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bouche Regular user 146 Posts |
On the post about 'speaking' you indicated some very impressive credentials.
How important do you think education is to developing as a magician? What advice would you give a young performer who decides magic is their chosen field? Have you left academia? If so, what has magic offered you, that you felt was lacking as a teacher? |
Casey Sullivan New user 80 Posts |
I agree. I did not know you were a certified teacher too, did that mean you got 2 degrees? How long did you teach high school? Did you find that helped your performances?
Casey |
Cody S. Fisher V.I.P. Austin, Texas 1194 Posts |
Hey guys,
Sorry for the delay in response…I “took off” for the past three weeks in order to prepare for my Germany trip…so am a little bogged down! Anyway, concerning education…I think it is very important. I was the first person in my entire family to even go to college. I didn’t want to fall into the same trap as the rest of my family…I knew that when the time came and I had a family of my own…I wanted to be able to provide for them so they would not have to go through what I did. Paying for college was not an easy task…but if you want something in life you have to work for it. One of my favorite quotes is “The reason that successful people are successful is because successful people do the things that unsuccessful people don’t want to do”. You ask about how important education is in developing as a magician. I would reword this a little to say that education is very important in developing as a “person”. I have always believed that learning tricks, sleights, and magic routines is easy. The difficult part is taking those tricks and presenting them in the real world. My advice would be to concentrate just as much on being a performer as you do the tricks themselves. Magic is about “people” not tricks. I think some of us correlate “knowing a lot tricks” to “being a good magician”. If you were alone stranded on an island and just happen to have every trick that Hocus Pocus sells…would you be a good magician? Would you be a good performer? No…you would just know a lot of tricks. The missing ingredient is “people”…the interaction that takes place between the performer and the audience is what “magic’ is all about. For me, college and graduate school help me to develop my people skills…which is far more important to me than any single trick I perform. If you decide to choose magic as your career, make sure you have necessary tools or education to help you on your way. In order to be successful at magic you need to be good at marketing, public relations, and also have a good business sense. My wife says I actually have “two educations”…my formal education at The University Of Texas…and the years I have spent attending marketing workshops and motivational seminars. Both were very important in helping me become who I am …and also who I still want to be. I have left academia as I am no longer formally teaching…however I still consider myself a teacher. Every time I present a school show…I am teaching…every time I give a magic lecture…I am teaching…every time I give a workshop on goal setting…I am teaching. In a sense I have never left! My graduate work was in biochemistry. I honestly never thought it would never be useful as a magician…until two years ago! I was hired by a pharmaceutical company to do presentations to doctors. My client discovered that I had the ability to present complex information (reaction rates, drug inhibition, and enzyme bind sites) in a very fun and engaging manner. Because of my education I was very comfortable “talking the talk” to medical professional and because of my performing experience I was able to make it interesting. This is not unique to me…I am sure that lots of magicians have similar stories…my point is that this opportunity provided me with a very lucrative contract for almost two years and was the result of everything I had done prior to it. Another magician friend of mind told me that “I was just lucky”. I don’t believe in pure luck. I think that luck is when preparation meets opportunity. You need to be prepared so when YOUR opportunity faces you…you can do great things! I hope this helps, Cody S. Fisher
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taller8 Inner circle Olympia, Washington 1087 Posts |
That's funny, when ever I want a sure fire laugh, I go right for the reaction rates, drug inhibition, and enzyme bind sites material.
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bouche Regular user 146 Posts |
I agree. I feel that educated is needed to be prepared for those opportunities. As a student in university I contemplated just doing magic not knowing anyh specific career choice to follow. Yet I am really glad I stuck with it.
Education is similar to magic in that both can be followed in total isolation or both can contribute greatly to social growth. The perception of phd students having no lives and living inside of a book is not so different from the many magicians who obsessively attempt to pursue their art to perfection before 'going public'. Yet education and magic can have parallel purposes. In my case my ability to entertain has improved greatly since I became a teacher. Talk about working an hard (uninterested) audience! Anyway, do you think that magic alone can improve someone's 'people skills'? |
The Magic Cafe Forum Index » » The April 2007 entrée: Cody S. Fisher » » Formal education » » TOPIC IS LOCKED (0 Likes) |
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