The Art of Magic Series Web Journal

Art, Integrity, and Being True to Yourself

2007-08-14T07:58:00.000-06:00

Well, it's been quite a while since my last post, as I've been occupied with other projects. Recently, though, I had something interesting happen that is such a valuable lesson that I just had to share it. This is a little long, but I think you'll find it well worth your time.

Not long ago, I received an email from a young man who is a magic enthusiast and a senior at a large university in another state. He was writing to apologize for having been so 'inspired' by an article on my website on 'approaching magic as an actual art form', that he decided to use a good deal of it, word for word, in a speech he presented for his speaking class, without giving me proper credit for the work. His speech teacher had also apparently found my article on my website and accused him of plagiarism.

He was writing to say that he'd 'disrespected' me by not giving me credit, to apologize and ask my forgiveness, and to see if I might be willing to contact his teachers on his behalf, since he was in danger of being failed on the speech, in which case he would fail the course and possibly ruin his chances of graduating this term.

Here is the letter that I sent to him, also forwarding it to his teachers and advisors. I've changed his name, to protect his privacy, for obvious reasons:

Hi Jonathan,

What a surprise it was to get your note. Sounds like you've gotten yourself into quite a bind...

But let me begin by saying how pleased and honored I am that you were inspired enough by my writing to use it in your speech. And I also want to commend you on your honesty and courage in taking responsibility for your mistake, letting me know about it, and for your apology. I do appreciate it.

It concerns me that so many today seem to be acting with no sense of integrity, honesty, and accountability. Our society has so often become rampant with acts of selfishness, "self-centeredness", and greed, with seemingly little or no need to accept accountability for such actions. And to my mind, these are the very issues that art, in it's highest and best, is meant to address.

So thank you for having the courage to face up to this and to contact me, as embarrassing as I'm sure it must be for you.

(Of course, the possibility does occur to me that you might not in fact be contacting me out of concern for whatever "harm" you've done me, but instead for your own self interest, in hopes of saving yourself from failing the course and not graduating this term, BUT I'm inclined to give you the benefit of the doubt, and for now at least, will assume your intentions are entirely honorable.)

I learned recently that one of the effects that's come about due to the ease of finding the wealth of information on literally any subject that's now available on the internet, is that many college students are finding it much too easy and tempting to simply "cut and paste" their way to a research paper or other course project, and plagiarism is becoming a huge problem in higher education. Many teachers and professors are now having to spend inordinate amounts of time and energy checking, re-checking, and researching students' works to make sure they are in fact original.

Even in journalism recently, periodicals as "prestigious" as the New York Times have been caught in huge controversies over cases of lazy journalists who tried to take shortcuts and use someone else's material rather than devoting the necessary effort to adequate research and to giving proper credit.

Perhaps more to the point in our case, in the world of magic, I really believe that one of the main reasons magic is so often not seen as an actual art form is that so many magicians simply don't approach it that way. Art is about finding and expressing your own unique vision through your work. Rather than putting in the time, effort, and energy to find their own uniqueness, develop a distinctive performing persona, and create original material, many (if not most) magicians seem so often to be satisfied with simply doing the same old magic, the same old way... in some cases even stealing original material from other more innovative performers. As you no doubt know, this type of theft has become a huge point of contention within the magic community.

I don't mean to imply that any of this was true for you. I don't know what your actual motivations were in using my article without credit. (I would hope that it was simply an oversight on your part, an honest mistake, or perhaps simply not being aware of the proper way to give credit in the context of a "spoken" work... all of which are certainly forgivable to my mind, particularly since you are now aware of your mistake and attempting to address it. I've certainly made enough blunders of my own over the years, especially when I was younger.) But I bring up these examples simply to say that I realize these issues are of real concern, and are certainly not to be taken lightly, especially by those in the educational field.

In my own case, the field of magic is not just my hobby, my art, and my passion, it is also my full time career, and the way that I earn my living. And in point of fact, the article that you used is excerpted from a much longer copyrighted work that I sell as a home study course for magicians on how to improve their magic and make it more artistic. So it's actually a source of income for me.

