A phase we all go through?

[chrystal baller]

Hey guys. Before kick off this thread with whats on my mind, I just want to ask anyone and everyone, from those who have been involved with magic for a few years to seasoned pros, to read this and reply to it. Please members and artists alike, read and reply.
I am eighteen and have been performing since i was fourteen. When i started, my appetite for new material could not be satisfied; my thirst for more experience was never ending. Now, four years later, I am afraid i have hit a rut. I am afraid i am falling out of love with magic. Of all the material I know, I believe it is safe to say most of it came from those first two years. I think maybe part of why i am discouraged could possibly trace back to the heaps of inferior methods i have been dissapointed by. I think when i started, i still saw magic like a spectator. Now i think i see it more like a stage hand sees a play: it's never as good from behind the scenes or when you see the play nightly. It just isn't as magical to me anymore. I really just want to know if this is a phase we all go through or if it's just me. Please reply.

 

[saborfang17]

Hey guys. Before kick off this thread with whats on my mind, I just want to ask anyone and everyone, from those who have been involved with magic for a few years to seasoned pros, to read this and reply to it. Please members and artists alike, read and reply.
I am eighteen and have been performing since i was fourteen. When i started, my appetite for new material could not be satisfied; my thirst for more experience was never ending. Now, four years later, I am afraid i have hit a rut. I am afraid i am falling out of love with magic. Of all the material I know, I believe it is safe to say most of it came from those first two years. I think maybe part of why i am discouraged could possibly trace back to the heaps of inferior methods i have been dissapointed by. I think when i started, i still saw magic like a spectator. Now i think i see it more like a stage hand sees a play: it's never as good from behind the scenes or when you see the play nightly. It just isn't as magical to me anymore. I really just want to know if this is a phase we all go through or if it's just me. Please reply.

It's happened to me for a short period. You, my friend, should take a break. Get into flourishing, or tabled magic, or even mentalism, for a while. I got bored with in-the-hands magic and fell in love with tabled sleights and flourishing. I also found out they better suit me, although I get a bunch of !@#$ from some older guys in a chatroom because I'm 14 and I use gambling sleights...

Take a break. Broaden your studies. Mix it up a little, bro.

 

[MalibuARMY]

Heya, a lot of magicians sometimes go through this phase, or at least I have at one time or another. For me it is generally rekindled when I submerse myself in the magic community. For instance I go to the magic castle every weekend and therefore I am able to see new things. If there is a magic shop near you or you know other magicians that know other tricks just have them show you some stuff and I am sure you'll be re-inspired.

I did find that I was a bit disappointed when I got to a point of experience where I wasn't easily fooled however, I turned my eyes to the performance instead of how the trick is done. The performance is just as important maybe even more important than the trick or slight you are pulling off.

I hope I helped,

–Anna Harris

 

[UncleMings]

It happens and it happens with anything. Best thing is like saborfang said take a break and or expand your studies. Enjoy whats around you. Just because you have a passion for somthing dosent mean you have to be around it or do it 24/7. Magic will be here tom, in a wk, in a yr etc. Wait for the spark to come back.

Its a phase we all go through. I use to be into a few things but had to take a break because I didnt care anymore. You can over do it somtimes.

 

[saborfang17]

Anna, I'm surprised you didn't try to sell him one of them toy Pikachus that come in a little white and red ball and tell him he better get it together or Mr. Pika will zap him with lightning.

^I'm saving that for Plan B.

 

[notsoltd]

To be honest with you, I didn't do magic for about a year or longer, and I JUST got back into it a few months ago.

A break can help, and believe me when you come back you will be so suprised and excited to see all of the new things that came out when you were gone!

 

[saborfang17]

To be honest with you, I didn't do magic for about a year or longer, and I JUST got back into it a few months ago.

A break can help, and believe me when you come back you will be so suprised and excited to see all of the new things that came out when you were gone!

Unless you're a fan of Chad Nelson and you see his new DVD Trailer. You will **** yourself at how bad it is and how angle-y all the somewhat decent material is.

 

[Toby]

I cannot say if it's a phase for you, or it will last forever. But I have had couple of those phases. Some were 3 months long, some 6, some even 9... But I always came back, and every time I get back, I'm even better than before the brake. The things that I did to bring my self back to magic was either to start performing again (or performing even more than usual), or just watch live performances of other magicians, because that is what got me into magic in the first place (David Blaine's special).
So either take a brake from magic completely, or try different styles of magic, or focus on performance aspect instead of methodology behind a trick, or just do whatever you did to get into magic in the first place.

