第二季PEP-魔術表演

Susan著 小哭譯

從很小的時候起，我就一直對魔術很着迷。不像一些人只是觀看表演就會心滿意足，我是直到弄懂其中的秘密才肯罷休。我一直有着表演魔術的願望，但是我沒有為此做過什麼……直到最近。最近，我一直在研究魔術，我覺得我現在應該屬於“魔術業餘愛好者”的行列、而不是“外行”了。

曾有一段時間我忘記了自己對魔術的興趣兒，直到我在教會遇到了N。N真的是很擅長紙牌魔術，看他表演燃起了我自己去學魔術並娛樂大家的願望。所以，對於我在第二季的PEP大作業（我在“八年級PEP小電影”那篇文章中解釋過PEP），我選擇了學習和研究魔術。

剛開始做調研時，我還以為自己已經了解了很多魔術呢。可事實證明我簡直一無所知。我給自己定了一個高目標，卻以為那會很容易實現，那目標真的有點高。當時我想在二個半月後，能夠精確地拋紙牌、精通我所聽過的所有花樣洗牌（那時我只聽過三個）以及學會五種好玩的戲法兒，可是最後我只是學會了五種好玩兒的戲法而已。然而，我學會了比花樣洗牌和隱蔽手法更好更有用的東西：我發現了多姿多彩的魔術世界。

在一本叫做《魔術戲法概要》的書評中，我寫了很多關於魔術世界和魔術師有多神秘的事兒，所以在這裡我就不重複這些內容了。相應地，我倒是更想談談我是怎麼找到這些信息的。剛開始時，我就是從圖書館借些關於魔術的書看。沒多久我就發現這些書根本沒什麼用。它們沒有給出一丁點兒關於魔術世界的信息，只有一些在聚會上逗逗六歲孩子的蹩腳把戲。於是我轉去在線搜索“酷魔術戲法”，但那也並沒有帶來什麼結果。然而我卻意外地進入了魔術師論壇的頁面，從那裡才開始了一些真正酷的事情。

魔術師論壇帶我找到了教給人們真正魔術戲法的三個精彩的油管子頻道。說得更確切些，是紙牌戲法。這三個頻道的三個負責人都是專業魔術師，幾乎我現在會做的每一件事兒都是跟他們學來的。我們家的一個朋友送了《魔術戲法概要》一書給我，這本書引領我找到了更多的資源。隨着學習的深入，我發現需要學習的東西越來越多。與魔術界大量的魔術師相比，我意識到自己是多麼地渺小，他們幾乎都比我強。我總是將自己與周圍的同齡人相比，但事實上，我應該與那些真正的同齡人相比——那些同齡的魔術師。一開始變魔術，我就覺得有學不完的東西。

在學習和練習魔術的過程中，我遇到了幾個困難。首先是到哪裡去找魔術入門的資料。你可以從我前面的敘述中看到，我是花了不少時間才開啟的這扇門。因為魔術世界保持着它固有的安靜，所以開啟這扇門對我來說很不容易。而才把門打開，另一個困難就迎面而來——我的手。我有着一雙絕對的小手：從中指指尖到手腕只有6.5英寸（16厘米），從大拇指指尖到小拇指指尖只有7英寸（17.5厘米）。這對於紙牌魔術師可不是什麼好消息。如果你有一雙大手和修長的手指，你就會更容易操作紙牌，可是我一樣也沒有。然而，那也不是說我不能變戲法，那只是意味着我要加倍地努力才能夠變出隱蔽的手法。最後要面臨的困難是我自身——我是一個女生。女性魔術師不太常見，人們覺得女性不應該變魔術。我將不得不通過努力練習、提高水平去對付這類想法。

終於有一天該表演了。我決定先做一兩個小戲法，然後再短暫地介紹一下我學習魔術的歷程。很難選定做哪個魔術，因為我的ACE班級太大了（32個人），難以找到一個地方讓每一個人都看得清楚。最後我在投影儀下面表演戲法，將整個過程都投射到牆上。我選擇了一個最簡單的戲法。這個戲法需要的手法最少、冒的風險也最小，並且還是迄今為止反響最酷的一個。我曾經在許多人面前表演過，所以在班級表演時我一點也不緊張。這個表演很完美。我的同學們感到非常不可思議，特別是那個被我叫上來幫忙的志願者。

變完一個戲法之後，我就停下來開始講演。我的講演可沒那麼好。那天不是個講演日，因為我腫起來的眼睛使我的臉看起來很怪很醜。我還漏掉了大把想講的東西。要是可以重新來過就好了。不過，我想整個的匯報展示還是不錯的。戲法的精彩彌補了講演的不足，最後我得到了95分。與我上一季的116分相比，顯然不是最好的，但也足夠了。

那麼，現在怎麼樣了呢？我已經完成了大作業，魔術這事兒我還有什麼打算嗎？是的，我並不想讓自己所有的努力都僅僅是為了完成一個大作業。自從我由衷地喜歡上魔術後，我就想一直學下去。當我不用做上學、不用參加音樂舞台劇或者不用做其它事情時，我可以做個業餘魔術師。我知道自己長大後不會成為一個專職的魔術師，但我至少可以將變魔術當成一個愛好。嗯，還有，希望將來有一天，我可以給N變個他也搞不懂的戲法兒。

