I'm not this obsessed...
People are surprised when they notice I don’t breathe magic. After all, as an illusionist, shouldn’t magic be your only interest? Many people picture me wearing magic t-shirts daily, sporting only magic posters, and listening to soundtracks of Las Vegas magic shows.
While magic takes a certain part of my daily life, I do not let magic bear all my creative inspiration. I particularly limit the amount of magic I watch and how much technique I worry about. Why?
After a while, you tend to develop magic cliches that are abound in the magic community. These cliches include outfits, jokes, and routines. Some of the cliches include not being in touch with the audience’s view of the magic you are doing because you worry about the mechanics of the trick too much.
I place more weight on the presentation of the trick, rather than the mechanics. The ultimate staging is something to prioritize as well. To many people’s surprise, I spend more time staging my illusion shows on a technical level than I do actually rehearsing the tricks. I easily spend 100 hours overviewing the technical end of the 90 minute illusion show.
Allowing yourself to explore other arts you find more balance in your presentation. Instead of MAGIC, MAGIC the audience gets more variety. Construct your interests around the type of magic you want to present.
