Improvising From The Classics

Teleportation, mentalism, restoration, productions, vanishes, transpositions, levitations, penetrations and escapes; the classic forms of magic. Then there are the classic routines; Cups and Balls, Multiplying Balls, Cut and Restored Rope, Coins Across, Linking Rings and other timeless classics. And the best classics are the ones with numerous sleights, variations, tricks, sequences and endings.

I've sworn off purchasing "tricks" or one trick DVDs such as Greed and Spun. These are great tricks and well made DVDs but I've found that I just didn't learn much from them and I rarely perform them. It seems so obvious now that a beginning to intermediate magician should avoid these one-trick ponies and throw their efforts into a really worthwhile discipline.

Therefore, the best magic DVDs and books are the ones that are an encyclopedia for one of these classical schools of magic; the true reference materials like Bobo's Modern Coin Magic, Practical Mental Magic and Royal Road to Card Magic. The best DVDs are the ones where the teacher is imparting nuance and experience; ideas that can be applied to all areas of your magical apprenticeship. From these tomes you can pick effects, choose transitions, arrange the sleights and flourishes to invent something uniquely your own. I find that the sweet spot in magic is when you master enough effects in a particular school that they flow from you hands without thought or effort.

When a guitar player improvises, he takes the little bits of scales and progressions, techniques and tonal qualities and lets them flow freely from his soul. The more practiced and accomplished the guitar player, the better he is at improvising. The more pieces of material within his (or her) deep well of licks and riffs, the more interesting and moving the music.

The same applies to the conjuring arts. As we build depth within these schools of magic, the results are more rich, colorful and entertaining and ultimately more satisfying to perform.