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Lawrence Hass. Associate Dean. For the Magic & Mystery School to be celebrating its 25th Anniversary in 2015 is truly astonishing. What a remarkable vision Jeff, Eugene and Tobias [Beckwith] had for the School in those early years, and I am honoured to be a part of the team. What I would like to remind people of is that we are primarily a school—the faculty are all highly experienced teachers who are primarily concerned to help our participants fulfil their own interests and potential as magicians and performers. People can acquire magic tricks just about anywhere, but we focus on helping people learn how to perform those tricks with more impact and better audience responses. It is never about our participants becoming more like “us”—we aren’t like each other anyway! It is about helping them become more accomplished versions of the magicians they would like to be.

Magic & Mystery School 25 Year Anniversary and the Gift Magic Community - Reflections

Known throughout the global Magic Kingdom as the world’s most prestigious

community for magical teaching excellence, Mystery School is celebrating its 25th anniversary and in 2016 Jeff McBride, Eugene Burger and Lawrence Hass embark on a celebratory world tour (see the schedule in this article including two exclusive FOCUS EVENTS I’ve blagged the team to participate in… another ‘mystery’ yet to be explained).

My association with Mystery School began back in 2003 after establishing friendship with Jeff, Eugene and Bob [Neale]. In 2006, Kenny Roberts brought the Mystery School to the UK for the first time and I, along with Kenny and many other magicians, spent an immersive 5 days in the Masterclass experience, deepening our knowledge and performance of magic. Now with a busy schedule of worldwide events, including a weekly online internet show, the faculty of

the Mystery School continue to help magicians reach their full potential.

With their ‘Magic & Meaning’ conference being a highlight of the magical calendar for many and a stellar community of magicians who have supported the School since its inception, such as Max Maven, Robert E. Neale, George Parker, Jack Adams, Dan Harlan, Stephen Minch, David Abram, Paul Harris, David Parr, Brad Henderson, Kevin James, Todd Karr, Luna Shemada, Abbi Spinner McBride, Bryce Kuhlman (and many, many more than space allows me to mention), I believe the Mystery School is an important and necessary project for the advancement of the art of magic. Who knows how it will evolve in the next 25 years? I’m excited to be part of that journey (subject to not having an untimely death-like experience which would make it hard for my continued participation - except through maybe a Maven/Burger Seance?).

A Quick Magic & Mystery School Overview (the ‘mystery’ being how the hell I managed to get involved with this project without being discovered as a ‘fraud’ and being way out of my league NEXT TO these magical heavy weights) by Jay Fortune.

Jeff McBride: Can you believe it has been almost 25 years since we started Mystery School? At first people did not understand what we were up to. Some thought we were too progressive, others thought it was a ridiculous idea.

25 years ago I wanted to create an experience for other magicians unlike any other. The goal was to have masters - real wizards who could part with their wisdom to the magicians of the future.… The very first person that came to mind was Eugene Berger as he was the epitome of a real wizard! He was a philosopher and sage. At the time the white bearded Eugene was

55 years old. That was 25 years ago. Now I am 55 years old… That really makes me feel old [Laughs]. As funny as that may seem we have done something extraordinary and actually accomplished what we started out to do; to create an experience where like-minded magicians can share in the incredible wisdom of masters. My hope is that those reading these words will join us and carry on the tradition of excellence.

Now, 25 years later, we have grown into the world’s leader in magic education! What’s more, we’re still growing. January will be the start of something global for us. (See UK Tour schedule).

SOME THOUGHTS ON MYSTERY SCHOOL - Eugene Burger. Dean of the Mystery School.It is perhaps a bit surprising that Mystery School is about to celebrate its 25th anniversary. So many human projects never get off the ground much less last for more than 20 years.

I think the Mystery School has lasted this long for several reasons: I respect Jeff and he respects me. Mystery School grew out of mutual respect. Then there is the fact that our classes have had great impact on those who have attended.

