I love this post and it’s something we need to discuss in the magic community.
I like your analogy to musicians, and it reminds me of Nick Diffatte’s call to magicians to “find your Elvis.” Elvis Presley set the standard for success in popular music during the 1960s, ‘60s and ‘70s. He still is revered, as evidence by the recent hit movie about his life. Elvis didn’t write his own songs. But when you hear an Elvis song, you know it’s him. It’s unmistakable.
Even if magicians don’t create their own effects, and have bought the rights to perform the material, they still can put their own marks on it. There are lots of classics in Magic and they work as well today as a Chuck Berry song.
You are right about cover bands. There are many good ones. Some are just as enjoyable as musicians who write their own material.
Nevertheless, songwriters, singers and magic creators have a special place in the world. Their creativity drives art. Yet some artists do other’s material better than the ones who made it. Or at least it’s different enough to make it original. I would contend that Jimi Hendrix sang some of Bob Dylan’s songs better than Dylan. You can order tricks performed by David Blaine but that doesn’t make you David Blaine. Still others might perform it better but never get the chance to show it on television or gain a wider audience.
I think magicians, like cover bands, should occasionally give a shoutout to the original (“Here’s one from Joshua Jay!”).
We should encourage magicians to make the effects their own. But we should give them the space to develop. When a guitar player is learning a riff, she most likely learns it just like she heard it. Then as she develops, she learns to improvise and make that riff her own.
We should allow magicians the opportunities to find their Elvis.
Yes if I dove even further into the music analogy the relationship between performer and writer would be looked at too, similar to TV magicians and consultants.
I haven't heard of Nick Diffatte's "find your Elvis" call, unless I missed it in his Offbeats book, but I like it. Some people even now don't know that some singers don't write their own songs or produce their own music, but they often ask me if I create my own tricks, which makes me wonder what their expectation behind the question is.
Your comment about shouting out the original creator is an interesting one, because to lay audiences they wouldn't know a Joshua Jay from a Jay Sankey but I also think audiences would appreciate knowing that there are magic creators out there.
Haha the perils of interpreting tone through written word! I’ve heard of creators being up in arms because credit wasn’t given at the time of performance…
I'm a musician, and my band has never played many covers. We've also never made much of a splash. (Trust me, you haven't heard of me.) Maybe we would be more well known if we played more covers. I know for a fact I would have earned more money playing covers.
But for me, I play music because I write songs.
No one else is going to play the songs I write, so I might as well.
Is there a difference between a magician and a musician when it comes to this? Are there people who have an urgent, primal desire to come up with new magical effects?
Honestly, I would have quit playing music a long time ago if all I was allowed to play were songs written by other people.
Great to hear from a musical perspective from someone who is in an original band!
When it comes to magicians creating new effects, we definitely have creators whose minds just don't stop churning out ideas and coming up new methods. They range from performers themselves, to consultants or just amateurs who love coming up with new things.
Magicians certainly don't have that problem where people would recognise a cover, even the classic sawing a lady in half, muggles wouldn't know who did it first, just that it's an old classic, but it doesn't mean you should do it as is.
Of course there are significant differences between the two fields. One that springs to mind is access. I never had much difficulty learning the principles of music, but I definitely hit a brick wall as a kid growing up in the 80s when I was first interested in magic. Living in a rural area before the internet, I had no access to the secrets of magic so that interest didn't have the opportunity to grow that is so much more available to people today.
That's a very good point, even though magic is so widely available, at the same time it isn't. I know that people in other countries use one deck of cards and wear it out beyond what a professional magician would use because they can't afford or get access to decent decks of cards.
At least now we can access the secrets a bit easier, but the good stuff is still locked away
Very interesting and enjoyable read. I’m a massive magic fan and have been performing magic for family, friends and others in informal situations for a long time. That said this is still a hobby and with a full time job and busy family life the hardest part for me is finding the time to write new patter or different presentation. As a result I do find myself being a little lazy and often using or just tweaking the original presentation. Otherwise if I waited until I had a new script or hook these effects would stay in the drawer. It’s a difficult balancing act for me.
