All these things are in my opinion. I was able to make a character this way and it worked out great! I am sure there are other ways of going about it. Some people say that they are just there selves when they perform. My advice to that is stop being stupid and amplify your personality 10x's. Don't shoot me for saying that, it's just how I feel.
Let's talk about magic in general right now, and get into specifics later. What is "Magic"? Well, to my understanding and own definition it means this, Magic is a feeling you get when you see something that you can't explain but that feeling must be a good feeling at the same time, not a bad one. Why do I say not a bad one? Well, quite simply you could see a paranormal event and not be able to explain it and most people will feel scared, which is a bad feeling at the time usually. If you choose to do scary or "Geek" magic, then so be it. I guess its okay but I digress. I am sure everyone here has performed and if you haven’t yet, shame on you. Go do that now and stop reading.
I think every magician needs to have there own style and shouldn't copy people. Although at the same time I think if you are first starting out, you should copy someone you want to be like and work off and branch off from there until you have your own style. Someone you want to emulate at first does not have to be a magician though. For example, when I started to get in to "Stand-Up / Stage" magic, I started out with seeing what type of character I would want to be like or a combination there of. My personal influences to my character are as follows. Amazing Jonathan and Nate Staniforth for my magician influences. I really liked Amazing Jonathan because I love the comedic value of him. Whether it's the sarcasm or the dumbness at times and he also can be a smart ass at times. I just loved that about him. Now, Nate Staniforth on the other hand is a very serious performer. The thing I like about him is his plain and simple performing style. He shows you something, gives you a scenario, and accomplishes a very bizarre and astonishing coincidence. I like that approach because it is very straight to the point and people tend to have short attention spans these days. I also have to other categories of influences and the next one is a music influence. The two people I looked to for this is a guy named Andrew W.K., and Michael Jackson. I Love the feel Andrew W.K. gives off to his audience which is genuine love. His songs are all about partying and having a good time and rebelling. The thing I like about Michael Jackson is the stage presence and theatrics. He knows his where he is supposed to be at the right times and knows where and what he is going to do next from start to finish. The last group of influences is my "Vibe" influences which come from two comedians. Sam Kinison and Daniel Tosh. Sam Kinison when he walks on stage you know his show will not be boring. He comes on stage laughing, being loud, riling up the crowd and filled with energy. I also like Daniel Tosh for almost a complete opposite reason. He is calm, cool and very laid back. He has very "High-Brow" sense humor and if you don't pay attention, you'll miss the joke. Considering both these people are completely opposite, there is a harmony between them which I try to conduct in my show. In total I suppose I have 6 mentionable and individual influences. Technically speaking, I am copying people. But at the same time I am not because I have combined them to make one entity which is my character. That is what makes me an individual. Another important statement I need to make is that I just didn't pull these names out of thin air and said, "I want to be like that"! These were people I already acted like in my own personality. I just expanded on my individual characteristics and multiplied them by 10. What I am getting at is that I think that in order to accomplish a character, and it is necessary to have, meaning, NOT AN OPTION, you need to think about yourself and think about your characteristics right the main ones down. For example write down some of you're values, what you're interested in, and you're main characteristics. Then link people to those things so you can see them in "Real Time" so to speak. Lastly combine those things into 1 entity so that you can explain your character in 1-3 sentences. BOOM! You now have a character, congratulations!
"How To Find Your Character (My Way)"
Let's talk about magic in general right now, and get into specifics later. What is "Magic"? Well, to my understanding and own definition it means this, Magic is a feeling you get when you see something that you can't explain but that feeling must be a good feeling at the same time, not a bad one. Why do I say not a bad one? Well, quite simply you could see a paranormal event and not be able to explain it and most people will feel scared, which is a bad feeling at the time usually. If you choose to do scary or "Geek" magic, then so be it. I guess its okay but I digress. I am sure everyone here has performed and if you haven’t yet, shame on you. Go do that now and stop reading.
I think every magician needs to have there own style and shouldn't copy people. Although at the same time I think if you are first starting out, you should copy someone you want to be like and work off and branch off from there until you have your own style. Someone you want to emulate at first does not have to be a magician though. For example, when I started to get in to "Stand-Up / Stage" magic, I started out with seeing what type of character I would want to be like or a combination there of. My personal influences to my character are as follows. Amazing Jonathan and Nate Staniforth for my magician influences. I really liked Amazing Jonathan because I love the comedic value of him. Whether it's the sarcasm or the dumbness at times and he also can be a smart ass at times. I just loved that about him. Now, Nate Staniforth on the other hand is a very serious performer. The thing I like about him is his plain and simple performing style. He shows you something, gives you a scenario, and accomplishes a very bizarre and astonishing coincidence. I like that approach because it is very straight to the point and people tend to have short attention spans these days. I also have to other categories of influences and the next one is a music influence. The two people I looked to for this is a guy named Andrew W.K., and Michael Jackson. I Love the feel Andrew W.K. gives off to his audience which is genuine love. His songs are all about partying and having a good time and rebelling. The thing I like about Michael Jackson is the stage presence and theatrics. He knows his where he is supposed to be at the right times and knows where and what he is going to do next from start to finish. The last group of influences is my "Vibe" influences which come from two comedians. Sam Kinison and Daniel Tosh. Sam Kinison when he walks on stage you know his show will not be boring. He comes on stage laughing, being loud, riling up the crowd and filled with energy. I also like Daniel Tosh for almost a complete opposite reason. He is calm, cool and very laid back. He has very "High-Brow" sense humor and if you don't pay attention, you'll miss the joke. Considering both these people are completely opposite, there is a harmony between them which I try to conduct in my show. In total I suppose I have 6 mentionable and individual influences. Technically speaking, I am copying people. But at the same time I am not because I have combined them to make one entity which is my character. That is what makes me an individual. Another important statement I need to make is that I just didn't pull these names out of thin air and said, "I want to be like that"! These were people I already acted like in my own personality. I just expanded on my individual characteristics and multiplied them by 10. What I am getting at is that I think that in order to accomplish a character, and it is necessary to have, meaning, NOT AN OPTION, you need to think about yourself and think about your characteristics right the main ones down. For example write down some of you're values, what you're interested in, and you're main characteristics. Then link people to those things so you can see them in "Real Time" so to speak. Lastly combine those things into 1 entity so that you can explain your character in 1-3 sentences. BOOM! You now have a character, congratulations!