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Sean Macfarlane Special user 880 Posts |
Hi Steve,
Since you have performed so many shows I am sure every now and then you have a bad show for whatever reason. (Like a mistake happens or something unexpected throws you off or just simply a bad day) You walk away just not feeling good about it. What advice would you give for the performance blues. Best, Sean |
Pete Biro 1933 - 2018 18558 Posts |
PMFJI, but if you know Steve he'd NEVER have performance blues.
STAY TOONED... @ www.pete-biro.com
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Steve Spill V.I.P. 211 Posts |
Boy oh boy, Sean, you and Pete have opened a big can of worms. You can do lotsa good shows, but you always remember the bad ones. You can't really die of embarassment, but it can definitely feel like it. More than other shows, a magic show in particular, is a test of Murphy's Law... the rule of science that says, If something can go wrong, it will. And at the worst possible time." But don't worry Sean, after a few years those bad shows will become amusing... Here's a few memories that spring to mind:
Back in 1980 Bob Sheets and I were doing a dinner theater show back in the Washington DC area. It was a long run and from time to time things went wrong, particularly with our Floating Volunteer bit. One time, after our usual dramatic intro, selection process, hypnotizing, the giggly party girl refuses to levitate, She just lies there... ten minutes of build up and no pay off. We felt like jerks. Another pretty young thing is happily floating in mid air, but Bob and I can't seem to summon the power to return her to Earth. Bob threw her over his shoulder and carried her to safety... in the air above the sawhorses is the levitating plywood board. A girl in a low cut evening gown, as the board starts to go up, her right breast starts to go out. Another volunteer goes up, she starts peeing in her panties... I could go on and on with stories about that *** Gamolo trick. Here's a classic that happened in South Africa during my tour of duty in a casino show called Spellbound: The souviner program says "...brought to you in part by Nissan." Since Nissan paid for the printing of the programs and provided complimentary cars for us to drive they got a big plug in the middle of the show. There's a puff of smoke... and a new Nissan maxima appears in front of a white picket fence as a recorded announcement says "The new Nissan Maxima, built better to last longer." A showgirl gets outta the car as the music comes to a crescendo. It's a black art deal. The car is behind the fence, the backround is black and the car is covered with a big black velvet covered nylon cloth. The car is a super light replica... just a shell of a car on a big skateboard, the heaviest part being the showgirl inside. With he aid of special lighting and under the cover of the puff of smoke, when the announcer says "... built better to last longer.." the picket fence opens as a gaggle of hooded stage hands dressed in black, whisk away the cloth and push the car into view and the fence closes behind it. The illusion requires split second timing to coordinate the lighting, smoke, stagehands, and showgirl. Nissan executives are in the front row eagerly awaiting their commercial. The timing is off, as the smoke clears one of the stage hands trips and his end of the nylon cloth gets caught in the door at the same instant the flimsy car is pushed forward. The mix of the cloth pulling one way as the car is being pushed the other way in combination with the girl's actions causes the feather-weight door to fall off... as the girl stumbles forward the last part of the nylon is whisked away... taking the front bumper with it. "The Nissan Maxima, built better to last longer." |
Bill Hallahan Inner circle New Hampshire 3222 Posts |
Wow! That is a great story. I am really laughing out loud, with tears in my eyes!
Ouch! All the stories are great, but you certainly built up towards that one. . . . I've been sitting here for over 30 seconds thinking what to type next, and I just spontaneously started laughing again when I pictured that image again. I've had a pretty bad day today, and you've just made it all disappear with your post! Thanks!
Humans make life so interesting. Do you know that in a universe so full of wonders, they have managed to create boredom. Quite astonishing.
- The character of ‘Death’ in the movie "Hogswatch" |
tedski Special user New Jersey 792 Posts |
That is so funny - had me laughing as much as Mike Close's book.
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Sean Macfarlane Special user 880 Posts |
Nice!!!! Love the stories. I agree that time is the best thing for letting those embarrassing shows go. Thanks for stories Steve!!
Sean |
magicduro Special user Las Vegas 529 Posts |
Thanks Steve, That was hysterical!!!
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BobSheets V.I.P. 169 Posts |
Yo Steve- So funny to read the Gamolo story. You should tell everyone about the sub trunk. Lot's of stories with that one... Tell them about when you broke your ankle...LOL...
You're the best. bob. |
Steve Spill V.I.P. 211 Posts |
Nice to hear from you Bobby. For those of you too young to know or new to magic, Bob Sheets is one of the most hilarious and amazing magicians ever. He is about to embark on a nationwide lecture tour, when he's in your area GO SEE HIM and bring lots of money to buy all his cool stuff. It's not often a real worker tips his stuff and seeing him lecture is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.
25 years ago Bob and I did a great routine with the sub trunk. I'm Harry Houdini and Bob dressed as my wife Bess Houdini. Houdini had a large Mexican lunch today. So, I'm locked in the trunk... with lots of trapped gas. At the moment I'm ready to vanish and reappear, the most pro-longed fart ever escapes from me... startled for a fraction of an instant, I lose my footing during the switcheroo with Bob and twist my ankle. But it's okay I finish the trick and the show without a problem. Bob is trapped in the trunk with my fart and the odor is overwhelming... tears well up in his eyes. The volunteers removing the chains and locks are a little slow... Hallelujah... the trunk is finally unlocked and we are about to release Bob, I tell the audience "We gotta get him out quick, when I was in the trunk I broke wind." The line works great and I keep it in the act. After the show I'm in excruciating pain and my ankle is the size of a softball. It's broken. Now my ankle is in a plaster cast and I'm walking with a cane. I can still do the show except for the Houdini routine which is too physically demanding. A member of our illustrious squad of table-hopping magicians, John Kennedy (one of today's great original close-up inventors/marketers) is rehearsed to take my place in the Houdini bit. John doesn't speak. He's not mute, just a little shy trying to be funny in front of 150 people. We have a solution. He wears the Houdini outfit and does the trick, but I do the dialogue. One funny sequence happens when Bob slams the lid on the trunk and it looks like John's hand is smashed. His hand is smashed and I'm the one who screams in pain. The audience also screams and Bob lifts the lid. I show everyone... actually John shows everyone... it was just a fake rubber hand, and Bob and I sing a few bars of the Village People's hit song "Macho, Macho,Man." The situation brings a lot of new comedy to the routine. Bob and I feel pretty confortable with this new arrangement. Then... the show comes when John's hand really does get smashed. He has broken fingers. I have a broken ankle. Mr. and Mrs. Houdini are on hiatus. |
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