This is written VERY late after a VERY long day in London. During the day I performed "wee Wee Mentalist" and "twilight angles" with a deck stacked to perform each one after another. These both packed a large punch with those I performed to.
The circle vist had two purposes,. One to witness some world class magic, the other to hand in our forms to join up. The performers were Michael Vincent, Will Houstoun, Robert Pound and Franco. Michael Vincent was as elegant as ever, and the magic of Robert Pound was enjoyable and showed why he was one of the most booked workers out there.
Michael Vincent performed spectacular fluid and elegant magic. A demonstration of "the Professors nightmare" that has made me want to grab my magic books and rope and expand my range. He also included a few comments to one of his effects just to freak out magicians. Just as Paul Daniels baffled us by passing the hoop over a levitating girl just once MR. Vincent freaked us out by demonstrating that a trick we've seen before and KNEW used an invisible deck did NOT use an invisible deck that time. We spoke to him afterwards and he was very happy that we noticed this as he'd been in debate with another magician about weather or not he needed to demonstrate this.
I got a chance to chat to Michael Vincent at the end of the night and ask his advice for the examinations. I asked him to sit through a quick trick and to tell me if i was pitching at the right level. I performed wee we mentalist. HE did seam to genuinely enjoy the effect, I asked for his input. His suggestion was to place that in the middle, to finish on a strong closer and to do something to catch attention in the first 30 seconds. HE also spoke of classics of magic, and how a classic is a classic for a reason. He said a classic performed with my own personal twist would be good addition to a set and impress the examiners, At this point Robert Pound joined us. I spoke of my plan to perform the "4 card trick" with a little stick man and they both agreed this would be a good example of a classic reworked.
So next step. List all I can do, find out how long i have to perform for, time myself and work out a structured routine with what I have. And then look at additional material, robe magic, cups and balls etc. It may sound odd to build a routine and then take bits out for new material, but his way I will be ready to go with little prep, and can slowly improve this set as opposed to waiting until I master something new, rushing to learn and still not having a clear vision of what i want to do for my audition.
Time to hit the books and que the montage music
Saturday, October 20, 2012
Wednesday, October 17, 2012
the other two gigs.
The second of my three gigs was a freebie for the premier of a film. Death the Film was being shown in Colchester and I, along with my friends, was asked to go along and perform some close up to the crowds. Whilst I took along my close up case I actually packed a very limited selection on me. Serial Killer (from the Dark Side Deck), Wee Wee mentalist (as an ice breaker) Cartomancy and twilight angels. I felt VERY relaxed at this gig. Not so relaxed as to not want to do well, just sure I was up to the task at hand. This gig was only hours after the high energy kids party but I was confident the body would hold out on me. I walked causally up to small groups, introduced myself and performed a small set. I think I felt less pressure because I knew the crowd and also knew that people only expected a few minutes of magic. I picked material around the subject of Death and Fate. This gave me an instant opener. The approach is typically the tough part of the job, but here because everyone was gathered for one goal, and that goal was entertainment around a certain subject I felt the ice had already been broken.
Twilight Angels proved itself once again. This effect is certainly a keeper. It brings genuine enchantment into the mix. I may try some other effects that have what a cynic may call 'mushy' feel.
After the film we went to our regular drinking den (where many magicians hang out. The cast of the film were also there and Harvey and I spent the night entertaining them and waxing lyrical on the nature of magic, true magic, bizarre magic and film. A good night where interestingly the magic was more like a seasoning, an extra twist on the conversation. I just played around forcing and tracking cards, sort of performing jazz with magic. Most enjoyable.
A few days after this I perform the third gig in this sequence. A free gig again at a local school. WOW. TO begin with the teacher was VERY receptive and appreciative. this makes a big difference to my confidence. Also I had a SECOND table for prop storage. I NEED a second table for putting stuff on! I had to device a simple trick to teach the kids, so I created my own version of the misers dream, but this came at the end of the show. These kids were 5, so card magic was out. It was the wrong place for my new found Balloon magic skills. I had an hour and a half to fill. This would have left me looking like a bunny in head lights but I am now a lot more confident in making the most of my material.
