Dear FIRST_NAME:

Hope you and yours had a great 4th of July holiday! I had a blast. Lots of family and stuff.

The Many Modes of Magic Presentation

I have placed below two wonderful YouTube clips. The first is Soma and his award winning phone act. The second is that act of the man most consider the most copied magic of all time, Cardini.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jucxw56RDik

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TNV0K5U6Uro

Watch and analyze! Which of the two do you 'believe' in more? Why? Two great acts separated by almost 60 years. What's common and what's not.

Now, realize, even though most of you will never perform this type of act....BUT...ferret out what's of value in your own performance from these two greats. There are things to be learned even if you are only doing magic one on one!

Here's an exercise you may want to try: Select your best "story" trick. Just do it with no one around. Ask yourself, "Did I REALLY believe the story as I told it???"

Did you? I don't care how goofy it may or may not have been, did you tell the story with conviction? Did YOU believe it AS you were telling it? No? Then ACT!!!!

I mean it gang. Seriously. Want to see your magic ratchet up to the next level? Whatever trick you do, DO it believing that everything about it is REAL and TRUE. I have never been more serious in my life. Do this one thing and I GUARANTEE that it will change your magic from now forward.

PRACTICE.... believing in what you are doing. That is, learn to ACT. It's not actually as difficult as it may seem. In one sense all you are doing is to Suspend YOUR sense of DISBELIEF in what YOU are doing. Be an actor for just a moment in time. Choose to be so.

One part of this process is to decide that you are going to take your magic SERIOUSLY! Even your comedy material can be taken more seriously and the effect should be that it gets funnier! You are trying to sell 'the moment' to folks. For just a moment YOU are going to act in such manner that you SELL your audience on what you are presenting. Making it by the way more easy for THEM TO HAVE FUN AND ENJOY WHAT YOU ARE DOING!

Who wants to watch a lackadaisical, uninterested performer? Engage them with your conviction. Doing Color Monte? Tell the bloody story as IF you really were there!!! Don't hold back. Commit!

That's all for now. I think this is one of the most important emails I've ever put out. Just COMMIT to the effect and the presentation. Have fun my friends and all the very best,

Brad Burt