I memorized my script until I could recite it in my sleep. That turned out to be the problem. The breakthrough came when I learned to forget it.
Read MoreI spent years acting like a magician instead of being one. Then a single question from a nineteenth-century Russian theatre director rewired how I perform.
Read MoreI spent months building a persona from the outside -- costume, music, props -- before realizing I had the entire process backwards.
Read MoreThere is a difference between showing someone a trick and making them feel that something impossible just happened in their world. I had to unlearn one to learn the other.
Read MoreI used to think magic became art when it was performed beautifully. Then I read two arguments that dismantled that assumption from completely different directions.
Read MoreI spent years perfecting individual effects before realizing that the tricks are not the point. The performer is the point. Everything else is method.
Read MoreA line from Stanislavski, filtered through Derren Brown, forced me to confront why I was really performing -- and whether my answer was the right one.
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