Following the teachings of David Kaye I used as much participation as possible. The Auto Milkgo glasses performed well, but as before the Diminishing Milk proved amazing value for money, as did the magic colouring book. The appearing flowers delighted the kids, in fact two girls kept asking at every opportunity when I would be giving them to the teacher. The vanishing coke bottle also performed well. However I need to tweak it, sealing in some liquid for good. A job for next week when I'm preping for my next show. Over all this show went incredibly well. I want to learn more classical magic to work into these situations, I performed a classic cup and balls routine and it went down well enough, but I think some coin work or sponge balls would have flipped the kids out.
So what have I learnt?
I can be quite charming to adults when I want to be
Magic is not the be all and end all to being entertaining
jazz magic is fun and good for confidence
From the kids
SECOND TABLE!
Need to tweak coke bottle
Current routines are good, BUT a days study with seriously silly will improve things
Over all. Happy to be learning new magic and using new magic. Next update a bit about theory and new effects.
Twilight Angels proved itself once again. This effect is certainly a keeper. It brings genuine enchantment into the mix. I may try some other effects that have what a cynic may call 'mushy' feel.
After the film we went to our regular drinking den (where many magicians hang out. The cast of the film were also there and Harvey and I spent the night entertaining them and waxing lyrical on the nature of magic, true magic, bizarre magic and film. A good night where interestingly the magic was more like a seasoning, an extra twist on the conversation. I just played around forcing and tracking cards, sort of performing jazz with magic. Most enjoyable.
A few days after this I perform the third gig in this sequence. A free gig again at a local school. WOW. TO begin with the teacher was VERY receptive and appreciative. this makes a big difference to my confidence. Also I had a SECOND table for prop storage. I NEED a second table for putting stuff on! I had to device a simple trick to teach the kids, so I created my own version of the misers dream, but this came at the end of the show. These kids were 5, so card magic was out. It was the wrong place for my new found Balloon magic skills. I had an hour and a half to fill. This would have left me looking like a bunny in head lights but I am now a lot more confident in making the most of my material.
Following the teachings of David Kaye I used as much participation as possible. The Auto Milkgo glasses performed well, but as before the Diminishing Milk proved amazing value for money, as did the magic colouring book. The appearing flowers delighted the kids, in fact two girls kept asking at every opportunity when I would be giving them to the teacher. The vanishing coke bottle also performed well. However I need to tweak it, sealing in some liquid for good. A job for next week when I'm preping for my next show. Over all this show went incredibly well. I want to learn more classical magic to work into these situations, I performed a classic cup and balls routine and it went down well enough, but I think some coin work or sponge balls would have flipped the kids out.
So what have I learnt?
I can be quite charming to adults when I want to be
Magic is not the be all and end all to being entertaining
jazz magic is fun and good for confidence
From the kids
SECOND TABLE!
Need to tweak coke bottle
Current routines are good, BUT a days study with seriously silly will improve things
Over all. Happy to be learning new magic and using new magic. Next update a bit about theory and new effects.
Monday, October 15, 2012
three weeks, but three gigs
Quite a while since the last update, but much has occurred. I'm going to put this up as three or maybe even 4 blogs over coming days. Why? 3 gigs, a few insights, much happening. Why the delay? I spent 10 days being quite ill. During this time I was focusing on my paid work for Fabric8 . And since then I have been playing catch up on the Fabric8 work.
So GIGS. IN the last post I spoke of a gig at a wedding where I was engaged to entertain predominately the children. I have a saying, actually i's more like a pseudo religious Gregorian chant. "gig's begit Gigs". I impressed the Magiian there for the grown ups quite a bit it seems, he hired me to enterain the kids at his son's party. This wa VERY short notice, one week. But I had the kit and I was good to go so I decided to just go for it.
