Beware of the Yeah-Buts

Raise your hand if you want me to criticize you! I’m guessing nobody raised a hand. If I said, “raise your hand if you want me to critique you” I’ll bet more hands would go up. The problem is that most people mistake a critique for criticism. A criticism requires (or at the very least causes) one to do defend himself. Whereas a true critique should not. We’re all guilty of it. Someone offers a piece of advice or a suggestion, magical or otherwise, and we respond with justification . . . Yeah, but I do it that way because . . .

Root:

Let’s remember our roots. This month’s root: Be teachable, and therefore always be learning. You’ll never “arrive.” I’ve mentioned this concept before. When you think you’re a 10 on a scale from 1 to 10, you realize that the scale actually goes to 100 (if you’re teachable). When you reach 100, it turns out that the scale goes to 1000.

The sooner you can accept critiques, the sooner you’ll truly grow as a performer and a as a person in general. You may think you have the best act around, and you might be right. You might even actually be the best magician in the world. But does that mean that there’s nothing more to improve, nothing more to learn? I say that there is plenty to learn, even for the best magician in the world.

Branch:

Let’s build our branches. For the next 30 days, I want you to take the top two or three things that you perform . . . stuff that you feel is the absolute best in your repertoire. I’m talking about stuff that you’ve worked on forever; it always kills when you do it, and people are constantly telling you how awesome it is. Take those two or three items and pick a friend (magi or otherwise) and have them watch the effects. Then tell them to tell you at least one thing about each routine that is really bad. Or at the very least, have them tell you their least favorite part of the routine.

Your job is to just listen. If they tell you that there is nothing they didn’t like or that there was nothing that was their least favorite, bribe them. Seriously. Offer $20 bucks to find something bad. Send a video of it to me. I’ll find something for you. 🙂

When the critique is offered, do not defend your position. Simply say “thank you” to your friend. Then I want you to try the routine with any modifications mentioned by your friend. Do it even if you disagree, even if it feels weird or awkward. If nothing else, it’ll remind you why you normally do it the way you do. However, what I’ve found is that this break in the rhythm will help make you more aware of what you are doing and what you are saying. Obviously not all advice is sound, but it never hurts to listen. And it only hurts a little to try things differently. After all, there’s no growth without a little bit of pain.

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