A local T-shop called Tea and Sympathy converts into a nightclub once a month. I love attending these nights as they appeal to my love of surrealism and the ethereal. The very idea of a teashop/boutique suddenly becoming the venue for music and games is it's self nicely strange. However all this is amplified by the nature of the shop itself. The shop is infact two premises knocked into one, as a result it winds and weaves. Rooms lead to other rooms, spiral staircases lead to rooms with low slopping ceilings and tiny door ways you have to bend down to get through. The two ladies who run the shop are VERY creative (I first performed to mass crowds when I when they ran the children's section of Colchester Free Festival). The event they hosted this month was based on the book "The Night Circus". It's a book I've looked at before and felt a compulsion to read and so was quite glad to have an excuse to sit down and go through it. The ladies also asked if I, along with my friends, would like to perform. Magic was afoot.
The original concept was for me to perform close up magic through the night and 3 small "parlour" scale shows. The close up did not bother me, I'm very confident in my close up work, but I was a little worried about the parlour scale. I would have muddled through but as my foot is injured I decided it would be best to stick to close up alone. This was a departure from me, the first of a few that night. Normally I did what was asked of me, I didn't try to tweak the conditions too much. I then asked if I could take over a small room at the top of the building. It's the room that requires you to bend down and go through a short walk way so it had an Alice in Wonderland quality to it. In previous nights the top floor was somewhat neglected and so I was not expecting this to be a problem. The room that lead to my arcane chamber was due to have jam jars containing scents in it, a nod to a part of the book. This was another departure I was about to engage in setting a scene. I set up a laptop computer with a projector. I selected the films of Georges Méliès. To me these fitted the period and the surreal nature of the night. I suspect the seed of this idea came from reminiscing with a friend about an 18th Birthday Party I arranged nearly 20 years ago. I created a false ceiling in black about 9 foot off the floor that covered an entire sports hall. I then strung fairy lights under it to create a stary night. I thought I'd never do that now, it's impossible, but younger me felt much more was possible.
My arcane chamber was decorated with some velvet over the window, my card table, a plasma ball and stools (which I brought from home). Amongst other preparations was a separate sound track to the loop of films, the themes from Mirror Mask and Coralline (more strange circus inspiration) and a few filigree globe fairy lights.
Whether these efforts got ME in the right mood or the participants I don't know, but what followed was 4 hours of the best magic I've ever done. I didn't have to organise how things worked, small groups of people naturally came in, experienced about 10 minutes of magic and then left to be instantly replaced with more, people were queuing to see me, waiting in the room with the movies. People were every vocal about thier excitement at the magic , not just to me but to everyone in the 'night club'
I didn't have a set routine as such, but tended to perform in roughly this order.
Wee Wee mentalist.
Twilight Angels
Direct Mind reading
Invisible deck
I-M-P-O-S-S-I-B-L-E
Ambitious Card
Out Of This World.
Some people returned for a second session. Sometimes they just wanted to sit in and enjoy the same routine as before, they were looking at the faces of the newer participants just as much as they were looking at me. Other times people returned in a small group, asking for more magic. Here I used Cartomancy, or Serial Killer". Every effect was a storming success. Every effect elicited a strong reaction. There was no filler, no fodder. With the presentation style I adopted (namely my natural one) everything just work
Everyone was enchanted, me more so than anyone else.
My own excitement meant I had to balance my emotions carefully. It's like a dream where you are flying, You realise it's a dream and you don't want to wake up, so you have to measure your excitement control it. I needed the excitement and energy to perform, but had to make sure it was not overwhelming. I get the feeling people like the fact I'm enjoying myself, BUT if i displayed total disbelieve at how well things are going then I could come across as needy.
The feeling of the night was one of true enchantment and magic. A slightly other worldly quality which I always strive for was present. More than one person said they felt my room was somehow in a different realm, where the impossible ocured (made me VERY happy). The pace was friendly and at a chatty place. Whilst I showed great energy the magic itself was at a not quite sedate pace but certainly not rushed. The MAGIC was why people were there, so the MAGIC determined the pacing of the evening.
At times I felt I was doing the magic for real.
So things I've learnt:
I'm good at magic :)
My natural creativity works with my magic
Whilst I may not wish to make demands, I can certainly make suggestions about how events play out.
Magic with a theme can be fun and more powerful I should spend time constructing shows (maybe even making props and costumes) for different themes. These can then be used 'of the rack' or tweeked for a specific event. Even if I don't use these themes packages of magic they will flex my creative muscles and teach me what I can and can't do.
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