What are your magical goals?

[Guest]

As a magician and a person i have thought alot about what I want to accomplish as a magician and I was just wondering what others want to do with there magic. I mean do u just want to fool an audience or entertain them or do you want to create a moment of astonishment that the performer and audience can mutually enjoy?

[Brad A._dup1]

Personally I prefer to "entertain" the audience members. I think people sometimes get so caught up in their lives that they don't have time to be amused.

Television or films provides minimal entertainment, having someone live in person is wonderful.

I try to avoid the direct fooling of spectators. I know they're being fooled, and they know they're being fooled too.

I do enjoy that moment, that small sparkle followed by a smile or a laugh.

-Brad

[Guest]

I am not a professional magician.
That said, my intent is to give that feeling of "no way" astonishment that Paul Harris so well describes. I truly enjoy that feeling myself and allowing another to experience it also as a result of something "I" do, well, as I said, I'm no professional, and THAT is my reward.
Sterling

[Guest]

I believe that adults don't get enough chances to play. I remember reading a statistic that children laugh about 64 times a day and adults laugh, on average, 3 time.

So my goal as a magician is to give adults a chance to play, to do something they normally wouldn't do. I find that if I give them the opportunity, and show them that I'm not going to make them look foolish, the most serious person really wants to play and have fun.

I also, ideally, want to get an emotional reaction from my audience. If people leave my show feeling warm and fuzzy, then I'm very happy.

My $.02

-Strompf-

[Guest]

That's, of course, aside from the whole making money thing. :D

-S-

[Jim Morton]

I think what John Cage once said is applicable here. He said the meaning of his life was to spread "joy and confusion."

That's what I'd like to do; spread joy and confusion.

[Guest]

Excellant question!!

I quite agree that people get caught up in their own lives and sometimes miss the beautiful symphony called life. It is becoming a more and more common symptom of modern life.

I personally believe that magic, or any form of art, should, therefore, decide to not only entertain its audience, but reach for something more.

Yes, TV and movies provide minimal entertainment. They also often provide so much more.

For starters Donnie said, "goal". To me that is something you reach for, not always hitting but accomplishing much else along the way. In that manner I see entertainment as a stop along the way but not the destination. Similarly, the glorious moment of astonishment is just the fuel that (em)powers both the magic and the audience toward a deeper, more meaningful moment like the notes of a criscendo, or even a lone note in tremelo that summons up an ocean of emotions.

I reach for the art, not the craft, in magic. To me that means magic the individual's way. Not a copy but a unique original with conscience and something to say, which if it stops at entertainment at least does so in a way that enlightens you to the way you can be completely entertained.

McDonalds or The French Laundry (look it up)?
Scream 3 or Momento?
An Elvis impersonator or Dave Matthews?

Art is the catalyst that yanks people out of their recipe lives and makes them go "hmmmm...".

That is what I ask of the magic that I put before the general public. Not feeling fooled, tricked, or even amazed but much more personal emotions. While they are feeling those, their minds are alowing what you just did to be real.

My hope is that those personal emotions can bring them insiration to improve their lives, even if just to stop and listen to the symphony of life playing on.

For those who can't allow themselves to be moved at the time, there is always the entertainment...and some images and emotions that are planted in the back of their minds :D certain to come out when they let their guards down.

A heady proposition indeed.

Reaching....

Tom Cutts

[Guest]

My goal in magic is a combination of a lifetime of study in the craft I love and the eventual dream (hopefully) of becoming a professional entertainer.

I really want to elevate the level of the art of magic to a classy and respectable art form that is trenched in mystique. I love being the magician.