【小哭介紹背景】為了把她介紹的魔術戲法譯得準確一些，我還上網分別用中、英文各搜索了幾個相關的概念。只有跟着Susan的文章，努力學習提高，才能真正跟得上她的生活。所謂和她一起成長，大概就是這樣的吧？

她最後的作業展示成績並不理想，確實有點遺憾。前一天晚上她哭過，現在我都忘記是什麼事情引起的了。青春期的小女生，個性再強一點，有的時候發起脾氣來，也是不管不顧的。我現在確實是發自內心裡對她滿意多了，所以，明顯感覺自己不太計較她的一些小毛病了。可是Susan爸卻把我放棄的那塊撿了起來，懷疑那天跟爸爸有關係：（不管是跟誰有關係，主要是她情緒不穩在找碴兒。反正該睡不睡哭哭啼啼，最後受影響的是她自己。可是也沒見她在作文中提到這塊兒，估計是壞事不想說，要不就是忘性太大早已不記得了。

她文章中說上台幫她忙的志願者，其實就是她以前說過的那個暗戀對象。不過，現在早已不是了：）好像有個朋友讀完Susan寫的關於幾何課的文章跟我聊過這事兒，我說形勢變化很快：）從她小時候起，已經對幾個男生有過好印象了，所以這事兒在我眼裡就是小事一樁。我問Susan為什麼選這個男生上來幫忙，Susan說舉手想幫忙的人太多了，而這個男生給出了一條非常棒的理由，說是他給Susan吃過那麼多好吃的零食，對Susan那麼好，就憑這一點就應該選他。於是Susan 說自己吃人嘴短，就把這個男生選上台了：）

那個魔術本身確實好玩兒，我們家感恩節和平安夜的聚會上，她都表演過，一些叔叔和阿姨不斷地讓她重演也沒找到秘決兒：）人們就是覺得太不可思議了，我現在也不知道秘密是什麼。魔術本身是叫一個人上台幫忙，隨便猜她手上一疊紙牌的花色，一張張地猜，就是猜紅或黑，要求兩者數量基本上接近為好。等到最後，她一翻牌，志願者真的每張都猜對了。要知道志願者就是亂猜的，因為都是一樣的背面圖案，根本沒看到裡面的花色啊。後來Susan再表演，我們就讓她選一對夫妻中似乎是“不夠聰明”的一方上來幫忙，然後讓“比較聰明”的一方看看，到底誰更聰明！

我對Susan這次選擇變魔術為大作業，一直是欣賞和支持的。我喜歡她有創意，喜歡看着她從頭到尾主動地利用一切可用的資源學習新東西，這個學習的過程在我眼裡非常地可貴。她是真的着迷了，紙牌一天到晚不離手，現在也是這樣，走到哪帶到哪啊。並且還常常說，希望能夠給她再買幾付高質量的紙牌。可是爸爸問她當初的預算是怎麼回事兒時，她說她也是從網上看到一付牌可以玩很長時間，哪想其實根本不是！這個冬天節日多，聚會多，有了Suasn的紙牌戲法，真的給我們帶來了很多快樂！

她在變魔術上的雄心一直挺大的，不但如文中所述，沒入門時給自己設定了一個比較高的目標；這次在家裡的春節聚會上，她更是給自己設定了一個超高的目標——大變活人！還讓不聽指令的小寶配合！！最後，她在聚會前一晚宣布計劃破產，一個大紙箱被她剪得破破爛爛地扔在客廳，自己回房間生氣去了。最後的聚會上，她氣得連紙牌戲法都沒有給我們變：（她說網上的介紹，有的時候全是騙人的！看着視頻似乎很容易，其實根本不是那麼回事兒！！

第一季的PEP大作業，她拍了個小電影，帶來了不少的好結果——讓重組拍片俱樂部成為可能！讓很多朋友能夠看到她現在的生活！還給她在家旁邊的C教會中找到了進入技術團隊的契機！特別是最後一條，讓我開心極了。她一直對橡樹園教會念念不忘，搬家一年多了，我們時不時地就得送她回去參加活動。其實青少年組的活動哪裡都有，可是她的心在那裡，就排拆任何新找的教會。然而加入C教會的技術團隊後，她馬上就宣布喜歡上了C教會。她說以後每周日要提前一個半小時到教會服務，把大牧師在其它分場（比我們這裡的分場要提前一個小時）的布道錄下來，然後在我們這邊播放。播放前，技術團隊和樂隊以及分區牧師這一組十幾個人，會商量當天的禮拜程序細節，最後會牽手禱告，讓她感覺自己一下子進入了教會“核心層”，肩上負着重要的責任。這個轉變的過程要說清楚得寫長長的一篇文章來講述，這裡就點到為止吧。

