Another delay in blogging but I'm glad to report much magic has occurred. Darren and I visited the Magic Circle and were pleasantly supirsed by the warm welcome we received. The acts we saw were 4 close up performs, all MUCH better than me, but the level of skill is attainable I believe. I shall blog about this later.
The Project Elmsley DVD has proven it's worth. I can now perform the 4 Card trick and Dai Vernon's Twisting the Aces quite well. Wednesday evening was spent in the company of Darren and the other two members of our Sleight Club and I ran through the Elsmley count with them all. We all seem to be getting a handle on it now. Working with a small group of friends is certainly a rewarding way of studying magic. Darren wowed everyone with his rather nifty "Waiving the Aces" as well. between us all I think we're progressing quite nicely. Darren has been a driving force in the other area of magic. As well as learning new material we need to get more gigs and here Darren has been most helpful. Thanks to his effort we have secured a domain name and are in the process of designing the site. This whole magician for hire thing is starting to feel very real.
Darren has also managed to get a spot on the stage and has invited me up there with him. this again is a lovely piece of team work. Darren was the first of us to have the concept of a laser reveal. We developed the idea between us, working out elements of humour as well as the mechanics of the effect. (the basic effect is a chosen card is lost in he deck, placed in a pack of cards and held in the spectator's hand. A laser is then shone on the pack and the pack is then opened and spread out to reveal the chosen card now has a hold burned through it. ) We have decided that this effect will form the finalle of our set. TO stir some creativity I sugested it would be nice i f the card could be signed. Darren and I both came up with methds and between us we've ade one work very well. SO there we have it, team work it helps with the following:
Motivation
learning
double checking how good you are performing
Creativity
sharing opportunities to pimp yourself.
support
Friday, February 24, 2012
Wednesday, February 1, 2012
Rough Month.
Can't believe I didn't manage to post once in January! I managed to damage my spine in a major way over Christmas. This meant I could only sit at a computer for a certain amount of time and I felt I really should spend that time doing data entry for my day job.MY Boss is a really understanding guy (and my manager is also really understanding) so I felt I should use my computer time helping them out instead of blogging. HOWEVER unlike other times when I was injured this time I managed to get a LOT of magic done.
To begin with Magic reading. Magic in Theory by Paul Lamont and Richard Wiseman was a fascinating read dealing mainly with the use of misdirection. Hiding the Elephant also kept me occupied. Whilst not strictly speaking a magic book and more of a magical history book I believe the modern performing can still learn from it. The book charts the history of stage magic in the Victorian era and the development of certain techniques and the changes in the public's tastes. It certianly made for some relaxed reading.
Brushing up on performance techniques is always good but it helps to have something to perform. I dearly want to join the Magic Circle in the near future so decided to work on a few gaps in my knowledge. My mate Nick tried teaching me the Elmsley count but unfortunately I just couldn't make it look neat and clean. therefore I treated myself to the "Elmsley Count Project with Lian Montier" this was worth every penny. So today I'll be sitting down for a few hours to learn an effect using the move (well to BEGIN learning the effect).
Many more things are afoot in my world of magic, a trip to London, a new club and a fantastic new Podcast. However these can wait until tomorrow.
To begin with Magic reading. Magic in Theory by Paul Lamont and Richard Wiseman was a fascinating read dealing mainly with the use of misdirection. Hiding the Elephant also kept me occupied. Whilst not strictly speaking a magic book and more of a magical history book I believe the modern performing can still learn from it. The book charts the history of stage magic in the Victorian era and the development of certain techniques and the changes in the public's tastes. It certianly made for some relaxed reading.
Brushing up on performance techniques is always good but it helps to have something to perform. I dearly want to join the Magic Circle in the near future so decided to work on a few gaps in my knowledge. My mate Nick tried teaching me the Elmsley count but unfortunately I just couldn't make it look neat and clean. therefore I treated myself to the "Elmsley Count Project with Lian Montier" this was worth every penny. So today I'll be sitting down for a few hours to learn an effect using the move (well to BEGIN learning the effect).
Many more things are afoot in my world of magic, a trip to London, a new club and a fantastic new Podcast. However these can wait until tomorrow.
Thursday, December 15, 2011
Christmas round up, thoughts on magical capatilism and the meaning of names
It's been a month since my last gig. The intention was to spend this time learning new material, honing what I have and separating the wheat from the chaff (or at least working out what effect works best where). We all know where good intentions lead.
I've not been idle, but I haven't worked as much as I should have. I've reread "Seriously Silly" and taken some notes on where to improve my kids act. I really think I can put together an amazing 50 minutes show. I told my friends about the educational aspect of the show and the way I wanted to encourage a love of learning and they were impressed. The kids loved trying on my hat and steam punk goggles so I think a mad steam-punk inventor will be a good character. I just need a name, someone suggested "Doctor Dean Q.ED". This isn't bad but I thought maybe of resurrecting the title of "Professor" as used by so many real and fictional magicians in the past. Costuming this will be interesting. I think I'll be using my tailoring skills a lot for it. I've always wanted to make a Steam Punk outfit but the expense put me off, but now it's an investment:) There are some books I may grab in the new year to this end. A friend of a friend has written he definitive steam punk costuming guide with a lot of projects in it. Also there's apparently a book out there on making steam punk soft toys which could b handy for making a little 'side kick' to use in appearing and disappearing acts.