In 1990, when Jeff McBride asked me to join him in putting together the first Mystery School gathering, I immediately agreed. I didn’t need to reflect about it. I was excited to participate in a different kind of magic event — one with no contests but, instead, discussions of symbolism and history and meaning.

Very early in our work together, I realised that Jeff McBride is a brilliant teacher. He is able to focus on what a student needs. He is a master at what I would call “cleaning up” an act — that is, removing trouble spots and smoothing over difficult moments. He sees to the heart of the matter and delivers his message to students with both honesty and kindness. Without kindness, communication between student and teacher suffers. Without honesty, there is no growth for the student.

The aim of my work as a teacher is to inspire students to be better than me, to surpass the teacher. If you think about it, this is a beautiful and wonderful thing. This means that students must become themselves rather than trying to be someone else. They must uncover who they are. Art is a journey of self-realisation and self-discovery. To find oneself is an uncovering.

I find it fascinating that Mystery School is a school without an agenda. There is no one curriculum that we try to impose on everyone. People are different, with different needs and desires. The heart of our work is to focus on what the student brings to us and also what students tell us they want to achieve.

The aim of the Magic School is a lofty one: to raise the art of magic — one magician at a time. The implication here is that everyone can improve and grow and become better performers of magic. Growth is not closed to anyone. All magicians can raise the level and impact of their magical performances.

Bryce Kuhlman: I was there on day one and just never left. Luckily the team has continued to put up with me and my shenanigans for the last 25 years, because I can’t imagine life without them.

Find out all about Mystery School here: www.magicalwisdom.com.

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Jay Fortune: Back in 2008, Richard Leigh and I started a gift magic project called Magic Moments. This year we expanded the original concept of a one day annual event into Magic Moments Month (for updates including how you can get involved, please visit www.magicweek.co.uk/magic_moments) The ethos of Mystery School embraces and teaches this idea of a gift economy (as opposed to a market/transaction economy e.g. buying and selling), and in the spirit of both Mystery School and Magic Moments, here’s how you could attend the Mystery School in Las Vegas and take your magic to the next level. Over to Associate Dean Lawrence Hass;

Lawrence Hass: In 2012, the Faculty of the Magic & Mystery School launched the Magic & Mystery School Scholarship Programme. The concept was that we would use our international profile to raise dollars from our extended community, and from magicians everywhere, to create need-based financial aid to assist magicians facing difficult life circumstances in coming to Las Vegas to have a magic education experience with

us. Our core principle is that every dollar we received in direct donation would go out to a magician who needed a “hand up” to get the magic education they needed to be more successful in magic and in life.

In conjunction with the fundraising part of the Scholarship Programme, in 2012 we also created the application process for people who were seeking assistance. Indeed, everyone seeking financial aid needs to submit an application that documents their need along with a letter of recommendation—all of which is carefully considered by our Scholarship Committee before deciding whether or not a scholarship in some amount will be awarded. We were, and are, fully committed to being excellent stewards of the donation dollars that were being entrusted to us.

Immediately upon launching the Scholarship Programme, it was a clear success. In the first year, we took in $10,000 in donations and awarded several awards to talented magicians who needed a hand to improve their magic and improve their life. As a result, in 2013 we created the Magic & Mystery

School Membership Programme to dramatically increase dollars in the Scholarship Fund. As readers may know, anyone can become a “Member” of the online Magic & Mystery School at one of three levels ($25, $50, and $100 per year). Members receive all kinds of benefits in terms of access to a dazzling array of our magic educational content. But the big thing is that after $20 is subtracted from each membership fee to help underwrite the cost of the online delivery

Faculty is utterly committed to this programme. You cannot imagine the incredible men and women whose lives have been touched and transformed by the incredible generosity of our members and our donors. When people donate to our Scholarship Fund or become Members of the Magic & Mystery School their dollars are going out to real people facing times or circumstances of real need. The Faculty feel blessed to be able to put the extended community’s generosity into the hands of magicians who are facing life challenges.

