What is the best way to do the right presentation for a trick or routine?



What do I have to study to create one?

Can anyone help me?



Thanks

Massimo

There is no best or right way to do a presentation for a trick, as the presentation is a very personal thing that should be unique to you.



As long as you perform the trick competently in a confident and relaxed manner, in a STYLE THAT FITS YOU, then that is fine. The more you perform the trick, the more you will think about the handling, different or better things to say, more natural handlings for you. Your presentation develops through using the trick. Sometimes you might be able to tie in patter that connects the effect with something you are interested in outside of magic, a movie, or a way of doing something.



Hope these comments were helpful

Paul Hallas

Massimo:



If you do not already own a copy of Eugene Burger's MASTERING THE ART OF MAGIC, buy one. I think you will find the answers to many of your questions between the covers of that book.



-Marty

Thank you!

I'll follow your suggestions.



Practice, practice and practice until to find my personal presentation.



Massimo

If you want to learn about performing magic, a dramatic art, you could learn about acting and theater through many different resources. Books, workshops, community theater (with caution ) are great places to read about acting theory and technique.



All of this applies directly to magic and the creation of it's presentations. In the latest issue of AM/PM literally just finished you will find detailed descriptions for presentations as well as work from two Cafe members.

Masimax,

No, you misunderstood, I didn't suggest you:

"Practice, practice and practice until to find my personal presentation."



When I said:

"The more you perform the trick, the more you will think about the handling, different or better things to say, more natural handlings for you. Your presentation develops through using the trick."



I meant performance not practice, working for real people. Getting real feedback, experiencing how people react to the trick and listening to what they say.



Learning magic tricks is a bit like learning to drive. Only AFTER passing the driving test do you really learn how to drive. With magic, only when performing the effects for a lay audience do you start to learn the best way to present them, what really works for you.



The book mentioned by Burger is good, as is his "The Performance of Close Up Magic" And "Strong Magic" by Ortiz.



Paul Hallas.

Good advice from Paul.

If you perform for lay audiences long enough, a presentation and a style will evolve on its own. It will be yours, not something learned from someone else, or something forced.

Paul’s "driving" analogy is a good one. And in magic, like driving, you never stop learning.

So your presentation is always changing.

But, if you keep performing in front of lay audiences, it is changing to fit YOU.

cheers,

Peter Marucci

showtimecol@aol.com

Paul Hallas,

Thank you for your suggestions.

Yes, "practice" was the wrong word, but in my mind it was "practice and performance".

Practice the trick and presentation before performing it for layman.

I have a problem:

"But if I perform my magic trick for real person and I wrong my execution of it, I’ve "burned" (can’t use anymore) sleight involved and the trick for that person."

I know that this is the only way to learn perfectly how to perform, but I have some doubt, can you help me?


Thanks

Massimo

In my first reply to you I said:

"As long as you perform the trick competently .."

You should practice the trick well enough that you will not expose the mechanics in performance, then start to show lay people. Your presentation of the effect then starts to grow.

The presentation of an effect is nothing to do with the mechanics of it. Eugene Burger’s presentation of Card Warp or Gipsy Thread does not alter the methods in anyway, they are just story presentations he has developed over the years to personalize the effects.

I really don’t think I can add anymore on this. Try and obtain the books suggested earlier.


Paul.

Tom, Paul, Peter,

All really great suggestions. It’s really tough when you just start out because you have a bunch of tricks and using them looks like a big, blank piece of paper. Just like everyone said, there’s no easy answer and time will be your best teacher, but I can give you a few hints.

Tom’s idea of extra studies is an excellent one. Study drama, dance, speech, anything that gets you in front of people. So much of magic is just confidence in being in front of people. You could have a bag of tricks that literally did the tricks for you and this would still be hard; I know.

This is also like any other art, you’ll copy the masters before you find your own voice. Some magicians who’ve been doing this for years forget what it’s like, but I know you’ll have to start somewhere. Watch anyone you can, perform: watch how they act, how they perform, how they handle the audience. You’ll probably be reciting patter straight out of the box for awhile and that’s ok. It won’t be long before you’re making up your own stuff and most of it will come out while you’re performing.

Just jump in and go. Don’t be afraid if you mess up, even if you accidentally expose a trick. It will happen, it happens to the best of us. Don’t worry, people have short memories and one trick blown is not the whole bag, and besides, it’s just one guy or one group. There’s always another day.

Practice your moves, watch the masters, perform for others and develop your style (probably in that order).

Have a blast!

Sable

One suggestion I would make, after you have got a few effects under your belt and have given some thought to what is right for you in terms of presentation, is to read Darwin Ortiz's "Strong Magic". Some people hate it, some people love it, but either way reading it is a good way of standing back and looking at your magic and really thinking hard about what it is that you do and why.



Andrew

Yes, Andrew, I mentioned that in my second post!

Paul



Sorry, must have missed your reference to it on my reading through.



Either that or I must have thought it was worth repeating a different way!! :



Andrew

I think the only thing I could add to this is to not get so completely absorbed in the mechanics or the psychology of the effect - so that you lose sight of the real world! By that I mean... keep reading the newspapers... keep watching the tv - but keep an eye out for anything you can use.

From what I’ve heard and read of Peter’s work, he definitely uses things that are happening in the real world as a part of his presentation.

In the end, it's about relating to people... and any emotional hook is going to be a good one.

Craig makes a very good point, one that is often so obvious that we forget about it.

You absolutely must keep abreast of your audience.

If you do comedy, and are still doing Clinton-Lewinsky jokes, then you’re the one I’m talking about!

Or if you do kids’ shows, and are still doing tricks with a nursery rhyme theme instead of something taken from Harry Potter or Lord of the Rings, for example, then you’re another one I’m talking about.

You wouldn’t want to watch a magician that was using lines you discarded in Grade 6, so why would your audience?

Read everything; keep on top of as much as you can; you can find ideas for new routines just about everywhere.

And, when it has outlived it's usefulness, be absolutely ruthless, and cut it!

cheers,

Peter Marucci

showtimecol@aol.com

I'll second that!



Paul

Ok! I’ve understood and I would thank you for your help.

I’ll try to find the books you suggested for an extra help.



bye

Massimo