Malpractice Insurance

Malpractice Insurance
By Jeff Stone

Crap! Your car broke down! So you do what most people do. You take it to a mechanic. While the mechanic is fixing the problem, he accidentally cuts through a wire in your car. Who pays for the new wire and the labor to replace it?

Crap! You’ve got a cavity. So you do what most people do. You go to a dentist. While the dentist is filling the cavity, he accidentally chips another tooth. Who pays to fix the chipped tooth?

Crap! You’re hungry. So you do what most people do. You eat (at a restaurant – let’s say). While eating, a guy walks up to your table with a deck of cards claiming to be able to control space and time with them as the fall out of his hands and into your plate of food. Who pays for a new meal for you.

In case you’re not sure the answer to these three questions, I’ll to you who doesn’t pay, you . . . the customer. Now put on the other hat . . . the magician. We’ve all had days like that one who dropped his cards in your bowl of gravy. Unfortunately, when we have those days, we have to pay for it, whether it’s with money, deflated pride, or lack of future bookings, there is a price. We don’t have malpractice insurance, and even if we did, that only covers the money, not the pride and lost bookings. So what’s a magi to do?

Root:
Let’s remember our roots. This month’s root: Practice, Practice, Practice. There is no guarantee that you won’t tick off your clients or screw something up. However, there are things you can to do minimize the risk of malpractice. The biggest thing is the other thing that non-magicians will say if you ask them what they think the first rule of magic is. Last month we addressed one answer (never reveal the secret); this month we address the other. To paraphrase Mr. Miyagi from The Karate Kid movies: the best way to block a punch is not be there when it’s thrown. The best way to combat malpractice is to avoid it. The best way to avoid it is to minimize the chances of it happening, and the best way I can think of is Practice, Practice, Practice.

Many of us will spend idle time (watching TV, riding the bus, etc) fiddling or even practicing moves that are not part of our normal arsenal. For example, I practice the Faro Shuffle hundreds of times per week, but I never use it in my repertoire. Maybe practice isn’t the right word because I still haven’t mastered the Faro. What I’m referring to this month is practicing stuff that you’ll use. In fact, not just stuff that you will use, but stuff that you do use.

Branch:
Let’s build our branches. Your challenge for the next 30 days is to pick a routine that is in your current repertoire but is relatively new to you. Break the effect down into all of the mechanics and spend some time looking at the timing and rhythm of when each move happens. Look at it from various perspectives. What if I moved my right hand here, rather than there? Figure out the smoothest and most economical way to perform the effect, then do the moves over and over.

Work into the moves, the timing of any lines or scripting that you may do with the effect. I’m not a huge script guy myself, but I still do have moments and bullet points at certain parts of the performance. Make sure to include this in your practice. So your mission is to spend several hours on one routine in an effort to improve it. I want you to film yourself doing it today. Then film yourself doing it again in 30 days. If you’ve really taken the time to break things down, then you’ll see a huge improvement. Once you’ve seen the improvement, you’ll want to see it again in your other effects. Now go study the classics, and go discover your true magical self.

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