Not stirred...

Today I bring you a pseudo-guest post.This was a previous post elsewhere by Lee Presson of "Lee Presson and the Nails" that I have obtained permission to re-post here. (Also don't forget to check out their music over here if you like bad ass swing music.)

Vermouth

"This is a tough one to try and describe, but I'll do my best.  I've often compared research for any theatrical endeavor to the vermouth in a martini.  You pour it in, you swish it around, you dump it out.  Then you put in something completely different, be it gin or vodka, but the hint of that vermouth still remains. So with that metaphor in mind, let's take LPN as an example: I immersed myself in Jazz history, I learned as much about it as I could, I listened to as much of it as I could... and then I dumped it all out and tried to develop an original stage presentation.  But the hint of all that history is still there, see? (also the 70 year-old songs help)

Or say, Edgar Allan Poe at Dickens Fair.  I obviously can't play him as he actually was because this is supposed to be a Christmas fair... a CHEERY occasion!  So, same thing... do the research, learn as much as I can, then toss it all and ask myself the following question: given what I know about this man, how would he behave at a party if he were given the chance to forget about his inner demons for just a few hours?  I think he'd be grateful for the opportunity, and that's how I play him. 

There are two ways to play a character.  One is to pretend you're the character, and the other is to pretend the character is you.  I choose the 2nd approach.  Take the role and make it yours.  Just don't forget the vermouth!"

A little bit of everything...

 This is a great way to think about taking something and making it your own after learning about what has come before. The history of an art is import if for no other reason than to know you are not wasting your time re-creating someone else's wheel. It's also good to know the "Rules" of something so you can then bend, break, and discard the ones that don't apply to you or what you are doing. 

The problems lies in those who don't think they don't need this knowledge and they end up being a pale comparison of something that came before them because they never bothered to research in a time when it's easier than it ever was. 

It's never too late to take a look behind you... 

The definition of insanity...

I was reading an article about the OODA Loop, (A theory that pertains to many things including magic), and in it there was a talk about the 2nd law of Thermodynamics". While technically this refers to mechanics and whatnot, it can also be applied to people. For you lazt bastards who don't want to read it, here is a line that jumped out at me: "The more we rely on outdated mental models even while the world around us is changing, the more our mental “entropy” goes up."

Doesn't that sound a lot like most of the magicians we know?

Magic doesn't like to evolve with the times. To be fair humans in general resist swift change but we are one, if not many, decades behind the times. We have jumped ahead a bit here and there with the advent of the internet, but let's face it, we are still giving people books printed in the 30s and 40s back when tricks were titled "To magically procure a selected card from a borrowed gentleman's bowler hat". 

In some cases, magic is collapsing in on itself because they believe circling the wagons is the best option. The SAM, IBM, Magic Castle and even forums like the big soylent green refuse to look at the world around us and accept there might be people who view entertainment different from them.

Don't agree with me? Here is another bit of text from that article...

"Individuals or organizations that don’t communicate with the outside world by getting new information about the environment or by creating new mental models act like a “closed system.” And just as a closed system in nature will have increasing entropy, or disorder, so too will a person or organization experience mental entropy or disorder if they’re cut off from the outside world and new information."

 Now if that doesn't sound like a bunch of old white men with decks of cards I don't know what does.

It all comes to a head...

And as well all know, head rules.

Anywho, first our Mudderload contest info. I won't make it easy on you however. I am going to ask you a question about this journal. You are the first one with the correct answer, then you geta cookie.. er.. wait.. no.. you get EVERYTHING we here at Fire Cat Studios has for sale. Helter Shelter DVD and book, and many e-books. The Marked Man Lecture notes, Cheat Damn You pdf, and even the hard to find Banned in Texas notes. (of course if you already have some of these you'll just get the stuff you don't already have.) There is even a little surprise gift as well that is not on the market as of yet. However you only have a week to answer so on Dec. 18th, if we have no proper answer, then all is lost. You can only answer once, so think about it very carefully.

