The Magician Became Me | Acting | Becoming A Magician


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The Magician Became Me


By Aedryan Methyus | Through Eyes Nocturne

Wednesday, June 06, 2012

A magician is an actor playing the part of a magician.

~ Jean-Eugene Robert-Houdin (1805 - 1871)


The Magician Became Me | Acting | Becoming A MagicianAn early magician by the name of Robert Houdin (December 6, 1805 – June 13, 1871), who was coined – "The Father of Modern Magic" once said, "A magician is an actor playing the part of a magician". I have had my own thoughts about that for many years now, which I would like to share. Certainly, in the early stages of a magician’s journey into the art of magic, we begin learning to "act" the part of a magician at some point. We learn from watching and studying our favorite magicians and to some degree, we may have even modeled certain aspects of our “character”, our performance style or a certain magic routine after them from time to time. Come on, fellow magicians, we’ve all done it at one point or another! Admit it!


Eventually, our performance abilities reach a stage (pun intended), where we actually become a magician, as opposed to someone who does magic “tricks”. Please don’t misunderstand the following statement, as my intentions are not to demean other magicians. I always give credit where it is due! However, I do feel that it is necessary to say that, the sad reality is, many magicians never even seem to reach this level. I have personally known members of the International Brotherhood Of Magicians, who have received the “Merlin” award and even after 25 + years of being continuous, active, participating members of the I.B.M., still have never evolved from being someone, who does magic “tricks” into becoming a magician. Or, even a good actor playing the part of one... Believe it or not, this same thing is actually true of some of the most well known magicians in magic. It’s sad, but very much true…

Anyway, back to my whole point of this article... As a young, upcoming, practicing magician, somewhere along the line I reached the stage of development I spoke of above. I actually became a magician. At that point, I was most likely still just an actor playing the part of a magician. It’s just part of the process. But, after performing magic professionally and living the art day in and day out for a lot of years there was a huge transformation... The magician became me. And, this is where I pay homage to the art of magic. Magic has not only changed every aspect of my life and made me a better person, but it has completely transformed the innermost core of my entire being (inside and out). Magic has changed the way I think. The way I feel. The way I speak. The way I walk. The way I move. My facial expressions. My gestures. The list goes on and on. I’m not only talking about when I’m onstage performing magic, but in every aspect of my life. Whether I’m onstage, in the company of friends or family or completely alone. So many times I have had people tell me how they had been observing me, unbeknownst to myself and they will point out how gracefully I picked up a cigarette lighter or a drinking glass and set it back down or how my hands are always in a "magical" looking position.

I’ll never forget how a fellow magician and I used to spend hours, studying, learning, practicing and developing magic together. We would spend countless hours in front of a giant mirror in my living room, practicing different facial expressions, gestures, movements and simply picking up objects, such as a deck of cards or a wine glass and setting them back down, as we spoke as eloquently as we possibly could to an imaginary audience. All of those things eventually became natural and have truly made me not only the magician I have become, but the person I am as well. For all of that, I will be eternally grateful and indebted to the art of magic. And, that is why a magician is not always merely an actor playing the part of a magician…




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