Susan八年级校园生活(26)--魔术戏法概要(最爱圣诞礼物)

 

魔术戏法概要

 

Susan 小哭译

 

今年圣诞节我收到的最喜爱的礼物是一本书。那不是一本随便的什么书,而是在我生命中所读过的最重要的书之一——魔术核心圈子金星成员尼古拉斯. 艾因霍恩写的《魔术戏法概要》。读这本书之前,我以为自己已经了解了魔术的很多东西了。在我的生命中我从没有想到我会错得如此离谱。

 

我觉得《魔术戏法概要》一书最有价值之处并不是它所教给我的数不过来的魔术戏法,而是其对一个迷人的魔术世界的介绍。魔术并不只是简单的戏法和手法,它是非常复杂并且多种多样的。如果我没有阅读这本书,我永远也不会知道魔术世界有多么的深奥。现在,我了解了魔术商店和魔术俱乐部,还有更多的可以去获得信息的地方。以前,我根本不知道如何在我的魔术学习上取得进展。这本书给了我一些诸如什么书会帮助我、我应该去逛什么商店、我应该去查看什么网站等等的指导。这本书真正地给我介绍了一个全新与迷人的世界。

 

魔术有着丰富的历史,一个比我以为的还要有趣儿的历史。《魔术戏法概要》一书用了几页纸的篇幅概述了历史上不同的魔术师和表演者。我对他们之间这么大的差异感到惊奇。他们都有自己的风格:有些擅长幽默类的;有些擅长戏剧表演类的;有些专攻脱逃术(逃脱的艺术);有些擅长制造纸牌错觉。魔术世界非常地多姿多彩,有着数以百计的各种不同的戏法,我正在学习的魔术类型属于近距离观察魔术,说得再具体些,是纸牌戏法。读这本书让我接触到了数不清的、否则可能永远也不会想到的魔术类型。

 

这本书不仅给出了魔术不同领域的信息,也给提供了我在每个领域可以学习的一些戏法。书中写得非常详细,列出了我开始学习时将会需要了解的所有基本信息。速读了每一章节后(跳过了一些戏法),我意识到一个特别的章节在向我呼唤:纸牌戏法。我不知道为什么我这么地喜欢纸牌。可能是因为我很熟悉它们,或者它们很常见,也可能是因为当你能完全掌握它们之后的那种赏心悦目吧。不管是什么原因,在读完每一种不同类型的魔术之后,我还是最喜欢近距离观察的纸牌戏法。

 

这本书并非只是让我找到了一个学习魔术的起点,也帮助我做出了一个决定。我想在这条路上走多远呢?我想在这个神秘的艺术领域涉猎多深呢?我的决定是我绝不会以魔术师为职业,因为风险太大了。虽然有许多像霍迪尼或大卫. 科波菲尔那样的魔术师发了横财也闻名于世,但更多的魔术师并非如此。我并不想长大后只是一名魔术师,但是我确实想擅长魔术,想多多少少地用它来娱乐大众。这就是《魔术戏法概要》一书带给我的收获。当然我不用着这么早地做什么决定,我还有十天的假期去做我想做的事情,去随我心意地在魔术领域涉猎。

 

我真的想谢谢马克一家送给我这本书。这是我这个圣诞节收到的最好的礼物,也是我迄今读过的关于魔术的最好的一本书。虽然书里有些戏法不怎么样,但是其它那些令人兴奋的戏法则远远地弥补了这一点。毫无疑义,我会一读再读这本书的,而且我也会去魔术商店买更多的书。我已经迫不急待想去启动我的魔术世界之旅了!

 

【小哭介绍背景】Susan三岁时曾经在湛江生活过半年多,那时我们带她参加过移动公司举办的一个晚会。晚会有魔术表演,需要群众小演员上台,她非常想参与。可是她那时还非常内向自卑,想举手又不敢举。最后在我的鼓励下终于举了手,但是已经错过了最好的时机,最后没有被主持人选中。她当时哭了很久。那是我记住的她与魔术相关联的最久远的事儿了。所以,有次我和阿朵讲,Susan通过文章所带给人们的阳光女孩的印象,是不是现在的她不好讲,但至少不是曾经的她。曾经的她,因为动作慢和不会讲广东方言(广东省有多种方言,Susan那会儿有些小城市普通幼儿园的工作语言是方言),更加上不会看别人的眼色,一直是老师和家长心目中的“差生”。所以,当这阵子我把Susan的文章和小电影给从前的家长朋友看后过,他们直问我,美国为什么会让一个孩子改变这么多?他们说记忆中的Susan根本不是文章和小电影中的样子!是的,我知道,大家记忆中的那个孩子,是一个没有什么人瞧得起的孩子。但是,“女大十八变”不是?Susan的变化,让我相信自己回归家庭很有必要性,也让我更坚定了陪着小宝长大的信念。所以我回复朋友时有一句“小哭也是Susan美国生活里面的一部分哪”。孩子与孩子不同,我的孩子因为我的回归阳光起来了,这就说明我的回归是非常有意义的,但这不说明别人也应该回归:)

 