That being said, it's also true that one of my main intentions in offering this work is to help educate and inspire people to recognize magic as the true art form that it can and should be. So, in a sense, by sharing my thoughts in the way you have, you are in effect assisting me in this endeavor.

Would I have preferred that you had given me credit up front? Absolutely. But you certainly haven't done me any harm that I can see, (I seriously doubt that any of your classmates would be in a position to purchase my course), and frankly, I'm flattered that you thought so much of my ideas that you saw fit to use them as you have.

Of course, finding your own "voice", and putting these or similar ideas in your own words would have been a better example of "artistic self expression" on your part, but perhaps this experience will inspire you to do so more in the future.

Yea, OK, you blew it... But don't we all at one time or another! And it would seem you've actually done yourself more potential harm than you have me. In my experience, without exception, absolutely the most valuable lessons I've learned in my life have been ones where I made some stupid mistake that caused potential harm to others, and over which I in turn suffered tremendous personal pain and embarrassment as a result. These have been the greatest source of my own growth and personal advancement. My sincere hope for you is that you will be able to use this experience in that way.

I'm reminded of a story of a multi-millionaire businessman who had a personal assistant who made a huge blunder and lost a million dollars in a business deal that went bad. The assistant came to the mogul and said, "I guess you'll be wanting my resignation." Whereupon the wealthy businessman replied, "What? Are you crazy? I've just spent a million dollars educating you!"

I don't mean to minimize the severity of something like plagiarism, which really does need to be taken seriously and addressed when it happens. But I also don't believe in holding grievances or in retribution -- I believe in people taking responsibility for their actions, which from what I can tell from your letter, you appear to be doing.

As to whether you should fail the course over this mistake.... I honestly can't say what is most appropriate, since I don't know your particular situation, the entire context in which your speech is being graded, or whether or not the hardship suffered in failing would far outweigh the error in judgment on your part. I certainly hope this doesn't go that way, and I'm "cc'ing" this message to your teachers at the contacts you supplied. And I'd also be willing to discuss the matter with any of them by email or phone.

Oh yeah... to address your question,... yes, you can feel free to use the articles on my website... Just give me proper credit next time you do!

Finally, I think that most artistic people (and especially those of us in magic), have had the experience of being so inspired by someone else's work that, for one reason or other, seemed to really "resonate" and "ring true" with us personally, that we were tempted to copy it. As they say, imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. But part of growing into a true artist is in learning to discern between being inspired and influenced by someone's work, and simply using it as is, as though it were our own. Often a hard lesson, but an important one if we hope to contribute anything new to the world. I hope you'll find your unique voice as an artist in whatever you decide to do in life.

In any case, thanks for the refreshing dose of honesty, and I wish you all the best in your endeavors. (Please don't be afraid to keep me posted on how this all turns out!)

Sincerely,

Mitch Williams

Now, (assuming you're still with me...) here's the even more interesting part... This is the response that I received from the administrators at "Jonathan's" university. I received their permission to share this, provided that I protected the identity and privacy of the student.

Dear Mr. Williams:

Thank you so very much for your insightful response to our student. I thought you might be interested in my colleague Adam G's reaction. I think you have made his Monday morning! Best of luck in all of your endeavors.

Sincerely,

J B
Associate Dean of the Faculties
XXXXXX University

******************************************
From: G, Adam

All,

What a wonderful reply this magician/artist/educator provided… Through his response, Mr. Williams did what we hope to do when our process works at its best:
Explain the error in a way the student could understand;
Personalize the learning experience for both the violated party and the student that committed the violation;
Identify personal integrity as the violated principle and apply it broadly to explain its importance and the implications of its violation.
Other important elements of his response:
By acknowledging that the student’s message could have been motivated by pure self-interest, Mr. Williams demonstrated how doubting one’s character is an easy leap to make once personal integrity has been questioned.
By explaining the connection between the student’s actions and his own livelihood, Mr. Williams framed accountability in a very personal way (i.e., loss of personal income).
By commenting on how the absence of personal integrity has effected his profession as a whole, Mr. Williams applied the principle to his vocation. For reasons that we well know, this is something that we in higher education need to continue to explore and improve upon.
Yet, as is appropriate, Mr. Williams did not comment on the form of accountability the institution feels may be best suited for the situation.
Lastly, in one of the most ‘artful’ elements of his response, Mr. Williams left the door open to further conversations with the student so that he would feel ‘safe’ to grow beyond the error.
In so many ways, Mr. Williams did something that we could not do: As the ‘owner’ of the misused material and as someone who the student truly respects, he brought the learning experience to a personal level that we can not reach. For these things – for the gift of communication that he obviously has – and for the time he committed to this student’s learning experience, I am very grateful…. Should your office respond to Mr. Williams, please do feel free to share my gratitude.

