Inspiration in Magic

[Jewish_Illusion]

hey guys

ever since i started magic at around age 8, I was always excited about it. I would watch other magicians, go to their lectures at the local magic shop, buy cool tricks and burn through decks of cards by the truckload.

I have always felt as though my initial start in magic and cardistry kept me going these past years, and I built up a reputation in my area as the magician to book.

And nothing could compare to the feeling you get when you do magic and watch peoples reactions

Priceless.

of course, there was stress and worries whenever i began to figure out my routine, but it was always exciting to me.

now i feel too caught up in all the action. I have 3 gigs coming up within the week and i feel like after all the effort i did and am putting in to my routine, it doesnt flow.

I have no confidence in my magic anymore.

Even when i perform killer effects which I know and practice 3000 times over, I keep feeling like I'm not fooling anyone and so I stopped to think for a minute.

Am I enjoying myself? is this what i want to do with my magic

I am in desperate need of magical inspiration.

If anybody has any stories, vid or advice they can share to help me through this block in my struggle to redefine my magic, then please do. By all means, go right ahead

thanks

 

[renome]

I don't know if it's just me, but I don't really understand what is it you want.
You're not enjoying your magic? You don't have confidence in your magic and you feel you're not fooling anyone? You're in need of inspiration of some kind?
Sorry, I'm just kind of lost; one of us definitely can't see the forrest from the trees and if you could elaborate a bit that would be nice.

Cheers!

 

[Jevonsp]

I know what your going through. Work on presentation and try a new section of magic.

 

[ReservoirRed]

Im not sure if i can help. But i will try.

Tell me more about your routine. What does it include, card work? coin work? mentalism? elastic bands? random objects? do you do walk around, or parlour and stage work? both? what is your character like, sharp dressed? david blaine style? in between?

 

[Jewish_Illusion]

Im not sure if i can help. But i will try.

Tell me more about your routine. What does it include, card work? coin work? mentalism? elastic bands? random objects? do you do walk around, or parlour and stage work? both? what is your character like, sharp dressed? david blaine style? in between?

Hey guys

sorry about this confusion.

Lately ive been focusing mostly on cards, a bit of coin work, and magic with some random objects.

I do stage work but that doesnt come around as often as just wailkaround,
but mmoney isnt important to me, its more like i feell as if my tricks dont fooln people anymore and as i perform these tricks, I see myself messing up, and the climax's dont get such good reactions.

Maybe its time i learnt some new material..........

 

[Jay Adra]

but mmoney isnt important to me, its more like i feell as if my tricks dont fooln people anymore and as i perform these tricks, I see myself messing up, and the climax's dont get such good reactions.

Maybe its time i learnt some new material..........

I don't think new material will help this at all... in fact, it will make it worse.

If you're lacking in confidence in your own tricks as you perform them, then you need to re-evaluate how you're performing them and why you see them the way that you do.

If the confidence issue is due to you not having practised them enough and that's why you're messing them up/nervous about that, then obviously you need to practise them more. Learning new material will just make you less confident as you would have had less practise.

Otherwise, you should look at how you're presenting these effects, how you're presenting yourself and think about it from the spectators point of view. If you were them, would you be amazed/entertained by your performance?

And remember, your job is not to fool people. Your job is to entertain them, to amaze them. A great piece of magic isn't a puzzle to be figured out; it's an experience to be enjoyed. Give people an experience rather than a puzzle and your problem is solved.

 

[CaseyRudd]

Give people an experience rather than a puzzle and your problem is solved.

I go into every performance with this mentality, and it works like gold.

If you go into your performance thinking you won't fool them, it is going to haunt you the entire time. And it seems like it has been.

When I go into an effect, I always have a craving to see their reaction. It's my job to give them the experience to make sure I get the reaction I want. I don't think too hard about method at this point, I don't think about messing up, all I care about is giving them a great experience. I'll do whatever I can to make sure that happens.

I lost a lot of inspiration in magic a little while ago, to be perfectly honest. I'm going to say that out in the open. I felt like you to some degree. I didn't feel happy with my magic. I didn't feel like learning anything new; I had a huge burnout. NOTHING interested me in the magic world! I didn't perform anymore. I didn't feel like it. It was a huge lazy stage in my magic. You get the idea.

