Magic as an Art

Magic, like all Arts, is highly personal. What you do and how you do it are your defining characteristics. One of the reasons I became a magician is because I didn’t know anyone else that was one. I wanted to be different, and luckily that has proven not to be a bad thing.

When I decided to become a professional, I had the good fortune to be exposed to many others in the field. I got to see what they were doing, how and why they were doing it, and then make my decisions about my own approach. Whatever made me want to be different from other people, has also made me want to be different from other magicians. Over time, I’ve been able to define and refine the things that I wanted to be my trademark, or brand, if you will.

Person First, Magician Second

When acting as a mingling entertainer, it is all too easy to barge into someone else’s space and claim it as your own. My goal is loosely modeled on the legendary magician Robert Houdin. He would attend an event as a guest, and then “choose” to perform for the others at a certain point. While this exact approach is a bit unrealistic in many modern settings, the core idea is strong. However brief it may be, Let people get to know you as a person first. Once they have accepted you into their circle, you will have their attention–and blessing–to entertain them. Rushing this process can be uncomfortable for everyone involved, and can often make an otherwise excellent entertainer seem obnoxious, pushy or arrogant.

The Promise

While every magician should be entertaining, they should also deliver on their implicit promise as a magician to do something that defies logic. Humor, stories and other theatrical aids are good, but what makes a magic show unique is its ability to deliver the impossible. I’ve spent my entire adult life researching, developing and refining a repertoire that reflects this belief.

The Conditions

Most audiences are smart. They enter into the performance with the suspicion that props are gimmicked and secret devices are hidden in the sleeves. Historically, the most effective magicians are the ones that took those suspicions head-on, allowing their props to be examined, performing with their sleeves rolled up, taking any number of infinite pains in order to eliminate all theories. Only when the audience is convinced the items used are ordinary and ungimmicked, can the effect be seen as impossible. Yes, it’s more work to do it this way, but I find the rewards to be worth it.

The Props

As mentioned above, smart people have suspicions regarding the legitimacy of the props. That is why everything I use is either borrowed from a spectator or examined by them. I have even gone so far as to do entire shows without using any prop of my own.

The Repertoire

Because I have been teaching magic for well over a decade, I have an advantage that other professionals do not. I routinely have to learn and design new things, so my material never becomes stagnant. Constant training has given me a large and dynamic repertoire that is more than any one audience could see at a time. This gives me the advantage of being able to improvise performances based on available objects, and customize performances on the fly. To me, nothing beats being able to do the impossible with someone else’s belongings.

Regarding Playing Cards

The use of playing cards in magic has a long and beautiful past. Cards are like the piano of the magic world, in that they offer an incredibly rich variety of effects. Still, unless hired as a card specialist, I don’t think they should dominate the work. I try very hard to have cards play only a 20% role in my act, unless specially contracted to do more. And of course, everything done can be with your deck. Feel free to put that statement to the test.