Last week Jenna and I watched a documentary called "Make
Believe" a 2011 film from executive producers Ed Cunningham and
Seth Gordon. "Make Believe" follows the growth of six teenagers who study
tricks to become magicians.
I copied the following quotes from this website. When asked about studying magic, Collider
received the following answers.
From Derek McKee: It’s hard for
people to understand magicians because you can’t show them what you’ve been
working on. They can’t relate to it. Most kids pick up magic for maybe two or
three days and realize that it’s a lot of work, so they can’t really relate to
working five hours a day on one trick
and Bill KOCH (who now uses his professional name Bill
Cook): Unless you’re into magic, you
don’t understand it. The people that are into it for two weeks because they got
a book from the library and bought a magic set, don’t realize that there’s
theater involved, there’s scripting and there’s choreography. Standing on stage
in front of people, if you pace or sway, you’ll make the audience dizzy. There
is so much involved with just going out there and doing a stage illusion or a
close-up trick. There’s choreography to walking around tables, so that the effect
can manifest properly.
And while Jenna and I were
impressed with each story on Krystyn Lambert, Bill Koch Siphiwe Fangase, Nkumbozo Nkonyana and Derek McKee, but the one that
impressed us most was Hiroki Hara from a small village in Japan - where there
is no cell phone or Internet service.
But Hiroki's family did have a VCR.
He had a recording of a magic show that he would watch over and over and
study in slow motion and had taught himself how to do magic and would read
books and magazine articles.
All of the
other five had some kind of mentor, but not Hiroki - he basically was alone
with his studies and his decisions. I
believe he financed himself to come to the states to participate at the Magic
Castle in California.
While we appreciated
the talent of each of the performers and were intrigued by each of their
journeys, we were most in awe of Hiroki - who I think is another great example
of thinking positive and pursuing one's dreams.
I think they ought to have his story in Chicken Soup - and maybe they
do. I just haven't read it yet.
Positive
Thinking. Turning dreams into
reality. Entertaining is not an easy
profession. Nor is the time that is put
into performing necessarily appreciated by those who are entertained.
I remember one time when my brother, Corey, was performing on stage,
someone had asked him if he had a real job.
Well, yes. Those who perform well
put several hours into their performance.
Possibly more hours than attorneys may spend on any given case. Performing IS definitely a real job - but
most people can't relate to it being a real job. But it is.
Thank you to all those who choose to entertain and devote so much of
their time that we may appreciate the performance