So here it is: What common thread do most of the posts on this journal share?

Finally, the last Rant. Never before seen by the public. Un-edited for your amusement and mine.

Why am I stuck In Magician Hell? #5
Written by: Bizzaro. The Optical Illusionist
"Never Rub Another Man's Rhubarb."

Thaaaaaat's right kids, DJ Bizzaro here spinning all of your favorites! This next one is a special request you should all know and love. It's called, "Copyright law. What a fickle hooker that is." by.. well just about EVERYONE!!

As many people who have looked into it know, you can't copyright a magical device, merely the intellectual property of the script or routine. (With very few exceptions. Did you know that with the proper patent number you can look up the device Coppi the Sex Wizard uses to fly?) There are vocal Nazis when it comes to giving credit in magic about who created this or did that. A good example of this was the Shapeshifter change DeSouza released a while back. Many people were like, "That's Oscar Munoz's trick. You just blah blah blah grrr and stuff.." The Axis change comes to mind as well. They even said "Well this was someone else's, but they did it like this and I just moved my arms down here." (Mind you there was a reason it was done the original way. But hey who cares, it wasn't "street" enuff.)

"My name is Bambi and my pet peeves include smokers, people who talk during magic videos, and performers who don't respect who owns what." There is a Playboy interview you'll never see... and for good reason. Outside of magic, NO ONE CARES!! If you claim to have invented Ambitious Card, the mundanes will not remember nor care. Magicians might get bent out of shape about it (Even tho' 3/4's of them couldn't tell you where it originated anyway). You want to terrorize someone for a while? When they show you something new you've never seen, tell them it's a Vernon or Marlo effect from some obscure date. Nothing puts a knife in you faster than to hear these words, "It's in print".

So what happens when two independent sources produce the same effect, same method, etc. Do the two parties say, "Hey kool, congrats. Great minds think alike"? Not usually. It's more like "This was mine first! I'm gonna rip off yer head and..." You get the idea. As magicians, we are taught that our power lies in our secrets. Once those are gone we have nothing. When someone impedes upon this frayed touchy nerve, we go all guano on people. Some people do blatantly steal another person's ideas and get more notoriety for it. It happens (Now you know how Bruce Springstein felt about Roamer in the Dark).

Putting something in print however does not give anyone carte blanche to go all crazy ex-girlfriend on someone. If another magician comes up with something removed from your idea, there isn't much you can do about it. (Aside from getting a cadre of ass clowns on a message board somewhere to flame said perpetrator.) They say if you want to hide something, put it in print. Technically once it's published it's yours. Can't really prove it tho' as a card trick in a court of law will only cause them to laugh at you. Afterwards they'll sentence you to hanging by a noose made from a rice silk for wasting their time... but I digress.

Personally I think it's getting out of hand in some ways. There are fanatics in every religious cult, (You heard me. Look it up), and magic has no shortage of asshattery when it comes to ownership. Don't get me wrong. I think it's good to know where SOME things come from. Triumph is Vernon's. Gotcha. Healed and Sealed is Anders Moden's (that he foolishly let be performed on TV by the Asshat). Right on. We all know it. Does that mean we can't perform it if we don't buy the books or instructions they appeared in? That depends on your morals or lack thereof. (The same could be said for downloading torrents of magic videos and whatnot as well.) Where do we draw the line? Should I start berating people for not giving credit to who created the double lift or biddle grip in their videos or print? NO. That would be silly and I'm NEVER silly.

So it all boils down to which side of the line do you stand on? The uptight fanatic brigade who has nothing better to do than catalog everything in magic... or the sane free thinking world where real people don't care and if you don't want people doing your stuff don't put it in freeking PRINT!!! What's more important to you? Artistic integrity or recognition for your *koff* genius. Everything in moderation kids...

Including moderation.

Bizzaro.

As promised...

