Magic Character: Identity, Motivation, and Context

Giving Meaning to the Person Performing Magic

Borja Montón suggests building your magic character from an enhanced version of your own identity. The class develops questions and written exercises to find a connection between your way of being, the effects you choose, and what you want to communicate. It focuses on character creation and presentation; it does not explain sleights or methods for magic tricks.

Finding Your Motivation

The starting point is to ask yourself why you do magic and to dig deeper into each answer, rather than settling for a general formulation like surprising people or making others happy. Borja uses his relationship with play and childhood memories as a personal example of how a motivation can suggest themes, props, and presentations.

You are encouraged to write down a first answer, ask why again, and expand on what comes up. If doing this alone is difficult, you can explore the questions in a conversation with someone you trust. The exercise seeks material for your artistic work, without requiring you to reach the same motivation as the instructor.

How You See Yourself and How Others See You

A second exercise compares your self-perception with how other people see you. You will prepare two columns: in one, you will describe how you think you are; in the other, you will gather observations from people who know you. They are asked to include both qualities and aspects you could work on.

The comparison helps you recognize what you convey and which traits you can develop on stage. Borja recommends leveraging your own characteristics rather than imitating another magician's humor, clothing, or personality without a reason that fits you.

The Character Questions

• Who they are. Explore their background, education, tastes, appearance, and emotions. The class connects these traits to costume, theme, and prop choices, without reducing the character to mere appearance.
• What they want and why. Define an objective that adds interest to the action. Effects presented as a simple demonstration are compared with situations where achieving something makes sense for both the performer and the spectator.
• How they achieve it. Decide on a way of acting that is consistent with the character: their pacing, reactions, and relationship with problems. Clowns and mysterious characters are offered as examples, not as mandatory styles.
• When and where it takes place. Set the action in a specific time and place. Background details, sounds, sensations, words, music, and lighting can help the audience understand that context.

Examples involving torn and restored cards, vanishes, and object transport illustrate motivations and dramatic situations. Their procedures or a complete routine are not taught.

Choosing a Stage Name

The class concludes with three criteria: the name should be easy to understand, spell, and remember; it should be able to stay with you throughout your career; and, when appropriate, it should hint at some trait of the character. Borja shares his experience with the name Borghini and compares different possibilities for an artistic identity.

What You Need to Work On It

Keep pen and paper or a document handy to develop your answers. For the perception exercise, you will need to ask trusted people for honest feedback. No specific magic props or advanced acting experience are required. If you already have an act, you can use it to review whether your objective, presentation, and performance style align with the character you are building.