College of Magic

The College of Magic is a non-profit organization (007-517 NPO/NGO) based in Cape Town, South Africa that teaches magic to people from various levels of society with the goal of creating social empowerment. The organisation’s projects address key community concerns at grassroots level.

The Director, David Gore, has been with the organisation since its inception.

It is the current holder of 17 national and 2 international awards. College of Magic graduates perform throughout South Africa, and the world. The College of Magic is a member of the International Jugglers' Association (IJA).

History

The College of Magic opened its doors on 23 February 1980, and is the only one of its kind in the world. It was established with the aim of providing performance arts training for aspirant entertainers from all sections of Cape Town’s community.

In 1992, the College of Magic moved into its present home, a renovated Victorian house in Claremont, Cape Town. Officially opened in 1995 by the Ministry of Arts, Culture, Science and Technology as the Magical Arts Centre, the College – with the help of the community – has restored the building and developed its facilities for their unique teaching and training needs.

Objectives

    To provide skills training in the magical and theatrical arts.
    To promote and improve leadership potential and excellence.
    To offer access to information, performance and employment opportunities, services and resources.
    To empower young people, enabling them to gain the respect of their families and community and to promote interaction and moral regeneration.
    To inspire students to be creative and productive through developing their skills, thereby contributing to wealth creation and career development.

Courses

The College of Magic is engaged in performing arts education and training, and specialises in training young people – children from the age of 10 years and upwards – in the art of magic and the allied arts of juggling, ventriloquism, mime and clowning.

The unique curriculum consists of six core courses that are structured hierarchically, with each course increasing in complexity, expectations of the learner and skill mastery. In the first three years, students are introduced to the basics of magic including presentation skills, the theory of entertainment and the essential elements of controlling an audience. During the fourth, fifth and sixth years, the curriculum becomes substantially more demanding in terms of the technical requirements and the theoretical aspects of entertaining. Students focus on entertaining children, sleight of hand, close-up magic, stage magic, magic with animals and stage illusions.

The courses are geared to encouraging individuality and innovation; hence workshops are frequently included as part of the course, where students can build their own props and experiment with new ideas. The nature of the courses is instructive, where opportunities for learners to continually "go back" – i.e. to refine, rehearse, improve and become more competent "magical" performers at that particular level – is fundamental. Embedded in each course is a cycle of action that includes:

    demonstration,
    practice,
    presentation,
    reflection,
    refinement,
    practice, and
    presentation.

The syllabus of each course is regularly assessed and upgraded wherever necessary. The required standard of performance is monitored closely so that uniformity and excellence is maintained. Lessons are held on Saturday mornings, and tutorials are arranged at other times directly with the instructors.

Staff

The staff can be segmented into the following categories:

1. The Non-Executive Board of Management - The College of Magic is governed by an experienced board of trustees, who are responsible for all decision-making in line with the organisation’s constitution. Both their chairperson and their treasurer are graduates of the organisation. The executive director and founder of the College, David Gore, has served the organisation for 27 years.

2. The Administrative Staff - The administrative staff is responsible for the day-to-day running of the organisation.

3. The Voluntary Teaching Staff - The College started with a teaching staff consisting of three people. It has since grown to include professional magicians, experienced teachers, specialists in the various allied arts, graduates of the College, administrative staff and visiting lectures (local and international). The expertise and nurturing approach offered at the College has continued to grow over the years with staff development courses being run on an ongoing basis. The staff are responsible for all aspects of the course they are teaching, including syllabus development, lesson preparation, one-on-one tutorial sessions and grading of student progress. The teaching staff is the backbone of the organisation, and all 14 members are volunteers.

The Magical Arts Centre

The College of Magic is currently resident in its own premises situated on Lansdowne Road in Claremont Cape Town. These premises were officially opened as the "Magical Arts Centre" (MAC) on 24 February 1995 by the then Department of Arts, Culture, Science and Technology.

The MAC consists of a double-story Victorian house with a wrap-around porch upstairs and downstairs, and is situated on 1840m2 of property. The building has a very homely feel with a large entrance foyer and a mini-theatre that can comfortably seat forty people. Five rooms are used for teaching purposes and two further rooms are available for tutorials when required. One of the teaching rooms is a fully equipped video studio which provides an excellent medium for training. There are sound and recording facilities available, as well as limited lighting equipment that is used to provide students with an all-round knowledge of show business. There is a kitchen-come-staff room and four offices, one of which doubles as a reception area. There is a library-come-social room where students can socialise and take out books and videos. This library is one of the largest magic museums in South Africa and houses five collections of books: the Museum library, the Cape Magician’s Circle Library, the Junior Library, the Senior Library and the extensive Staff Library. There is also a collection of videotapes and DVDs, which form an integral part of the teaching process.

The building has a courtyard in which the College’s animals are kept and two large shipping containers in the back garden. One stores the extensive collection of stage illusions, magical props and costumes; the second is a fully equipped workshop for the students, and was developed through the sponsorship of the Old Mutual Foundation.

Challenges

While the organisation’s human resources is by far its most valuable asset, there is a desperate need to consolidate and develop its physical resources:

    A substantial amount of money is outstanding on the existing building, placing considerable strain on the organisation’s cash reserves.
    While the building itself has been extensively restored, many necessary items and features are still missing.
    Space is at a premium, with the College struggling to accommodate its current student body, project-participants and visitors.

The Solution

On Tuesday 13 March 2007 The College of Magic (007-517 NPO) launched a capital fundraising campaign, entitled "13 Magical Milestones". The campaign target has been set at 1.3 million South African Rand (approx. $186,000 US Dollars), and will cover the costs of constructing and furnishing the "Imagination Centre and Secret Garden" development; necessary extensive renovations to the existing building and grounds; and the amount owing on the building.
The SARMOTI Grant

In 1997 the Siegfried & Roy SARMOTI Grant was established enabling disadvantaged young people to join the college and experience the world of magic. Delivered in person by their emissary and coordinator, Lynette Chappell, the Siegfried & Roy SARMOTI Grant heralded a new era for the College of Magic.

Called the Magic in the Community project, it allows a group of students to be transported for weekly lessons from their destitute homes in the Cape Flats to the fantasy-fulfilling world of the college.
College of Magic Film Documentary

In 2007, director Daniel Roth filmed a feature length documentary entitled "Do You Believe In Magic?" on the College of Magic. The film follows the lives of students Lesley and Mfundo as they struggle to realize their dream of winning the school's annual competition in order to advance to the annual World Teenage Magic Championship in Las Vegas.

"Do You Believe In Magic?" premiered at the Pan African Film Festival in Los Angeles on 9 February 2008, and it was also selected for the 2008 International Film Festival of South Africa.