Now here I've touched on two things which I need to think about my full act. One buying stuff. I have a fear reaction at times which I try to sure with cash. Even though I have many wonderful books into which I've only delved a little I will panic and buy more effects and books at times. Now some things I simply had to buy, such as new cards and some props for kids magic. A selection of gaffed cards is always handy to have about in-case I see a cool effect in a book that requires one and I want to try it out straight away. So with the Christmas gifting season upon us I had to think long and hard about what to put on my wish list for my family. I am lucky in that my family are very generous and so are many of my friends. My oldest friends chipped in for buying 'The Berglas Effect" as an early Christmas present for example. However my wish list is more as an aide to me than it is to others. I decided not to get any more card magic stuff.I simply have too much here which I've not read yet, or fully worked on. I craved "drawing room deceptions" but have yet to try the harder slights. I lusted after the "the berglas effects" but am only now finding the time to go through it. So this part of my blog is aimed at any relative newcomer to our wonderful craft. |Don't feel like you must have ALL books and DVDs in magic, there's too many. Before going out hunting for new material please do have a good long look at hat you already have, you may be very surprised. So I popped a fun book about magic anecdotes and thoughts and some thread and balloon stuff on there. I'm not expecting any of it at all (everyone has already been far too generous ) they're simply there to remind me that after thinking long and hard these are what I need next, and not some flashy new card effect.
HEAR THAT any of my friends who found this blog? you've all been far too wonderful already, NO presses this year, you've given me enough :) The wish list is just an aide to myself on what to get next AND mentioning it here is for other new comers to have a think about. Are we tempted to try and BUY wonder and astonishment instead of creating it?
The second thing I hit upon in the kids section of this long post (note to self, stop blogging whilst medicated!) was that of name. Now with my good friend Harvey I perform as "Cane but Able". IF I am to go full time I may need a performing title to go solo. Many years ago I came up with "The Masterless Magician". I was happy with this, it implied a magician who has no master, or so I thought. Any of my friends with a background in martial arts (or watching Jackie Chan films) understood the name. However others thought it implied I was not masterful, that I was a bad magician. Now it makes no difference ether logically my interpretation of the name makes sense over theirs. The fact that the public can mis-understand this name means it's a bad one. So now I need a new name for grown up magic as well, unless I use 'Cane but Able' as a solo performer too. any ideas?
So yes if you have any input on these ideas feel free to comment. For my part I'll be taking a book home to Wales do study during the few peaceful moments there and plan to thrash some magic out next week and in between Christmas and New Year
I've not been idle, but I haven't worked as much as I should have. I've reread "Seriously Silly" and taken some notes on where to improve my kids act. I really think I can put together an amazing 50 minutes show. I told my friends about the educational aspect of the show and the way I wanted to encourage a love of learning and they were impressed. The kids loved trying on my hat and steam punk goggles so I think a mad steam-punk inventor will be a good character. I just need a name, someone suggested "Doctor Dean Q.ED". This isn't bad but I thought maybe of resurrecting the title of "Professor" as used by so many real and fictional magicians in the past. Costuming this will be interesting. I think I'll be using my tailoring skills a lot for it. I've always wanted to make a Steam Punk outfit but the expense put me off, but now it's an investment:) There are some books I may grab in the new year to this end. A friend of a friend has written he definitive steam punk costuming guide with a lot of projects in it. Also there's apparently a book out there on making steam punk soft toys which could b handy for making a little 'side kick' to use in appearing and disappearing acts.
Now here I've touched on two things which I need to think about my full act. One buying stuff. I have a fear reaction at times which I try to sure with cash. Even though I have many wonderful books into which I've only delved a little I will panic and buy more effects and books at times. Now some things I simply had to buy, such as new cards and some props for kids magic. A selection of gaffed cards is always handy to have about in-case I see a cool effect in a book that requires one and I want to try it out straight away. So with the Christmas gifting season upon us I had to think long and hard about what to put on my wish list for my family. I am lucky in that my family are very generous and so are many of my friends. My oldest friends chipped in for buying 'The Berglas Effect" as an early Christmas present for example. However my wish list is more as an aide to me than it is to others. I decided not to get any more card magic stuff.I simply have too much here which I've not read yet, or fully worked on. I craved "drawing room deceptions" but have yet to try the harder slights. I lusted after the "the berglas effects" but am only now finding the time to go through it. So this part of my blog is aimed at any relative newcomer to our wonderful craft. |Don't feel like you must have ALL books and DVDs in magic, there's too many. Before going out hunting for new material please do have a good long look at hat you already have, you may be very surprised. So I popped a fun book about magic anecdotes and thoughts and some thread and balloon stuff on there. I'm not expecting any of it at all (everyone has already been far too generous ) they're simply there to remind me that after thinking long and hard these are what I need next, and not some flashy new card effect.
