by my definition of a purist is a person who's deck is "clean", gimmicks are apart of magicians ensemble. You can be a purist by this definition as long as the gimmick comes off cleans and leaves you with no finger prints or traces of a gimmick...
July 08 :: Purist.
- Thread starter waynehouchin
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I try not to use gimmicks or find a way around them. I also think that sometimes the spectator's expectations are raised to an extreme by tv and magicians that use plants and gimmicks but could not do those effects for real people in real situations. I dont mind using the occasional gimmick if the trick is good enough.
As far as my studies have led me to believe, a purist is simply a magician who works to achieve his desired effect via skill and skill alone. No use of gaff's, gimmick's, gizmo's or gadgetry will occur during the purist's creative process or performance. In one of the first few post's in this thread, somebody mentioned something along the lines of 'a purist will not perform newer effects', which i think is entirely wrong. As far as i can tell, the age of an effect, sleight, principle or move would not deter the purist from using it, only the nature of the actual method would result in it being shunned.
My personal feelings about the development, creation, and performance of MY original magic will not be addressed as it's neither here nor there, but i can think of worse things to be labelled than 'purist'.
Chr!s
My personal feelings about the development, creation, and performance of MY original magic will not be addressed as it's neither here nor there, but i can think of worse things to be labelled than 'purist'.
Chr!s
I've said quite a bit on this topic in the "What is a purist" thread, so I won't go nuts here.
I was a purist for a long time in the sense that I didn't use any gimmicks of any kind. However, my foundations are self-taught. No books, no videos, just toying around and getting things right by accident. I was like 8 or 9. I didn't know you could make your life easier with gaffs until I was in my late teens. My purist status was by default.
One point to consider is this: in order to perform sleight-of-hand on an object, it stands to reason that the object must be of a size to allow for your manipulations to take place.
By this logic, your magic will be limited to how large it will play if you neglect effects larger than what your hands can manipulate. Some might say "What about Ricky Jay? He did it!" Yes he did, but I'm no Ricky Jay. I'm mortal. I must layer my stand-up shows (which go as long as 90 minutes sometimes) to keep things fresh and moving.
It's easy to be a purist in the youtube generation, but not for those of us working trade shows, stages, theaters, etc.
Random thoughts.
Pj
PS: At my most recent show, I performed Control for an audience of 85, and it killed. Pun intended. It was one of 3 purist routines I performed. The others were Silk and Silver and Coins Through Silk by Ammar. Other than those 3, gaffs were in play for the rest of the 90 minutes.
I was a purist for a long time in the sense that I didn't use any gimmicks of any kind. However, my foundations are self-taught. No books, no videos, just toying around and getting things right by accident. I was like 8 or 9. I didn't know you could make your life easier with gaffs until I was in my late teens. My purist status was by default.
One point to consider is this: in order to perform sleight-of-hand on an object, it stands to reason that the object must be of a size to allow for your manipulations to take place.
By this logic, your magic will be limited to how large it will play if you neglect effects larger than what your hands can manipulate. Some might say "What about Ricky Jay? He did it!" Yes he did, but I'm no Ricky Jay. I'm mortal. I must layer my stand-up shows (which go as long as 90 minutes sometimes) to keep things fresh and moving.
It's easy to be a purist in the youtube generation, but not for those of us working trade shows, stages, theaters, etc.
Random thoughts.
Pj
PS: At my most recent show, I performed Control for an audience of 85, and it killed. Pun intended. It was one of 3 purist routines I performed. The others were Silk and Silver and Coins Through Silk by Ammar. Other than those 3, gaffs were in play for the rest of the 90 minutes.
"Purist" is an elitist word that people use to make themselves feel important.
It in fact means nothing. Nothing at all.
And only leads you further from purity.
You must let go of your ego.
Your magic isn't about you.
It is about THEM.
THAT is purity
-Alex
It in fact means nothing. Nothing at all.
And only leads you further from purity.
You must let go of your ego.
Your magic isn't about you.
It is about THEM.
THAT is purity
-Alex
At the risk of repeating what's been said, here's my story:
About 10 years ago, I did magic for mainly kids at McDonald's. It's not like I sought out the gig -- I was a shift manager at the time; the owners knew I was good with kids, so they gave me some magic card tricks from Wal-Mart and told me to have fun. They gave me a bunch of gaff cards, a stripper deck and a marked deck. Because I love cards, I took to them, learned the tricks and did some decent performances.
