Book education with Tom Stone, instructor in magic.

EDUCATION

Further education for magicians

Tom Stone as entertainer, speaker or consultant are dealt with elsewhere.
Traditionally, all magicians are “autodidacts”, i.e they have acquired their trade knowledge through self-study. This often means that you become an expert in a small niche, while you get a huge gap in your other general knowledge which is so complete that you don’t even know how much you don’t know. While expertise do lead to innovation and originality … it seldom appear that way when it is poured into a mold imprinted with what is lacking in the field. Uniformity appear where gap of knowledge is at its deepest.

A mutual base of knowledge! Tom Stone has been involved in issues regarding further education for the last 21 years, and has arranged and supervised a number of courses for already established magicians. Tom’s teaching is based on Peter Rosengren’s pedagogical model. Ie. the special knowledge that the participants already possess is utilized and incorporated into the course. All theoretical elements are tested and questioned through “hands-on” exercises, and there are group discussions that both create new taxonomy and explore ontological questions.

The university courses Magic 1, Magic 1 and Magic 2 at DOCH, Stockholm University of the Arts, attracted 36 professional magicians from ten different countries to come and further their knowledge through artistic research, under the guidance of Johan Ståhl (course director) and Tom Stone (head teacher). Tom’s week-long course “Conjuring” enticed 41 magicians from eleven countries to travel to study in Sweden. And Tom’s course “Art of Magic” has been given in Stockholm, Oslo, Berlin, London and Chicago.

Tom has also been a guest instructor at the Bachelor of Arts in Circus at Stockholm University of the Arts.

Johan Ståhl och Tom Stone utanför universitetet

Johan Ståhl (course director) and Tom Stone (head teacher) at the university courses Magi 1, Magic 1 and Magic 2. Here outside DOCH, Stockholm University of the Arts.

Tom Stone giving a workshop for professional magicians in Hong-Kong.

Theoretical lessons are interspersed with “hands-on” exercises – Here Tom has brought in the expert Tim Star as a guest instructor in propmaking.

In addition to Rosengren’s pedagogical model, Tom are also basing the lessons on Tommy Wonder’s “Three Pillars”, i.e to encourage development in several areas; physical skills, psychological skills and mechanical skills. E.g. during one lesson you can explore the latest findings of cognitive science, and in the next lesson you will be soldering props in brass.
The “hands-on” elements are important – after each introduction of a new theoretical element, the students are tasked to create a new performance work where the new knowledge is applied. All learning, by design, examines and questions what is taught.

Through the course evaluations it has become extremely clear how important and long-awaited this type of further education is. The goal is to be able to create a longer course, 1-3 years, but that is still in the future.

Booking request

Through the site magic-workshops.com courses for established magicians are announced – but if you want to book Tom Stone as an instructor or teacher, don’t hesitate to ask. In the past, there have not only been custom workshops for small groups of magicians, but also lessons for beginners, at various events like team building and once even for a bachelorette party.