(Magic Podcast) Episode 81 – School Of Wonder 1

This is the first of a recurring series within the podcast – focusing on the work and wisdom of Tommy Wonder.

To me, Tommy Wonder is the greatest magician who ever lived.

Granted, I did not see Robert-Houdin, Bosco, Hofzinser or others of long ago.

However, when it just comes to reading the wisdom of his  “Books Of Wonder”…

or watch his performances on various DVD’s throughout the years…

literally no one has had more of an effect on how I think about magic than Tommy Wonder.

His work is near and dear to me and thus has always been a focus of the work I’m putting into my magic podcast  “Magic From Wherever I’m At.”

So now and again I will add yet another episode featuring what I’ve come to call the “School of Wonder.”

To start with, there will be four such episodes in a row.

Episode 81 is the first.

So enjoy, like I have, the wisdom and work of Tommy Wonder now and again on the podcast…

and if you’re not already hot on his trail…

immerse yourself in his work NOW.

You can check out all the episodes of the podcast HERE.

Subscribe to my almost-daily free emails on improving your Magic HERE.

[otw_shortcode_content_toggle title=”Episode 82 – School Of Wonder 1 Full Transcript” opened=”closed”] [Music] you’re listening to magic from wherever I’m at with your host the magician time traveler and charmer d’Artagnan [Music] come to the children it’s time to leave all our fears and frustrations behind we Minnesota training we’ve been so terribly betrayed are we all here welcome to another edition of the podcast I am d’Artagnan and today we start a very special series one I’m going to call the school of wonder and we’re gonna start with four episodes in a row to touch on some of the wisdom I have gleaned from the works of a person I consider to be the greatest magician who’s ever lived Tommy Wonder now I have never seen robear who Dan performed live I never saw Bosco write or serve a Laroy or or even you know a young Vernon in the Rainbow Room or I never saw a KJ live you know I’ve never seen some of the people who are of course now legendary in the Canon and history of the magical arts but to me in my own development to me there is no equal to Tommy Wonder and his books of wonder really contain probably all you’d ever need to know to be a great magician you know I’ve read most if not all of the great books in magic and these books I continue to return to to review there’s other books I do too but probably nothing has the magnetic power of the Tommy Wonder books because in my mind he’s just like years ahead in his thinking in the way he performed and he has influenced me more than any other person through their work I would say and so this will be something we’re gonna start with four episodes in a row on and I call these the school of wonder because I think there’s an immense mountain of knowledge subtlety all sorts of things you can get from reading Tommy wonders ideas to watching him perform that can influence you in the best of ways so that you get out of this low-level puzzlement which we’ll get to in a moment where you’re simply nothing more than a demonstrator putting a methodology in essence on display so all this we’re gonna start with these little ideas out of the world of Tommy Wonder I’m gonna do four episodes of these in a row and then from time to time I’m gonna re Institute so this will be a special series within the series of podcasts and hopefully we’ll crop up from time to time when I am motivated thusly to include some more work of Tommy wander because there’s simply never too many lessons I don’t think you can get from Tommy wonders as they say so let’s start out with something that is very near and dear to my heart and really what has become the battle cry if you will of this podcast people who listen this podcast regularly know it just drives me absolutely insane that people just are so absorbed with the tricks and just never never make it past that level and the way they perform the tricks is of the lowest most rudimentary way without a presentation without a hook without a theme without a character with nothing essentially most of the time and of course there’s some elements to which they attempt to drag into from now and again which only worse in this situation usually or try to provide some sort of theatrical context you know like blowing smoke or something which hasn’t really no place no meaning and no value within the given routine it’s demonstrated in and that was really one of the distinctions going through a lot of the literature over the years and I mention in another podcast like really people demonstrate tricks they don’t really present magic and that is why this podcast exists to attempt to be that battle cry to say look magic can be something more important but we have to do undo or do our part perhaps to raise it back up and of course it will probably never have a widespread effect just given the ratio of performers to hobbyists in the actual art in the you know participation in the art however you yourself like Tommy wonder like I try to be like the Ricky J’s of the world and the Michael