If you ever need assistance amazing anyone, ask me to name a card. I'll always say the four of hearts.
Why, you ask?
Well, I'm a Warren Zevon fan. And the four of hearts is mentioned in the remarkable story in the link I just provided.
The author and the subject of the article are both deceased, and I'm not feeling so hot myself.
Friday, December 15, 2006
Tuesday, December 05, 2006
Theory and Action
I used to have long discussions on magical theory with a friend. We would talk about word usage, effect selection, performance persona, attitude, body language, whatever. He then took off to parts unknown (well, Malone's bar) to try his hand at being a professional magician. We've (sort of) kept in contact, and in one of his emails he seemed to discount those theoretical discussions as being of limited value. I'm hoping this is due to his enthusiasm for the current 'hands-on' nature of his position and not a permanent philosophy change.
Performing magic without (constantly evolving) theory is just spinning your wheels. Changes in your act, if any, will be random and as likely to make it worse as better. Conversely, theory without constant testing under fire is just posturing. Magic is not an exact science. I've seen too many people make too many mistakes because their theories (if any) are cast in stone and are not revised by real world trial.
I know there are exceptions. Don Alan was an incredible performer who apparently had no time for theoretical discussions. And if you read Mind, Myth and Magic chronologically you can see T.A. Waters' evolution as a theatrical thinker even though he was pretty much purely a theoretician and not a performer. Most of us aren't these kinds of exceptional people and should probably use all of the tools at our disposal.
The theory can start from a number of sources (books like Leading With Your Head by Gary Kurtz, web sites like this, discussions with friends), but should always be refined by testing in performance. This doesn't have to be professional performance. Just about every Sunday my wife and I go to Buffalo Wild Wings. The wait staff knows I do magic. My wife goes fabric shopping across the street and I always have something ready to perform. I won't do so unless asked because this is their job and I don't want to jeopardize it, but it's rare someone doesn't ask to see something. These mini-performances give me a chance to test new material and refine my theory. In turn, refining my theory has helped make my performances better.
So hey, don't knock the theoretical side of things. And if you want to be a performer, perform as often as you can, then analyze those performances against what you know. This is one way to improve your magic.
In theory.
Performing magic without (constantly evolving) theory is just spinning your wheels. Changes in your act, if any, will be random and as likely to make it worse as better. Conversely, theory without constant testing under fire is just posturing. Magic is not an exact science. I've seen too many people make too many mistakes because their theories (if any) are cast in stone and are not revised by real world trial.
I know there are exceptions. Don Alan was an incredible performer who apparently had no time for theoretical discussions. And if you read Mind, Myth and Magic chronologically you can see T.A. Waters' evolution as a theatrical thinker even though he was pretty much purely a theoretician and not a performer. Most of us aren't these kinds of exceptional people and should probably use all of the tools at our disposal.
The theory can start from a number of sources (books like Leading With Your Head by Gary Kurtz, web sites like this, discussions with friends), but should always be refined by testing in performance. This doesn't have to be professional performance. Just about every Sunday my wife and I go to Buffalo Wild Wings. The wait staff knows I do magic. My wife goes fabric shopping across the street and I always have something ready to perform. I won't do so unless asked because this is their job and I don't want to jeopardize it, but it's rare someone doesn't ask to see something. These mini-performances give me a chance to test new material and refine my theory. In turn, refining my theory has helped make my performances better.
So hey, don't knock the theoretical side of things. And if you want to be a performer, perform as often as you can, then analyze those performances against what you know. This is one way to improve your magic.
In theory.
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