Darwin's Laws

10 posts in this series

Reading Order

1 of 10 — 8 min read

Darwin's First Law: The Effect Happens in Their Minds, Not in Your Hands

I spent years obsessing over what my hands were doing. Then I read a single sentence from Darwin Ortiz that made me realize I had been solving the wrong problem entirely.

2 of 10 — 8 min read

Easily Confused but Not Easily Fooled: The Law Most Magicians Get Backwards

I thought adding complexity would make my effects more deceptive. Darwin Ortiz's most counterintuitive law taught me that confusion is the enemy of astonishment.

3 of 10 — 8 min read

The Better You Get, the Closer They Watch: A Paradox Every Performer Must Solve

My methods worked perfectly when nobody knew my name. Then I performed for the same group a second time, and everything changed.

4 of 10 — 8 min read

The Apple-to-Orange Window: Why the Gap Between Method and Effect Must Be Tiny

A borrowed ring vanished from my hand and appeared somewhere impossible -- but I waited too long to reveal it, and the audience barely reacted. The timing gap killed the miracle.

5 of 10 — 8 min read

Make It Easy for Them, Not for You: The Law That Separates Pros from Amateurs

I kept choosing the handling that was easier for me, and I kept getting weaker reactions. It took Darwin Ortiz's ninth law to show me I had the entire calculation backwards.

6 of 10 — 8 min read

Audiences Have Contrary Intelligence: Dumb When You Need Smart, Smart When You Need Dumb

Every time I needed a spectator to notice something important, they missed it. Every time I needed them to overlook something trivial, they caught it. Darwin Ortiz had a name for this maddening pattern.

7 of 10 — 8 min read

Make Them Care, Then Make Them Wait: The Suspense Formula That Works Every Time

I used to rush to the climax because I was afraid of losing the audience. Then I read Darwin Ortiz's suspense formula and realized the rushing was exactly what was killing the impact.

8 of 10 — 8 min read

People See What They Expect to See: How Expectation and Desire Shape the Magic

I spent months worrying that my methods were too transparent, until I realized the audience was not seeing what I was doing -- they were seeing what they expected to see. And what they wanted to see.

9 of 10 — 8 min read

"I Hate to Be Fooled" Actually Means "I Hate to Lose"

The first time someone told me they hated magic, I took it personally. Then I understood what they were really saying -- and it changed how I handle every resistant spectator.

10 of 10 — 8 min read

The Close-Up Mat as Territory: How Physical Space Communicates Authority

The first time someone grabbed a prop off my table mid-routine, I froze. The second time, I understood it was my fault -- I had failed to claim the space as mine.