Webber’s and so forth and some of my mentors all try to be a standard where everything is raised up a level or nine so that you are doing your part to raise the art back to where it belongs which is near the top of entertainment because we have things available to us most of which most people most so-called practitioners never avail themselves of course we have very special things within our earth that no other art possesses and this feeling this mysterious deep feeling of astonishment and wonder being part of that hence Tommy Wonder so today’s excerpt from his books of wonder Volume one under one of the chapters entitled tough customers probably wonder and wonderful prose yet again makes a point I have attempted to make on this podcast going on now more than 80 times by the time this is listened to and so Tommy Wonder says it is highly desirable not to push spectators into the role of detectives on the trail of your secrets because it can make your job harder and what is more important it can prevent prevent your audience from experiencing other elements of your performance and listen closely to this part right here elements capable of far greater entertainment potential then mere puzzle REE can offer good magic has so much more to give than puzzlement if you can transport people out of the role of detective or better yet prevent them from entering into that role you will have done them a good service since you can then offer them something of much greater interest and they continues with the solution which should of course by now shock no one listening to these words probably the best way to stop people from assuming the role of detective is to be sure that something besides the mere posing of a puzzle is present in your work something to watch and enjoy this means drum roll please an engaging presentation something to get involved in other than puzzle solving when spectators concentrate too much on discovering how a trick is done in 9 out of 10 cases it is probably because the effect and listen closely has nothing to offer them than the challenge of detecting the trickery involved with no I repeat no interesting presentation to enjoy no wonder they grab on to the only interesting aspect left them so there you have it right from the world of a person I consider to be the greatest magician who ever lived who’s obviously deep me and deeply influenced me as you can tell from these words and the passion which I recite them because this is really one of the most important aspects of magic and so few performers ever engage in this aspect and people wonder why it’s now associated with children and clowns and balloons you know nothing against those things those things can be perfectly you know good in their own right but they should not be associated with something that’s powerful deep and capable of such entertainment as a magic show done properly or at least done to the specifications of how Tommy Wonder is laying it out here and he’s 100% right on this because that’s what happens and you see it happen all the time to people you know essentially what you’re doing a trick we’re all you’re doing is using this processed patter and you’re just moving through the steps with no no logic no internal logic no external logic no reasoning no storytelling nothing nothing of course they’re gonna glom onto the puzzle now Tommy when it goes into other aspects of this but we’re gonna focus on this one aspect here today because this particular idea of having an engaging presentation having something else to offer other than puzzle REE is the cornerstone the most important aspect to differentiate yourself as a magician the role that you play who are you when you’re performing do you have any idea who you are who this magician is so to speak why is he showing us these things why should he why should anyone care you know that’s one of the classic mistakes is doing magic for Magic’s sake is like hey do you want just want to see magic that’s something most people approach him I’ve been guilty of that in the past myself because I was so enamored when I first got into magic of learning about it that you assume everybody loves it in the same way or would be interested and it’s simply not true just think of anything that you’re interested in you know if I run down a list of my own life of things I spend like 99% of my time on it’s magic marketing you know both of which contain elements of psychology that I read a lot about I watch a lot of film I read a lot of books it’s a storytelling and general sense is a huge part of my time I spent and I spent socializing talking to people and stuff and of course doing these things which is doing this podcast which is all sort of connected to all those things you know I have zero interest in stamp collecting sheep-shearing fine furniture art paintings I know a little bit about some odd stuff but I really don’t give a flying fuck about any of it and when you look at what people value like magic isn’t very high on the list of the average person it’s not that they hate it because hate is not the opposite of love in differences and like most things in your life you’re just