Teaching Doctors to Perform MagicInside MagicMagic News Updated Daily for the Professional Magician

Scott Tokar and Harrison Carroll are two of innovative group Corporate FX. Within their ranks are the very talented Bill Goldman, Steve Cohn, Dana Daniels and Tim Noonan, and their mission is bring magic to various corporate venues. Now, Mr. Tokar and Mr. Carroll are taking their talents to the medical field with their new Side-Fx.

Side-Fx is not your traditional medical textbook, it’s a collection of easy to perform magic tricks, special effects, illusions and puzzles for use in the exam room alleviating a child’s many fears associated with visiting the doctor. A practitioner can perform each effect with medical supplies that are traditionally available in any exam room or office. Giving the equipment and supplies a dual purpose ? diagnostic and magical ? makes these otherwise scary instruments magical.

“It’s long been known that a simple doctor’s exam can generate nervousness and anxiety in patients, especially for children,” said Mr. Tokar. “What Harrison and I have done is combined the calming and often humorous effects of magic and put them to work in the serious realm of a doctor’s office improving the overall doctor-patient relationship — and the results are, well … Magical!” he added.

Throughout the year and a half spent researching and developing the book and its techniques, Mr. Tokar and Mr. Carroll received the same feedback repeatedly from physicians — that many of these tricks are ideal relationship builders for use with all age groups and within a wide range of medical specialties.

Team Corporate FX

For example, the trick “The Paralyzed Finger” is specifically targeted to help adult family members understand the frustration experienced by a cerebral palsy patient or a stroke victim.

Similarly, the effect, “The Leaping Rubber Band,” has a long history of being useful in connection with physical therapy through the Daniel Freeman Memorial Hospital program called “Project Magic.”

In addition, radiological technicians loved the optical trick, “The Hole in the Hand,” which helps them explain the differences in diagnostic modalities available today.

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Team Corporate FX

For example, the trick “The Paralyzed Finger” is specifically targeted to help adult family members understand the frustration experienced by a cerebral palsy patient or a stroke victim.

In addition, radiological technicians loved the optical trick, “The Hole in the Hand,” which helps them explain the differences in diagnostic modalities available today.

“Filled with many quickly learned and clearly illustrated magic effects, Side-Fx is a marvelous guide for physicians, nurses and other caregivers who wish to relax, uplift and connect with their patients — young and old,” stated Naj Wikoff, Director, Healing and the Arts, C. Everett Koop Institute, Dartmouth Medical School.

To date, Tokar and Carroll have traveled worldwide instructing doctors, nurses and other health care professionals on the benefits of magic with their patients through live demonstrations at medical conferences and in hospitals.

“We’ve seen a tremendous welcome for blending magic into the daily routines of health care providers, especially once they see the difference it makes in their patient relationships, and the smiles on the kid’s faces” said Mr. Tokar. “Clearly, the therapeutic benefits of magic are not an illusion.”

Check out the Corporate Fx website by clicking here.