For Your Consideration by Brian Miller

“A splendid lecture which delves into the psychology of tricks and the thought behind them.” -Central Connecticut Magicians’ Association

“Brian elevates our art to a very high standard.” -Ken Maynard, S.A.M. Assembly 16

“Very creative and informative.” -C. Parker Swan III, Magic Historian

The unexamined routine is not worth performing.

Brian Miller has performed extensively for colleges, high schools, comedy clubs and theaters with his unique integration of stand-up comedy and magic to consistent adoring critical praise. In addition to his packed performing schedule, he currently holds a regular engagement as the house magician at the largest casino in North America.

He is a two-time nationally award winning amateur philosopher, only the second student in the history of the SUCO Undergraduate Philosophy Conference to win the coveted President’s Award two years in a row for his work in metaphysics – the discipline that studies the nature of reality.

What you have here are the companion lecture notes to Brian’s brand new lecture, titled For Your Consideration. This lecture contains a series of considerations on a variety of topics stemming from Brian’s varied background in live entertainment and the magic industry.

These notes were written to be self-contained, so that you do not have to have seen the live lecture in order to get absolutely everything out of the manuscript itself. Topics include but are not limited to:

• Magic as a form of intimate, interactive theater
• Measuring your success as a performer
• How to make your performances work for your clients, not just your audience
• Direction versus misdirection
• Past versus present in magic
• Exposing a gimmick
• Memory and doubt

You will learn four complete effects out of Brian’s working repertoire in excruciating detail, including every line of patter, moment of direction, choreography, and motivation behind every move. In addition, you will learn the proper technique for a variety of sleights, explained in full.
1st edition 2011; 52 pages.
word count: 15635 which is equivalent to 62 standard pages of text