From: RLBMagic@aol.com
Date: Fri, 19 May 2000 12:53:17 EDT
Subject: Messages and Mediocrity
To: balloon@balloonhq.com
Warning: This is a long post. It will also (probably) be offensive to some
readers in spite of my attempts not to be. I am *not* intending any sarcasm.
It is balloon related because it is bears directly on showmanship. I offer it
not because I know anything about "Marydell aka DILLIE"'s capabilities as a
performer (I don't), but as a general commentary.
When I read...
<<I told him that I am a Christian clown and that my balloon tags had a
gospel message on them. I thought that would be the end of it but he said
that was fine and that if I wanted to bring some of my broachers I can. I
never thought that I would get payed to witness at the dog races. Has anyone
got any advice for me. >>,
...I cringed. Not because she's performing at a race track, but because she
now wants to bring her message to her audience. (I'm not talking about the
tags, which will no doubt soon litter the ground along with the losing
tickets, but the "witnessing". Unless, of course the only witnessing is the
tags themselves.) No, I doubt she'll think of "witnessing" as imposition, but
like telemarketing intent and reality differ. People who have something to
sell (religion or time shares) see themselves as having something wonderful
to share. How could that possibly be an imposition?
People with a message often forget (or have never heard of) a basic concept
(taken from a book): The Medium is the Message. Franky Schaeffer wrote a
wonderful book titled "Addicted to Mediocrity". In it he decries what I would
summarize as not only acceptance but the embracing of mediocrity of both
message and media in the Christian world. That simply because something has a
religious message in it (no matter how simplistic or poorly presented) it is
automatically elevated in status above non-religious messages. I have taken
that premise and extended it to the world of magic; that is, there are
performers (I use the word loosely) that seem to think that simply because
what they're doing is "Magic" that it is automatically elevated to
Entertainment. Balloonists sometimes suffer the same delusion, but at least
the customer gets something.
I am not a Christian. I am married to one (and her dad is a minister),
occasionally attend church with my family, gone to FCM meetings and a
convention, but do not believe. I've heard all the arguments, no doubt been
prayed for, etc., yet do not believe. How can I resist such a wonderful
message? I don't need to resist, because I do not believe. Some of the
philosophies are wonderful, but the ones I refer to are perfectly acceptable
on a humanist level. I say all this not to start a religious discussion (Too
late! I hear the cry), but to get evangelists to understand that *I've heard
it all before*. Still, somehow, many seem to think that somehow they have the
magic that will allow me to see the light. They have no respect for my
beliefs, just for my potential as a convert. I understand their passion, but
to say that it can get wearisome would be an understatement.
Want my attention? Don't be wearisome. Don't try to win me over with
earnestness, as if your Christian earnestness is stronger than my personal
beliefs. (Again, Marydell, this is not directed at you personally.) Of the
scores of Gospel magic performers I have seen I can think of four that were
worth watching. (Don Bursell, Steve Bargatze, Scott Flom and Duane Laughlin.)
I'm sure there must be others, but you can bet that they are just as worth
watching sans Message. Most of the other gospel performances I've seen were
embarrassingly lousy, even worse than some of the poor regular magic
performances I've seen at magic clubs, and that's really saying something.
At the core of what I am talking about is respect.
1) Have respect for yourself. Make your performance worthy of your talents.
How good would your performance be without your message? For that matter, how
good an entertainer would you be without balloons to twist?
2) Have respect for others. Just because we don't believe in your message
doesn't mean we haven't heard it before or haven't considered it. If you're
going to try to convince us by quoting scripture at us, have your facts
straight. (If you want a real challenge to your faith, read "You Take Jesus,
I'll Take G-d", by Samuel Levine for a Jewish refutation of the most common
passages quoted by Christian missionaries. Hamorah Press, 1980). But mostly,
relax. When we say "no" we mean it. Get over it. This is *especially* true
for unsolicited walk around performing. How many of us have ever had people
turn down balloons? They don't want them, and that's just a balloon.
3) Have respect for the track owners. You're working for them.
4) Have respect for G-d. He gave us talents. We can glorify his Name simply
by doing our best ballooning completely independent of any explicit message.
If you feel the need to impart a message, pick something we haven't heard a
thousand times. But make it fun, or at least interesting.
Lastly, this is a post about the importance of showmanship, the best of which
comes partly from respect and knowing your audience, and partly from working
and working at being better. It could apply to any message oriented
performance - indeed, any performance. How close would kids pay attention to
a boring anti-drug performance? Please keep any prayers for me off-line. If
you feel the need to, send me your bible passages off list directly to me,
although I am certainly not soliciting them. Mostly, get to work on that
show!
Richard ("Have you heard about Amway?" "AAaaaarrgghhhh!!!) Berman