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Tim Ellis V.I.P. Melbourne, Australia 1234 Posts |
Last Halloween we did a 'Spooktacular' magic show and our assistant was none other than the lovable, opera singing hunchback Igor.
http://magicunlimited.typepad.com/photos......ria.html I was sure he'd turn up in here this week... Igor? IGOR!
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MatBlack New user 58 Posts |
Hey Tim,
sorry for the silence, but the 'Day Job' has been keeping me obscenely busy....My company has no level of understanding or respect for those of us who live double-lives. Magicians, super-heroes, evil geniuses - all of us fund it hard to cope with it at times. But - fear not! I've arrived! (finally) with a cancelled meeting, and 30 mins up my sleeve for writing. I've spent the last few days 'lurking' while on teleconferences and the like, and seen all the ideas, opinions and banter bouncing back and forward, and just generally enjoying the view. My question to you is - why did you bring up the Halloween Spooktacular, or Igor for that matter? Was it to begin a discussion on the value of just 'going with an idea as far as it will take you to see what comes of it'? -- I mean, this is what we did one night while messing around with a particular illusion - the end result of which was the creation of the 'Master' and 'Igor' characters, and all of the comic and functional by-play that came of it. Was it to highlight the concept of using any talent/ tip/ tool and trick at your disposal in a creative way to enhance your act? -- When you think about it, I kind of started out as a stage-hand, and somehow became integrated into both the creative process as well as the actual show - mainly beacuse you and Sue-Anne were always 'open to ideas'. from each other, and other people - like me. Not just listening to them, but actually trying them out, and building on them...sure, sometimes they just ended up with us all looking at each other wondering why we bothered, but other times it ended with some 'keepers' - Fun, and sometimes extremely impactful bits of magic, or even just gags, that got great audience reactions and led to the concept of the 'Triple your magic' show. Was it to raise the question amoungst your peers as to when have you 'stumbled' across a 'keeper' through adversity, how, and what was it? -- the number of ad-libs in the Haloween spooktacular probably broke some kind of record - in fact, I think it would be easier to count the number of times we kept to the script (such as it was) Broken, mis-placed and lost props...no back-stage or wings to speak of...a stage only slightly larger than all of the props combined....a lack of seating for the audience...all combined to prove that 'you get the best out of people under pressure' I kind of felt we were like coal - the harder you pressed, the more valuable the output (though I'd never describe myself as a diamond in my wildest dreams) Was it to start the ball rolling on the train of thought surrounding what methods other magicians use to try out new material? -- Do they slip one in with the 'tried and true' stuff to give it ago in a relatively safe situation, or have they ever tried (like we did) to do a self-funded and promoted, not-for-profit show that allowed them to try out almost 100% new material? Which worked best and did they ever regret their decision either way? or...was it something completely different...like...just saying hi? Cheers, Mat AKA: Igor |
Tim Ellis V.I.P. Melbourne, Australia 1234 Posts |
I was just hoping he might bring me a drink....
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www.timellismagic.com Visit our online shop for instant downloads and ebooks https://shop.timellismagic.com/ Blog - www.magicunlimited.typepad.com |
MatBlack New user 58 Posts |
Er....unlikely....but feel free to use any of the other suggested motives as a springboard....
M@ |
Sue-Anne Webster V.I.P. Melbourne, Australia 97 Posts |
Oh Mat...
you're slipping! :) |
Tim Ellis V.I.P. Melbourne, Australia 1234 Posts |
OK,Halloween Spooktacular.
Sue-Anne and I do most of our work in the "corporate arena" and in that field the Speakers Bureaus that send us off to work also send out 'Feedback Sheets' to the clients to fill in and return. This is so the client can report on how good (or bad) the act was. The agents rarely ever go out to see the acts, I guess they figure it's the clients opinion (not the agents) that really matters. If your report comes back with anything less than 'Excellent' checked, your work will dry up very quickly. So that leaves us with a dilemna. Where do we go to try out our new ideas? This year we have found an assisted living centre that's very happy to have us visit once a month to entertain the elderly residents, and in return we get to try out new material. Last year, we decided to put on a show. Not just a show, but a 'Spooktacular' for Halloween. Sue-Anne, with the assistance of a small but dedicated team, put together a spooky walkthrough complete with holographic head, graveyard scene, headless man, butcher shop and coffin. Mat, in the role of Igor, became the walkthrough host, as well as our on-stage assistant for the show. The show itself was over 2 hours long and featured about 70% new material. (There's an outline of the show here: http://magicunlimited.typepad.com/magic_......ook.html ) Between Sue-Anne and myself (who for some reason seemed to be too busy to rehearse in the lead up to the show) with the assistance of Mat we somehow pulled the show together. We hired in lighting and an operator, Mat supplied the audio and, at the last minute, an extra 20 seats when we discovered the 120 seat hall only had 100 chairs! We had to hire a second van to cart all the gear and we couldn't even get into the hall to set up until after lunch. It was an epic. By the time we started the show we were exhausted! As Mat said, we barely stuck to the script and ad-libbed our way through it. The thing I found most interesting was the way that a storyline started to develop in the show. It was completely unintentional, it's just that Mat's character Igor, our servant, was so strong, the audience was really interested in how he was reacting to situations and how his relationship with us was developing. It's fascinating to look back on the DVD and see a collection of tricks with a show trying to emerge from within them. Do you agree Mat?
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www.timellismagic.com Visit our online shop for instant downloads and ebooks https://shop.timellismagic.com/ Blog - www.magicunlimited.typepad.com |
MatBlack New user 58 Posts |
I think one of the great 'freedoms' when it comes to performing is the opportunity (and, some would say, ability) to take on a very characterized role. It allows you to act, and react in a way that would be otherwise so out of character to your normal persona, that you would effectively 'Jarr' your audience every time you acted out.
Sue-Anne (who also trained in acting) knows what I mean (just read the posts about her portrayal of Jeanie) Basically It allowed Tim and Sue-Anne to, by only slightly modifying their usual on-stage personas, to effectively play the role of Master and Mistress, while giving me fre-reign to act up, out and just, plain ‘thick’ at every opportunity. And, yes, amongst all the carry on…a show did in fact emerge. A bunch of new illusions and effects that were cobbled together in record time, under extremely difficult conditions became a piece of successful entertainment. But, surely we’re not the only ones to hold shows specifically to try out new stuff? Surely we’re not the only ones to find a show becoming more like ‘theatre’ without really trying? What have others experienced? M@ |
The Magic Cafe Forum Index » » The March 2006 entrée: Tim Ellis & Sue-Anne Webster » » Where's Igor??? » » TOPIC IS LOCKED (0 Likes) |
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