So most people when they meet me never believe that I have only been into magic for barely two years. I honestly don't think that I would be where I am now if it wasn't through modern technology. I first got into magic my senior year of High School while on a band trip to TN. I spent my entire time in a magic shop and I purchased two tricks; pen through dollar and spongeballs. What really got me into magic though was when I asked the clerk for a business card and he pulled one straight out of the air. I had no idea that was possible and was completely flabbergasted. I must have spent months trying to figure out how he did it, eventually I began to search online. It was through these internet searches that I discovered online communities such as Penguin and T11. It was through these sites that I was able to interact with other magicians and actually learn from those much more experienced than me. There aren't that many magicians near where I am, so without these online communities I would never have been able to get the help that I have over the past two years.
One of my closest magician friends lives in Korea and the two of us Skype quite a bit. I'm constantly trying to come up with something new, and whenever I do create something I typically call him up. Its through modern technology that I am able to instantly show him what I have been working on. Without it, it would take weeks for me to send him my ideas via the post and even longer as I awaited his response. In fact I probably would never have met him without joining the online communities I listed above. Its amazing that I can share my ideas with someone who literally lives on the other side of the world within minutes of coming up with them.
As most of you know I am REALLY into YouTube. I focus a lot of my time making videos, and recently it all paid off by me becoming a partner. One thing YouTube really stresses is collaborating with others. I've made friends all over the world and have begun to do videos with them. Up until recently I only did videos with other magicians, but after attending a YouTube convention I realized something, the majority of these people have not seen magic. This really opened my eyes and now I have begun to work a ton of different people on videos; comedians, VFX guys, sketch groups, rappers, musicians, and even interviewers. I have begun to introduce literally thousands of people to what I do by collaborating with others. If it weren't for internet forums or sites such as YouTube none of this would be possible.
This last part has nothing to do with the three points mentioned above, it just has to do with technology in general. I was lucky enough to win a pass to EMC and it was such an amazing experience. Up until this point I have never been to a magic lecture, convention, or conference. In fact up until now I have only seen three magicians perform live in my life. I'm a college student so money is really strapped for me. Even if I had the opportunity to go to a convention I wouldn't be able to afford the price to go. By winning this pass to EMC I was able to do things I had never been able to. I wasn't able to watch today because of technical issues and family commitments, but I learned so much in that first day alone, its amazing. EMC was such an eye opening experience and I really feel that I will become a much better magician because of it. As Casey said, if it wasn't for modern technology, there would be no possible way for people in 61 different countries to simultaneously learn from some the greats in the industry. It was an extremely eye opening experience that would be impossible to reproduce otherwise.
~Josh
One of my closest magician friends lives in Korea and the two of us Skype quite a bit. I'm constantly trying to come up with something new, and whenever I do create something I typically call him up. Its through modern technology that I am able to instantly show him what I have been working on. Without it, it would take weeks for me to send him my ideas via the post and even longer as I awaited his response. In fact I probably would never have met him without joining the online communities I listed above. Its amazing that I can share my ideas with someone who literally lives on the other side of the world within minutes of coming up with them.
As most of you know I am REALLY into YouTube. I focus a lot of my time making videos, and recently it all paid off by me becoming a partner. One thing YouTube really stresses is collaborating with others. I've made friends all over the world and have begun to do videos with them. Up until recently I only did videos with other magicians, but after attending a YouTube convention I realized something, the majority of these people have not seen magic. This really opened my eyes and now I have begun to work a ton of different people on videos; comedians, VFX guys, sketch groups, rappers, musicians, and even interviewers. I have begun to introduce literally thousands of people to what I do by collaborating with others. If it weren't for internet forums or sites such as YouTube none of this would be possible.
This last part has nothing to do with the three points mentioned above, it just has to do with technology in general. I was lucky enough to win a pass to EMC and it was such an amazing experience. Up until this point I have never been to a magic lecture, convention, or conference. In fact up until now I have only seen three magicians perform live in my life. I'm a college student so money is really strapped for me. Even if I had the opportunity to go to a convention I wouldn't be able to afford the price to go. By winning this pass to EMC I was able to do things I had never been able to. I wasn't able to watch today because of technical issues and family commitments, but I learned so much in that first day alone, its amazing. EMC was such an eye opening experience and I really feel that I will become a much better magician because of it. As Casey said, if it wasn't for modern technology, there would be no possible way for people in 61 different countries to simultaneously learn from some the greats in the industry. It was an extremely eye opening experience that would be impossible to reproduce otherwise.
~Josh