indifferent to them you don’t hate them you’re just like I don’t care about it like for me I used to care cuz I had a lot of friends that were cared about this too is I used to watch a lot of professional football from the age of like 13 to about 37 38 I watched basically with at least with one of the same friends almost that whole time and others over the years every Sunday like clockwork we watched football when I started to travel and I moved away and I started street performing and stuff basically football I didn’t give a fly and it was already waning to be honest by that point my interest was already already waiting those last four or five years I would say leading up to it but I you know I’ll watch the Superbowl now or something I’ll watch some of the playoff games I’ll watch little bits here and there I’ll watch some highlights but for the most part I don’t give a flying fuck about any of it I don’t hate it I just don’t care about it and so when you do magic tricks as puzzle r-e which is what Tommy Wonder is referring to it here when you’re just a trickster and you’re just doing tricks instead of magic you’re not helping the cause of people being more interesting because you’re not providing like Tommy Wonder says you’re not providing anything else that has far greater entertainment tential than mere puzzle recan offer this is the importance of like if you study the other things like film and fiction writing you know any kind of poems any kind of story where a storytelling is present stand-up comedy not a good example you know there’s often a hook they start in the middle of the action it’s like typical advice when you’re writing a fiction and the screenplays and stuff you start okay a good example is you know Ben rewatching some of the Star Wars movies an anticipation of the end of the year coming when the latest Star Wars movies coming out and so so for instance a good example of this is the original Star Wars movie which probably everybody listen to this has seen at one point in another how does that movie start well of course you get the crawl at the beginning where it gives a little exposition but then immediately a ship spaceship this rebel transport ship with the princess comes over top of your head essentially which is being fired upon by a Star Destroyer of the Empire so you literally start right in the middle of the action that is one of the best examples in fact you look at all those Star Wars movies yeah they kind of all start in the end and start in the middle of the action which is sort of the best practices when it comes to hooking people’s attention and dragging them into the story from the get-go and that’s a principle you can use in your magic but when you start it off by just saying oh we’re just gonna do a card trick let’s pick a card and stuff that’s just horseshit you should never do that that’s just boys a bomb that’s just fucking boring and just leads to puzzle r-e and shit so you gotta start thinking about how to improve these things and make them better and raise your own magic to a level that is at least acceptable and doesn’t degrade further the public’s opinion because you don’t to be associated with these sort of white van you know weirdos who people often associate magicians with so you separate yourself out from those people by actually putting some real work into the part that matters you know once you have the trick down and stuff which does matter of course but that’s only a small percentage maybe like you know 15 20 percent and then you got to do the rest which is the other 80 percent you come up with a hook why is your character showing this to anyone why should this matter what does any is there any meaning to this is there any normal you know real world logic to it or doesn’t have its own internal logic how are the how is the reveal done the day Newmont all this kind of stuff you gotta put some real work into this and that involves thinking and then it involves testing and refining and iterating and that means performing right you’ve got to put it in front of strangers and then ultimately you will see for yourself because if you do those things I just mentioned and you put it in front of strangers what’s going to happen is they’re no longer gonna associate you with the tricksters you’re gonna be seen as something completely different they’re gonna start calling you a real magician as opposed to our people who are not and that is a designation you want because then you stick in the mind of the audience literally forever and people start seeking you out they come back to your shows again and again and again and they can’t get enough they’re basically hypnotized by your character and your personality and the way you perform your magic which has set you apart from all the pretenders from all the hacks the copyists the plagiarists which so invade this noble art so that’s it for today we’re gonna stop on this note here remember let the words of Tommy Wonder echo in the recesses of your mind as a battle cry to put some real work into the other 80% of your magic and this was part one of the school [Music] you [/otw_shortcode_content_toggle]

