One of the things that I think is important to do with magic is to be social. Hang out with other magicians, see what they are doing and learn from it. When I was starting out, there was no internet, so that’s how new tricks got around, someone learned it in another city and they … Continue reading “Be Social…”
One of the things that I think is important to do with magic is to be social. Hang out with other magicians, see what they are doing and learn from it. When I was starting out, there was no internet, so that’s how new tricks got around, someone learned it in another city and they showed you at a magic club or jam session.
Here are some of the highlights of the last meeting of the Seattle Magic Club:
Simply knowing what other magicians in your market are doing is HUGE. Personally, it let’s me know what tricks not to do in my show. It also let’s me know who someone is talking about if they saw a magician can can’t remember their name.
Last night at the Seattle Magic Club, I got talking about “improvised” card magic. What that means is magic where you don’t have a formal plan and kinda figure it out while you are going. I got into doing this style of trick through some books by Justin Higham. It’s an interesting style, and it … Continue reading “Improvised Card Magic”
Last night at the Seattle Magic Club, I got talking about “improvised” card magic. What that means is magic where you don’t have a formal plan and kinda figure it out while you are going. I got into doing this style of trick through some books by Justin Higham.
It’s an interesting style, and it works out your brain while you perform. In a nutshell, what you are doing it looking for things you can do while you are doing other tricks. Let’s say you are doing Triumph and when you spread the cards at the end, you notice 3 kings together in the deck, that’s something you may be able to use later in an improvised trick.
The key to this is that you don’t always do something. For example, let’s say I have the three kings at the bottom of the deck, but the 4th never comes up, then I don’t do the trick.
While talking to some of the magicians about this style of performing, one commented that it’s probably hard to think that quick. It is, but the more you do it, the easier it is. Also when you remember that no trick is an acceptable outcome, then you can’t lose!
I recommend you check out Justin Higham’s books on this and try it out!
Tonight is my local magic club’s monthly meeting, and I’ll be there. In the USA club attendance is down for pretty much any type of club, not just magic. I think the internet and all of it’s groups have created a sense of community, without ever actually meeting someone. For me as a kid learning … Continue reading “Magic Clubs…”
Tonight is my local magic club’s monthly meeting, and I’ll be there. In the USA club attendance is down for pretty much any type of club, not just magic. I think the internet and all of it’s groups have created a sense of community, without ever actually meeting someone.
For me as a kid learning magic, my local magic club helped me out a lot…mostly. It gave me a place to see people who were better than me, and learn from them. I know, you can do it on the internet, however I don’t think the same. Maybe from a technical level, but not a human level.
Magic clubs in retrospect also have given me a lot of bad advice…but so does learning from the internet. I think that’s part of the learning process, learning that some people love to tell you how to do it, when they don’t know. You need to realize who they are and unfortunately you don’t really realize it until you grow beyond them.
Personally I try to go to the magic club because I love magic. I also try to give back to a system that helped me a lot!
Last week I was hanging out with some magicians and while we were jamming we stumbled upon an idea. What we were doing with this idea at the restaurant wasn’t very sophisticated, but we got the general idea down. The next morning I got up and made a quick 3D model of what we wanted … Continue reading “From an Idea to a Physical Trick in Under 18 Hours”
Last week I was hanging out with some magicians and while we were jamming we stumbled upon an idea. What we were doing with this idea at the restaurant wasn’t very sophisticated, but we got the general idea down.
The next morning I got up and made a quick 3D model of what we wanted the trick to look like. I printed it, and it wasn’t quite right. I banged out a Version 2 and it still needed a little bit of tweaking. Within 18 hours of having the idea, and me sleeping about half of that time, I had an ideal working model!
In their current form, they look like a Tenyo Magic product and the next step will be to have them made in metal.
Being able to produce these in a physical form tells me a lot about the idea and how it will actually work. Versus it basically dying in a notebook. Knowing how to use a 3D printer is a game changer for magicians!
I’m pretty sure I’ve written about his before, and I’ll say it again, we live in an amazing time to be magicians. You can watch videos of old master magicians perform, or the new upcoming magicians on YouTube. You can stream a magic lecture from your favorite magician without leaving your couch. While all of … Continue reading “”
I’m pretty sure I’ve written about his before, and I’ll say it again, we live in an amazing time to be magicians. You can watch videos of old master magicians perform, or the new upcoming magicians on YouTube. You can stream a magic lecture from your favorite magician without leaving your couch.
While all of this is great, I also thing an important part of being a good magician is “jamming” with other magicians. Not just demonstrating tricks, but playing with magic. When you play and start “riffing” with tricks, some amazing stuff happens!
Go out to your local magic club, meet some people and start jamming, you never know when you’ll stumble upon the next big magic trick!
Yesterday I had a guy come up to me after a show and tell me how much he loved magic. This is great! He was telling me about how he loves watching magic on TV, and how sleight of hand is his favorite to watch, he especially loved Shin Lim on America’s Got Talent. Then … Continue reading “”
Yesterday I had a guy come up to me after a show and tell me how much he loved magic. This is great! He was telling me about how he loves watching magic on TV, and how sleight of hand is his favorite to watch, he especially loved Shin Lim on America’s Got Talent.