I rocked up a little too early, thanks to a pessimistic sat nav. This wasn't awkward as he was a nice guy, though it may have diminished the impact of my arrival on his kids. For birthday parties at home I'll endeavour to show up a little early but not TOO early. I was all set to use my new Balloon skills as well as all my new shiny kid's props. All worked well, Diminishing milk should be singled out for special praise. That's one hard working prop. I bore in mind all that Silly Billy says in his book on performing for kids and asked the kids questions every moment I could, interacting with them and empowering them. At the end of the show the kids were VERY happy as were the grown ups. So things I learnt.
1- SORT OUT SAT NAV
2- Arive a little early but there is a thing as TOO early
3- I need to put something on the floor in case of spills (since found some waterproof table cloth with a star pattern
4- The table is unstable, it needs to be less wobbly, I also need a second table for storage.
From this gig iI got ANOTHER gig. Gigs beget gigs. HOWEVER Kids parties beget kids parties. I like performing kids magic, it's fun and rewarding but not at the expense of grown up parties that pay enough for me to work less, and allow me to explore other magic.
So GIGS. IN the last post I spoke of a gig at a wedding where I was engaged to entertain predominately the children. I have a saying, actually i's more like a pseudo religious Gregorian chant. "gig's begit Gigs". I impressed the Magiian there for the grown ups quite a bit it seems, he hired me to enterain the kids at his son's party. This wa VERY short notice, one week. But I had the kit and I was good to go so I decided to just go for it.
I rocked up a little too early, thanks to a pessimistic sat nav. This wasn't awkward as he was a nice guy, though it may have diminished the impact of my arrival on his kids. For birthday parties at home I'll endeavour to show up a little early but not TOO early. I was all set to use my new Balloon skills as well as all my new shiny kid's props. All worked well, Diminishing milk should be singled out for special praise. That's one hard working prop. I bore in mind all that Silly Billy says in his book on performing for kids and asked the kids questions every moment I could, interacting with them and empowering them. At the end of the show the kids were VERY happy as were the grown ups. So things I learnt.
1- SORT OUT SAT NAV
2- Arive a little early but there is a thing as TOO early
3- I need to put something on the floor in case of spills (since found some waterproof table cloth with a star pattern
4- The table is unstable, it needs to be less wobbly, I also need a second table for storage.
From this gig iI got ANOTHER gig. Gigs beget gigs. HOWEVER Kids parties beget kids parties. I like performing kids magic, it's fun and rewarding but not at the expense of grown up parties that pay enough for me to work less, and allow me to explore other magic.
Sunday, September 23, 2012
Kids gig At a Wedding
I'm writing this at very near 1 AM. The gig kicked off at 6 and went on until 11. I'm SHATTERED but very happy and content . The kids, and their parents loved it. I've done kids gigs before, but they were either close up small gigs, or attached to a wedding gig. This was a case of me keeping a GROUP of kids occupied and happy for hours. I decided I needed more kids props AND balloon animals.
New Props
Diminishing Milk, Auto Milkgo, Okito Glass, Mirror Glass Pro, A Magic Change Bag with Zipper, and a Vanishing Coke Bottle. I also took some old props, My Combo Cup and Balls, MY trust Crystal Tube a Silk Vanish, 3-way colouring book and deck Prepped with Wee Wee Mentalist and The Four Card Trick . I also got some Modelling Balloons, A DVD, Balloon Magic Made Easy, and A mentalist routine using balloon animals, The Balloon Detective.
I began by forming a routine centred around a magical fluid. This fluid could shrink and grow. I demonstrated this using the Diminishing Milk cups. This fluid then solidifies into a silk handkerchief which is then shrunk and teleported via party popper into someone's shoe. Traditionally milk is used in these effects, however I opted for red juice. This was in part because I knew I'd be in one spot for a long time and didn't want the milk to smell, but also I had red silks and so wanted to keep the colours consistent. This routine lasted for around 15 minutes with a LOT of ad-libbing.
