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Why do you do magic? Why perform it? And when you do, what do you hope to achieve?

Cheers,

Liam.

Crikey - how much time have you got to read the millions of reasons?!

My most basic of responses would be:

Why do you do magic? Fascination with being able to do the impossible - something which most others can't do!
Why perform it? Sheer enjoyment - mine as well as the specs.
And when you do, what do you hope to achieve? To 'entertain', to perhaps bring a smile to someone's face, and to see that look of puzzled wonderment.

(It would be nice to do it for obscenely large amounts of cash as well but I leave that to the experts!)

Blimey - I don't think any other forum member has ever provoked so much interest in one morning... nice one, Liam!

Anyway:

Why do you do magic...
Escapism, ambition, fascination, passion, creative outlet, quest for knowledge, feed the hungry grey cells, relaxation... A spark ignited a rather large flame somewhere in my past, and it just grows.

Why perform it...
No need to do this for money, luckily. Just love it to pieces. Magic is a performance art, therefore, without an audience to perform to, your magic is useless and has lost it's purpose. Many people are satisfied with just 'knowing' how something is done.
As with any performance art, the objective is to stimulate, entertain and motivate your audience - but more importantly, to satisfy your own sense of self-importance. Yes - performance is an ideal way to build confidence, enhance character, establish ego and more importantly - to become self-aware, all giving a mass sense of satisfaction. To see a smile, hear a gasp, see a question on the face of your audience... wonderful!!!

What do you hope to achieve...
I never set out with a goal to achieve anything with my performances. Obviously, there are expectations - such as 'to entertain, to raise an eyebrow, to fascinate'. But strangely, I just do it because I enjoy it. Sure, it's much better when others enjoy it too - but achievement of anything has rarely crossed my mind.
However, a 'hidden' agenda is that I like to showcase my own material, and as such, when I feel these creations are ready for the public eye - I DO hope to achieve a positive response in order to see if I've 'hit the mark'.

Ambition, on the other hand, is something I do have - and my ambition is to get a small spark of recognition. Nothing outrageously egotistical, but I'd like to think I left a 'smudge' on the timeline of my life.

Aside from that, it's pure passion. I do it as a hobby - although I do occasionally do a paid gig. By buying, reading, learning, studying - I am able to vent my creativity in the magical direction - and this provides me with an outlet for relaxation, meditation and contemplation. Other 'creative types' will know exactly what I'm talking about... it's hard to put your brain to sleep at night...

I have to admit that when I started out I did it pretty much entirely for my own ego, the dreaded "I can do something you can't". I think I have matured a bit now and concentrate more on entertaining, though I do enjoy a secret feeling (that I'm sure you all experience) of joy that I am doing something so simple and fooling people. Hopefully this never comes over in my performance and people are entertained and mystified, but there is a definate selfish streak to my reasons for performing, even if deeply buried under the real performance, sorry .

Nick

Hey Mandrake, I have far too much spare time, and reading other peoples answers to questions such as these is fascinating (to me, if to nobody else)

It also opens peoples eye's to other points of view.

I mean, some magicians entertain with puzzles and gags, some try to produce pure astonishment (think of Paul Harris), others try to portray some message, and use the magic as a vehicle (Robert Neale, and the gospel pieces from Magic and Meaning), others just try to "Touch" peoples lives (Derron Brown, and the floating ring example from Absolute Magic).

By asking these sorts of questions, it makes me (and maybe others) think about their magic... and I have all the time in the world for that.

NickJ

I think alot of people start of magic in this way, and it's very honest of you to admit performing for mostly selfish reasons... I for one must totally agree that that is my primary reason for performing, so I think that i must join you with the face....

Siege

"the objective is to stimulate, entertain and motivate your audience"

Hear hear... my views exactly. Too many magicians just try to get by with puzzled looks! (imo)... If you can say that your performances go someway towards the goals you set out above, then, in my opinion, you are on the right path.

Thank you for all your answers so far... I can tell, just from one morning, that my stay here is going to be wicked!

cheers,

Liam.

Why do you do magic? Fascination with being able to do the impossible - something which most others can't do!
Why perform it? Sheer enjoyment - mine as well as the specs.
And when you do, what do you hope to achieve? To 'entertain', to perhaps bring a smile to someone's face, and to see that look of puzzled wonderment.

same as mandrake but also because i like kids and want o be close to kids...... sorry started chanelling johnathan king for a sec.

basicly my uncle got me started, then there was the stint with the spiritualists so you could say it was sort of mapped out for me.

and i was making a reasonable living at it too for a wile ok with discoe's too, but i was the show and intend to get back to it in the future, soon as i can find a girlfriend with her own van

Ah the romance of it all - I can just imagine the advert in the 'Lonely Hearts' section of the newspaper: Wanted, attractive girl with own van to assist Magician in his endeavors. Send photo of van.'

Ah the romance of it all - I can just imagine the advert in the 'Lonely Hearts' section of the newspaper: Wanted, attractive girl with own van to assist Magician in his endeavors. Send photo of van.'

mandrake very close but with the added line.

some wand polishing will be rquired.

Oh yes, a basic requirement in all cases!

first thing i look for in a woman LOL!!

Hhrrmmmm......Moving on. (Mistress' feeble attempt at ignoring the previous posts)

I tend to be a very shy person unless I'm performing magic, so I guess I do magic to help with my confidence. When i perform it, I hope to make the audiance wonder if what they really saw was actually magic. We live in world where about everything is explained scientifically, nothing is magic anymore. Everything has a logical explanation. I like to see the point when they realise that there is no logical explanation for what I've just done, that it's absoutely impossible. I suppose I perform magic because of the feeling I get from it, and because of the reaction you get. You can't beat watching their jaws drop to floor and you know they are beginning to wonder if what they just witnessed was magic.

Yonks ago there used to be motivational phrases bandied about which are along the same lines, 'Think lucky and you'll be lucky' and 'Act successfully and you'll be successful' were the main ones and it's quite true. By adopting the persona of a magician you can step outside your normal self and be somebody else for a while. That somebody else will entertain, confound and confuse in the nicest possible way. It also helps for the times when things don't work as you should be able to leave that behind when you resume normality.

and if it helps pay the bills all the better.

I think the biggest reason is to show people that magic does exist. Too often we grow up and get consumed by everday living and we lose that enchantment, that sense of wonder, the romance that we used to experience. For me, it presents an oppurtunity to give people to still believe in miracles and that nothing is impossible. It keeps us young at heart and reminds us all that everday truly is magical.

I do it for the fun of working with people and lying to them and for money of course