girls seldom like them.
Many boys like them as a way of collecting. They often collect other cards such as Top Trumps or Pokémon cards. In this case they collect secrets. This gives them the impression that magic is simply a matter of knowing how its done. Once they are in this mode of thought it is difficult to work on any other approach to magic which might involve performance, communication, context, humor, or fun.
Of course this is how much of the teaching they have been exposed to teaches them to regard the acquisition of a skill. They are often tested more on how they remember things than how they use the things they know.
Once they remember a card trick they perform it as a test for the spectator. If the spectator fails they have won. That's it.
The appeal of card tricks is obvious when you think about it. They spend so much of their time under the control of others and being tested on things they want some revenge. This is why they relish building and sorting large collections of Pokémon cards. They have the knowledge. They are in control. And they only get tested by their peers. If you have ever had a kid testing you on what Dusclops' special power is you'll remember how much they enjoy turning the tables in this way.
I suggest teaching card tricks to young boys as a swapping game. If they show you a card trick and reveal how it is done then return the favor. Obviously you want them to move beyond this trickster phase and get them to see that performing magic can be more than a test but its a good way to begin really communiciating. If you stick to simple puzzle type card effects you wont be revealing much and the value will be more in the gifting behavior than in the puzzles.
Note: Dusclops' special power is that it can hypnotize his opponent by "waving its hands in a macabre manner and bringing its single eye to bear." Sounds like a magician to me.
posted by stuart nolan at 5:12 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home