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Medifro Inner circle Miami 1258 Posts |
Hello,
You're one of the few magicians who can pull off knuckle busting stuff in any brand of magic. Heck, I know some guys who literally struggled to get down some of your material, and they do almost exclusvly cards. Yet you're awesome with any prop that touch your hand. Any tips on how to become immortal? Any thoughts on practicing? Best, Feras P.S Its an *** honor to talk to you directly. I had On the Spot and Double Take DVDs when I first started and beside the beginner section in Double Take I couldn't understand a thing. Now I can pull off almost everything in the two disks. You influenced my magic a great deal and I cant thank you enough for what I learned .... errr .... Thanks? >_< |
SlipperyPete Loyal user 218 Posts |
Wonder how much practice it must have taken to catch the boomerang card between two selections. Holy Craaaapppp!!
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Gregory Wilson V.I.P. 87 Posts |
Hello Feras,
You are waaaaaaay too kind and praiseworthy. Let's start with the word practice: For some reason, it sounds arduous and burdensome. But, from my perspective, it's actually exhilarating and invigorating as I'm always infused with the idea that this "work" is getting me closer and closer to the finish line. Each and every minute, finger correction and mental adjustment feels like I'm almost ready for my first and exciting performance of said routine. Here's what I tell people in my lectures: "Hurry up and be bad!" Your first performance is going to be far from perfect, so hurry up and get that bad out of the way. Since this is a performance art, you have to perform for someone. That's where strangers come into play. They are your test audience. Don't be bad on purpose. But don't wait for perfection, or you will never get started. I always try out my new performance piece on someone who won't remember my possible mistake or misstep. Most likely, with sufficient and requisite practice, the mechanics should be close to flawless. But putting it all together, matching actions to words, while making everything relevant and entertaining is the part that is most challenging. I'd say that about four or five strangers usually does the trick before I can present to a "real" audience. Also, don't try to be too presentationally complex in the beginning. Keep it simple, so you can concentrate on everything as a whole without looking like a deer in headlights. Remember, we're supposed to be masters of time and space -- at least in our deluded minds. : ) Now stage magic; that's a whole different animal. You can't very well do Zombie, Linking Rings, or even an Egg Bag in your local shopping mall. This is why you must practice till your fingers bleed and really paint the picture in your head and in your practice room that you are performing for a live audience. Now, you don't have to go all Rupert Pupkin (De Niro) and prop up fake cardboard people in your basement to feel like a real studio audience. But talking out loud to yourself is very helpful. Yes, I've been embarrassingly caught more than once! When I used to compete in tennis, there was a term that we called "tournament tough." This means that you could be the best player in the world while practicing with friends, but would often crumble in the face of formal competition - especially when there's a roaring crowd with all the pomp and circumstance of sponsors, the press, etc. This simply means that you harden your resolve the more you go past mere practice and jump into the "performance" of the game. In a nutshell: Practice. Practice. Practice. Perform. Perform. Perform. |
Chatterbox41 Veteran user Atlanta, Georgia 349 Posts |
Awesome advice and thanks for taking the time to be brutally honest!
Gary |
Medifro Inner circle Miami 1258 Posts |
Awesome advice, thanks
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The Magic Cafe Forum Index » » The September 2011 entrée: Gregory Wilson » » On Practice » » TOPIC IS LOCKED (0 Likes) |
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