One of the things that blows my mind is when I hear a magician say that they don’t hang out with other magicians or performers. You learn so much from other performers, more that that, there’s the sense of community. You aren’t alone out there doing you art, other people have the same struggles, and … Continue reading “Cutting Up Jackpots…”
One of the things that blows my mind is when I hear a magician say that they don’t hang out with other magicians or performers. You learn so much from other performers, more that that, there’s the sense of community. You aren’t alone out there doing you art, other people have the same struggles, and successes!
Yesterday there was a fun get together of variety performers. There’s nothing like getting a bunch of us together and swapping stories. In the carney world they call it “cutting up jackpots”. Hanging out with other performers is also good for your soul.
One of the things that makes it helpful is that I’m entering a new market and a lot of these people work this market, so hearing their stories of their experiences really helped me view my struggles in perspective.
After playing some more with the Three Ball Routine, I started to write up a little routine. The routine changed from what I had written yesterday for an ending, however the ending that I wrote make more sense with the routine. I still like the egg idea from yesterday’s post, just not with this routine. … Continue reading “Three Ball Routine…”
After playing some more with the Three Ball Routine, I started to write up a little routine. The routine changed from what I had written yesterday for an ending, however the ending that I wrote make more sense with the routine. I still like the egg idea from yesterday’s post, just not with this routine.
Here’s the routine (so far):
“This trick uses three balls, that’s why there are 2 billion chinese. 3 balls, one for each year of high school I completed.
What I love about this trick is how pure of a magic trick it is, no fancy boxes, no dancing girls, no dignity. It’s 91% sleight of hand, 7% my gift of gab, and 2% old school “Magic”
This is probably the most international trick I do. These balls were made in factory in china, but I bought them in shop mexico and the trick is presented by me, who is from…my mother.
One…two…three.
That’s one, two…did you see the third one go? It hasn’t yet. And faster than you even begin to throw money onto the stage, there is it! Don’t reach for your wallet…the moment’s past.
Let’s do it again in spanish.
Tres Bolas. Uno…Dos…Tres
Uno…Dos… .Y No Trace
Let’s try it in chinese. Ee…Ar…San. San goes into the pocket.
Ee..ar…and San.
One more time…Ee..Ar …and sam goes into the pocket. This trick has literally taken around the world…topull flags out of fist and name countries”
I like the ending with the flags of the nations because it fits with the theme of the routine. Also the flags should play pretty big, and move the action up towards my face. The patter isn’t finished yet, and I need to come up with one more language to do the final count instead of repeating Chinese. I think there’s something in this routine…
One of the books I brought with me to read while I’m performing on this cruise ship is Seven Thoughts by Sungwon Kim. This is all card magic, and I brought it to give me something to do, and two work on. The second trick is called Swing Cut Aces. Basically you swing cut a … Continue reading “Second Thought…”
One of the books I brought with me to read while I’m performing on this cruise ship is Seven Thoughts by Sungwon Kim. This is all card magic, and I brought it to give me something to do, and two work on. The second trick is called Swing Cut Aces. Basically you swing cut a deck and a face up ace appears. You do this until you’ve produced all four aces.
When I first tried it, it looked like garbage, I wasn’t even
sure how the trick looked “magical”. I
kept plugging away and doing it over and over and finally it’s starting to look
intentional, not like I accidentally cut to a face up ace. Mechanically, it’s not too difficult, but it
needs to be done smoothly.
The key to this was to keep going, and not give up on it until it got smooth(ish). I think if I was on land I would have bailed
on this before it got smooth, however at sea I’ve got a ton of time. I’m glad I did put in the time for this. It’s not something that I’ll use in my main
card set, but it’s another tool I’ve added to my toolbox of sleight of hand
moves with a deck of cards.
Now this has me thinking about all the moves that I’ve read
in books that only tried a dozen times and dismissed them a junk. I think that deciding to “learn” a new move
or not is a balance. It’s a mix of how
much time you, and how useful the move may be in the future.