You'll be back, don't worry

 

[shinichikudo992000]

Don't worry man, this is the phase everyone goes thru when they do not know when to take a break. Too Much of Anything is NOT GOOD. You need to take your time when you are learning. The last thing you wanted to do is to exhausted your brain; that is what making you not interest in something. I would do what MalebuARMY said. Take a break, and be apart of a real magic community. All online forum is just a place to stop by to see who post the most, but if you want to really open your eyes. Then, join the tangible community. Either the IBM near you, or even better, the Magic Castle. It will helps to be surrounded by people who are more experienced than you and less experience than you. I've been doing magic for 5 years now, and went professional for a year. I love magic. Everytime I do magic, I felt good. So, I would say that you might take a step back and see things in a different angle, and empty your mind. How can you learn something if you are ready know so much?

Peace.

 

[William Draven]

yeah man. It's a phase. We all go through it. Some of us go through it more than others. All things in moderation including moderation. Take a step back, gather your thoughts, and relax a bit. take a vacation! Come back to it when your ready to.

 

[JButterfield]

Many things go in peaks and valleys, and plenty of good advice has been given here already, some of which I'll reiterate.

-if magic is not your main source of income, take a break. It won't go anywhere, and coming back at it with fresh eyes may be all you need.

-if you're goal-oriented, try to build an act, with all the patter, transitions and all. This helped me immensely; I decided to busk, and building and rehearsing the show was a joy and a pleasure I had not expected. My magic went back up to a fever pitch.

-maybe switch gears, and brush up on theory and performance technique? Designing Miracles, Strong Magic, Maximum Entertainment, Scripting Magic and many more will give you lots of ways to fine tune what you already do.

-Sure, a stagehand doesn't see the play as an audience does, but the inverse is also true; the audience doesn't see the stage management, the set construction, the blocking, the picturization, or the lighting cues that make a play sink or swim. We work in two worlds, the one the audience sees, and the one we see. Likewise, there's performance techniques and the theory of the design of routines that is as fascinating a field as any I've come across. There's beauty and elegance in a cleverly structured trick. There's a brilliance in design to some tricks that I'm genuinely sorry I can't share with audiences.

-there's a lot of magic that's not workable in the real world, but there's still tons of good, usable material in the world. It's sometimes difficult to separate the wheat from the chaff, but that's true of many things. If you haven't already, look at some of the classics in our field - there's a lifetime of reading and workable material there. Dai Vernon and Tony Slydini could keep you busy for a long time.

-Nobody is forcing you, and whatever level or amount of time you wish to invest in magic is fine. Not everyone wants to busk, or work a restaurant, or do kid's parties. There's nothing wrong with being a hobbyist, dedicated or occasional. Last thing you want it to be is like work.

 

[b_08]

This link will help you a lot: http://forums.ellusionist.com/showthread.php?91193-Major-Disillusionment

Pay special attention to what RealityOne and ChristopherThisse posted; what they've written is gold level advice that a lot of magicians don't truly understand.

Wayne Houchin has a great lecture where he talks about the best magicians are those who have a life outside of magic. Right now magic for you is just about the trick and the feedback you get from the trick itself. Make sure that magic isn't your main focus. Go out and do other things; sports, hobbies, parties, etc. When you experience other things in life it will feed your magic.

Learn to excel in a social setting with women and men WITHOUT the use of magic. This is called Social IQ that a lot of magicians lack. Its timing, eye contact, knowing when to talk and when not to, knowing when to pause, knowing when to smile and when not to; its about projecting an air of fun, cool confidence. All those things have nothing to do with magic but will help you become a better magician....or a comedian, a public speaker, a leader, etc. It's just social IQ you can't learn from a book or DVD, you have to go out and live and fail.

So go out and do things that have nothing to do with magic and then use those experiences to relay a lesson or tell a story using magic as the vehicle to demonstrate what you're trying to convey. When you get to that point, there isn't a need to buy new magic because all your current material will have an endless shelf life.

 

[Blindside462]

I have been IN and OUT of magic for about 4 years straight. I was kind of bored with it because I just practiced to myself, I didn't perform too often. That was a huge mistake. This year I felt like I was relearning how to do effects ..even holding the deck so it felt right. I reached my goal and did my first gig with much success and I'm practicing non stop and I'm performing every moment I can. Seeing what does and does not work for me. I'm back in love more than I ever have been. The thing that makes you fail the most is you're not actually going out and performing!

What made me more interested was putting words to my actions, connecting with people, and putting myself into a magician's mindset.

You are learning too much material. Practicing sleights you will never use.

Learn solid flowing routines. Go out and Perform. Fail. Succeed. And do it again.