A quick post before the new years eve beer kicks in. January should be stressful. I've got a lot to prepare and very little cash. However I have TIME. In the past money has had to compensate for not spending time preparing for gigs and shows. (quickly buying an expensive new effect or buying cards I didn't need because I hadn't had time to sort through what I had). I start the year with some stunning additions to my arcane library. Books mainly on performance, but I still have a few DVD's of effects I've not fully gone through. And so despite being broke I look forward to the next year with a joyful heart. I'm still entertaining my extended family for the next few days (a shame as New Years Day has typically been very productive for me, magically speaking).
Thursday the 4th will be a day of rest,Friday the 5th is when I'll try to hit the books. As well as improving my magic I'll be doing as everyone else does and try to improve diet and exercise. I have to start seeing my health as part of my magical business. The fitter I am the better I'll perform whilst gigging.
So to sum up the year, it's been stressful but productive, the future is pretty bright. Hard work to come certainly, but hard work that I enjoy.
Happy New Year internet.
Monday, December 31, 2012
Sunday, December 30, 2012
Going back to my roots.
Well the show is over (and I'm still having people come up to me in the street raving about how good it was). My latest final weding dress is finished (i can quite making wedding dresses any time I want, honest, I'm not addicted or anything). Now I can concentrate on close up magic. I only have one gig booked so far for this year, but have a few leads and so am not too worried. In the coming months my only concerns are a wedding fare where myself, Darren and H will pimp ourselves as magicians for hire, and the Magic Circle audition. Whilst I loved doing the show I know that close up magic is where I'll be making the bulk of my living from. Preparing for the show helped my over all magical development and will certainly make me a better magician, but now I can focus on the magic that will become my livelihood.
In the last month I've had a few opportunity to try out my repertoire. A bar in a far off town whilst waiting for Inge and at our local goth night. At the strange bar I was just organizing my magic case when the barmaid asked to see some tricks. A quick ambitouse card and wee wee mentalist later and she wanted a business card for her boss and 3 guys by the bar wanted cards for wedding etc. I don't know if these leads will go anywhere but it was nice to wow people and a good confidence booster.
At Electr[o]crasy I ended up returning to my magical roots, I initially by chance but then by design. I went loaded with "Twilight Angels", "Wee Wee mentalist" and a deck prepped for gambling tricks. Now when people asked how I got into magic the answer s a little muddled. Why is simpler. The how, well I started with a Svengali deck and a deck with a picture back so I could perform simple mentalism. I then read "Absolute Magic" by Derren Brown. I was about 8 years away from a double lift but I learnt to use the tools I had and invoke genuine wonder using the philosophy in "Absolute Magic". I guess I've been concerned with the "how" of an effect latly instead of working on my presentation. I put Wee Wee away and just used Twilight Angels to begin with. Then the bar maid wanted to see some magic and even learn some. I was going to teach her a very simple key card effect. I held her hand and run it over a spread out face up deck, pretending to divine her card by reading her muscle movements. She freaked out! this was too powerfull to give away.
So my plan is this. Rest at the end of the week, re-read absolute magic and look at the effects I know. Then work on what I THINK makes a magician a magician the week after.
Basic vanishing abilities (look at my impromptu magic DVDs)
Presentation abilities (The Show Doctor, Absolute magic, Scripiting magic)
Impromptu card magic (Impromptu Card magic DVD)
Non card magic (sponge ball, cup and ball, rope).
After this time I hope to start forming a plan for my magic circle audition.
watch this space :)
In the last month I've had a few opportunity to try out my repertoire. A bar in a far off town whilst waiting for Inge and at our local goth night. At the strange bar I was just organizing my magic case when the barmaid asked to see some tricks. A quick ambitouse card and wee wee mentalist later and she wanted a business card for her boss and 3 guys by the bar wanted cards for wedding etc. I don't know if these leads will go anywhere but it was nice to wow people and a good confidence booster.
At Electr[o]crasy I ended up returning to my magical roots, I initially by chance but then by design. I went loaded with "Twilight Angels", "Wee Wee mentalist" and a deck prepped for gambling tricks. Now when people asked how I got into magic the answer s a little muddled. Why is simpler. The how, well I started with a Svengali deck and a deck with a picture back so I could perform simple mentalism. I then read "Absolute Magic" by Derren Brown. I was about 8 years away from a double lift but I learnt to use the tools I had and invoke genuine wonder using the philosophy in "Absolute Magic". I guess I've been concerned with the "how" of an effect latly instead of working on my presentation. I put Wee Wee away and just used Twilight Angels to begin with. Then the bar maid wanted to see some magic and even learn some. I was going to teach her a very simple key card effect. I held her hand and run it over a spread out face up deck, pretending to divine her card by reading her muscle movements. She freaked out! this was too powerfull to give away.
