It's not an issue unique to magicians. Actors/singers/dancers also completely rip off other people in their field.
It's part of human nature to do so.
Yeah you are right, it is natural for humans to feel jealousy, be sleaze balls and steal others heart and soul. I mean isn't that one reason why you'd steal someone's act in the first place? Also not saying you said this yet, but before you do say it, imitation is flattering to a point. I am certain that Rudy Coby is very flattered that a guy in Portugal stole his entire act and does it badly. Oh he is so flattered that he is actually learning how to speak Portuguese to thank the guy with a shot gun. ^^
Draven, I don't like your analogy about music. Just saying. I've jammed with many musicians that don't know a single bit of theory. Some of them don't know scales, chords, time signatures, modes, or even pitch names. They have a system in their mind about how music works, and that system completely differs to what is taught as standard theory.
Music is somewhat innate. Theatre is not.
Theater is innate, I've seen common student body, people off the street, come to an audition and blow professional actors out of the water. There are such things as natural born actors, just like there are natural musicians. Plus, everyone is saying magic is an art, all artistic disciplines share similar traits and some traits are uniquely their own. I completely believe that some people are born with certain talents in the arts and pick them up quickly. That is not to say that others can't learn and master the arts, it just takes them more time. Hell, those who struggle exceed the ones who find things easy. Why? Because those who have to actually dedicate themselves to the discipline have a stronger foundation then the ones who just go and do their own thing.
Not really sure what the intent of this thread was, but I'll throw in my AUD$0.02, whatever that's worth nowadays.
The intent of the thread is written right in the title.
What a magician really is, "An actor playing a part of a musician", should be emphasized. Theatre should be taught. Magicians should understand that magic is a performance art, and should understand that the performance aspect is as important, if not more, than the tricks themselves. The magicians who stand out the most are the ones who have a developed character. One of the best examples is Cardini, because he wasn't just about tricks. He was about performance. He was about theatre. He was about magic.
Yeah and he was also from the time where everything was apparently black and white. (JOKE) Time changes, people change. Some, magicians do not need a theater background or not even any classes for that matter. "Magicians are just actors playing a magician." Is the cope out answer that I've seen several times in this thread and it really is starting to get annoying. Some things just don't apply to magic anymore. We are magicians first, actors second not the other way around. It is our job as magicians to perform magic, we have to supplement that with acting and other forms of entertainment, comedy, music, etc. to make it convincing. We are not an actor trying to portray the acts of what a magician is supposed to look like, we are magicians showing off our power not some "mortal" using trickery to imitate what we do.
Theatrical theory should be emphasized, because that's all we are. Actors.
(Cardists/Flourishers/XCMers, disregard all this.)
WOOAH, why should flourishers disregard an emphasis of theater? Hell, if flourishers actually studied theater and then applied it to their movements and flourishing, I'd be more inclined to call them artists.
It's pretty simple. When learning something new people have to mimic someone else as they learn. However, many people only start magic and don't pursue it for all that long, so they never make it beyond the mimesis. Those that do make it beyond that point have enough time to develop their own styles (though not all of them do) and move away from imitating the people that inspired them.
Nice points and I agree with them. But you know what I find funny? In stage performing, the successful ones (Not saying famous like CA or DC, but ones who get consistent gigs) always have the same illusions in their act. I find it funny that the DC clones get enough to get by while the originals float err kind of float at the top.
When you are a music student, you first learn to play music by learning the scales. That gives you a working foundation to which upon you will build the rest of your music theory...What path is best for you to walk? There really isn't a right or wrong answer to this question, but the answer you give, will affect the way you present your magic.
Curious monkey, did you find what you were looking for on your adventure?
This entire post is enlightening and thought provoking. Thanks for it Draven!