About seven years later, my card collection took in its first Black Viper deck from a Tower Records in Nashville. The promo card tells me about Ellusionist; I go to the site and I'm blown away. Ever since then, I've been learning serious sleight of hand and have fallen in love with magic. It's a world that I knew existed, but never really took seriously until just a few years ago.
When I compare my performances now (10 to 20 percent gaffed) to what I did at McD's (100 percent gaffed), I feel like I accomplish more. There's a greater sense of satisfaction when I perform an ACR, as opposed to my stripper deck routine. I didn't really enjoy the routines I did at McDonald's, because it didn't feel like magic. I was just following simple instructions intended for children. Once I started things that required dexterity, magic's allure enveloped me.
I said all that to say this: I can see why many magicians would want to be purists, where their effects are accomplished based purely on their skill and misdirection. To me, it's like drumming: Every drummer would love to play like Danny Carey, Mike Portnoy or Saint Neal Peart, blessings be upon his polyrhythmic name. But you don't have to play like them to play good music.
Purism holds a great allure for me, but I don't claim to be a purist. The techniques I learn in pursuit of purism benefit my gaff magic. And gaffed tricks are now some of my favorite to perform. In a way, I'm paying tribute to the part of me that truly started my magical journey.
About 10 years ago, I did magic for mainly kids at McDonald's. It's not like I sought out the gig -- I was a shift manager at the time; the owners knew I was good with kids, so they gave me some magic card tricks from Wal-Mart and told me to have fun. They gave me a bunch of gaff cards, a stripper deck and a marked deck. Because I love cards, I took to them, learned the tricks and did some decent performances.
About seven years later, my card collection took in its first Black Viper deck from a Tower Records in Nashville. The promo card tells me about Ellusionist; I go to the site and I'm blown away. Ever since then, I've been learning serious sleight of hand and have fallen in love with magic. It's a world that I knew existed, but never really took seriously until just a few years ago.
When I compare my performances now (10 to 20 percent gaffed) to what I did at McD's (100 percent gaffed), I feel like I accomplish more. There's a greater sense of satisfaction when I perform an ACR, as opposed to my stripper deck routine. I didn't really enjoy the routines I did at McDonald's, because it didn't feel like magic. I was just following simple instructions intended for children. Once I started things that required dexterity, magic's allure enveloped me.
I said all that to say this: I can see why many magicians would want to be purists, where their effects are accomplished based purely on their skill and misdirection. To me, it's like drumming: Every drummer would love to play like Danny Carey, Mike Portnoy or Saint Neal Peart, blessings be upon his polyrhythmic name. But you don't have to play like them to play good music.
Purism holds a great allure for me, but I don't claim to be a purist. The techniques I learn in pursuit of purism benefit my gaff magic. And gaffed tricks are now some of my favorite to perform. In a way, I'm paying tribute to the part of me that truly started my magical journey.
I think purists are magicians that (as mentioned before) perform without using gimmicks or gaffs.
As far as I'm concerned, the performance is being presented to the spectators. This means the show is directed towards them, not towards yourself. So essentially, it doesn't matter whether you use a gimmick or not, what matters is the presentation your spectator is left with, the memory that he or she will treasure.
Think about it this way, the word that makes magic what it is, is "How?"
"How did he do that? How did he vanish this? How did he change that?"
The method to leave the spectator with that "how?" question is just what sets purists apart from other magicians.
But just as purists rely on sleight of hand and tricky moves, other performers rely on misdirection and patter.
My point is, whatever floats your boat man, you're not better if you're a purist, and you're not less skilled if you're using gimmicks. All in all, we're all magicians.
Oh and hi. This is my first post
As far as I'm concerned, the performance is being presented to the spectators. This means the show is directed towards them, not towards yourself. So essentially, it doesn't matter whether you use a gimmick or not, what matters is the presentation your spectator is left with, the memory that he or she will treasure.
Think about it this way, the word that makes magic what it is, is "How?"
"How did he do that? How did he vanish this? How did he change that?"
The method to leave the spectator with that "how?" question is just what sets purists apart from other magicians.
But just as purists rely on sleight of hand and tricky moves, other performers rely on misdirection and patter.
My point is, whatever floats your boat man, you're not better if you're a purist, and you're not less skilled if you're using gimmicks. All in all, we're all magicians.
Oh and hi. This is my first post
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