Tell all the truth but tell it slant —
Success in Circuit lies

Emily Dickinson

This post is inspired by a Muslim magician I once met, who taught me a valuable lesson about halal magic. If you’re not familiar with Islam, just pretend I met George Washington instead. The point is what kind of magic someone like that would perform.

Shit, now I have to explain that to the worldwide audience. George Washington famously, supposedly, could not tell a lie.

Shit, now I’ve spoiled the main conceit of this post.

No half-truths. What I’m here to talk about today is performing magic without lying at all. Halal magic. Not just doing it as a rule, but also the benefits it has as an exercise.

There are several benefits, of which there may be none immediately apparent.

Benefits of Trying It Out

First, you talk less. Most of Teller’s magic is halal magic, where the art of illusion does not require any verbal misdirection or falsehoods. (Note that this isn’t always the case. Confirmation Bias, by Ben Earl, involves lots of talking and zero lies. Unfortunately this means that a video of the trick exposes it to any magicians, and as such I can’t actually show you what it looks like. Sorry.) It should be fairly obvious why you talk less. You’re not going to say “I’m putting the card about halfway down,” or any other unnecessary fluff (hopefully) if you’re doing a halal Marlo tilt.

Second, you don’t have to think so much about what you’re saying. It’ll be a lot easier to come off as honest and relaxed, because you will be honest.

Third, you will be more deliberate with what you do say. Let’s go back to the tilt. I would argue, and I think a lot of others would too, that it’s better if you don’t say anything like “So the card goes about halfway down.”

Benefits of Going (Mostly) All The Way

Alright, I hear you clamoring. Clamoring that this is a shitty post unless I actually tried it out myself. Maybe this guy wasn’t as devout a Muslim as he claimed. Maybe this is all bullshit.

Well, I did try it out. I tried it out for a good while, in fact. I didn’t typically call attention to it either, I just let it become self-evident after a while that I only ever told the truth. People who got used to me telling the truth at all times let their guard down to a degree not even I expected.

It’s a wholly different ballgame, it has to be said. But I didn’t exclusively tell the truth, I must admit. I’m not some self-hating Muslim George Washington, after all, or whatever I was on about in the first paragraph.

Let me tell you, once they trust you? That one near-unimpeachable lie you sneak in there just fucks them up. You have to pick it carefully, but when you do…

“Yes, that’s a regular deck of cards.”

“I couldn’t see through that blindfold at all.”

“No, I don’t know how that happened either.”

It’s easier than ever to lie too, because the pressure is off. They’re not on guard, and you don’t have to evade their guard.

An Alternative, or Benefits of Making It Obvious When You Lie (Sometimes)

This ties into the last section, and is an option for anyone who doesn’t want to tell the truth. If you seem like an easy liar to spot when you’re doing magic, sacrificing some lesser tricks for this purpose, it’ll make your special lies that much harder to detect.

Think about it. Next time they have a theory about a trick you aren’t that invested in, why not let them believe it? Don’t confirm it, of course, but do something along the lines of saying “Welllll…” and looking all sheepish. Let them get a chuckle in, and think they found you out. Is your ego so big, your record so flawless, that you can’t be caught dead having performed a trick that they think they’ve figured out?

It’s the inverse of the classic wisdom that a big move hides a little move. In this case, the little lies mask the big lie. They notice the little lies, they get used to noticing them, and then they become accustomed to not having to try that hard to spot a lie of yours.

Benefits of Not Lying That Much In General

What are you, a child? I shouldn’t have to explain to a grown adult why it’s a good idea to not lie, outside of the context of a magic trick.

Back to the magic part.

In Conclusion

I wouldn’t fault you if you wrote this off as yet another silly Jerry idea. But just this once, I’d like you to try not doing that. Give magic without lying a shot. You just might find a new favorite performance style.

Even if you don’t (and you probably won’t, I’ll grant you), the challenge and the unique experience will certainly develop your skills, and isn’t that something worth doing?

A Postscript On The Subject of Jerry Andrus

Jerry Andrus was known for doing only his own material, but also for never telling a lie.

Astute readers will no doubt be chuckling and waiting for Mr. Andrus to be mentioned. First off, it’s complete coincidence that our names are both Jerry. Secondly, I honestly didn’t know about him until very late into this article’s creation. I was showing it around to others and found out. I was sure there had to have been another magician out there who had done this other than myself and the person who introduced me to this concept, but neither of us were aware.

What is there to say about Jerry Andrus? Well, a great deal. But given that I wasn’t even aware of his proclivity for telling the truth and nothing but the truth, I may not be the person to say it all.

Instead, I’ll leave you with this video. Pay attention to what Mr. Andrus says, and how he says it. For example, when he says that it’s flat he wants you to think he’s talking about the ball, when really he’s talking about the Mylar sheet not being rolled up.

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A truth that’s told with bad intent
Beats all the lies you can invent.

William Blake, Auguries of Innocence