Sincerely,

Adam G., Ph.D.
Associate Dean of Students
XXXXX University

Final notes:

Needless to say, I was pleased by this response from the administrators (I've yet to hear back from "Jonathan" as to how it all turned out... though I admit I'm quite curious.) I'm also heartened to realize there are people in higher education who really "get it", and are guiding our young people in such potent ways.

I felt strongly about sharing this, since it's such a wonderful lesson in the important role that honesty -- self honesty, as much as anything else -- truly plays in the life of an artist, and how this sense of honesty and integrity plays out and effects all areas of our lives. As true artists, who have great potential influence through our work, it is our responsibility to hold ourselves to a higher standard, if we are to have any hope of creating our art with purity and impact.

Part of that responsibility is, to my mind, also about not holding grievances, since had I done so in this case, it would have severely limited my potential influence in the situation. And also, integrity as an artist, and being true to oneself, is about doing what's right not just because it's right, but also because if we don't, it will come back to haunt us, and at the very least, stunt our growth and possible influence as artists.

This story is also a great lesson in how, provided we stay open in both mind and heart, we can learn from one another in deep, profound, and truly meaningful ways -- from both our mistakes as well as our successes. And of course, I've learned a lot from this experience, both about myself and about the importance of the issues I've discussed. So I'm feeling grateful to this young man for creating this opportunity. As Johnny Ace Palmer put it when I shared this with him, it's been quite... edifying.

Finding Inspiration

2007-03-09T09:25:00.001-06:00

Where do you find inspiration for your magic? One of the best pieces of advice I ever got (though come to think of it, it was really just a strong reinforcement for what I already believed myself) came from Vito Lupo several years ago, when I was getting ready to pull up roots and move to Los Angeles. He advised that I not just look for my inspiration from within the magic world, but to look outside to other sources as well.

What is it that inspires you? Is it music, art, great ideas, nature? I've been inspired by each of these at different times, and have found ways of integrating them into my magic performances.

I've always been very inspired by physical movement and have made it a very big part of how I approach magic. It's how I developed the "balanced movement" techniques that I teach other magicians. Since most magic is mainly a visual art form, and we must express ourselves with images, one of the major ways we create those images is through the use of body language in its many forms. So movement, both big and small, bold and subtle, in all its various intricacies, is a vital aspect of performing good magic.

Some of my inspirations outside magic have included Cirque du Soleil (I discovered them years ago, after the first or second version of the troupe began touring), avant-garde juggler, Michael Moshen, and dancers like Fred Astaire and Mikhail Baryshnikov. I find each of them to be quite magical in their own right, and it inspires me to attempt to create that same feeling in my magic.

And speaking of Vito Lupo, he is one person that has always been consistently inspiring for me as well. Practically every time I talk to him, I come away inspired in one way or another. I take something from the encounter that's new and thought provoking or uplifting in some way. And the reason Vito's so inspiring? He's inspired! And he has a passion to share his inspiration.

So whatever it is that gets you that inspired, find it, study it, use it! Use it for your own inspiration, and above all, share it with others. Because inspiration that isn't shared soon withers and dies. You must keep an open, free flowing channel that not only takes in inspiration, but that offers it as well.

I just found another source of inspiration outside magic. Some of you may be familiar with him, but he was new for me. He's a juggler named Chris Bliss. I found a video of the finale of his act. He's using fairly common juggling tricks, but using them brilliantly, flawlessly, and above all, quite artistically. I hope you'll find him inspiring as well. You can check out his video HERE.

In any case, wherever it may lie, find your inspiration and bring it to your magic!

