Exercise to Exorcise

Practice, Smactice . . . you’ve heard it your entire life – not just as a magician either. You want to be a good pianist . . . practice. You want to be a good writer . . . practice. Good magician . . . practice. You know the drill. But why do we practice, or how do we practice? Do we have a goal in mind when practicing? Or do we idly fiddle with our coins or cards?

Root:

Let’s remember our roots. This month’s root: Breaking bad habits. I dare say that the whole point of practice is to exercise our magical (or musical or whatever) muscles . . . it’s exercise. You know . . . use it or lose it. So the principle of practice is to be aware of mistakes you are making. That’s a lot harder than you realize. You must be very self-aware. You must take notes. Film yourself, watch yourself in a mirror, record your script on audio tape, etc. Doing these things will keep the demons of diminutive dexterity out of your life. You’ll find that as you exercise properly you will exorcise said demons, so how do you do it?

Branch:

Let’s build our branches. For the next 30 days, I want you to exam a routine that is in your working repertoire . . . the one you do the most and/or the one that you feel you do the best. One where you may even feel that it’s in a good place and you don’t really need to work on it . . . take that routine and fix it. I want you to find a bad habit, a flaw, a weakness in the routine. Whether it be the script, the method, the clarity of effect, whatever. Find something. Practice, exercise, exorcise. Take notes on yourself . . . find the flaws; improve them and post your findings below.

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