I'm picky

After a recent performance, some asked me, "How do you choose what you perform?"
They had seen me perform a few times at different events, and noticed that I have done a few different show sets.
The answer is pretty simple: I'm picky. I'm very picky with what I choose to present on stage. Especially with magic. My initial criteria for choosing magic to perform is, "Do I enjoy watching it?" There are so many magic routines and effects which I don't really enjoy to watch as a spectator. For example: cups and balls, I have watched dozens of different cups and balls routines live or on the internet. Look it up on youtube sometime. I find most of them very busy, and ultimately confusing for the audience. That frustrates me as a spectator, and it turns me off as a magician. The same is true for many coin magic tricks. They are to hard to follow.
So how do I choose what to perform, I need to like it as an audience member first.
The second condition comes in the method, the handling, sshhh...the secret. I need to enjoy how it flows and plays out. Can I adapt it to my style? This causes me to search and search for various methods. Yes, there are many different ways to make a ball disappear, or change the color of a card. Ultimately, the secret is not the important part, it is how you present the magic.

I recently added two new routines to my show - the Hindu Thread and Torn and Restored Newspaper. I enjoy these to effects very much. I feel that the thread is such a beautiful visual. And the newspaper tear is one of the awesome classics of magic. Both of them are posted in videos in earlier blog posts.