What is a persona to you?

[RealityOne]

The point I was trying to make is their are merits to playing a character completely different from who you are separately.

I think the point Christopher was making is that an effective character needs to have a basis in who you are. I agree. Otherwise it comes across as being inauthentic. If you aren't funny in real life, your character won't be funny. If you can't make people feel that you are caring and genuine, you can't express that in a character. If you aren't usually a serious person, it will be difficult to carry off a serious persona. If you aren't intellectual, you will find it hard to portrait a character that is.

 

[TylerScottIllusionist]

I think the point Christopher was making is that an effective character needs to have a basis in who you are. I agree. Otherwise it comes across as being inauthentic. If you aren't funny in real life, your character won't be funny. If you can't make people feel that you are caring and genuine, you can't express that in a character. If you aren't usually a serious person, it will be difficult to carry off a serious persona. If you aren't intellectual, you will find it hard to portrait a character that is.

I get what he was saying.

The reason I don't necessarily agree with that is because I think it comes down to acting skills. Even outside of magic, actors portray roles that are completely separate from who they are as a person. A lot of the time the best actor for the role is someone who is nothing at all like the character. It's because the actor is using the role as an escape for that moment so they dedicate themselves to being someone different.

I can definitely see where you are coming from though. People who do not have much skill or experience in acting or character creation should definitely lean on what they know best when crafting a persona.

 

[WitchDocIsIn]

I think this really comes down to our different approaches to acting and performance - and that's perfectly fine.

I personally think that all the best acting is done when someone is taking something of themselves for the part. Even if that part is completely different to their normal personality, they are still drawing from part of themselves and putting that out there. It is exceedingly difficult for a human to effectively portray something they cannot relate to, and if they haven't experienced it themselves, it's pretty hard to properly relate to.

Further, when advising performers, particularly magicians, I generally assume they have no acting skill. It's safer to assume that and let them prove me wrong when they can act, rather than assume they can act and see them bomb because I assumed they had skills they did not, in fact, possess.

 

[RealityOne]

I agree with Christopher. I've seen few magicians with good acting skills. I'd have better luck teaching an actor magic than teaching a magician to act.