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.