Originality

Thought I would briefly talk about originality in magic.  I say “briefly” because this is a subject I could go on and on about.

When I first started in magic, I mainly learned by watching video.  Because I was watching other magicians perform, when I learned the magic that was being taught, I used their exact same scripts, ideas, etc.  That’s actually quite natural.  Most beginners do exactly that.  They learn the magic as it is taught, then they perform it the same way.  No problem there.

After some time though, I think it’s important to start to imprint some of your own personality into your magic.  I guarantee that you have a different style than the person whom you learned the tricks from.  You probably have a different sense of humor, different interests, and different ideas for what makes magic good for you.

Your audiences want to see and get to know you.  They want to enjoy you doing the magic.  Your audience does not want to see you doing your best impression of Criss Angel, David Blaine or Jason Michaels.  They want to get to know you. 

That is one of the things that makes magic so powerful.  It’s a performing art.  Magic is not nearly as good when it’s seen on video.  It’s not, trust me.  Magic is best experienced live.  That‘s why it’s so important to not be a clone of some other magician.

As you learn more and more magic, find ways to share your personality.  Feel free to change the magic so that it represents your sense of humor, your view of the world, and your ideas.

I’m sharing a video on this post of Shawn Farquhar performing his multi-award-winning act Shape of My Heart.  Shawn recently won FISM (the Olympics of magic) and is a grand champion of magic.  I think it’s important to see how he used his own ideas and inspirations, along with numerous sleight of hand techniques to create a beautiful routine that his audiences go nuts about.

On a related note, Shawn is a personal friend of mine and he and I have talked about this routine before.  He put a ton of time and effort into creating it.  Unfortunately, numerous magicians have seen him do this act and have decided to rip it off.  Don’t do that!  I’m not posting this here so you can steal Shawn’s routine.  I’m posting it here to inspire you to use everything around you to inspire your magic.

Remember, be an original.  And never forget…Make An Impact!