Reality as an Art (2022 edition) describes how to create something so close to real magic that calling it anything else is a matter of semantics. This work explores the idea of creating instant, powerful presentations that people naturally call "magic," whether they experience them as spectators, participants, or artists/performers.

This could be a book about how to do real magic. Or it could be something better.

Reality as an Art Shares a complete framework for creating phenomena that feel like miracles, but are neither supernatural nor dishonest. Instead, they all harness and demonstrate amazing human power to construct and transform our experience of reality.

The ideas and demonstrations of Reality as an Art have been adopted by thousands of performers, magic practitioners and artists, who in turn have used it to share joy and wonder with millions of people around the world.

I shared the first edition of The Pygmalion Effect: Reality as an Art in 2014. I learnt a lot over the next few years as I continued to develop the ideas in the book and saw others adapt the methods to their circumstances. The work was almost impossible to find, and the demand for it continued to grow as art and performance spaces opened up in the wake of the pandemic, so I decided to finally release a new edition called Reality as Art.

These ideas and methods have been used not only on stage, but in presentations to medical professionals, neuroscientists, psychologists, sceptics, strangers, friends, family, people from different languages and cultures - pretty much any group imaginable. Being able to share these experiences has been life-changing and a daily reminder of the hidden beauty and potential of the world around us, within us, and between us.

I wanted to make this work as accessible as possible to those who are getting what they want and will use what they get.

A Note on the New Edition

Foreword

Preface

Introduction and Orientation

Part One: Magic in a Galaxy near You

Reality as an Art: Basic Principles and Practice

The Invisible Rope

Playing Pygmalion: (re)Defining (Im)Possible

Part Two: Using the Force

Reality as an Applied Art: Principles in Practice

The Messiahs Uncle: Immaculate Deceptions