However we have the thorny subject of balloons. I spent a few days working on them, and I'm no grand master but I can do them ow, great:). A magazine article said to leave the balloons until last as the kids will go crazy when they see them and you'll be doing balloons for ever. I made the mistake of giving a boy a monkey before I set up. He was upset and his dad had to take him out of the speeches until he stopped crying. Good deed yes, but it meant every kid hommed in on me and wanted balloon animals at the start. My Magic show was a balloon show for an hour! The Balloon Detective went out the window, the kids were too hyper to focus. Afterwards things calmed down and I went into the magic, doing my fluid routine. Then the Crystal tube. This involves tying knotted in handkerchiefs just by blowing through the tub, Brilliant. Using the information from Seriously Silly by David Kaye and his DVD Seriously Silly Live this can be a VERY funny routine. However inspiration hit RIGHT before my first attempted. Why blow through the tube when you can BLOW A RASPBERRY! AND THE CROWD GOES WILD!
I settled the kids down on the floor and performed "Once Upon A Time" by Guy Hollingworth. Wow. all the kids were enchanted and every grown up was looking on, smiling and in awe. That routine got BOTH photographers wanting my card so they could recommend me to other weddings. The grown ups were enraptured by the story and the magic as well.
Over all My performances were loved by kids and grown ups. the grown ups marveld at how well I hand;led the kids. This sounds very unmodest I know but words can't convey just how often parents and staff came up to me to tell me this, and how they thought the greatest magic was the ability to enchant their kids. It made me realize this is the right path for me, not just the kids magic, but all magic. The Magician for the grown ups was great. I rung him before hand to chat and make sure I didn't step on his toes. I was worried he'd be arrogant or awkward but he was lovely. He is a member of the Magic Circle and told me just by chatting that he thought I'd be good enough. I hit him with Wee Wee Mentalist and Twilight Angels. He loved them and assured me I'd meet the standard all ready. He also made a big deal of how well I handled kids and grown ups. He liked me so much he booked me:)
So What have I learnt.
As I knew before I have a knack for magic and can enchant ANY audience.
LEAVE THE BALLOONS TILL LAST IF I CAN
Kids grab stuff (I knew this) I REALLY need to sort out a way of having things on hand without the kids grabbing them
For a moment I thought I busted my balloon pump. I fixed it but it shows I need a spare.
I have the skills and knowledge to keep kids occupied for 4 hours! I don't need more stuff, I just need to hone hat I have :)
My ability to ad-lib is one of my strongest assets.
New Props
Diminishing Milk, Auto Milkgo, Okito Glass, Mirror Glass Pro, A Magic Change Bag with Zipper, and a Vanishing Coke Bottle. I also took some old props, My Combo Cup and Balls, MY trust Crystal Tube a Silk Vanish, 3-way colouring book and deck Prepped with Wee Wee Mentalist and The Four Card Trick . I also got some Modelling Balloons, A DVD, Balloon Magic Made Easy, and A mentalist routine using balloon animals, The Balloon Detective.
I began by forming a routine centred around a magical fluid. This fluid could shrink and grow. I demonstrated this using the Diminishing Milk cups. This fluid then solidifies into a silk handkerchief which is then shrunk and teleported via party popper into someone's shoe. Traditionally milk is used in these effects, however I opted for red juice. This was in part because I knew I'd be in one spot for a long time and didn't want the milk to smell, but also I had red silks and so wanted to keep the colours consistent. This routine lasted for around 15 minutes with a LOT of ad-libbing.
