Y'know, I got to thinking last night:
What am I doing with my hobby? Where am I going? What direction am I taking here? What exactly is the "point on the horizon" I'm sailing toward?

Like most boys, I drifted into and out of magic (about 2 or 3 different "phases") during my formative years....got a bit heavier into magic during my early 20's....then left magic TOTALLY during my late 20's/early 30's.....I'm presently in my (very) late 30's and have been devoted to magic for just over 3 years now, with no breaks....I've really decided that's it's "right" for me.
I read a'lot. Lots of Linking Rings, MUMs, Gennis, various odds and end. I read recently that Eugene Burger says, "Reading is a way to avoid practice." I think I may be "stuck" in that zone. I said in January, "I'm going to devote this year to ropes and cards." and I've relatively stuck with that. But, I just feel like I'm adrift. I watch a few videos and am reasonably active in a local IBM Ring....I occassionally session with other magicians, but rarely with anyone who pushes me out of my rut(s). I guess what I'm saying here is: I need to find some direction with my magic, but I don't know (A) How to find that direction and (B) What the "right" direction is.
It's like: I need a curriculum........"read and learn everything in these three books over the next two years." I started the Royal Road.....barely made it out of the first chapter then got off onto Mark Wilson's terrific book.
With minimal bashing, can anyone out there offer me a bit of encouragement or maybe even guidance? What will help me? The old "Learn 10 tricks and learn those well." might just be the sage advice I need to hear.

Yo Paul.

I think that it is always difficult to select a path to follow in magic. Here's what I suggest. Set youself a goal, and a timeframe in which to do it. It should be something achievable.

For instance, you said that you have worked on ropes. Set yourself a goal of developing say a 5 to 10 minute rope act that you will commit to performing at the IBM ring by a certain date. Commit yourself by "booking" your spot so that you can't just drop it at whim.

Now write down your goal, and the steps you need to accomplish it.

1. Choose and routine the effects.
The criteria should be - Commando style - everything comes out of your pockets and returns to them. (Later, if you develop this as part of say a cabaret routine, you can easily use a briefcase for storage and ditching - for now, it should be developed as something you can perform anywhere, anytime, under virtuallt any conditions. Though you are developing for a specific performance, the idea is to build a portion of a possible future professional repertoire).

2. Learn and practise the moves. You should allocate a time and stick to it so that you cover it avery day.

3. Write a script. Trust me - it will help.

4. Rehearse the full routine with patter (or music). Time it. If you can, video it, and play it back. Look for anything that should be changed or eliminated, than do so. This is your opportunity to figure if the routine both flows and builds. If not, change it so it does.

5. Perform it.

6. Ask for feedback. Make any changes. Find out what was the weakest trick in the routine - For future performances you'll be looking to replace that with something stronger. Continue working on it, improving the execution, refiming the patter, and performing it. With each performance pay attention to what works and what doesn't and changing the routine accordingly.

7. Now do teh same yhing with something else - say a 5 to 10 minute card routine.

Sorry Paul,

Accidentally sent it without finshing the thought. The idea of this program is to focus you on meeting a set goal in the near future that is achievable. Short term goals are easier to stick to. Simutaneously, you are slowly building a repertoire that may eventually become a professional one if you so desire, or a professional quality one if you don't.
You need to perform these to laymen - I suggest setting them up at a club initially so that you can get your peers help in comitting to the goal.

Basically I'm just saying take action, set goals, and head for them.

Good Luck.

You know......I had a great session with some friends recently....helped a'lot in this arena!!

Read my sig.

A suggestion that may help is to take someone under your wing. Is there some young magician that could use your help? Having someone look up to you and having them pester you with questions about magic may require you to brush up on things you tend to leave undone.

The best way to remember something is to teach it to someone else.

That being said... I am still new myself (so take this with a grain of salt)

~Ben

Good Advice Indeed...


also as was posted before me, set a goal, write it down..in fact write down a list of things you want to do day by day, a long term goal sometimes is overwhelming, but a day by day goal is much easier on the mind to accomplish..

if that makes any sense