Wow! There's a topic, huh? You've got this trick/routine you've just bought. You learned it, you performed it and hey, it gets ok response, but .....

It's that 'but' that just niggles at the back of your mind. You just KNOW this sucker has more in it and you wish you could figure out what.

Following is my take on what it 'takes' to get that little extra oomph out of your magic. In my opinion it takes just TWO things....

#1- It's oddly simple and based on the work of Dr. Roger Van Oech: You HAVE to BELIEVE that YOU are CREATIVE. Oh, man! Come on Brad!!! I heard the whispers as a child: "He's not very creative is he dear?" You can't fool me with this one.

Well, to that I say with Sammy Davis, Jr.: "Yes I can!" And, more importantly: Yes YOU can! Here's the dirty little secret of creativity: EVERYONE HAS IT. EVERYONE. The ONLY difference between the creative and the not creative is that the former believes they are. That's all.

Sooooooooo......starting right now....YOU are creative. If you already believe that then just skip to the next step... But, for those of you believing the lie that you are NOT creative read on. It's not going to take long. YOU ARE creative. It's been tested. It's been proven. Van Oech's 'A Whack on the Side of the Head' and he'll give you the proof. Now, you just gotta believe it. Believe it!

Did I say it was easy? It's not. It is easier for some than others, but a lot of that is just practice. It's not 'just' a thing that you 'are', it's also a thing that you can use and improve and get better at.

Important note: Creativity comes in a LOT of flavors. Some at better at some things than others. But, we are going to concentrate on making you better at magic creativity. If interested I want you to do the following: Take any basic trick that you are REALLY good at doing. Ball Vase for instance. Anything that takes your fancy though it perfect. Now, I want you to list 10 ideas as fast as you can come up with them (or more) of possible patter concepts for this trick. Not what you already use. They can be ANYTHING and in some cases the stupider/goofy sounding the better.

Why? You have to break free of thinking that this routine idea or that routine idea is good or bad. They MAY be, but not at first. At first you have to COME UP WITH IDEAS!!! Got it? Don't worry about how 'bad' the idea is. I have had some of my best ideas sound like total dreck at first. Just get the ideas out of that creative 'mind' you have and onto paper.

#2- You need courage to take what you come out with and TRY IT.

More to come.......