March 2009 :: What Drives You?

Mar 19, 2009
85
0
Calgary, AB
The ability to admit that we learn at least partly out of ego doesn't mean we're irredeemable pricks who can't connect with an audience. On the contrary, I find that the dullards, narcissists, and wannabes who couldn't relate to an audience unless the crowd was nothing but clones of themselves to be the ones who claim an altruistic motive or that ridiculously masturbatory "trying for perfection that I'll never attain" crap.

(sigh) It speaks poorly of the magic community that honesty has no value.



For sure this doesnt mean you your cant relate to your audience, what I more ment is I think alot of guy get into magic with the "look what I can do" instead of "let me show you something" attitude is all.

I dont know maybe it cause Im come from the old school, or maybe I just want you all to stop practicing and start performing (to me this is the best practice).


Now with that said it good to see so many say that it the people they perform for, that keeps them going.

I hope this thread becomes a sticky because there alot being said here that most could really get and learn something from.
 
Oct 11, 2007
277
2
I think for me it is about feeling the power of impact that my magic has on the audience and the triumph of mastering a new move. That's what drives me. But I know that there are other reasons, I just can't seem to dig out all of why I do magic. To put it simple, it's my passion.
 
Mar 26, 2008
22
0
The first time i saw magic was magical...pure astonishment..hard to explain, a little freaked out but i loved it. That's why i got into magic.

I want people around me to experience the same feeling i felt when i first saw magic. When I perform magic, there is only one thing that goes in my mind, hmm, who knows when this person(spectator) will meet another magician who can make him/her experience astonishment... i make sure that they won't forget me and the little miracle they witnessed.. Once they experience the astonishment, I am satisfied...
 
Gald you asked: Since i'm more into creating effects, I thrive off trying to attempt the near impossible. Thats why i study, practice, and try to perfect all of my effects till the point that i am able to fool myself. Knowing that i leave my audience with a sense of "how the hell did you do that" is all that i really need. Sometimes i go into my office and just think of things that just can't be done by the average human. Whenever i come up with something like that, i usually try to find a way to do that. As of now, I'm working on something called "Living Proof", in which the featured move is a complete vanish i came up with. I have performed it for a few people, and the reactions to the reproduction is well....classic.

Like just last night i was thinking, what if i can do an effect that would allow me to age in seconds? So as of now, whether i'll be able to pull it off or not, i'm trying to come up with a way that would make it seems as if i can age in seconds. Its the simple things like that, which motivates me. Knowing i am the one that can do what can't be done is what drives me.

Years ago, football was my main focus, however after seeing hungry, terminally ill, less fortunate people, I noticed that me playing football could never impact their lives the way i wanted to. With magic, not only am i able to help financially, but i emotionally also. Over the past couple of years, I've learned that money isn't the key to happiness, always. Lending an ear, spending time, putting a smile on others faces is just as important. So when i perform magic, i try to perform is to inspire and reach people that others have had hard times reaching.

Whenever i see a less fortunate person smile over something thats as small as what i do, how can one not feel accomplished?
 
Mar 25, 2009
11
0
46
Anywhere, USA
What drives me is the need to let normal people experience that childlike sense of wonder that we as magicians get the first time we experience magic. In other words, to instill real magic in the minds of my wonderful(and sometimes not so wonderful) audiences.

I have to agree with that........ I love doing magic for people and the sense of wonder that comes over them and just their recactions to what i'm doing. I like to say to fellow magician's........It's not all of our flourishes and fancy cuts and even the tricks we do that is magic. it is the spark in the eye of the people you are doing magic to, when the laugh or cry, when the jump up and down, when they scream in excitement. That is MAGIC!!! everything else we do pales in comparison. We made an emotional response from nothing we cut through language barriers, social barriers, age, sex;we strip people to their very soul and show the spectacles of wonder. Magic is one of the most powerful forces on earth!!!!
 
Mar 29, 2008
882
3
Just found this interesting...the above post made me realize that people don't read - nor do they realize that the same jokes are made again...and again. I know this is unrelated to the topic - but really...

In Soviet Russia, car drive you!

