From the Editor's Desk: MAGIC!

The world has renewed its fascination with magic and wonder since the advent of Harry Potter (Half-Blood Prince opens tomorrow!) in the year 0 HP. (I figure we might as well start reckoning the calendar by it since it’s likely to be done in the near future anyway.)

For me, though, the Harry Potter books induce a sense of jealousy, pure and unadulterated. Why? Because I’ve always wanted to have magic or live in a magical world. But I don’t ... or do I?

We all know that magic isn’t real, right? Hmm. Maybe not. Deep down, people want mystery, the unknown, and the unexplained. Why else would there be so many devoted Elvis watchers and UFO hunters? It’s the sheer adventure and awe that something inexplicable creates within us.

Stage magic, for all its smoke and mirrors, is the very same thing. How did Houdini really escape? How could the Statue of Liberty disappear like that? I don’t know, and there is some part of me that really doesn’t want to know, either. That’s because, as Bart King explains in The Pocket Guide to Magic, “ ... wonder, mystery, and amazement remind us of what a magical place our world is.”

I want to be reminded of how magical the world can be, don’t you?*

*If you do, then this would be the perfect time to reserve your copy of The Pocket Guide to Magic, which is filled with stories of magic and magicians as well as illusions you can practice on friends and family, giving them a little bit of the magic and wonder they unconsciously crave.

-- by Michelle Witte