I'm Bored ...

[Aaron.Williams]

Hey guys, its been a while since I've posted anything on here, so this is a little out of the ordinary for me. Basically, I've recently become bored with magic. I've been mainly spending most of my time with video production for the past few months, but I don't really think that's the cause.

The last time I was excited or really interested with learning new magic was a few months ago, which is weird for me. I haven't really been motivated to learn anything new or even practice. Performing has even gotten lees fun for me. I do want to learn more magic though, my repertoire's been getting a bit repetitive, which I think is why ive been kind of bored with magic lately.

Getting to the main point of this post, are there and good books or DVDS on fresh ideas or anything like that that you would recommend? Something that'll get that flame back into my magic again? Thanks

 

[RickEverhart]

Ha Ha. Aaron, I'm in the EXACT same position as you right now. I have a Canon T3i, a new MacBook Pro and have been editing and working on videos for clients and my school for a project. I'm really enjoying filming and editing. It is kind of a break from magic, however I am still attending the Abbott's Close Up magic convention this weekend in Michigan. I hope it sparks some interest back into the magic, but for now I'm really pumped and having fun with film.

 

[formula]

You're still young. Meet a girl, get your heart broken, have some fun....and when the time is right magic will give you a call.

 

[discover]

I type in something stupid into Youtube and let it spiral from there....

 

[coinartist]

All I can say is that the thing I get most psyched about learning is the magic of Paul Harris. Try to dig up some of his old books from the 80s and hopefully you'll have a lot of fun.
Also, Approaching Magic by David Regal, if you don't already have it. It's LOADED with great material.

I hope this helps..
-Greg

 

[Josh Burch]

When I'm bored I usually pull out an old book like Expert at the Card Table, Royal Road, Expert Card Technique or D&D's trilogy. There's tons of material between those resources so I'll look for a routine or an effect that looked difficult in the past and work through it slowly to make sure I can get it. That's option 1

For option 2 I'll take some of the effects I already know and see if I can create a routine or show with them and I'll write it all out in the form of a script. Experimenting with new show ideas helps me.

I will either write about magic or film as a third option when I'm bored. If none of that works I'll go to a movie or take my wife out to eat

 

[WitchDocIsIn]

Step back from the material and look into the theory. Or look outside magic all together, and read about mythology, or fiction (old or new). Research some history and think about how it can be applied to magic performance. Watch some really good movies (and some really bad ones) and see what they use to make the stories compelling (or horrible). Study acting. Get some magic buddies together and just jam. Try to make up random effects, even if it doesn't go past figuring out a method and making it work once.

The best magic comes from people who don't focus 100% on magic in their life, just like the best novels come from writers who have actually gone out and done crazy stuff. As an example, Neil Gaiman, while writing American Gods, actually did drive all over America and visited pretty much every place in the book. Whenever he got stuck, he would take a road trip. The best presentations in magic come from real experiences. Wayne Houchin talks about how his magic didn't get good until he stopped obsessing and started doing things other than magic.

So step away for a bit. Do something else, live life a bit, learn some philosophy or theory or whatever, and then work that back into magic. Or don't. It's not that bad a thing if magic just doesn't do it for you any more. Nothing wrong with that, either.