-Andrei Jikh

What drives me... My car!
(Poster’s comment –my favourite next line, so ironic)
Actually just being different and not being a sheep.
- Randy
 
Sep 23, 2008
74
0
Selma, NC
I'm not positively sure what drives me, it's a mixture.

1) I love the feeling of getting a new flourish or hard sleight down.
2) Also I like the enjoyment people get out of it.
3) It is something that is very unique.

I think the biggest part of what drives me is the mystery puzzling thing about it and I try to learn as much as I can. And It seems as if the learning never stops.
 
What Drives Me?

I am driven in our art to create new and different effects that are based heavily on time honored classics.
I am driven to pursue magic as an artform and a viable source of entertainment not as an oooh look at me I can do weird things hobby.
I am driven by presentational aspects of magic not just moves.
I am driven by helping others learn as well as studying my own material to improve and never being completely satisfied as Paul Draper pointed out to many of us (myself included) get to a point where a spectator says "WOW" and we say "WOW...hey that's good enough). I am driven by the fact that WOW is not enough.
I am driven by making audiences feel as if they haven't just been fooled they have been entertained.
 
Oct 16, 2009
11
0
39
washington
Hey Tom, good to see you posting again.
I guess what drives me most would have to be the reactions, and climbing the social ladder with astonishment.
The thing that keeps me doing magic, yet learning new tricks would be a thirst for knowledge. Searching for the best effects is an old pastime for every magician, I'm no exception.

is he right or is he right
 
Dec 12, 2009
273
0
London Uk
For me,
Its mainly the reaction when people see your magic.My first trick cigarette through coin trick, When I performed for my mother and her best friend they both were screaming and astonished. That for me is enough. Peoples child like reactions drive me
 
Mar 29, 2008
882
3
This is the problem. It is like saying I like to fight fires because it is hot. I like to cook to see people eat. I like to scare people to make them jump.

We all have our goals - but if all you want is reactions, do "the web" by Jim Pace...not very magical, but you will get reactions.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LsEHtZPmxIc

This is the same kind of instant reaction that magic gets - but really, the reaction is an emotional reaction to what people see.

I think it is great you want reactions, but saying "that for me is enough" is limiting. I hope that it is really just the first step in creating a fun experience for people...sadly, too many stop at reactions.
 
Apr 5, 2009
874
1
29
Illinois
what drives me ( a short novel LOL)

in the magic world, compared to 98% of you here on theory11. I suck. i mean not even in the same universe as you guys. But in the real world, among people who aren’t familiar with magic who don’t know what a force is. I am magic, I am astonishing, I am an illusionist, and I am the best magician some people have ever seen.

but that brings me to what drives me, I love having a talent, a gift, a skill, that is uncommon, as close to original as one can achieve, and one that nobody can understand, one that your average lay person can just observe and duplicate, I mean if I walk up to somebody and rock their world with like a few hard hitting magic tricks, if I’m successful, they won’t know how I did it, and I hear that, more than I hear my name sometimes, "HOW'D YOU DO THAT!!!???". And because they don’t know how I did it, they can't duplicate it, therefore making it even easier to be original

I also love, love, love, the reactions I get from people, the HOLY CRAP!!!!'s the "there’s no @#$^$#% way’s or the silences. The jumping up and down and screaming, and even the "HOW'D YOU DO THAT!!!" the look in people’s eyes, and the total distrust that comes from some, I did magic for a friend today, and she just stared at my hands bug-eyed, never blinked or looked up. And it’s really cool when they can't stop smiling during the trick, I got a friend, who just starts smiling when I pull out my cards, he can’t help it. My magic just brings him joy. And that’s awesome.

another thing I love is just the thrill I get when I learn a new trick and I can see the reactions, and the faces of people, before I ever do the trick, and I can’t wait to just run off somewhere by myself and practice the crap out of it, when I learned one trick with a rubber band, I ran through it for like 5 hours that night, and I had to quit because I could hardly move my pinky finger. and I still can’t do the trick (but after telling you guys about it, I’m going to go get a rubber band.)

and when I get the trick to a point that its going to take real world practice to get good at I can't wait to go out and try it on someone. Knowing that I’m most likely going to fall flat on my metaphorical face in failure. But I look forward to that failure as Thomas Edison said:

"I have not failed. I've just found 10,000 ways that won't work."

and each time I "fail" I get closer to "success" one more Thomas Edison quote:

"I find my greatest pleasure, and so my reward, in the work that precedes what the world calls success.”