Getting Real

2007-02-21T07:30:00.000-06:00

I think a lot about being real. Coming across as genuine and sincere when performing magic. I think it's essential if you want your magic to be really strong. Of course some people have these "larger than life" characters. But to me that just means that their "character" acts in a way that's consistently both true to him or herself, and also true to whatever situation in which they happen to be in

Some of you may recall the stand up comedian, Emo Phillips. He has this really extreme, really "off", character, almost like some nearly psychotic, almost perverted, really strange guy. I worked with Emo several years ago, before he was all that well known. He was just as funny off stage as on. The character was toned down considerably off stage, and not the whack job he plays on stage, but he just has a "naturally" weird way of looking at the world. And he's comfortable with it. And I kinda think that's really who he is. Or if not, he's incredibly good at faking it.

So often performers are forced. And they don't quite know "how to be" in certain situations. And when they have to do some "move" or other in the context of a magic routine, it tends to get worse. I've gotten to the point that I absolutely can't stand to not be genuine when performing. I have to feel both comfortable and "appropriate" to the situation. We've all seen people who don't know how to be appropriate. So for me that means that whatever technique I'm doing in the context of a routine, has to somehow fit into a natural conversation or communication. All the body language and inflections and timing has to be congruent with my conversation. Otherwise it doesn't work. And the older I get, the more intolerable that incongruity becomes.

I've seen many magicians who are totally natural having a conversation, and then as soon as they start to do a routine, they go into "performing mode", and it's totally out of character with who they are normally. And it puts people off. It also makes the magic less believable and therefore gives it less impact.

A big part of the appeal of guys like David Blaine and Chris Angel, whatever you may think of them or their characters, is that when they're doing magic one on one, they're natural, like having a normal conversation. Of course, it's a normal conversation where supernormal things appear to be happening. Which is the power of it. That seems to be some of the appeal of the whole "street magic" movement that's become so popular. It's really just seemingly impromptu close up magic in a natural setting. But in order to pull it off, you've got to be natural!

One of my magic teachers once gave me the analogy of Clint Eastwood in one of those old cowboy movies. He saunters in, pulls out a match, strikes it on his shoe, lights his cigarette, and flicks the match across the room so it lands right in this little can sitting on the floor. And he can do it every time. But he does it like it's no big deal. As opposed to someone who can do the same thing, but he's like, "Check this out! I can do this every time!" And he makes a big show out of the whole thing. Which is more impressive?

Anyway, the whole experience of being genuine when performing has become the biggest focus in my magic over the past few years. Out of necessity, since I can't stand it to not be real. It just seems so fake and insincere. For me anyway. But I really do think it's one of the main elements to making your magic truly artistic.

Hey, before I go, I just want to share a great line for anyone who does card on the ceiling. I do it at the restaurant I work, and one of the questions people often ask as soon as you do the trick is, "How does it stick up there?" One night I was doing it for a group, and someone asked that, and this little kid at the table, in this voice filled with wonder and enthusiasm, goes, "You have a really sticky ceiling!" We all just lost it. So I use the line whenever someone asks.

Going a Little Deeper

2007-02-09T14:28:00.000-06:00

Inspiration is the foundation of any art, so I do so love sharing it whenever it comes up.

A few magicians have asked me on occasion to talk a bit about my deeper philosophies of art, magic, and life. I haven't written publicly about it all that much, so I thought I'd take the opportunity to share something that goes a little deeper than some of my other writings.

But first, I have some "other" inspiration to share. Someone recently sent me a link to a video of a really fabulous artist from France (I believe). His name is Jerome Murat, and he combines mime, magic, and some really creative characterizations for one of the most artistic acts I've seen in some time. He's an excellent example of so many of the things that I'm always talking about, such as having a well defined character and invisibly integrating magic technique with expression. He can be found both on YouTube as well as another similar site, DailyMotion. Enjoy!

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Now, let's get philosophical... This is something I wrote recently.

Here are a few thoughts...

ON BEING AN ARTIST

My attitudes and approach to magic tend to mirror my attitudes towards life. Or at least that's the direction I consistently attempt to pursue in my work. And to my mind, this is the essence of being an artist. Your work becomes an expression of, and a vehicle for, your deepest and most basic sense of both who you are, as well as your outlook on life and the world around you. This need not necessarily be consciously applied, but at some level, the artist integrates his most fundamental life perspectives into his work.

