mark lewis wrote:Craig is correct. Showbusiness is a tough business and you have to accept that you are going to be stolen from and you are probably going to steal something yourself if it happens to suit you. Don't tell me you wouldn't dream of it. None of us are angels. Even if it is a gag or line of patter everyone does it all the time. It isn't nice but it happens to be reality.
You have to accept that there are predators out there and it is incumbent on you to protect yourself as best you can. You wouldn't leave the car or house door unlocked so you shouldn't leave your creativity unprotected either.
And of course that goes for amateurs as well as professionals.
That last line is all too important in that the majority of the greater innovations our industry has seen have all come from the amateur/hobbyist element. Sadly, most that fit this mold are simple trusting souls that are generally oblivious to the nature of our fellow mage or simply ignore it, believing such things wouldn't happen to them.
There is an on-going joke at the Magic Castle pertaining to a "Locked Cabinet" in the library filled with rare and very special books. Something about the irony around locks and magicians if you would. Yet, many have picked the bloody lock. It's a thing psychologist refer to as "The Forbidden Fruit Syndrome" in that certain people are just compelled to steal or, if you would prefer, embrace the idea of a challenge when that challenge entails something "taboo"... such as "borrowing" from others and trespassing.
The sad reality is, magic as we know it today is an extension of the hustler and flim-flam world more than it is those romantic days of the shaman and wizard. We are by nature, money chasers and in some cases, willing to sell our own mother if it would give us an advantage over someone else. A casual look at the History of Magic and some of the things done over the years by some of the biggest names in the trade to other major players. Houdini was one of the worse for this kind of thing, even going so far as to rob the Blackstone warehouse on one occasion and stealing the trunk used by Mr. B (Sr) for his underwater trunk escape... which he did years before Houdini.
The craziness around the Sawing in Half effect is another wonderful chapter in history when it comes to the general theft and in fighting. Kirkham told me about visits by certain noted builders to his and John Daniel's home, just so they could get a closer look at the original Thin Sawing cabinets and create a mental picture with size and measurement estimates... sometimes even accurate measurements in that they'd bring a measuring tape.
The examples are lengthy. The irony to it is how some of these "thefts" evolve into what can be best described as "Standards" to certain effects; the best example being the common gag lines and "bits" done with the Lester Lake Head Chopper and how the material was shared by permission with a couple of chums and then "adopted" by others that saw them all work and ultimately, a huge chunk of that script remains with us now as a presentational common.
But here's something to consider... though you might make a reasonable living doing material that belonged to others or even the canned material you find with an effect, you aren't a "Magician" until you start making the material your own and an extension of you, your dreams, etc. Until you make creativity your cornerstone in all that you do on stage, you are just another dime a dozen wannabe that will not stand "out" from the crowd.
Understand however that the point of being "different" and "original" does not mean you must wear eyeliner and not groom your hair upon waking up, etc. That's just being a rebel.