But the main reason why I love. absolutely love magic, and the reason why I can’t stop performing for every and anyone, is the new people who I get to meet and get to know in ways most people never do, or even getting to know people even better than I do. I love that, my friend base is so diverse, and broad because of magic, I can walk up to the geeks/ skaters/ jocks/ girls/ guys/ gangsters/ rockers/ band kids/ choir kids/ shop kids...and pull out a deck of cards, or a coin, or any of my other tricks, and blow their minds, just like that. And then I’m in and the conversation starts, I don’t have to worry about awkward icebreakers, or in the case of girls, pick-up lines.... I never say "hey, I’m web, what’s your name?" or "are you a parking ticket? cause you got fine written all over you!" never, its always "hey want to see a card trick?" or " hey can I borrow a coin for 30 seconds" or any of the other numerous ways I’ve learned to start a magic routine, it’s amazing, and people I’ve never done magic for will start to come to see me do some, either they heard about it and wanted to see, or their friends introduced them saying "you gotta see this" magic has turned me into for lack of a better term, a social butterfly, in a way, no lay person can ever experience,


and that, to me...is magic in itself, that’s what drives me. That’s what pushes me to be the best that I can be.
 
Simple answer is, I like giving people the chance to believe in something they forgot existed.

How many times do you hear people say "that was magical." You don't, I put that thought in their mind, that what I perform has no limits, that it's okay and it actually feels good to believe in such childhood emotions.

Btw, The Web is one of the greatest gags ever. Morgician maybe we should actually recommend this "gag" to Connor :p
 
**Note, I posted this in another thread, under my old username, CMichaels, but i felt it was fitting here as well.**

Growing up with a physical disability, you are looked upon as different. And a lot of the time, especially when you are younger, it really affects your confidence. as i got older, i got into magic as a way to help me boost my confidence. to get passed the negative, and try to show people that i could do things just like everyone else. and magic, gave me the chance to do something DIFFERENT. people respected that a lot, and i really started to gain a positive sense of self because people were looking beyond my disability and really seeing who i was as a person when i performed. when i do magic, i bring out the person that i have always wanted people to see. the person that i have always been. the people who failed to see that before, see it now. that yea, i may walk differently then they do, but i am still a person who believes in something and will do whatever it takes to be successful at it. magic has given me so many opportunities to share my story with people and interact with all different types of human beings. it has opened my eyes to the true beauty of the world, and with out that, i fear things would be much different for me. magic had helped me. in ways that this post can not express. i am truly thankful for that, and would not change a thing.
What drives me? Life.
 
Feb 5, 2010
157
0
Magic is an art that attracts a wide variety of people for a wide variety of reasons. From kids in grade school to retired professionals nearing the triple digit threshold.

We all do this for different reasons. Some of us are in magic because we have an innate curiosity for the mysterious. We like solving puzzles. We like a challenge. We like the perpetual use of intellect and skill to affect an experience. We do it for ourselves.

This month's Cerca Trova topic has to do with that simple question - what drives you? From as objective a perspective as you can be towards yourself, what draws you into this art form and keeps you motivated and passionate? Is it the satisfaction of mastering a new move? Discovering a new principle? Or is it about creating an experience for others? Or is it the power you feel when you perform?

What Drives you?

TI

i would say that a mix of all of them drives me. but i would say the most is creating an experience for people
 
Hello everyone.
what is driving me in magic is that I love to perform in front of people, even it's just only few or an entire crowd. they're feelings in that moment, are astonishing, unbelievable, they are just amazed. That gives me an extra boost. + (big plus) it's pure passion and i like to say this is my job. This magic brings me money, but that's not enough. The most powerful feeling for me when i perform it's they're faces, they scream like what the f*** how d'you do that and so. And then it's the thirst of learning new things, to add them in my repertoir, to get acknowledged.

In three words : I love performing

and that's what drives me the most.

excuse my english, it's not my language, peace for all you :)
 
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