Inspiration and the Creative Process

[Bryant_Tsu]

Hey everyone,

I have been into magic for 3/4ths of a year now and I'm in a sense "stuck". I own a decent amount of magic material for someone of my progression but I can't create my own tricks. When I first started out I "created" card tricks that relied on long processes and received decent to mediocre response. Since then I have quit performing to others outside of my family as I hone my skill and continue to learn. Even as I pick up new tricks, I find that I am capable of performing said material but I lack the creativity to create my own. Now to the magic "veterans" out there I'm sure at one point you've faced the same dilemma. When did you turn the curve from just performing to creating and performing? Also, what inspires you to create a certain trick?

Got an idea? Help me out and post below!

-Bryant

 

[Ardius]

I personally get my inspiration from watching other performers. I maybe see a routine and think to myself "I like that, but what if I added this here or that there...or maybe I can take this out completely and add this instead." and I'll work from there. Either that or I'll think up things that I'd like to see done and try to envision how it would be possible to do. (so far a rather slow process) Overall though, I really think the key point is to start SOMEWHERE. Your first attempt most likely isn't going to be very good, but you'll learn from that and modify it to make it better.

On a side note, I think you're doing yourself a disservice by only performing for people you know. The best way to push yourself to become a better performer is to get out there and perform. Family and friends are fine, but in my experience those people you know are going to just play along most of the time where a typical layman might not.

 

[Tower of Lunatic Meat]

Making your own effects, like Ardius said. It's slow. Lots and lots of research. For me, I'm trying to research similar effects and trying to figure if I can create something that hasn't been done by the research of similar effects and methods.

As for performing for friends and family. I don't think it's a disservice to perform for them--initially. you need some way to get toe feet wet with utilizing material. Especially new material or just to see if your initial scripting will work outside of your head.

 

[Rev]

Hey everyone,

I have been into magic for 3/4ths of a year now and I'm in a sense "stuck". I own a decent amount of magic material for someone of my progression but I can't create my own tricks. When I first started out I "created" card tricks that relied on long processes and received decent to mediocre response. Since then I have quit performing to others outside of my family as I hone my skill and continue to learn. Even as I pick up new tricks, I find that I am capable of performing said material but I lack the creativity to create my own. Now to the magic "veterans" out there I'm sure at one point you've faced the same dilemma. When did you turn the curve from just performing to creating and performing? Also, what inspires you to create a certain trick?

Got an idea? Help me out and post below!

-Bryant

3/4s of a year? So Nine months?

You're struggling because you don't have the experience. Don't worry about creating just yet,you have plenty of time. Just enjoy learning. And don't stop performing.

The problem with magic these days is that the 'industry' is so much bigger than it ever was when I was starting out. Newcomers idolise the creators rather than performers and feel like in order to be considered good, they need to create something totally orignal.

Some perspective for you: I started magic when I was 10 years old. That means this year I'll have been 'in' magic for 20 years. I only started creating my own tricks about 5 years ago. I only posted my first online videos for the magic community last year. I only had my first trick published (in MagicSeen magazine) this year.

Twenty years in magic, only five years creating, and my first good/worthwhile ideas only came in the last two years. Patience is the key.

I don't want to put you off trying though. I've never been more satisfied with magic than I am now. I see it in a whole new way. So, i will actually try to give you some tips.


- READ! Watching DVDs and videos will only get you so far. I know it's annoying to hear them same old cliches over and over again, but reading really does encourage you to use you imagination and visualisation skills a lot more. You will see things in your own way, which may be different to everyone else. And that could be a good thing.

- Don't worry about the 'latest' tricks and gimmicks. Look into classic, utility items. Thumb tips, coin boxes, svengali decks etc. You'll be surprised the amount of good ideas you can have when playing with stuff that is often labelled as simply for 'beginners'. I love playing with beginners stuff. Playing with a 'Cheek to Cheek' deck lead to me working out a new, regular deck, triumph handling. I once fooled a fellow magician with a Svengali deck presentation. Try using something 'old' in a new way.

