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learachel Elite user 446 Posts |
I saw you in Lecture a few weeks ago in Belgium, very good lecture , but I saw the same lecture there is more than 15 years!! may be many young magicians never met you!but you have you invented many effects since your last book! but why no news routines or personnal effects?may be you keep the secrets for you! ;-) it's a simple question,if I shocked you, I am sorry.Because It's always a real pleasure to met you! and sorry for my bad english!
Simon |
Michael Ammar Creative Spotlight Guest 83 Posts |
Hello, and thank you for asking about this. Yes, many of the things in my lectures have been around for a long time, such as the Cups and Balls, The Topit work, and the Coins thru Silk. The problem I run into sometimes is that sometimes people simply want to see these things again, even if they did see them 15 years ago. It is like when you go to a concert -- some people get mad if they don't hear songs they know!
There was a time when I thought I needed to change my lecture every 2 - 3 years to something new. Then I started asking at each lecture, "How many are seeing me live for the first time..." I was amazed by how many people raise their hands. If it has been more than 3 or 4 years since I've been some place, then frequently more than 80% of the people raise their hands. So there I am in front of what is essentially a new audience, or a small percentage of people who haven't seen me in several years. In this situation, I feel the right approach is to feature several of my signature piece effects that people might've associated with me, and then go on to add about 15% new material every 4 or 5 years. This works in most cases. I admit, it isn't as good for people like yourself, who are in magic for life, and therefore, you HAVE seen a lot of that stuff before. But to be clear and accurate, I should point out that the Card in Balloon I did in Belgium was new for the lecture, and while I have done the Bill to Peanut in Europe before, I only came up with that routine about 10 years ago, so it couldn't have been in the lecture 15 years ago. I wish I knew what was truly the best approach, but after years of thinking about this, I'm still trying to figure out the right way to go about it. I'm aware of the fact that some people DO come back to the lecture many years later, and that some of them have vivid memories of what they saw last time, but when the majority of people are seeing me live for the first time, I also feel that as a general rule, they would prefer to see some of the 'classics.' I hope that at least this gives you some idea as to why I go about it the way that I do, but at the same time, if you have any suggestions, as you can tell, I'd love to get some good advice about this! |
Matt Graves Special user Huntsville, Alabama (USA) 504 Posts |
Haha, this is interesting to me, because I'm the guy who would get mad if I went to a concert and didn't hear my old favorite song. In fact, I was very disappointed that when I finally got to see David Copperfield, he isn't doing the old classic illusions I saw him do on TV when I was little. I think the Garth Brooks philosophy is best, making the show about 85% old stuff, which is what you're doing, so I'll telling you nothing new. But in his big Central Park concert, the biggest concert he ever did, Garth played only TWO songs off his new CD, out of a set of about 20 songs. And the crowd loved it. I'd say stick with that philosophy. You can always shoehorn in new stuff, but what if somebody waited their whole life to see you lecture and then when they finally did, missed out on the Cups and Balls? To me that would be worse than a few people finding it predictable. Personally, when I saw you lecture, the Cups and Balls was the best part, even though I'd watched it so much on my tape of the World's Greatest Magic that I could practically recite your lines along with you.
:D So I think you have the right idea. Just my opinion. |
what Special user Lehi, UT, USA 643 Posts |
Quote:
On 2006-04-27 16:12, serling307 wrote: Now that would be a crime. LOL. It's worth going to Michael Ammars lecture just to see the Cup & Balls. It's also worth it to see the Topit work, and the floating Dollar bill, and the Coins thru Silk. There are more, but I will return to Michael Ammars lecture just to see those items again. I'm squarely with serling307 on this one.
Magic is fun!!!
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Snidini Special user 776 Posts |
Michael, you will be coming to Chicago soon and doing a few lectures there. I am looking forward to your visit. My question is this; will these all be the same lecture or will you mix it up a bit to entice us to come out to the various venues and see you again? Thanks for the reply.
Snidini |
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