Improving magic literacy

Transcript

- Hello, and welcome to a slightly shorter episode of the Conjurer's Coffee Break Podcast.
- It's an espresso, if you like!

- I was at a show last week, and whilst chatting to one of the guests after the event, he mentioned that he hadn't seen a lot of magic, but he really enjoyed my performance.

- OK, great, a nice pat on the back, for me there.
- But, I try not to let those types of compliments go to my head.
- We all know that when someone says, "You're the best magician, I've ever seen." What they actually mean is, "you're the only magician I've ever seen."

- And that got me thinking about this idea of "magic literacy."
- The truth is most people won't see a lot of magic throughout their life, so when they see your performance, you are shaping their entire understanding of magic.
- Therefore, it's our responsibility to make sure they see the very best we can give them, right?

- Now, related to this, I've been listening recently to How Magician's Think, the podcast by Joshua Jay.
- I really liked it, and I especially love that it's a project for the general public, designed to improve their knowledge and understand of magic. Their magic literacy.
- Definitely check it out.
- I spoke previously about thinking in terms of projects rather than gigs, and wouldn't it be great if there were more projects like this.

- Another shout out to events like The Magic Lab in Boston and The Curious Cabaret here in the UK, which both run regular public shows with a variety of magicians on the bill.
- If you're near those, or a similar one near you go support them.
- If there isn't one near you, why not be the person who sets it up?
- They're great because not only do they serve magicians by giving them a place to perform, but they also serve the audience by giving them a way to see not just one magician, but several with one ticket.

- This next bit is not unrelated, I promise.
- You know how, the way to learn how to appreciate wine or whatever, is to do comparative tasting. You don't just open one bottle, you open three, so that you can compare and decide which you like best and why.
- It's the same with magic.

- And here's the key. It would be great if the general public had more knowledge about which type of magic they liked or didn't.
- But for magicians, it's vital.
- What sets us apart as magicians is our style, our thoughts and opinions, and our personality.
- Part of figuring out your style is to be able to say, "that's great magic, but it isn't to my taste, or it doesn't fit me because..." and then the reason why.
- You know, it's funny how once you dive into a topic, it shows itself everywhere, and so I was surprised to hear something similar to this in the Masterclass by Carissa Hendrix, that I was watching recently.
- There's lots of useful content in there, so do check it out if you're interested.

- So, here's my goal for you going forward.
- If there's a magic show in your area, then go to it.
- Watching more magic and forming an opinion on what you like and what you might change, is all part of getting closer to what works for you, and that ultimately makes you a better magician.

- And if you can't get to a show right now, I maintain a youtube playlist of "great magic"
- And to be clear, I try to include anything that is objectively a good performance even if it's not something that would fit my style.
- I'll link to that and everything else mentioned in today's episode in the blog post that accompanies this post.
- Please check it out at edsumner.com/magicians and if you have a video you think I should add to my "just great magic" playlist then please let me know. What are your favourite performances?

- I promised it was a short one today, so that's it.
- As ever, subscribe if you're liking these and I'll speak to you next time.
- Thanks for listening.