Penn and Teller's process reverses what most performers do: they rehearse the physical routine first, then write the script to match what emerged. The words serve the discovered reality. This approach to scripting challenged everything I thought I knew about preparation.
Read MoreSome of the greatest magic routines took decades from concept to performance. Teller's work spans years of development. The timeline teaches patience -- and what that means for someone like me who came to magic as an adult and sometimes feels the pressure to produce quickly.
Read MorePenn and Teller don't turn ideas into their style -- their style IS what they are. Combined with Austin Kleon's insight that you are a remix of your influences, this reframing changed how I think about creative identity. Your unique voice is not something you develop. It is something you already are.
Read MoreHaving another performer execute your script reveals problems that watching your own video never can. The distance of another body performing your words is uniquely diagnostic. How this technique exposed flaws in my material I had been blind to for months.
Read MoreTeller's criterion for when art is real: your heart must be pounding. If you're comfortable, you're repeating yourself. Real art requires risk. How this philosophy changed my approach to developing new material and performing outside my comfort zone.
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