Writing my book, Magic for the Rest of Us, was a surprisingly cathartic experience. It gave me the opportunity to spend six weeks really working through a lot of thoughts on magic.
There's one line of thinking in the book that I really love about how dedicated hobbyist magicians actually have far more in common with famous magicians than they do with working magicians.
We tend to think about the three main types of magicians as though they are placed upon one line from left to right. Hobbyist magicians are on one side, famous magicians are on the other, and working pros are in the middle of the two.
In actual fact, this line is more like a circle, with famous magicians connecting directly with dedicated hobbyists.
While working pros have to worry about things like instant resets and pocket space, famous magicians and hobbyists do not.
While working pros rarely have 24/7 access to venues and the opportunity to use anyone as an accomplice, famous magicians and hobbyists can.
While working pros are often restricted to how long they can wait between a setup and a reveal, famous magicians and hobbyists are not.
While working pros will find it difficult to personalize tricks to every spectator, famous magicians and hobbyists almost always can.
If there's one lesson I'd like readers to take away from reading my book, it's that they should strive to be the famous magician in their community.
