Magical Vs. Impossible

Dai Vernon is credited with saying something to the effect of "confusion is not magic". I want to add my own thoughts along this line to the magic world by saying impossible does not equal magical.

I think doing something impossible and doing something magical are two different realms. Much like we seem to lump all performing traits under the term "character" we seem to just fist every thing that is supposed to be magical into the category of "magic".

Much like my popular stance that coincidence is not magic so too shall this gem rest right next to it.

What got me thinking of this was watching the demo for an animated torn and restored card. I like to think that magic has a very defined clear cut effect to it. Tricks that I feel sit under the impossible umbrella are things that either don't make sense or are not magic in and of themselves. It's a very thin line I admit.

Usually magic is best when it serves a purpose or fills a need. Let me explain it to you using hand puppets and this little one act play I just made up.

Magic
Random Person: "Man I am hungry"
Magician: hand me that napkin (magician makes sandwich appear from empty napkin)
Person: "Wow that was amazing! Thanks!"

Impossible
Magician: "Watch me take this sandwich and make it penetrate halfway thru this pane of glass"
Confused Person: "Um...ok."
(Magician fuses sandwich and glass as one)
Person: "Wow that was.. weird. Why did you do that?"
Magician: "Because I can..."

That might be a tad extreme but doing something random like the second example serves no purpose other than eye candy. Magic is impossible. Impossible is not always magic.

Does this mean all your magic needs to serve a function? Hell no! However the moments of magic should make sense to the task at hand. Ambitious card is magic. It is structured as such. Turning an apple into an iphone? Not so much. Doing something impossible "just because" may seem like magic to some but in the end...

it might just be damned silly.

Fly you fools!!

Before I toddle off to my (very) late night gig, I want to share with you one of the thoughts that crossed my mind at the recent PCAM/CAM convention (Which was killer might I add).

I have talked about how we know the end of the trick so we forget that the audience doesn't also share this arcane knowledge. This fact tends to put us into a rut of crap performances and I hit upon a reason why...

We forget to make the journey interesting because we already know the destination.

we just want to get to that wow moment. Like an over-zealous teenager who tries to undo that bra too soon, we jump the gun and just leave the best moments flapping in the breeze as it were.

A lot of times stepping back from out material and looking at it as if we had never seen it before can be beneficial. Look at the build up (if there is any) as if you didn't know the end game. You might find some ways to make the outcome more interesting and the ride there more exciting. Let's face it...

Getting there is half the fun.

Why do we do what we do?

I posed a question to a young magician the other day that I had never really asked anyone before, but afterward felt compelled to share it with the world.

This young man has a competition act and rarely performs for real audiences (non-magicians). I asked him if the act he performs is what he wants to do or what he thinks he HAS to do.

This is an important question to ask yourself. Are you doing the magic you truly want to do or are you merely performing effects you think you have to because of your title? Have you spent countless hours learning complicated sleights because deep down you marvel at the technical skill of it all or because it wins you points at magic competitions?

Take a good long look inside yourself and see what you truly love and find out if you are following that or if you are merely just being a magical cover band. Following your heart may not win you a shelf full of trophies but at least you'll be doing what you want with your magic. Life is full of choices and questions. Let me help point you in the right direction.

Are you creating the art that is you?

Bizzaro.

Getting swept away...

A few years back I did a lecture at the Dallas, TX magic club. A good chunk of that lecture (and all of the ones I do) talk about creativity and character. Afterwords, a friend of mine (who incidentally was the one who taught me how to shove a nail into my face) came up to me and told me about a bit of theory that he and his wife subscribe to and are always checking themselves against it.

With his permission, I am going to give you that bit of information and expound upon it in my own little way. This one goes out to all my honkies in the sticks. It's called the Broom in the Corner theory and it goes a little something like this...

Suppose you are sweeping your kitchen or some such other surface and then your phone rings or someone knocks on your door. Since you're in the middle of what you are doing, you set the broom into a corner it doesn't go in. Time passes and you mean to get back to sweeping, but other shiny things keep distracting you. Eventually the broom stays in that spot so long, that's where it comes to live. That's not where it originally was stored, but now... it is.

We do that in magic quite a bit. We'll get complacent with a move or patter or theory or... whatever. We give it nary a second thought and just come to believe that's how it's always been. It's because of this we don't question our motivations or use of certain props. As youngins we start out using dove pans gaudy painted boxes and various card sleights. We use these items for so long we don't move away from them and if we do... it's not very far.

