Be Who You Are . . . Even if it Sucks

Remember way back when (especially if you lived in California) . . . the peg-leg pant-fold was cool. For those who are fortunate enough to have blocked this tragic choice of self-expression from the front of the mind, basically, the fad was this: donning your best pair of Levi’s you would fold the pant leg cuff over and roll it up. This was big with Levi’s and Bugle Boy pants. Of course, with the Bugle Boy pants you got the additional piece of fashion faux paux that goes along with it. An OP t-shirt with an unbuttoned dress shirt over it. (The picture that see here is me back in 1992 sporting the classic peg-leg and a whole lot more hair).

I’m saddened to admit that I fell prey to this particular wardrobe mishap. Then one day, my family moved to Idaho, Pocatello to be exact. Let me be the first to inform you that with a name like Pocatello, Idaho, the odds are (and they were) that you’re not gonna be current in the cool styles like peg leg . . . and even less so in the suburb(?) that I lived in, Chubbuck. Yes that really is the name of the town I lived in.

I brought with me to Chubbuck, Idaho the whole peg-leg open shirt over an OP shirt thing. Most people didn’t get it (i.e. the smart ones). But there was a young kid who had recently moved from another small town in Missouri, so he too was unfamiliar with the awesome-ness that is peg-legs and open shirts.

For whatever reason, this guy – I don’t remember his name – decided to catch the wave and started wearing his pants and shirts the same way. To top it off, he started wearing Chuck-Taylor’s as well . . .

One day, I asked him why he started wearing his clothes that way. His response was essentially that he thought I was cool – he was the only one – and wanted to be like me. Wanting to be like someone else is not, in my opinion, a good reason to parrot them.

On the other end of the spectrum is this story. In the same small town of Poca-bubuck, there was a girl named Vanessa Nye. A beautiful girl, a smart girl, and a really nice girl. A rare combination indeed. One day, she came to school with a teeny, small pierced stud in her nose. She caught so much flack from her friends, fellow students and even some teachers, that within a day or two she had removed the stud, and I never saw her wear it again. I don’t think that she was trying to be “different” or copy anyone else. I think she was just doing something she liked. It’s a shame that people reacted the way they did. I tell you that to set the stage for the rest of the story. I just want to make sure you understand that the story I’m about to share took place in a time where piercings and tattoos and extreme hair styles were not the norm.

So with that, I knew a guy who was a bit extreme in his dress, different hair color every week, tattoos, multiple ear piercings, shredded clothes, black painted finger nails, etc. – stuff that, frankly, is pretty common today. Back then however, it was pretty unusual. I actually asked him why he dressed the way he did. He said, “because it’s different from everyone else.”

That was certainly true, but in hindsight, I might have retorted with “yes, it’s different, but is it you?”

Don’t define yourself by what others do (Mr. peg-leg) or don’t do (Mr. green hair). Define yourself by who you are. If “who you are” happens to be peg-leg-open-shirt, then great; do it. If “who you are” happens to be black finger nails and yellow hair, then great; do it. I’m not attempting to judge anybody’s style. I’m merely questioning its legitimacy. If you’re doing it because someone else is or isn’t, that’s not a good reason in my opinion.

If you’re doing it because it represents you and who you are, then that is a good reason to do it.

Of course the point in all of this and how it applies to magic is pretty obvious. What material do you do? What character and style do you do? What’s your persona?

Is it Eugene Burger’s repertoire with Max Maven’s wardrobe and make up? Odds are, that’s not “you.” It’s you imitating two people you greatly admire. Be inspired by them, but don’t copy them. I do several effects from both Maven and Burger. However, I’ve made them me and I certainly don’t use their personas. I use mine. When you’re booking yourself and trying to get gigs, people want you. They want someone that the audience will like and therefore be entertained by. If you’re too busy putting on your eyeliner and make up so that it looks exactly like Dan Sperry, then you’re focusing on the wrong thing. You’re focusing on Dan Sperry instead of yourself and your audience. I love Dan Sperry and his magic . . . because it’s him AND it’s good.

Be yourself . . . even if it sucks. If it sucks, you can work on improving it and building on the strengths, and yes, in the beginning, there may be a little bit of mimmicing others until you find your own voice. But that’s the message here: Find Your Own Voice.

Until Next Month . . .