Here it is the 6th (Shhhh I won't tell if you don't) and now for the little surprise I promised.

As some of you know, I was writing for Street Magic Magazine for about three issues. (Which equals 6 months. Math is hard.) I never actually saw one of the issues until number 3 and I was shocked to find that they were editing my rants and adding stuff to them I didn't say or wouldn't say in that particular form. So far a lot of people have been surprised that my ramblings had valid points. I suspect I was dropped from the latest issue (As they have not contacted me in ANY way) is because I wasn't doing what they wanted my writing to do... and that's piss people off. Apparently people just couldn't argue with what I was talking about.

Yes kids, my writing like a raving magical Hunter S. Thompson was intentional. (or Spider Jerusalem if yer hip like that) However since they changed my stuff, (Which is funny cuz' at the very top, it said it was un-edited. I found spelling mistakes in the stuff that THEY added. Go fig.), over the next 5 days I am going to post, one a day, of my orignal rants in their orignal widescreen format. These have not been modified to fit your TV, nor will they cater to your delicate sensibilities and there are NO special features. Just think of these like those 5$ DVD's you find at Wal-mart. The price you love, with nothing extra thrown in.

Why am I stuck In Magician Hell? #1
Written by: Bizzaro. The Optical Illusionist
"The true meaning of street magic - yes Virginia, there is an Asshat."

Greetings and Salavations bottom-feeders. Some of you are familiar with me either thru the internet and my online rant journal or have seen me perform. Perhaps a video or even live. I will never win a magic competition cuz' I refuse to traumatize avian life or wear rented formal wear. Doubtful you will see me in any OTHER magic magazines or magic conventions anytime soon. I'm what some have referred to as a rebel. The Gomez Addams of magic if you will. With over two decades in this business, more than half professionally, I have seen a good deal of great and terrible things. However this isn't about me. It's about you.. and if you are willing to listen to what i have to say here every month. I'll let you in on what this column is gonna be about. First it's not gonna kowtow to ANYONE or ANYTHING. Anything except my opinions. As you may have heard, opinions are like.. well you know.. everyone has one. I'm entitled to mine as you are yours. I'm not trying to piss off anyone.. but guaranteed I am going to do it. It's what I do. Now that we have all of the formalities out of the way, let's begin...

I am not going to sugar coat what I say. I will not take your feelings into consideration. I am going to lift up the shiny pyrite rock that is the magic community. I'm going to point out the seamy underbelly of what many people, not ingrained with magic's inner workings, think is a shiny little coin they might find in the street. Like some coins tho' this denomination has two faces. (like other denominations I will not mention here) On one side we have the professionals. People who make a good living at this by elevating magic to what some might call an artform. On the other side we have the armchair magus. You know the kind. Your Uncle Bob, the guy at your office, the local bartender, that fat annoying kid at school... YOU! Fully willing to dish out their "life experience" in an online forum. Of course the only thing making them an authority is they do birthday parties on their days off from their mundane normal jobs. Ah but if that were the only inhabitants on this flip-side. You also have the susceptible teenagers and pre-teens bombarded by modern TV specials with people who want you to believe they are a god. Sit down and prepare yourself. This is where our first rant will begin.

First I do want to preface this with that henceforth all references to David Blaine in all of my writing will be as "The Asshat". Deal with it.

Many of you are probably too young to remember magic on TV before the late 90's. From the 60's to mid 90's there was a glorious variety of stage magic on TV. Elegant and weird spectacles of all types were brought to you in broadcast colors every few months. From Coppi the sex wizard to The World's Greatest Magic, there was much to see. Even the close-up magicians were larger than life on grand sets and pretty lights. Then in 1998, that era was murdered and it's frail corpse raped right in front of a cadre of choir boys. The Asshat changed it all. Now we have... street magic.

