Coloring Outside The Lines

[CaseyRudd]

For those that don't know, I am also a song writer. I like to sit down with a piece of paper and pen and write whatever comes to mind. Just an hour ago I thought of these lines that I think perfectly relate to my magic and cardistry:

I see the world differently than others,
Color outside the lines, and never in.
Don't want to limit my mind
Limit my mind
Limit my mind, to the black and white.

When I perform, I don't want to be this "Blaine-like robot" that a lot of young performers act like. I like to think of interesting and captivating presentations that go away from the norm.

This also applies to creating magic AND cardistry. When you create an effect or card move, do you like to limit yourself to certain possibilities? Or do you accept any kind of method or idea from some place random? Would you step outside of your comfort zone?

It'd be interesting to hear your opinions on this subject. Do you like being the same as everyone else, or do you like to be different?

 

[etherealictrinity]

i will answer this question with a quote from the greatest band of all time, The Devil Wears Prada.
I know a ghost
And when doubted his truth reveals incredible vengeance
Vanity is a sepulcher
Do as you please, shame will follow
Languages rot and insects lose interest;
Mountains of plastic: melting away
As long as these struggles are aimless,
We will all be standing still
When worded correctly, truth is never a cliche;
This is because so many are attached to their deaf ears

 

[Jacob L]

Ooooo, Casey getting deep on us haha. Just pokin fun there. For real though, I like that, there have been things like this before relating to the whole "be yourself" and all that, but I haven't really seen it expressed like this before. Each line does something very different. If you don't mind, I'd like to give a quick analysis upon reading it a few times.

I see the world differently than others: This should speak true to any magician out there. Looking at something and thinking "what impossible thing could I do with that?" is a great mindset to have. I've been working on that recently, and I've got tons of great ideas, just no way to carry them out unfortunately haha.

Color outside the lines, and never in This I like a lot. Usually kids get scolded for not staying in the lines, in a literal sense. When first learning how to color, I remember getting praise for "good jobs" (inside the lines) and not so much praise for outside the lines coloring. To me, this says that you shouldn't worry about what other people will think of you when you do something out of the ordinary; outside the lines of society. That's been a little life style of mine for a while, I think the Dr. Suess quote fits quite nicely here: "Be who you are and say what you feel, because those who mind don't matter and those who matter don't mind." Freaking.Love.It.

Don't want to limit my mind:Going along with the previous line, this is basically saying are you going to allow the restrictions of society determine how you will act and think? Will what society imposes on us make us conform, or do you reject such robotic standards and let your mind wander free?

Limit my mind, to the black and white: Notice the "the" before black and white. If it was simply "black and white" I don't feel like it would have as much as an impact. "The" makes it seem almost intimidating, like a "big brother" figure. "The black and white" could be a number of things; the lack of originality, the absence of color (figuratively) in one's life, the lines one must color in to feel accepted, the list differs from person to person.

I don't know if anything I wrote was your original intent haha, but that's what I took from it.

Regarding the question, I feel like mostly everyone will say "I wanna be different!" because being "the same as everyone else" has a bit of a stigma attached to it, so I don't feel like that will generate much depth of conversation, since we've heard it all before. I do think, however, that if people digested the lyrics you wrote, that will promote some more critical thinking, and possibly get the ball rolling in a productive direction.

Great post Casey, enjoyed reading it, thank you for sharing.

Jacob

 

[ReservoirRed]

The devil wears prada are far from the greatest band of all time. Instead, ill give casey a quote form what might be the greatest band of all time. Though i know it's not what was asked for.

If there's a bustle in your hedgerow, don't be alarmed now,
It's just a spring clean for the May queen.
Yes, there are two paths you can go by, but in the long run
There's still time to change the road you're on.
And it makes me wonder.

This is more a metaphor for good and bad, but you could take it to mean more. For example, the two paths could mean be yourself, or follow the trend.

Me personally, i dont worry about this at all. I dont stop and consider if im being myself, i just know im being myself, because i have never put thought into copying anyone else. If you want to be original, you dont stop and say 'how do i be original', thats not how it works as far as personality goes, it would likely work in a business situation where you need to get ahead of the competition, but i suspect laymen know very little about magicians. In fact, you would increase your chances of getting hired from your add if you advertised that you could do tricks like david blaine, and read minds like derren brown, so ironicly, being un-original might might be a good move marketing wise in this line of work. However, i maintain my opinion, in order to be original, you must not think about being original. Just do what makes you happy. If it's original, happy days.

Kevin.