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mediamonk Regular user Walla Walla 103 Posts |
Just a thought for the day...Your delivery of magic is key. A magic trick without delivery is just that a trick. A magic trick with proper delivery, timing and routining is magic. I'm not saying that everything you do must have a story, not everyone is a storyteller, but it must be confident and have a logical progression. I do magic for my wife's youth group and have at least one admirerer(sp?) there. She told me last week that some kids in the HS band were doing magic, and it was okay, but without a good delivery it just wasn't that special. I'll echo many on the Café in saying take a speech class, take an acting class, join toastmasters. Do something and never stop improving.
Stephen
"There are two ways of living life. One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as though everything is." -Albert Einstein
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StephenP Regular user 103 Posts |
Thanks, fellow Stephen. I've heard it in various ways but I certainly think it bears repeating. I was being lazy practicing a new trick for my wife and she noted the lack of "oomph."
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harris Inner circle Harris Deutsch 8812 Posts |
Improvisation classes and workshops are important to this Doctor of Laughology.
Packaging (which will be determined by your character, venue, ....) is as you say important. So is the order of when you include a particular trick/routine within a show. Toastmasters was very helpful to me. So was drama and movement classes I took in college. Every once and a while I will audition for something...even when I am not really looking to be in a production..just to stretch my skills.
Harris Deutsch aka dr laugh
drlaugh4u@gmail.com music, magic and marvelous toys http://magician.org/member/drlaugh4u |
Mary Mowder Inner circle Sacramento / Elk Grove, CA 3659 Posts |
Good point mediamonk.
This is one place where you need to use your imagination while practicing. Imagine yourself performing and delivering lines and people's reaction to them. Imagine they are a warm and friendly group, that you are the life of the party and that you like them. Imagine smiling (if it's in your character) and making easy eye contact. To imagine such a scene you have to imagine what you would say that would get this response and what your motivation is for saying such things. This really helped me. Good luck to all. - Mary Mowder |
mediamonk Regular user Walla Walla 103 Posts |
Mary,
You make a good point about "if it's in your character." If you step too far outside your character things just feel off. I'm learning Sam the Bellhop currently and have had to adapt the storytelling style to my character. I am NOT Bill Malone. I can't be. StephenP...Funny thing, my last name starts with P. I thought I was having a weird out of body experience for a moment.
"There are two ways of living life. One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as though everything is." -Albert Einstein
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Cyberqat Inner circle You can tell I work on the net from my 2209 Posts |
The other thing I've always found helpful is to keep it magic *to you*.
that's one of many reasons to practice til you are instinctual with it. If you don't feel the magic, neither will your audience.
It is always darkest just before you are eaten by a grue.
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Gulyás Imre Miklós Regular user Budapest, Hungary 185 Posts |
Actually it's amazing how much the delivery in itself can change a trick.
In particular, I know at least 3 or 4 different deliveries of the Chicago Opener, all of them totally changing the context and the whole experience.
I took the Pledge
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Earful New user A Magical Place, CA. 29 Posts |
So....some options for delivery might be..
1. create a alter-ego or character 2. be funny 3. be natural or "yourself" anyone else have more to add the the Top Hat??!!
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"live and let Amaze" |
DWRackley Inner circle Chattanooga, TN 1909 Posts |
Carl Davis (my "mentor" of 30 years ago) had a routine he called "The World's Laziest Magician". I don't know if it was borrowed or original to him, but it was a hilarious version of a very simple cut and restored rope. He had audience helpers holding the ends of the rope and walking back and forth to bring the knot within his reach. It played for over 10 minutes, had people doubled over laughing, and it was at its core a single cut and restore.
Topic Title says it all "Delivery IS key"
...what if I could read your mind?
Chattanooga's Premier Mentalist Donatelli and Company at ChattanoogaPerformers.com also on FaceBook |
mediamonk Regular user Walla Walla 103 Posts |
Knowing yourself is important as well. I have come to realize that "Comedy Magic", as in side-splitting, hilarious patter, is not me. I do dry wit and observation pretty well, but comedy writing eludes me. Things go much better when I remember that.
"There are two ways of living life. One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as though everything is." -Albert Einstein
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Cyberqat Inner circle You can tell I work on the net from my 2209 Posts |
Yup. I can do a bit of humor, but I'm not a clown type.
I can also do a bit of action but I'm not an action hero type, and mostly I do that with humor. I'm best either being "playful", "whistful" (generally silent routines to music), or matter of fact.
It is always darkest just before you are eaten by a grue.
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DWRackley Inner circle Chattanooga, TN 1909 Posts |
Humor (correctly applied) can change people's brain chemistry so completely it's like mental surgery.
My personal preference is an (hopefully) intelligent (and sometimes nostalgic) social commentary, without crossing too many ideologies. I want the story to be the entertainment, with the Magic as illustration, aiming for a cross between Garrison Keillor, Danny Thomas and what I imagine Samuel Clemens would be like (but without copying Hal Holbrook). Don't know how closely I hit it, but people laugh where they're supposed to, and that's a good sign, I think. I've always enjoyed making people laugh, and it's getting much easier to "slip into character". Steve Allen used to talk about getting his best comic material from reading a newspaper. The Internet opens VAST resources for that purpose. It's interesting, Cyberqat. "Playful" is hard for me, unless I'm mimicing a character. And even then it's definitely a mockup, not natural at all.
...what if I could read your mind?
Chattanooga's Premier Mentalist Donatelli and Company at ChattanoogaPerformers.com also on FaceBook |
rklew64 Inner circle 1265 Posts |
I so agree on this point that seem to escape many younger budding magicians.
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