The Time I Met Merlin The Magician (Teaser)

Episode 17 Magic Podcast Teaser: The Time I Met Merlin The Magician

In this throwback teaser to Episode 17

I talk about my very first sighting of Merlin the Magician in Aspen, CO.

Traveling west that summer with a padawan in tow, we rolled into Aspen for two days en route to Las Vegas and Magic Live.

Seeing Merlin’s table propped up against a wall during the first day gave us hope we would encounter this mythical Aspen summer resident.

Contact established (eventually)… it was an epic four-hour visit which I will cherish as one of my favorite moments in my street performing and nomadic traveling life.

Spry and lively for a man who had attained an age considered elderly by most standards…

Merlin welcomed us to his table and set about drawing us into fascinating tales of a life lived adventurously.

made for a great episode of my magic podcast…

[otw_shortcode_content_toggle title=”Teaser Transcript HERE” opened=”closed”]circular drive area that you sort of had to turn around and I think was in front of a hotel or something…

so I started a show there and got this nice crowd notice and as I’m going through the motions…

it’s like as if he just appeared like materialized I guess is the word I’m looking for…

I see this older man at the back of the audience…

with this long white just white pure as the driven snow as they would say you know…

merlin the magician

this long white beard and I’m thinking and he’s wearing almost like… a

karate or martial arts style like gi sort of getup the black…

and I’m just in my head as I’m talking and doing the show I can oh that must be Merlin that’s gotta be…

I mean who else would look like that right?

My friend who was there he noticed as well…

so I complete the show which was one of the best shows I think I did there…

and the people were really good and but Merlin he didn’t stay to the end.

He stayed for about two-thirds of the show and then he vanished so I said to my friend after [/otw_shortcode_content_toggle]

You can read more about Merlin HERE

If you liked this… check this out

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Episode 80 – Something More…(Podcast)

Magician Rene Lavand Magic podcast

Episode 80 – Something More…

In this episode of the magic podcast “Magic From Wherever I’m At”…

I continue with Part 2 of my homage to “The Maestro”, master magician René Lavand.

I cover additional excerpts from “Magic From The Soul” including…

  • René’s thoughts on the work put into creating your performance pieces.   
  • His thoughts on the role of improvisation and its relationship to your audience.
  • Additional opinions from “The Maestro” concerning being “always-on” and carrying around props. 

All of this and more on this episode of  “Magic From Wherever I’m At.”

Listen to Part 1 of the thinking magician’s magic podcast HERE

If you enjoyed Part 2 – check this out

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Every Magician Needs To Watch This And Then Think.

I couldn’t agree more with the sentiment of this short video from Derek DelGaudio and The Future of Storytelling.

Which was one reason I started my magic podcast

Besides telling stories from the last almost 6 years of performing magic on the street (mostly)…

I wanted to break down and unpack the disdain I have for most magic.

The above video and picture I cropped out of it…

signify the main problem…

which I gave a name and reference point for on the podcast.

Too many tricksters and not enough magicians.

The reality is magic isn’t about tricks, moves, methods…

it’s about the experience of the audience.

The connective way the performer creates this…

and the performer trying to communicate something bigger than just deceiving audience members.

When you see the average magician perform…

it’s the unending diarrhea of boring, visually obvious remarks mixed with…

meaningless tricks garnering only fleeting surprise.

Therefore Derek, like myself, believes this art has become maligned and denigrated through the hackneyed approach of “our own”…

the unthinking plagiarist who, in often the poorest of tastes, mimics the last 400 examples of the same trick.

It should be videos like this act as a clarion call to remove yourself from these weak practices and instead hoe your own road.

If you’ve followed the podcast at all, you’ll see I have highlighted many artists who fit the bill of distancing themselves from the mediocrity.

Artists such as Ricky Jay, Rene Lavand, Roberto Giobbi, Michael Weber and others forthcoming as the episodes continue to roll out.

Every day I see so-called “magicians” share videos like the one at the start of this post.

In fact, this is how I stumbled across this video

I see them like and agree with these kinds of assertions.

Yet when they perform…

there is absolutely nothing, zilch, zero…

of the thinking promoted here.

It isn’t present in any way, shape or form.

They seemingly know enough to parrot correct ideas.

So why not go the extra mile and DO IT?

This may forever remain a mystery. 

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Episode 79 – Lentidigitation

rene lavand magician

Episode 79 – Lentidigitation…

is the first in a two-part series about “The Maestro”…

lentidigitator René Lavand.

>>>>>> Click here to watch the video I reference in this episode…

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The Magical Secrets Of Victorio De Pardú

In this Episode 79 teaser…

we catch the end of Rene Lavand’s “The Story of Victorio De Pardú.”