Next time you do a show, video tape it. Then watch it... a few times. Take a step back and ask yourself, "Why am I doing that exactly?" You might find you can open your eyes to new possibilities and find a better way to present or perform something and make it your own. You might even find a new place for that broom suspension...

like in the corner.

Bizzaro.

(Special thanx to Mica and Judy Calfee of Riot Acts Entertainment for letting me use this bit of amusement on my journal.)

If Hasbro taught me anything...

Remember when you were a kid? Ok well for some of you this was a few weeks ago maybe, but that's not the point... You got a new Transformer toy and before you even bothered to find let alone read the instructions, you were already trying to form that little plastic bastard into.. whatever it looked like on the box? Remember that? Hands? Anyone? I know it wasn't just me, c'mon now...

Regardless, you knew better. Sometimes this would lead to accomplishment.. sometimes it would lead to you looking at Jetfire and saying "How the hell does this thing work?" and then you snap his head off because you decided not to follow proper procedure. That sucks... but you knew better right? My gawd is this going anywhere? Yes... I think.

As magicians we buy something, look at the instructions, learn to do a ghost count (If you don't know what that is, slap yourself in the forehead for me) that is done awkwardly at the fingertips. How many people do you know, yourself included, still do the push me/pull me (hadadada) move in color monte because that's how it was written? Next to the double undercut and the glide, it is one of the most useless moves I happen to know how to do.

We don't question anything. Sure some of us do and we flock to their lectures and buy their videos to learn how they have jumped the shark as it were to create something we apparently couldn't achieve ourselves. We get handed a method or moves and told "this is how this goes" and we believe it. We don't question it. We just merrily roll along. Well friends I am here to tell you a little something....

QUESTION EVERYTHING!!!

Do not be content with what you are fed or handed. Look at it from different angles. Thru different eyes. Under a microscope. Hell try NOT looking at it. See what happens. Think to yourself, "Gee, I sure would like to accomplish X without having to do Y. I wonder if I can do that?" YES YOU CAN!! Don't be afraid to try and try again.. and fail and fail again. You will learn a LOT from your screw ups. However, if you don't practice properly, other people will have a lot to learn from yer screw ups as well.

If you just reject what you know.. or think you know... maybe you can create something that hadn't been thought of before.

Something with sponge balls maybe?

Bizzaro.

Style vs. Character...

And there in the shower it hit me.... Style Vs. Character. Some have one, some have the other. (Some have neither too) Sometimes they meet in the middle. It was this thought that opened my eyes.

Every so often a thought comes to you from one simple thing you might see or read and you smack yourself in the head and think, "Why didn't I think of that sooner?!" Let me explain to you what I am talking about.

Some people have a performing style while others have a character they portray onstage. (some would even go so far to talk about the difference between character and chariacture, but let's keep this simple hunh?) Some prime examples of characters are Sylvester the Jester, Rudy Coby, and Simon Drake. They play up the characters they have created for themselves to convey their particular ideas and views. They use costumes, scenarios, and even manners of speaking to create a different persona that lives in their own world on stage. These are the people who have become magic innovators and helped everyone look at magic a little bit differently.

Now here is the one that might surprise you a bit. Prime examples of people with a style are magicians like David Copperfield, Houdini, Amazing Johnathan, and Lance Burton. They are themselves on stage but have a certain style of performing that is personal to them and them alone. (Tho' by now thy have created so many imitators, their style has been copied, but never duplicated) These people have been the major inspirations to magic on a whole and helped bring it to the public eye in a positive light.

I'm not saying people who are characters have no style all their own, or vice versa. However one will stand out more than the other usually. There are those who have mixed the two. However, in mixing them you make them more subtle.. which some might say is better. However, that is neither here nor there. Jeff McBride, Kevin James, and Penn and Teller have mixed character and style to a great success. They don't rely on one or the other to make them recognizable. (I'm not saying the others listed above DO, but one does tend to stand out more than the other in those cases.) The mixture of the two gives you a nice blend of magic and performer.

Neither one of these is better than the other and it's up to YOU to figure out which one is the right path to follow. Now if you don't feel you have one or the other, and are just standing on stage being a phony smile and stick on head producing Cd's, doves, or canes for no reason, you might want to step back and re-evaluate your magic motivations sometime soon.

The bottom line is you need to have something that sets you apart from the rest of the herd in crappy rented formal wear. They might be able to take your tricks, but they'll never take who you are.

Don't dream it, be it....

Bizzaro.

(Special snuggly hugs and manly pats on the ass to Chris Lyle for planting this seed in my head. Good game.)

