Magic and the Allied Arts

So, this post is inspired in part by this video (sorry, apparently I can't imbed a direct url) as well as the wonderful conversation that happened over on r/magic.

Now, I stand by what I said in the above discussion: by watching and practicing other forms of art and performance, it makes you a better magician. In the above video, the most obvious things that you can take away are the costuming, the staging (blocking, lighting, etc), and the music. If you take any of those things out, the video changes context drastically. Don't believe me? Try watching it here (mute the video on the right, the one with the performer).



See what I mean? By exchanging the music, I have re-written the context that you view the performance in (not to mention added a bit of creepy with the DJ on the left). The choice of music (or to not use music as the above performer does when the tension builds towards the end) drastically impacts your impact on the audience.

Now, after you analyze the lighting, staging, music, and costuming, you can get into the more intimate details of the performance: the way the performer moves, his facial expressions, and even the way he sets one object on the next. I'm sure that he can do this whole thing by just grabbing one of the (spoons, palm fronds, I don't know) and quickly setting it on the next, but he draws it out. This goes along with one of the most important aspects of performing magic: SLOW DOWN! Yes, you can perform a simple card trick in twenty or thirty seconds and no, it's not going to be as impressive as if you had taken a minute or two to give it some presentational context.


So take some time to look at other performance styles that catch your eye or other hobbies you might have and see what you can learn from them. If you need to get started, here are some fun videos:

Diabolo
Contact Juggling
Fire Poi
Juggling
Play Immersion


~Cameron Rivers, Kings To You Magic