I started studying and performing magic when I was just six years old. Since that time, my parents and friends have considered me to be a lazy person. Are magicians inherently lazy? Quite the contrary! Magicians sacrifice countless hours of their lives toward perfecting their craft. They devote their lives to a mysterious art that takes, in fact, countless lifetimes to learn.
I admit that I sit in my room, apparently doing nothing. I appear to be lazy, but remember we magicians are masters of illusion. It may appear as though I am doing nothing when, in fact, I am practicing my craft in secret. I may be watching TV but, nine times out of ten, I am watching another magician perform and learning from that magical performance. It is not lazy when I practice day and night training my hands to be dexterious enough to manipulate coins and cards. My parents and friends insist that I am lazy when I surf the internet. Little do they know that I am reading articles from magic websites hoping to gain more knowledge and insight in achieving my goal as a professional magician.
Do you want to know the secret to magic's greatest tricks? The secret to magic is that it takes years of practice. Most people are not willing to dedicate years of their life toward a single art or goal. Yet, we magicians practice diligently every waking moment of our lives to make our magic flawless and as real as possible. A magician is an artist that expresses himself (or herself) through the most ancient of all performing arts.
Would you consider an artist to be lazy? Artists remain for hours in a room painting canvas, wood, slate, furniture, etc. They remain relatively stationary during these actions but that, in no way, makes them lazy. Are poets lazy? As a huge fan of poetry I can tell you that poets have a difficult task to perform. They are required to manipulate words, phrases, sentences, syllables, verbs, nouns, adjectives, adverbs, etc. into a poetic structure that is both pleasurable to read and also expresses a meaning.
Magicians perform a similar task. We manipulate objects of the physical world to create an illusion in a person's mind that what they are seeing is truth. For example, a magician makes a coin apparently vanish into thin air. The effect perceived by the audience is very simple. A coin has vanished. From the viewpoint of the magician it is very difficult and extremely technically demanding. Months, possibly years, prior to demonstrating this seemingly easy 'trick' the magician practiced everyday in front of a mirror studying him or herself and paying acute attention to detail. A magician must concentrate on every element of this illusion no matter how simplistic it may seem. Magicians are truly their own harsh critics.
Why do magicians dedicate so much of their time and patience developing the dexterity, skill and knowledge necessary in accomplishing an illusion? We do it for you...the audience. I admit that magicians also gain a feeling of satisfaction and pride in successfully performing an illusion. But, after awhile, the illusion becomes second nature to us. We only continue performing for your enjoyment! Then, the magician's satisfaction comes from another source. We love to see the sincere reactions of people after having witnessed an unbelievable illusion that took years to achieve. Magicians are so appreciative of your applause. When they hear it, they know their life was worthwhile. They realize that they did not waste time learning this ancient art because people still appreciate it! Knowing that your life has meaning, and the meaning is to entertain and bring joy to others ... That is real magic!
In regards to being lazy...It has taken me over a decade to learn what I know today of magic and I still have a lot to learn. I better go back to my room and be lazy... I mean study.
Michael Gambit