Coming to terms...

Today we shall discuss two ideas and terms I feel are very important to creating the right presentation and effect. The other day I talked about my penchant for using food items to create magic. Last night I tried out one of my new creations at our weekly variety show. (Imagine healed and sealed with a small snack size of bag of Cheetos) A few things came from the live performance and the hour I spent before the show restructuring the routine. I am going to go over these two helpful ideas with you now. Grab yer ankles and get ready.

At Play - This term refers to making a prop or getting the props you need together and just.. playing. No matter how absurd an idea MIGHT be, you should at least follow thru with it. Make a prototype if need be. You never know what you are capable of until you get something in your hands. A lot of people have great ideas but never follow through with them. Don't be a lazy ass!! Whip it out and play with it!! (ummm...) Even if the initial idea you had doesn't work, something MUCH better might present itself. I prefer serendipity to luck any day.

In the Moment - When you are onstage or performing an effect for the first time, there are some aspects of a trick or presentation that you could NEVER have thought of in mere mirror practice. You have to be in the moment in front of a real people because that is when your secret subconscious performing reflexes will kick in. There is an energy that is present when performing for a mass of watchers. Don't be afraid to say or do something right out of the gate. Have a vague idea of what you want to say and do, but do not be afraid to deviate from the flight plan. Hijack that damn plane and head straight for the Pentag.. er.. Disney Land!! Mind you, the best time to have no fear in performance is a place where there is no pressure to be good or when yer doing it for free. Got new material? Find an open mic night or create your own somewhere. Opportunities abound!!

So there are two thoughts that might help you get out there and make magic your bitch. Mind you they require you to stop looking at the internet and actually motivate yer lazy ass. Bo not afraid. Run headlong at that cliff...

you might just be able to fly.

Bizzaro.

Thought for Food...

So I have been wanting to add a bit more to my creativity notes. You, my loyal readers, get a first glimpse of this addition to my usual ramblings.
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The other day I was going over some of the magic I have created in the last few years and realized a LOT of it involved food and drink based props. I usually joke that you "go with what you know" and then pat my belly. Like most jests, there is some truth behind that. The items I use are things I actually consume. Doritos, sandwich cookies, Coka-cola, Cheetos, etc. The best part about this is that I am not the only one in the world who deals with these objects on a daily basis. We all have to eat. (some of us do it better than others but there is no way in hell I am gonna start doing magic with Tofu)

This brings me around to my point (I knew I had one here somewhere): Use items people relate to. You pull out brass cups or gaudy boxes with dragons on them, what are they going to think? Magic Prop!! That's right. You could honestly save yourself a lot of time and money by using soup cans or styrofoam cups. It might not be pretty but if the prop matches your presentation and character, it will paint a more complete picture. The best part is, you will get all of the credit for the magic you do. If they think it's accomplished with the prop you bought then you get NOTHING!!!

If you use props or items they have handled, seen, bought, etc they will subconsciously know that there is no trickery involved with the prop... even if there is. On the otherhand, you can use a concept they are familiar with in an incredible situation. I believe that if you give them a little bit of truth, they will believe a LOT of BS. (Like a jumbo coin being filled with chocolate) In the case of using foodtsuffs, you can play upon people's memories, emotions, or even mental states because people associate so much with edible items. With cookies you can get them going back to their childhood, water, you can have them remember summertime. It's a dirty trick, but man does it work.

So look through your repertoire, and see what you can repaint, remake, or just plain get rid of/sell and maybe find a way to make a better mousetrap.

Just don't forget the cheese.

Bizzaro.

Another word for Thesaurus?

So I got to thinking about something the other day that may or may NOT help you become more creative. This one definitely ranks high on the list of "theory". (No need for a number behind that. It's too low on the list.) Anywho, on to my point. (yes I have one and not just on the top of my head) Ready for this one? Vocabulary!!

(Dramatic pause)

Crack open a dictionary and look up words you aren't familiar with. Here is a good exercise: Go to your Myspace account and look at the update mood section. Go thru the lost of moods and see what all of the ones you don't know mean. Here is a good place to go - M-W.com.

Ok so now that you have stopped looking at me like the RCA dog, allow me to explain. If you don't know what something is then you can't know what it does. The more ways you can interpret the world around you and recognize the terms, the better you can visualize the mechanics or props you might need. This in turn will help you be more creative as you are armed with the proper knowledge to add two and two together and get... 5.

I told you math was hard.

Bizzaro.