A book about breaking down the barriers between magicians and a non-typical audience. I have worked with disabled people for most of my life and continue to adapt magic so that it can be accessible to everyone. In this book I share some of my best p...
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Performing Magic for People with Visual Impairments and Dual Sensory Loss
Sadly there are very few tricks that are completely risk free — by this, I mean the risk of people understanding the workings of the trick. Unless you know the person very well, there is a distinct danger of the participant understanding how the trick is constructed. The idea that when you lose one sense, the others over-compensate super-hero-style is simply untrue; however, people with visual impairments in general have spent a long period of time adjusting to the world around them without sight, and can therefore be very astute when it comes to details of a magic trick. You will need to gauge this on an individual basis; each person is different. Remember that other senses may be heightened and they may pick up on details that you didn't expect them to. The key is to only allow your audience to engage with the elements of the trick a sighted person would engage with. Only let them feel what you would let the audience see.
When I first began performing for Deafblind and visually impaired people, it was almost impossible to find any tips to help — the only advice that ever seemed to be given was to suggest using sponge balls! I began experimenting with other tricks, and quickly realised I had happened upon something amazing; by tuning my mind into what I needed the outcome to be, I was able to adapt tricks to work for the audiences I was performing for. Don't expect I'm going to be able to tell you how to walk on water (although perhaps I should work on that); I quickly discovered that simplicity is key. Keep it simple, keep it effective.
I believe that involving the audience as much as you can, while taking ability into consideration, is a huge part of magic. A 'one size fits all' approach is not one that will work, but with observation, awareness, attention to detail and practice, you will be able to perform tricks that will entertain and delight; believe me, there is no better feeling.
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First of all, let's talk about the pros and cons of various trick types:
CARDS
Generally card tricks are difficult to perform to people with visual impairments, not just because they are texturally identical, but also that the majority of the time, the cards will remain with the magician. It is possible to buy braille decks of cards, but these tend to only be in American braille, which is fundamentally different to UK braille (sometimes they use an 8 dot cell system), and even if you have these, not every visually impaired person can read braille.
