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.