Tiles

Bruce

I started doing magic as a kid, like almost all of us. It was a real passion, but I stopped performing when I was about 16 years old. I always kept up my interest, reading and studying, but I didn’t perform again until after I retired—more than 50 years later. When I began preparing for that first performance in decades, my approach to magic was pretty much the same as when I was young: do the trick, toss in a few improvised jokes, or follow the patter from the instructions. The only real difference was that now there were videos, making it even easier to copy someone else’s words. Then I bought Tiles by Perseus Arkomanis. I devoured it, and it completely changed how I thought about performing. Only a few months before my show, I had already chosen my tricks and practiced the slights. But after reading Tiles, I realized I needed to personalize what I was going to say—and that turned out to be the real magic. It was a high-pressure situation: I was performing for 60–70 people at a Japanese-style flower arranging conference organized by my wife. More than impressing the audience, my goal was to make sure she wasn’t embarrassed by my efforts. Tiles gave me the tools to personalize my magic in ways I’d never considered.For example, I had been practicing Edward Tabary's rope routine for months, but instead of using the patter from the video, I rewrote it around my own experience as a technical rock climber—the risks of trusting knots and ropes became part of the story. The Rubik’s Cube effect, Reflections, from Cube in Bottle Project, also changed. The method stayed the same, but the presentation was tied to the theme of flower arranging: finding perfection in imperfection. I even had the Japanese professor in attendance be the last person to mix the cube, to emphasize his role in turning imperfection into perfection.The feedback from the audience was incredible. People loved the tricks, but more importantly, I loved performing them because they were mine. Rehearsing wasn’t just about the moves anymore; it was about weaving a story and creating something deeply personal. That joy would never have happened without Tiles. Yes, the book is not inexpensive. But for anyone who wants to find their own voice in magic, it’s worth every penny. If you’re willing to invest not just money but time into it, you’ll gain an entirely new level of creativity and satisfaction in your magic.