More Effort (magicians and artists)

I love how Penn of Penn and Teller describes what makes magicians different from regular people: it’s putting more effort into something than any audience member would ever believe.

TODO: find out where I read that and quote it here. (pretty sure it’s about the letterman cockroach gag and special cockroaches and a special hat and lots of practice)

I think that’s true of great artists as well. Artists aren’t just people who were "gifted at birth" with a rare and special "talent". I think that’s mostly bullcrap. Artists are people who are willing to put way more effort into something than a "normal" person would until they get the result they want.

An artist is also someone who sees (or hears or otherwise experiences) something great and won’t stop experimenting until they can make something else that has that greatness.

See also: