Late night magic rant

So any of you from the Order of Aggie Illusionists have heard this rant (or one similar to it) before, but that doesn't mean that you shouldn't read it anyway. I'm sure I'll make some good points at some point.
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One of the things that bothers me most about the magic community is that almost every magician I run across wants to think of magic as a form of art, not as the novelty entertainment that it has become. I admit, I'm one of those people. I believe that what I do should be considered art and I am entitled to the honorific "artist". Unfortunately, not everyone is.

Magic is art. Get that through your head now. The way that most of us present magic isn't. Most magicians are actually just people who do magic tricks (I have an entire other article on that topic). So you want magic to be taken seriously as an art?

Then stop screwing around and get serious!

It takes quite a bit of practice and performance time to make a routine art. So for all of you bemoaning the state of magic today: get off your lazy posterior and go out and do some performing! You don't get the honorific "artist" or even the title of "magician" if you don't actually perform magic! And it's this lack of performing skills that keeps magic as a novelty act, a peripheral entertainment and not at it's rightful place of art.

Magic is a performing art, and without going and performing it. You can't just sit in your studio (ok..living room) and practice a pass or a double lift (something more of you need to work on anyway) and then think you're a magician. You're not. You're a technician perhaps, but not a magician. A magician needs to not only practice routines, but has the performing chops as well. That's what it takes to be a real magician.

Think about it. Think about your favorite magician. I bet I know people who are better at technical sleights than Michael Ammar and Lance Burton, but those two know how to perform, how to put on a show, how to take that hokey hobby that Uncle Joe does and turn it into art. The reason they are the best is not their technicals; it's their performance! Look at how they can improve (ask Michael about the mashed potatoes next time you see him, or ask Lance about the time his theater caught fire and he had to entertain out front), look at how smooth they are. Take a look at Whit Hayden and see how he banters with the audience. It's not the trick, it's the magician they've come to see!

So get out there and fumble a trick, screw up a production, and make a fool of yourself. If you don't, then you'll never make it as one of the great names of your time and really, who strives to be mediocre?

“Everybody's human-everybody makes mistakes. If you laugh it off and keep going and try to give it your best the next time around, people respect that.”




Cameron Rivers, Kings To You Magic