Engaging audiences in a meaningful way can be very difficult. It is too easy to fall into the mindset that magic is magic, and that by making the motions and saying the words is enough to allow audiences to experience magic. Far too often we see performers who have spent a great amount of time working behind the scenes on their physical technique, while giving their presentation almost no thought at all. Is it sufficient merely to make the moves or operate the gaff competently to have the audience experience the magic? I would argue that to perform magic competently is akin to performing an interesting stunt. The audience may not know how the stunt was accomplished, but they know it was “some trick.” To captivate an audience’s imagination, alter their perceptions and transcend their sense of reality is to perform magic.
Why bother go to all this work? Because ultimately, it makes your job easier and leads to a more satisfactory experience for your audience.
What we don’t see when we go to the movies, theatre, or even concert or museum, is the effort that goes into making a performance an effortless experience. To be confronted with work is not to be transported. In any performance, rehearsal is necessary to allow the performer to get beyond the technical demands required by his discipline, allowing them to focus on expression. An actor’s job is to listen and respond, not recite memorized words and execute rehearsed movements. A musician’s job is to transport an audience by relating through music a story or experience as filtered through their style and persona. A visual artist’s job is to render a visual image that transcends the detail and speaks to their works’ viewer by appealing to their emotions by way of their experience.
What is your job as a magician? You will need to decide this as you proceed…