HEAR THAT any of my friends who found this blog? you've all been far too wonderful already, NO presses this year, you've given me enough :) The wish list is just an aide to myself on what to get next AND mentioning it here is for other new comers to have a think about. Are we tempted to try and BUY wonder and astonishment instead of creating it?
The second thing I hit upon in the kids section of this long post (note to self, stop blogging whilst medicated!) was that of name. Now with my good friend Harvey I perform as "Cane but Able". IF I am to go full time I may need a performing title to go solo. Many years ago I came up with "The Masterless Magician". I was happy with this, it implied a magician who has no master, or so I thought. Any of my friends with a background in martial arts (or watching Jackie Chan films) understood the name. However others thought it implied I was not masterful, that I was a bad magician. Now it makes no difference ether logically my interpretation of the name makes sense over theirs. The fact that the public can mis-understand this name means it's a bad one. So now I need a new name for grown up magic as well, unless I use 'Cane but Able' as a solo performer too. any ideas?
So yes if you have any input on these ideas feel free to comment. For my part I'll be taking a book home to Wales do study during the few peaceful moments there and plan to thrash some magic out next week and in between Christmas and New Year
Saturday, November 19, 2011
First Restaurant Gig
Just got back home after my first restaurant gig. Again I had stressed about not having enough effects and found myself 'over stocked'. So how was it? I'm still trying to decide. The first table responded very well (despite a warning from the manager that they they tend to find something to complain about every time they went to the restaurant) I decided all tables would start with Wee Wee Mentalist as this would let me gauge the sort of people they were. The effect was incredibly well received. as was the follow up "Do as I Do" . I moved onto some mind reading before closing with Serial Killer. I used this as a special trick for one person who did not like magic as it has a comedy element of the magician being upset and crazy. Over all I had strong ractions and was well recived indeed.
The next table was interesting. 2 older couples. One man and both ladies responded very well to the Mentalist and some mind reading/invisible deck work. cartomancy was well received as well however one member of the party was constantly looking a little stand offish, he didn't like being fooled. So I switches to some basic slight work as I figured he's appreciate sheer skill over story telling and emotional effects.
A table of three ladies provided much fun for me. I worked the emotional angle building rapport and then talking about gestalt mind sets. When I performed the invisible deck one of the ladies was connived is had influence the other with body language ad claimed to have spotted little signals that she should pick the 2 of hearts. This worked well as she was happy with herself and convinced I really did manipulate her friends subconscious mind. We returned later and performed Cartomancy. They were impressed but the same lady again wanted to see me perform cartomancy on myself. She shuffled the cards but I still managed to pull the appropriate card out in time :) Now this table got interesting. I felt like all three enjoyed themselves, they did seem to genuinely connect with me. The manager insisted they did not like me however. All my tips were going in a bucket fro Children in need (As well as the staffs). They made a point of leaving a large tip for the waiter and putting only a few coins in the bucket. the barman insisted that they then came back and put more in however and friends of the manager sitting on the next table insisted that they spoke highly favourable of me. However the damage has ben done. the manager felt that the table did not like me,. I have to keep reminding myself that they did and all evidence points to it. HOWEVER when I first thought they didn't I was happy ith my reaction. I didn't think "I'm crap at magic I quite" I thought " rght time to hit the books, I';vie done a party a festival and 2 kids parties as well as this gig to try ALL sorts of close up magic. Now I know I need to work on the restaurant side and if it is my personalty then I need to work on that, but not too much as I've always been VERY well recivend in the past". I thought about taking the next month to relearn some effects and study presentation better. Now I know that they DID like me I still intend to work on these things but trust my own presentation a bit more :)
Other tables went well but I learnt the following...
Restraunt magic can be V slow at times.
I have plenty of effects, so I can now start to trim the fat
whgen you get a bad reaction 2nd hand it might have been VERY distorted..
SOme people truly aprciate sheer skill, I need more effects like the ambitouse card
THe practise is worth it :) my Erdinas is V good now
and now an exhausted dean craves sleep. night night internet
The next table was interesting. 2 older couples. One man and both ladies responded very well to the Mentalist and some mind reading/invisible deck work. cartomancy was well received as well however one member of the party was constantly looking a little stand offish, he didn't like being fooled. So I switches to some basic slight work as I figured he's appreciate sheer skill over story telling and emotional effects.
A table of three ladies provided much fun for me. I worked the emotional angle building rapport and then talking about gestalt mind sets. When I performed the invisible deck one of the ladies was connived is had influence the other with body language ad claimed to have spotted little signals that she should pick the 2 of hearts. This worked well as she was happy with herself and convinced I really did manipulate her friends subconscious mind. We returned later and performed Cartomancy. They were impressed but the same lady again wanted to see me perform cartomancy on myself. She shuffled the cards but I still managed to pull the appropriate card out in time :) Now this table got interesting. I felt like all three enjoyed themselves, they did seem to genuinely connect with me. The manager insisted they did not like me however. All my tips were going in a bucket fro Children in need (As well as the staffs). They made a point of leaving a large tip for the waiter and putting only a few coins in the bucket. the barman insisted that they then came back and put more in however and friends of the manager sitting on the next table insisted that they spoke highly favourable of me. However the damage has ben done. the manager felt that the table did not like me,. I have to keep reminding myself that they did and all evidence points to it. HOWEVER when I first thought they didn't I was happy ith my reaction. I didn't think "I'm crap at magic I quite" I thought " rght time to hit the books, I';vie done a party a festival and 2 kids parties as well as this gig to try ALL sorts of close up magic. Now I know I need to work on the restaurant side and if it is my personalty then I need to work on that, but not too much as I've always been VERY well recivend in the past". I thought about taking the next month to relearn some effects and study presentation better. Now I know that they DID like me I still intend to work on these things but trust my own presentation a bit more :)
Other tables went well but I learnt the following...
