I've been in and out of magic several times over the last 10 years. I'll go through 6 month spurts of practice and dedication, followed by a year of not picking up a deck of cards. This is partly because I'm a freelance filmmaker with a wife and two kids, which means that life can get hectic, and magic isn't my top priority, but I also think a major part of losing interest is not having any direction.
What I love about magic is being able to participate in this long, amazing history of the craft and try to channel some of the wonder I feel toward it into a small, fun experience for friends and family (and sometimes strangers). I would love to become a skilled magician who is comfortable doing short routines in social settings when the conversation lags or when someone asks me. I'm not in it for a career--more just the craft itself. Like someone who learns to play piano simply because they like playing.
The problem is that a side-effect of this being a casual hobby is that I have no concrete goals or plan for how to grow my abilities and keep learning. I watch magic online, try to read and study new material, learn new techniques, but there's really no path in it. It's just me following whatever looks interesting at the moment, which is a TERRIBLE way to progress. So, I'm interested in hearing how other self-taught magicians put themselves on a track that actually led to long-term results.
My second, more specific question is about routines. I have a handful of effects that I've gotten pretty good at over the years, but they're not really a routine, and some of them really just don't go together at all. That means when I have performed, it's typically limited to 2 or 3 random effects and minimal patter. Again, it's hard to motivate practice when you don't know what you're going to do with a technique or effect. It's like that piano player just learning scales and arpeggios without any plans for a song.
I have a small collection of materials that hold WAY more than I have actually put to use, and I want to dive into that and figure out what kind of routines I can come up with to practice. I'm wondering how other people go about selecting effects for a routine and how you move from one effect to the next without it feeling like a complete left turn.
Thanks for reading my novel, and I really look forward to your answers!
Kenneth
What I love about magic is being able to participate in this long, amazing history of the craft and try to channel some of the wonder I feel toward it into a small, fun experience for friends and family (and sometimes strangers). I would love to become a skilled magician who is comfortable doing short routines in social settings when the conversation lags or when someone asks me. I'm not in it for a career--more just the craft itself. Like someone who learns to play piano simply because they like playing.
The problem is that a side-effect of this being a casual hobby is that I have no concrete goals or plan for how to grow my abilities and keep learning. I watch magic online, try to read and study new material, learn new techniques, but there's really no path in it. It's just me following whatever looks interesting at the moment, which is a TERRIBLE way to progress. So, I'm interested in hearing how other self-taught magicians put themselves on a track that actually led to long-term results.
My second, more specific question is about routines. I have a handful of effects that I've gotten pretty good at over the years, but they're not really a routine, and some of them really just don't go together at all. That means when I have performed, it's typically limited to 2 or 3 random effects and minimal patter. Again, it's hard to motivate practice when you don't know what you're going to do with a technique or effect. It's like that piano player just learning scales and arpeggios without any plans for a song.
I have a small collection of materials that hold WAY more than I have actually put to use, and I want to dive into that and figure out what kind of routines I can come up with to practice. I'm wondering how other people go about selecting effects for a routine and how you move from one effect to the next without it feeling like a complete left turn.
Thanks for reading my novel, and I really look forward to your answers!
Kenneth