Whenever I find myself spinning a bit, I return to the writings, audio, and video recordings of Eugene Burger. I find it quiets me into a better place.
Recently I dug into my collection looking for a quotation as I was trying to get a statement right. I couldn’t find it in a specific book. I found it in an online transcript of an interview between Eugene and Max Maven conducted at the Magic Castle in 2003.
For every book you read published after, say, 1960, read two books that were published before 1960. That’s where you’re going to find the tricks that no one is doing. Because otherwise we’re all just doing the same tricks!
1960 was 40 years before Eugene’s statement. 2026 is another 20 years after that. Should we push the boundary forward to 1980? Perhaps.
I believe that what Eugene was telling us is that we should look back in order to go forward. The constant barrage of the latest with everyone marketing the same products leads to a sameness of performance and a feeling of interchangeability of the performers.
Uniqueness isn’t found in the latest releases. It’s found in the older books read with modern eyes.
