| Very interesting story. I come from a different direction. I work in tech, and was onsite somewhere for over a month with nothing to do. Remote area. I had always loved magic, and had asked magic teachers to teach me when I was a kid, and they all said no, they don't teach anyone. I read books, but didn't really get it. So I was in tech, in a place completely foreign to me with no rental car on weekends. I asked the bartender if he had anything I could do. He handed me a deck of cards. From there, I just started to learn and practice things cause I was bored. Ultimately went to train with Jeff McBride and Eugene Burger. Jeff wasn't focused on the kinds of magic I liked, and Eugene Burger hated my style. I fooled both of them for the "final", intentionally leading Eugene down a garden path. He hated not treated the cards with reverence. So I threw cards behind me, knowing it would completely shut off his brain while I did the secret move. I did the same with Jeff. In the routine, I took his teaching on what not to do, and intentionally did it to shut off his brain. They were both completely, ridiculously fooled. I likely may have fooled them without it, but I am too clever for my own good, and wanted to trick them in my own way. From there, I ended up training with the guy who actually fit my style, Dani Daortiz. I flew to Spain and learned from him and Yann Frisch. I also helped Yann develop a new move. I taught them some of my original moves which they loved. I just come at things from a very different angle, so I have some interesting things. Dani asked me to perform at the end, but I was too nervous. He is the guy I most adore. I regret that. I even left them at one point after a full day of working with them, and just went and did magic in Spain for the night. I just do whatever, and that was what my soul needed after listening to 12 hours of magic discussion. So I'm a software engineer, who has it as a hobby, but whenever I do it, I do it at a level that is stupid good. I don't even remember tricks, or have a set list, I just sort of vibe with whatever I remember, and rely on all the random skills I have to get there. I will do Lennart's snap deal for fun, invent a new trick on the spot because I'm bored. I do have a few original tricks that are completely mine. One of them has a mind reading plot with cards. I have done the trick so many times in life, that I can legitimately forget the card, and it's fine, I can actually do the activity of figuring out their card without knowing it a good percentage of time. You just get so used to understanding how people react to things, that you can figure it out in the process. The trick just keeps evolving. Now, quite often, I have other spectators figure out the card. They also can get it with my... direction to what to look for. So then they get to be the star. Lot of fun. It has so many variations because the whole thing is jazzed. So every time something new works, it's another thing I might remember to do. I also am maybe the only magician then will intentionally bomb tricks. I learned early on that I do this for fun, and unfun people are not worth my time. So even though I know the trick, and their card, I will intentionally pretend I don't and bomb the trick. I like that space. Living in that space has taught me more than any book about how to jazz around failure. Intentionally failing is a master class in the space of failure in magic. So I'm just a software engineer, who has had a ridiculously deep hobby for a long enough time that I can do a full show at a moment's notice. I have the tools, the understanding, and I can do prepared stuff, jazz whatever, or remember a trick i haven't done in 10 years, and decide to do that. I do it for my fun. It's enabled me to drink for free where ever I go if I want, and have an enjoyable time. I don't usually do the Magic Live stuff. I did that stuff for awhile, but I never felt like it really added much value to my experience. I feel like I could surely if I cared to, book a show here locally, and do it. It would teach me a lot, but I just don't really want it. I like just being a random dude who can do ridiculously good magic when I feel like it. |