Teaching magic can make you a better magician. I’ll put that out there.

I’ve taught a couple of people magic formally. A few informally. Firstly this is rare. Very rare. I never teach, show or allude to how magic is made.

The exception is when someone shows real interest. It’s that interest that can make the teacher a better magician. How? Why?

I showed this keen student some moves. They learnt the moves. I helped them with the moves, the presentation and where to learn more. I even gave them cards, props and stuff to perform. The gift I was given today is worth more than everything I gave.

He gave me the gift of freshness. A fresh look. Fresh eyes. I can now see the moves and magic in a different way. My passion is renewed when you see someone get fired up about performing something you showed them.

Seemingly dull magic is made new. A move or a sleight I once thought was not great is in fact as good as I remember when I performed it.

The second gift. I realise I got lazy. Not performing certain things because other things seemed better. Better reactions are not a measure of quality magic. It’s not more entertaining because they clapped. It’s not funnier. It’s the passion you have that makes magic move people.

A trap a lot of wedding, corporate and commerical magicians face is the one of the NEW. Buying the latest stuff, ordering other peoples products and consumming stuff for magicians. I think we need to remember some of the old. Make it new.

So from now on if I can move people with old magic I’ll try. I’m going to dust off what I thought was simple. Wipe down what was covered in dust. Move my imagination out of the way. Move the audience in front of me and show them.

A world awaits in a magicians hands. A world where wonder is real. A place where you can make someones dream a reality. If only for a moment.

Written by Kristien Harris