.The event was an interesting blend. Before 9 there would be children present. the little ones would then be packed off to bed. We were initially engaged to perform from 9 until 11 however I offered a bit of time -for free- before 9 so the kids could see some magic. This was not a wholly selfless action.
1) It gave me even more experience in performing for a younger group of people.
2) It gave me a chance to advertise myself as a children's magician in front of the parents.
3) It's much easier to go up to a group of kids and introduce yourself a s a magician and perform than a group of adults. however once the ice was broken it is easier to go up to the grown ups.
I scored major points by getting one boy so excited by the magic he put down his PSP! once it was out of his hands and he was engaged with the magic, along with the other kids. As a result he then carried on playing with the other kids when I moved onto the grown ups. I can understand why some magicians fear performing for kids though, even if they are naturally adept with them. The reason is public perception. My first effect was my now classic silk shrinking, vanishing transport to sock. One of the mum's looked STUNNED she actually said "WOW, that's' actually really good". I suddenly realised she expected the children's magic to be 'low grade' or '2nd class magic' . It seams there is a stigma with children's magic. Parents expect to work out how the magic is performed, feel a little smug and only be paying the magicians at a kids party to work as a kind of crowd control, not doing anything they themselves could not do. This idea was confirmed when one of the parents later remarked on a close up piece I performed "you really are very good, i just thought you were for the kids".
On to the grown ups. I began with two receptive looking ladies and pulled out me "Rapport" Deck. As with other large events I had a few differently stacked decks.
Rapport Deck (a Red for rapport backed bicycle deck in my Right for rapport pocket)
this was stacked for...
Here then There
Direct Mind Reading
Do as I Do
Out of this World
I had in my Right trouser pocket an Invisible Deck and Cartomancy to allow me to increase the spiritual mind reading effects
On my left side in Blue Backed bicycles. the Gambling effects
Four site
Big Deal
Aces High
and fully prepared to break out Ambitious Card as an example of advanced card control (and how people can cheat at poker.)
So back to the nice ladies. They loved the introduction of the Wee Wee Mentalist (in a card clip normally in my hand to serve as an ice breaker. Here than there received an amazing reaction (and went on to all night. Direct minding, FAILED! the stack seamed to screw up (this happened TWICE) so now I'm going to have to runt through the stack a few times to see what happened. Luckily I managed to save some face by getting a second bit of mind reading right, and the invisible deck (only JUST realised I could have gone ah h just kidding here's your selected card, HOWEVER that would have been making ME look good not them, in retrospect I think I did the right thing). The band then kicked off. NOT TO SELF. Bands play louder than the disco. I polity offered to return at a less noisy time and left the table.
Next two LADS of the YOUNGER variety. they cockily wanted to see "Some Magic then". They seemed friendly but slightly confrontational. I broke into FOUR SIGHT. They Loved it. They loved my story that goes with the effect as well. They seemed slightly the worse for ware so instead of going into the more long winded Big Deal I switched to Wee Wee Mentalist. Again they loved the effect but I didn't want to take up their time, I felt that they were happy with what they had seen, and would have been polite and watched more, but they were also itching to get to the casino. Performing further would have been performing for ME and not THEM, I offered to return later and let them go, glad that I cut the routine short and left on a g high. When I first got into performing I would have wanted to exhaust everything in one go, OR if I felt I should leave before finishing my planned routine I would have felt like a failure , like they didn't wan to see my work. Now I understand more, they were happy with what they had seen no doubt, but there are other demands on people attention, and so it's best to be happy that they enjoyed themselves and you had not upset them, or cause them to patronise me.
Outside away from the music I sat down and a younger guy sat opposite me. I opened with "I don't mean to be rude but are you ever so slightly stoned". he FREAKED out. he wanted to know how I could tell. This was actually just a gut reaction, I felt pretty sure he was, and if he were not he would not take offence to the question. I then explained there were effects I can perform on him because he was now in a more receptive state thanks to his naughty behaviour. I melted the poor guys mind, he kept coming back for more though.
Over all the night went amazingly well. I had one drunk annoying guy who was easily dealt with. Everyone had told the host how fantastic me and my partner were. One shock was how rarely I used the gambling deck. Even though there was a pretend casino in place (and hence I thought a perfect opportunity to do some gambling magic) most people seemed to be more up for the mentalist style of magic. Must learn more mentalist effects. Card in hand and Here then There freaked people out just as much as more complicated effects, although The Ambitious card is the king of slight of hand showing off. So the best laid plans of magicians can go awry yes, BUT with confidence and a good few quick effects and a pliable supple mindset you can adjust to the needs of the event swiftly
Thoughts;
Wish I had more info on the couple we were dealing with. I'll have to work harder at that next time
My parter made a point when people thanked him for the magic to say "thank the host for inviting us" this helped immensely, I must do this too.
Need more shorter effects for when people are drunk and can't concentrate.
Practice is so worth it, staying well practised means less stress and worry before a gig, just enjoyment.
More proof I'm good with people in these situation. Even if I always think of myself as an unlikeable clumsy buffoon, no-one else seems to have noticed.
Learning new effects me not be vital, but it gives me more confidence and more freedom to adjust my plans on the fly.
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