Amidst the tall bookshelves and hidden study rooms of Tisch Library, a world of spectacle and wonderful delights awaits.
Every week, the Tufts Magician Society comes together to create a wide variety of magic. With students ranging from beginners to experienced masters of illusion, members take pride in finding new ways to astonish themselves and others.
The group was founded by two Tufts sophomores, current President Dylan Wilson and Vice President Ben Skinner. Both Wilson and Skinner had experience doing magic prior to coming to Tufts and they explained that they joined together to share their passions with fellow magicians when they came to campus.
“I saw this guy doing card tricks in the lobby of our common room freshman year, and it was Ben,” Wilson said. “And I think we immediately became friends because of that. One day, I just [said to] him, ‘We got to start a club.’”
Skinner described how his interest in forming the group stemmed from wanting to meet people who were interested in magic.
“I actually didn't really have any friends who were also into magic until I came to Tufts,” Skinner said. “That's kind of where my interest came from … let's meet more people who also have this passion.”
During their meetings, members spend their time pitching and learning new tricks with help from others.
“Usually we'll go through just tricks with each other,” Wilson said. “It's called jamming, where you just show each other tricks and say, ‘Oh, this is cool,’ ‘I didn't like that part’ [or] ‘Maybe you can do this.’”
Skinner stressed that although practicing magic can seem complicated from an outsider’s perspective, the Magician Society is very beginner-friendly.
“I think what's cool is that if somebody who had never done magic came to one of our meetings [and] spent 45 minutes there, they could walk out knowing two or three tricks,”Skinner said.
While many members of the Magician Society are brand-new to the world of magic, other members, like Max Greenspoon, are very familiar with the magician community.
Greenspoon, a junior, has always specialized in card tricks. However, he described that he has recently been exploring new areas such as mentalism.
“My wide background is … very much in cards … I have a routine I do called ‘Prism,’ which is about a 10 to 15 minute routine with a deck of cards,” Greenspoon said.“But more recently, I've started working more in areas like mentalism … looking at the psychology underlying some of that stuff.”
For many of the magicians in the Magician Society, the most challenging aspect of doing magic is making their tricks meaningful to their audience.
“There's a magic theory … called the ham sandwich theory … [which] is the idea that if I come up to you, and I magically produce a ham sandwich for you, that's cool. But … you're like, ‘Why the f--- did you just produce a ham sandwich?’”Greenspoon said. “If I came up to you, and we were having a conversation and … it came up … ’Hey, I'm kind of hungry, it could really go for a ham sandwich right now.' And then I produced the ham sandwich, the magic takes on meaning, and it feels relevant. And that is one of the hardest things to find.”
When it comes to actually staging their acts, Wilson and Greenspoon both emphasized the power of simple tricks as opposed to elaborate, flashy stage productions.
“I think it's really cool when you see someone do this really simple trick, but it's the best trick you've ever seen because they perform it really well,”Wilson said.
Greenspoon reiterated the wonder of live magic tricks.
“I think that there's a certain beauty and elegance … [that] I am four feet in front of you, you can see exactly what I'm doing at every moment … and I still managed to get you,”Greenspoon said.
Greenspoon also remarked on the personability that comes with up-close and simple magic, and how he greatly values interactions with audience members.
“I love to perform with that intimacy … in a stage setting, it's … much easier for you to just kind of anonymize your audience,” Greenspoon said. “Whereas in a close up setting, I could know every single person's name in front of me. I can pull each of them in.”
Greenspoon explained that magicians face challenges adapting to the technological innovations of the 21st century.
“There are three main rules for magicians … you never do a trick more than once, you never say what you're gonna do before you do it, and you never reveal how it's done,” Greenspoon said. “In the age of the Internet, all of those rules are broken, and so I think we have a duty as artists — not even as magicians, as artists — to evolve with the time and to … bring the craft forward by getting more people excited about this stuff.”
Greenspoon also described some of the current labels that magicians face in society, and how he’s working to break the stigma that comes with being a magician.
“A lot of people see magic as like this kind of nerdy hobby, like, ‘Oh, he does magic tricks. Oh, that's cute.' … There's almost like a stigma around it,”Greenspoon said. “And so [magicians need to be] kind of working to get more people excited about doing these cool things … even if they're not interested in learning [magic], that wonder is something that I think everyone can appreciate.”
All of the members expressed immense appreciation for the Magician Society and optimism about the future of the group.
“It's kind of like a team … when you go for a performance,” Wilson said. “It's like, ‘We're gonna kill this, it's gonna be good,’ and then you can celebrate afterwards.”
Skinner shared that students can quickly apply their experiences from the Magician Society.
“You can come to a meeting, and we can teach you tricks,” Skinner said. “The next day, you can be blowing people's minds. If you have any interest in magic, I think our club is a great place. [We are] always happy to have more people who just want to come and have a great time and learn some cool stuff.”
Greenspoon noted the particular importance that magic has in society today.
“With what's been happening in the world, we need magic,” Greenspoon said. “Magic sparks joy. … a kind of unadulterated joy … You can just be wondrously surprised and awed by magic, and you don't need to deal with [the] moral implications of it.”
Greenspoon described that being a member of the Tufts Magician Society is all about the receiving and sending of genuine happiness.
“[Teaching newbies is] a win-win because [the new members] … get that joy,” Greenspoon said. “Afterwards, we get to show them how they can make that joy happen to others. Magic is about spreading joy. We want to make people happy.”
