Research and fun.

I haven't had much chance to rehears this week, although I have practised a LOT. (practice being the act of working through moves or even a whole trick/effect, rehearsal being the running through of a whole mini act including patter). I picked cup a book from Amazon for a friend and am promptly reading it before handing it over (with their blessing I may add). The book by Devant and Maskelyne Our Magic . The copy I have in my care is a 1946 reprint of this rather interesting book first published in 1911. I've been reading some more contemporary magical theory/philosophy books recently and it's amazing how little has changed as to what is seen as good magic. It all seems to boil down the old saying, it's not what you do it's the way that you do it.
To further my research I've treated myself to seeing two great magicians live in London.
Paul Daniels and Chris Cox have two different styles of magic but both had something in common. They both work very hard at their magic. It will be good seeing some professionals in person even if they aren't performing close up work. More research and fun will take the guise of hanging out in Covent Garden. For those who are unaware of this home to the street performing arts It's a market selling over priced goods to tourists and very overpriced soft drinks where street performers juggle, dance, play instruments and perform magic. It can be a very civilised way of spending an afternoon, the only problem is some performers get very aggressive when asking for tips (one insisting that anyone not intending of giving him at least £5.00 was morally obliged to leave before the grand finale. I'll be taking about £15 to feed the performers, hopping they'll settle for £2.00 each. One this is certain, event hough I'll be very polite and play along with any part of their act and will certainly not reveal any method or state that I can do any of their act better I will still be comparing myself to them, just to see how far along I've come. I'll just have the good taste not to mention it there then come home and blog it :)

The insanity of guilt

I love magic. There I said it. Don't ask me WHY I love it, what aspect of it intrigues me, I love it all. From the intricate devices to the cleaver subtle movements to misdirection and drawing an audience into y our world, magic fulfils my loves of gadgets and engineering, martial arts and physical training, story telling and mythology and interacting with people. Maybe that's the truth, I love magic because I love people. How can love be a bad thing? Love as we've seen in sad tales on the magic glowing box in the corner of the living room (or taking up the entire wall of the living room if you're a wee bit chavish) can be twisted or lead to insaine behavour. This is my problem today. I'm ill. not at deaths door, a mild-ish tummy bug which in turn has flared up a few joints and made movement rather awkward and very painful. As a result I've taken the day off from my one day a week job in a very lovely fabric shop. There is no need for guilt, the manager (I loathe the term manageress, it seems almost demeaning to indicate her gender, as if she needs some sort of excuse for being a woman, she is quite frankly the best manager i've had (i've only had a handfull but I can't think of anything that could be improved) anyway where was I? the Manager yes, she hired me KNOWING i'm disabled, knwoing that alittle illness can stop me going iun. heck they know my dedication to work having gone in against doctors advice after a heart truma and a head injury. BUT still I can't settle down to use the time i have productively because I enjoy myself doing magic so much, i feel like i'm cheating on them.

I've spoken to a fellow crippled friend on the matter. He points out the common belief some people have that us disabled folks SHOULD feel guilt all the time and should allow ourselves no fun, even if it'#s something that is free or as good as and in no way indicates that we would be well enough for work. This is insanity. However I feel more able to let myself practice magic by reminding myself this too is becoming a job. Also keeping my mind occupied stops me dwelling on the illness and pain, resulting in a faster recovery. So there it is folks, rationalisation. Time to hit the books in-between the peptobizmol shakes and codeine sarnies :)
This is why I blog, well I blog for a few reasons
1) To help me organise my thought (see all of above)
2) to sort of publicly set my goals, to help me focus towards them
3) to share information of books and effects I've found useful
4) To share my beliefs on the heart of magic.
5) to serve as a record of my journey through magic from only being able to do a few fuzzy effects with a joke trick deck to a working professional. Maybe one day this post will help another magician wrestling with some of their inner demons.
take care internet, I love you

a most productive day

This has possibly been one of my best days in the field of magic. Let me start by expalining a flaw in the personalty of my younger self. I loves to plan, to research, to look for inspiration, but often left the actual DOING out, or at least until i t was very close to deadlines. I got out of the habit -mostly- and possibly went a little too far the other way. I sometimes feel bad 'just' reading a book on magical theory, or on organisation, or just arranging a line up of effects or researching character.
I've been reading Eugene Burger's "Secrets and Mysteries for the Close Up Entertainer" and was pleasantly surprised at how much of this great guys philosophy meshed with my own. I've often felt like a fraud because i only know around 20 effects. This guy went to work with 6 effects, but they were AWESOME. Each effects was remarked on as 'Closers' by other magicians. I already decided I wanted to cut the wheat from the chaff with regards to my repertoire . Here he makes a distinction between knowledge base, effects one may know and repertoire, effects one performs. This it was that I spent a wonderful day going through the gambling section of effects with my index cards (have I spoken about them already?) working out the best order of effects and deciding which ones should remain. Now I probably should have had a gambling film on in the background (the Sting, or maybe Maverick) BUt i really needed to watch the Tim Burton Alice, and thus I've also been thinking more about tie-in in my performing style with the gambling effects and the mad hatter styled persona. A very fun and enjoyable day working on my craft.

Focus

I have a day more or less to dedicate to magic. I simply don't now where to begin. I feel I need to learn a few new tricks not because more is better but because it will stretch me slightly. I've been practising the same tricks and slights for a while now so maybe I need to just reach a little further. I know have Jay Sankey's 'The Disappearance' and have managed to perform in at home a few times. So maybe a few run through of this before looking at more coin work is in order for the day. The trouble with magic being seen as a hobby by many is I feel guilty 'wasting' a day on it. I have a paying gig soon, I need to be awesome and blow people away. For this I need to hone what skills I have and acquire new ones and it's a good idea to start when I have 7 weeks to go and not 7 hours. So why do I feel like a foolish child when I plan to settle down with my books and magic case for the day. No doubt once I make myself begin I will feel fulfilled, I always do, but I just thought I'd share the reason whey I have trouble starting to do anything creative at times.