One of the most difficult pills to swallow as a magician was the manipulation of language used when performers spoke of their experience. In fact, it almost became necessary in order to keep up with the others who were doing the same.

Performing a magic trick for someone in the Caribbean while you were on vacation suddenly turned into, “Performed at the (insert name here) resort in St. Lucia.”

Did a magic trick at Mardi Gras in New Orleans?
“Performed at Mardi Gras in New Orleans.”

The real lucky ones who ran into a celebrity and showed them one of their routines?
“Performed for (insert name here).”

There were a whole lot of other manipulative marketing that happened (and still happens), but it was enough to build a solid BS meter for anyone I spoke with. It became so incredibly difficult to distinguish the stretched truth from the flat out lies (of which there were also many), that my default stance was to smile, nod and not believe a word.

(Side note: I see the same thing with writers, but that’s a post for another day)

This experience marked me for any sort of media, marketing campaigns and even reviews of products.

It took some time, but this formed a critical lens that was cultivated by a desire for truth and ability to read in-between the lines.

As we hear more about the world each day, each hour, I see this manipulation of language happening everywhere. It’s compounded by the endless comments, podiums and rants–each person more convinced than the last.

While an antidote (and vaccine) for COVID-19 is the priority, we should shift afterwards to building an antidote to the Orwellian doublespeak of our language.