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What Me Worry…

It really cracks me up when magicians worry about exposure of tricks where the method is technological. The “exposure” they are worried about is when this similar tech becomes used in applications for the general public. A good example is someone makes a die that you assign tasks to, and have an app linked to it. You put the side up when you are working on that task. The app knows what side it up and tells you how long you devote to each task. This is essentially a tech that’s been used for magic for a long time.

I think there are two reasons that people that are upset with magic tech becoming everyday tech. The first is that when it’s magic, it’s a niche market and very specialized, so it’s expensive. These people are upset that the value of their investment has been decreased. The second reason is that these people aren’t willing to put in the time to learn to do it any other way (i.e. Sleight of hand).

Here’s a good example, many people make a little cube that has different colors on all of the sides. Due to the tech, you always know what color is on top. However if you are aware of a similar device to keep you on task at work, then the impossibility of the trick is diminished. How can you do the same trick?

Here are two ways:

1. Instead of the cube, they write down a color on a business card and put it in their pocket. Using standard mentalism techniques you can easily know their color.

2. You put a prediction on the table. The pick a color on the block and it’s covered up so you can’t see it. You turn over the prediction and it’s the color they picked. Methodwise this is simply using the block to tell you what color was picked, then you use nailwriter for the prediction.

Both methods will have the same impact as just using the tech, but won’t become obsolete when the magic tech becomes everyday tech. The moral of the story is to go out and learn some sleight of hand.

Cards Across…

One of the new tricks that I’m working on is the Cards Across trick. This is a trick I had to do as an “emergency” when I thought I had set up a trick, but hadn’t and didn’t realize it until I already had people onstage. When this happened, I went into my mental toolbox of magic and did Cards Across.

Cards Across is a great trick, however it’s a very common trick. How do I jazz it up and give it my own twist. My thought was doing it with 7 red backed cards and 10 blue backed cards. Then having the packets switch places, not just the number of cards. So it’s a transposition, not a transportation. This is a small change, but one that I like, and makes the trick a little bit more unique to me.

I’ve done this trick three times, twice on Sunday and once yesterday. I’ve learned a lot about doing it in those three shows. First of all, I need to mention the two different color backs at the beginning and not really mention it again until I’ve done the pile displacement. I need to focus on the numbers of the cards, and the transposition is a bonus.

Camera Work…

Good video footage of your act is very valuable these days. It can be used for promo, social media or simply just to get better. With 4K video cameras being fairly inexpensive, you really have no excuse to not have a decent promo video.

I try to record most shows, and that footage can be used however I need to. Normally I do this with the camera on a tripod. If I’m in the same place for a while, I can put the camera in different places and get different looking shots. With different angles of the same venue, in theory I can cut them together and make it look like a multi camera shot.

Sometimes I’ll give the camera to a magician to record. It’s interesting what most magicians tend to focus on. They focus on the trick, not the the bigger picture, or the reaction to the trick. Personally I want a tight shot of the me and the person on stage. This is the beauty of using a 4K camera, you can crop it to the trick, or the reaction, or leave it as is.

Video Is A Great Tool…

One of the hardest parts of working on new material is figuring out what works in front of an audience and what doesn’t. I’m always amazed that usually what I think are my best ideas end up falling flat in front of an audience and the ideas I think are dumb play really well.

An easy way to figure out what works and what doesn’t is video. Sometimes things feel good on stage, but then you rewatch the video and the trick, joke or bit isn’t hitting as hard as it felt. Video also shows all the gaps in your show. You will see and hear every dead spot in your show.

When you watch your show on video it can be very painful to watch, and I think this is why people don’t like watching their show on video. Unless you are hiring someone to take notes, you need to do this. If you can’t watch your show, how can the audience?

With me working on a new show, I tightened up a trick in the show by watching the video, I made it play a lot better than it was. Without the video it would have taken months to figure out, not hours. The hard part is sitting down and actually doing the work.

More Gypsy Thread Progress…

The Gypsy Thread trick is officially in my library show this summer. I’m still having problems with selling the ending. I think the main problem for a child watching the trick, is the restoration feels like it’s something that should happen. Almost like it’s a child’s novelty toy.

What I’m thinking I’m going to do is have two pieces of string. A kid and I will both tear them up and my string won’t restore, however the kids will. Then the kid might make mine restore for the kicker. This lengthens the routine, and highlights the fact that the pieces don’t just go back together automatically.

Adding the second person to the show also makes the trick play larger and opens it up to some bits that don’t exist when you do it as a solo. I’ll need to play with the method a little bit to be able to get the two balls of string (one restored and one not) to look the same. I think this change will really help sell the effect.

Learn About Your Tools…

In my continuing work with the Silk Thru Coat Hanger routine, one of the things I’m doing is examining the props. Since the props weren’t made specifically for me and what I’m doing, the odds are that they can be improved for what I want them to do.

