Consider the rich kid with as many toys as he wants. He plays with them few months until they become used, old and not fun any more. His attention is on his next new toy even though the ones he has still work perfectly. In some cases the toys are abused so much they don’t work at all.
Now consider the kid who is not well off. He is told that his toys cost a lot of money. He is not given a new toy just because he wants it so the toys he does get are more valuable to him. Consider the big shot who buys a new car every year. He may not take care of it as much as a retired person on a fixed income with an older model. The older person usually drives more carefully planning on their car to last longer.
What does this have to do with magic? Many new people have a hard time learning sleight of hand yet I’ve seen a small number of others that can easily do complicated moves with kittle practice. More often then not, the people who can perform sleights with no practice don’t appreciate the skill it takes for others. They’re like the rich kid who needs a new toy every week or the guy who trades his car every year. Since they have no challenge to perfect their magic they don’t believe others would pay them to entertain them. They don’t see any value to their performance and their interest in performing magic is disposable. For the majority of magicians, it’s not easy to master sleights, so when they become proficient they are proud of their accomplishment. It’s the people who struggle with a sleight that usually use it more often. So, if you’re new to magic just remember these words practice, practice, practice.
DVDs are almost as good as having a teacher sit next to you. I remember when I learned a new trick or sleight and would have to show James Swoger (my mentor) that I culd do it correctly or he would make me practice for another week. He wouldn’t teach anything new until I could perform what I learned the week before. With that in mind I decided to include all the details I could, when producing our DVDs. My goal is to make you able to perform our effects without taking weeks to learn. While most people do not master moves, before skipping ahead on the DVD, they can replay chapters repeatedly until they get it. Just for the record, many of our instructions are only produced with pictures and text because the elements that need shown are not moving.
Sometimes photos or written instructions work better.Learn the effect then reread the instructions or view the DVD again in a few weeks and pick up more details. Remember, if something is difficult to learn, you will have an appreciation someone else may not.
