Creating one's own effects

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I'm a bit curious as to what everyone's opinion is on creating their own effects. Does buying all/most of your material make you a lesser magician? In many books and dvds recommended patter is given, but is this really a good thing for magic? Is it enough to simply tweak effects/sleights to make them your own--or do you need to come up with something completely original to be?

My own take on this is that buying and reading a lot is a good thing for your own magic, and the progression of magic as a whole. Let's face it, nearly all magicians build on one another's work, and knowing as much as possible will give you a major step ahead of magic from the past. The evolution of magic would not be possible without looking at what the magicians before you have done.

Looking at the past is a great thing, however, not it is not an excuse for laziness in being original. It is almost never a good idea to use the exact, or even very similar patter of another magician, chances are, you are not the same, and the patter will not work the same. This is a point that really does not need to be discussed, though, and I won't dwell on it any longer. Tweaking an effect to make it work best for you is a good thing, let magic happen naturally, all magicians know--the more natural they are, the better their magic is.

Being natural and smooth with another's effects is a good thing, but what about your own material? Being able to think outside of the box, and use put together fresh thinking, old sleights, and even inspiration from old tricks is not an easy thing, but it is something any magician should try. To truly think through a maneuver and to make it your own personal style is a sign of being an exceptional magician.



I think this may have gotten a bit long winded and made some points that don't really need to be said, but I'd like to leave with one little afterthought I have already mentioned--do not buy tricks as an excuse for laziness. Learning is a wonderful thing, but staying true to yourself is even more beautiful.

 

[chriswiehl]

I love to get new effects now and then, but i also like to get new books. With lots of T11 effects they teach a new slight or 2 in the teaching which is helpful to my technique and thought process. Lots off effects budd off from others. Just look at Prophet or Extreme Burn. Both tricks derived from the same one effect.
I recently came up with a new color change effect where you have a card signed and then put into the deck, you show another card and put that card in the deck perpendicular to the deck, (so its like a t) then you push that card thru the deck and out the otherside to reveal that it changed into the signed selection, then the card is pulled out and examined. i was very proud of my handling of the effect and results. Later that month i was reading Art of Astonishment and found a very similar, almost identical effect in the book.
Basically what im trying to say is that lots of tricks are derived from other tricks and ideas, sometimes you think out of the box just to find that its already been done, but atleast you can be proud of yourself for getting that far. Just because the trick may look the same, the method can be different. My trick and Paul Harris's effect look the same, but the method is different. So does this make my trick an original trick? Perhaps, but even so, every trick that you do buy, or book you get makes it that much easier to come up with a new trick.
if any of that makes sense

 

[Dayton76]

Funny you bring this topic up. I am going through the same things when it comes to creating. I don’t even know how to get into this without making this kind of long winded.

First, let me say that I feel that a magician goes through different phases. In the beginning we want to know how to do an effect and because we are so young in magic we all tend to mimic the performer we learned from. I think it is natural especially in the beginning. After a few years go by, and we start to mature more as people, as well as magicians, you begin to become more independent. And you realize that you may enjoy watching lets say... Daniel Garcia perform... but you are NOT Daniel Garcia. So you want to be yourself and do what is natural to you. I love David Chappelle, and Kat Williams but the same jokes are not as funny coming out of my mouth...lol, so I think once you mature more as a person then your magic and your performances will start to form around it and have that touch of YOU in everything you do.

I do though feel that DVD's and video, FOR ME THAT IS, holds you back a little on creativity, because you tend to perform it as you learn it. I feel books or .pdf's or whatever you read is a lot better to learn from because as you read you may have a thought that will pop into your head about how you would change it. Or you may be reading about a slieght in a card trick and realize that you can use that same move with some other object or trick you been working on. Or you might just be reading a book on mentalism and realize that those ideas would be great for you to use in context with some card tricks you been working on. I love video just like the next magician but I just feel like you will get miles out of a good book as far as creativity.

I know I may have got a little off track, but NO I don’t think that buying a lot of material makes you a lesser magician. I feel that the more material you get makes you a more knowledgeable magician. And over time of doing the effects you buy, they WILL get old to you, and you will begin to change them to fit your style. That also goes for the patter. I hope I hit some of the point.