A Magician’s Guide to Storytelling & Attention
An exploration of the ideas and work of magician Jeanette Andrews, performing at the HCL Fall Benefit on Nov. 10. Tickets on sale now.
Photo credit: Isabelle Grybow
Are you paying close attention? In a chronically online world inundated by information, it can feel nigh impossible to navigate the sheer volume of stories being told, let alone draw the line between reality and illusion. What should we pay attention to, and how do we tear our eyes away from what doesn’t deserve our time?
Artist and magician Jeanette Andrews believes that magic offers a unique opportunity to question what we see and experience the world in new ways. After all, if magic asks us to pay close attention, to suspend reality and believe in the impossible, then storytelling is the oldest form of magic there is. Andrews says that “magic shines the spotlight on some of our most deeply held assumptions and expectations, that we don't ever question.”
If we think of magic as a mesmerizing story that we know deep down isn’t true, but can’t help but be convinced by, then we may also notice how this is one of the few stories that actually invites us to question it. In what Andrews notes as “consensual deception,” magic invites an interrogation of reality and truth— in ways that few other stories would dare. Where most narrators seem to be vying for our attention and trust across a spectrum of well-meaning and malicious contexts, the magician is forthright about their goal to trick us.
From questioning how stories get told to which stories deserve our attention, magic just might offer a perfect opportunity to question the world around us with a renewed sense of curiosity and wonder.
Join us on Tuesday, November 10th for An Evening with Jeanette Andrews, and witness some show-stopping illusions that might just lead you to question everything.
Article by Max Collins
