Last night 's gig at the Minories was over all really good. We showed up a 5.30 and explained hat we would perform for between one and a half to two hours and would begin sometimes after 6pm We have learnt from other gigs that it is not a good ideas to begin too soon. People attending the event or venue need some time to feel settled and o greet friends before being interrupted by a magician. Also a gig goes better when you have a 'Critical mass' enabling you to leap from group to group and not just wait around for more people to arrive. We explained all this to the event organizer who was more than happy with our plans. We also agreed to try stage magic later in the evening.
After 6 I launched into action approaching a couple of parents and their child, aged around 10. Wee Wee Mentalist proved a great ice breaker. the youngster then trotted off leaving me to perform Cartomancy for the parents. Both effects went down very well. Wee wee Mentalists appeal is something I've often wondered about. I suppose we all like the appeal of something that looks magical, and the mentalist's mind going from blank to showing the chosen card does defy explanation for man y people. But it can't be dressed up as something plausible but amazing event, its an obvious trick, which many magicians claim are not popular. Cartomancy again provided a strong reaction, I performed it around 5 times, each time provoking a strong response of astonishment. i will admit I began chickening out and did not perform Ambitious card. However Serial Killer provided a strong reaction (difficult to find a spot with enough light for people to see the blood splat on the card though).
The other close effect of the night was Once Upon A Time by Guy Hollingworth. This story telling deck of cards uses simple slights to turn a a pumpkin into a carriage and rags into ball-gowns. The slights are easy, the hard part is remembering WHEN to do them. I performed this effect for 3 groups of children on an antique card table under a tree. The whole experience added to the feel of magic for the children watching, and they loved being able to turn the cards over to see the transformations.
The stage show was highly anticipated by the children. I planned three effects. A simple colour change silk trick where two children were placed back to back and one was shown a green and yellow scarf. I then turned away from the audience and walked to the other child and asked her the colour of the scarves which are now blue and red. I repeat, the children believing i changed the scarves colour whilst the audience thought i was just grabbing other scarves whilst my back was turned. finally i walked towards the audience and the scarves changed in front of their eyes. Next I performed the crystal tube effect where silks knot themselves by being blown through a tube. These effectes were both very well received. HOWEVER my final effect bombed! I performed Big Deal using kids to cheat their dads at cards. A few things went wrong. One the cards were not big enough (even though they were jumbo cards). The lights behind us were too strong, also hindering the view. Finally blocking. Controlling the audience so they they did not obscure the view of the audience. MY good friend Darren is a superb director and playwright and actor. I asked him to watch the performance and he gave me these critiques, Very useful indeed. I think I'll avoid doing stage work without giving it a little more time and giving Daren a chance to look the routine over. But a basic check list will include making sure lighting doesn't obscure the routine and that everyone can see what's going on. It seams as though street performance including working to a group comes natureally to me but stage craft needs work.
Luckily I was approached by a family who had seen my work before and wanted to see something new and special. h was just what I needed to stop me dwelling on the stage card trick not having any impact. It also let me indulge in Do and I Do and Out of this World. After this I felt buoyant enough to do some Ambitious Card work. I loved every second of it.
So over all. Stage work 2/3 . I need to work on stage craft, it cant be improvised like my street magic and close up magic. Once Upon a Time is a fantastic kids effect and suitable for many occasions. Cartomancy is a powerful close up effect and stage work is a possibity for me, but I can't be complacent and need to work through it more with Darren. Finally my Ambitious Card is good, and i need more faith in myself. The rest of the night heped with that but Ill blog it later :)
Also, when working at an outdoor event maybe a classy looking lamp is a good idea :)
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