The Power Of Reading

As a magician, there is a lot of reading involved, and if there isn't, there should be.

There are literally thousands of magical effects right there on the written page. Of course, you can learn from recorded tutorials online or on DVD, but some people tend to fall into the trap of performing exactly the way they've seen on the video. It's easily done. When I was a teenager, I thought Jean-Claude Van Damme was the greatest fighter on the planet, and I'd imitate his moves for hours. I later learned that his performances, while beautiful, were massively impractical in real situations. I'm so glad I never got into a fight at that time, as I would have been grabbed and beaten had I tried to perform a flying-spinning roundhouse kick.

Now no one is going to beat up a young magician for making a coin vanish in the exact same way that Paul Daniels did, but it says a lot if you can learn the mechanics of something, and try to make it your own.

This is why it's great to learn from a book. You read the words, you visualize the effect and you can't help but do it in your own way. You have to, you've no other point of reference.

I love watching other magicians perform and teach, and I appreciate that the times we live in afford us the option of visual instruction, but if given the choice, I'll always take a book.

Let me know in the comments what you think.