talkmagic.co.uk

Sorry to steal the term from you Lord Freddie, but its just too good an oppurtunity to use! Along with E kid of course

As with most things I find this forum to be a wonderfully large source of information on the wonderful world of magic. I myself was drawn here a while back through my searches on the passing thru effect, ending up buying misled instead. I was young and naive, never reading a single book on magic-wanting one trick ponies. I bought RRTCM and Bobo (still terribly awful at coin manipulation) and Mark Wilsons. I found that all these books were incredibly useful, along with the help on these forums.

Alas I have hit a wall. My desire for one trick quick fixes took over. ID, Stripper, Svengali, Wizard PK to name a few. These all seemed like good purchases, ones that all good magicians should have. However the fact remains I am still an eager newcomer. I've read RRTCM to death and still feel, sorry to use this "Intanet" generation term (If you've read the Timewasters letters you'll get this reference! If not go and read it!), like a noob. I don't feel like I have direction, and I feel like my magic is empty.

This is the main point of the post. The old(er) generation of magi here seemed to have directed learning from somewhere. Either a friend or a mentor of sorts. I may be barking up the wrong tree of course, but thats how I feel. Mentors are far and few between. Thus the "Intanet" generation has found their direction in the world of DVD magic, E, Theory11 etc. The world globalised, as did magic and so did the teachers. While they're out to make a quick buck, they're still getting people into magic. Whether these iMagicians could/should ever be true magicians is a matter of debate. The fact remains that its a start into the world of magic.

I am an iMagician, but I am not proud. While I try hard, work at the small things- I get distracted easily. New reviews on new items spark my interest and I can't help but be sucked in. My spending has decreased, and its nowhere near the amount it could be. But it strikes me that most of the forum members here have a vast experience of magic with the knowledge to boot. It's obvious to you what you want to gain from magic, be it shop owner, working pro or inventor. In my eyes I’ll always be an eager newcomer, never feeling like I’ve got anywhere. I'm not trying to be broody, I do hope I’ve passed that stage. I'm merely trying to point out another side to the magic you are all so used to. I practice my patter, my presentation, but it still remains that I only perform for family and friends. There is no reason for me to spend money on excessive tricks that may entertain a few of my friends, if I can do the same with a pack of cards.

While we sit and criticise the iMagician horde, I can't but feel like one of them. The way the world is moving just allows us to seem closer and closer to one another, but in reality the E generation is really furthering contact from real life through Youtube etc. Direction to what to do to live up to such high expectations would be lovely, but what it comes down to for me (and hopefully to other iMagicians) is the question: why we do Magic? I for one know not why.

May I make a friendly suggestion, tempered with my own small amount of experience?

Perform. Go to parties, clubs and bars, take the plunge and perform. It's scary but exhilarating, and much more importantly, it puts magic in it's correct context.
If you only perform to your friends and family, you will get bored of your new stuff very quickly... be it the latest gimmick or even something learned from a book, when it's not fulfilling it's potential and making people laugh and gasp it will feel flaccid and useless and you will go hunting for the next good thing.

But if you perform to people, if a few things go wrong and if some things go very right, you have stuff to work on, stuff to cut out, and the effect lives and breathes. You learn what to do when it goes wrong, how to play it for the best reactions and what sort of people react best to it. Rather than feeling like another wet fish that has failed to satisfy you, it will feel like an old friend who you've shared some great times with and you can't wait to put to work again.

I have a thousand things I know how to do, a hundred things I have a skeleton of a routine for, but only a smallish number of things that are tried and tested. Guess which ones I spend all my time doing at gigs?

When you start performing, it's not the new things that are the best (necessarily), it's the things that give you the freedom and confidence to enjoy the experience yourself.

All the best

never had a mentor - wouldnt want one...

i found magic via the internet too pretty much, apart from vague older memories of certain performers...

i even own 3 ellusionist dvds...

now, the thing is, i've managed to achieve a couple of things i never thought i would - but i have...a big dose of luck, meeting the right people, and having a small amount of creativity in me in some respects...

however, the thing thats kept me going is going back to the older ways, all the best knowledge is pretty much in books - sure there's a few gems on dvd nowadays, but really - all the stuff i continually use, come from books, or occasionally pdfs, annemanns work is cheap via lybrary for example...

if you dont know why you do your magic - well, thats a hard answer to face...maybe its for lots of reasons you may not conciously be aware of...might not though...

only you will know the answer, but what i would say is - avoid all labels, except "poison"...

though - you do describe ID, Stripper, Svengali, Wizard PK as one trick ponies, which none of them are in my opinion...so maybe try out a few more books if you havent already? broaden your horizons a little more, and indulge your creativity?

Gotta say that the advice on here is always top notch! I was mistaken referring to the purchases I've made as one trick ponies, and for that I apologise. I do use them for more than the odd trick, which is a good thing . I do reckon your right though Farlsborough, I do need to try peforming magic for those who aren't just mates in my social circle. I shall indeed endeavour to try and peform for some randomers. Wish me the best of luck-in the hope that whatever got me into magic will remain will come back and remind me why I do it!

Many thanks as always

Farlsborough is dead right. I used to just perform for friends and family, I never really had any real direction, mainly because once you've shown them one routine, you've got to come up with something new. I used to have 5 card routines, 3 coin routines and lots of other odd bits.

But then I started to perform for other people, people in the pubs and even some paid gigs. It was then that I realised that there really is no need in having all these tricks and a few would do fine. Finding that meant that I could work and develop those few routines and that's where I found my direction. I've now only got one card routine, a coin routine and a couple of sponge routines, but I love these routines, I've spent so much time working on them and honing them that I feel they really are mine and not some tricks from a book. But it's only since getting out and performing for other people that I've been able to do that.

Well I did my first piece of magic for randomers the other day.
It went a treat! I was in the tube and somebody asked for the time. I of course showed them, commenting on the fact is was slightly fast. I then decided it was the perfect time to do some magic stating

"However I could slow down time to make it right" Proceeding with the classic PK ring effect.

We both loved every second of it!