DelGaudio Interview on the meaning of magic

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Daniel Z
Posts: 154
Joined: June 17th, 2008, 8:32 pm

DelGaudio Interview on the meaning of magic

Postby Daniel Z » June 6th, 2017, 1:37 pm

Jamy Ian Swiss posted this link on FB http://tinyurl.com/ydb38m6x

MagicbyAlfred
Posts: 2388
Joined: June 7th, 2015, 12:48 pm
Favorite Magician: Bill Malone
Location: Myrtle Beach, SC

Re: DelGaudio Interview on the meaning of magic

Postby MagicbyAlfred » June 6th, 2017, 8:20 pm

James Dean, the actor, was known for his starring role in the 1955 classic film, "Rebel Without a Cause." In a sense, Derek DelGaudio could be seen as a rebel with a cause; that cause being to use magic as a vehicle to convey truth. Of course, before one can convey truth to others, one must learn what it is, at least for oneself. Derek freely admits that he is still engaged in the process of finding what that is, at least for himself, so that he can universalize it for others within the medium of magic. So, while he is inviting others to come with him on the journey to discover truth and, in the process, themselves, he is as much explorer as guide on that very expedition. Like Picasso or Dali, in the painting realm, or Heidegger and Sartre in the discipline of Philosophy, or even the Rock and Roll pioneers of the fifties and sixties in relation to music, Derek is breaking away from established norms, and in the process, breaking new ground in magic.

Most of us remember at least many of the people with whom we attended high school. When that experience was over, the people we knew (in fact, we ourselves) fell roughly into one of two groups: those who left their home town, never to return, at least for any appreciable period of time, and those who deepened the roots and ties they already had, and hunkered down as permanent citizens of the place where they grew up. The latter individuals simply felt comfortable staying put, keeping their ties to the community they knew, to family members and friends, and continuing as members of the same religious institutions, if any. The comfort was in the familiarity, the tradition, the ritual, the habits and routines. Others couldn't get away quick enough, many setting a course for remote parts of the world. And so it is in magic. Many us feel comfortable staying ensconced in traditional notions of magic - that is, as a medium for conveying something amazing, astonishing to others. There is nothing wrong with that; it can be a lot of fun, and it's what is familiar

Then there are those like Derek DelGaudio, who see magic as a means to and end that goes beyond amazing and entertaining people, but as a vehicle to both self-discovery and to the conveyance of something beyond amazement and entertainment. Derek is not comfortable with the moniker, "magician." He is still somewhere in no man's land seeking to find an appropriate title or categorization for who he is and what he does. When people find out that we are magicians, oftentimes, the immediate knee-jerk reaction is to default to their stereotypical view of what a magician is - someone who is going to "trick" or deceive them. Or, in many cases, I have found that there are certain personality types who simply do not like being fooled, or whose egos will not permit it, or who themselves have the overriding need to be the center of attention. A wall of defensiveness or pre-conception is immediately erected. It is one that can be hard to penetrate, especially if they have seen bad magic, or corny presentations, or magicians who are wisenheimers or tried to make a fool of them, and regrettably, the odds are that they have seen at least one or more of the above. It has been my personal belief for quite sometime now that, in order to be truly successful performers, we must strive to understand human psychology, what is important, engaging, intriguing, fascinating to the audience, and to engineer our presentations accordingly, in order to achieve the most powerful impact. I recommend reading this wonderful interview with Derek because it is likely to inspire readers to begin to re-examine what their goals are as magicians, and possibly to re-evaluate how they will deliver magic to people going forward...


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