Over at the ellusionist forums a moderator by the name of Steerpike has put up an insightful article about finding your path to success in magic. It’s very well written, despite the fact that it outs me as a comic book geek: elusionist.com/forums

“Think about yourself. You have a couple of main passions, true. But what else are you into? Let’s use Andrew Mayne as an example. Andrew is essentially a comic book geek who has achieved an impressive level of success. He’s produced multiple stage illusions, but also has several popular close-up effects on the market. He’s published a book detailing his love of comics by giving simple superhero-esque magic tricks marketed to kids. At the same time, he also produced Ghost Vision. He has a DVD set called Wizard School, but also produces educational videos for the classroom explaining science through illusion technology. Among magicians, Andrew is a true Rennaissance man.”

I guess “comic book geek” is better than”former circus performer and cruise ship act”. You wear one Marvel comics Secret Wars shirt and you’re branded for life. Welcome to the world of lowered expectations.