This can be very simple and basic, or it can be complex and profound.

For me personally, I believe that life is about service. Serving my fellow human beings and humanity as a whole in whatever small way I can. It's also about peak performance: becoming all you can be and striving to reach your personal potential. Peak performance, however, must be for the purpose of service. If this personal potential is not shared, and put directly to the service of others in some way, it is pointless, myopic, selfish, and largely wasted. And thirdly, I believe in the overwhelming power of the experience of wonder to inspire and transform.

So my approach to magic, essentially, is to first of all become the best I can be at what I do, and to then share this with others in such a way as to, hopefully, touch their hearts and minds with that experience of wonder, thereby creating inspiration, joy, and perhaps even a feeling of mutual respect and interdependence.

That doesn't in any way mean that I need to speak of any of these things in my performances, though occasionally I do, when I feel it appropriate and helpful. But it does mean that they are an undercurrent, or to put it in acting terms, the "subplot" in all my work.

The techniques of magic are for me merely the means to express all of this and share it with others. But that means that these techniques must be so skillfully utilized and applied that they are invisible in the performance. They work "behind the scenes" to create the experience that I wish to share. If the "techniques"—whether I mean by that a double lift, or my timing and phrasing in my delivery of a line of dialogue—are apparent or obvious as techniques, they will distract and detract from the experience of wonder, joy, and goodwill that I am attempting to share. This is the "peak performance" side that must come into play.

So what is your outlook? Everyone has a philosophy of life, regardless of whether they admit it, or whether they've identified it consciously. I like to say that if there are 6 billion people living on the planet, that means there are also 6 billion different religions, and necessarily so! If you expand the definition of "religion" to simply mean "your beliefs about the nature of life and your approach to it", then everyone has a completely unique perspective on this, because we are, each and all, completely unique individuals, with completely unique vantage-points on the world. In this sense, even an atheist has a "religion". And it's absolutely necessary to honor this, in my view. Free will and freedom of thought are not optional, they are essential. And of course, herein lies both our greatest power, and our greatest potential for conflict.

One step in honoring this individual outlook is by honoring your own, for only then can you allow yourself to honor that of others. And we must honor this in others, if we hope to survive as a species on this planet. Just because my outlook is different from yours, and perhaps even apparently contradictory to it, doesn't mean that either of us is wrong. It simply means we each have our own unique way of seeing the world. This is the beauty of life. How can we not honor that? For an artist, that means allowing your own life perspective to shine through into what you do.

It also means, to me at least, to do so in such a way that it honors the life perspective of others. We're talking here about respect, goodwill, cooperation. And so, most often unconsciously, but nonetheless quite unmistakably, these attributes have become an increasingly essential aspect of all my performances of magic. I could no more be deliberately rude or offensive to an audience than I could cut off my own finger. It would be that personally painful and against my nature.

What is your life perspective, conscious or unconscious? Just because you're not aware of your personality traits doesn't mean they don't shine through (or perhaps in some cases, come glaring through!) in what you do, for good or ill. What are the subliminal messages you are sending? And does it matter?

I think so. I think it matters a great deal.

Welcome to the Art of Magic Series Web Journal

2007-02-08T08:53:00.000-06:00

Greetings!

Well, I'm excited to begin this, my first Art of Magic Series blog post. This is where I'll keep you abreast of my current thoughts, experiences, news, and information about approaching magic as an art form.

I hope you'rll find something of interest and stay in touch as we begin this journey together. If you have comments, questions, or snide remarks (as my friend, Johnny Ace Palmer would say), please feel free to share them. I'll do my best to respond to questions as time allows.

If you're a returning visitor to my website, you may notice I've just recently done a complete overhaul of the site, with a new look and feel. I also hope to be posting some new articles in the very near future, so stay tuned.

One upcoming event I'm excited about is the release of my new book test through Black's Magic Group, as well as my involvement in the new Street Magic Magazine. Thanks go to my new friend, James L. Clark for giving me the opportunity to work with him on these projects. I'll be sharing more about both of those as they develop.

In the meantime, keep in touch, and stay inspired!

Mitch