Does Your Character Have a Background?
by Kenton Knepper

Does your character have a background?

Actors of stage and screen tend to be very concerned with their sense of character they portray. Their character development usually involves what underlying motivations the character may have, or reasons why he or she does what they do. The actor tries to vividly and clearly imagine what is behind the surface of their character.

Actors study – a lot. Actors do a great deal of research on the real life versions of what their character represents.

For instance, if the actor is playing the part of a surgeon, he or she may study medical books, hire medical experts, go into emergency rooms and so on until they get a real feel for what such a person experiences in their life situation.

If an actor were to play the part of a Buddhist, he or she would go to temples, talk with practicing Buddhists, read a great deal on the philosophy behind Buddhism, and so forth.

But what happens when a magician or mentalist wants to portray a psychic personality, a mystic, or a reader? Many performers simply buy the “Buddha Box”, read the “Pro Bent Spoon Trick”, or grab a “How To Make Idiots Believe In Ridiculous Psychic Readings For Your Laughter and Sure Profit.”

“I am an actor portraying a mind reader” say some mentalists. “I am an actor playing the part of a magician,” say many magical performers. Anyone claiming that they are “only acting” ought to be highly involved with deep and intense study of each aspect of the trick they perform. If such performers are acting like actors truly, they will need to study psychics from a point of view that at least temporarily accepts psychic phenomena as real and legitimate. If they are “only acting like a mentalist” they will need to study Hermetics or other ancient mental arts to understand where the term “mentalist” comes from and what it means. One can hardly be an expert mentalist and not know the true meaning of the word mentalism, now can one?

Yes, in performing magic and mentalism, apparently you can ignore any such hard work. You need not study save for learning your trick, it might seem. Some might think that unseemly. Others may say this makes magical performers closer to pets performing than an actual actor (and I will not name the director who said this to me.)

My point is simple. Actors spend much time and energy researching their roles. Actors do not walk on a stage or a set playing any part that is different than their actual belief system without careful study of those who sincerely believe in what their character believes.

Most magicians and mentalists who claim they are acting as actors might want to rethink their position. This notion is anything but an easy way out, or an excuse for performing tricks without thought or meaning. Quite the contrary, I’m afraid.

I cannot count how many times I have heard performers claim to be experts in Tarot and make statements a beginning student of Tarot would know was wildly incorrect. I have watched people shuffle The Buddha under cups like he was a pea in a three shell game. Many of these same people would be very unhappy however if someone did the trick using a statue of Jesus.

Our lack of understanding another’s point of view or set of beliefs causes us to appear ignorant. When we do not study the believer’s perspective we surely are ignorant. We certainly cannot accurately portray what a belief is when we are clueless about it.

Just putting on your business card “mystic” or dressing strangely and claiming yourself a “real magician” isn’t enough for a real mystic not to see straight through your clear deception. It’s offensive really. It’s at the very least unkind. Perhaps you need examples you can relate to better?

Imagine a magician claiming to be an expert at gambling, but then shuffles only in overhand shuffles. He has to use both hands to cut the deck, dropping cards all over as he tries to complete the cut. Imagine a layperson that does this claiming to his friends that he is a magician! Do you think he is a magician like he wants his friends to believe? If you are a magician, are you happy with this ignorant portrayal?

Imagine a friend pulling out the old Color Cube trick and after performing the trick in a standard manner he claims he is “a mentalist, like my friend here” as he points to you!

You probably would not care for someone poorly representing to the world your beliefs, as if their sad representation were the actual thing. You might argue that your audience is even more ignorant, so they don’t know any better when you portray things you know little about. But you are spreading a false portrayal of another person’s sincere belief or lifestyle all the same.

That won’t matter to you, I suppose, until they wrongly portray to the world your own set of beliefs as if their portrayal is really what you think and feel.

You may reason that you can get by with sloppiness due to ignorance on all counts, but this makes you a proud perpetuator of ignorance. I don’t know many people who would choose to do that! Certainly you would not.

What then is the solution? Study well from those who have as their real beliefs that which you wish to portray in any performance, close-up or on stage. Portray his or her actual beliefs and know enough about each belief that every statement and move you make is in line with the real belief.

What’s the easier solution? Portray your own beliefs and worldview yourself. Even an atheist or agnostic has beliefs. Better you should portray your beliefs than someone else telling the world what you mean to say.

Choosing to portray only what you love, believe and know IS the easier way of performing and acting. Fortunately magic and mentalism are great vehicles for such expression.

All you need to do is do more than mere tricks and speak what you know – not what you think someone else believes.

You, and the world, will be better off for it.

Kenton