- Don't buy too much new stuff. I'm not going to say stop buying new material all together, as we all need the inspiration sometimes. But stop consuming so agressively. If you continue to buy new material you won't give yourself any breathing room to just think about what you are doing.

- Rather than trying to create a whole new trick, try tweaking something you already do. How can you make it easier? Can you get rid of the gimmick? Can you do it with two selections? Can I leave the method as is but change the presentation/props used? Plus, small tweaks can add up and before you know it you've got a whole new trick.

-Don't expect any ideas to come out fully formed. You say you created some tricks which received mediocre responses. That's fine. But don't just dismiss the whole thing as no good. Why did it get mediocre responses? What do I or the audience like/not like about it? Tweak the trick, and have another go. I have an Oil and Water routine on my channel which took 4 years to get right. The first attempt was an abomination, the most recent version has had a lot of praise from other magicians.

-DON'T WORRY ABOUT PUBLISHING ANYTHING! This is so important. So many people are in a rush to be 'published' these days. With less than a year in magic, anything you come up with is bound to have been done before. When I was 14 I 'invented' the Backslip Force. However, at least this showed I was thinking about my magic. Don't worry about re-inventing the wheel, just don't try to claim any originality on it.


There you go. Some things to think about. But in all honesty, don't worry about creating yet. That comes much later. Learn the basics and the classics. I know with 9 months in magic you probably think you know it all, but trust me, in even just a years time you'll look back on on this and realise how inexperienced you are. And you will keep doing this throughout your magical live. Learn, perform and just enjoy it. They're just magic tricks.

Rev

 

[RealityOne]

I wish there was a "REALLY LIKE" button to click for Rev's post. He nailed the answer.

I don't understand the current emphasis on "creating" something new. Your spectators don't know if what you are performing is something new that you've come up with or something from Royal Road to Card Magic which was published in 1949. As Rev said, the emphasis should be on performing.

I have around 125 magic books including the classics of card magic - Royal Road, Expert Card Technique, Card Control, Moves, Counts and Subtleties, The Magic of LePaul, Expert at the Card Table, - as well as Card College, Tarbell, Art of Astonishment. My sense is that you shouldn't even try to create without having read the books I've listed. Those books provide the tools that you need to build an effect. Without those tools, you could be spending hours reinventing a classic sleight or figuring out how to do something completely wrong. If you have those tools, you would know 5 different ways to accomplish something and can pick the one that works best in the context of an effect.

Beyond the mechanics, there is the idea of plot - or what happens in an effect. Without knowing what is out there, you will repeat something. If you know what is out there, you can get a good understanding of what works. Here is a good place to start: http://www.geniimagazine.com/magicpedia/Card_Magic_Classification

Beyond knowing the classic plots, you need to know how to build an effect so it works. The Books of Wonder, Tamaritz' The Magic Way, Eugune Burger's Mastering the Art of Magic, Tom Stone's Vortex and Mailstorm, and Larry Haas's Transformations all give great insight into how to develop and present effects.

Most of the material I perform is an adaptation of other material. For the classic routines I perform such as Linking Rings, Egg Bag, Cups & Balls, Miser's Dream, Billiard Balls and Sponge Balls - I have learned as much material as possible about the handling props and developed my own routines and presentation. No move or sleight is really unique, but how I combine the various moves is. For other routines, I've adapted the material to my style -- substituting one sleight for another and changing the presentation. There are some routines that I've developed on my own, but those entail the application of principles that I"ve learned to the props I'm using. In my kids show for example, I use something from Mark Wilson's Complete Course and something I learned from Matthieu Bich to have a card vanish from a deck and reappear in a set of nesting boxes with a presentation that makes the child helping me an integral part of the magic. When I'm working ono a routine, I often have to turn to the knowledge I've developed by reading all the books. Sometimes, I do have to invent a move -- right now I'm working on a variation of the side steal palm as a substitute method for an effect.