Over a decade ago I wrote a book about performing in “senior market”. These are shows at retirement homes, assisted living communities, etc. I don’t really perform in this market anymore, however I am in a couple of Facebook groups for people who do. I’m constantly amazed at how much bad advice is given. The … Continue reading “Old Tyme Music…”
Over a decade ago I wrote a book about performing in “senior market”. These are shows at retirement homes, assisted living communities, etc. I don’t really perform in this market anymore, however I am in a couple of Facebook groups for people who do.
I’m constantly amazed at how much bad advice is given. The one that drives me nuts is when someone will ask what kind of tricks to do for these shows and someone says to use music like Glenn Miller’s In The Mood.or music from the 1940s or 1950s.
Whenever I hear that advice I want to tell them to do the math. Glenn Miller put that song out in 1939, which makes that song 80 years old…but for that song to be relevant in your life, like the music you would have listened to in your teens, you’d be 95-100 years old.
That age range is within the demographic for the senior show, HOWEVER it’s a small slice of the demographic. The average lifespan in the USA is just shy of 80 years old. That means your market for these shows is about 70-95.
Let’s redo the math. It’s currently 2019, we’ll subtract 80 years for the age of the people at the senior gig, that gives us the year 1939. However were going to add 17 years to put the music when they people where in high school and we get 1956. That math means if you want to reach people purely on a musical level, your need to use music that was released in 1956 or later.
A quick Google search and it appears Elvis was king at that point. Remember that year is the bottom rung of the ladder, and we’d be assuming they never listened to music past their 17th birthday. If you fast forward a decade to when these people were 27 years old, you get the Beach Boys, Neil Diamond, the Rolling Stones. Jump forward another decade to when they were 37 and now you’re into Disco.
My point is if you assume senior’s are only into the music that was popular when they were young, you haven’t thought this through. How old are you? Do you only listen to music from when you were 17 years old?
One of the types of shows I really like performing in are variety shows. Where I’m an act working with a lot of other acts of all different skills. I’m very fortunate that in Seattle we have the Moisture Festival. This is a variety arts festival that runs for about a month and brings in … Continue reading “Be Unusual…”
One of the types of shows I really like performing in are variety shows. Where I’m an act working with a lot of other acts of all different skills. I’m very fortunate that in Seattle we have the Moisture Festival. This is a variety arts festival that runs for about a month and brings in acts from around the world.
Here’s last night’s line up:
Frequently I’m asked by performers to “get them into the festival” as an act. I tell them they have to get themselves into the festival, I can’t do it for them. What I mean by that is that they need to go out and put the work in on their act.
Any producer of a variety show doesn’t want to deal with duplicate material. If you do standard stuff in the standard way, it’s hard for a producer to put you in an show with another act of the same skill.
Once you start having something unique, or at least unusual now it’s much easier to get into better variety shows. A couple times a year I write out my set list and next to each routine I put a “C”, a “U”, or an “O”. Here’s what they mean:
C: Common – so the trick is a common trick. An example of this would be Linking Rings
U: Unusual – The trick is less common. An example of this would be a trick you found buried in a book no one remembers. Unusual tricks can become common, so this designation may change.
O: Original – The trick is an original routine. A good example of this would be my marshmallow card trick.
The long term goal with this is to have a show that is all U’s and O’s. How you get there is by knowing where the C’s are and trying to eliminate them.
There are tricks that I’ve wanted in my show because I like the idea of them. Many of these classic tricks are very briefly in the show as they don’t work with me and how I work. One of these tricks is the Three Ball Routine. I’ve put it in and taken it out of … Continue reading “”
There are tricks that I’ve wanted in my show because I like the idea of them. Many of these classic tricks are very briefly in the show as they don’t work with me and how I work. One of these tricks is the Three Ball Routine. I’ve put it in and taken it out of the show probably a dozen times.
Recently a company called The Hands of Magic put out a set of silicone balls for the trick. I just picked up a set, and while I haven’t used them in a show, they work great when I practice with them.
