1000 Tiny Birds

Nate Staniforth - Here is Real Magic (2018)

There’s a long-running trope that stand up comedians look down on magicians. It’s not untrue. But I don’t dislike magic, in its more interesting forms, which led me to enjoy Nate Staniforth’s memoir Here Is Real Magic. Staniforth is not so much interested in talking about the mechanics of tricks but the sense of wonder they engender in audiences - what it means on a human level to be, in the moment, completely and utterly taken aback. And at one point, in a tossed off comment, he compares it to comedy, and I think he’s right. The joy of catching someone by surprise with a joke on stage - or, indeed, being caught by surprise yourself - is what makes it all worth it. Here Is Real Magic does kind of devolve into an Eat Pray Love style memoir of him travelling to India to rediscover the real meaning of magic, the second half of the book both noting the perceived Western notion of India as a land of mysticism but also never quite getting out of that mindset fully himself. Staniforth encourages his readers to embrace the wonder in the world around them, which is a noble effort, but you can’t help but wonder whether this is a trick he’s fully pulled off.