Make $5000 A Day, Get Rich With A Nigerian, and Have Nasty Sex With Your Next Door Neighbor's 18-Year-Old Daughter!
By Shane

In a typical month in the life of Visions, I receive an average of 5,744 pieces of email (and some people wonder why I don't get back to them on the same day they write). Of those emails, and average of 1,315 are what we in the great online Group Mind call spam. They are unsolicited, arriving willy-nilly and unbidden and, without so much as a "by your leave" stuff my mailbox with such enticing offers as half-price Viagra, sure-fire stock tips, mortgage refinancing deals, and countless ways to get rich and get laid (I will admit the one which promised to get me both rich and laid -- simultaneously -- did pique my interests; I'm only human after all).

Finally, I became so fed up with these stupid and time-consuming intrusions into my life I installed a spam filter (which, along with handling spam so I don't have to, also provides really neato statistics such as those I gave you at the outset of this little diatribe). You see, it's not so much what these spams offer me that offends me, it's that, for whatever reason, I have to pay them at least some time and attention. And not once am I ask if that's okay with me.

Yes, I know that my personal liberties stop at the other guy's nose, but my nose counts, too. And I resent unwarranted invasions into my personal space or uninvited use of my personal resources, especially that most valuable of mine, my time.

It was when I was checking on the operation of my little spam fighter when I had an epiphany. No, not about magic itself, but about my magic and my self. Yep, after all this time, I finally realized why I cannot just walk up to someone on the street and start performing.

That's a bit of an overstatement. Technically, I can do exactly that. I'm always loaded for bear when I leave the house, and heaven knows I love performing for folks. But every time I see someone do that, or when I think of doing it, I feel a little... weird.

Now I know why: it's because I value my own personal space and my own personal time. In fact, I place a high value on it. Because I value it, I value that of others as well, probably "over-value"ing it in the process. And that means I'm not about to go forcing myself down people's throats to show them a trick.

Yes, that's hype. Don't write me about it. The way I said it is the way it feels to me. And because it feels that way to me, because I perceive it that way, it is uncomfortable as the Hells for me to do it. And we all know that if we're uncomfortable then our performance is flawed.

Please do not take this as some lecture about how, as magicians, we're not supposed to work that way, not supposed to solicit unsuspecting people as sudden spectators. Quite frankly, if you do it, great! My only comments to you are be respectful and polite and "no" means "no".

No, my problem with all of this is that, somehow, this is now the undercurrent -- undertow, really -- some younger magicians are being caught in. The myth recently appeared, gods and little devils only know where its true birthplace lies, that as magicians we should always practice this "ambush magic" style or -- ready for this, pilgrims? -- we're not magicians worth a tinker's damn.

Oh, I imagine this line of thought started when someone mentioned the fact that, as magicians, we should always be ready to perform (to me, that's more of a business decision than anything else -- you are, after all, your own best advertising), or maybe the ethereal line of thought we should be magicians all the time (good advice, depending on what the meaning of the statement really is), and then squeezed out this bat guano of a philosophy which says we have to seek people out and perform or we're garbage. Hells, maybe it originated as a marketing ploy to sell books and videos. Who knows?

I do know this; it's a trash philosophy. Again, if you do it, and enjoy it, and you do such a thing right, more power to you! It's the thought that this has to be done which is repugnant to me.

And I've ranted about elitism before, so don't get me started on that part of the equation.

The fact of the matter is this: to be better performers, we have to perform. To be better magicians, we have to perform magic. All the armchair theorizing in the world, all the rehearsals in front of a mirror, don't mean two hoots when it comes to actually getting down and dirty in the trenches as often as we can with real live people.

But always, always, at a time and a place of our own choosing.

Bringing our own preferences to a performance is what performing is all about. That's what makes it an art and not an exercise. We choose our words, we choose our tricks, we choose our mannerisms, our dress, our mouthwash...

And to be the best possible artists we can be, we have to choose our time and our place. For some of us, that time and place doesn't involve lurking behind a tree, jumping out in front of some unsuspecting victim and telling them to pick a card, all the while wearing a ninja outfit and tabi boots.

Yes, I'm being sarcastic. Don't write me about it. That's what it feels like to me, so that's the way it is to me. Remember?

The long and the short of this is really simple: if you don't feel comfortable performing that way, don't do it. You are not any less of a magician, any more inferior as a performer. You are actually doing more harm than good by forcing yourself to do something you do not feel comfortable doing -- trust me, your audience of one or one-hundred-thousand is an emotional beast and can pick up on such feelings in a heartbeat. And it weakens their view of you and your magic.

Go ahead. Pick the times you want to perform, the places where you want to perform. It's okay. The really big thing is to perform, and perform as you want to.

Do that, and nobody will fault you because you don't hang out in the mall, coming up to strangers and asking them if they want to see something amazing with a grin on your face which will get you arrested if you keep that up, boy.

I'm kidding! Remember?

Shane