Magic is Nothing

While not specifically comedy magic related, I do love the The Jerx. I read it pretty regularly and most always get something out of it. I'm guessing that most of the ComClave attendees think of magic as more than just a hobby, but here's a post from The Jerx from 10 years ago that I think really sums up why even though I'm glad that magic is my job, I'm happy that it's also my hobby...

Magic encompasses everything because it is essentially nothing. Magic doesn't exist. So when you learn magic you're not really learning magic. Instead you are learning dozens of other arts and crafts that allow you to present the illusion of magic. Whenever I talk to friends with kids and we talk about hobbies for the kids, I encourage them to get into magic. Magic is a great gateway to the world around you and it helps you identify your passions.

Outsiders just think of it as sleight-of-hand. But I can't even begin to list all the areas I've had to explore in order to learn and present a particular trick, or magic in general. Writing, acting, comedy, electronics, memory and mnemonics, psychology, gambling, topology, cons, filmmaking, cold reading, juggling, crafting, dance, mime, mathematics, science, history, carpentry, theater, origami, sewing, forgery, animal training, drawing, optics, physical fitness, puzzle solving, and so on and so on. I love that "doing magic" might involve rubber cementing a bunch of shit together, or memorizing the most popular female names of the 20th century, or determining the sight-lines and angles of every seat in a theater so you can build a stage to vanish an elephant on.

Other hobbies don't have that range. If your kid plays piano it's not like, "Oh, well sometimes she sits at the piano and plays with her fingers, and other times she uses different colored light rays to make you think you heard the song.”