Ditto Dog

Copy Cat is worn out and hackneyed, so I created Ditto Dog. They say that plagiarism is the highest form of flattery. Maybe that’s true; maybe it’s not, but in our case, it kind of makes sense. Often in magic we learn a routine from someone else’s repertoire. We then try (often too soon) to make it our own. Let’s pull some wisdom from Buddha: “These teachings are like a raft, to be abandoned once you have crossed the flood.”

Root:

Let’s remember our roots. This month’s root: Copy . . . but only for a little while. The key is to know when to copy and when to branch out. You may read an effect in a book and immediate feel like you have a better way to do the effect. You may be right, but you just might be wrong too. Give the original method a chance, but not for too long. The balance is the secret. Take this great truth taught in the LDS Church (The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints): “Seek not to declare my word, but first seek to obtain my word, and then shall your tongue be loosed; ” (D&C 11:21).

In other words learn before you teach . . . or in the case of magic, learn before you “improve” the handling. The version you read in the book (especially if you’re reading the classics like I’m always telling you) was written up that way for a reason . . . because it works. Study it first. Practice it; try it; do not presume to “improve” it until you understand it. However, as taught in Buddhism, once you’ve learned it, then it can be abandoned or – in our case – improved upon, but not until you’ve “sought to obtain” and truly have obtained. Then and only then can you begin to abandon and move forward, tweak and personalize.

Branch:

Let’s build our branches. The branch is simple . . . go grab a magic book off your shelf . . . anything published before 1995. If you don’t have a book that old, buy one or borrow one. Read the effect and perform the effect exactly as described. Don’t change one thing. Practice each and every move until you truly have become one with the author’s intent. At that moment that you’ve “obtained” through “seeking” you will have earned the right to customize the effect/presentation/handling/etc to suit your personality. But don’t jump to conclusions until you’ve given the author his due.

Now go study the classics and go discover your true magical self.