A cry for help

[Yousaf]

Hey Guys !

It's been quite a while since I've posted here for several reasons, school, work, etc.
However, the biggest reason is because of being burned out. Let me explain.

I started magic in 2010 and was extremely passionate about the art form. I was constantly reading, watching, performing, etc. I was like a sponge, trying to absorb all of the knowledge I could get my hands on. It was amazing and I would do anything to be able to rediscover the art form once again.
Lets flash forward to 2011, I witnessed Cardistry or Card flourishing for the first time and I was blown away. It wasn't until late 2012 when I actually started to pursue it and practice. Magic has my changed my life completely. I've gained so much confidence and learned so much about myself since 2010 when I first fell down the rabbit hole that is our art form.

2013 rolled around and I got busier with school, so I stopped practicing for a little while. And now it's 2014 and I barely touch a deck of playing cards.

I don't know what happened but It's gotten to the point where I don't want to practice or learn at all. Don't get me wrong, I still perform every now and then. But I haven't learned anything new since late 2012. It's not because I know everything that there is to know about the art, that's definitely not it. In fact I have tons of books and DVD's that sit on my shelf that I haven't read or watched.

I don't know what to do. I want to learn more and I want to practice new material but I don't physically want to. I'm burned out. Not even my favorite magicians inspire me anymore.

This is my cry for help. If anyone can point me towards some new material that I'd be inclined enough to practice, or some sort of inspiration, anything.
I want to keep doing magic / cardistry but I have no drive.
I still love the art, I really do. I'm just wondering if that love is real anymore.

Thank you for reading,


/// Y:E ///

 

[cbdrmagic]

Hey man, cardistry and magic is an art that requires dedication an daily practice, for example, I really sit down and practice for probably four hours a day, I have a deck in my hands about 10 hours out of the day. If its simply a time issue, there's no solution other than always have cards with you, whether you want them or not. Practice even when you don't want to, you can learn to love them again. Try starting a youtube channel or something else that gets creativity flowing. As for new material, I think if you've been in magic for five years now theres not much thats going to surprise you. But look around, I may be wrong. Try to find someone near you who shares your passion, it's very encouraging to not feel like your the only one. Hope I helped, good luck.

 

[RegtheGremlin]

Hey Guys !

It's been quite a while since I've posted here for several reasons, school, work, etc.
However, the biggest reason is because of being burned out. Let me explain.

I started magic in 2010 and was extremely passionate about the art form. I was constantly reading, watching, performing, etc. I was like a sponge, trying to absorb all of the knowledge I could get my hands on. It was amazing and I would do anything to be able to rediscover the art form once again.
Lets flash forward to 2011, I witnessed Cardistry or Card flourishing for the first time and I was blown away. It wasn't until late 2012 when I actually started to pursue it and practice. Magic has my changed my life completely. I've gained so much confidence and learned so much about myself since 2010 when I first fell down the rabbit hole that is our art form.

2013 rolled around and I got busier with school, so I stopped practicing for a little while. And now it's 2014 and I barely touch a deck of playing cards.

I don't know what happened but It's gotten to the point where I don't want to practice or learn at all. Don't get me wrong, I still perform every now and then. But I haven't learned anything new since late 2012. It's not because I know everything that there is to know about the art, that's definitely not it. In fact I have tons of books and DVD's that sit on my shelf that I haven't read or watched.

I don't know what to do. I want to learn more and I want to practice new material but I don't physically want to. I'm burned out. Not even my favorite magicians inspire me anymore.

This is my cry for help. If anyone can point me towards some new material that I'd be inclined enough to practice, or some sort of inspiration, anything.
I want to keep doing magic / cardistry but I have no drive.
I still love the art, I really do. I'm just wondering if that love is real anymore.

Thank you for reading,


/// Y:E ///

Mate, I know these feels so much. I'm actually just back off a three year hiatus from magic. I'd been performing a weekly paid restaurant gig for a few months when I just lost the passion. Performing felt like a chore, I wasn't happy with my patter but couldn't fix the problems and had other things in my life, so I just stopped. In the three year break, I performed maybe ten times in total, usually at parties when someone had a deck of cards out. Because I'd been out of practice for so long, I'd resort back to the absolute basics; a key card reveal; a simple ACR etc. Because these tricks were all but self-working, and because I didn't really care any more, I'd ham up the presentation for all it was worth, going over the top and seeing what I could get away with. Failure just didn't bother me because I was no longer a magician, so I'd take more chances. Funnily enough, the reactions I was getting for these tricks were consistently much better than the results I'd been getting when I took it seriously. On one occasion, I 'read the mind' of the host of a party for about an hour, telling her crazy details about her life* and pushing it for all it was worth (I may have been a tad drunk). She was thoroughly freaked out, and it still stands as my best magic story to date.

Anyway, these sorts of things recently gave me the motivation to step back into the magical world. Rather than try to pick up where I left off, I've stripped right back and am in the process of completely rebuilding my repertoire, patter and character from scratch. I'm honestly getting more excited about this than I ever was about magic before. I don't know whether you're in the magical rut I was, or whether this is for completely different reasons, but maybe a fresh approach to magic could help change whatever the problem is. Get a new repertoire, spice things up a bit, find a new genre of magic, anything that breathes fresh air into your magical world. Possibly even just take a clean break for a few months to focus on other things. I hope I've not just typed a load of twaddle and you can take something of value from my experience. You're not alone in feeling like this, buddy.

*Fun fact: it's really easy to tell people about their life when you're in their flat.

 

[francism]

Hey,

First off, welcome back. Secondly, Dont worry about what you are going through i honestly feel like everyone goes through this. I was going through the same thing but i did not completely stop. What helped me get more drive to do magic is i started to look at where i was in magic and actually thought where i wanted to be. The main reason for losing passion is because your not doing what you love or in other words the type of magic you want to perform. For me personally i have been starting to try and make my own tricks which is really hard but it is making me push to learn more and perform more.

So in all just take a look at where you are and where you want to be. Not only that but think exactly what you want to be portrayed as (funny, serious, mysterious) and push for that.

Good luck

 

[William Draven]

Magic comes and goes for most of us. What you are experiencing is normal. Especially if magic is just a hobby to you. Take a step back and go watch some magic videos on youtube. Not like the crappy teach a trick kind, but like find performance videos, or old magic specials like Worlds Best Magic, or the Masters of Illusions series. Watch those. Watch others perform. Do you know who Doc Eason is? How about Tommy Wonder? Dean Dill? Steve Dobson? If you don't find them. Watch their work. Sometimes all you need is to just rekindle your love for amazement, then when the time is right and your muse returns, so will your innovation and creativity.

It's all part of the circle of life man. Good luck!

 

[Yousaf]

Thank you all for your help !

I'll look into Dean Dill and Steve Dobson.

I am also going to re read and re learn the basics.
I'll see how it goes.

Thanks again to all of you for helping

/// Y:E ///