Below is both a contribution as well as a creative routine from Alexander Pierce!

We are excited to post another contribution by SME resident magician – Alexander Pierce. Thanks for your positive comments regards to his previous contributions. Alexander Pierce is a talented artist in many ways, including a love for magic. Every 10 years or so, you will find a local talent that really sticks out … We have had some great ones from Nick St. Erne, Bill Gardner, John Born, Mark Tolland and most recently Alexander Pierce. Alexander has true passion and respect. He’s one of those people that you meet that makes you really think about if re-incarnation is real, because he’s like an old soul, who also had an incredible respects for looking BACK into magic history for his foundation instead of in the “current” arena. This guy is very unique, trust us, we know how to spot them when they arrive into our humble brick and mortar magic shop, and just as I stated at the start, it happens only once in about 10 years. Thus we are happy to share with you this contribution from Alexander Pierce.

“The mother of excess is not joy but Joylessness“- Friedrich Nietzsche

I would first like to start by saying if you are reading this thank you I know your time is important and if you were reading this I hope not to waste any of it. Which leads me into what I am trying to discuss and focus on. How much time should one spend performing magic for a single audience? I focus most of my magic in the field of close up which is what thoughts and feelings I described here will pertain to. I was having a conversation the other day with a fellow Magi and he had said how he was once implored by someone continuously to perform an effect, in which he finally did but he just performed a single effect which left the participant amazed he felt that moment was magic enough and there was no reason to continue with anything else as it would only spoil the impact in extraordinary moment made.

I was recently having breakfast with a fellow co worker and we had some time to talk and chat as to which led into me performing a good amount of magic. I perform different things with coins, bills and cards when I was finished she had said how she thought how the things I did were cool, but there was just one thing that stuck out in her mind that she felt was amazing. (Which if you are interested is “Dining on Dollars” by Rick Johnsson see “Michael Ammar’s Easy to Master Money Miracles Vol 3″ As to where it can be found a brief description, is a torn and restored portrait of George Washington on a one dollar bill.) Even days later she wanted to know how I did that thing with the bill, she may still be convinced that it has something to do with magnets as it was part of my phony explanation. What I’m getting at is that after she had asked a few times how that single effect was done. It got me thinking would my magic have been just as amazing and well received if I had just performed that one trick for her? In my opinion after some thought on the matter I do believe it may have. In my opinion it is never a bad thing to continue performing magic if your audience is interested in wanting to see more but I feel as the magician I am to be the filter on how much magic is too much magic.

I also recently had a chat about somethings that it may take to put aside the amount of ego I may sometimes have when performing magic and do my best not to overdo the extraordinary moment they can be created with a good performance of magic. I myself have battled my arrogance, cockiness and that want too just perform and get undivided attention from an audience for extended periods of time. To be honest I still battle thoughts and feelings of a similar discourse, as i feel i always might. Sometimes when I perform and I feel in my performance, it is always better to use ego and confidence as an asset versus a hindrance. In my opinion if as a magician I can differentiate enough magic from too much magic. I can not only save other powerful magic for future performances with the same audience but I can also keep myself from looking to egotistical and being a showboat which I may not intentionally try to but sometimes I may look extremely cocky and arrogant which I do my best to attempt to keep myself from doing when performing magic. In my opinion Close Up performances are very intimate and keeping each performance intimate and memorable is my main goal as a closer performer. I feel as if I should always do my best to focus on each piece and presentation as if it will be the best in which I perform and if I feel I’ve reached a moment that is memorable and extraordinary I should attempt to do my best to hold on to that and not to drown those strong moments with other moments that may not have the same impact.

I feel time is the factor here, I try nowadays not to waste my performance with how much magic can I perform with a single audience in the allotted time I have but instead what can I perform in the time I have with this audience that would be both memorable and exciting and worth the time I have to perform. Instead of letting my arrogant, cocky self take all the spotlight I try to give the magic I perform as much time in the spotlight as I can and I feel by doing so my magic and I can both shine and be better remembered in the process.

I would again like to thank you for your time and I hope this has been some food for thought have a great day and be well and be magic. -Alexander Pierce

“Breaking Burdens”

Here I would like to also share my routine for Gregory Wilsons “Coffee Break” I will not reveal the method as I believe it is worth your money in purchasing, which can be found on his DVD entitled “Coffee House Conjuring.”

Effect: A coffee stir stick is placed inside a bag and is broken into multiple pieces and then restored and the bag is then shown empty and then discarded
Performance : Inside all of us we have a choice we can make the best or make the worst of any situation we ever find ourselves place in. In reality sometimes we may feel like we are going to snap or we may feel like we have been placed inside a sealed fate in which that fate is permanent and unchangeable. We may feel like we’ve been broken, disregarded, cracked we may feel like others do this to us or we may just do this to ourselves, but those negative feelings that might burden us or just an illusion. I mean they are real for a moment but we’ll always passing time because with enough faith in ourselves and belief in our life then we can realize that we’ve been strong and sturdy and able to withstand anything life can throw at us or break us down with. We can realize that we’ve had strength and positivity inside us the entire time and any of those negative feelings that we may have ever had well those, those are just purely trash.

This is just my script and performance of this routine you may view an example of what it looks like in action at http://youtu.be/Gv2tU8hfc3A
Again the trick is entitled “Coffee Break” on the DVD “Coffee House Conjuring” and can be found at various magic dealers. I do hope you enjoy my routine and feel free to perform it in this manner if you would like. Please have a great day be well and be magic!

Any comments, concerns or constructive criticism please feel free to email me: alexanderpiercemagic@gmail.com