So my plan is this. Rest at the end of the week, re-read absolute magic and look at the effects I know. Then work on what I THINK makes a magician a magician the week after.
Basic vanishing abilities (look at my impromptu magic DVDs)
Presentation abilities (The Show Doctor, Absolute magic, Scripiting magic)
Impromptu card magic (Impromptu Card magic DVD)
Non card magic (sponge ball, cup and ball, rope).
After this time I hope to start forming a plan for my magic circle audition.
watch this space :)
Wednesday, December 5, 2012
The Show!
Hard to imagine that I started this blog being able to JUST do a double lift, and now I'm preparing for the Magic Circle and have completed a stage show. However I was more of a co-pilot in the stage show. Darren was the main drive behind it (I write this for my own records and not just because Darren reads this). As I blogged earlier in the year Darren suggested we do a stage show and I went along for the ride. We had 6 months. Now if we worked as hard in the 6 months as we did n the last two weeks we could have sold out Vegas. We'd also bee dead from exhaustion two weeks and one day in.
The initial idea of the show was a steam punk re imagining of the Golden Age of Victorian Stage Illusion . Darren came up with the title of "Inventions of the Impossible". I think this title really did get across what we were aiming for. We started collecting ideas and even props, a zig zag cabinet was designed (by Darren), a levitation kit was purchased (mainly by Darren, a little from me) and we sat down to look at some ideas for scenes. We naturally formed two pairs of magicians, Darren and me, and S and H. Darren and I already had a good working stage effect with the laser pen reveal (something I'm very proud of). Darren used his script writing prowess and came up with scripts for the zig zag and the levitation. He discounted the levitation as it would be too long. During the 6 months we didn't manage to meet up with H and S much and so Darren and I were focusing on our own bits, but hit on the idea of making a Sphinx Cabinet illusion for H. (this is where a table has a disembodied head on it, but you can see through the table legs). As time marched on we were looking for illusions we could build that were quick, cheap but effective. Darren had the idea of "the Witches Broom" rope escape. I hit on the idea of using a hat stand for the illusion.
We started losing time fast. The zig zag was left in order for the Sphinx to be finished. I helped where I could, driving around and generally holding bits of wood, but Darren was left doing most of the actual work. All this time We were working on ideas for the scripting of our bits. I'd spit ball ideas out with Darren, both feeding off each other's energy, then Darren would go away and turn the babel into a script. I REALLY need to learn more about scripting. I think I'll be settling down with "Scripting Magic" by Pete McCabe this month.
S and H had a script but had no way to perform the illusion they wanted to do. We found this out with a few days before the show. Luckily we managed to work out the mechanics of it in a few minutes. With all this going on we barely got a few posters out, we had to rely on word of mouth and the internet to get the word out. I explained on-line that the show was a homage to the Victorian Illusions where each routine consisted of a few minutes of comedy or dram and ended in a magical effect.
Darren also produced a short film to be shown before act one and at the end of act one. This meant we had a LOT of time filled, over two and a half hours of material it seemed.Show day came and we were making final adjustments to some of the illusions (it was the first time they'd been moved so we were expecting a little tightening and loosening to be required). Right before the show we found it was a sell out! We headed into the audience to do some close up, I found out that many people were expecting a modern magic show with trick after trick! I hoped we could sway them over.
The first half of the film got many many laughs and seem to get everyone into the mood. Then our introduction, a 5 minute comedy routine. Again the comedy was going down very well. Then it was my solo act, a simple speech about why I got into magic followed by a routine of my children's magic retold for grown ups. I noticed sometimes that what makes me want to buy a magic effect is the feeling of enchantment the promotional video gave. This had as much to do with the backing music as the effect itself. So I got H to sort me out with some Harp Music. I stuck to the script for my magical journey at the beginning, but went off piste. Some people seemed to well with emotion, so I think I got the tonne right. I broke into my comedy children's magic, which again spell bound a lot of people. I did add two effects at the last second (I literally found them in my pocket) I shouldn't have added them without telling Darren as I over ran, badly. He forgave me but he did warn me another director who didn't know me would be VERY put out. I just wanted to add a few extra quick effects in for the people who came to us expecting lots more effects.
They were all received very well which shocked me. The "milk Auto go" isn't a bad effect but I felt it lacked something, but it got a massive reaction.
The Silk Tube also was revived very well and the Vanishing Coke bottle got a very strong reaction.
