Finding Your Uniqueness in Your Magic Art

"Why you need to free your magic inner voice."

Finding Your Uniqueness

By Mitch Williams

"Make Your Magic The Best It Can Be!"

http://www.artofmagicseries.com

Recently I've been involved in a couple of online discussions on whether or not magic is an actual art form. My own view is that anything, whether it's painting, sculpture, plumbing, or auto mechanics, can be an art form, depending entirely upon the approach that you take with it.

How much of your own uniqueness are you expressing through your magic? How much of yourself, of your own unique perspective on the world, of your own one-of-a-kind personality, do you put into your performances of magic? If your approach is to simply do magic in exactly the ways that you've seen other people do it, then there may not be that much artistic expression in what you do. Although, even trying to do magic only as you've seen it done can have a certain uniqueness, given that you can't ever really duplicate someone else, something of yourself will necessarily come through in some way, and even the choices you make of whom to emulate are based upon your own unique perspective and preferences. So in a sense it's really a matter of degree.

Some performers can put themselves into almost every aspect of what they do, from creating their own magic effects to the way in which they perform them. But all of us can put something of ourselves into our magic, whether it's the choices of routines we decide to learn, our costuming, or most importantly, how we express our personality within the context of performing the magic we do. So in that sense we can all be artists. And in my experience, it is this… this creativity, this expression of ourselves, which will make our magic both as personally fulfilling and as appealing and entertaining to others as it possibly can be,… or not! Depending upon whether we decide to take this approach and how far we take it.

Some people would say that this is a rather narcissistic approach, since it's primarily focussed on "me". My character, my personality, my interests, my perspective of life. And it can in fact be a rather selfish approach to magic (or any other art form), IF you aren't also finding a way to bridge the gap between your own unique individuality, and that of others. In other words, you have to not only express your uniqueness, you have to do so in such a way that others (your audience) can relate to it.

It also depends upon your purpose. Is your purpose in doing magic to revel in your own abilities, to demonstrate how great you are, how you can do something special that others can't? Or is it to share the gifts of joy, thoughtfulness, humor, or compassion with others? To touch people in some meaningful way through your performances. Spreading joy is about as unselfish as you can get, and as an artist, the most effective way to do that, is by expressing your own uniqueness through your magic in some compelling way.

Nothing you do will ever be as appealing, interesting, or entertaining than simply expressing yourself through your magic. Since you are unique in all of time, that is your gift. Sharing that gift in a way that touches others in some way is your greatest contribution and your greatest art. So I encourage you to engage in this process of discovery through your magic. I guarantee you'll be glad you did.