We Are Magicians!

Term 3 Sketch Comedy class

Who knows precisely why a particular chord in a song, or scene in film, or passage in a book moves a person to tears? Or outrage? Or sober reflection? Or laughter?

We can analyze it, break it down, map out patterns, build lists of rules, construct rules of usage and principles of composition, draw circles around plausible motivations, and deduce psychological processes. That's all fine and good, and for professionals, also necessary. But whatever the magic recipe, the fact is that any time we create something that evokes a certain emotion, we're performing a bit of magic. And I find that very cool!

On the set of "The Flowers"
(VFS Compendium VI)

The old schoolyard self-help chant, "sticks and stones may break my bones, but names will never hurt me" may offer some small comfort at the time, but in the end, we all know it's bullshit. Words can create pain that hits much deeper and lasts way longer. But they can also turn the worst day of our lives into a rebirth. They can drive a person to suicide or inspire that same person to a rediscovery of life's true beauty and purpose. (Or at the very least, lighten the mood!) That's why history's brutes and bone-breakers love to ban books and squelch free speech; they know nothing is as powerful as a word - spoken or printed - that stirs a person's soul, changes a mind, re-directs a life.

The same is true for music. Or painting. Or theatre. Or film. In a nutshell, art. That's the power we have, we writers and poets, musicians and filmmakers, sculptors and painters. That's not smug or presumptuous; it's a fact. So while wielding our magic wisely, let's be proud of this thing we do and, above all, HAVE SOME FUN!