Practice Makes Perfect

Hello all.

So the Magician's Assistant is back again, because obviously the Magician has gone to go do magic. So Tuesday this week, we decided to go record some videos of Liam's magic tricks. We had one particular trick in mind that should be filmed. Now since Magicians aren't very common nowadays, I thought I'd share with you how much work actually goes into filming a video like this.

(P.S. you can check out the videos here on Liam's YouTube channel!)

So, first of all how does one learn magic?

By finding a trick that you like, and essentially reverse-engineering it until you get it right and figure out a method behind the illusion. So I can bear witness to the fact that perfecting a trick without using a tutorial is incredibly difficult and time consuming. Not only do you have to watch the performance a good couple of times, but you also have to try and see the mechanics of the illusion which the magician has skillfully hidden.

This must have taken at least an hour or two worth of practice everyday for about a week. And that's just to figure out how the trick works! Then add in another few hours to practice performing the trick... And another few hours to perfect it!

Great, so now we have a magic trick that looks great to an audience. How do we go about filming it? First of all, it helps if your Assistant happens to study at an art school where we could borrow a camera and use editing software! Then its a matter of actually filming the trick. We specifically chose not to film at home so that we could have a clutter-free background... But it turns out the studios in which we planned to film are filled with echoes...

So, what did we do? We relocated to the gardens outside. And then the camera person here royally stuffed up and accidentally cropped half of the trick out of the frame... Twice. So back to filming, and thankfully with a lovely audience too!

Great so the trick is filmed and now its time to edit. Editing took another hour or two of our time just to make sure it all looked good and professional.... Only to accidentally delete the video when trying to watch it when we got home!

Thankfully we still had the original footage and it was a simple matter to re-edit the video. Phew! After all those hours of practice and performance, we hope that you enjoy this video!

Until next time
The Magician's Assistant

P.S The Magician is out performing at the Northwold Spar today, here are some pictures of him in action!

Making My Way Back to Magic

Hello there everyone. So this blog has been inactive for far too long, so I have enlisted some help from my magical assistant to help edit this blog and maintain it a little more regularly. (Hi there, this is actually Talia, author of the blog Artist in Working Progress, I am Liam's magical assistant and significant other).

So lets get straight to it!

I have been busy and not so busy with the magical life lately, life has been a rollercoaster so far and unfortunately Magic didn't like it so much. But here are some pictures from magic gigs and street magic performances I have been a part of over the last few months:

 

Magic at Chicago's Piano Bar in Randburg

Currently the famed magician is out doing magic at the Northwold Spar. This blog is going to be a lot more active from now on, so watch this space everyone!

Until next time

The Magician's Assistant

Yes!!!

Hello there again,

I hope everyone is doing well. To catch up, I am feeling a lot better. Got myself out of the rut, which is fantastic, and I am feeling much better about life.

I had a really nice relaxing weekend, and I ended up watching a couple of movies, one of which was Yes Man.

I had heard quite a lot about it and I have wanted to see it for a long time, but I did not really know what to expect. I would say its a feel good movie but I also think it has a lot of hectic messages in it. This movie explains why it is so good to say yes to new experiences, which is fantastic. I am all for new experiences and trying new things. One thing however, really got to me: The way that the "Yes People" change the main characters mind on saying yes. For those who have not seen it, at a "YES!" seminar, the "Yes People" shout at the main character until he says yes to taking a 'covenant' which states he has to say yes to EVERYTHING. Society literally dictated what HE wants. He really had no opinion in the matter.

To me this actually shows how we are dictated to by society. And a lot of the time we do not form our own opinion. I know I do this a lot. We should try to think about what society tells us we should do, and what we really want to do.

Why should we stick to the "norm", if you can even say that there is a "norm". The question word "why" is my favourite question. Why do we do the things we do, why do I feel this way, why do I want this? And most of the time, when I don't ask this question to myself, I end up doing what society wants me to do and not what I think is best.

So as an exercise, maybe try asking yourself why before you make a decision. Is it your choice, or is your choice somehow being influenced?

Now, on a slightly different topic to "why", saying yes to things is most definitely not a bad thing. Why not experience something new? Why not do that really scary thing you said you never would do? If you can come up with a good answer then I can understand why you wouldn't want to do that, but if you cannot think of a GOOD answer to why not, then maybe try it, experience new things and you might find something else that you really like.

To conclude, I urge you all to form your own opinions and to not be dictated to. Stand up for what you believe in, even if you are standing alone, because your opinion matters, and you never know, you might be surprised by the number of people that end up standing with you.

Ask the important question : Why?

Until next week,
Liam Joubert

Dealing with tiredness

Hey guys,

So firstly I am sorry for being a couple of days later than I originally wanted. Everything in my life is quite hectic at the moment.

Well today I wanted to do a little catch up on my "Trying new things" post. About 5 days ago, I got my first ever drum set. So obviously, I am going to be trying to drum. On top of that I have started vlogging too. So I shall put the link to that at the bottom of this post, feel free to check it out and comment please.

Today I would like to talk about being tired, not sleep deprived, but tired, as in tired of work, people and your frustrations.

I don't know about everyone else but I have definitely felt this 'tired' sensation at least once in my life. I think I need to figure out how to get out of this tiredness and definitely share it with you all. I am lucky at least because I have someone very dear to me who is pushing me through this rut, but in the end it really is up to me. I guess I need to try to relax, take day by day and try to get everything done. I guess the busyness has to subside at some point. Then I need to try do things for me, not for anyone else. So I am thinking of doing that, just one day not worrying about other people and just taking care of myself.