Then things got a bit interesting. He told me how he loved David Blaine, and remembers actually seeing him do street magic in Seattle. He told me about how he saw him levitate four feet off the ground and reach his arm through a window of a store!
The only problem is that I’m betting he didn’t actually see that. Those were things that happened on the TV show, not in real life. The way the guy told me, I believe that he remembers seeing those things happen. He very well may have run into David Blaine in Seattle who showed him a couple of tricks, but not reaching through a window.
It’s great that a magician connected with this guy and put amazing memories into his head. We all do this on some level, audiences memories tend to forget things, or remember them wrong over time. Many magicians use this to their advantages. Look into what you currently do and see what you can do to make the memory even more amazing than the real thing!
Recently I was performing a close up gig for a bunch of teenagers and a great group. When I finished they thought I as the best magician in the world (I’m not). What made me 200% more amazing than I normally am was that I wasn’t afraid to go off script. This was one of … Continue reading “Go With The Flow”
Recently I was performing a close up gig for a bunch of teenagers and a great group. When I finished they thought I as the best magician in the world (I’m not). What made me 200% more amazing than I normally am was that I wasn’t afraid to go off script.
This was one of the shows where everything that could go right, did! What I mean by that, is I do a “coin under watch” routine. I load the coin really early in the routine. It’s risky, as it has a lot of time to be discovered or fall out. Well, about halfway through the trick one of the kids says, “make it appear under his watch” and points to the guy who I had the loaded watch.
A miracle was about to happen.
When things like this pop up, I can’t get excited and immediately make it happen. I need to make it look difficult for me to do. I laughed it off telling the kid that it would be amazing, but I’m not that good. Got slightly deeper into the routine, and then made it appear under the guys watch. The kids when crazy!
The entire set I did for these kids, they would request things to happen that I already had set up. To them it must have felt like I could do anything, to me it felt like the audience was psychic!
Yesterday I did a gig that was for only about 15 people, so it was a large close up show or a small platform show. One of the things with shows like this, is that it often lacks the formal feeling of a formal show. People can get chatty with you and I tend to … Continue reading “Small But Mighty…”
Yesterday I did a gig that was for only about 15 people, so it was a large close up show or a small platform show. One of the things with shows like this, is that it often lacks the formal feeling of a formal show. People can get chatty with you and I tend to be a little less formal with them.
With this many people, it’s easy to connect with them, and for them to connect with each other. I can spend a bit more time with someone if something interesting is happening. I’m still doing my show, but I feel it’s easier to play a lot more.
When performing for a bigger group, playing can be more difficult if it’s verbal. The audience can’t hear the person, so you either need to mic them or repeat what they are saying. I’m all for playing, however sometimes, it’s just not as practical as thers.
There are ton of magic tricks, or ideas that have been in my head for years. I haven’t done them, or built them because I know they won’t fit my performing style, or because I don’t have a method that’s any good. Every now and then I try to make these tricks happen at least … Continue reading “Getting It Out Of Your System…”
There are ton of magic tricks, or ideas that have been in my head for years. I haven’t done them, or built them because I know they won’t fit my performing style, or because I don’t have a method that’s any good. Every now and then I try to make these tricks happen at least once to get them out of my brain.
One trick that had been in my head forever was doing a Multiplying Billiard Ball routine. Eventually I put together a routine and did it on a tour of over 90 shows. By the end of the tour the routine was really good, however I also decided that I don’t want to do that trick in my main show.
Then there are times when I begrudgingly put together a routine simply to get an idea out of my head and I end up liking the trick. A good example is my version of the “tossed out deck”. I hate the trick, however ended up coming up with a good routine and method that’s staying in my show.
If you have an idea, make it a reality, even if it’s a bad one. It will make you a better magician and performer…or at least clear up room in your brain for a new idea!
Recently I worked with an act at a family show that didn’t really have a clue as to how to perform for kids. His idea of a good routine for kids involves them screaming. By screaming, I mean that he told them to scream as loud as they could. It was basically 7 minutes of … Continue reading “Desired Reactions…”
Recently I worked with an act at a family show that didn’t really have a clue as to how to perform for kids. His idea of a good routine for kids involves them screaming. By screaming, I mean that he told them to scream as loud as they could. It was basically 7 minutes of kids yelling and rolling on the ground. Luckily his act was after mine, so I didn’t have to deal with the aftermath.
The screaming didn’t have any theatrical purpose, other than to make kids scream. There was no reason, like it made the magic happen, it was basically, “hey kids scream and do it whenever you want”. It really gives mixed messages to the kids in the audience for how to behave for the next act.
Some people may defend the performers, saying something like, “if the kids had fun, that’s all that matters”, but that’s wrong. It’s wrong thinking because it there were more than just kids in the audience. There were adults and the adults weren’t happy with it. Essentially the performer rolled back the clock on all of the audience training that this particular audience had gotten over the years. It hurts the venue in the long run, I wouldn’t take my kid back to that.
TLDR: Mindless yelling isn’t a desired reaction from kids.
