magic show – Page 40 – MagicShow.Tips

You Get What You Give…

Recently I was working at a fair where there were two stages next to each other. One stage was going while the other was doing its act change over. When one stage ends, it sends its audience right next door.
This usually works great…

What ended up happening is that one of the acts on my stage started his act on time, but the act on the other stage was running long. A bit later in the day the act on the other stage asked us to not start until he’s done. That’s fine if he’s done in a reasonable amount of time.

Then as the week went on the act on the other stage started doing preshow bits on the mic while our stage was still active. The courtesy of us not starting until he was finished didn’t extend the other direction to him not starting while we were still going…and we were still within our scheduled times.

This easily could have turned into use blasting music into his show, both me and the other act on my stage were much louder shows. However were are also professionals and know that no one wins when two stage right next to each other try to drown the other out. Once we realized the courtesy wasn’t being given to us, we simply did our scheduled start time, and frequently stepped on the end of his show.

Travelling…

Right now we’re at the peak of my busy performing season. Something that seems to throw off a lot of performers is travelling (especially by airplane) with their shows. Today we’ll just talk about travelling by car, which in some ways is more difficult that travelling by airplane.

When I’m packing up my show for a few weeks of shows, and putting it in the trunk of my car I have some decisions to make. The first one is the size of props. I don’t mind taking large props by car, but the prop still needs to justify loading it in and out for several weeks, and I need to be able to move it by myself.

The next thing to consider is the amount of supplies it’s going to take. While doing a mouth coil routine once doesn’t take up a lot of space, however doing three shows a day for three weeks starts to take up some space when you are packing.

Then you’ve got to decide whether to bring things you might need. This could be things like an extra power cable, or even an extra filler trick. Bringing extra material on the road is a good idea because sometimes props break and you can’t immediately get it repaired or replaces.

Personally when travelling by car I tend to overpack, but then I’m never at a venue without the proper connection to plug my mic in!

Breaking It In…

One of the fun things about performing on the road is when you get to perform with your friends. This week in Wyoming I’m performing with my buddy Matt Baker. Matt does a comedy stunt show and we both co-host the Odd and Offbeat Podcast. Besides hanging out, we both are working on a ton of new material for our shows.

We made a mutual pact to do no “A” material this week. We’re working on building up new material and maybe moving some routines from B to A status. Not having your best material as a crutch to get you through a show. It makes you focus on getting a couple more laughs and selling the trick a little bit harder.

I’ve had a routine that’s been a preshow trick that really had no routine. It now runs about 4 mins and has a lot of laughs. The nice thing is that I’m working with a buddy who is watching my show and giving me ideas, and I’m watching his and giving him ideas, so we both win and create much faster!

Play With Others…

Quite often I’ll be performing at an event with other acts. We’re all booked at the same venue, quite often we’re all doing separate things. A couple weeks ago there was a ton of great entertainers at a fair I was performing at. I decided to get everyone together and put on a variety show! … Continue reading “Play With Others…”

After doing this, I’m amazed that more fairs don’t have a variety show, or split bill show. It’s great for an audience to watch, and it’s something different. It also breaks up the “monotony” of doing your show three times a day. If you work with other acts, I highly recommend putting together a variety show!

Keep On Schedule…

Recently I was performing at a county fair where my act was the only paid act on a stage, the rest were unpaid acts. There were only three out of about 15 acts that were on that stage that cared about keeping the stage on schedule. One was a rock band, one was a hip hop group and the third was me. The other dozen acts were going to play their set lists regardless of when the started, or how unrealistic their set list was to fit within their scheduled time.

Of all of the acts, I was the only one that was on the stage more than once. I was on the stage three times a day, in between each band. I don’t think they realized how much it impacts every other act. If the first act ends at second acts start time, that means the second act starts late due to stage turn over time. At this point it’s not a huge deal. If the second act then starts late and plays their full set they will run into the third acts start time. Now we’ve got a problem because people looking for the third act will see the second act and assume the schedule they are looking at is wrong. The third act has now been robbed of their base audience who was looking for them.

The first two acts being selfish have hurt the third act, and potentially every other acts on that stage. That’s why sticking to your end time is very important when you are working on a shared stage with a published schedule. Sticking to a schedule is also a good habit to get into. Let’s say you are working a union house, and you run over your scheduled stop time because the show started late, it could cost you hundreds, or thousands in overtime to the stage crew.

When you are performing on a scheduled stage with other acts, sticking to your end time is very important! It’s a good habit to get into early on in your career.

Be Prepared!!!!

Yesterday on the stage that I’m performing on at a county fair there was no sound tech. This is fine for me, as I reasonably understand how to turn on a PA and use a sound board. It’s really not hard, since I’m not singing to get my voice to sound right. When I first got into performing and encountered sound boards, I asked the tech to show me the basics. I learned what all the knobs do, I barely understand how to use them, however I can get my show up and running (usually) without a sound tech.