這第二季的PEP大作業，她也沒準備做完拉倒，而是要將這一愛好進行到底。這一點我是相信她的，因為明擺着她的興趣在那裡，並且，隨手帶付紙牌沒有什麼難的，而且確實是在哪裡都有人們閒着無聊可以用來娛樂的時光。總之，我覺得她選的大作業題目真的是相當地不錯！投入的時間真不算少，但是值得！這第三季的大作業，她剛剛籌劃完，動靜是越來越大了，我這裡就祝願她這一季的大作業也會如她所願地進展順利！！不過就算是失敗了，我想她也會寫個小文進行總結的。

附上英文原文：

2^nd Quarter PEP-Magic Tricks

From a young age, I’ve always been facinated with magic. Unlike some people who can just watch a show and be satisfied, I can never rest until I figure out the secrets. I’ve also always had a desire to perform magic too, but I didn’t give that desire much attention…until recently. Recently, I’ve been dabbling in magic, and I think I can now be classified as an “amateur magician” instead of a “layperson”.

I’ve forgotten about my interest in magic for a while, until I met a guy at my church. N’s really good at card magic, and seeing him perform rekindled my own desire to learn magic and amaze people. So, for my PEP project for the 2^nd quarter (I explained about PEPs in my last writing about the 8^th Grade PEP Video), I chose to study and research the subject of magic.

When I started researching, I thought I knew a lot about magic. Turned out I was completely clueless. I set a really high goal for myself, thinking that it would be easy to achieve it. It was way to high a goal. I wanted to be able to throw cards accurately, perfect all the flourishes I’ve ever heard of (I’ve only heard of three at that time), and learn five amazing tricks by the end of two-and-a-half months. Well, I ended up only suceeding with the five amazing tricks part. However, I learned something much better and much more useful than mere flourishes and sleight-of-hands: I discovered the diverse world of magic.

I talked a lot about how deep the world of magic and magicians is in my book review of “The Ultimate Compendium of Magic Tricks”, so I’m not going to repeat everything again. Instead, I’ll talk more about how I came to discover it. When I first started out, I started with library books. It didn’t take me long to realize that library books on magic are pretty much useless. They don’t contain any real information about the secrets of magicians, only lame party tricks that at best would fool a 6-year-old. So, I moved on to search “cool magic tricks” online. That didn’t bring many results. Through a stroke of luck, I landed myself in a magician forum page. That was when the really cool stuff started to happen.

The magician’s forum lead me to discover three wonderful YouTube channels that teaches real magic tricks. More specifically, card tricks. The three people who hosted those channels were professional magicians, and I learned almost everything from them. My family’s friend gave me a book about magic, and that book lead me to more resources. As I learned, I discovered more and more that I still had to learn. I realized how small I am compared to the vast community of magicians, most of whom are better than me. I keep on comparing myself to my peers around me, but in truth, I should have been comparing myself to my real peers—other fellow magicians. Once I started doing that, I realized that I still have a million thing to learn.

While I learned and practiced magic, I faced a few hardships. The first hurdle was about where I could find resources to begin studying magic. As you can see from what I wrote up there, it took me a while before I finally hit the jackpot. The magic community keeps itself pretty quiet, so it was hard to me to find a place to begin. Once I began, though, I faced another hardship: my hands. I have abnormaly small hands: barely 6.5 inches (16 cm) from wrist to tip of middle finger and 7 inches (17.5 cm) from thumb tip to tip of pinky. That’s not good for a card magician. It’s way easier to manipulate cards if you have big hands and long fingers, both of which I don’t have. However, that doesn’t mean I can’t do tricks, it just mean I’ll need a lot more practice before I can pull of a sleight-of-hand. The last hardship is myself: I’m a girl. Female magicians aren’t that common, and people don’t think of females the as the magician type. I’ll just have to work harder to get over that common belief.

Finally, the day of the class presentation came. I decided to do one or two tricks, and give a short speech about my journey to learn magic. It was hard to decide where to do the tricks, because my ACE class is really big (32 people) so it would be hard to find a spot where everyone can see clearly. I ended up doing the trick underneath the projector/camera thing, so my whole routine was projected onto the wall. I chose my simplest trick, the one with the least sleight-of-hands and the least risk, yet still has one of the coolest effects ever. I had performed that trick to a lot of people before, so I wasn’t very nervous when I performed it in class. The performance was perfect, and it left my classmates baffled, especially the volunteer I called up to help me do the trick.

I stopped after that one trick and gave my speech My speech wasn’t that good. It was a bad day for a speech, because my eyes were sort of swollen, giving a weird, ugly look to my face. I left out a bunch of stuff I wanted to say, and if I can redo it, I definitely would. However, I think the overall presentation was okay. The trick made up for the speech. I got a 95% on it. Not the best, compared to the 116% from my last PEP, but good enough.

So, what now? I’ve finished the project, how far do I want to take the magic thing? I don't want all my hard work to be just for a mere project. Since I really like magic, I think I’m going to continue to learn it. I want to be a magician in my spare time when I’m not doing school or the musical or other things. I know I won’t be a full-time magician when I grow up, but at the very least, I want to keep it as a hobby. And, of course, some day show N a trick he can’t figure out.