Not everyone can think of original cutting-edge effects, whether entirely from scratch or new applications for the classics.

1 -- What do you attribute your unique creativity to? Have you always thought like this? Or did you take certain deliberate steps to focus your thinking this way?

2 -- Do you think it's a level of creativity attainable by most others? Or if you're not born this way, you're doomed to copying the latest CDs from other people?

3-- What direction would you give someone wanting to become as creative as they possible can be?

Ed

Ed: Greetings - Great questions!

1) I think my creativity is the by-product of how I developed in magic. I grew up (and still live in) Chico, California. Chico is a small town of about 70,000 people. Up until a year or so ago, there were no other magicians and the nearest magic shop is several hours away.

I started in magic by checking magic books out of the local library. I would read these old books, learn a few effects & then try to update them. I would use modern objects instead of the old - etc. Also, keep in mind that this is well before the internet revolution in magic. I was not aware of any of the online magic communities / magic sites until 2005. I know some people will find that hard to believe, but it wasn't until I had released Sinful (Quarter Through Soda Can) with Criss Angel that I was contacted by Ellusionist.com - and that was the first time I had heard of them.

So from the time I was 12 years old, up until I was 22 - my exposure to the magic community & other people's creations was very limited. As a result, I spent a lot of time when I was younger, attempting to make my magic look & feel the way I wanted it to.

2) I honestly think that anyone can be creative. It's not an easy thing to do by any stretch of the imagination, but with the right tools & enough tenacity, sure.

3) Start fresh. I just finished reading "Born Standing Up" - the memoir of Steve Martin. He talks about the moment in his career when he made the decision to BE ORIGINAL. He dropped all of the material from his act that was not his - all of his old standbys & classic jokes / effects. It took 15 years of hardwork & thousands of painful performances from that point onward for him to truly develop a polished original act - the result was national fame, sold out arenas with 45thousand + people & the legacy of a comedy pioneer.

It's not easy to truly create an original act or piece of magic. You have to be willing to start at ground zero & you have to be willing & ready to fail in front of an audience. That failure is what will carve out (over time) a truly original act.

W:H
Wayne Houchin

What a great answer. Thanks, Wayne.

Robert

What, then, would you see as the greatest hidrance to creativity?

-- Fear of failure?
-- Lack of input?
-- Laziness?

Or something else?

Ed

Honestly - for me it's laziness - not that I'm a lazy person though. There have been plenty of times where I'll have the tiny thread of an idea. Something in the back of my consciousness that I know if I sat down & put some serious work into it, I could end up with something great. I'll put this off for months - sometimes years! It's just so easy to get caught up with life & other aspects of my work - I started saying things like "I'll sit down & play with that idea on Saturday, when I have more time." Of course Saturday comes & I don't have any more time than I did the day before...

W:H
WAYNE HOUCHIN