Attitude to Magic

What is your attitude towards magic?  This is something I've written about before, but it's a crucial topic if you hope to excel at the performance of magic and to touch your audiences in any way deeper than mere curiosity.

I wholeheartedly think that it's important to believe that the magic is real.  Do I mean by this that you should actually think that you have real telekinetic or other paranormal abilities?  No, not necessarily.  (Although I suppose I couldn't completely rule out even that possibility completely!)  What I do mean is that in the moment, when you are actually performing the magic, it's essential to be fully in the experience of the magic, and to perceive it yourself as real, as authentic.  Emotionally, psychologically, physically even, you need to go fully into the experience of the magic as actually happening in the ways that you are portraying it as being.  It's basically a specific type of method acting, wherein, like an actor, you fully immerse yourself, emotionally and otherwise, into the experience of the magic in whatever context it occurs.

And of course, in this context, one of the most important questions is "what is your attitude towards the magic as it happens?"   Recently I've more specifically clarified my own performing attitude.  For me, the experience of magic is that it is a powerful and wondrous encounter with the mystery and joy of life.  Magic is powerful, but unpredictable.  Sometimes I'm in complete control of this magical power, directing it exactly as I see fit.  In those moments I exude power, mystery, and command.  My word is law.  Other times I'm just along for the ride, and I have no idea what to expect, and am often every bit as (and sometimes even more) surprised by the directions in which this magical, mysterious power expresses itself as the audience.

And I'm completely comfortable with either of these expressions of magic, and not attached to having one or the other specifically at any given moment.  When I'm in complete control of the magical power, I’m not trying to use it in any egotistical way, to see myself as better than others.  In fact, my intention is to share this incredibly powerful experience, to allow others to experience it through me.  Then when the magic takes on a life of its own, I'm simply delighted and amazed by it, filled with the joy of wonder, and willing to share that experience as well.  And often I can go from one to the other in the blink of an eye.  When in the midst of exuding powerful control, I can instantly be astounded by something completely unexpected, or conversely, when caught up in delight in the thrill of the moment, I can choose to shift suddenly to a moment of an intense demonstration of my mastery of this power that I call magic.  My mood, approach, and attitude can move abruptly but smoothly from one to the other from one moment to the next.

The audience is never completely sure whether I'm profoundly serious, or really just yanking their chain and having fun with them.  And of course, ultimately it really is a little of both.

So what is your attitude to magic?  Of course much of this you'll discover by simply letting yourself loose to explore when in actual performances.  It's a process of discovery, and therein lies the art.  But it's important that you find it.  It might be similar, in tone at least, to what I've described as mine.  But it might not.  It might be completely different.  Perhaps you're almost completely indifferent and even cavalier about it.  Perhaps your ability to do incredible, impossible feats has become so natural to you that you almost ignore it when it happens.  Like it's no big deal.  But whatever it is, it needs to be uniquely and distinctly YOU!  There are as many possible approaches to this as there are people who do magic.

On the technical side, your body language, sleights, and everything else, has to blend seamlessly into what you are expressing when the magic happens.  But of course, that's a whole other topic!

On Motivation in Magic

If you've followed much of my work and discussions on magic as an art form, you'll know that I talk a lot about the importance of building motivation into your magic routines. In theatrical terms, "motivation" is, of course, the reason why you do... whatever you do, as a character.

To take this a little deeper than I have in previous writings, in magic, for our purposes, there are actually two types of motivation. The first, which I would call thematic or character motivation, is the same as in acting. In terms of who you are as a character, why do you do whatever you do? What is it that drives your character? This is closely related to what I discussed in my last post on "attitude".

The other type of motivation is what I would call situational or technical motivation. This is motivation in a more specific, "applied to each situation" kind of way. It answers more specific "why" questions that are related to the technical aspects of achieving specific magic effects. In a nutshell, you come up with a reason, in terms of what you are communicating openly, for doing whatever you need to do technically to make the magic happen. In this case, "communicating openly" may apply to what you say, or to more subtle elements of communications, such as body language.

A simple example: in a card trick you do a double undercut to bring a selected card to the top. The technical motivation, or the openly communicated (apparent) reason for doing the cut is to further mix the deck. The hidden reason is that it accomplishes the act of controlling the card to the top of the deck. But the apparent reason is mixing the deck. That's the "technical motivation".

Whereas the character motivation would answer the question, why do you (as a character) choose to do a card trick in the first place?

Character motivation is not absolutely necessary in a performance of magic, but it adds depth and makes your character more well rounded and believable. Whereas, technical motivation is absolutely essential to magic, if you want your magic to appear to be magic, and not just some lame trick.

Character motivation helps draw your audience into your world and makes that world magical, and multifaceted, and helps to create the overall world of fantasy... to weave your spell. Technical motivation makes the specific magical elements within that world seem natural and real.

Attitude and Range of Expression in Magic

Well, for any of you still following me here, I have to ask your pardon once again for the inconsistency of my posts. Hopefully I'll remedy that sometime in the near future. We'll see. In the meantime...

This morning I was thinking again about the importance of having a performing character or persona as the foundation for performing magic. I've written about this many times before, but thought perhaps I could go into a bit more depth with it.

One reason your character determines everything else about your magic, is that your character determines your attitude and your range of expression.

If you have a good overall sense for "who you are" as a performer, then you know what your attitude towards your audience, your attitude towards the magic you do, and your attitude towards performing in general will be. Of course, these are all basic acting techniques, described in my own personal terms.

A David Copperfield, for instance, has a drastically different attitude towards the audience when performing than does a David Blaine. And each has his own attitude towards the magic he does and how he expresses himself through the performance of that magic. And these attitudes, regardless of whether they are consciously and specifically identified, or or unconsciously and subliminally "sensed", will nonetheless have a profound impact on the type of magic, and the style of performance that each of these types of performers will choose to do.

Each of these performers also has a certain range of emotional expression beyond which they cannot reasonably go, if they are to remain true to their performing characters. And this will also have a determining factor on the technical aspects of the magic they do. To give an obvious example, David Blaine is unlikely to ever do a grande illusion show with glamorous assistants in sequined costumes. And he would be just as unlikely to use the types of props that you'd see in such a show. Simply because none of this fits in (easily at least) with his emotional range as a performer. It doesn't fit "who he is".

So what is your attitude? Towards your audience or spectators? Towards the magic you do? In terms of the types of magic you choose to do? What are you expressing about yourself and your relationship to the audience and to your magic when you perform? And how does all of this relate to the magic you choose, to how you structure the routines, to the techniques you use to accomplish specific effects, and to how you end up actually performing them?

Even if you don't necessarily analyze all of this in detail, at least having an ever-present sense for what your emotional range and your "performing attitudes" are, will help you to remain consistent, natural, and believable as a performer. And it will help you in making the essential choices about selection of material, scripting, routining, and all the other elements of structuring your magic.