Time to forgive Criss Angel...

For being successful. You heard me right. Criss Angel is to magicians what abortion is to political ideologues. No name in the magic community has the power to stir up quite the same level of argument. I bring this up because a friend of mine recently decided to drop the hand grenade at Ellusionist and Theory 11's forums. Links:

E forums
T11 forums

Among the assertions I made as my contributions to the discussion is that most magicians tear Angel down because they lack an eye for realism. They refuse to accept why Criss is successful and their idols aren't. Some have responded by listing their own accomplishments, even though a great man shouldn't need to tell you he's great. Others have insisted that Angel doesn't count as a magician. They uniformly fail to understand that there is a lesson to be learned here.

In "The 50th Law" by Robert Greene, the eye for realism is discussed in detail as a powerful tool for success. You need to see everything as it truly is, not the way you want it to be. I would argue that bizarrists need this more than anyone as our sub-genre of magic is a particularly hard sell. Most of it is masturbatory, over-long, over-complicated, or just flat out boring. Most bizarrists don't see things as they truly are.

Think about your magic for a moment. What does the audience get out of it? You need a better answer than just, "Entertainment." You need a sense of what they want, what they need. How can you give it to them? What can you offer that nobody else does?

This is in part where charm comes from. Most people have no idea what that actually means, but a charmer is someone who voluntarily gives up their spotlight temporarily to make someone feel better about themself. Charmers maintain eye contact, are excellent listeners, and express a sincere interest in your opinions. They want to like you, so they give you the opportunity to tell them about yourself. That kind of thing is magnetic. Not surprisingly, many of the most charming people I've ever met were also realists. They were keen observers of people and the world around them. That knowledge made them successful at any effort they undertook.

I want all of my readers to do me a favor. Think about what you want. What audience are you looking for? Do you want to perform as a hobby or professionally? What does the market in your area look like? Are the people you're looking at as clients open to trying new things? Keep asking questions like this. Look at it as a realist. Assess your strengths, weaknesses, obstacles, and opportunities. Post in the comments section what plan of action you're going to take to get your magic in front of more people.

This is what all successful magicians did that the majority of their peers never have. It's time to forgive Criss Angel for being more successful than us and learn what he did right that we never even attempted.