However we have the thorny subject of balloons. I spent a few days working on them, and I'm no grand master but I can do them ow, great:). A magazine article said to leave the balloons until last as the kids will go crazy when they see them and you'll be doing balloons for ever. I made the mistake of giving a boy a monkey before I set up. He was upset and his dad had to take him out of the speeches until he stopped crying. Good deed yes, but it meant every kid hommed in on me and wanted balloon animals at the start. My Magic show was a balloon show for an hour! The Balloon Detective went out the window, the kids were too hyper to focus. Afterwards things calmed down and I went into the magic, doing my fluid routine. Then the Crystal tube. This involves tying knotted in handkerchiefs just by blowing through the tub, Brilliant. Using the information from Seriously Silly by David Kaye and his DVD Seriously Silly Live this can be a VERY funny routine. However inspiration hit RIGHT before my first attempted. Why blow through the tube when you can BLOW A RASPBERRY! AND THE CROWD GOES WILD!
I settled the kids down on the floor and performed "Once Upon A Time" by Guy Hollingworth. Wow. all the kids were enchanted and every grown up was looking on, smiling and in awe. That routine got BOTH photographers wanting my card so they could recommend me to other weddings. The grown ups were enraptured by the story and the magic as well.
Over all My performances were loved by kids and grown ups. the grown ups marveld at how well I hand;led the kids. This sounds very unmodest I know but words can't convey just how often parents and staff came up to me to tell me this, and how they thought the greatest magic was the ability to enchant their kids. It made me realize this is the right path for me, not just the kids magic, but all magic. The Magician for the grown ups was great. I rung him before hand to chat and make sure I didn't step on his toes. I was worried he'd be arrogant or awkward but he was lovely. He is a member of the Magic Circle and told me just by chatting that he thought I'd be good enough. I hit him with Wee Wee Mentalist and Twilight Angels. He loved them and assured me I'd meet the standard all ready. He also made a big deal of how well I handled kids and grown ups. He liked me so much he booked me:)
So What have I learnt.
As I knew before I have a knack for magic and can enchant ANY audience.
LEAVE THE BALLOONS TILL LAST IF I CAN
Kids grab stuff (I knew this) I REALLY need to sort out a way of having things on hand without the kids grabbing them
For a moment I thought I busted my balloon pump. I fixed it but it shows I need a spare.
I have the skills and knowledge to keep kids occupied for 4 hours! I don't need more stuff, I just need to hone hat I have :)
My ability to ad-lib is one of my strongest assets.
Sunday, September 16, 2012
Fantastic wedding gig in Colchester Minories
Last night was my first ever solo wedding gig. It felt odd planing the day without having my fellow magicians in Colchester on hand. The brief for the gig was to provide entertainment for the kids at the beginning of the party and then move on to entertaining the grown ups. This would be very interesting. The last time I did this at a wedding the grown ups were a little shocked. They first saw me as a kids magicians and hence thought I wouldn't be very good. Of course I know I'm good enough for the grown ups, and in fact personally don't see any difference in skill level between performing for adults and performing for kids, at least not the way I perform for kids. So either I would be fighting against the presumption I was no good which may negativity colour my efforts, OR I would have the element of surprise! I felt confident it would be the later.
Preparations.
I knew I would only have to keep the kids quiet for a little while, so I practised Once Upon A Time", "Cup &Balls" ,"Crystal Tube and Hankie Tie". I was very annoyed with myself as I love my favourite thumb tip and hanky and had to buy replacements on the day. I took along a few toys, the "Magic Flying Wand" and some magnets left over from the kids show.
For the grown ups I made a strong decision not to be carrying hundreds of decks with me. I had strayed away from my initial idea of 2 decks, one set up for mentalism type effects and the other for gambling. I've returned to this idea. Tricks with gaff decks to have a LOT of punch BUT normally take a while to set up again and can't be used for anything else. I came to realise I was hiding behind these decks, afraid my own personality was not enough to drive the magic. I had lost confidence and if I did not do something about it my magical career would be sliding down the path of becoming a "co co the clown with his amazingly dull self working tricks". However it would be foolish to ignore these effects interiorly. I became to see these effects as "smart bombs" or "Special Weapons" from the old computer games. Powerful tools that invariably had a cool down time, or a very small limit to the number you had. In short these effects would be my secret weapons, only one carried at a time in my back pocket, and brought out when needed.
