magic show – Page 26 – MagicShow.Tips

Hold on a Moment…

About a week or so ago I saw a local magic show in Seattle. The show was good and one of the performers asked me for some notes on his performance. The thing I told him, and this is something that I consciously have to do in my show is to pause to display the prop after the magic has happened.

In my show I do a trick where a drawing disappears and reappears inside a ball of yarn. When the drawing comes out, I unfold it and show it to the audience. When I show it, I pause and silently count in my head from one to three. This lets people process what they are seeing.

One of the challenges as a performer is that you know what it happening, so your brain doesn’t need to process what it’s seeing. The audience needs a few beats to figure out what’s going on. Simply holding a item for a dedicated amount of time makes a huge difference in audience reception!

Look at Your Show

It’s the last day of January and I’m reflecting back on what I’ve learned so far in 2020. One thing is that you need to listen to your audience. I have two bits in the show that have gotten unexpected reactions that were unfavorable. Instead of the usual laugh the got a sort of “woah” and pull back from the audience. Both of these bits got this reaction at different shows in very different venues.

There are a lot of performers who will brush off these reactions and attribute them to “snowflakes” in the audience. I think this is the wrong way to go. Personally I needed to try to analyze why the audience reacted the way that they did to see if they were over reacting, or if my jokes were becoming dated. The last thing I want to do is use a joke that was OK to say, but over the years society has moved on and the joke is no longer appropriate.

After looking at both of the jokes in my show, I’m keeping one without altering it. The other one, while I think is OK, I’m going to play around with rewriting it. The problem is that the joke gets misunderstood and that audience projected something that’s not in the joke into the joke. I also feel that the negative reaction I got had more to do with the specific situation of the show than it did with the joke.

More on Projection…

Yesterday I wrote about using projection in my show. The key is to enhance the live action, not to replace viewing it from the stage to the screen. Basically the idea is to have the action happen live on stage and visible to the audience, but then using the screen to verify or highlight smaller details.

A good example of this would be a Signed Card to Pocket. The main props which are cards are large and can be seen in a large theater. The signature or specific card number is smaller. Having a screen to project the signed card onto will make the effect play larger.

My idea for working solo is to have a dedicated table with a camera on it and then the projector and screen. In a lot of venues I won’t need to provide the screen, as they will have one already, or I may be able to directly project the image onto a wall behind me. Projecting onto the wall as needed is the ideal situation.

Using Projection…

Lately I’ve been thinking a lot about using projection in my stage show. I’ve been looking at how other magicians and performers are using it. It’s something that can make a lot of difference in how visible something is. For magicians, David Copperfield was the first that I was aware of to use in it his four ace routine. Currently using video is pretty common.

The best use of video that I’ve seen so far is Darren Brown in his Broadway show Secrets. Most people when it’s used, it feels like you are either watching the screen or watching the performer. When Darren did it, it felt like your attention wasn’t torn between two places. You were watching him perform and the video enhanced it.

That’s what I’m going for, using video to enhance what’s happening. Projection would be used for showing the signature of a card, but not the whole card trick. I think when the action happens on the table and the only way you can watch it is through the screen, then it stops enhancing the live show and becomes the audience watching TV.

Putting It together…

One of the big things I need to do in the next couple of weeks is to write out two 40+ minute show set lists. I’ve written about working on new material to get to the two forty minute shows. I’ve worked pretty hard the last six or seven months on new material and think I have enough to make it happen.

Now that I think I have enough time in material, the next challenge is to lay it out into two shows. The idea is to have most of the routines alternate going from one solo trick to one audience participation trick. By audience participation, I mean using someone on the stage. If I’m talking to someone who stays seated in the audience, I still consider that a solo trick.

The final challenge is how to organize it. Do I put them out as one “A” show and one “B” show, or do an “A-” and a “B+” show? I think I’m going to go with an A show and B show and work to bring the B show up to an A show. That way I’m only polishing a 40 min show instead of 80 mins.

