Teaching with Magic
Xuxo Ruiz Domínguez
Attention, please!
There’s nothing here…
Nothing there…
Nothing anywhere…
Nothing up the sleeve…
But, what about now?
Shazam!
Here he is, in the flesh, XUXO! Ta-da!
And here I present him to you… One step forward… That’s it.
* * *
But who is XUXO?
Xuxo is a teacher. And a magician. Therefore, he is a bigamist. He has two loves, magic—and teaching—and he married them both. And for a long time, for many years, he has been in this bigamous state; with diverse experiences as a teacher, and with a long and successful career as a magician. A professional magician. A magician with his own magic show for children and young people. A magician who is used to rubbing the magic lamp and asking the genie to grant him the power to make things and evil disappear, while making illusions and happiness appear, so as to amaze his young spectators and, magically, leave them “charmed” by the ever-fascinating Art of Magic.
I’ve known Xuxo for many years, since the time when he, still very young and eager to learn and enter the world of magic, assisted in magicians’ meetings in Cádiz. There were times when I would see him in some of my lectures and seminars for magicians, seated in the first row, eyes wide open, mind at the ready. Since then, we have met in magic conventions and, most often, in my house, in long and fruitful sessions, learning and getting immersed in it, sharpening our tools, “our powers”.
Soon enough, already on his own, I saw him using these powers with his other love—teaching. The practice of teaching. I emphasize the practical aspect because what Xuxo describes in this precious and extremely useful book is not the result of some theoretical rumination on how magic might help improve the teacher’s work. On the contrary, it is the juicy and well-ripened fruit of the continuous application of his knowledge and experience (in the real life of a teacher, with its difficulties and problems) on how to surprise, entertain, astonish and enlighten the young student-spectators with ever-fascinating magic tricks.
***
Attention, please!
Xuxo is here… Love of magic there… Love of teaching everywhere…
But there’s nothing up his sleeve… But what about now? …Shazam!
Here it is, in paper, in black and white… Teaching with Magic. Ta-da!
Come and give it a look…
Come and give it a read…
Magicordially,
Juan Tamariz
My name is David Kaye. I am a magician for children in New York and one of the more respected children’s magician in the magic community. And what a joy it is to see a new magic book like this one. This is not the first book instructing teachers how to use magic in class. But it is the first book written by an unequivocally expert teacher who is also an unequivocally expert magician. Xuxo is the only person who could have written a book like this.
Xuxo is an excellent teacher and thus he is also excellent at teaching you how to perform magic. This book is smart, easy to understand, and complete. You will learn a lot here.
This topic is very dear to my heart because my father was a high school chemistry teacher for thirty years, who used magic to enhance his classes. And as Xuxo suggested might be the case, he was one of the most popular teachers in the school.
One of the benefits of children seeing magic performed in class is that it might inspire them to become interested in learning more about it. So not only will your students thank you for performing magic for them, we magicians will thank you for introducing your students to our art.
Treat your kids to magic and you will treat them to a lesson they will never forget. This is a wonderful book with which you will create exciting moments in your classes. Take the advice given here, as it is excellent. Enjoy!
David Kaye