The Anti-Drab

When I was growing up, there was nothing more fun than going to see one of the magicians that would occasionally come to a theater in my town, either as part of a larger stage show, or as the main magician of a whole show, with cabinets and saws and deep blue lights, and usually a few beautiful women scantily clad. Either way there was something really special going on. If you thought life was drab, this was surely the Anti-Drab, this was the opposite of the
minute-to-minute boring life in the deep south, at least as I knew it.

But I want to focus on why it’s fun to be mystified, which I think has something to do with the fun in funny. In both humor and illusion incongruity seems to be the star of the entertainment, where the fun is. And if we’re being entertained, we must be safe---here’s some contradictions before our very eyes we can enjoy for a change. Here's reality as we know it isn't, and we can't help seeing it that way!

As you might have guessed, all this is leading to a link where I hope you’ll be amazed and entertained. May you be awash in the mysteries of a pleasant and puzzling cognitive dissonance.