I guess the first thing would be to confirm that I do get great ideas. I can honestly say I often get good ideas but the great ideas are far and few between. It’s not from lack of trying either. I recall Andre Kole, one of the most creative magicians alive, in an interview saying he forced himself to create new magic effects every day or not go to bed. Well I tried that and to be honest the “not go to bed part” was easy. I like the night. Don’t get me wrong, I like to sleep! Sleep in that is! I think when I was younger I came up with all my great ideas in the middle of the night from sleep depravation! These days the staying up late is normal but I have to be quiet as Hannah and Lori are sleeping. This cuts down on my productivity as I can’t saw, paint, drill or crank tunes to spark my creativity. I have all the time in the world … as long as it is in the daylight hours … not so good for my creative juices!
Yesterday, I drove to Everett, Washington to hang out with Steve Hamilton and Brian Cook. We had a great conversation about magic, characters and power tools! On the drive down I was a bit tired as I started the journey at 10 AM which is usually when I am waking up! This slightly tired feeling gave me the necessary spark and I created a whole series of effects using one particular sleight. I look forward to exploring the idea further and performing them for real people.
Back at the house I have begun dry walling the basement. I have learned something very important. I don’t like drywall! I don’t like installing it, puttying it and especially sanding it smooth. I have several rooms to do and believe I will be hiring a professional to finish the job. The shop is kind of oragnized but I still have along way to go …
Production on the new illusion is going well and I think it will be a crowd pleaser. I guess it really isn’t a new illusion as I have done several variations on it over the past two decades. This variation is really close to a version I did in Athens, Greece for a magic festival a few years back.
I’ve been thinking a lot about that festival in Athens. It had a stellar line up of performers, a great theatre staff, incredible audiences and gave me an opportunity to make some friends for life. Funny thing is that as I have thinking about these friends … they have been calling me out of the blue to say Hi! OK I called one of them but the others called me! How cool.
“Putting a hammer in my hand means putting together two things with roughly the same IQ” – me
Shawn Farquhar's Blog 