Another gig!

Fool Us with Penn & Teller has come and gone. I shall withhold blogging about the day until the show has been screened so as to not spoil anything for anyone./ All I will say is Tellers work was hauntingly beautiful.

My Magic partner has managed to score us a new gig. This time we were performing at the same gay wine bar that gave us our first ever gig. The Pride Wine Bar, Colchester . This was to celebrate their first anniversary. However seeing as their grand opening came a month AFTER they opened their doors this means it's still only been 11 months since our first gig. I approached the gig with a certain degree of confidence as it came pretty close to the last very successful wedding gig. I was starting to feel the nerves right before hand though as I had not managed to dedicate enough time to practice in my mind. However I was sporting a lot more effects than the first time they had seen me and a new waistcoat!

This rather funky paisley waistcoat has a lovely metallic gleam and more importantly 4 internal pockets for stashing packet tricks and decks. THe left pocket is extra deep for storing cards and makes a good home for the "Wee Wee Mentalist". Aremed with a more organised storage system than last time, knowing I could be a lot more graceful getting to my effects meant I was much happier about the fluidity of my performance.

The night did have the initial trouble of our first gig, a low turn out. In the first hour we had already performed for 3 groups of people and that's all that was there. THe night soon picked up and I am delighted to say I found 2 groups of people who loved the higher mentalism effects in my routine. I find all magic a joy to perform with and the wonderment of a quick colour change or the ambitious card is great to share with people but for me the deep emotional connections made with Cartomancy, Out of this World, Dark side and other rapport effects simply can't be beat.
This night I faced a demon of mine. Coolness. Blaine is Cool, Brown is Cool, I am not initially straight way instantly Cool. Most people who take the time to know me rank me as a 'cool and groovy' person and ironically for a fat ugly guy I have no fear approaching women, or groups with women in them. It's the group of LADS on their own that gave me some concern. How do I relate to a bunch of Cool guys when I'm a fatty in a waistcoat. There is nothing cool about me, interesting yes, intriguing, maybe, but not Cool. Whilst having a breather outside I came acroos one of the group of young men. He was feeling a little down and so I forgot about the magic for a moment and switched into my normall caring human being mode. We chatted for a while and he seemd to take comfort in my company. I began running through the more slight of hand routines I had explaining that I needed to look busy. HE seemed genuinely impressed before we headed back in and I went to reload and reset (after 2 hours I might add). WHen I came out again I suddenly realised HOW impressed he was./ HE was waxing lyrical about this Cool Guy doing Magic who people Had To See. Thus i went into y slight of hand set and gabling set. By now others were joining in. People were leaving thier tables to atch the specticale of the performing fatty. As I began exhausting my repitore I asked about who believes in real magic, or the mind and soul. Everyone was still interested and so I sat down and took my time as I went into my rapport routines, at my own pace, commanding attention, not demanding it. Suddenly I felt like a real magician again, doing the magic I loved AND making others love it.
So what have I learnt.
1)Do as I do is still a good effect, provided you have a table handy
2) There is intreast in the mentailsm/rapport style of effects
3) the Ambitious card is universally loved. It's worth working on
4) the slight of hand effects can naturally lead into mentalism/rapport
5) People were genuinely in wonder and fascinated. I appear to be a good magician. This is worth the time and effort and I must continue the work.

Idols

This was always going to be a good month. It started with the wedding gig I performed with my partner, then A chance to see Paul Daniels LIVE, and a week later mentalism with Chris Cox. THEN I get tickets to see Penn and Teller perform for FREE when they record "Fool Us". An expensive but magic filled month.
Everyone says to never meet your idols. They're wrong. The whole day was inspirational. A morning walk through the V&A followed by the science museum before bumbling around Covent Garden. The gig itself took place in an upside down inflatable purple cow on the South Bank and I managed to get me and fellow magic geek front row seats. Paul Daniels performed what can only be described as a compendium of greatest hits. I wont go into them all here but I must single out the chop cup. Paul Daniels chop cup routine is considered one of the finest in the world.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ta-8VnTK4G8

In one performances I THINK I MAY be able to spot ONE load. MAYBE. I don't watch other magcians to see if I cna duduce methods, I watch them to see true art and what hard work can do for your skills. However I little piece of me was thinking thus "he's not a youngster any more, that was 26 years ago, he's 73 now, don' get your hopes up" Yes he's 26 years older BUT e's had 27 years more practise! I was right on top of him and I couldn't see a SINGLE move (and I was looking)

Aside from technical skills his presentation wasn't at all dated. He thoroughly up to date and yet retained classical elegance. The Lovely Debbie Mcgee was, well, lovely. She looked stunning, carried herself off with grace and bantered with Paul and the audience in an easy happy manor. Both true professionals.

Chris Cox was a lot more different than I thought. I still enjoyed it immensely but considering how impressed I was with the interview he gave at the Magic News Wire I was expecting something more cerebral. He was friendly and fun however my friends picked up on one problem. He played the same joke magicians often play of pretending to have messed up a reveal only to have a fresh different reveal (eg Card In Hand). The problem is he played this so often that when something DID go wrong no-one knew how to react. People reacted with good humour but the impression my friends got at the end of the night was that he kept on making mistakes when he only made the one. It's just his performance style got everything muddled in their memories. However the man's show was well tailored to his audience. everyone seemed to really love him as a character and and respond very well to his brand of mentalsim. I suppose thats th ultimate magic trick. to give people what they are looking for, even if they don't know what it is they want. I know I've certainly had to adjust me performance away slightly from what want to perform. I still perform that way in private mind and hope one day to be in a setting where it would be appropriate to do it in public :)