JADE,

Concerning presentation, would you share with us your process?
When you work on a theme for a show do you start with the story you want to tell and then pick illusions that will help you tell that story, or do you look at what illusions you have and try to develop a story around the illusions?

One mark of professionalism is being able to tie several illusions into a routine and then several routines into a presentation.

Could you give some insight as to how you approach this process and any suggestions for magicians wanted to step it up to the next level?

Thank you,
Kipp Sherry

Hi Kipp,

My imagination for a potential act/routine is affected by many things. Sometimes the story comes together by something I see in movies, or story lines from folklore and children's stories. Sometimes it's just my imagination going wild when I hear a song or instrumental piece. Here, it's all pure emotion. I pay attention to how the music makes me feel. My movements are then affected by that feeling. Sometimes they're strong and powerful, sometimes they're soft and gentle.

Because I'm such a visual person, I can see the images in my mind before I create it in real life. If it all looks and feels right, I move on to either purchasing the prop(s) or borrowing it/them to see if it/they will actuall work out the way I imagined it. Of course, in my creating stage, I make notes with words and drawings on paper so I can refer to them at a later point.

If you have an illusion you'd like to use but are not sure about the story line, that's okay. Maybe you can make up the story in your introduction to the piece and then proceed to go into the effect. The proper lighting, music, and staging can really help transport the audience to that magical place you've just introduced them to earlier.

Putting a story together to present an illusion is a very complicated process I think. If you are really interested in going in depth to study the how and why's of the subject, you might consider getting in touch with Joanie Spina. She's a real pro on teaching someone this exact topic. I'll see if she's interested in taking on any students.

Hope this little bit helps.

Good luck,
Jade