Based on where you are in your magic, I would recommend picking up some books and figuring out what magic you like. I'm drawn to folks like Giobbi, Bannon and Gustaferro for card magic, Steinmeyer for parlor magic, Maven for mental magic and Tommy Wonder and Tom Stone for a variety of magic. I tend to like routines that have serveral phases and some substance to them. You need to find out what you like by learning and performing. That lets you start developing your character too.

If you want to find stuff that nobody is performing, download a copy of The Jinx from lybrary.com. You won't need anything else for the next year. Take the routines and effects in there an update them and you will have material that you can call you own.

 

[Rev]

I wish there was a "REALLY LIKE" button to click for Rev's post. He nailed the answer.

Very nice of you to say so.

I don't claim to be any great oracle of magic. I still consider myself to be a rank beginner in most senses of the word. But I have been doing it a while and made plenty of mistakes along the way, and I continue to do so. A lot of people would say things like, 'I'll tell you the mistakes I made so you can avoid them'. I don't agree with that. You need to make the mistakes. You need to suck before you can be good.

Stick at it Bryant. You'll get there. But it will take a long time so you might as well just enjoy the journey.

Rev

 

[zswim]

So, you have been in magic for 9 months and already an Elite Member? I'd back off buying things so heavily as that will burn you out, if you are not performing for people outside of family and friends. At your point I'd ask myself what type of magic do I like to perform? ie Gambling, Mentalism, Coins, etc, and focus on building some routines with the knowledge you have. Perform your routine for an audience to see feedback, with the feedback go back and see if there are places to improve, you might find a sleight at a certain point in the routine looks odd, so you might have to research one or make an entirely new one. Trial and error can and will produce several great innovations. Another thing to note on making new effects, that a lot of published work is just old techniques that people put twists on or tricks that not a vast majority know so they release them as is, ie invisible deck, sub rosa, etc. A good example would be the effect Blake performed on Expose on Friday, I know of ways to do the effect from my own reading on old effects, but he might of made a new method that could be cleaner or make the effect easier to perform.

 

[Bryant_Tsu]

So, you have been in magic for 9 months and already an Elite Member?

Okay, I'll be honest here... Most of that comes from my crippling card collecting addiction...

 

[Bryant_Tsu]

Thanks Rev and RealityOne, very helpful!

 

[WyattSB]

As long as you aren't obsessed with trying to copy other performers exactly in your performance, then you'll be expressing yourself creatively and creating something on some level. The more you do this the better you'll get at it, after you get used to this you'll find yourself naturally improving your material, this might be just omitting certain parts you don't need, or pure inspiration to create something new. Something that I don't feel is said enough about magic is that necessity is the mother of invention.
This obviously depends on what you want out of your magic, but its very common for magicians to treat their magic commercially (Which is fine because they make a living out of it), I know you're a hobbyist so don't feel the need for your magic to be the same, let it grow.

Another point on becoming used to performing. Performing for only your family is good for building basic skills, but you'll quickly need to progress (Which may be what you're experiencing). Performing for people who have no expectation of you is a great way to progress. The spectators expectation of what is going to happen is extremely influential on their reaction (We are all actors playing the part of the magician), it is an extremely useful tool to be able to gauge or alter their expectation before you even begin. Your family or friends that saw your very first performances will have a very solid expectation of what you're capable of already. With people you don't know very well you can essentially 'start fresh'.

All that summed up is this: Perform, truly develop the need to create, Perform. This leads to important creations, forcing yourself to try and invent something that hasn't been done before just wont work very well. Good luck!

 

[Levent Suberk]

Interesting topic Bryant. I simply want to do an effect then I think how can I realize it. I think several possible gimmicks and decide which gimmick will be best. For example I wanted to appear a ball on a Bicycle box and made it but after several tryings of different gimmicks. Because I am not a professional performer like most of the people, I try to find self working tricks that need no hand sleight.