On the stage I was performing on there was a dance school right after my show. I finished my show and unplugged my cords and put them with my stuff. The leader of the dance group freaked out, she didn’t know what to do for her audio. She was very unprepared. She asked for my help, and I asked her if she had brought a cord? She said she didn’t know she needed one, and I told her I didn’t know I needed one either.

Here’s the kick in the butt, she didn’t even have the right connector to get her iphone to connect to the standard 3.5mm cord!!! Even if there was a cord, she couldn’t have plugged her phone into the sound board.

I really wanted to pull her aside, but she was mid-meltdown and tell this is a teachable moment. Instead of freaking out, she should get her dancers and tell them the problem and it being a result of her not being prepared for the worst. As a performer that’s a good skill to have. If you have a prop or piece of gear that’s easily lost, have two of them. If there’s an essential cord or adapter that the venue should have, but cost less than $10 and easily fits in your bag, you should have one!

For under $50 she could have a mic, mic cord, and a cord to plug her iPhone in. She really should have a dedicated iPhone for the show, and her personal phone should be a back up. After seeing how she reacted at how unprepared SHE was, I wouldn’t let my kid go to her dance school.

Eye Contact…

Recently I watched a juggler perform at a county fair and as far as I could tell he never looked at the audience during the entire show. I get that to be a juggler you need to look at the props you are juggling, or manipulating, however the audience should still see your eyes at some point.

Eye contact is very important to connect to an audience. Have you ever talked to someone that doesn’t look at you? It’s strange. When you don’t look at the audience, it’s like you are ignoring them. No one likes to be ignored, especially a mobile audience like one at a fair.

It also makes the audience feel like they are being talked at, not talked to. I go through spurts of when I fell like I’m talking at the audience. It’s because for whatever reason internally I’m rushing to get to the next joke. Lately, I’ve been doing a good job of holding back on the joke, sometimes it won’t happen because I’m letting the audience decide where I’m going…but you need that connection with them to happen, and it all starts with eye contact.

Stick Up For Your Show

Recently I as asked to do a show as a favor for a booker, which was an show at a volunteer event. Doing this was no big deal, and something I’m more than willing to do. However when I’m doing something for free, I’m much more of a stickler for the performing conditions than when I’m being paid.

This particular gig was in a huge echoy space. The echo by itself wasn’t a big deal, however it was more than just that. The venue’s sound system was a super old school one where the speakers were in the ceiling of a very high ceiling. I couldn’t hear myself when I talked into their mic and stood in the audience. I need to be able to be heard, they told me it’d be OK. I told them that it was unacceptable.

When you’re being paid for a gig, you want it the best it can be. Usually people who pay for things are much more likely to give it what it needs to be successful. The people who aren’t invested in your show, aren’t invested in it succeeding. Personally I have no problem walking away from a free gig if I feel that me or my show isn’t being treated right.

Time To Wrap It Up…

Sometimes performing for some people can be a pain in the butt. I’m specifically thinking about a person (usually a kid) that thinks everything is a secret sleight of hand move, and feels the need to tell everyone. When they do this, it really breaks up the show and makes it a pain for everyone to watch.

Here’s an example:

I’m doing walk around magic and have a family stopped and ready for a magic trick. The kid excitedly points out that I’m hiding a deck of cards in my hand. I then tell the kid, “I’m not hiding, I’m going to do a card trick, and they are required to do a card trick”. The a moment later after someone has signed the card he tells every that he, “sees that”. I ask what he sees and he replies, “you put that in your pocket”. I ask what and he say he saw me sneak the marker into my pocket. He tells me the marker, I explain that it was no longer needed and I was putting it away. It continues like this until I leave.

I finished the card trick and wrapped it up and started to leave. When I did he mother told me, “they’re a rough crowd”. I wanted to tell them they weren’t a rough crowd, her child was simply an idiot, or an a-hole. I’m sure there was a larger issue at play with the kid, however it’s a teachable moment for the mother and child. She simply could have explained that’s he was interrupting the show and he needed to shut up

However she didn’t, and I finished the card trick and left.

I Don’t Get It…

For some reason this week magicians on the social media have been sharing videos of themselves doing the linking ring trick. What I don’t get is why is everyone proud of their linking rings…especially when 99% of them are not their routines. There are a few routines that are truly unique, like the Viktor Voitko’s … Continue reading “I Don’t Get It…”

For some reason this week magicians on the social media have been sharing videos of themselves doing the linking ring trick. What I don’t get is why is everyone proud of their linking rings…especially when 99% of them are not their routines.

There are a few routines that are truly unique, like the Viktor Voitko’s Flying Linking Rings:

There are some great presentations, like Whit Hayden’s or Tom Frank’s routines. However when you are doing those routines, unfortunately you really can’t add much new to them, and still do the routine.

So why are people sharing them?

I’m not sure, my best guess is that it’s a way to get praise for putting in the least amount of effort. Let’s face it, the linking rings isn’t the hardest trick to do from a technical standpoint. Sure there are some quiet links, but for the most part palming a card is more difficult. The real challenge with the linking rings is to make them relevant to the audience. Unfortunately most of what I’ve seen this week has failed at that.