Hello First name / friend,

 

Magic, I couldn’t tell you why I was drawn to it, but if I look back I can take a good guess. Being a younger brother and having a rebellious character probably had something to do with it. At 6 years old, I most likely enjoyed the idea of having something I could call mine. Magic had everything I needed; secrets, problem solving, and a level of control over others and a situation (which not even the adults fully understood) it had that element of ‘I know something you don’t know - ner ner, ner ner ner’.

 

It also appealed to an innate rejection to anything considered ‘popular’, as far as hobbies go magic is on the fringes (I’m still not one to follow trends).

 

Growing-up, magic became something of a shield, I could use it as a way of navigating social situations and being ‘seen’, it was like a cheat code that fast tracked rapport and created interest, which of-course provided me with validation. This all came to screeching halt age 17, I failed my first year at 6th form.

 

 

Academia wasn’t for me, but my Dad encouraged me to have a back up plan, should the magic not turn in to a career. Throughout my life up to this point people identified me at “The magician, who’s name is Matthew” - note the order of the words in that statement. I felt my value came from being ‘the magician’. It was around this time I went through a period of intense personal development, I was figuring out how to talk to girls and navigating dating, I was becoming more self aware and I saw re-taking 6th form as an opportunity for growth.

 

For the first few months of that college year I didn’t perform anything for anyone, I wanted people to know me as “Matthew, who also does magic”. I forced myself to grow without hiding behind a pack of cards to discover more about who I was, what I was capable of, and what I had to offer without the magic acting as a shield. Looking back it was a kind of self imposed right of passage.

 

I believe magic attracts people for similar reasons, initially it provides us with an incredibly effective social tool; it gives us confidence, recognition, individuality, and validation. This however is not a good thing - long term.

 

 

Keep using the cheat code and you will remain exactly where you are, cheating yourself.

 

I owe it to myself to become the best version of myself, I won’t become that best version if I keep using cheat codes. If I kept using magic as my go-to cheat code and shield in life I would not have developed as much as I have, or as fast.

 

I think it’s easy for magicians to continue using magic in this way because removing it would mean revealing who they are without it. Perhaps it’s a way of bullshitting themselves, if they hide behind the magic they never have to look in the mirror and discover who they really are, because that requires work - and deep down they fear they might not like that version. 

 

Much safer to stay comfortable in the cosey little den created out of thumb-tips, roughing fluid, and flipper coins.

 

 

In an instagram LIVE with Lee Hathaway he pointed out “Magic only amplifies who you already are, if you’re a dick in real life, you’re a bigger dick as a magician” and he’s right.

 

Juan Tameriz puts it a little more eloquently in his ‘seven veils of mystery’. In a nutshell; people sense others intent.  If the magician is doing magic to feel better about themselves the audience will sense it, they won’t know how they know, they just know.

 

 

Beware of self preservation - I am well aware there are magicians reading this thinking “yeah those other guys really need to figure their shit out”. Far too many magicians say they do magic to ‘make people smile’, ‘make others feel better’, and to ‘spread joy’ - keep selling yourself that bullshit and you will remain blind, alone, wearing the emperor's clothes for everyone to see. Those in denial are doing themselves a disservice and missing out on the opportunity of reaching their full potential.

 

Regardless of which side of the fence you’re on, I challenge you to at least take a peek in the mirror and actively find opportunities for growth, your future self will thank you for it, and so will magic if you're a magician. 

 

I reflect regularly, some might consider it a borderline obsession with self-improvement, or call me an ‘over thinker’ but change can’t happen without action. 

 

Ok the ‘guru’ rant is over. Yes,. I'll get off my high horse now.

 

 

I'm passionate about this idea of intent because it’s the number one thing harming the public's perception of magic. Far too many people I meet while performing have a bad opinion of magic and magicians.

 

*For the record (and as a way of virtue signalling) I of course have work to do, my friends, family, and therapist will attest to that!

 

 

I do encourage anyone, magician or not, to ask some probing questions once in a while; Could I be a better human?

 

 

I went off track for a minute there.

Essentially, whenever I perform I am constantly asking myself “Am I doing this in a way which serves me, my audiences, and magic best? If not, why not? And what can I do to change that?

 

I have been making a conscious effort to ‘be better’ for as long as I can remember, and I believe this investment has made me a better person, and as a result, a better Magician. 

Remember, magic amplifies who we already are, so why not be the best we can.

 

 

1800s magic pioneer and first president of The Magic Circle, David Devant, knew what he was talking about with his catchphrase “all done by kindness”.

 

 

🔁  If you know someone who might benefit from this newsletter it would be cool if you shared it with them, it would really help me out!

 

 

 

Take care, and keep up the good work!

 

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