How are we going to take the art of magic to the next level and how are we going to get magic to be more well respected as an art form by the general public?
This is a topic i see all the time and magicians love to have endless discussions about it but i never feel that the discussions gets us anywhere closer to an answer.
My answer would be, it will when we REALLY start to care about our audience and ONLY try to see it from their perspective. Let me explain what i mean.
We see effects all the time, old and new and 1000s of variations to follow. Have you ever asked a creator of an effect whats so good about his effect? Or asked whats so good about some magicians favourite effects? Well if you haven´t you should and see if you get a good answer or even if they have a answer at all.
To get a good answer to that question is very rare, why? Because most magicians dont know. You wont get an answer like this
- "Oh, i have this great pressentation to the effect that makes really entertaining"
- "I have a really funny line that makes the whole effect really entertaining"
- "I have a story to tell with the trick that really connects with people on a deep personal level and the effect is really astonishing"
You will get something like
- "Oh, the method is new, its really cool, it has never been done before!"
- "Its a streamlined version, you dont need to do a pass!"
- "It really fools them! and its easy!!"
See, most of the time we only focus on what Darwin Ortiz calls "The inner reallity" of the magic effects. Methods, new concepts, new moves etc
The Inner reallity of our art is advancing and developing all the time, we create new methods, new concepts, new effects. Sadly our audience does not know this, nor do they see it or notice it and nor do they care!
Effects are marketed all the times as "NEW METHODS! NEVER BEEN DONE BEFORE!" and magicians go crazy and thinks its the greatest thing since sliced bread. Sadly the audience does not know about this, nor will they never care about this.
So when are we going to start to think about what really matters and whats seen about the audience? that Darwin Ortiz calls "The outer reallity" which is the effect itself, not the method but the END RESULT of the method, our presentation, how to put together a entertaining act etc.
It is VERY rare that magicians talk about this at all.
I mean i think its ridiculous that discussions such as Gimmicks vs No gimmicks, sleights vs self workers, set up vs impromptu even exists. We sould only care about what our audience sees! The end result is the only important.
When are we going to realise that the audience does not care if we can do a perfect pass or 100 center deals a minute, the audience wants a good show, nothing more.
So when we start to focus on whats really entertaining and on putting together great shows i think we will get more respect.
No one cares if you can do the latest hardest sleights.
This is a topic i see all the time and magicians love to have endless discussions about it but i never feel that the discussions gets us anywhere closer to an answer.
My answer would be, it will when we REALLY start to care about our audience and ONLY try to see it from their perspective. Let me explain what i mean.
We see effects all the time, old and new and 1000s of variations to follow. Have you ever asked a creator of an effect whats so good about his effect? Or asked whats so good about some magicians favourite effects? Well if you haven´t you should and see if you get a good answer or even if they have a answer at all.
To get a good answer to that question is very rare, why? Because most magicians dont know. You wont get an answer like this
- "Oh, i have this great pressentation to the effect that makes really entertaining"
- "I have a really funny line that makes the whole effect really entertaining"
- "I have a story to tell with the trick that really connects with people on a deep personal level and the effect is really astonishing"
You will get something like
- "Oh, the method is new, its really cool, it has never been done before!"
- "Its a streamlined version, you dont need to do a pass!"
- "It really fools them! and its easy!!"
See, most of the time we only focus on what Darwin Ortiz calls "The inner reallity" of the magic effects. Methods, new concepts, new moves etc
The Inner reallity of our art is advancing and developing all the time, we create new methods, new concepts, new effects. Sadly our audience does not know this, nor do they see it or notice it and nor do they care!
Effects are marketed all the times as "NEW METHODS! NEVER BEEN DONE BEFORE!" and magicians go crazy and thinks its the greatest thing since sliced bread. Sadly the audience does not know about this, nor will they never care about this.
So when are we going to start to think about what really matters and whats seen about the audience? that Darwin Ortiz calls "The outer reallity" which is the effect itself, not the method but the END RESULT of the method, our presentation, how to put together a entertaining act etc.
It is VERY rare that magicians talk about this at all.
I mean i think its ridiculous that discussions such as Gimmicks vs No gimmicks, sleights vs self workers, set up vs impromptu even exists. We sould only care about what our audience sees! The end result is the only important.
When are we going to realise that the audience does not care if we can do a perfect pass or 100 center deals a minute, the audience wants a good show, nothing more.
So when we start to focus on whats really entertaining and on putting together great shows i think we will get more respect.
No one cares if you can do the latest hardest sleights.
