Article 10: Keep It Weird
KEEP IT WEIRD
Kevin McGroarty - Round Table Member Since 2018
I was at the Glenwood Art Festival recently and saw a T-shirt the read “Keep Rogers Park Weird.” It was obviously a takeoff on the “Keep Austin Weird” slogan, which was apparently popularized to promote independent businesses and has now been adopted in several other cities. It made me think about the responsibility magicians have for keeping things weird.
I have two boys and I’ve been the guy in charge of getting them clean and ready for bed. Bath time was fun time, and fun time meant bubbles. Bubbles and sometimes magic. Doing magic for babies is pointless. They don’t have object permanence. As far as they’re concerned, things appear and disappear all the time. However, at some point a switch is thrown. It really is that fast. Monday night: utter indifference. Tuesday night: “Holy shirtballs! I thought I understood the world!”
I’ve tried to keep that up for them. Sometimes it is a weird thing that just happens. Sometimes it is a Calvin’s Dad sort of explanation (http://i.imgur.com/6ntV1UF.jpg) with some “evidence.” But it is always with the goal of subverting their reality. It is good to question our understanding of reality. It keeps us humble.
So let’s keep it weird.