Hi,

I'm trying to develop my own effects, what advice would you give to someone that wants to make a living out of releasing magic. Is this what you actually do for living? It works for you, it's easy? What's the path?

Thanks Andrew!

The most important thing is to have experience and a niche. My first books on illusions were based upon my experience as an illusionist and the kind of problems I had to solve both technically and logistically. The ideas in those books were ones I'd either developed for myself or other working professionals.

When I got into shock magic it was because I was performing in comedy clubs and theatrical venues and developed far more material than I'd ever need. I started publishing that because friends who were performers thought it was going to be wasted if I didn't use it.

As far as making a living from it, that's just kind of something that happens or it doesn't. I never made a conscious effort to make a career out of it. I just by luck ended up in a position where I could turn down the kind of work I didn't want to do and spend time on my publishing company.

I don't know if there's any real clear path. There are very, very few "professional" magic creators. I'd probably be making a heck of a lot more money as a corporate entertainer who released stuff on the side. I probably made more money as a 19 year-old illusionist than I do as a creator. But I chose this route because I wanted to have the time available to follow some of my other crazy pursuits (filmmaking, science education, monkey army, etc.).

I created Magiczine.com as a way for other up and coming creators to have an outlet to get seen. If you go there you'll see some of the people who I think may have a big future as performers/creators. Derek Merdinyan is a great example of that. He creates cool effects while he's studying at college.

The biggest mistake a lot of young aspiring creators make is not having enough practical experience. You need to have gone out and done shows or worked in magic in some capacity to have a good grasp of what is and isn't a marketable idea.

So here's the formula:

Step 1: Have a good idea (usually based upon experience and solving a unique problem)
Step 2: Share it with your own group of experts
Step 3: If it's good, release it to the world.

Repeat