Restraunt magic can be V slow at times.
I have plenty of effects, so I can now start to trim the fat
whgen you get a bad reaction 2nd hand it might have been VERY distorted..
SOme people truly aprciate sheer skill, I need more effects like the ambitouse card
THe practise is worth it :) my Erdinas is V good now
and now an exhausted dean craves sleep. night night internet
Wednesday, November 9, 2011
First large party of smaller kids...
I've just gotten back from performing what I could say was my first real kids party. My first kids party was more like an initiation for 4 young men to more adult close up magic which they loved very much. This was more of a classic kids party, 11 girls aged 9 and one little brother. As ever I stressed like mad before the gig mainly worrying about not having enough effects. With adults in smaller groups I can just use a regular Vanilla pack of cards for many different effects and keep them entertained for ages. Also when doing close up I only need a small selection of effects before moving on to another group. This time I was working to a larger group all seated in front of me. Not quite stage magic, more street magic or platform magic. Therefore this time I would not be able to use lots of cleaver card effects, the plot had to be easily followed by all the kids and the magic had to be seen with care taken to avoid participants blocking the view.
I kicked off with letting the kids play with the Magic Flying Wand. I knew from my time at the kids festival that the birthday girl loved this gadget. She even asked before I finished unpacking if I had brought it with me so I knew I was onto a winner. When the kids had calmed down and got them selves comfortable I turned on a Plasma Ball. I asked if they understood about electro statics and induction and some actually knew what I meant. I placed a low energy light bulb onto the plasma ball and it lit up this got a nice audible gasp from the crowd. I explained that the plasma ball and he wand used electro static science and that magic was knowing things that others did not. There fore when they learn new things at school they're learning - and here I paused and let them finish with the word "MAGIC" being shouted out. Wary that they may try to open a low energy bulb I went on to talk about mercury explaining that it's in thermometers and bulbs and if one breaks they needed to (and here I paused again and let them yell out "call a grown up!"). See magic, educational and fun and hopefully made the kids even more keen on learning.
My science and public health talk over I launched into some silk work. I started with a colour changing pair of silks again and two kids back to back. One seeing a red and blue hanky the other seeing a green and yellow. I changed the colours with my back turned to the audience and they assumed I just had two sets of hankies. I then changed it in front of them resulting in a gasp ad applause. IT felt great realising they were on board with the show.
Next came the Crystal tube. I wish I could just use Silly Billy's script word for word as it has great results but that would be cheating AND one part of it doesn't translate over the Atlantic . Luckily in his wonderful book "Seriously Silly" he adopts a "teaching you to fish " Strategy.We both use a red, yellow and green hankies and relate them to traffic lights, Green is go, an red is stop, so when the kids yell stop I just freeze for a few moments whilst they get a laugh. Yellow is tricky, in the states they say it means SLOW DOWN and Silly Billy starts going into slow motion, wonderful stuff. BUT here in the UK it means "GET READY" So I mime getting my props in order, it gets a laugh but being able to go slow motion would have been more fun. As silly Billy suggests I failed on the first attempt due to a lack of magic words. The kids starts yelling out all sorts of magic words, I said we couldn't use "Abra Cadabra" as the magic circle had a copyright on it (An the same went for any Harry Potter words). Instead I said we needed to yell "Wibbly Wobbly Deans got a big Belly!" THEY LOVED IT. With the new magic words the silks tied themselves into a knot and again I Got spontaneous applause. This is a great example where a book that teaches you how to think and plan and present your own effects wins over a set script. Even though I knew the original script would not work the book gave me the tools to work out my own routine.
The final silk trick again used ideas from Silly Billy. I already have a fun silk vanish which I augmented with his ideas. MY normal vanish begins by placing a very large white hanky into a change bag, saying some magic words and revealing the hanky has now shrunk! I then vanish the hanky. However NOW When I vanished the hanky I mime it flying towards a party popper (streamer) I then shoot this at a girl with shoes and socks on. I tell them the streamer has shot the silk to them and get them to take their shoe off. Then I get them to take their sock off and place a peg over my nose before revealing the silk in their sock. Vanishes always make me worried because to me they look pretty obvious, but then I was totally fooled before I knew how they were done so I guess everyone is. It boils down to confidence and I've vanished silks to some pretty tough audiences who couldn't work it out.