This was when I took the infamous "break" from magic. I did other things to see if my passion struck again sometime, and the like. A friend then asked me to do a trick and handed me a deck of cards. Keep in my mind I was still in my burnout stage and I didn't feel like performing, but I didn't want to let him down. I did a trick anyway. All it took was the reaction I got, and it got me back into it again. It's strange how that worked out. But that's what it took to get my inspiration back.

Maybe try and look at your performances and focus on giving your spectators an experience. Take the time to look at their reaction, see how happy it makes them feel. When you do this and see what you do for people with magic, you see it in a whole new light.

 

[Craig Browning]

First of all, everyone gets into this rut every now and then. Over the past 40 years I've probably "quit doing magic" a few dozen times but, as I was reminded more than a few times, Magic is a part of who I am and without it I'm pretty much lost. I've done it since I was a toddler (4 years old) and outside of my limited work with puppets, there's very little other that envelops my mind and life as much.

One of the "tricks" to overcoming this rut is to build a new act, or so I've found to be so. I find a new theme of some sort or even a new area to play with. For example, you seem rather stuck with playing cards, shift over to coin work or cultivate a more formal "Channing Pollock" style act. . . something new to you that's a bit of a challenge and as such, forces you to learn new stuff and consider new ways of looking at the craft. When I do this it tends to energize me and gets me to invest myself just as I did when I was a kid and just discovering magic.

The other exercise I still do, is look at a single effect or technique and then create different strategies around it. For an example, Cigarette thru Quarter; aside from any one of the popular gaffed coins with a trap door built into it, what other ways are there to accomplish this bit? How could you add to this effect, possibly using other gimmicks (not just alternative gaffed coins but shell coins, etc.)?

Rick Maue gave me a wonderful exercise for techniques I can't stand such as the Center Tear. I believe it to be one of the worse methods in all of Mentalism because it's so illogical in most settings. Nonetheless, working through the bit as Rick encouraged gave me at least 3 very solid and "clean" routines that I feel comfortable doing because everything in the handling makes sense. This is but an example, understand, but challenging ourselves in this way when we find ourselves getting numb and lost with "the routine" of doing the same old thing day after day, is one of the best ways of climbing out of the slump.

Another angle is shifting gears. . . I still do this in that I have different programs for different times of the year. While the majority of the bits I do are Seance type shows, I offer different themes and settings. For an example, during this time of year I'm usually presenting a program based on "A Christmas Carol" in which the ghosts of Christmas' Past, Present & Future make themselves known. Come Spring however, I deal more with personal relationships such a mother type figures. The program is very light-hearted vs. scary, deliberately striking nostalgic chords in people's memories. . . needless to say, my autumn season shows are far darker and deal with more ominous themes. The point however is that I rotate this different themes so I avoid the rut of routine as I call it; the changes keep the material fresh for me while likewise giving my patrons an excuse to have me back a few times a year, because they know I will have something that's quite different from what they experienced the first time around.

Yes, it takes time to build up such a repertoire but you have that. Just create a new bit every time you feel that numbness creeping back into things.

 

[Jewish_Illusion]

Hey guys,

thanks so much for all the replies, much appreciated.

I actually just came back from a small show for a Chanucah party and im also doing one tommorw night.

Im actually quite pleased with how it went as it was the first time that i tried to incorporate some ney slightly risky thing,

A new act to music with fire and candles and stuff, and as a finale to my show i did a card manip act withe cuts and fans and aerials and it went really well.

thanks for the advice guys

 

[RickEverhart]

Nice Job Jewish. Everything has pretty much been covered so I am not going to beat the dead horse but many times all I need to do is change the delivery and patter to something more meaningful or fitting for that particular demographic and the reactions and "fun" come right back.

Occasionally I will buy something completely new or outside the norm for my effects and work it into my set or routine to add a little spice and excitement.

The other valid point that was made earlier was that you are entertaining....not trying to fool them. Keep that in your mind at all times.

 

[Jewish_Illusion]

thanks guys!

 

[starthelegend]

If your doing magic just as hobby maybe you should just take a break, if it's something you truely love to do then you will always go back to it trust me. When I finished high school I simply lost all interest in magic and cardistry, but lost month when I was sitting in my dorm room I had just finished an online test, unfortunately I didn't do as well as I hoped and I kicked my desk out of frustration, I heard something fall to the floor. It was a pack of cards, I kid you not when I picked that pack up it was like I had just sat on an electric chair magic and cardistry just came rushing back. I know this is a bit of a corny story, but it's true. When you feel like your having a block then a break really is the best thing. Hope this helps.