the insanity of rating good/notbad

Not every gig can be the best gig yet. Eventually you'll have a gig that wasn't as good as the one before. This happened tonight. It wasn't bad, in fact it was good, it just wasn't great. weirdly "not Great" sounds the same as "rubbish". IT went well, people liked the magic, there was very little trouble (the one person kicking up trouble was dealt with by Darren)
So, for me at least it was an okay gig. I have trouble talking over some entertainment, so again, more short effects,. Also I need to let go of my stacked deck for a while and return to my magical roots of free form magic, where I can sit at a table, hold court and just do effect after effect.

H on the other hand had an awesome night. We tucked him away into the prisons and sent people to him, after a Very little while people started heading there on thier own. He was like a little dark magic goblin to be discovered. He used 2 effects over and over but that's all he needed. So as well as short punchy magic maybe I need more effects like his, longer effects where the one effect is like a bot of theatre, and story telling and showmanship take over. 

Also on a personal note, no more sewing the day before a gig. The pain levels took their toll on me, sometimes the pain perks me up, keeps me alert, not tonight, it wore me down. Early night before a gig and the day before spent either reeding or rehearsing in short calm spurts.

So over all, not a bad night, and i still managed to do some very good impromptu card effects at the end of the night (just to perk myself up)| I had two guys totally puzzeld by ambitouse card. BUT  I wasn't as smooth as normall,  I think it's time I looked into repalcing the LePaus bluff pass. I also need to work on my doule lift, it's been a whilse since I sat, deck in hand and double lifted over and o ver for an hour.

So still quite positive,. I'll work on pracising my slights whilst recovering with TVtomorowe, and hit the books big  time on Tuesdasy.

A gig in two halves

Tonight Darren and I performed close up for a local charity gig. Unlike other charity gigs it was paid, yay!  It had a Tudor theme so Darren and I made our own costumes (and I think we both looked rather dashing) We were commissioned to perform close up magic, both whilst people entered and mingled and at tables.
Lets start with lessons to be learnt. As we should  up I rleiased I didn't have an oder of play. As it happened I managed to get the exact details off another act BUT  I should have had a cope written down of who was doing what when.

Then Darren and I got trapped in a lift. No one heard the alarm (apparently it had been disconnected). I releized  that even though I had my mobile on me I did not have the number of the event manager. As it happened  Darren got the first doors open and I managed to get the second set of doors opened but it made me realize how important it is for me to always have contact details with me  AT the gig.

I had a set deck like the one I used last week, a vanilla deck and "Serial Killer". I realized for the welcoming part of the night I could just use "Wee Wee Mentalist" and "4 card trick" with Darren and so left the set up decks until the second shift (we would have a 20 minute break).

The warm up worked perfectly. People loved the 4 card trick and Wee Wee, I was just moving from group to group performing the same effects, or the Professors Nightmare (with the TARDIS explanation). I performed some colour changes and elastic band magic for a chap in a wheel chair which went down very well.

Then the second part of the night. We went upstairs and unwound for a moment before setting up our decks again. I started working my deck, but realized  the tables were crowded and food was being delivered a lot. I I knew "Out Of this World" would be too long. I resorted to Twilight Angels, Direct Mind Reading, (and ONE use of an Invisible deck). I tended to finish with Ambitious card for the lads

Quite a few people asked for a business card which made me feel good. All the responses were positive, although I now think I need some more short punchy effects.

Then the third part of the 2 part gig. Diner, with the band. I had heard of Blayze, an electric String  quartet. Unfortunately I hadn't seen them, so I didn't recognise them, most embarrassing. They were polite over the dinner and we made small  talk about  gigs and snakes, then they went to watch another act. When one came in I performed a little elastic band  magic casually. IT got her hooked, then I reeled her in with Twilight Angels, Direct Mind Reading, Invisible deck. She called the rest of the band over and Darren and I wowed them. Then our friend performed some Contact juggling for them. they also asked for cards and kept saying how impressed they were. This felt good.

We decided to stay to watch them, delaying our visit to another event (we weren't booked or it as such, the hostess just likes us to be there at some point). Standing in a castle, wearing a doublet and velvet scarf, watching Tudors bathed in electric blue light whilst electric string quartet played some of my favourite music made me released, I've so made the right career choice.