I moved onto some giant card work performing DO as I Do before everyone took it in turns to predict if a card was black or red for Out of this World . I then performed an effect I developed for the party. I took Darren Godding's superb Lazar Card discovery and tweaked it for the audience. Instead of a selected card being revealed by a laser burning a hole through it whilst in the pack I used more party poppers. I explained it was safe whilst donning my steam punk goggles and hat. The birthday girl did not look convinced so I dressed her up in the goggles and hat (again thanks to David Kaye's Seriously Silly ) and shot the popper at the pack she held aloft. She had selected the ace of diamonds and when she opened the pack all the cards were BLANK apart from the ace of diamonds which had holes punched through it and a little burning caused by the party popper. AND THE CROWD GOES WILD!
To wined down the show I gave one of the girls a balloon 'Mouse' .This is a model where a mouses head is made and the rest of the balloon left untwisted.I then reached into a bag and got one for each child. Getting them to pinch the ends of the balloons I snipped the ends off and got them all to sing happy birthday before giving the birthday girl a '21 mouse salute' . All the girls let the balloons go and the mice flew everywhere to much laughter. My final trick was something I was pretty proud of. Whilst taking time out yesterday read a little of this months "Magic Seen" magazine. They had an article on balloon modelling and I wish I had managed to learn more than "worm" "snake" and "eel" and well as "poodle". I knew if the girls asked for a swan or crown I was sunk. The article gave me a cracking idea though! The author suggested handing out the balloon animals at the end so the kids would not be too distracted by playing with them during the show. He also suggested making models up in advance so you were not there spending an hour making things. To get around the lack of variety I got hold of a cheap pack of modelling balloons and made over 35 poodles! I then weakened the seams of a bin bag and placed the poodles in it. After the mouse salute the girls sat down awaiting some new magical treat., I asked if they wanted animals or Rubbish (Garbage). I KNEW at least ONE girl would yell for rubbish (again thanks to Seriously Silly going into child psych 101) so I quickly got the rubbish sack and pulled at the weakened seams and made it rain balloon poodles over them. The scream of delight made the hour of balloon modelling worth every second! It was fantastic!. I then let the kids take it in turns to be photographed by he mums in my top hat and steam punk goggle whilst making little alterations to poodles or showing a few elastic band tricks.
I was commissioned for half an hour and performed for nearly 2 hours in the end. Yet again I was worried about a lack of material, yet again I was worrying for nothing. All I can say is if you want to perform for kids you NEED "Seriously Silly" by David Kaye. It removes all the fear as he explains what works for what age group, how to handle unruly children and how to adjust your mindset to make any effect work for the kids.
What else have I learnt? Still great with kids of any age and that THEY DO ENJOY LEARNING STUFF
make a list, it pays off :)
I do not need as many effects as I think I need
I NEED to get my own change bag AND goggles :)
Coming up with new spin on effects is fun and rewarding. I need to spend more time enjoying myself by playing around with ideas and props, it really is work as well as fun.
ALWAYS respect the fact you're in someone's home, double check where it's ok to put your gear (I always do this but it's worth mentioning) and ALWAYS double check with goggle maps where your going
I still love magic and I'm good at it. All the kids loved the show and the mum was most impressed again :)
I kicked off with letting the kids play with the Magic Flying Wand. I knew from my time at the kids festival that the birthday girl loved this gadget. She even asked before I finished unpacking if I had brought it with me so I knew I was onto a winner. When the kids had calmed down and got them selves comfortable I turned on a Plasma Ball. I asked if they understood about electro statics and induction and some actually knew what I meant. I placed a low energy light bulb onto the plasma ball and it lit up this got a nice audible gasp from the crowd. I explained that the plasma ball and he wand used electro static science and that magic was knowing things that others did not. There fore when they learn new things at school they're learning - and here I paused and let them finish with the word "MAGIC" being shouted out. Wary that they may try to open a low energy bulb I went on to talk about mercury explaining that it's in thermometers and bulbs and if one breaks they needed to (and here I paused again and let them yell out "call a grown up!"). See magic, educational and fun and hopefully made the kids even more keen on learning.
My science and public health talk over I launched into some silk work. I started with a colour changing pair of silks again and two kids back to back. One seeing a red and blue hanky the other seeing a green and yellow. I changed the colours with my back turned to the audience and they assumed I just had two sets of hankies. I then changed it in front of them resulting in a gasp ad applause. IT felt great realising they were on board with the show.
Next came the Crystal tube. I wish I could just use Silly Billy's script word for word as it has great results but that would be cheating AND one part of it doesn't translate over the Atlantic . Luckily in his wonderful book "Seriously Silly" he adopts a "teaching you to fish " Strategy.We both use a red, yellow and green hankies and relate them to traffic lights, Green is go, an red is stop, so when the kids yell stop I just freeze for a few moments whilst they get a laugh. Yellow is tricky, in the states they say it means SLOW DOWN and Silly Billy starts going into slow motion, wonderful stuff. BUT here in the UK it means "GET READY" So I mime getting my props in order, it gets a laugh but being able to go slow motion would have been more fun. As silly Billy suggests I failed on the first attempt due to a lack of magic words. The kids starts yelling out all sorts of magic words, I said we couldn't use "Abra Cadabra" as the magic circle had a copyright on it (An the same went for any Harry Potter words). Instead I said we needed to yell "Wibbly Wobbly Deans got a big Belly!" THEY LOVED IT. With the new magic words the silks tied themselves into a knot and again I Got spontaneous applause. This is a great example where a book that teaches you how to think and plan and present your own effects wins over a set script. Even though I knew the original script would not work the book gave me the tools to work out my own routine.
