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Editors Note Volume 2, Issue 1 David London
The last several months have been a whirlwind effort to get my act together. Literally, and figuratively. In fact, in just a few weeks, I will be premiering the full, hour-long version of my new show, (insert title here).
I have found myself embracing every opportunity to perform and flesh out new material. Maryland has a twice monthly magic show called The Comedy & Mystery S ociety, which is run by Alain Nu, Bob Sheets and Mark Phillips. It was not until I was developing an act that I was able to appreciate the full benefits of such a venue. I jumped on every show I could, and the act got tighter and tighter. I discovered magical and comedic moments I didn’t know existed until the emerged organically, and my on-stage character literally blossomed over night.
Though I knew I was developing new pieces to put into the act, I had little awareness at the onset that I was also creating a new on-stage persona. Looking back, however, I can see how this character development began back in June on the Double D Lecture Tour I was on with Arthur Trace.
New elements of costume, behavior, voice, and pacing slowly emerged over the 10 days Arthur and I were on the road. Upon my return, unbeknownst to me, the seeds of this new character had been planted, and after a bit of watering and careful tending, it came alive.
In the early years of Behind The Smoke and Mirrors, beginning back in 1998, there were countless essays on finding your persona and building a character. The importance was stressed by a variety of authors, and tips for discovering such a personality were freely offered up. Since then, many of my teachers and collaborators also tried to bring forth this awareness in me, and though a basic understanding was reached, not until recently have I isolated the true essence of my on-stage being.
Standing from this current perspective, I can much more easily explain the process. No longer is the idea of character an abstract, nor is the process of finding it. I now believe that what makes my character work for me, is that essentially, my character is me. I have isolated core parts of my personality and exaggerated them, while also selecting the non-crucial components and playing them down. What I am left with is a personification of myself, that in many ways is much more focused and precise than I will ever be in everyday life.
Surprisingly, making these discoveries about my on stage persona, has also offered insight into my-off stage self. In many ways, the more comfortable I am as my character on the stage, the more comfortable I have become simply existing in the world. Sometimes I even laugh at myself when I question things with “well, how would my character do this? Or think about that?” As I sit there and ponder what I will do on stage to solve the problem, it is clear that the lines between the character and myself have become quite blurred.
In many ways, my attempt to create a character, has also allowed me to create myself. Or, perhaps a better way to phrase it would be that discovering my character, has allowed me to discover myself.
It’s not like I didn’t know who I was, or how I behaved, or how I would respond in particular situations. More so, it’s as if as my comfort level on stage increased, my comfort level in the world increased. And why wouldn’t it? If I can be the eccentric character I am on stage, why not embrace my own eccentricities in life?
Over the past several months, I have also come to understand the importance of community. Of course, there are the usual suspects in my life who I spend a good deal of time sharing ideas with and fleshing out concepts. Lately, however, presented with the opportunity to perform at a handful of magic gatherings, I have come face to face with the magic and mentalism communities at large. Performing for such diverse groups of fellow travelers down this path, has allowed for the direct exchange of ideas regarding my actual performance pieces, as well as my character.
I have come to embrace these often high-intensity exchanges with open arms, as they lead to an open discussion about my magic. This has only allowed for me to develop an even deeper understanding of what it is I do. Additionally, being exposed to what it is they do, has deepened my own understanding of what my ideas have in common with theirs, and how they diverge, and my notions about magic as a whole seem to be expanding, as an even better understanding emerges.
Alas, I sit here and write these words. I am in front of the same computer, in the same house, working on the same magazine. Yet I stand at a different perspective, and as a different person. My body is the same, but my self has transformed.
By embracing magic, and taking the time to think about it, magic has shared some lessons. I not only understand what it is I want to do with my magic, in many ways, I have begun to embody that notion in everything I do.
In film school we learned about character motivation, as well as their ultimate motivation.
Essentially, every action has a lesser motivation. Why does the character pick up the glass in that particular fashion? Why does the character stand in that particular way? Why does the character speak in that particular tone?
On top of this, there are greater motivations, and if you follow the trail far enough up, you find the ultimate motivation. This ultimate motivation is what makes the character tick. All other motivations stem from this one understanding, which in turn serves as the source of all the character’s actions.
As I have been confronted with lesser motivation upon lesser motivation while building this act, I have worked my way up the ladder and found the source of all of my actions. Because of this, each action in my act seems to make perfect sense, and creating new actions now occurs rather effortlessly.
I currently find myself asking, what would my character do now?
After a short moment of contemplation, I conclude that he would probably say: “Enjoy...”
So be it.
Enjoy, David London
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