What I learnt

GET, KEEP and Take with me, a complete runnign order.

Keep contact details of the event manager on me at the gig

Rehurse in any new costume, work out if I have enough pockets etc.
Double check it's easy to use the bathroom in said costume (a use of a cumaband was a bad idea)

For gigs where I'm working AROUND dinner I need some short, punch effects without too much talking.

When things  quite down my close and personal magic is VERY powerful

I can be engaging

Contact juggling is beautiful





 

A kids gig with a difference

I meet all sorts of people in Colchester. Sometimes through art events, or the day job in Fabric8, or at the random strange little things I like to go to to show support, such as a picnic in a secret part of the park.  As a result I became know to the local Home School group. Many of the kids have an interest in magic, and one of the groups leaders asked me to put on a magic show. The  idea was to show a little magic and then teach some magic. I didn't want to give away any of the deep dark secrets of the art though. I decided to split the groups into two halves. Older kids would be shown some science magic and then taut 3 card tricks you can find in ANY library. No slights, total self working tricks. The younger kids would get longer show of kids magic and then tautt my own version of the miser dream. It's based on a method on a kids TV show, so I don't think I've given anything away then. As well as teaching them the trick I turned it into a science and engineering lesson by getting them to try different methods of constructing the props.

This worked very well. I was happy with my performance  even without taking into consideration how bad my ankle is. I was not quite as slick with the props as I would have liked, but the routines worked together and made sense. With a little more practise, and some thought given to additional props I think my kids set can become something fantastic. One note, I need to have compartments in my magic box custom built for each prop, and a list of  each prop to check in and out.
I was warned about two kids who were good magicians. The parents worried they'd take over. I arranged to meet them both first and explain the code of the brother hood, explaining they needed to be patient and help me out, which they both did. One  lad was 15 and had a good grasp of magic. I'd say his abilities of actual slights was about the same as mine in fact, he just needs some encouragement and patience in the delivery of material. A 9 year old  blew me away. Typically of younger kids he had a LOT of flourishes, BUT he also had some amazing slights. This kid can do a pass! I did my Erdnase which is always well received, he then did a blink change.

Both kids liked my magic and my flourishes and sleights. Where both kids need work is actually routining the magic, the younger boy can do impressive stuff, but can't link it together, YET, he's 9! byt the time he's 11 I predict he'll be on tv. A while back I would have felt fooling demonstrating magic infront of these two. BUT I know performing is more than slights. That said, I'm going to sit down on Monday, after my next gig, and work on MORE colour changes, and maybe a pass. Slickness is impressive, BUT not essential. But as Maskyline, Devant and I all agree, "good enough isn't good enough".

I've still not heard from the Circle, I suspect I didn't get in. IT sucks but I wont give up, I just plan to hit the books even harder and to improve mightily every week now.

An incident on the bus.

This week was a sociable week, not great with a damaged ankle, but fun. On Monday and Tuesday I rested and read some of "Strong magic" by Darwin Ortiz, as recommended to me by Chris Wood. It's a captivating read with some very powerfull points, more will be written on this at a later date.

On the Wednesday I was preparing for a long day. The morning was to be taken up by a photo shoot for a gig in April. The afternoon  would be spent by watching Poi and juggling before hitting the beer festival in the castle. The photo shoot didn't happen, but Darren and I may have a possible gig at a posh restaurant where went for breakfast. 

On the bus into town for the afternoon I was working through some flourishes and slights listening to the above music. A lady came on the bus with two kids and a pram, Smartly dressed, oriental speaking Mandarin if I had to guess.  I decided to  perform some impromptu magic, to the music only I could hear. A card spring, a fan, noting the queen of hearts and spades, two one handed cuts bring both to the top, a double turn over, and Erdnase, a double turn over, the queens, moving through the deck, losing each other, finding each other, changing into each other. The kids as it turned out spoke English very well, I kept hearing "cool", "Awesome" "it's Real magic", "I've never seen a real magician". It made me realise the importance of what we do, a simple bit of fun will now stay with these girls all their lives, the day they walked onto a bus like normal and suddenly saw the impossible. It felt good. We entertain, we baffle and confuse maybe, but once in a while we enchant, and let people glimpse a world they normally can not see. And for this we can never think of our art of magic as trivial.