The final silk trick again used ideas from Silly Billy. I already have a fun silk vanish which I augmented with his ideas. MY normal vanish begins by placing a very large white hanky into a change bag, saying some magic words and revealing the hanky has now shrunk! I then vanish the hanky. However NOW When I vanished the hanky I mime it flying towards a party popper (streamer) I then shoot this at a girl with shoes and socks on. I tell them the streamer has shot the silk to them and get them to take their shoe off. Then I get them to take their sock off and place a peg over my nose before revealing the silk in their sock. Vanishes always make me worried because to me they look pretty obvious, but then I was totally fooled before I knew how they were done so I guess everyone is. It boils down to confidence and I've vanished silks to some pretty tough audiences who couldn't work it out.
I moved onto some giant card work performing DO as I Do before everyone took it in turns to predict if a card was black or red for Out of this World . I then performed an effect I developed for the party. I took Darren Godding's superb Lazar Card discovery and tweaked it for the audience. Instead of a selected card being revealed by a laser burning a hole through it whilst in the pack I used more party poppers. I explained it was safe whilst donning my steam punk goggles and hat. The birthday girl did not look convinced so I dressed her up in the goggles and hat (again thanks to David Kaye's Seriously Silly ) and shot the popper at the pack she held aloft. She had selected the ace of diamonds and when she opened the pack all the cards were BLANK apart from the ace of diamonds which had holes punched through it and a little burning caused by the party popper. AND THE CROWD GOES WILD!
To wined down the show I gave one of the girls a balloon 'Mouse' .This is a model where a mouses head is made and the rest of the balloon left untwisted.I then reached into a bag and got one for each child. Getting them to pinch the ends of the balloons I snipped the ends off and got them all to sing happy birthday before giving the birthday girl a '21 mouse salute' . All the girls let the balloons go and the mice flew everywhere to much laughter. My final trick was something I was pretty proud of. Whilst taking time out yesterday read a little of this months "Magic Seen" magazine. They had an article on balloon modelling and I wish I had managed to learn more than "worm" "snake" and "eel" and well as "poodle". I knew if the girls asked for a swan or crown I was sunk. The article gave me a cracking idea though! The author suggested handing out the balloon animals at the end so the kids would not be too distracted by playing with them during the show. He also suggested making models up in advance so you were not there spending an hour making things. To get around the lack of variety I got hold of a cheap pack of modelling balloons and made over 35 poodles! I then weakened the seams of a bin bag and placed the poodles in it. After the mouse salute the girls sat down awaiting some new magical treat., I asked if they wanted animals or Rubbish (Garbage). I KNEW at least ONE girl would yell for rubbish (again thanks to Seriously Silly going into child psych 101) so I quickly got the rubbish sack and pulled at the weakened seams and made it rain balloon poodles over them. The scream of delight made the hour of balloon modelling worth every second! It was fantastic!. I then let the kids take it in turns to be photographed by he mums in my top hat and steam punk goggle whilst making little alterations to poodles or showing a few elastic band tricks.
I was commissioned for half an hour and performed for nearly 2 hours in the end. Yet again I was worried about a lack of material, yet again I was worrying for nothing. All I can say is if you want to perform for kids you NEED "Seriously Silly" by David Kaye. It removes all the fear as he explains what works for what age group, how to handle unruly children and how to adjust your mindset to make any effect work for the kids.
What else have I learnt? Still great with kids of any age and that THEY DO ENJOY LEARNING STUFF
make a list, it pays off :)
I do not need as many effects as I think I need
I NEED to get my own change bag AND goggles :)
Coming up with new spin on effects is fun and rewarding. I need to spend more time enjoying myself by playing around with ideas and props, it really is work as well as fun.
ALWAYS respect the fact you're in someone's home, double check where it's ok to put your gear (I always do this but it's worth mentioning) and ALWAYS double check with goggle maps where your going
I still love magic and I'm good at it. All the kids loved the show and the mum was most impressed again :)
Sunday, October 30, 2011
A huge night
Last night 's gig at the Minories was over all really good. We showed up a 5.30 and explained hat we would perform for between one and a half to two hours and would begin sometimes after 6pm We have learnt from other gigs that it is not a good ideas to begin too soon. People attending the event or venue need some time to feel settled and o greet friends before being interrupted by a magician. Also a gig goes better when you have a 'Critical mass' enabling you to leap from group to group and not just wait around for more people to arrive. We explained all this to the event organizer who was more than happy with our plans. We also agreed to try stage magic later in the evening.