I finished on "Diminishing Milk". which seemed a natural way to finish a routine all about three magical fluids (hard work, concentration and imagination)
The rest of the night was hectic but flowed well. The laser reveal had it's best reaction EVER. Darren's speech as did H's had the audience hanging onto their every word (Darren's even got quoted on twitter). We didn't have time to block and go through the big finish, which was only the second time all four of us were on stage. The illusion worked, and it worked very well, and all the lines went well, it was more moving the props, but we covered it with comedy so well that many people thought it was all planned.
The only criticisms really were to do with projection. Darren was fine, some people struggled to hear me at times at the back, and S and H suffered from the same problem. I think it's time to look at radio mikes. A week before the show if you asked me if I'd do it again I'd had said no chance, but seeing how well it worked together on the night has made me realize the pain was worth it.
The initial idea of the show was a steam punk re imagining of the Golden Age of Victorian Stage Illusion . Darren came up with the title of "Inventions of the Impossible". I think this title really did get across what we were aiming for. We started collecting ideas and even props, a zig zag cabinet was designed (by Darren), a levitation kit was purchased (mainly by Darren, a little from me) and we sat down to look at some ideas for scenes. We naturally formed two pairs of magicians, Darren and me, and S and H. Darren and I already had a good working stage effect with the laser pen reveal (something I'm very proud of). Darren used his script writing prowess and came up with scripts for the zig zag and the levitation. He discounted the levitation as it would be too long. During the 6 months we didn't manage to meet up with H and S much and so Darren and I were focusing on our own bits, but hit on the idea of making a Sphinx Cabinet illusion for H. (this is where a table has a disembodied head on it, but you can see through the table legs). As time marched on we were looking for illusions we could build that were quick, cheap but effective. Darren had the idea of "the Witches Broom" rope escape. I hit on the idea of using a hat stand for the illusion.
We started losing time fast. The zig zag was left in order for the Sphinx to be finished. I helped where I could, driving around and generally holding bits of wood, but Darren was left doing most of the actual work. All this time We were working on ideas for the scripting of our bits. I'd spit ball ideas out with Darren, both feeding off each other's energy, then Darren would go away and turn the babel into a script. I REALLY need to learn more about scripting. I think I'll be settling down with "Scripting Magic" by Pete McCabe this month.
S and H had a script but had no way to perform the illusion they wanted to do. We found this out with a few days before the show. Luckily we managed to work out the mechanics of it in a few minutes. With all this going on we barely got a few posters out, we had to rely on word of mouth and the internet to get the word out. I explained on-line that the show was a homage to the Victorian Illusions where each routine consisted of a few minutes of comedy or dram and ended in a magical effect.
Darren also produced a short film to be shown before act one and at the end of act one. This meant we had a LOT of time filled, over two and a half hours of material it seemed.Show day came and we were making final adjustments to some of the illusions (it was the first time they'd been moved so we were expecting a little tightening and loosening to be required). Right before the show we found it was a sell out! We headed into the audience to do some close up, I found out that many people were expecting a modern magic show with trick after trick! I hoped we could sway them over.
The first half of the film got many many laughs and seem to get everyone into the mood. Then our introduction, a 5 minute comedy routine. Again the comedy was going down very well. Then it was my solo act, a simple speech about why I got into magic followed by a routine of my children's magic retold for grown ups. I noticed sometimes that what makes me want to buy a magic effect is the feeling of enchantment the promotional video gave. This had as much to do with the backing music as the effect itself. So I got H to sort me out with some Harp Music. I stuck to the script for my magical journey at the beginning, but went off piste. Some people seemed to well with emotion, so I think I got the tonne right. I broke into my comedy children's magic, which again spell bound a lot of people. I did add two effects at the last second (I literally found them in my pocket) I shouldn't have added them without telling Darren as I over ran, badly. He forgave me but he did warn me another director who didn't know me would be VERY put out. I just wanted to add a few extra quick effects in for the people who came to us expecting lots more effects.
They were all received very well which shocked me. The "milk Auto go" isn't a bad effect but I felt it lacked something, but it got a massive reaction.
The Silk Tube also was revived very well and the Vanishing Coke bottle got a very strong reaction.
I finished on "Diminishing Milk". which seemed a natural way to finish a routine all about three magical fluids (hard work, concentration and imagination)
The rest of the night was hectic but flowed well. The laser reveal had it's best reaction EVER. Darren's speech as did H's had the audience hanging onto their every word (Darren's even got quoted on twitter). We didn't have time to block and go through the big finish, which was only the second time all four of us were on stage. The illusion worked, and it worked very well, and all the lines went well, it was more moving the props, but we covered it with comedy so well that many people thought it was all planned.
