By Jon Armstrong

I want to start this blog post off this with a little trick. Please be prepared to follow along…

To start I want you to think of a number between 1 to 10.

Multiply it by 9. (There should be a calculator around somewhere. Take your time. I can wait)

If it’s a two-digit number, add them together.

Now, subtract 5 from the number in your head. You will have a new random number. Remember it!

Let’s make this even harder for me. Think of the letter in the alphabet that corresponds with the number you are thinking about. For instance, if you are thinking of the number 1, it would be “A”. Number 2 would be “B”. 3 is “C”, and so on.

Quickly, think of a country that starts with the letter you’re thinking of.

Spell the country in your head.

Think about the second letter in that country’s name. Now, quickly think of an animal whose name begins with that letter.

Now, think of the animal’s color.

Hmmmmmmmm…

That’s funny… this can’t be right… there are no gray elephants in Denmark!

The idea above has been around forever, but I should give you an idea of the type of thing I’m speaking of when I mention interactive magic. Interactive magic requires the audience to engage and participate with what’s going on. It’s not just the passive watching of a magical effect.

Imagine if the above was illustrated in a comic book and the final reveal was a full splash page of this Gray Danish Elephant you had in mind.  That’s what I do in Smoke and Mirrors. My job is to take ideas like this one, update it to make it more relevant and new and then to find ways to make this idea really work on the page. We don’t want these bits to be distractions from the story, or feel like just gimmicks, but ways to enhance the readers experience in the world we have created.

In Smoke and Mirrors we plan on doing some amazing things by crossing these two mediums (comics and magic). We hope you’re as excited about this ride as we are.