And the future? In August 2015 we appointed Lynn Miner as our “Director of Development.” For non-academics, that means something like: “Chief of Fundraising.” Lynn is a talented magician who had a long, very successful career as a fundraiser for several institutions of Higher Education. Lynn has come on board the Magic & Mystery School Team to help us raise even more

system, every remaining dollar of a person’s membership fee goes into the Scholarship Fund, and thus is dedicated to providing Scholarships.

The sum total of all this is that since 2012 the Magic & Mystery School has taken in over $40,000 for student scholarships and has given away just under $30,000 in financial aid to nearly 50 disadvantaged students and participants.

The Magic & Mystery School

dollars to support our philanthropic mission. With Lynn’s knowledge and talent we have every reason to believe we can lift our Scholarship Programme to a whole new level of outreach and success.

To find out more about our Scholarship Programme - to make a donation to the Fund or to apply for scholarship support - people should go to: http://www.magicalwisdom.com/scholarships.

Another thing that every reader of Magicseen can do to assist us is become a Member of the online Magic & Mystery School. Again, not only do our Members get access to extraordinary and exclusive magic education content from us, but a significant portion of their membership fee goes directly into the Scholarship Fund. For more information and to become a member, people should go to: https://virtual.magicalwisdom.com/members/signup

MYSTERY SCHOOL Giving Back through the Scholarship ProgramME

The 2016 UK Magic & Mystery School Tour: (Note: All events feature exclusive content, which will not be repeated at any lecture, workshop or masterclass on the UK tour. Blackpool, FOCUS Events and 3 Day Masterclass are all unique, with no duplication of material or teaching).

February 19-21: Blackpool Magic Convention. Tickets are available for the convention from: www.blackpoolmagic.com/festival-2015/2015-programme-events-2/

February 27: FOCUS on Stage & Parlour Magic. 11am-10pm. Near London. McBride, Burger, Hass. (Early-Bird Price £75. Limited Seating). This full day of magical teaching focuses on parlour and stage performance. Learn the business side of how to get this kind of work, as well as how to structure a commercial parlour and stage show. The day includes a late lunch, lectures, workshops, break-out groups, hands-on teaching plus full evening show ‘Masters of Magic’.

In addition you will receive a FREE Master-Key package to unlock EXCLUSIVE content unavailable elsewhere by Jeff, Eugene and Lawrence worth £75. Details: http://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/mystery-school-focus-on-parlour-stage-magic-tickets-18796824809

February 28: FOCUS on Mentalism, Bizarre & Storytelling Magic. 11am-7pm. Near London. McBride, Burger, Hass (Early-Bird Price £75. Limited Seating) The second full day of magical teaching with a focus on mentalism, bizarre and storytelling performances. Delving deep into magical drama, scripting, theatre and delivery, having an understanding of how to present these forms of magic routines will elevate you and your performances to a whole new level. Then learn the business of being bizarre; how to get those all important high paid gigs to showcase your theatrically charged magic. The day includes a late lunch, lectures, workshops, break out groups, hands-on teaching… and then you’ll enjoy a special hour-long show featuring Eugene, Jeff and Lawrence practising what they preach. In addition you will receive a FREE Master-Key package to unlock EXCLUSIVE online content unavailable elsewhere by Jeff, Eugene and Lawrence worth £75. Details: http://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/mystery-school-focus-on-mentalism-bizarre-storytelling-magic-tickets-18798307243

March 1-3: Three Day Masterclass. McBride & Burger. Hosted by Mario Morris. Glastonbury. Attend 1, 2 or all 3 days. Completely different content, lectures, shows and classes. A regular 3 Day Masterclass in Vegas is $795. You can experience this one time only UK class for £400. Detailed, personal instruction in an intimate and safe setting, then join us for magic’s most progressive learning experience.

Limited tickets; last few places remain. For more info and how to book: www.schoolofbusking.com/3-day-master-class-copy/ Public Show 2nd March featuring Jeff, Eugene, Mario and Guests: http://www.schoolofbusking.com/?p=1061