The only criticisms really were to do with projection. Darren was fine, some people struggled to hear me at times at the back, and S and H suffered from the same problem. I think it's time to look at radio mikes. A week before the show if you asked me if I'd do it again I'd had said no chance, but seeing how well it worked together on the night has made me realize the pain was worth it.
Monday, December 3, 2012
Magic Circle Interview
Last Monday I took a day off from getting ready for the show and headed into London. IT was time for my interview to join The Magic Circle. Having the show to worry about meant I was pretty calm about the interview (I had bigger concerns in my head) but I was still determined to do a good job. Normally when I take a trip to London I spend all day wondering Camden or the museums. However I didn't want to risk thrashing my body so close to show day soi I opted to just head straight to The Circle. I arrived 2 hours early and settled in to a pub around the corner. I spent some of the time going over lines for the show and some of the time running through the tricks I would show at my interview.
I popped along to MCHQ (magic Circle Head Quarters) a little early and was surprised to find the door open. I assumed that because the public events started at 7.30 that the club nights also started at 7.30. But no, it's open from before five with free tea and coffee until 5.30. Just as I got myself a cup of tea and started to gather my thought Chris Woods came in. Chris has been at the Circle every time we've been to a show. He's always friendly and always helpful. He sat down and just said "well young man, lets session". I find it hard to explain the feelings I had of being so readily accepted . I sat down and showed him "Wee Wee Mentalist". Now I'm rather proud of my take on this effect and was surprised that Michael Vincent thought it was merely "good" when he saw it. Chris seamed to have the same verdict. I followed up with "twilight Angels" and this is where I was surprised. He seemed blown away by it!. I like Twilight Angels but didn't think it was THAT powerful, at least when I did it. however Chris seamed to think quite the reverse, he saw the effect on you tube and didn't think much of it, but found it very powerful in my hands. Which I suppose just goes to show we don't know our own strengths and weaknesses.
My interview was more of a questionnaire than an interview. Interesting questions included who my idols were, why I wanted to join the magic circle and where do I see myself in magic in a few years time. A little disappointed that I was asked HOW i got into magic and not WHY (I did ask for clarification saying the WHY was better-I did have a little speech on that subject for the show-)
I was deemed "Competent" and given a date for my exam/audition. Now the work begins. I need magic that will impress magicians. My original idea of using the stick man motive was given a warm reception, but the idea of a card trick being a 2 dimensional cabinet illusion was a little too complicated for the magicians I spoke to. The evening was rounded off with a lecture by David Roth, a master coin Magician. Decided his work is worth exploring as he has some very good non gaff methods (gaff coins being expensive and hard to find in UK denominations) or and cake from Fae Presto!
I popped along to MCHQ (magic Circle Head Quarters) a little early and was surprised to find the door open. I assumed that because the public events started at 7.30 that the club nights also started at 7.30. But no, it's open from before five with free tea and coffee until 5.30. Just as I got myself a cup of tea and started to gather my thought Chris Woods came in. Chris has been at the Circle every time we've been to a show. He's always friendly and always helpful. He sat down and just said "well young man, lets session". I find it hard to explain the feelings I had of being so readily accepted . I sat down and showed him "Wee Wee Mentalist". Now I'm rather proud of my take on this effect and was surprised that Michael Vincent thought it was merely "good" when he saw it. Chris seamed to have the same verdict. I followed up with "twilight Angels" and this is where I was surprised. He seemed blown away by it!. I like Twilight Angels but didn't think it was THAT powerful, at least when I did it. however Chris seamed to think quite the reverse, he saw the effect on you tube and didn't think much of it, but found it very powerful in my hands. Which I suppose just goes to show we don't know our own strengths and weaknesses.
My interview was more of a questionnaire than an interview. Interesting questions included who my idols were, why I wanted to join the magic circle and where do I see myself in magic in a few years time. A little disappointed that I was asked HOW i got into magic and not WHY (I did ask for clarification saying the WHY was better-I did have a little speech on that subject for the show-)
I was deemed "Competent" and given a date for my exam/audition. Now the work begins. I need magic that will impress magicians. My original idea of using the stick man motive was given a warm reception, but the idea of a card trick being a 2 dimensional cabinet illusion was a little too complicated for the magicians I spoke to. The evening was rounded off with a lecture by David Roth, a master coin Magician. Decided his work is worth exploring as he has some very good non gaff methods (gaff coins being expensive and hard to find in UK denominations) or and cake from Fae Presto!
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