I just returned from performing on the “Best of Canada” show in Buffalo.  It was a blast… and a great time to connect with colleges on the show.  Another magician and good friend and I were discussing magic on television.  We agreed that magic and illusion was much better live than on T.V.  Why is that?

I believe that it is because different mediums have different capacities.  Television is a light and airy medium.  While it can carry ideas easily, it can’t support the “weight” of some messages.  In the case of magic, it is difficult to create an atmosphere that suspends disbelief when the audience can change the channel.  That has lead to a very sensational version of the art, where an illusion is shown with the punchline first.

I felt the same with the new Harry Potter movie.  Saw it on the weekend… and yes I’m a fan of the series.  (You have to exercise your inner geek or it will get angry and you will wake up one morning dressed as a storm-trooper!  … Ok that was pretty geeky too.) 

I digress… saw the movie, and I did like it… but didn’t love it.  I loved the books.  The books could deal with a rich story filled with subtleties and details.  Plot points don’t just travel in a straight line but lead the reader on a fantastical journey.  Along that journey many great messages are transmitted to the reader.  The movie just can’t accomplish this in the same way.  Yes the movie was stunning visually, and did well to communicate emotion… but it wasn’t the same.  The written word is a much more stable medium that can carry the weight of more complex messages.

There are draw backs to this type of medium.  It takes allot more time to navigate the much denser medium of the written word.  In our society of shortened attention spans this can be a problem.  The medium also takes more effort.  Images relate one to one… where there may be a word that you don’t understand and need to define.

So I’m not saying that one medium is better than another…

I am saying that each medium has an affect on a message.  It is up to each of us to determine which medium “holds” the weight of our message, while delivering it in the most efficient way possible.

The title of my corporate key note is “All Buisness is Show Buisness”.  Perhaps I will have to call it ”All Buisness is Showblogness!”  And so… lets begin!

The intent of this blog is to discuss items regarding corporate comunication.  I will certainly draw upon my experiences as an entertainer, but I hope to get some ideas down that speaks to the wider corporate and buisness experience.  In a sense the blog is an oportunity to discuss and think through some ideas that will hopefully contribute to an upcoming book.

So thanks for looking in… I welcome positive discussion and am looking forward to throwing out some interesting ideas!