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pierredan Special user Dai Vernon's birthplace 540 Posts |
Mr. Burger,
A magician I respect once commented that no one should put out a book or video on magic until they've been performing for real people for over 25 years. How do you feel about the plethora of material from fairly new magicians who are trying to get their name known in the magic circles? How would you recommend someone approach their study of magic literature in light of the amount of stuff out there? |
Eugene Burger 1939 - 2017 231 Posts |
Well, if magicians followed your friend's advice and waited until they had 25 years of performing under their belt before they published, we would probably have much better magic books!
I tell my (professional) students the same thing: Don't play with magicians until you are 50 years old! Spend your time working for LAYPERSONS and then, when you are 50, you will have lots of experience to share with other magicians. Note the key word here is "experience." Anyone can sit back and think up theories about how magic should -- or shouldn't -- be performed. But much of this thinking is not grounded in experience. It is, as Alan Watts would have said, "thoughts about thoughts about thoughts." I tell my students to concentrate on developing a solid repertoire and not to try to keep up with everything new in magic. Of course, we are presently drowning in magic and books about magic -- and so much of it is awful. I guess I think that it is sad that so many young magicians seem to think the path is to become famous AMONG MAGICIANS and not performing magic for laypersons. What often happens is that the young magician does a lecture and the lecture may be very good because it contains all the new and clever thoughts that the magician has to share. But then the lecture is over and the money is spent. Now there is the pressure to do another lecture but here comes the rub: the clever idea have already been shared and now the performer must start inventing things just for a new lecture and the quality just isn't there. I can name at least a dozen young magicians who have travelled down this (unfortunate) path and are now never heard of. I think they would have been smarter concerntrating on performing magic for real people in the real world. |
pierredan Special user Dai Vernon's birthplace 540 Posts |
Thank you!
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