Improve One Moment At A Time

Incremental improvement for your magic show by focusing your effort on the worst bit. Over time, bit by bit, your show will get better!

I hope you are not too impressed by yourself.

I hope that, after a show, you feel like you could have done better.

Being your own worst critic is a good thing. It means you see a lot of potential. Your as-of-yet unfulfilled artistic vision will drive you to improve.

I'm in the process of creating a new stage show, bringing myself one step closer to the pie-in-the-sky show I've always envisioned. I must admit it's a tad overwhelming. I feel like every routine could benefit from a rewrite and an overhaul, but that's a ridiculous amount of work. So I intend to make my improvements one moment at a time.

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The team at Walt Disney call this "plussing"

You find the worst part, and make it better. Then there is a new worst part, which gets the same treatment.

Every routine has those moments. Maybe it is a joke that gets a weak laugh. Perhaps it's a bit suspicious when you do the secret move. Maybe your introductory remarks are long-winded.

Look at the routine and find the rough spot, then figure out how to polish it up.

Rewriting a show is hard. Rewriting one line seems like much lighter work.

If you are performing regularly it's easy to let things run like business as usual. I would recommend scheduling a time once a week to find that weakest spot in your show and spend an hour troubleshooting. One moment at a time, you'll create a better magic show.

Published: July 21, 2011

Channel: Blog

Access: Public

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