Exactly! Most of us don't have the time to devote to scripting and creating new material. We just love the art and want to share it with others anyway we can.
I almost always use the original presentation the first time I do a trick, I mean it works for the creator so it's a good foundation to build off, and then after repetition I make changes that suit me. At least that's one of the approaches I take.
It's like opera, painting, any number of dynamic art form, a WHOLE bank of traditions that supposedly go back to the days of " The Ottoman Empire ", " Rajahs of Calamarain ", Thebes, Luxor, Atlantis, the Great Khan, King Arthur, a gajillion similar lines ( which NEVER WERE but have attracted crowds ).
A good magician never gives away their secrets. That's why some people aren't fond of Penn & Teller ( what HAPPENED to them anyway, by way of random non - sequitur curiosity ? ).
Penn had quite the penchant for verbosity ( I know, part of the act ) & he seemed larger than life, sort of. He sounded somewhat narcissistic, which made Teller, quiet & unassuming. When I found out that Teller could TALK, I was like " For real ? I always thought he was mute. ". They'd have the Amazing Randi on some episodes of Penn & Teller's BS series. Teller was even on The Big Bang Theory. Just a quiet guy.
He did a lot of the " heavy lifting ", as 'twere, because he just admitted that Penn was " too damn big ".
I would've loved seeing them with the Blue Man Group. Potentially EPIC. Just a modest fantasy, although BMG is. certainly.... Out there. & BMG is real performance art.
I love this post and it’s something we need to discuss in the magic community.
I like your analogy to musicians, and it reminds me of Nick Diffatte’s call to magicians to “find your Elvis.” Elvis Presley set the standard for success in popular music during the 1960s, ‘60s and ‘70s. He still is revered, as evidence by the recent hit movie about his life. Elvis didn’t write his own songs. But when you hear an Elvis song, you know it’s him. It’s unmistakable.
Even if magicians don’t create their own effects, and have bought the rights to perform the material, they still can put their own marks on it. There are lots of classics in Magic and they work as well today as a Chuck Berry song.
You are right about cover bands. There are many good ones. Some are just as enjoyable as musicians who write their own material.
Nevertheless, songwriters, singers and magic creators have a special place in the world. Their creativity drives art. Yet some artists do other’s material better than the ones who made it. Or at least it’s different enough to make it original. I would contend that Jimi Hendrix sang some of Bob Dylan’s songs better than Dylan. You can order tricks performed by David Blaine but that doesn’t make you David Blaine. Still others might perform it better but never get the chance to show it on television or gain a wider audience.
I think magicians, like cover bands, should occasionally give a shoutout to the original (“Here’s one from Joshua Jay!”).
We should encourage magicians to make the effects their own. But we should give them the space to develop. When a guitar player is learning a riff, she most likely learns it just like she heard it. Then as she develops, she learns to improvise and make that riff her own.
We should allow magicians the opportunities to find their Elvis.
Thanks for the love Ron!
Yes if I dove even further into the music analogy the relationship between performer and writer would be looked at too, similar to TV magicians and consultants.
I haven't heard of Nick Diffatte's "find your Elvis" call, unless I missed it in his Offbeats book, but I like it. Some people even now don't know that some singers don't write their own songs or produce their own music, but they often ask me if I create my own tricks, which makes me wonder what their expectation behind the question is.
Your comment about shouting out the original creator is an interesting one, because to lay audiences they wouldn't know a Joshua Jay from a Jay Sankey but I also think audiences would appreciate knowing that there are magic creators out there.
Nick said that in his Vanishing Inc masterclass. And I was kind of being facetious about the shoutouts. But wouldn’t hurt, would it?
Haha the perils of interpreting tone through written word! I’ve heard of creators being up in arms because credit wasn’t given at the time of performance…
Great post on a worthy topic.
I'm a musician, and my band has never played many covers. We've also never made much of a splash. (Trust me, you haven't heard of me.) Maybe we would be more well known if we played more covers. I know for a fact I would have earned more money playing covers.
But for me, I play music because I write songs.
No one else is going to play the songs I write, so I might as well.
