Infinite Limits

Analogy of Quickness

          A magician is an actor who pretends he is doing the impossible. The most common trick is to make objects or people disappear and reappear. It is vital that a magician keep the audience from noticing what is actually being done through deception. If the audience’s attention can be controlled, the magician needs only some skill of hand and very little tools. Distraction of the mind may be just as necessary as distraction of the eye as the magician tries to draw the attention away from the method.

          Another element in the psychology of magic is timing. According to the manner in which an action is performed and the time at which it is done, a magician can impress audiences with what he is doing or make them fail to notice what is actually being done. Movements of the hand must be done slowly and gently, but the magician may speak of quickness of the hand in order to mislead the audience as they try and watch alertly for quick movement. They thus fail to notice the normal, easy motions by which the trick is really done.

          The process of the magician’s quickness of the hand embodies Calvino’s memo. The magician establishes a connection between the audience and his hand that is not really existent or possible by using time and trickery to fool the viewers. Deception and timing of a magician compares to the emblem of “hurry slowly” Calvino also uses to describe quickness. The total idea of hurrying slowly is exactly what a magician does in order to mislead the audience as the movements of his hands are done slowly, but he talks about quickness.