The first thing I did was look a the coat hanger. I originally was using a wooden one, however this was pretty heavy and had a seam in a spot where the silk moves and frequently snagged. I ended up buying some plastic hangers at the dollar store and altering them so the were smooth where the silk and thread needed to move. This was a huge improvement.

Next I started to look at the reel. Currently I’m using a P & L Fingertip Reel. I ended up altering this a little bit. Inside the reel, I added teflon discs to the spots where metal touched metal. These discs are sold to add to gimmicked coins to reduce clinking sound and make them slide better.

These teflon discs really added to the smoothness of how the reel retracted.

I also recently ordered a couple of different reels to see if there’s a style that I prefer, rather than simply using the first one I got. I’ve got a Tango Ultimate Reel and a Kirkendall Reel coming this week. We’ll see what I end up using.

Finally I looked at the silk that I’m using. I went from a square silk to a diamond cut one. The main reason is weight, the reel can move a lighter weight faster than a heavier one…or in my case, can move a larger one for the same effort as a smaller one.

All of these little things end up making a difference. At the very least I know my props really well!

Preshow Warm Up…

Before a show, I try to warm up…but what does that mean for a comedy magician? I’ll get to that in a minute. I got started warming up many years ago when I started working in variety shows with other acts. All of the physical acts like trapeze act, or dancers warm up a lot before the show, where the magicians just hung out.

I had a friend Noelle Wood who does an amazing pole dance act, she’d warm up for an hour to do an 8 minute act. One day before a show while she was warming up, she asked me what I did to warm up. My response was, “try to not get too drunk”. This joke answer, was the answer.

Before a show, I like to joke around and be playful, it gets me into the performing mindset of having fun on stage, but also gets my “comedy brain” warmed up. Here’s a quick example of something that happened before a show that helped me warm up:

It’s this playfulness that gets me into “character” and ready for the show. Sure, if I’ve got something new, I’ll run lines before the show, but it’s important for me to play before the show whenever possible.

Production Value

Working more and more in theaters, it has me paying attention to the things that really aren’t possible in non theater shows. I remember when sound became a thing for me, and that was a game changer in my show. Now being able to play with video projection, video and lighting is opening a whole … Continue reading “Production Value”

I really want to add a video element to the show, where I play a video at some point. I’m not sure what, I think I want to do something with my daughter where I talk to her on the screen. I think this would be fun, but it’ll take some work for it to not come off as cheesy. Currently I call my daughter in the show and that works well, but that has a “live” feeling, where with a video I’d be worried it would feel canned.

Having these options opens a world of possibilities for my show. Like being able to do a few smaller tricks for larger audiences. I’ve been doing my mismade bill routine, which isn’t for 500 + people, however it works with the projection screen and plays well.

Working Slow…

Recently I watched Anthony Jeselnik’s stand up comedy special on Netflix. In it he works really slow and really takes his time. I had also recently watched David Hira’s Penguin Live Lecture and on it he talks about using pauses. Last night on stage I decided to experiment and really take my time. I went … Continue reading “Working Slow…”

Recently I watched Anthony Jeselnik’s stand up comedy special on Netflix. In it he works really slow and really takes his time.

I had also recently watched David Hira’s Penguin Live Lecture and on it he talks about using pauses.

Last night on stage I decided to experiment and really take my time. I went at a what felt like a snails pace on stage, in real time it wasn’t nearly that slow.

It really took me out of my comfort zone, but well worth it. I got a lot more applause in the show and better laughs. For me, it’s mentally really hard to pause and wait for a laugh that may not be coming. Waiting for applause is easier, but the waiting for the laugh stresses me out onstage. Waiting is the better choice than just plowing through it and stepping on it.

Unfortunately bad gigs make it hard to do good gigs as they give you bad habits. Things like stepping on a laugh when you are really just trying to get through a rough gig. I think that I need to work bad gigs like they are good gigs and just do everything the way I normally would and almost treat them like rehearsal, and not like trying bail water out of a sinking ship. If I know it’s the gig (and not me), like a horrible set up, or whatever, then just treat it like a rehearsal.

Robotic Patter…

There’s a lot you can learn by watching other acts. Last night I watched a saxophone player do a show. He played two original songs and the rest were cover songs. One thing that I liked was the production value of his show. There were a lot of light cues, which added a lot to … Continue reading “Robotic Patter…”

The show was fun, the one thing I didn’t like was when he talked it sounded too scripted for me. It sounded like he’s done it a hundred times, and he probably has. The advantage of how he talked was it was very slow, thought out and easy to follow. The disadvantage it that it didn’t some off as remotely sincere.

The goal in talking in your show is for it to not sound robotic. For example, he would ask audience for a response and if no one interacted, he just moved on. He didn’t mention that “oh, no one from new jersey” then move on. It’s not living in the moment when the moment pops up that makes your show feel reel. Your response doesn’t have to be a joke, it just need to address whatever happens.

Somewhere there is a balance between being scripted and sounding natural.