Cracking Magic (1) – Intro

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There are tons of books and courses out there, even blogs dedicated to the topic of self-organization. But for the magicians, there isn’t too much on this. In the past years, helping other magicians create their acts and shows, one thing has been very prominently: They don’t seem to be organized magic-wise. When they have a show date, then the panic starts. Rush into the magic garbage room, search for the props, decide what to perform, get the stuff together and finally head to the location completely exhausted. We all know it for years.

concept

An endless array of books, eBooks, notes, DVDs, props, tricks, gimmicks and name it populates their closets, basements and garages. They seem to be lost under the pressure of the information overload. Most of us have already lost track of what we have accumulated.

Because I know that I will continue to help other magicians creating and putting their stuff into practice, I will start this mini-series on the aspects of getting organized in magic: How to select material, archive it, validate it, improve it, learn it, rehearse it and finally built it into an act and perform it.

Here we will go through all the necessary steps to get some order into the chaos. When you join me (and it only takes a few minutes each day, which you probably would waste on Facebook) you will be surprised of your progress within the next 30 days.

After that, you should be organized, have a clear plan of your act(s) and have all the necessary material ready to use. And you should have more enjoyment with your magic.

This little series is not intended for the seasoned professionals, who obviously do have their organization already. It is aimed at the “helpless” amateur, who has a day job, family etc. and cannot spend the full time on magic. It is the ultimate “magician’s hacks series”. A crash course on how to make your magic life easier without scarifying the magical quality.

What has to be organized?
Collectors usually are organized: They know what to collect, where to put it and they have their collections archived somehow already. No need to tell them what to do. For the causal hobbyist performer, things look quite different. Too much stuff available in the magic market, too much already bought and acquired, too much to sort out. basically, I believe that in getting organized in magic, one has to think about the following topics:

1. select
2. acquire
3. validate
4. archive/store
5. modify
6. practice
7. rehearse
8. perform

In my view, it all boils down to build an archive that can be used as easily as an artisan would use his toolbox . In this archive, there will be sub-categories: literature, video/audio material, moves, techniques and props. Additionally some information on the actual acts or routines concerning presentation.

In this course, I will cover each and every aspect of that and will give you suggestions, tips and hacks that will make your life easier in no time.

The First Step
Naturally, the first step with all change people do in their life is the realization that such a change is necessary. So you will have to acknowledge the fact that your organization is crappy and you are living with a magic mess. And you will have to have the desire to change that. That is your decision, but then you are reading this so far and I suppose that you plead guilty and have made the decision to do the change.

And here is the first suggestion:
STOP buying any magic (books, ebooks, downloads, DVD, tricks or whatever) just for now. This doesn’t have to be forever, but only for the time until your archive is finished and you have learned the techniques to select apropriate stuff and have your organization system installed.

As the Chinese proverb says: “You cannot fill a cup that is already full.” Don’t make your cup spill, it is too full already. We need an empty cup in order to install something new in there.

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