Tuesday, May 17, 2011

Give Your Audience a Sense of Wonder

So, I was flipping through the channels the other day and I got stuck on the Oprah show. Yeah, I know. I feel like a real man when I watch Oprah (lol).


Anyway, there was a story about a homeless man named Ted Williams who became a huge internet sensation several months back with his incredible “radio” voice. I remember watching the YouTube videos of this man and being amazed by his story. If you haven’t seen any of his videos, watch the one below.

 
So, I’m watching this show about this supremely talented man who got caught up in alcohol and drugs and really went on a downward spiral. The show documented how he had become homeless, what he had endured, and the incredible story of how he was able to get his life back together.


At one point Oprah commented on how she got a feeling of wonder at his story. And I must admit, watching his story and seeing him overcome such difficult circumstances to regain control over his life really was inspirational and heart-warming.

So, here’s my question to you. What can we do as magicians to give our audiences a sense of wonder? Please don’t think that I’m downplaying his situation by comparing it to magic tricks. I’m not. I just want to know what we can learn from how his story is able to touch so many people and give them that sense of “wonder”.

Wonder is an amazing emotion to feel. It makes you feel warm inside. It opens your eyes to what is possible in the world. It’s a very powerful feeling that we as magicians can tap in to. And we should. We should absolutely try to tap into creating a sense of wonder through our magic. It’s very rare that people are able to cut through all the distractions out there in the world to really have an eye-opening, inspirational moment. It should be one of our goals.

Until next time…Make An Impact!

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