Sunday, November 10th…

Listen to the full episode HERE.

Until then… check out THIS

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The Maestro: Master Magician

This episode 79 teaser pays homage to a truly fantastic and influential performer.

The first time I saw this magician…

He mesmerized me.

Episode 79 is dedicated to this performer and is titled…

“Lentidigitation.”

Tune in Sunday for this latest episode.

If you loved this… check this out

All episodes found HERE! 

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Magic In Traverse City

In this episode 14 teaser…

I talk about the superb reception audiences gave me when I traveled to Traverse City, Michigan and performed during the Cherry Festival.

I made a bunch of new friends too.

Great town, great people, perhaps I’ll go back someday.

Shout out to police officer Evan Warsecke for inviting me…

and throwing an epic 4th of July BBQ.

FULL episode is HERE!

If you enjoyed this… You might love this as well

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Tension: A Weapon In The Magician’s Toolbox

In capable hands…

the ability to create moments of tension is a powerful weapon in the magician’s toolbox.

Every Sunday…

new episodes explore this and the deeper aspects of magic…

beyond moves and tricks.

If you liked this… check this out.

Check out all the episodes to date HERE 

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Episode 1 – What This Podcast IS & My Definition Of A Real Magician (Video)

Who is Dartagnan?

What is this podcast about?

“Magic From Wherever I’m At” with your host professional street magician Dartagnan.

In this inaugural episode (from almost a year and a half ago!), I talk about what I’m intending for releasing this podcast and I also strike to the very heart of a matter I have given a lot of thought about.

What is the definition of a REAL magician?

It’s time to pull out the mirror.