Red pack of cards in the RIGHT pocket for RAPPORT style effects.
Set for
"Here then there", "Do as I Do", "Direct mind Reading" With my Invisible Deck ready and Cartomancy set up in my Waistcoat pockets
And then in my card clip as an ice breaker, Wee Wee mentalist.
I arrived 40 minutes before the guests and set up. The kids came first. They were well behaved and VERY excited to have a real magician there. I quickly realised long effects were out, they wanted to see a quick trick, run around and then see another (they were outside). If we were indoors then I think a more organised magic show would be best BUT in this environment I was acting like a regular close up magician. |They ALL Loved "wee Wee Mentalist" and "twilight Angels" they really wanted the signed cards. They also played with my Juggling Balls. Speaking of balls, the Cups and Balls were well recived, but they were all too hyper for the longer effects.
This was an amazing night for my magic :) I introduced myself to 3 people standing, kicked off with wee wee mentalist. They were enthralled. A couple on a table near us were watching, So I brought them in onto the act, using the rapport deck. Started with here then there, then Do as I do, Decided against mind reading and went straight for "Out of This World" Minds Blown.
Next up a group of younger guys. They loved wee wee mentalist. I decided to go for direct mind reading before the gambling deck. I realised that I never use the gambling deck really apart from ambitious card so decided to give it a go. I was quite insecure and actually said they may be able to work it out, but it's a neat way to cheat at cards. No worries, they were blown away as well. Finished with ambitouse card, again freaked out.
Thus it went on, people happy to take what I gave them, the young guys loving the gambling and the more challenge type magic (ambitious card for example) the girls loving the rapport. Cartomancy was used twice, both times loved. As the evening went on I switched to the Special weapons. Serial Killer actually freaked out 2 girls (they dropped the card in shock). I made up for it with Twilight Angels which was universally accepted as a purely lovely effect.
Round up. Performed for many types of people and had "something for everyone" .
I lost my juggling balls. Point of interest, they don't cost much BUT I am in business now so can't afford to treat loosing £5 lightly. Must have a better system for storing magic if there are kids about.
Need to sort out how I get paid well in advance.
I no longer fear your ladish type guys. They want to see something cool. I can deliver with ease.
The idea of treating a trick deck as a special weapon works. They are great to use after I've been around with regular decks for a while and have already introduced myself.
I am not "being humoured" people were genuinely thrilled and amazed and enchanted. I can perform MY kind of magic, people respond well to it
Over all. Bloody amazing night
Preparations.
I knew I would only have to keep the kids quiet for a little while, so I practised Once Upon A Time", "Cup &Balls" ,"Crystal Tube and Hankie Tie". I was very annoyed with myself as I love my favourite thumb tip and hanky and had to buy replacements on the day. I took along a few toys, the "Magic Flying Wand" and some magnets left over from the kids show.
For the grown ups I made a strong decision not to be carrying hundreds of decks with me. I had strayed away from my initial idea of 2 decks, one set up for mentalism type effects and the other for gambling. I've returned to this idea. Tricks with gaff decks to have a LOT of punch BUT normally take a while to set up again and can't be used for anything else. I came to realise I was hiding behind these decks, afraid my own personality was not enough to drive the magic. I had lost confidence and if I did not do something about it my magical career would be sliding down the path of becoming a "co co the clown with his amazingly dull self working tricks". However it would be foolish to ignore these effects interiorly. I became to see these effects as "smart bombs" or "Special Weapons" from the old computer games. Powerful tools that invariably had a cool down time, or a very small limit to the number you had. In short these effects would be my secret weapons, only one carried at a time in my back pocket, and brought out when needed.
Red pack of cards in the RIGHT pocket for RAPPORT style effects.
Set for
"Here then there", "Do as I Do", "Direct mind Reading" With my Invisible Deck ready and Cartomancy set up in my Waistcoat pockets
Blue Deck, Left Pocket Gambling magic
Four Site, Big Deal, Aces High. (then ambitious card)
Secret Weapons. Cheek to Cheek, Serial Killer, Dark Side, Twilight Angels.
