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The McBride Magic & Mystery School is a private school located in Paradise, Nevada. Founded in 1992, the School offers classes, private instruction, and distance learning programs on theatrical magic, mythology and storytelling.
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Promoting “fellowship across differences,” the School serves amateur and professional stage magicians of all ages and from around the world. The School’s “Magic and Medicine” course offers Continuing Medical Education credits to health care practitioners, in conjunction with Northwestern University’s Feinberg School of Medicine.
The School follows no official philosophy or “party line,” preferring “to create a space in which individuals can shine in their own right” as they take “conscious, strategic steps to experience more education.”
History
In April 1992, professional stage magician Jeff McBride inaugurated his School at the Ananda Ashram in Monroe, New York. McBride’s stated mission was to offer learning about magic that was not to be found at “a regular magician’s convention.” His School began as an annual experiential retreat modeled on the Greco-Roman Mystery Schools. McBride’s School followed ancient tradition in five ways:
- providing a retreat for contemplating higher and deeper questions,
- non-exclusivity of membership,
- addressing participants’ “inwardness” or personal direction,
- initiation into a “genuinely new beginning,” and
- commitment to keeping secrets.
Curriculum
Since its inception, the school has encouraged students, both beginners and professionals, to explore both the theoretical and practical sides of the magical arts. On the theoretical side, students might study “how the shaman of the past became the showman of today, and how the ancient and archaic origins of the magical arts transformed into modern magic theatre.” At the same time, the School is focused on helping students gather the skills, experiences, and knowledge essential for becoming more effective performers of magic. The School offers Master Classes, seminars, and focus sessions on such topics as Magic and Medicine, Mentalism, Women in Magic, and Street Magic. The School also offers an annual "Magic and Meaning Conference"that features presentations and performances by attendees that are used to create a highly participatory learning community. Discussion topics include: “Is there more than one type of magic? How do I make my performances more powerful? What messages am I conveying to my audience? Can I change the direction my art is going?” “Why perform magic tricks? How are these tricks related to our lives? What can our vocation in magic do for us and for our audiences? What is the relationship between the two magics — performance magic and ceremonial magic?”
Administration
Jeff McBride is the founder and President, and in 2009 was named "Lecturer of the Year" by the Academy of Magical Arts (at the Magic Castle). Faculty members include Abigail McBride, Tobias Beckwith, Bryce Kuhlman, George Parker, and Robert E. Neale (Ph.D.).