Jacob Grier

Actually, that could be rather messy if I get my inferences wrong. One moment the audience expects a cute little bunny to appear, the next I’m tossing disconnected rabbit parts into the front row. Thus many a cross-cultural attempt at magic leads to bloody disaster. What am I talking about?

The NY Times reports that a philosophy professor at Muhlenberg College in Pennsylvania, Larry Hass, has begun teaching magic courses in an academic context. The article doesn’t make clear exactly how it ties in, but the program seems to be doing pretty well. I can’t speak for the academics, but if Juan Tamariz is representative of the quality of magician the program is bringing in, then they’re in good shape.

The tickets to his events were so hot on campus, said Scott Rodrigue, a freshman, that those with extras had dating currency.

“You can get a hot date because of magic here,” he said, shaking his head.

Now why is that so hard to be believe? Not to sound defensive, but the aspersions on my potential don’t end there:

Dr. Hass, 44, knows that he is probably not training many future David Copperfields. Though several students had good potential, he said that if a student came to him seeking advice about becoming a professional magician, he would offer words of caution, though he would offer similar advice to students thinking of going to graduate school to study philosophy.

Well, there go two of my options! It’s a good thing I have the security of freelance writing to fall back on.