Music Driven Magic…

One thing I wish I had more of is music driven acts. These are acts that use mostly music and not talking to move the act along. The nice thing about these is that they pretty much run exactly the same every time you do them. With them timed to the music, you know a 3 min bit will be 3 mins.

One thing is that whenever I start to put acts like these together, I always end up talking. Partially because I think that’s me and what I do and partially I think it’s my insecurity and fear of doing something out of the norm for me.

Speaking is my favored way of connecting with people. That doesn’t mean I can’t do it without speaking, however it’s my default. I think I need to get out of my comfort zone and try some more silent, music driven acts!

Fight For What You Need…

The way I get a lot of work is by doing showcases. These are things where a lot of acts perform 15ish mins and buyers watch them to decided whether or not to book them. Here’s how today’s showcase wanted to run our music: They wouldn’t let us plug into the board. I had to … Continue reading “Fight For What You Need…”

They wouldn’t let us plug into the board. I had to argue for about an hour with people all up the chain of command to get them to allow us to plug in. The organization thought holding a microphone up to your phone was a viable way to run sound for a show. Doing it that way is your Plan B, not your “professional set up” that’s provided initially.

Finally I convinced them that that was an unacceptable set up. We pay a lot of money to perform in front of these buyers, and the least they could provide us with was to be able to plug into the board. I finally got all of the showcase acts to tell the organization about why the sound won’t work. What changed their mind is when we all joined together to tell them why that set up was unprofessional.

I think I burnt a few bridges with people to get the sound right, but it was the right thing to do. If anyone insists that running sound that way is professional, I’m OK burning the bridge as I never want to work for them.

Connections…

Connecting with an audience is something that is important to do. It’s one of the things that can take some time, and to really do it you need to open yourself up. Sure you can get by on the strength of the trick alone and have that carry the show, but that’s not how I want to present my art.

I’ve always hated called what I do “art”, as I feel it sounds pretentious. However the more I’m out seeing other people perform, the more I’m realizing what I do is art. I still dislike calling it that, but I think what I do is finally becoming art.

Ideally in my show people learn a little bit about me and my journey. I want them to know how I got to be standing in front of them. It helps them decide why they should care about what I’m doing. Am I just a dude doing tricks, or am a person that’s had an amazing journey to share these tricks with them?

Take a Risk!

This morning finds me back at the airport after being home for about 30 hours. It was great being home for a bit and my family had tickets to see Mystery Science Theater 3000 Live last night and it was a blast. Joel Hodgson the show’s creator is also a magician and did one of the funniest self levitation tricks on Saturday Night Live a long time ago when he was a cast member.

The audience came to see a show that they loved, and he gave them a show that they loved. One thing that really surprised me was the amount of work that went into the show. It looks like they change up the movie a lot, so they aren’t just presenting the same show over and over again. This says a lot about the performers, that they are frequently doing something new and taking some risks.

I don’t think performers take enough risks. They do their act or show and once it’s good, they stop trying things. I know it’s scary to put yourself out there to fall on your face in front of an audience. Personally I think taking risks is what performing is all about !

Tech Sheets…

One thing I think every performer should do is learn to write a tech / cue sheet for their show. I know that not everyone performs in theaters, has someone else run their music, or does a stage act. Learning to do it before you need one will save you some stress.

A tech sheet basically tells the production crew what to expect and what they need to do. I’m not an “expert” at writing tech sheets, but can convey my needs to the crew. Basically this is going to tell the crew what you are going to do and what you’ll need from them.

They’ll need the name of the routine, lighting needs, audio needs, and anything else you may need from them. It’s pretty simple, however if this is sprung on you at the last minute and you’ve never done it before, it can add a lot of stress coming into a gig.

Take a minute write out a sheet for your whole show. Once you’ve got that, it’s easy to alter at the last minute as your show has changed.