Jeff Burns and Ivor Smith of Aberdeen-based magic company Fifth Dimension were honoured to be asked to deliver a lecture to the American Society of Magicians (S.A.M.) this month.
The society is the world's oldest magic organisation, founded in 1902 in New York. It has had many famous members, none more so than Harry Houdini. He was elected National President of the S.A.M., a position he held until his untimely death on October 31, 1926.
S.A.M., whose ideals include the elevation of the Art of Magic, asked Ivor and Jeff to present to their members how they took magic beyond entertainment, into the business arena.
Ivor said, “We have previously presented to the International Brotherhood of Magicians and it was an honour to be asked by our peers to present to another prestigious organisation.”
Jeff added, “Our presentation primarily focussed on our safety magic. We gave a demonstration of a typical safety magic presentation. Then we discussed why we use certain effects and how we use them to really captivate the audience, helping them view various safety scenarios in a different way and re-evaluate how they would respond in certain situations.”
Ivor continued’ “We also shared our experience on collaboration – working with fellow magicians and others including theatre directors and writers to help bring a different perspective to our work and develop and enhance our performance.”
Jeff concluded, “The presentation, that we delivered via Zoom, got a great response and there’s already been a conversation about us presenting in person at the S.A.M annual members convention in America.”