And this is the danger of the internet:
Anyone can offer advice and there is no accountability. (I call this the Steerpike Syndrome - but that's just me.)
Someone, like Cedric, can say anything and walk away. Sadly, someone who might be more thoughtful about their work may choose to read it and assume it is advice worth taking.
I can appreciate the passion and enthusiasm from so many people new to the art, but if you want real advice as to what works in the real world, do you ask the traveler who has been to the mountain and back or the guy still in his parent's front yard?
Now, before we play the ad hominem cards, I am not suggesting that I have been to the mountain and back. But I do know who Mike Skinner was, what he thought about routining, and can evaluate those opinions against not only my personal experiences, but against the experiences of thousands of other magicians as recorded in the texts of our art.
The problem is, many magicians today (especially young ones) think that "their" experience is a valid one simply because they had it.
Many doctors operated on patients in the 1800's without washing their hands. When evidence was presented to suggest that hand washing was "best practice" they recoiled insisting that "they have been operating with their washed hands for years, why should they change."
Of course, now we know.
So, my advice (ironic, I know) is to be very careful from whom you accept advice.
How many years have they been performing in front of paid audiences?
How many shows have they done?
How many repeat clients have they had?
Are they magic dealers claiming to be "performers?"
Are they "creators" who make up magic solely to sell, or have others made a living off of their material in the real world?
What does the person offering the advice know about the history of ideas in our art?
Can they back up their "opinions" with references to succesful and established magicians and their philosophies?
If they revel in forging new paths, can they at least describe what the old one's were, who advocated them, why and what they hope to achieve by doing something different?
And how old are they and how old are the people they are working for?
I know, that last one is touchy. But let's face it, with time comes experience.
You are all aware I am sure of Penn's Flight Time theory. This is just an extension. Just from getting older and dealing with new issues does one's perspective begin to change. While I would never discredit a person solely because they are young, the fact is, that person has not had enough experience in order to offer advice based on anything other than passion and arrogance.
Brad Henderson