And then in my card clip as an ice breaker, Wee Wee mentalist.
The Event.
I arrived 40 minutes before the guests and set up. The kids came first. They were well behaved and VERY excited to have a real magician there. I quickly realised long effects were out, they wanted to see a quick trick, run around and then see another (they were outside). If we were indoors then I think a more organised magic show would be best BUT in this environment I was acting like a regular close up magician. |They ALL Loved "wee Wee Mentalist" and "twilight Angels" they really wanted the signed cards. They also played with my Juggling Balls. Speaking of balls, the Cups and Balls were well recived, but they were all too hyper for the longer effects.
The grown ups.
Next up a group of younger guys. They loved wee wee mentalist. I decided to go for direct mind reading before the gambling deck. I realised that I never use the gambling deck really apart from ambitious card so decided to give it a go. I was quite insecure and actually said they may be able to work it out, but it's a neat way to cheat at cards. No worries, they were blown away as well. Finished with ambitouse card, again freaked out.
Thus it went on, people happy to take what I gave them, the young guys loving the gambling and the more challenge type magic (ambitious card for example) the girls loving the rapport. Cartomancy was used twice, both times loved. As the evening went on I switched to the Special weapons. Serial Killer actually freaked out 2 girls (they dropped the card in shock). I made up for it with Twilight Angels which was universally accepted as a purely lovely effect.
Round up. Performed for many types of people and had "something for everyone" .
I lost my juggling balls. Point of interest, they don't cost much BUT I am in business now so can't afford to treat loosing £5 lightly. Must have a better system for storing magic if there are kids about.
Need to sort out how I get paid well in advance.
I no longer fear your ladish type guys. They want to see something cool. I can deliver with ease.
The idea of treating a trick deck as a special weapon works. They are great to use after I've been around with regular decks for a while and have already introduced myself.
I am not "being humoured" people were genuinely thrilled and amazed and enchanted. I can perform MY kind of magic, people respond well to it
Over all. Bloody amazing night
Saturday, August 25, 2012
Kids Festivale AGAIN :)
Today I made my yearly pilgrimage to the Kids festival. This year was very different. IN past years I was a wondering magician, going up to groups to perform small sets and then doing an extended section in the "Story Tent". I had no place as such and just soaked up the atmosphere and performed where I wished. This year I was helping with the science demonstrations. I set the program, I decided what I did. I still planned on performing magic though. I envisioned throwing my tent open to a hoard or two of kids several times during the day in-between bouts of walking and performing magic. NO SUCH LUCK. I let a few friends see a demo at 11 am, as they left some kids came in, then more then more then more! I asked someone for the time and it was 4.30pm! It felt like an hour. I performed my "Mad Science" section non stop for five and half hours! The kids loved it, and the parents were very impressed with how well I handled question and controlled the crowd. I even managed to get through to some kids on the autistic spectrum without any difficulties. My equipment got a little scuffed, but it was worth the £10 I spent to see how well science blends with magic. I belive I'll also get some gigs out of this as well.
Inge says I seemed slightly subdued and tired when she came by at the close of the day. I was there for 20 hours later than I normally do the show. But I think I missed performing magic a little, and certainly missed going from group t group to perform. Whilst the approach can be nerve raking I think I enjoyed soaking up the high energy of the festival. Instead I was kind of shuttered away in my tent. The experiment worked better in the tent than in an open area though, so next your I may just supervise the science and run around doing magic, OR devise experiments that work outdoors.
Overall a rewarding day though. Once Upon A time came out to play in the story tent and had it's best ever reception. The main lesson from the day is one I learnt before. I have a great knack with kids and there are a lot more kids parties than adult. Adult parties pay better, but the sheer volume of kids parties mean they are a market base I can not ignore. Over all, fantastic tirring day.