Well I really hope no one else goes through this tired phase but I really hope you can all figure out how to get through it. Also I have noticed that just typing out the fact that I am tired and coming up with some ways to get through it helps. So write things out because it does help.

Also guys if you want to check out some artsy blog posts, check out Talia Naicker's blog. The link will also be shown now.

So to all my readers, I shall let you all know what is going on next week. Check out my Vlog and a super artsy awesome blog.

http://artistinworkingprogress.blogspot.com/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9M32a5XNKoE

Until next time.

Liam Joubert

What do we really want?

Hello there again,

Firstly I am sorry that it has been such a long time since my last post. I promise to do one post every week from now on.

So for this week I really want to talk about our wants. Yes, to a certain extent I mean the small things, like: "What do you want for dinner?" but in general I am talking about the bigger things that we say we want.

Throughout my life I have heard a lot of people say things like: "I want (insert a want here) more than anything else" and I cannot help but wonder why they then do not do everything that they can to achieve that. No I understand that there are certain things that a person cannot have immediately because of a range of different circumstances, but that really would not stop that person from working towards that want in the future.

Okay, so as human beings, we are prone to pretty much always want new things, the latest cellphone or car, or even that latest dress or brand of makeup. In my case it is a new computer, board games, car, appliances for the house, etc. etc. So we prioritise what we want first, what we want more than anything else at that one particular moment.

Now, as I said, we may say we want one thing, more than something else, but then we go out of our way to get the other "less wanted" thing. This does not really make sense according to what we say. So I have decided to do something in my life: I try to listen to what people say less, and watch what they do instead.

I guess my point is that we really should start thinking about what we say we want, and what we really want. This will really help us to be more decisive, and stick to our decisions. If you want something, and you REALLY want it, more than anything else, then you really will do EVERYTHING that you can to get said thing.

This can range from the smallest of things to the biggest, but every decision has an affect on you, and the people around you too, so think long and hard about what you really want before you make this decision.

I know I have made a few wrong decisions in my life, as has everyone else, but we have the chance to learn from these decisions and thus make better choices in future.

Just something to think about.

Until next week,

Liam Joubert

Change

Hello there,

Firstly, an update: Last week Monday I spoke about trying new things, so I thought I would let you all know how that is going for me. So here it goes:

I started learning French and I must say, it is a fantastic feeling knowing that I am putting effort into something, and seeing the results (slow as they may come). However, I have to say, learning a new language is one of the most difficult things for me. I really struggle with it, especially because of all the masculine and feminine rules and such. But hey, I must push on if I want to achieve anything. Anyway, that is not the only new thing I am trying out: I am writing a blog now (clearly) which is interesting and rather challenging occasionally. On top of these 2 things I am also attempting to add to other skills, like magic and music. Anyway, that is enough of that, let us move on to today's topic. CHANGE.

So this is now my second post, and I am hoping that it will be a bit easier for me. It should be, after all, practice makes perfect right?

Change is something that every person on planet Earth has to face very often. Change can be negative or it can be positive, it really depends on a person's perspective as well as how said person reacts to the change that is/has occurred.

I know I am not a person that deals with change very well, unless I create the change of course, but that does not mean that I can't take that change into my stride, occasionally. We, as people need to look at change as a way to move forward, for things to get better, not worse. I know I definitely don't do that often enough. When change happens around me, I tend to see the negatives a lot more than the positives.

So I guess what I am trying to say is that: Change happens, A LOT, and we need to see all of this change as an opportunity to grow, learn new things and move forward in our very precious lives. I think that once we figure out how to see change as a more positive thing, rather than a negative thing, then we will be able to be more positive in all aspects of our lives, as well as being less stressed which means we will be able to get more done. All in all it ends up being a huge positive circle of positive energy.

So this week I am definitely going to try to accept change and take it in my stride more and I sincerely hope that you all can do the same.

So until next week, stay positive

Liam Joubert

Hello there

 Well hello there,

I was recently asked to give ideas to someone close to me for a blog post. As I racked my brain for ideas, I realised I had a lot of ideas, but I would never ask someone else to write about my ideas for me. A blog, in my opinion, is a way of expressing personal thoughts and ideas to the world, not other peoples ideas and thoughts. 

So, her wonderful idea was that I start a blog of my own. So here I am.

I have to admit, this is a lot more difficult than I expected. I mean, I do have a lot of ideas, but I have no idea where to begin. So I guess I just need to jump in.

I was thinking the other day, what inspires us to try new things? Is it our curiosity? Maybe wanting to achieve something? Or maybe even to find our place in society?
I myself love trying new things, and I love seeing myself develop very basic skills then advancing them, such as learning some basic card shuffles and cuts, then leaping forward to performing in front of random strangers in a mall. However, these skills often take a long time to learn, and we often become discouraged or irritated through failure (I know I do) and I really think that learning to deal with the time that it takes to learn something new is in itself a skill that we must all learn at some stage.

So this week, we should all try something new that we have never done before, like start learning a new language, or pick up an instrument you haven't tried before. Most importantly, be patient with yourself, and enjoy watching your new skills develop.

Until next time,

Liam Joubert