[otw_shortcode_content_toggle title=”Episode 1 – FULL TRANSCRIPT HERE” opened=”closed”][Music] you’re listening to magic from wherever I’m at with your host the magician time traveler and charmer d’Artagnan [Music] welcome to the first edition of the magic from wherever I’m at podcast and I am your host d’Artagnan it’s an exciting new project for me I’ve been sort of wanting to write a series of books about my street performing career thus far which has a spanned most of the last five years but this won’t be a street performing how-to or really a magic how-to per se this will really be more of probably stories and updates to whatever I’m up to wherever location and I’m at for the last five years I’ve been in 29 different cities if memory serves me and performed at some fabulous venues and so we’ll get into some of those stories this is basically just stories I want to get down you know posthumously if you will so we have some record of these exciting things that have happened to me thus letting people I’ve met people I’ve learned from just you know because writing them down by and large is just a pain in the ass quite frankly so let’s start off with Who I am so my name is d’Artagnan and I’ve been a magician from the Blastoise I think it’s almost 16 years now I started really late at 28 which people have seen my show on the street me know that’s how the show opens now what’s interesting about that is for the first you know almost 10 or 11 years it started as a hobbyist and then I started doing paid gigs at the time I was in Winnipeg Manitoba and I sort of kept those paid gigs sort of separate from the rest of my life at the time because magic was sort of you know a passion of mine but it didn’t really mix well I don’t think with the red the things I was up to and so I find it fascinating that the path has led me to here now and you know working on the street as a street performer as a street magician in the tradition that dates back to the very beginning of magic has been one of the most rewarding things I’ve ever done and it certainly has done wonders for my magic and for my understanding of what’s important in magic and I’ve learned from so many awesome people you know which we’ll get to in some of the episodes that I just want to use this as part of a giving back to the whole community if people listen to this I want them to take away maybe some fun stories but also you know some lessons because this is such an age old art and yet in many ways I feel is constantly maligned by the practitioners themselves which is unfortunate now you know why did I go on to the street well we’ll get into this in a different podcast in a more overview type way but for me it was an opportunity to travel I could take something I was already doing and use it to travel and explore different places meet new people and enrich myself with different cultures you know that I could learn from I mean when you travel and you meet new people and you experience different cultures you grow as a person hopefully and it just exposes you to so many different ways of thinking that perhaps you’ve never been exposed to before and so as a result it changes your life in many meaningful ways and the amount of connections I made with people all over the globe is almost insane to even think of when I look back now I mean I’ve met people from I mean I don’t know if every country but it’s like you have a very large number of countries and it’s interesting to see the different relationships that the different people from different destinations have with encountering a magician and that’s one of the things that I think is so interesting about doing magic on the street as opposed to when I did it before you know more private parties or when I do it now for private parties or weddings or whatever it may be it’s that you get such a diverse crowd you get so many diverse people from all walks of life in your audience and that almost a no other venue is that the case you know maybe in something like a restaurant or something would be closest but it’s still so different because most people never encounter a magician firsthand you know they probably have an uncle that does a few tricks at the you know family reunion or whatever but they never encounter a real magician now one of the things I’m going to do with this podcast is besides tell stories of interesting people you know I’ve met interesting situations I’ve been in and interesting shows that have done which they speak highly and not so highly of whatever helped to but also I think an important aspect of this podcast that I hope is to help other people pursue what they’re passionate about I mean this may be about magic this may be how you find this is may be about performing in general but this also should be a hopefully is somewhat of a clarion call to do what you’re passionate about you know all the friends I’ve made in street performing over these last almost five years now are some of the sharpest you know most passionate people who are out there motivated many times by something other than reward and who are trying to you know put the good into the world to enrich it in ways you know that they offer from their own goodness of their heart and their own passions and so this is a very important aspect I think whilst you performing because people like I said before do not encounter magicians on a normal run of the course of life I mean I don’t know how many times somebody has said to me you know I’ve never seen a magician up close life before I mean it’s a very rare occurrence I may only have but once or twice in a person’s entire life and this leads back to something else I’d like to impart through this podcast is I’m gonna have I’ve sort of affectionately termed it a rant section of the show but I don’t want it to be an angry sort of banging the gavel you know getting on a soapbox you know don’t do this kind of scenario what I’d more like it to be is to pass along some of the wisdom that I’ve gained from other people teaching me and also through the school of hard knocks which has just been going out and failing and doing things different ways and finding sort of ways that have produced the best results you know and hope that I’ve garnered me the most enjoyment and the most real connection with people in the audience and I think that magic suffers from a large number of things we’ll get into in some of these episodes but the first thing it suffers from I think is that there are a lot of people out there and and we’ll get into this a bit in a second with our sort of rant section you know I want these things to maybe be you know under a story or something for the first 10 or quote-unquote rant section at the end and the rant hopefully sometimes will probably get out of hand a little bit because I’m passionate about these things but I wanted to help other people so if they you know are coming up in this field not only it’s just magic but street performing or combination thereof or pursue other variety arts that they wish to do in other venues and or on the street but they will be able to take something away that makes them think even if they don’t agree and that’s that’s sort of the last objective is these are my opinions you know I’ve formulated these through my own personal experiences testing out things others have shown and taught to me and your opinions