Creativity Again?
Yes . . . again . . . it’s that important.
Listen folks, I know many of you couldn’t care less about what I’m listening to when I write these reviews in the Gems and Rubble monthly column.
However, a lot you “get” it . . . First, know this: the songs I list truly are the ones that happen to randomly play at the moment I happen to be writing the review.
Secondly, the song title or a lyric from it often helps in the creative process giving me a nice opening line or segue . . . and an alarming number of times, the song could be the theme song for the review or the product.
As further proof of the musical assistance in my writing, read this month’s issue of:
In the case of the reviews – particularly Minimax Detector, the songs playing at the time influenced the verbiage of the review. In the case of The Saga story, Money To Burn, I was more influenced by my love of music – particularly the band Warrant. It started as me imagining a dollar bill (Georgie) about to get burned or smoked by some rich guy who had money to burn. That reminded me of the album by Warrant called Dirty Rotten Filthy Stinking Rich. That, in turn made me think of many of their other songs (Cherry Pie, I Saw Red, etc). Then as I was discussing “Georgie’s” Uncle Tom (as in Thomas Jefferson . . . the Dude on the $20 bill), I was further reminded of Uncle Tom’s Cabin by Warrant.
And so it went . . . on and on and on until I decided to just fully go with the theme. By the time I was done there were over 30 Warrant songs referenced. It just became a running gag . . . at least for me. So what’s the point of all this rambling. The point is that if I wasn’t a fan of or familiar with Warrant this month’s episode of The Saga would have been completely different. Of course, arguably, it might have been better . . . or worse. Or it might not have existed at all.
So am I suggesting you become a Warrant fan? Of course not. I’m merely recommending that you consider everything you are exposed to in your world to be a source of inspiration: everything you read; every movie you watch; every song you listen to; every person you interact with; every restaurant you patronize; every food you eat; Get my drift?
Root:
Let’s remember our roots. This month’s root: Keep your mind open to the world around you and connect everything to everything.
My father traveled with the carnival for years before he met my mom. In fact, that’s how he met her. She was at the carnival in Florida. Then the carnival moved to California. Coincidentally, my mom moved to California. They met in California at the carnival. That’s magical. Additionally, my father showed me my very first magic trick ever. He sparked my interest in magic without even realizing it. Flash forward to 2006 or so . . . about a year after my father passed away. I was reading Max Maven’s Prism (A compilation of his 5 mentalism color books). He has an effect in there that kind of remind me of carnival games . . . throwing darts at balloons and dart boards, etc.
That ultimately led to the idea of creating a stand up show that is dedicated to the memory of my father. It has anecdotes about my father . . . the magic of meeting my mom and the miracle that story is. Additionally, the show kind of has a carnival theme to it and so forth. Giving you all the details is not the point. The point is that my brain connected a bunch of dots that ultimately created something wonderful for me.
This too can work for you. Just allow everything to connect with everything. I’ve developed many acts or effects that were sparked by a book I read, or even just a sentence or two from a book. Creativity is a critical component to have a successful magic business. Why? Because one of the things that sets you apart from your competitor is that the person hiring you gets you. Well who are “you?” You are someone who is creative and has a show unlike anyone else. I mean really, who else has a carnival themed show dedicated to his carny traveling father who showed him first magic trick and miraculously met his mother at a traveling carnival twice?
I’m pretty sure I’m the only one. So what’s your angle? What gives you the competitive advantage over your competition? Your creativity will lead you there. Everything links to everything else.
Branch:
Let’s build our branches. Try this exercise . . .
Open up the dictionary to a random page and close your eyes; then point to a word on the page. Do this twice. You know have two words. The two words I got were (believe it or not): “Demand” and “Spam.” I was actually surprised to find Spam in the dictionary. Funny.
Anyway, so what do Demand and Spam have in common? What links them? Well when I think of Spam, I think of Monte Python; I think of grilling; I think of the time I tried a shish-ke-bob of Spam cubes and pineapple cubes . . . it was delicious. When I think of the word demand, I first think that it’s both a verb and a noun. So I went with the noun as in what were the kidnapper’s demands? Then I imagined a strange scene of a bank robber holding hostage a bunch of bank patrons demanding 221 cans of Spam . . . why 221? Because 221b Baker St is Sherlock Holmes’s address. Why Sherlock Holmes? It was in my head . . . probably because I was thinking of Monte Python (British) and Sherlock Holmes is a British thing.
So now the scene is developing into some sort of crazy guy in the bank who is being observed by a Holmes-like hostage negotiator . . .
Anyway, I think you get the point. Try the experiment yourself. See how far you can take it. The whole point is to open your mind and see how creative you can become . . . being creative in general will ultimately lead to creativity in your magic life; your patter; your effects; your methods; your shows; etc.
Now go study the classics and go discover your true magical self.