感觉Susan从小确实对魔术类的东西有兴趣儿,这个爱好也有点不那么女孩子气。我们经常给她买一些简易的与魔术相关的器具或说玩具,还会给她下载一些跟魔术有关的视频。来美国后,我也一直都能够感觉到她对魔术的爱好,但是确实从来不曾感觉到她痴迷魔术。有一次我给小宝买了一些变小戏法的道具还有书,结果Susan死乞白赖地拿东西给换走了:)有时她会提起教会的N纸牌玩得好,我也没有当个事儿。直到她这第二季的纸牌戏法大作业提上日程,我才发现,魔术这事变得越来越专业、也越来越占用她的时间了。她说那是她的作业需要练习,但我那会儿更觉得是她痴迷上变戏法了。

 

因为第二季的时间恰好在节日里,她的这个作业进行过程中得到了不少朋友的鼓励。Susan爸爸的一个朋友因为她在人家的聚会上表演了魔术,第二天就从网上订购了一套魔术用具给她当圣诞节礼物,理由就是这个孩子太特别、太招他们家喜欢了。而马克连续两次见过她表演纸牌戏法后,就在圣诞节给她买了这本介绍魔术的书《魔术戏法概要》。没想到Susan对这本书喜欢得不得了,第一时间读完后就写了读后感,我看后马上发给了马克,把马克感动得不得了,告诉我Susan真的是一个相当厉害的写手:)说是他根本没有想到这个礼物会如此得Susan的喜爱。稍扯远点,我们和马克的相识是因为他几天后要娶一个中国太太而到华人教会咨询,不可思议地,最后的婚礼上我竟然成了伴娘,于是我们家和马克家很快就成了亲密的朋友,他甚至在我们和他太太用QQ交流时也参与一二。后来凡是Susan写的有关我们两家之间的文章,我都会传给他看。他们家对Susan的喜爱也越来越多,而我们两家之间的友谊因着Susan的作文也在加强。记得我以前曾经说过的吗?写作对于Susan与成年人之间的友谊建立,起着非常重要的作用,当然成年人也得那种愿意鼓励孩子的类型。

 

我挺喜欢Susan在这个小文中的两点小小的没有点明的感悟。一是她通过阅读了解到了魔术世界的深奥,知道自己以前所知甚少,这大概可以用发现了“天外有天”来形容她的收获吧;二是她了解到了普通魔术师的生活境况,知道魔术大师和普通魔术师之间差别巨大,知道成为大师的概率实在是太低。关于这第二点,我希望她有一天会明白,任何一个行业,成为大师的都是凤毛麟角。但大师只代表着业务上的成绩,不代表着一个人生活的全部。生活上快乐与否与成为大师没有多少联系。

 

 

 

附上英文原文:

 

The Ultimate Compendium of Magic Tricks

 

My favorite gift I got for Christmas this year is a book. This isn’t just any old book, though. This may be one of the most important book I’ll ever read in my life: The Ultimate Compendium of Magic Tricks, written by Nicholas Einhorn, a gold star member of the inner magic circle. Before reading this book, I had thought I knew quite a lot about magic. I don’t think I have ever been so wrong in my life.

 

What I value most about The Ultimate Compendium of Magic Tricks isn’t the countless magic tricks that it taught me: it’s the introduction to a facinating world of magic. Magic isn’t just about simple tricks and sleigh-of-hand. It’s a very complicated and very diverse thing. If I had not read this book, I would never have know about just how deep the world of magic is. Now, I know about magic shops and magic clubs, and places where I can go to get more information. Before, I had absolutely no idea on how to progress in my magic studies. This book gave me some leads as to what books might help me, what shops I should go find, and what websites I should check out. This book has just introduced me to a whole new and magical universe.

 

Magic has a very rich history, a history way more interesting than I had expected. The Ultimate Compendium of Magic Tricks spent a couple of pages giving an overview of various magicians and performers throughout history. I was amazed by how different they all were. They all had their own styles: some exceled at comedy, some at dramatic performances. Some specialized in escapology (the art of escaping), some speciallized in card illusions. The world of magic is very diverse. There are hundreds of different types of tricks out there, and the type of magic I am studying right now is close-up magic, more specifically card tricks. Reading this book exposed me to the countless types of magic out there that I otherwise never would’ve thought about.

 

The book not only gave some information about the different areas in magic, it also provided some tricks for me to learn in each area. It was very thorough, and gave all the basic information I needed to get started. After skimming through each and every section (and skipping some of the tricks), I realized that one specific section called out to me: card magic. I don’t know what it is about cards that make me like them so much. Maybe it’s their familiarity, or their commoness, or how beautiful they look when handled properly. Whatever the reason, after reading through every single different types of magic, I still like close-up card magic the best.

 

This book not only provided me with a place to get started, it also provided me with a decision. How far do I want to go along this road? How deep do I want to dabble in this mysterious art? I certainly don’t want to choose magic as my career. That’s way to big of a gamble. Although a lot of magicians out there like Houdini or David Copperfield strike it rich and get famous, there are hundred who don’t. I don’t want to be just a magician when I grow up. But I do want to be really good at magic, and be able to entertain crowds big and small. This is the problem The Ultimate Compendium of Magic Tricks presented for me. I don’t have to decide anytime soon, though. I’ve still got ten days of vacation left to do whatever I want, and to dabble in magic as deep as I want to go.

 

I really want to thank Mark’s family for getting me this book. This is the best present I have received this Christmas, and the best book on magic that I’ve read so far. Though some of the tricks in this book are sort of cheesy, the other mind-blowing ones more than make up for the cheesy ones. I’m definitely going to read it again and again, and go to magic shops to get more books. I can’t wait to get started on my journey in the world of magic!