are gonna vary you know it may be completely polar opposite in some cases I’ll usually try to explain why I have a certain opinions but you know this is the beauty of living in a quote unquote free ish Society is to be able to express yourself in a way that is wholly your own and people can take it or leave it so at the very least I hope to make you think a little bit about it and I’ll try not to sound like an angry Rancher and more of trying to impart some yoda-like wisdom perhaps I’ve been able to glean from some of my exploits and so that brings us to the first sort of rant which will conclude this episode this very first episode I think magic suffers first and foremost from too many people calling themselves magicians who can’t really live up to that title now I’m gonna give you a start off by giving you sort of a metaphorical relationship between different things you know I’ve learned to play guitar in my life I’ve learned about computers you know pretty extensively I’ve broken certainly enough of them to know how they work cars much the same experience all matter a few years ago I fixed some break after watching a YouTube video mind you I fixed some brake lines on my friend’s driveway in New Orleans and through all those things you know I don’t count myself among IT professionals mechanics you know or musicians you know of any sort I would never label myself that way and this is something that I think crops up over and over again and magically there’s people who learn a few tricks and then call themselves a magician and I would say that that is wholly irresponsible I mean of those people claiming them because not only are you somewhat making a fool of yourself but you’re also denigrating an art you know that goes back to what the 1300s or something I mean what’s the latest you know I don’t know but an art that’s been around forever I once heard Ricky Jay say Moore’s been written about magic than any other art I don’t know if that’s true but you know you’re doing a disservice to your art by calling yourself a magician just like I’d feel like I’d be doing myself a disservice because I watched a YouTube video fix some brake lines and then decide to call myself a mechanic right and this largely stems from the trick part of it when people learn tricks they think that you know especially people who are not as deeply involved in it they think the trick is the most important part and it’s actually one of the least important parts so I mean it’s it’s basically like if you’re gonna build a house you were due to start with the foundation the tricks and a technique so magic are basically the foundation everything else that then becomes the house above that is more important and we’ll get into that as these episodes go forward so today I’d like to leave you with something which I have passed on to some of my other friends and again which you will be free to disagree with I’m sure and that is my definition of what a magician actually is you know and to me a magician is only a person who performs regularly for people that they don’t know at all right so that’s the I think the crux of this whole thing because when you perform for people that you do know especially in magic which I have learned there’s a lot of back slapping and stuff going on and magic about like you know and and in society in general I would say there’s a lot of like a for effort it seems like standards are going down or people just like as long as you give a you know as long as you give your a effort Timmy you know we’re gonna pass you I mean no one no one fails grades anymore nobody wants to put a dent in anyone’s self-esteem you know but to me a magician is someone who performs for people they don’t know you know regularly not just someone who performs to their friends and family or the local magic club because the ultimate arbiter of whatever it is you’re trying to accomplish with magic and that is the performance of it I would hope is that you need some sort of feedback mechanism for people to give you you know some sort of idea of what you’re doing is any good and this is one thing the street is very good at because if you are not of what you’re doing is not good I mean you get crushed immediately nobody watches nobody certainly tips you or pays and it’s over you know they just leave because they’re it’s such a free and open medium and venue from which to work and so it’s very specific and it’s critique because you start to learn very quickly what is important no matter the medium in this case magic but could be music could be you know being a statue it could be a number of things you learn very quickly what connects you to other people and what doesn’t and so for me I only call people magicians who work for people they don’t know and who work that’s the other thing who actually perform you know there’s many ways to be involved in magic which are valid you know collecting memorabilia a magic history you know going to be part of the local magic club and stuff but all those things in my mind and in my opinion fall short of the main crux of being involved in magic which is performing you know it is a performance art first and everything else is a distant second you know and you can only really appreciate magic if you’re actually performing for real people and certainly people you don’t know because there’s a lot of the techniques and methods of all the magic that you cannot learn by reading a book or just watching other people it’s impossible so the takeaway from this episode should be two things stop calling yourself a magician if all you know is tricks and you don’t do magic we’ll get into what that means in the next episode and second of all you know you should strive to perform you should strive to perform for people you don’t know if you want to call yourself a magician that is the criteria I think you should be meaning you may disagree but you know give it a long hard look are you worried about protecting your ego or are you worried more about are you able to connect people through the media and connect with people through the medium of magic and we’re gonna stop there for now that’s my quote unquote rant for episode number one I want to thank you for listening and hope you’ll join me in future episodes it won’t won’t always be funny and light-hearted I’m sure but it’ll be a journey that I think we can take together and all learn some from I’ll learn something from because I will learn more about what I’m doing by trying to explain some of these ideas and notions that I’ve had some of my own opinions and and try to transfer that knowledge and this is one of the reasons why I’m doing this podcast so without further adieu we’ll leave it there for today if you enjoy magic from wherever I’m at with myself d’Artagnan you can connect with me on the various social media d’Artagnan magic on Facebook Instagram you go to d’Artagnan magic calm to see the latest episodes and stuff there’s a mailing list there so you can be the first person to be notified you know when new episodes go live and whatnot and I want to thank you for listening I’m very excited about this project I’m very excited about you know helping other people find their way like people helped me and so we’ll see you in the next episode [Music] you[/otw_shortcode_content_toggle]

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