Write it from scratch.
No, really. You can get caught up in looking at other people's acts and not accomplish anything more than collecting uneccessary data--data that you'll discard later on anyway because it won't fit with the kind of show you want. You don't need the inspiration. It's just an excuse to rely on what others have done previously. Screw that. Have some cojones.
It's more difficult to write it from scratch, but ultimately more rewarding. Your show will have integrity, and integrity makes it untouchable. It won't be the kind of show where you're not sure what to do next when they don't respond to you. It'll be the kind of show that you can do again and again regardless of their reactions because it's not written off of them; yes, you do play off of your audiences' reactions. But you don't write the show based on their whims. You know magic better than they do, and you know what you want to say and do with it. All they'll be able to give you are their past impressions and expect you to repeat, and top it, at the same time. That's an impossible situation.
Write the show with what you want to say in mind, whatever it is that magic means to you. You're a magician, you do magic for a reason, that should be evident.
Here's a way to keep the core strong. Don't write it around a theme, or around a trick. The structure shouldn't dictate what you do; the core does.
Ask yourself, "What do I find magical?" Are you the kind of person that finds objects moving around imperceptibly magical? The kind that finds recitation of unknowable knowledge titillating? Dig deep. This is the reason you fell in love with magic. It was because magic did something to you, shaked up something that you thought was sure, and then never let you go. For example, my first with magic was a simple conjuror's choice, not even done well. But I couldn't let it go because I had no explanation for how I could choose something so openly and freely, and yet have it be so predictable (yeah, I was a sucker. Still am.) That was magical to me; that's what I aim for. And this, your answer to this, is what's going to drive your show. It is your engine, your alma matter, and your core.
And then ask yourself, "What do I find entertaining?" Do you like the trivial dancing of comedy, ever so dangerously dangling on tragedy's edge? Or are you into clever puns and wordplay, the kind of curiousities that one tends to overlook in daily life? Maybe you like seriousness, and find the high stakes of drama absolutely engaging. I don't know; whatever it is, that's going to dictate the kind of audience you'll play best to. Pepper the same brand of humour you enjoy, or the dramatic solemnity you're gripped by, into your show. This is the seasoning, this is the tilt, the colouring of your show.
If you have those two, whatever you do will be rock solid to its core. It won't be some monstrosity patched together from other people's ideas. Compare, first Street Magic special by David Blaine, and his later ones. The first are solidly purely him; the tricks he does are the ones that he knows and loves to do. You can tell that they're consistent with his character (which happens to be a slightly exaggerated version of some of his aspects--never too difficult to play. Side note on that, is that you have to be congruent with what you're playing. If you're talking about Psychological experiments done by Coue and you look and talk like a redneck who's never even picked up a book, no one's buying the words out of your mouth. You don't have to play yourself, but you have to play whomever it is you're playing genuinely.) Whatever your character is also has to naturally follow your show; if you build your show based on what YOU believe in and what YOU want to say, then that's going to be easy. It won't feel like ideas have been unnaturally superimposed.
Now, take a look at his latest special. It's not him anymore, it's not all completely him. You can see the cracks. He's playing tricks suggested or chosen by his advisors, and they're not all congruent with the Blaine of old. There's stuff there that's filler, or playing to the audience, rather than him playing from his heart. Always play from your heart, or you'll just be another sell out who gave his soul to the crowd. And when the crowds all gone because you're old and done for, you'll be alone, with nothing to show for it. Ain't worth it man. Need I even point out that whingy maggot sucker Criss Angel? No? Good.
So, write the show on your own, with solely your intentions in mind. By intention, I mean what it is that you want to convey (What is it that I find magical? What do I find entertaining?). And don't worry, you won't get it right the first time. No one does. The point is that it's yours. Let the show's shape be dicated by it's needs. If you need more structure than that, write it with a beginning, middle, and end in mind; but always be ready to discard your previous ideas if something more fitting is found, or something more fitting is needed. Don't be afraid to spend nights working the problems out in your head. Learn to love that part, and you'll have something no one will be able to copy. The kind that they'll imitate, but never understand.
Or just go the cookie cutter route. That's easier and less heartbreaking. No one will hold it against you. This stuff's tough, man.
avec ma coeur,
--b