Gig night

Still no word on the Magic Circle. It's been 5 weeks now so we have no idea what's holding things up. In this time I've redecorated my studio and shaped it into the arcane study I've craved.  I've also come up with a new filing system for organizing magic effects. I've also been thinking more about if I fail to get into the Circle. The big danger is a feeling of uselessness. Gigging is the natural solution to this. Whilst many Magic Circle members of gone to great lengths to tell me and Darren that we deserve to be in and we're good enough, you can't beat a moment of wonder in participants eyes to make you feel like a magician.

This gig was  quite different form any other. Darren and I would be performing alongside other members of the Mid Essex Magical society. We would be assigned a table and  were told to perform for 12 minutes.  So much like the Magic Circle audition I would have to have an element of structure. Normally when I gig I feel like a mercenary of magic, I didn't have to answer to anyone or do things in a set way, I just got the job done as I saw fit. This was more like being in the army. I had to be regimented. To help with this I designed a new filing systemf or my card magic so I could see what effect followed another effect. The esult of this was a stacked deck primed for many effects

Panic! (the deck vanish)
Wee Wee Mentalist
Twilight Angels
Do as I Do
Out of the world
I was then able t go to
Dierect Mind Reading - IMPOSSIBLE or Ambitious card  or any other impromptu effect.

I also had an invisible deck on me.

I got as far as Direct Mind Reading before running out of time.
Overall every effect was received well, and whilst this isn't my preferred performance situation I'd do it again. However next week I'm back to my favourite style of magic, intimate close up :)

Magic Circle audition

Well I had my entrance exam. Did I get in? No idea. I performed all the effects well, and the effects I chose fulfilled the criteria they asked to see.  What I can be marked down for is presentation. This is where we many people lose points. My routine was based on science, talking about dimensions.  Each effect built on the last, leading to two big finishes (ambitious card and professors nightmare). I thought initially it went ok. BUT I received some negative feedback straight  away from a guy I respect. Typically of him he said it in a constructive way and offered help on fixing it. I felt like I had a knife run through my guts. For the next 2 hours I was convinced I had failed. Then in the bar I was told by many people that they liked my routine. Even one person who said he found it too science based  told  me he would have still passed me if he had examined me. So this is how I see it now. Mechanically i did fine, i fulfilled the brief of new and original presentation that was tied together. It's possible I had too many words and not enough magic however.  this shouldn't matter though. So if i get in, great if I fail then it wasn't because of lack of practise or thought or skill, just simply going down the wrong path of presentation style, a decision I made over 6 months ago.

 So the plan of action. If I get in, great. If I don't examine the feedback. The biggest danger is I will feel foolish for believing I could become a magician. This is mental. I've performed very well in a professional setting. I need to keep my confidence up, and my Love of magic. I KNOW if I fail I'll feel bad studying more magic, I also now this is insane, and must fight through it.

So now a 3 week wait, I'm now a lot more hopeful than  was last night.

Prelude to the Magic Circle.

As I type this back I've just returned from the Mid Essex Magical Society. Tonight was important to me, not because of the lecture (which was very good) but because I was due to show some material to two of the senior members. I have shown people what I planned to perform before and they would say "you'll be okay" in a very unconvincing way. They then gave me some hints on my Elmsley Count.  I was performing it too fast due to nerves, snatching at the cards. Working with Darren  we also realised that I had to change the angle of the cards. I've not done as much work as I would like, but have practised a little. My girlfriend  told me my arms were spreading to far apart as well. I demonstrated the "Four Card Trick" with my 2 dimensional routine. It was much better received this time,. both members were very positive, and agreed with my gf's observations. I then showed PANIC a new deck vanish, and "the Wee We Mentalist"  along with my Ambitious card. They were both VERY positive this time. When they left they simply said "Do that next Monday and you're in" I was also complimented on my ability to draw people in to an effect, I was even compared to a Ricky Jay by the way I could take a simple effect with simple moves and build it up and up.

So I'm feeling better about my audition, though still intend to practise for a few hours a day