Make Me Care by Wesley James

From Wesley James’ 1st new lecture in more than 10 Years

Not everyone will immediately recognize the name Wesley James. However, those in the know will. For many years Dr. James has been an underground secret. During his many years as a professional he refused to lecture for magicians or publish the effects he used in his professional performances. Now, Mr. James has largely retired from performing and has begun to lecture for magicians. Make Me Care are the lecture notes from his 2nd lecture series, focused purely on presentation.

Larry Jennings, Ken Krenzel, Jim Patton and Gordon Bruce would agree. They all attended his past lectures.

This set of notes includes not one effect or routine but could do more to change the way you perform magic than anything you will ever read. In this carefully crafted discourse Wesley reveals the real secrets of performing powerful magic, making people care. He discusses the Art that can arise when magic is presented using the full range of tools available to the close-up worker. More information packed than Nelms’ Showmanship for Magicians and presented so each performer can apply the material to their own style of performance, this work provides more broadly usable information than Ortiz’ Strong Magic. No set of notes or book has ever offered this level of information to the close-up worker. Topics addressed include:

• Tools
  • Eyes
  • Voice
  • Body
    • How Fast?
    • On Practice
  • Character
  • Script
• The Package
  • Openings
  • Layer 1: Inviting Engagement through Context
  • Layer 2: Sustaining Engagement through Rationale
  • Layer 3: Enhancement through Meaning

While no single set of notes or book could completely cover the subject, Wesley James has packed these notes with more information than would seem possible in 47 pages. With examples and references to additional sources, for those with special interest or problems in particular areas, he defines the landscape and populates it with a concise exploration of each of the relevant areas. Applying the information from these notes could quickly change your magic from mere tricks to lifetime memories for your audiences. That’s a lot of information from one set of notes but then consider the source.
1st edition 2003; 47 pages.
word count: 23393 which is equivalent to 93 standard pages of text