Inge says I seemed slightly subdued and tired when she came by at the close of the day. I was there for 20 hours later than I normally do the show. But I think I missed performing magic a little, and certainly missed going from group t group to perform. Whilst the approach can be nerve raking I think I enjoyed soaking up the high energy of the festival. Instead I was kind of shuttered away in my tent. The experiment worked better in the tent than in an open area though, so next your I may just supervise the science and run around doing magic, OR devise experiments that work outdoors.
Overall a rewarding day though. Once Upon A time came out to play in the story tent and had it's best ever reception. The main lesson from the day is one I learnt before. I have a great knack with kids and there are a lot more kids parties than adult. Adult parties pay better, but the sheer volume of kids parties mean they are a market base I can not ignore. Over all, fantastic tirring day.
Friday, August 17, 2012
free kids gig
As mentioned last week I was invited to perform at a mini 'village fete'. A retro event with home made lemonade. I figured that seeing as this was in the school holiday I#'d be doing kids magic for a wide age range and the odd grown up. I guessed the audience rather well. I left prepping up a little close to the day (as I always do) but managed to pack everything I needed. I sat down and worked through "Once Upon a Time" for the first time in a while and was delighted to find I remembered the whole sequence straight off the bat. I asked Darren to show up and video record some of my work. I also asked a Headmaster of a local school to show up and offer some critiques of my working with kids.
After getting my bits together at the event I relaised it was too windy for once upon a time. Over all Iperfmoed...
THe Silk shrinking,vanish, teleport to shoe., THe younger kids loved thisbut the older kids were very keen to to show they know how it was done. One kid was very vocal with a copleatly wrong explination. I kept controll and no-ones fun was spoilt at least. MAybe an imporved handling or simply I should not perfrom this when the 'big brothers and sisters'# are around.
THe silk tube. Went down very well, lots of interaction with the kids
The Magic colouring book. If i could have sold that to one kid's mom I'd have gotten a fortune I think. All the kids of all ages liked it, but one toddler was obsessed by it. I got about 10 minutes of material out of it!
My Headmaster friend said he liked how I never lost my temper, kept my energy levels up and if the older kids looked like they may spoil things I empowered them by explaining the trick a little (in this case the book) but then baffled them with a card trick to keep them interested in my magic and still respecting me.
All Rather good and happy stuff. We then popped into the Visual arts centre and saw some of the 'youth' (aged 15-18 at a guess) playing "magic the gathering". One asked if I was a magican. I sudenly broke into "Wee Wee Mentalist". They were blown away. I suspect because there was a camera on them they reacted even more than before. Even though they made me feel like David Blaine and Dynamo with a hint of Gandalf. A good day :)
After getting my bits together at the event I relaised it was too windy for once upon a time. Over all Iperfmoed...
THe Silk shrinking,vanish, teleport to shoe., THe younger kids loved thisbut the older kids were very keen to to show they know how it was done. One kid was very vocal with a copleatly wrong explination. I kept controll and no-ones fun was spoilt at least. MAybe an imporved handling or simply I should not perfrom this when the 'big brothers and sisters'# are around.
THe silk tube. Went down very well, lots of interaction with the kids
The Magic colouring book. If i could have sold that to one kid's mom I'd have gotten a fortune I think. All the kids of all ages liked it, but one toddler was obsessed by it. I got about 10 minutes of material out of it!
My Headmaster friend said he liked how I never lost my temper, kept my energy levels up and if the older kids looked like they may spoil things I empowered them by explaining the trick a little (in this case the book) but then baffled them with a card trick to keep them interested in my magic and still respecting me.
All Rather good and happy stuff. We then popped into the Visual arts centre and saw some of the 'youth' (aged 15-18 at a guess) playing "magic the gathering". One asked if I was a magican. I sudenly broke into "Wee Wee Mentalist". They were blown away. I suspect because there was a camera on them they reacted even more than before. Even though they made me feel like David Blaine and Dynamo with a hint of Gandalf. A good day :)
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