第3168期:Black magician

When it comes to magic, there's no logical solution why did that coin vanish from your hand? Then, the next things is, do it again or do something else miraculous.

魔术是无法用逻辑来解释的，比如为什么那枚硬币会从你手里凭空消失？接下来要做的就是，要么再变一次，要么表演点别的神奇的魔术。

Is magic real or is magic an illusion? I'd like to show you what comes to mind just as an example. And we're just going to use these three half-dollars right here.

魔术是真的，还是只是障眼法？我想向你们展示一下我脑海中浮现的想法，仅作为例子。我手上有三个50美分的硬币，

Focus on this first one. Three coins, two hands, no sleeves, no bracelets.

先看第一个，三个硬币，两只手，没有袖子，没有手饰。

So, you think of things happening that's impossible, but you're making the impossible possible and you're also creating astonishment.

你想到的是不可能发生的事，但你正在把不可能变成可能，你也在创造奇迹。

So, when you think about magic, you have to think about creativity and most importantly, making the impossible possible.

当你谈到魔术的时候，你会想到创造力，最重要的是，把不可能变成可能。

What is real? So, I got started in magic, not when I was young like most people.

什么是真实的？跟大多数魔术师不同，我不是很小就开始学魔术的。

I got started in magic when I was in graduate school at Penn State studying health education research.

我是在宾州州立大学研究生院学习健康教育研究期间开始学习魔术的。

It was just a hobby for me, something to do to just to pass the time, card tricks.

扑克牌魔术对我来说只是个爱好，是用来打发时间的消遣罢了。

Me and a group of friends, we used to get together and do card tricks.

我和一群朋友经常聚在一起玩扑克牌魔术。

So, I just took a leap of faith and I just said I'm going to give myself one year.

我就鼓起勇气放手一试，给自己一年的时间。

If it doesn't work out in one year, I'll just go back to school, get a job and just continue on with life.

如果一年后还没成功，我就回学校，找个班上，继续过日子。

Well, one year ended up being 16 years and I haven't looked back yet. So, that's when I decided I want to do magic full time.

一年最终变成了16年，而我至今没有回头过。就是在那个时候，我决定要全职从事魔术表演。

I believe that every artist should use their platform to talk about greater issues beyond their art.

我认为艺术家应该在舞台上探讨超越其艺术本身的更宏大的议题。

So, there's some elements in my show that are subtle and then some that are not subtle, that I speak about those issues and I let people into my world and what I think about it.

我的节目里有些元素是含蓄的，有些则不那么含蓄，我会谈论那些问题，让观众走进我的世界，了解我的想法。

For example, I was performing in Iowa one time. It was at a college campus but it was two hours outside, two-and-a-half hours outside of Des Moines, Iowa.

例如，有一次我在爱荷华州演出。演出地点在一个大学校园里，但距离爱荷华州得梅因市有两个半小时的路程。

I get there. I set up. I'm behind the curtain. I peek out. 500 people here.

我到了之后，站在幕帘后面偷偷往外瞥，观众居然有500人。

I was like, "Oh my gosh. Okay, I know exactly what I'm going to say." As soon as the emcee announced me, I walked on stage.

我当时心想：“天呐，我完全知道我要说什么了。”主持人一报出我的名字，我就走上了舞台。

The first words out of my mouth is, "Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for coming to the show. When I got off the plane this morning, the Black population increased by 100 percent."

我开口说的第一句话是：“女士们，先生们，谢谢各位今天的捧场。今天早上我下飞机时，美国的黑人人口又翻了一番。”

Now, it came off as a joke but as they say, there's truth in comedy. That's proof that some stereotypes are true.

现在，这听起来像是个玩笑，但正如人们所说，喜剧中蕴含着真理。这证明了有些刻板印象是真实的。

And it resonated with everyone because they realized, wow, this is not a diverse town.

这引起了所有人的共鸣，因为他们意识到，这不是一个多元化的城镇。

Wow, I've never seen a Black magician before, but we've always been out there.

我以前从没见过黑人魔术师，但是黑人魔术师一直都有。

As a matter of fact, one part of my show, I'll talk about the very first American-born magician by the name of Richard Potter.

事实上，作为演出的一部分，我都会介绍美国的第一位魔术师，理查德·波特。

So, prior to Houdini, prior to Doug Henning, prior to David Copperfield, prior to David Blaine, the very first magician on American soil was a Black man.

在胡迪尼之前，在道格·亨宁之前，在大卫·科波菲尔之前，在大卫·布莱恩之前，美国本土的第一位魔术师是一位黑人。

And that's something to be proud about because people like Richard Potter, Henry Box Brown, Hiawatha Johnson Jr., these are all African American magicians. If I could see it, I could be it.

这是值得骄傲的事情，因为理查德·波特、亨利·博克斯·布朗、小海华沙·约翰逊都是非裔美国魔术师。如果我可以看到他们的成就，我也可以成为他们。