Jack Shalom wrote:That's why we want trained actors. Unfortunately there are magicians who think they are above such training. It seems like you are deliberately trying to misunderstand.
Of course, magicians think they don't need such training, since you, Brad, Robert-Houdin, and countless others are saying that magicians are actors already from scratch, and that acting is indistinguishable from merely pretending.
Why would any magician be interested in the vast literature and body of knowledge relating to acting, if you tell them that all that is identical to what they already do? If you say that a magician is an actor, you are saying that we never need to step outside our own discipline in order to evolve. You are essentially saying that the answer to the question "How do I make my character more engaging?" is to buy two more Penguin lectures and one SansMind gaff.
We are not actors! Acting is a whole different discipline. If the idea of doing what Pop Haydn do attract you - i.e. to combine magic with an engaging character, studying more magic will be of little help. Not even the deep study of Slydini and Ramsay will help much. You need to step outside the discipline of magic, walk over to the discipline of acting and knock on their door. Then spend a fair amount of time there - preferably studying something that doesn't ignore physical theater, preferably adding a few classes in improvisational theater... and then you can return with a new skillset that no amount of magic study could have given you, having obtained all tools necessary to create an engaging character, having obtained the ability to create a multidisciplinarity performance of acting and magic... but why would anyone go through all that work if it is redundant and we already are as much actors as we need to be?
That is if the idea of performing magic with a strong and engaging character attracts you. It does little for the actual magic though. The world's most engaging presentation of Ken Brooke's Multiplying Bottle Routine will still be Ken Brooke's Multiplying Bottle Routine. To make the actual magic stronger and more dramatic, the discipline of acting is of little help. For that, we need to venture into the unexplored and uncharted areas of our own discipline.