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Darwin Ortiz V.I.P. 486 Posts |
Since my time here is running short, I thought I’d take the opportunity to address what I think is a real problem in magic. With the vast amount of published and marketed material, every magician has the opportunity to create his own unique repertoire. Instead, many feel the need to perform whatever everyone else is doing. One of the most common posts on magic boards is the question, “What is your favorite [ace assembly, coin assembly, T&R card, etc.]?” To my mind, the only legitimate value of such poles is as a guide to what overdone tricks to avoid. (Admittedly, I’m overstating things. There is no reason to avoid a trick just because it’s popular. However, there is no reason to perform it just because it’s popular.)
As a book lover, I’ve always considered reading a magic book to be a personal voyage of discovery. Yet many magicians rob themselves of this pleasure by immediately going on the Internet to ask, “What are your favorite tricks from this book?” Presumably, they can then concentrate on the same tricks as everyone else. Worst of all is the practice of viewing a professional’s performance for laypeople as an opportunity to lift effects. “I just saw Ricky Jay do such-and-such trick on his TV special. Where can I find this trick in print?” Many years ago Irv Tannen told me that he could always tell when a magician appeared on TV because the next day he would receive twenty phone calls asking to buy whatever trick he had performed. The Internet has only made this problem worse. Magicians have many ways to rationalize this kind of parasitic behavior. “Hey, Ricky didn’t invent the trick!” Maybe not, but he didn’t research, discover, and perfect the trick so that lazy magicians could come along and say, “That’s good. I think I’ll do it too.” An extreme example of this occurred some time ago when a magician ripped off Del Ray’s brilliant act using performing toys. His rationale was, “Automata go back to Robert Houdin.” True, but this magician didn’t get the idea from Houdin; he got it from Del Ray. Some even call stealing the repertoires of working pros “seeking inspiration.” It’s one thing to coincidentally end up performing the same trick as another performer. It’s another to perform a trick you didn’t previously know existed simply because you saw another performer do it (even if you eventually find that the effect is in print). You should view the opportunity to see a professional work as a chance to gain insights about performing, not as an opportunity to exploit someone else’s research. Magic should be a personal journey, and one of the most personal choices is what material you choose to perform. Don’t let others make that choice for you. (And respect working performers enough to leave their choices alone.) Look for the gems that everyone else has overlooked. (Believe me, there are many.) It can be the first step to becoming a unique performer. Sincerely, Darwin Ortiz |
The Magic Cafe Forum Index » » The January 2003 entrée: Darwin Ortiz » » the herd mentality » » TOPIC IS LOCKED (2 Likes) |
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