We are into our 7th week of this leg of the tour, coast to coast and back again. I confess that I’m a little tired and not as patient as I was 2 months ago. So, forgive me if this blog entry seems a bit like a rant.
As we travel, we have the opportunity to meet lots of aspiring, hobbyist, and professional magicians. Many of them – most of them – are kind, polite, professional and courteous. Occasionally you meet someone who is not. But I think the thing that drives me nuts is the lack of originality that seems to drive many of these guys.
We have worked very hard over the years to develop original presentations for our magical effects. I believe it is the responsibility of every artist to provide their audience with a unique presentation of their art – whether that’s one’s interpretation of a great sonata, the movements of an exquisite ballet, or the wonder created by the execution of a magical mystery.
We are very fortunate that, in our production, we have the privilege of working with some amazing creative consultants who provide us with some exclusive illusions for our audiences. But we also include some commercially available magical effects that we strive to present in an original way. So we also work with a talented director/choreographer who helps us develop these illusions into presentations that represent who we are as performers, expressing our personalities and experiences. This is, in my opinion, the responsibility of every artist – to give their audiences a glimpse of who they are through the expression of their work.
We work very hard to find and develop illusions for our production that meet specific criteria. We want to expose our audiences to a wide range of magical wonders and we spend a great deal of time (countless hours) and money in the process!
With that in mind, why would a magician “borrow†the routine, the presentation, of another magician and include it in their own show? I realize that many young, aspiring magicians have not yet learned the ins and outs of creating wonder by incorporating their own personality and life experiences. But older, more experienced magicians should really know better. We all should be striving to provide the ticket-buying public with something “different†in the presentation of our art.
I won’t go into the details but in the last few days, we’ve received several emails from magicians who (1) are working on perfecting the illusions in our show and would like to know our methods or (2) have seen us perform and are seeking the builder for a specific illusion that they liked.
Now I understand that many magicians work with the same builders and designers of illusions BUT we should still try to be as original as possible in what we select and the presentation of those selections. We work very hard to take a good effect and try to make it a great effect – one that fits well in our show. Why would any magician want to choose an illusion and then design/present it just like someone else? Where is the originality and creativity in that?
Okay, I’m done ranting for now. We are finally in Houma, LA – show is tomorrow night!