Magician to Magician: Andy Nyman Interview
I can’t think of a better person to talk to about creativity & productivity than Andy Nyman. He has achieved so much in his career as well as keeping hold of his integrity, both artistic and personal.
This was the first interview I did so please forgive any technical or artistic cock-ups, Andy was great but my delivery of these can only get better. The interviews are recorded from Skype calls so the quality of the picture and the framing isn’t perfect but I believe the content makes up for it.
I have to say a huge thank you to Andy for being my test pilot, he is an incredibly busy guy so I owe him big time. As I said there were some technical hitches, not least the fact that we were cut off abruptly, mid sentence at the end which only adds to the mystery…… Maybe in true horror genre style I can persuade Andy to make a sequel?
I think it’s clear when you hear Andy talk about his career that he is an extremely focused guy. That level of determination and clarity of purpose have been key in Andy achieving the success he has. What was really refreshing was hearing Andy talk about the importance of personal happiness. In the essay “The Magic State of Mind” by Henry Hay, (yes, I took the title from there), Hay quotes American philosopher Susanne Langer:
“Every play has it’s intended audience, and in that audience is one pre-eminent member: the author”
I interpret this quote as you are writing for yourself and that is what I believe Andy has done. He has made choices that take him closer to his dream because he knows that to pursue someone else’s dream is a surefire way to screw up. He has in effect designed and built his own life rather than being dictated to and distracted by the obvious and the easy. Picking the low hanging fruit isn’t the answer to achieving your ambitions, it’s a distraction. Only hard work, tenacity and self belief will do the job.
The Andy Nyman secrets:
- Understand what it is you really want from Magic.
- Only accept work that moves you closer to your goal.
- Surround yourself with supportive people.
- Build your goals from the ground up and take your time.
So I’ve done my bit now all you have to do is:
- Leave your comments and feedback in the comments section.
- If you like what I’m trying to do with this site then spread the word on Twitter, Facebook or anywhere you can.
- Subscribe to the site via the subscription box on the home page. The bigger the crowd the more likely people will say yes to being interviewed.
Thanks.
15 Responses to “Magician to Magician: Andy Nyman Interview”
Comments
Read below or add a comment...
Leave A Comment...
Facebook comments:
Stay in Touch
Recommended
Excellent interview, enjoyed it a lot.
Love the “Fuck-You Fund” and the whole, clear-headed, follow-your-bliss attitude.
Well done Pete. Really enjoyed that, will spread the word. Who’s next? Noel?
Cheers Alan. I’m not sure who’s next. I have a few interviews already recorded so it should be up in a couple of weeks. (Maybe I’ll save Noel for the Christmas special).
This is excellent. Mind you I’m already a fan of Andy’s thinking. I also trained as an actor before getting into magic rather later in life and I’ve also chosen to be happy” over any other goal. Magic has provided a living for over 20 years and I’m now re-positioning as an artist with exactly the same aim! I vividly recall your own workshop (and your thinking!) on the Slidini Silks at Wolverhampton a while ago. Keep up the good work. I look forward to future interviews. How do I subscribe?
Thanks Malcolm, I think being happy is overlooked by a lot of people in life. The subscribe form is on the home page at the moment but things should get a bit clearer as I tweak the site.
Thanks for all the positive comments so far. If you have any suggestions as to how I can do this better, (other than the obvious), please let me know. Also any suggestions on who I should be talking to. Please keep telling people about this site as the more traffic I get the easier it will be to get people to agree to being interviewed.
Good work Pete, looking forward to the Christmas special.
Most people spend more time planning what to watch on tv than they do planning their life or career!
Pete this is excellent. Really love what you are doing with this site. Some really good points. Looking forward to the next interview. Pete, I had a nose at your blog and it seems that you have been doing some real soul searching? Can I ask have you been reading Jack Cranfield?
Hi Sean
It’s great to hear positive feedback about the site, thanks for that.
As for Jack Cranfield he’s probably one of the few personal development authors I haven’t read but I am aware of his stuff. My “soul searching” is something I’ve always done, however at this point in my life it’s driven by a need to find sense in all the things I’ve done in the past and to have a clear sense of where I’m heading. This site is part of that process really.
Fascinating stuff! I really enjoyed that.
My only suggestion would be to have the running time of the interview displayed somewhere.
Loving the site, I’ll spread the word about.
Mathew
Hi Mathew
Good point – most of the interviews will be around 20 minutes but I will give an indication in the text as well. Thanks for the suggestion and I’m pleased you enjoyed it. Please spread the word, far and wide.
Well done a classic interview. Most up and coming performers can learn more from this 20min interview than what thy can from £200 worth of modern dvds paul daniels interview again 1st class. Peter if these are the sort of interviews we can come to expect i will be tuneing in alot more thanx.