"Skills v. Skill"

It's really easy to watch a good performer and say, "if I had enough money to buy a magic illusion, I could be in Vegas" or "I wish I had enough time to practice juggling, I'd be better than that guy at the Renaissance Faire".

The thing is, juggling, the magic tricks, the balloon animals have nothing to do with skill. These are just skills.

I am pretty honest about my skill level. People are really impressed by my juggling, my magic, my balloon skills. But I know what's out there and balloon for balloon there are people that make me look pretty lame...

But are they funny? Can they hold a crowd? Can they put it in a routine that keeps kids (or adults) in rapt attention? Some can, some can't. I can take a balloon and do a 12 minute routine trying to blow up a balloon, breaking it eventually making a very simple dog and getting a huge applause. The skill I've worked on is the (in my case) clowning.

I think a lot about actors and comedians. I've heard so many people leave a play and be amazed at the memorization by the actors. I have an acting degree and for years after, I thought that was the skill to master. I had a breakthrough in a class one day when I realized, memorizing is just like making a balloon dog, it's just a skill. Memorizing is just the starting point, then you take off with the acting. Learning the balloon dog, learning the juggling pattern, learning to force a card is the starting point. Then you take off.

This is a world opening thought process. I was discussing this concept with a guy I know at Aikido. He is a consulting chef, meaning, he has a company that helps create menus for places like Jamba Juice. So he knows a lot.

It was great to discuss this with him. He is a master at making food but he got in a big way and had the same frustration in the world of food production. I'm not much of a cook, more of microwave maven but there is such an art in cooking, I can see the connection.

This skills v. skill thing is everywhere. I think it's a human condition we have to recognize and break. Everything from thinking history is about memorizing dates, to filmmaking is about having the best camera out there.