Open AccessThe Magic of Social Life Online Topics and Resources
Author(s) -
Brian Rappert
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
journal of performance magic
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
ISSN - 2051-6037
DOI - 10.5920/jpm.840
Subject(s) - magic (telescope) , covid-19 , zoom , pandemic , function (biology) , psychology , sociology , engineering , medicine , physics , astronomy , biology , disease , pathology , evolutionary biology , infectious disease (medical specialty) , petroleum engineering , lens (geology)
Theglobal COVID-19 pandemic has compelled magicians to reconsider how they engage audiences. The pivot to online delivery platforms hasserved as yet another occasion in the history of this art form to consider longrunning questions about its aims and means. This articleelaborates the reasoning behind one effort to produce an online, Zoom-basedresource prompted by the COVID-19 pandemic; namely a series of interactiverecorded performances titled The Magic ofSocial Life. It does so in two parts: (i) outlining the rationale for aform of academic magic that seeks to turn commonplace social practices andconventions into topics for discussion, and (ii) elaborating how this form ofmagic was adopted to promote reflection on technologically mediated forms ofsocial interaction. Through examiningthe choices and commitments associated with both parts, this article considersthe possibilities for how magic can function as method for understandingourselves and others.