After 6 I launched into action approaching a couple of parents and their child, aged around 10. Wee Wee Mentalist proved a great ice breaker. the youngster then trotted off leaving me to perform Cartomancy for the parents. Both effects went down very well. Wee wee Mentalists appeal is something I've often wondered about. I suppose we all like the appeal of something that looks magical, and the mentalist's mind going from blank to showing the chosen card does defy explanation for man y people. But it can't be dressed up as something plausible but amazing event, its an obvious trick, which many magicians claim are not popular. Cartomancy again provided a strong reaction, I performed it around 5 times, each time provoking a strong response of astonishment. i will admit I began chickening out and did not perform Ambitious card. However Serial Killer provided a strong reaction (difficult to find a spot with enough light for people to see the blood splat on the card though).
The other close effect of the night was Once Upon A Time by Guy Hollingworth. This story telling deck of cards uses simple slights to turn a a pumpkin into a carriage and rags into ball-gowns. The slights are easy, the hard part is remembering WHEN to do them. I performed this effect for 3 groups of children on an antique card table under a tree. The whole experience added to the feel of magic for the children watching, and they loved being able to turn the cards over to see the transformations.
The stage show was highly anticipated by the children. I planned three effects. A simple colour change silk trick where two children were placed back to back and one was shown a green and yellow scarf. I then turned away from the audience and walked to the other child and asked her the colour of the scarves which are now blue and red. I repeat, the children believing i changed the scarves colour whilst the audience thought i was just grabbing other scarves whilst my back was turned. finally i walked towards the audience and the scarves changed in front of their eyes. Next I performed the crystal tube effect where silks knot themselves by being blown through a tube. These effectes were both very well received. HOWEVER my final effect bombed! I performed Big Deal using kids to cheat their dads at cards. A few things went wrong. One the cards were not big enough (even though they were jumbo cards). The lights behind us were too strong, also hindering the view. Finally blocking. Controlling the audience so they they did not obscure the view of the audience. MY good friend Darren is a superb director and playwright and actor. I asked him to watch the performance and he gave me these critiques, Very useful indeed. I think I'll avoid doing stage work without giving it a little more time and giving Daren a chance to look the routine over. But a basic check list will include making sure lighting doesn't obscure the routine and that everyone can see what's going on. It seams as though street performance including working to a group comes natureally to me but stage craft needs work.
Luckily I was approached by a family who had seen my work before and wanted to see something new and special. h was just what I needed to stop me dwelling on the stage card trick not having any impact. It also let me indulge in Do and I Do and Out of this World. After this I felt buoyant enough to do some Ambitious Card work. I loved every second of it.
So over all. Stage work 2/3 . I need to work on stage craft, it cant be improvised like my street magic and close up magic. Once Upon a Time is a fantastic kids effect and suitable for many occasions. Cartomancy is a powerful close up effect and stage work is a possibity for me, but I can't be complacent and need to work through it more with Darren. Finally my Ambitious Card is good, and i need more faith in myself. The rest of the night heped with that but Ill blog it later :)
Also, when working at an outdoor event maybe a classy looking lamp is a good idea :)
After 6 I launched into action approaching a couple of parents and their child, aged around 10. Wee Wee Mentalist proved a great ice breaker. the youngster then trotted off leaving me to perform Cartomancy for the parents. Both effects went down very well. Wee wee Mentalists appeal is something I've often wondered about. I suppose we all like the appeal of something that looks magical, and the mentalist's mind going from blank to showing the chosen card does defy explanation for man y people. But it can't be dressed up as something plausible but amazing event, its an obvious trick, which many magicians claim are not popular. Cartomancy again provided a strong reaction, I performed it around 5 times, each time provoking a strong response of astonishment. i will admit I began chickening out and did not perform Ambitious card. However Serial Killer provided a strong reaction (difficult to find a spot with enough light for people to see the blood splat on the card though).
The other close effect of the night was Once Upon A Time by Guy Hollingworth. This story telling deck of cards uses simple slights to turn a a pumpkin into a carriage and rags into ball-gowns. The slights are easy, the hard part is remembering WHEN to do them. I performed this effect for 3 groups of children on an antique card table under a tree. The whole experience added to the feel of magic for the children watching, and they loved being able to turn the cards over to see the transformations.
The stage show was highly anticipated by the children. I planned three effects. A simple colour change silk trick where two children were placed back to back and one was shown a green and yellow scarf. I then turned away from the audience and walked to the other child and asked her the colour of the scarves which are now blue and red. I repeat, the children believing i changed the scarves colour whilst the audience thought i was just grabbing other scarves whilst my back was turned. finally i walked towards the audience and the scarves changed in front of their eyes. Next I performed the crystal tube effect where silks knot themselves by being blown through a tube. These effectes were both very well received. HOWEVER my final effect bombed! I performed Big Deal using kids to cheat their dads at cards. A few things went wrong. One the cards were not big enough (even though they were jumbo cards). The lights behind us were too strong, also hindering the view. Finally blocking. Controlling the audience so they they did not obscure the view of the audience. MY good friend Darren is a superb director and playwright and actor. I asked him to watch the performance and he gave me these critiques, Very useful indeed. I think I'll avoid doing stage work without giving it a little more time and giving Daren a chance to look the routine over. But a basic check list will include making sure lighting doesn't obscure the routine and that everyone can see what's going on. It seams as though street performance including working to a group comes natureally to me but stage craft needs work.
