"How can your magic be artistic?"

Magic as an Art Form

By Mitch Williams

"Make Your Magic The Best It Can Be!"

http://www.artofmagicseries.com

Most of the article that follows is adapted from my newly released Act Building Toolkit for Magicians, which is a complete home study course on practical methods of approaching magic more artistically and creatively.

I suppose the first question should be, “Is magic actually an art form?” Personally, I believe it can be, specifically, a performing art. Most magicians tend to claim that magic is an art, and that they intend to approach it as one, but in my experience, few understand how to really do that realistically and effectively. In fact in most cases, it seems to me that we’ve tended to take the opposite approach from that of a true self expressive art form. In true art, the vehicle of expression, whether it’s painting or acting or music, or in our case magic, is merely a means through which the artist can communicate something meaningful to others.

Leo Tolstoy said that...

“Art is a human activity having for its purpose the transmission to others of the highest and best to which men have risen.”

When the paint brushes and canvas become more important than what the artist wants to express, it’s no longer real art, but merely a technical exercise in using certain skills. And of course, there’s nothing inherently wrong with that. It can be valuable in it’s own right. But art is something more. Art is when you put something of yourself, something of your heart and soul, into what you do. And in that sense, art is self expression. And literally anything can be an art form, from painting to plumbing! It’s all in how you approach it and in what you put into it (and consequently, in what you get out of it as well!)

My feeling is that magic, like a great deal of our Western society, has become much too focussed on the technical side of what we do. We’ve distilled magic down to mere intellectual puzzles. There’s little if any true depth of expression in much of the magic that I see. And it shows in terms of how the public tends to view magic. In the minds of most lay people, the main criterion for whether magic is good or not is whether they can figure out how it’s done.

Which leads to a rather unfortunate tendency; that of magicians who can do a few magic tricks passably well from a technical standpoint (so that they can indeed "fool" people), but who are so inadequate as actual performers that, while their audiences may not know how they accomplished whatever feat it is they perform, they’re nonetheless bored, or even worse, possibly offended by the performance of the so-called magic involved.

Because the "fooled or not fooled" criterion is the basis on which most magic is judged, and therefore poor performances of magic are deemed acceptable so long as the effects "fool" people, for many people, magic has gained the reputation of a second rate profession filled with boring and offensive con men or tricksters. This, instead of the outlook of viewing magic as a true art form with depth of feeling and content; one in which magic can and perhaps should be recognized.

The good news is that over the past few years, as I’ve been lecturing around the country and talking to magicians about magic as an art form, I’ve begun to see this trend in magic shift subtly but significantly. More and more magicians do seem to be wanting to approach magic by putting more of themselves into it and making it more expressive and meaningful and artistic and even just downright fun! The fact that you’re reading this now, and that you’re interested enough to be reading a magazine dedicated to magic as a performing art, indicates to me that you are more than likely one of those magicians who are on this cutting edge. So congratulations!

While it’s one thing to give lip service to the idea of approaching magic as a performing art, it’s another thing altogether to actually do it. Many people want to, but they don’t know how. They don’t even know where to start. Since so many of our examples are along the lines of the old, technical, “fooled you!” lines of thought, it’s tough to find guidelines and role models of how to proceed. But there are some significant places that we can begin.

Finding Your Uniqueness

In approaching magic as a self expressive art form, the whole idea is to use your magic as a vehicle through which to express something that’s inside of you that’s just dying to get out. We’ve all got something within us that we need to share. The trick is to bring it out in such a way that other people can relate to it too.

And your biggest asset in this regard... is YOU! It’s your unique individuality that will be the ONE thing that sets you apart from all the other magicians, and performers of all kinds. And if art is self expression, YOU are that “self”. It’s crucial that you have an idea for “who you are” as a performer. There’s never been another person exactly like you in all of history, in all of time, in fact. And there never will be again. You are a one of a kind miracle, completely unique.

So it’s clear that as artists, we have a responsibility to be true to who we are as unique individuals. If you can discover that uniqueness and bring it forth, it’ll be the absolute best that you have to contribute in your magic.

In terms of performing a magic act, what this means is that you need to have a clearly defined idea of who you are when you perform. This is your performing “character”. For most of us, our character is simply an expression of, an exaggeration of, or based on some aspect of, our own personality. The phrase, “be yourself” has become an overused cliché for many people, but it really does describe essentially what it takes to be a skillful artist, and particularly in a performing art such as magic.

Your Character as the Foundation of Your Act

Your character is the filter through which you express yourself, it‘s the defining element of ALL the magic that you’ll do, and it determines the style, the content, the tone, the type of magic, and literally everything else that will make up the specific aspects of your magic act. In that sense, it can be considered the foundation for your entire act.

And it’s also your character that will make or break your act. Don’t kid yourself into thinking it’s the magic that’s the most important aspect. The most important aspect is YOU.... your character, your personality. I’ve seen many, many magicians who did technically excellent magic, but whose personalities when performing were either boring or in some cases downright caustic and offensive. And they wonder why everyone isn’t falling over in awe of their great magic.

Without exception, the truly great performers in magic, as well as in pretty much every other performing art, are those who know how to put themselves into their performance, to bring their personality forward in such a way as to touch the audience, making them laugh or gasp or even bring tears to their eyes.

It’s my sincere belief that if we simply made just this one shift, of making our main focus what we want to express and contribute through our magic, rather than on the tricks themselves, we can and would begin to elevate magic to extraordinary new heights, both in our own eyes, as well as in the eyes of the lay public. If you haven’t already, I challenge you to make this shift, and also to go out and spread the word amongst our fellow magicians. If you do so with heart and sincerity, I’m certain you’ll reap abundant rewards from your efforts.