The past couple weeks I’ve been busy booking my shows for the rest of the year and preparing new material for them when I have time. Since I am relatively new as a Chicago Magician I have been seeking out locations to perform in that are small venues, but provide an opportunity to get much need practice in front of an audience. Thus far I have performed two times at the Gallery Cabaret in Bucktown. These performances have helped me to develop some wonderful new effects for the show. The thing about magic is that you never know how good something will be until you get it onstage and in front of actual living, breathing people. Without their reaction, I might as well be just doing tricks in front of the mirror.

My style of creating effects has always been sporadic. Sometimes I’ll have a run of several days with nonstop inspiration that keeps me up at night and produces a multitude of new material. Other times, I literally stare at a blank notepad for days. Lately, I’ve been in safer territory: the in-between. Every few days I will hit upon a decent idea for my show. I jot the idea down and let it sit for a while. Usually there isn’t really a way to achieve it – instead, there’s just the skeleton of a concept. Eventually I revisit those concepts and develop them as much as I can. It’s a long process and one that I’m not sure I’ll ever get down to a science. But, the feeling of setting yourself strict standards and adhering to them is one of the most rewarding feelings you can ever have. And it is the idea of setting standards that I wish to impose on you today. This idea has helped to shape the majority of my work, whether it be for my stage show or close-up magic.

The idea is simple: in order to create something you must first know what you do not want to do. So I encourage you to make your very own list of “Idea Ideals”. For instance, I travel quite a bit to perform my shows. With a limited budget and means of hauling props, it is important that my show is light or “packs small and plays big,” as they say. Knowing that I must be able to take my entire show with me on an airplane gives me an extremely clear vision of what I can and cannot do.

Likewise, a good deal of my personal “Idea Ideals” list for my show is purely from an aesthetic point of view. What props am I willing to work with? How do I want the stage to look? What will I be wearing, and how will it affect the performance? Etcetera, etcetera. The essence of the list is to ask myself “What don’t I want to do?” By answering this questions, my “ideals” are born. When I have an idea I consult my list and see if the idea is adhering to my guidelines. If it doesn’t I can immediately abandon it. However, if it does I jot it down in my notebook and save it for when the time is right. (You do keep a notebook, don’t you?)

What if you were a musician? You could easily have a list of “ideals” for your compositions. For example, you might want to have purely acoustic music, no additional voices, only write about personal thoughts/ideas, never use profanity, and never perform any covers. As time goes on, you may realize that you have additional “ideals” to pursue in your work.

It’s so easy to question where to start as an artist or creator. You can stare at a blank page for days upon end. However, if you work backwards it can actually become quite easy. And this is where the oh so important “Idea Ideals” list comes in. It’s very easy to know what you don’t want to do. And once you know that, you stay true to your list. It’s only a matter of time until you not only fill that page with good ideas, but ideas that are ideal.

Until next time, here’s to many more creative endeavors. I hope you enjoy reading the ramblings of this inspired Chicago Magician.