Luckily I was approached by a family who had seen my work before and wanted to see something new and special. h was just what I needed to stop me dwelling on the stage card trick not having any impact. It also let me indulge in Do and I Do and Out of this World. After this I felt buoyant enough to do some Ambitious Card work. I loved every second of it.
So over all. Stage work 2/3 . I need to work on stage craft, it cant be improvised like my street magic and close up magic. Once Upon a Time is a fantastic kids effect and suitable for many occasions. Cartomancy is a powerful close up effect and stage work is a possibity for me, but I can't be complacent and need to work through it more with Darren. Finally my Ambitious Card is good, and i need more faith in myself. The rest of the night heped with that but Ill blog it later :)
Also, when working at an outdoor event maybe a classy looking lamp is a good idea :)
Monday, October 24, 2011
First Kids Party
A day after deciding that I wanted to go pro with the magic I
received two offers of gigs. Both of these were for kids parties.
Untrodden ground for me, whilst I have performed for kids at the
festival children's parties are a different mater. When strolling around
the festival I perform many sets of 5 minutes of magic to each small
group of kids I come across. However at a kids party I have to perform
for the entire length of the gig to he same group of kids.The party was
for a 12 year old boy's birthday and his mother requested I turn up
waistcoated and top hatted. I decided to play it safe and offer my
services for 40 minutes or so. My plan was to split the set into some
gambling cheating tricks (teaching the group about the perils of
gambling) and then my rapport and mentalism effects. I was then planing
to close the show with Darren Gooding's fantastic Lazar card reveal that we used in Wivenhoe Funny Farm.
I researched performing for children with David Kaye's "Seriously Silly". In this seminal work the worlds most successful children's magician explains how to perform to each age group. He warns that at 12 children are very confrontational and will often assume they know how a trick is done. EVEN WHEN THEY DON'T. I opened up with a quick colour change silk. My plan was to treat them as adults BUT to use a childrens effect to grab their attention first. This effect uses no TT but they KNEW I had a TT just a very good near invisible one. Then one tried grabbing my hand to check. I let him knowing my hand was 'clean' and remembered the warning that all children will grab your props regardless of what their parents say. With this in mind I launched into my gambling routine linking Four Site, Big Deal and Aces High. This wen down very well. I then tried to use my rapport deck. However one lad wanted to shuffle it, hence ruining the chance to use it for Out of this World. I had a choice, be a meany and not letting him shuffle, and showing the deck was rigged, OR letting him and leaving the effects behind. I let him shuffle, deciding to switch tack and use other tricks such as Card In Hand. I continued holding court, keeping the boys interested and engaged. I finished with the lazer reveal rick. The boys loved getting dressed up in the steampunk "safety gear". The Mum took plenty of pics for their parents.
After the show I discovered I had worked for 1 hour and 40 minutes. The mum was thrilled with my performance and asked for business cards to hand out. So what was learnt. KISS Keep It Simple Stupid! I need to ensure the effects are 'tamper proof' and don't need so much stacking. Also that i have MORE than enough material and even though I don't need it and can wittle down what I plan o use, having the bank of effects means I can often get myself out of trouble. I have a good rapport with kids and they like the fact I don't take myself too serously and let myself be made fun of. And finally kids LOVE playing with props like my hat and goggles and they are often just as keen to show you a trick as you are to show them. I just hope everyone else has as much fun as me. According to their mum they did :)
I researched performing for children with David Kaye's "Seriously Silly". In this seminal work the worlds most successful children's magician explains how to perform to each age group. He warns that at 12 children are very confrontational and will often assume they know how a trick is done. EVEN WHEN THEY DON'T. I opened up with a quick colour change silk. My plan was to treat them as adults BUT to use a childrens effect to grab their attention first. This effect uses no TT but they KNEW I had a TT just a very good near invisible one. Then one tried grabbing my hand to check. I let him knowing my hand was 'clean' and remembered the warning that all children will grab your props regardless of what their parents say. With this in mind I launched into my gambling routine linking Four Site, Big Deal and Aces High. This wen down very well. I then tried to use my rapport deck. However one lad wanted to shuffle it, hence ruining the chance to use it for Out of this World. I had a choice, be a meany and not letting him shuffle, and showing the deck was rigged, OR letting him and leaving the effects behind. I let him shuffle, deciding to switch tack and use other tricks such as Card In Hand. I continued holding court, keeping the boys interested and engaged. I finished with the lazer reveal rick. The boys loved getting dressed up in the steampunk "safety gear". The Mum took plenty of pics for their parents.
After the show I discovered I had worked for 1 hour and 40 minutes. The mum was thrilled with my performance and asked for business cards to hand out. So what was learnt. KISS Keep It Simple Stupid! I need to ensure the effects are 'tamper proof' and don't need so much stacking. Also that i have MORE than enough material and even though I don't need it and can wittle down what I plan o use, having the bank of effects means I can often get myself out of trouble. I have a good rapport with kids and they like the fact I don't take myself too serously and let myself be made fun of. And finally kids LOVE playing with props like my hat and goggles and they are often just as keen to show you a trick as you are to show them. I just hope everyone else has as much fun as me. According to their mum they did :)
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