Scepticism

“I don't believe in astrology; I'm a Sagittarius and we're sceptical.”

-Arthur C. Clarke

Being a professional magician, performing magic and even just thinking like a magician has brought me many gifts and insights. It has taught me skills that I wouldn’t otherwise have developed and of course it has shaped my world view.

For me, a big part of that world view is a healthy scepticism of, well…Everything. I think the key word here is ‘healthy.’ When I say everything I mean a healthy scepticism towards nonsense, being able to spot the bullshit.

As a kid I was fascinated by how things worked. How did my toys work? What if I take that apart and see? Let’s get a screwdriver and have a look inside!

I don’t remember why I felt like I wanted to do that but I do remember the feeling, the absolute need to know the workings. Seeing the wires and buttons and cogs under the surface fascinated me, so I had to look. I used to own a little pinball machine that I loved. It just sat on your lap and worked brilliantly, until I took it apart of course. The innards were made of steel rods and lots of oily lubricant of some sort. There was no way I was getting that thing back together and I was gutted that I no longer had a pinball machine but I DID have some new knowledge. I had gained an insight into a different world that you’re not supposed to see.

At that time my mum used to take us to the library every week. I loved it. Back then I wasn’t interested in novels. It was the craft section that I loved. Making things, learning about how stuff worked. Anything along those lines. And it was there at the library that Magic found me.

I came across a magic book in the craft section and that was it for me…The door to a brand new world was revealed and I was about to open it up, step inside and never come back! Here was a new hobby, a world of imagination that showed me the inner workings and cogs under the surface of reality. Not only that, it taught me how to turn those cogs and twist reality. I loved it. In fact, soon after that I needed magic.

Learning how to perform magic tricks went hand in white gloved hand with learning about people and discovering how people react to their beliefs and world view being momentarily disrupted by a great magic trick.

Looking back, I really started questioning everything around that time. I questioned what I heard people say, I questioned what I was taught at school, I questioned Religion, I questioned the news, I questioned what I read. It was learning magic that helped me realise that it’s okay to throw life itself into question. A healthy scepticism is good. We all need it in a world of fake news, scam phone calls and emails and a world where anyone can set themselves up online offering life tips, psychic healing and even medical advice with no training whatsoever…But that’s a topic for another, probably more incendiary blog.

When I was younger I was more inclined to call out the bullshitters, to vocally rally against anything that was so obviously nonsense, yet was so popular. I couldn’t understand how everyone else didn’t see the nonsense.

Nowadays I’m much more chilled. My scepticism has evolved from openly challenging other people’s beliefs into a questioning of everything that I do personally and professionally. Gig after gig, night after night I ask myself the same questions…”Did that work? If yes, why? If not, why? How do I improve this?” By always asking these questions and always challenging my own work I become a better magician. And it’s through my Magic that I challenge people’s beliefs. You believe it’s impossible for someone to read your mind, you believe that there’s no way on this Earth that your borrowed finger ring could appear in such an impossible place…I show you different.

But what about scepticism on the part of the audience? As I have mentioned in a previous blog post a good magician will make you feel comfortable and carry you away on a journey, even for a brief time. Scepticism doesn’t play a part in that journey because you have left it behind, happy to follow the magician wherever they may take you because ultimately you know it’s safe and fun. This is not psychic healing, this is not a telephone scam trying to get your money. This is trickery for entertainment, and done well it becomes much more than mere trickery, it becomes magic.

Depending on the show that I’m performing I may even openly ask my audience to be sceptical. I want you to apply your world view and deeply held beliefs to what I do so that we can both be challenged, surprised and hopefully happily amazed at the experience of letting go of what we think we know. So if you see me perform…It’s okay to be sceptical…Just be prepared to let go and enjoy the magic.

Stay sceptical out there and have fun!

-Caolan x