Mar 24 2009
“A professional is…”
A professional is a guy who can do it twice!
- Dizzy Gillespie, in an interview with Paul Halmill
I ran into this quote in a slim tome entitled Why Sinatra Matters (which is also a good read if you’re one of those young guys who doesn’t understand where there was so much hubbub about an the guy who sang “My Way”) and it stuck with me because it’s true. Consistancy, or at least the ability to create quality results, is the key to being a professional performer.
… so how does this tie in with Magic? Well, Magic as a performing art is all about achieving the seeminly impossible through the manipulation of the environment in ways the audience isn’t aware of… most magicians I know of tend to focus on getting the mechanics right - your hand goes here, you turn this way, you look here, and bingo - magic.
The problem is that we focus on the mechanics to the point that the mechanics are all the audience sees. We also need to keep the magic itself fresh - I go back to my theatrical heritage for this - You have to present the magic as it it was the very first time this was happening to you, as well as to your audience. Otherwise you’re just moving your hands around.
… how does this tie in with Faire? That should be pretty obvious by now - we focus on the improvisational nature of the Renaissance Faire environment, but at the same time we need to be able to produce consistant results - the audience is entertained and they want to come back and see more. It’s very easy to go on “auto-pilot” with some gigs and bits of business, or to just fire-hose things out at the crowd because if you’re standing still, your audience changes every 30 seconds. Experimentation is good, but remember that you want keep your batting average about .300 in this arena - Find the bits that work, polish them and use them wisely.
… because the professional is the guy who can do it twice.
