Hocus Focus: Deliberate Practice, the Myth of the 10,000-Hour Rule and the Illusion of Mastery

Welcome to the first of several articles on the often-ignored topic of practising magic. Specifically, I want to explore the benefits of being more deliberate, intentional and focused when learning and practising sleight-of-hand (hence the title of this column). In this post, I’ll discuss deliberate practice and how amateur magicians can exploit it. I’ll also cover the myth of the 10,000-hour rule and one of the biggest pitfalls of mindless practice: the illusion of mastery.

For the purpose of this column, I’m treating the study and practice of magic as two distinct activities. In truth, it is difficult to separate them because one usually leads directly to the other. In addition, all successful magical performances combine procedural skills with declarative, conceptual knowledge. This makes it difficult to discuss the performance of magic without talking about both the practical and theoretical aspects of conjuring. However, I want Hocus Focus to concentrate on the more functional elements of magic alone.

Also, while this article touches on the concept of expertise as it applies to magic, it doesn’t dwell on it. This is a complex topic and deserves its own article. I also need more time to read up on this topic before I fully understand it (several new meta-studies on deliberate practice and expertise have been published in recent years). In the meantime, this article should serve as a solid introduction to classic deliberate practice theory.