Real Magic?

[erdnasephile]

The latest story gone viral:

http://www.broadwayworld.com/los-angele ... l-20130825

It's a neat story about a lifelong dream come true that obviously has struck a chord with the public. Amazing how 6 minutes of video is so affecting to so many. (At last check, over 1.7 million views.)

It makes me think: Why aren't more magic performances (including mine) this memorable, and how do I improve the way I connect with audiences? Perhaps it has something to do with the 'realness' of the moment, where (as Ms. Horn puts it) she is singing "for" the audience:

"I was not singing for the crowd as a performer usually does but was singing FOR them, in place of them. I was them and they were me. I was up there doing what every single person in that audience wished they could do. I cannot remember another time where I felt more connected to a body of people and at peace with where I was and what I was doing in a single moment." -- Sarah Horn

[erdnasephile]

Here's a better quality video of the same performance:

[erdnasephile]

Meant to add: the clip also demonstrates the power of allowing a spectator to be the star.

[Jonathan Townsend]

Meant to add: the clip also demonstrates the power of allowing a spectator to be the star.

Getting upstaged by ones volunteer... folks better be on guard for kids who bring their thumb tips and decks of cards onstage if picked as volunteers in a show - even more so now.

[Edward Pungot]

What alienates magicians from connecting with their audience more than anything else is an ego that needs to prove something as opposed to a magician that wishes to share something.

Three people that first come to mind who exemplify this sharing of wonder are Dai Vernon, Juan Tamariz, and Billy McComb.

They love people first. Magic just happens to be the medium through which they express it.

[erdnasephile]

What alienates magicians from connecting with their audience more than anything else is an ego that needs to prove something as opposed to a magician that wishes to share something.

Three people that first come to mind who exemplify this sharing of wonder are Dai Vernon, Juan Tamariz, and Billy McComb.

They love people first. Magic just happens to be the medium through which they express it.

I agree Edward.

I've seen so many loathsome magicians perform over the years. Often times they are so unlikable that you just feel like punching them when they are done. I wonder if it's because magic tends to attract unlikable people with social pathologies, or is it something else entirely?

Jerks aside, I'd like to think these failures may be because the majority of magicians don't work at their craft. That leads to a lack of real confidence and grace which comes from being truly competent at performing (which an audience can easily sense). I think tyros often try to cover up their lack of preparedness with false confidence and swagger, or by just lamely making it up as they go along, which just turns everyone off.

Compare them with the subject of the video. It turns out she has a graduate degree in music and has the singing chops to match. She has apparently been working on her skills for about half her life. Thus, she was prepared for the big moment when it came, and she knocked it out of the park in front of 18,000.

Would we be just as ready if Copperfield invited us out of the audience at the MGM to perform?