These balls are a bit different from the bouncy balls you’d get at the two store. They less dense and have a bit of give to them. This is helpful when you accidentally drop them, they don’t go as far as super balls.
These balls also have a nice gloss on them, that hopefully won’t wear off. The gloss will make them look a little bit bigger and will make them play a bit bigger than a matte ball.
So far I like these balls and would recommend them…now to find a spot in my show for them.
There’s a growing group of magicians that are anti-technology in their magic. The are against using thing that use electronics, and while I partially agree with them, I don’t completely agree. I agree that you need to have a base in sleight of hand, and be able to make the trick happen if the tech … Continue reading “Phone Book in the Google World…”
There’s a growing group of magicians that are anti-technology in their magic. The are against using thing that use electronics, and while I partially agree with them, I don’t completely agree. I agree that you need to have a base in sleight of hand, and be able to make the trick happen if the tech fails, but I disagree that you shouldn’t use tech.
If we didn’t use technology, then we wouldn’t have latex or plastic thumb tips, they’d still be made of metal. Technology makes magic grow, otherwise we’d still be doing the tricks out of Discoverie of Witchcraft.
While some of those methods are still valid, a lot of them are antiquated. That’s why embracing technology is a good thing. While you don’t have to use electronic methods, you don’t shouldn’t judge others who do.
This morning I upgraded a prop that I’ve been using for years. Current technology allows me to make part of the gimmick smaller, lighter and slightly more durable. The prop was working just fine, so why upgrade it? Simple, by upgrading now when I’m not in a time crunch, like it broke while I’m on … Continue reading “Upgrade Your Show!”
This morning I upgraded a prop that I’ve been using for years. Current technology allows me to make part of the gimmick smaller, lighter and slightly more durable. The prop was working just fine, so why upgrade it?
Simple, by upgrading now when I’m not in a time crunch, like it broke while I’m on tour allows me to make sure I get it right. I’m making a lateral replacement, it’s an actual upgrade.
As a general rule, upgrading before replacement is required will get you better results. Upgrading along with proper maintenance of your props is essential to avoid them failing during your show.
Last night I went out and saw Michael Carbonaro at the Moore Theater in Seattle. It was a great show, and I highly recommend checking it out. The show was a great showcase for his personality, and all of the tricks were solid! I’ve always said one of the things that takes you up a … Continue reading “Michael Carbonaro LIVE”
Last night I went out and saw Michael Carbonaro at the Moore Theater in Seattle. It was a great show, and I highly recommend checking it out. The show was a great showcase for his personality, and all of the tricks were solid!
I’ve always said one of the things that takes you up a level as a performer is tightness. How you get from one thing to another, and Michael did it expertly. There were no slow spots in the show, or down time.
Eliminating downtime between tricks makes your show a show, and not a collection of acts. It’s not easy to come up with transitions that make sense, but the work is worth it!
One of the things I’ve been doing over the last few years is getting rid of props that I don’t like, and replacing them with custom versions that are made how I want them. I’m sure you have something that you use, that just not quite right for how you handle it. Maybe you’d like … Continue reading “Custom Props…”
One of the things I’ve been doing over the last few years is getting rid of props that I don’t like, and replacing them with custom versions that are made how I want them. I’m sure you have something that you use, that just not quite right for how you handle it. Maybe you’d like the prop an inch longer, two pounds lighter, or whatever.
Having a 3D printer has made doing a lot of this very easy. I can print something, and if it’s not perfect I can easily tweak the design and reprint it. For example, I 3D printed all the props for my bubble act.
There are a few things that I can’t easily do at home. One of the things is my table top. I love it for when I’m actually working on the table top, but not for stage show where basically just holds props. For my stage show the table top is about an inch too short and I don’t like how everything sits. I just ordered a new custom size table top from Viking Magic:
I got a nice bonus with the table top, besides being the size I want for my stage show, it’s also about a pound and a half lighter than my other table top! That means I can pack a little bit more in my case when I fly.