Don't get me wrong. I like street magic... when performed as street theatre. (A term most true street performers prefer) Street magic is NOT walking up to total strangers with a deck of cards looking like an unemployed mental patient. At that point it's street hostage theater. Very difficult to make money doing that (For tips anyway). You want to see REAL street magic, get off the internet and go somewhere like San Francisco or New Orleans (Well maybe not so much anymore) or even parts of New York. Educate yourself before you place that Ellusionist order for their next overpriced DVD. Street magic has existed well before you or anyone else was on TV. Before even most of today's modern religious beliefs as well. Hell a lot of religions have been started by no less than a dove pan. (Isn't that how that Waco thing started?)

ANYONE who tries to sell you a magic product by using fad buzzwords like "Street", "Extreme", or "Tiger Deck" should be beaten to death with their own arm. The good one too. Not the one they hold their crotch with while doing their variation of the cobra cut. Nope you gotta get to the root of the problem. Go after the important appendage. Their spendin' hand. The one that causes them to purchase these overpriced DVD's or one trick ponies that flood the market everyday. Those little fingers, that by every click of the button, keep these soulless leaches in business. This isn't a new thing either. The same problem has existed since the magic catalog was invented. You know, those archaic drawings, the text promising you miracles, and radiating lines shooting from their huge heads? In today's world however, web-space has been traded for paper. HTML for print.Today it's all flashy editing, annoying rock or emo music, and your dumb ass willing to keep contributing to this barrage of cheap products released by people who have more money than morals.

Don't like someone calling you stupid do you? Well if you believe everything you see on TV or read on the internet without doing your homework, then you are. Just cuz' mommy and daddy don't hug you, no one understands you, and you have a ghost deck doesn't mean the world or ANYONE you harass on the street owes you ANYTHING. No one on TV is your friend. They don't understand you and if you happen to be a cripple or dying, they are helping you cuz' that's good PR. Just thought I would throw that out there.

It is true that here in the USA we are not encouraged or rewarded for showing creativity or original thought. Not like in Europe anyway. Street magic is a respected art form over in places like France. So much so, that if you are a citizen you only work three months of the year and they foot the bill the rest of the year to work and practice your art. A grant for being an individual if you will. Even Canada has largely attended busker festivals. You try to go there with your little stigmata tricks or king rising, you will come home wiser and poorer for you wasted efforts.

Magic has lost it's flair and style in the US. No panache. Oh sure, you are saying to yourself, "But I make people smile, I can read minds, I have had people cuss at me and call me the devil. I'm good!" Guess what? Anyone with twenty bucks, a self working deck of cards, and mental midgets as a crowd can do that. Want to impress me and do street magic the right way, put together a 20-30 minute show that will hold people's attention. Make it fun, engaging, and amazing. Not only will you be a better performer than 95% of the idiots that try to "represent" on those message boards you hang out on, but you will never have to work a real job EVER again. I know guys who do 3-4 shows a day and can pull down a grand easily. Can you say that about going out in plain clothes and putting a hole in your forehead with the sun? Do the world a favor and do that with a bullet instead. If you perform that in front of a crowd on the street, you'll be remembered forever guaranteed.

So what about those of you who just like to contribute to magic and only do it as a hobby? Good for you. Do you sell crappy products that look good on camera that you have only been doing for a week or so? Do you use words like "Street" and "Extreme" to sell your wares? If so, I will find you and I will beat you. You know with what too because we have already had this discussion earlier. I guess my point in all of this is: You can either part of the problem, or part of the solution to elevate magic beyond what it has become. I am reminded of a quote attributed to Dai Vernon. (if you don't know who that is, burn EVERY deck of cards you own and put your head thru your computer monitor NOW!) "If the best thing you can do for magic is get out of it, do so." I'm paraphrasing, but you get the idea.

I think that's all I have to say this time around. Are you mad yet? If so, good. Anger and disagreement make you think. Blind useless drivel you concur with does nothing but take up space on a page. You may now put back on your pants and go. Leave the KY here.

Was it good for you?

Bizzaro.