talkmagic.co.uk

With so many styles of magic anymore (stage magic, street magic, mentalism, etc.), I was wondering...is it better to know one style well, or to be sort of a Jack-of-all-trades type who dabs in all styles? I am not sure if I should be spending time learning new styles, or if I should focus on one style. Any input is helpful.

JAlexBrown

I would try a little of everything to find out what suits you best. then focus on what suits. usually there is some "overlap" so having at least a little understanding "across the board" will help later on.

I enjoy performing all different styles of magic. I think street magic appeals to me more (I'm a fool for the publicity it's caught with TV shows), but I saw my first stage show not too long ago and I loved it as well. I'm interested in mentalism, but it seems overwhelming, so I think for now I'll skip that part. Hopefully I'll come back to it later on down the road when I'm a bit more prepared for it. I know there are lots of concepts (slights, in particular) that run through all types of magic, and I'm working hard to get my slights down. When I feel so well-suited and so well-inclined to perform all different types, it's aweful hard to single one out.

JAlexBrown

They say that variety is the spice of life and I think that it's certainly true when it comes to learning magic

If you look at all of the great magicians then they all have versitility by being proficient in a number of different areas of magic.

Different folks, different strokes...

It's worth dipping your toe in all sorts when you start out, to see what you enjoy doing or what suits your style of delivery (not to say that you can't develope this in different directions). I doubt there's a single stage magician or mentalist out there who didn't start with close up, it's always good to have a foundation to build on.

The only time the "type" of magic you perform becomes an issue is when constructing routine for performance. You want to make sure you're not swapping from an intimate mentalism or card trick to a big stage effect then back again or whatever.

I'd say watch as much magic being performed as you can, tv, dvds, even stuff like youtube (although make sure you watch decent performances, not just some kid with his webcam and a deck of cards). You'll soon start to find the kind of effects that you especially want to be able to recreate, and that'll start you down a path to the kind of magician you want to be.

I believe that when starting out, it would be good to try all styles, to see what interests you the most.

Personally, I knew that I was already interested in Mentalism, as the effects just blow me away, and card magic. I'd love to perform street magic, but the prices and addictive nature of purchasing individual effects would be a bit much for me.

By telling myself to concentrate on Cards and Mentalism, I can tell myself, no, don't buy that all new WOW effect, because as amazing as it would be to perform, it wouldn't fit in with the other effects I'm learning. With cards, all you need is a deck and a few books, and a lot of practise to amaze.

After you've figured out what interests you the most, I believe it would be the best to stick with that style, and maybe only learn a little from a few more styles. As Sun Tzu wrote, 'concentrate all your forces on one point' (or something along those lines).

By doing this, you're able to devote more time to perfecting your style's moves, as well as the patter and other additional thingies to make your presentation and routine absolutely mindblowing, instead of devoting time to learning a myriad of tricks, and not having the time to devise a way to perfectly present them.

Time - it's our greatest resource!

-Adrian