Is there a difference between a magician and a musician when it comes to this? Are there people who have an urgent, primal desire to come up with new magical effects?
Honestly, I would have quit playing music a long time ago if all I was allowed to play were songs written by other people.
Great to hear from a musical perspective from someone who is in an original band!
When it comes to magicians creating new effects, we definitely have creators whose minds just don't stop churning out ideas and coming up new methods. They range from performers themselves, to consultants or just amateurs who love coming up with new things.
Magicians certainly don't have that problem where people would recognise a cover, even the classic sawing a lady in half, muggles wouldn't know who did it first, just that it's an old classic, but it doesn't mean you should do it as is.
Of course there are significant differences between the two fields. One that springs to mind is access. I never had much difficulty learning the principles of music, but I definitely hit a brick wall as a kid growing up in the 80s when I was first interested in magic. Living in a rural area before the internet, I had no access to the secrets of magic so that interest didn't have the opportunity to grow that is so much more available to people today.
That's a very good point, even though magic is so widely available, at the same time it isn't. I know that people in other countries use one deck of cards and wear it out beyond what a professional magician would use because they can't afford or get access to decent decks of cards.
At least now we can access the secrets a bit easier, but the good stuff is still locked away
Very interesting and enjoyable read. I’m a massive magic fan and have been performing magic for family, friends and others in informal situations for a long time. That said this is still a hobby and with a full time job and busy family life the hardest part for me is finding the time to write new patter or different presentation. As a result I do find myself being a little lazy and often using or just tweaking the original presentation. Otherwise if I waited until I had a new script or hook these effects would stay in the drawer. It’s a difficult balancing act for me.
Exactly! Most of us don't have the time to devote to scripting and creating new material. We just love the art and want to share it with others anyway we can.
I almost always use the original presentation the first time I do a trick, I mean it works for the creator so it's a good foundation to build off, and then after repetition I make changes that suit me. At least that's one of the approaches I take.
It's like opera, painting, any number of dynamic art form, a WHOLE bank of traditions that supposedly go back to the days of " The Ottoman Empire ", " Rajahs of Calamarain ", Thebes, Luxor, Atlantis, the Great Khan, King Arthur, a gajillion similar lines ( which NEVER WERE but have attracted crowds ).
There is nothing new under the sun keeps going through my head and you're right, there are similarities in other art forms!
A good magician never gives away their secrets. That's why some people aren't fond of Penn & Teller ( what HAPPENED to them anyway, by way of random non - sequitur curiosity ? ).
A collaboration between Penn and Teller and Blue Man Group would certainly be very out there!
A bit like David Bowie & Thomas Dolby ! Backup by Elton John & Stevie Wonder..
Penn & Teller are very much still around. They're performing regularly in Las Vegas and are on Season 10 of the Fool Us show.
Funnily enough, magicians love Penn and Teller now.
Penn had quite the penchant for verbosity ( I know, part of the act ) & he seemed larger than life, sort of. He sounded somewhat narcissistic, which made Teller, quiet & unassuming. When I found out that Teller could TALK, I was like " For real ? I always thought he was mute. ". They'd have the Amazing Randi on some episodes of Penn & Teller's BS series. Teller was even on The Big Bang Theory. Just a quiet guy.
Teller fooled everyone for so long making them think he was a mute, but he realised early on that you could say a lot by not saying anything.
He did a lot of the " heavy lifting ", as 'twere, because he just admitted that Penn was " too damn big ".
I would've loved seeing them with the Blue Man Group. Potentially EPIC. Just a modest fantasy, although BMG is. certainly.... Out there. & BMG is real performance art.
Thanks David! There’s nothing new under the sun! Excellent article!
Ecclesiastes 1:4-11, particularly verses 4 and 11:
4: "Generations come and generations go, but the earth remains forever."
11: "No one remembers the former generations, and even those yet to come will not be remembered by those who follow them." reduce to
Ecclesiastes 1:4-11, particularly verses 4 and 11:
“Generations come and generations go, and they have no money;)”
Thanks Charlotte! That verse was going through my mind while writing this article!