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10/25/2003 Entry: "It's not big and it's not clever"
Mystic Matt is vexed by hecklers at his magic shows
One of the things that really bugs me as a magician is the one person in the crowd of fifty that has to prove he knows how I'm pulling off my mini miracles and feels that by attempting to rip what I'm doing he's making himself look better. It's one thing when an 11 year old screams "I know how you did that!" from the back. I mean, it's not acceptable and his parents should have taught him better, but I can shrug him off as an immature little brat who may eventually grow up. It's quite another thing when a 23 year old with his girlfriend tries to prove how tough he is by heckling the poor guy up front who's trying to entertain. But wait! It sinks deeper! The girl usually swoons over him for doing it.We feel your pain Matt. Going to a magic show or, as Matt says later in the same piece the theatre, requires a willing suspension of disbelief. You can't watch a magic show in the same way that you watch a cookery demonstration - the two things are different kinds of "discourse". They have different rules. Shouting "I know how you did that" at a stage magician is evidence that you don't understand the rules.
(As an aside, one of Neil Postman's points about television is that it erases these differences and turns everything, whether politics, religion or education, into show business)
Knowing what the rules are is essential to understanding any kind of communication and recognising that different kinds of communication operate under different rules is no less important. Many of the conflicts that arise in the Church about the use of the Bible would end if this simple truth were better known.
"I know how you did that" is scarcely less irritating than "The Bible says".
Replies:
So true. I'm currently doing a series of teaching talks on "How to get the most out of the Bible." (minister's choice of title, not mine.)
I suggested we do not read a love letter, an electricity bill, a shopping list etc in the same manner. I could see heads nodding in agreement. When I said that there were different genres of writing in the Bible, that these are treated differently, there was obvious difficulty among some in accepting that. And what about "progressive revelation?" I could tell some thought I was on very dangerous ground there.Shalom,Jan
Posted by Jan @ 10/25/2003 10:40 PM CST
