talkmagic.co.uk

Now, this might just be me, but my magic seems to becoming more of a job than a hobby now.

As i get better at my magic, i get more bookings, which are now every weekend and i just cant seem to enjoy it anymore. I am getting paid lots for it which is great as i can buy more and more things that i want, but i dnt have the time to spend it!

Does this seem to be familiar to anybody else?

Fortunately, no!

But I can imagine that doing the same things over and over would make them a little stale. Have you thought about changing the hobby aspect for a different genre of magic? You do kids and stage shows for your paid work so maybe if you spent your leisure time on cards and coins you might find something new to work on that is more interesting.

I've been pro for a long time now and I think doing your hobby as career needs to be treated as a marriage, you have to work at it. to keep it fresh, I change my routines ang gags regularly, because if its fresh to me, hopefully it'll be fresh for my audiences. I couldn't imagine keeping the act the same for ages I still love performing and practicing as much today as I did when i was younger. Try varying your routines a bit and keep adding new effects to keep you on your toes.

I actually found I was enjoying it less when I became a pro, after a few years it felt like any other job. I still do paid gigs but now I just pick the ones that suit me. Now that I no longer rely on it to pay the bills I have found I enjoy it once again. That said there was very rarely a time I didn't enjoy actually being in front of an audience.

Mark

I've always seen my hobbys as an escape from the humdrum and presure of work.

I enjoy magic to relax, when I have to perform i enjoy it in an relaxed situation but I have been offered paid work and always said no because it would not be relaxing and to work for money would scare me as there are diffrent goal posts.

There less presure performing than being paid to perform.

I am lucky I have a well paid job and I have to work shifts so this aslo prevents me going down the road of hobby to method of income

ITS NO GOOD DOING ANYTHING IN THIS LIFE UNLESS YOU ENJOY IT. IF IT PUTS YOU UNDER PRESSURE GET THE HECK OUT OF IT, YOU WILL END UP IN HOSPITAL...THIS LIFE IS NOT A REHERSAL. I DO MAGIC BECAUSE I ENJOY IT, NOT FOR THE DOSH....YES I AM LUCKY, BUT A MY AGE I HAVE PAID MY DUES

i do childrens magic for work and close up for fun and don't realy see it as hard work either way.
then again i don't do a set routine every show more of mix and match on the fly which keeps things interesting, i supose when i find my debbie magee i will have to start structuring my shows till then I'm quite happy with the pick up and go stuff i do now

Hi

It can get tedious if you are doing the same stuff all the time.

A cabaret in London means I load my sound system and all props in the afternoon and leave at about 17:00 for a 21:00 show - I cannot pack down straight away as I have to wait until guests leave, so normally home about 03:00 - very tired.


To relieve this I am always trying to improve my close-up - practicing and getting new books /DVDs as this is where the fun is.

It is always good to have other hobbies - I trying to learn to fly - not Copperfield style - LOL, Trying to study for my Masters, and recently took up fencing again. The latter two completely away from magic.

Your brain needs a break - How about learning to dance, act - which will enhance you magic.

Paula

yeah i know what you mean m'lady did i not mention that I'm magicdiscoman, i do a disco as well as mad magic in kids shows so i get quite a varity for my mind and body but boy does it hit you on your off days but hey I'm the boss so can pick and choose.

magicdiscoman wrote:yeah i know what you mean m'lady did i not mention that I'm magicdiscoman, i do a disco as well as mad magic in kids shows so i get quite a varity for my mind and body but boy does it hit you on your off days but hey I'm the boss so can pick and choose.

Yes Its nice to be your own boss.

I used to sell disco equipment - and got to play with it all.

Have you seen the Numark CDN90 - WOW - this twin cd player has got it all.


Paula

Numark CDN90

whey cool that one, i have gone from a dj box set to a coffin set and seperate amp as things were getting a bit weighty.
now i have all my magic, disco rig and lights in seperatw rolling boxes less strain on the old back.

magicdiscoman wrote:

Numark CDN90

whey cool that one, i have gone from a dj box set to a coffin set and seperate amp as things were getting a bit weighty.
now i have all my magic, disco rig and lights in seperatw rolling boxes less strain on the old back.

Get a roadie - they are cheap if you teach them the trade at the same time.

Paula

It sounds very familiar to me, not as a magician (which I am fledgling at to say the least), but as a musician.

<snip> .. I've just written a lengthy reply here, but reading it back it was way too depressing, a huge moan. The gist is, I also started young (I was a precocious keyboard player, I did my first pro gig when I was 13 and took on all the work I could get while I was at school) only to eventually find the realities of being a jobbing musician killed my passion and made me hate music, because the motives had changed; I wasn't doing it because I loved it, I was doing it because I had to to eat.

I won't go into too much more detail now (maybe we can chat sometime), but what I will say is that having a talent can be a burden because everyone thinks they know how you should use it, you have to identify that different routes always exist, whatever people say who think they know best. You have to find the one that's right for you; it may not necessarily be the most lucrative (at least in the short term), in which case a lot of people will tell you it's wrong, because a lot of people measure success only in pound signs.
Do things for the right reasons (yourself!) and try to have something else to fall back on to pay the bills if required (I neglected this to my cost, and it was a big factor in turning music into a drudgery-filled chore instead of something I loved). From what I've seen of you you have a level head and a way of keeping your feet on the ground that I can only wish I'd had at your age; that you even started this thread is a sign of that, and also I suspect a sign you have the strength to succeed on your own terms one way or another.