“Smile” – Nat King Cole
I’m at the Blackpool Magic Convention, watching a brilliant mime act part of a larger magic show.
No cards.
No coins.
No grand illusion.
No obvious “tricks”.
Just presence. Timing. Expression. Silence.
And I’m smiling. The song is perfect and will mark this moment.
The mime itself isn’t magic in the technical sense. There were no vanishes, no sleight of hand, no impossible objects. But it belonged there. On a magic stage. Inside a magic show.
That’s what struck me.
Magic isn’t just tricks. It isn’t just foolery or puzzles or clever gimmicks designed to outsmart an audience.
Magic is an art form and like any true art form, it refuses to stay neatly categorized.
It borrows.
From theatre.
From mime.
From dance.
From music.
From storytelling.
From juggling.
From circus performing.
From psychology.
Magic is a container wide enough to hold all of it.
I’ve been to enough conventions and competitions to say this without exaggeration —I’ve seen more shows, acts, lectures, and experimental pieces than most “muggles” ever will.
The creativity is staggering.
Some pieces lean heavily on technique.
Others lean entirely on emotion.
Some barely use traditional magic at all.
And yet they all belong. Because at its core, magic is not about deception.
It’s about experience.
It’s about creating a moment where an audience feels something shift surprise, joy, confusion, nostalgia, childlike wonder.
Tonight, watching that mime woven into a larger illusion show, I wasn’t analyzing. I wasn’t breaking down method. I was simply entertained.
I smiled.
And that reminded me —the purpose of all this rehearsal, all the conventions, all the competitions— isn’t to prove how clever we are.
It’s to give someone a moment of delight.
Magic may not fit into a clean artistic category. But maybe that’s the point.
It’s art.
And art, at its best, makes us smile without asking why.
Light up your face with gladness
Hide every trace of sadness
Although a tear
May be ever so near
....
Light up your face with gladness
Hide every trace of sadness
Although a tear
May be ever so near
That's the time you must keep on trying
Smile, what's the use of crying?
You'll find that life is still worthwhile
If you'll just smile....