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Dick Oslund Inner circle 8357 Posts |
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On 2013-03-27 22:58, jay leslie wrote: Jay! We must have had the same mother!!! I started working with balls (Ireland Golf balls in the '40s). Started out doing the basic multiplying balls (John Booth routine from "Marvels of Mystery") After a few years, bits of business, flourishes and a ball and silk bit were added--and eventually 'took over'! The bits and flourishes, etc. got stronger response than the mult. routine. I bought some of Frank Radtke's first Tournament balls, Most of my work has been in schools and colleges.(Lyceum and concerts) When I do hospitality suites, college all nighters, etc., the ball routine if GREAT. Visual effect, visible props, versatile (age groups, etc.) No set up, angle proof, packs small, plays big, spot adaptable, recognizable props, and no table surface needed. It's also excellent 'eye candy' stuff. A couple years ago, I had a strolling corporate cocktail party (pre Holiday banquet)in New Orleans. About a hundred people.Posh room, BUT, lighting was limited to Christmas trees and tiny wall atmosphere lights. The gig was one hour. I did SON OF MORNING (lit match in TT almost exclusively! That, plus a fast coin "complete" vanish, and a bracelet off ribbon, where enough light existed, was "it" for the night. Occasionally, when a small group was in a corner with some ambient light, the balls did their 'thing'. I had a deck to do fancy shuffles and flourishes, and a piece of rope for knots, etc., they never left my pocket. Some one up this thread, said, to leave the magic shop props at home, and depend on sleights and a few "ordinary items". YES!
SNEAKY, UNDERHANDED, DEVIOUS,& SURREPTITIOUS ITINERANT MOUNTEBANK
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magicalmilton Regular user London/Mallorca 172 Posts |
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On 2013-04-08 21:09, Kaylan wrote: Unfortunately, DVD's tend to lack a certain reality around performance. for instance, where I perform (which is typical of nightclub magic) it gets so cramped that you are touching other people whenever you stand still and when you move you are pressing up against people. It thus become impractical to do trick that require more than a few centimetres of space (up to a 1/4 of a meter distance maximum). On these DVD's most of the routines were designed with vastly greater space in mind. Also the use of a table is obsolete as the only tables to be seen are in VIP areas and these are covered in Vaseline (or some other wax like adhesive to combat them being used for drug taking). The noise, whilst audibly dominating, is only one of several factors that needs to be taken into account. The most important of which, in my opinion, is the reason why people are there in the first place (to get laid). Once this has been solidified you begin to see that whilst technically elegant, two card transpositions of random packets of cards are actually quite nerdy and the testosterone ridden psyche of the average male drunk will have you labelled a nerd for the rest of the night. This could, however, just be a cultural difference between performing in the UK and the US. |
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magicalmilton Regular user London/Mallorca 172 Posts |
Sorry, that last post appears a lot ruder than I intended it to be. It was meant to highlight that other, more dominating factors should be considered when performing in nightclubs, than just noise. Even though noise does also need to be considered.
I also have to say that the billiard balls works fantastically well in this environment, far better than I originally thought (I took the courage to bring them out of hibernation for the last two days), and I really wish that I was better at this form of magic and sleights/flourishes (I come at magic, like most, from the predominately pasteboard perspective). There is also precedent of billiard ball magic working in other, equally challenging environments such as Street Magic (Real street magic i.e Jim Cellini). Could you please point me in the direction of more resources on Billiard ball routines and sleights/flourishes. Many Thanks |
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Mind illusionist Special user Australia 949 Posts |
Thanks for the kind words Sam! Yeh I think ive decided not to go with delites haha. I havent been performing much in club setting, but I'm curious to try out some palm reading if I can find a more quiet part of the club. I was also thinking of doing some metal bending, coins perhaps. A fork seems a bit out of place?
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magicalmilton Regular user London/Mallorca 172 Posts |
Hey Jordan, your welcome!
Finding the quiet part of a club is often like trying to find the dry part of the sea lol, remember it was designed for music (to be heard loudly everywhere) not magic, the quietest part is probably the smoking area however I would avoid palm reading like the plague especially in the smoking area. It reeks of a "hit on" and the smoking area is often the seediest part of the club. Coin bends are good but, as I said before, ensure that you can repeat it near endless number of times and never perform it as a "superman" style strength showing-off... all you need is one person to view it as a challenge... As for fork bending, you would need to find a way of justifying the fork (an introduction and a disappearance that are both visual and clear, situationally) which I think is a bit of a stretch. Effects that I have started to play around with are the omni-deck (replacing the disposable decks, reactions to this have been insane!), Re-max Iceolation (only for VIP's and performed with their ID/Credit card, its the best effect I have ever seen) and IUnlockYourMind (sooo much stuff you can do with this!) I hope this is helpful Sam |
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Dick Oslund Inner circle 8357 Posts |
On Sept 12, 2012 (!!!!) Michael BAKER talked about "DECK NUMBER FIVE"!
Back in the '70s, I was at "the now closed forever" SCHULIENS in Chicago. For those too young--or far away--to know, SCHULIENS was a "carriage trade" restaurant. (white table cloths, etc.) where MATT SCHULIEN had been the owner-host-magician for YEARS. MATT'S SON, CHUCK, had "inherited" the "owner-host-magician" title. Chuck and I were talking, over a cup of coffee, about "backstage stuff" and I had noticed that he used ED DRANE cards. He said, "They hold up better. I do a lot of stuff in which cards get destroyed. After I do a table, I toss the (now incomplete)deck in a shoe box behind the bar. By the end of the evening, there may be FIFTEEN of more decks in that box! One of the morning bartender's duties is to spread those cards on the bar and make up full decks for use that night!" I just thought that Michael would enjoy this little bit of trivia!
SNEAKY, UNDERHANDED, DEVIOUS,& SURREPTITIOUS ITINERANT MOUNTEBANK
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magicalmilton Regular user London/Mallorca 172 Posts |
There is actually video footage of Chick Schulien performing as part of one of the Edward Marlo videos... though I forget which one.
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Mind illusionist Special user Australia 949 Posts |
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On Mar 4, 2014, magicalmilton wrote: Thanks Sam, that is helpful feedback! Yes don't worry I never do coin bends as a feat of strength. I always like to make the spec believe they bend the coin, as it is in their hands. Hmm perhaps il have to take the palm reading somewhere else haha, have you performed in more of a pub setting before? |
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magicalmilton Regular user London/Mallorca 172 Posts |
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Thanks Sam, that is helpful feedback! I have done, but no where near as much as some of the other members on this forum... pubs are a bit quite for me ha! |
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Mind illusionist Special user Australia 949 Posts |
Ahaha, Ive only had a one gig at a pub before, and it wasnt quite! But I did manage to do quite a bit of mentalism which was good. even a blindfold routine which worked splendidly!
Ok, fair enough. I shall perhaps seek another part of the forum then, cheers man! |
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Mind illusionist Special user Australia 949 Posts |
Hello night club magician friends, Im back with another question haha. Just wondering how you started out in this field, ie how did you market yourself to the clubs? I may have an opportunity to promote myself to a nightclub soon as part of another gig, and just wondering the best way to go about it!
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magicalmilton Regular user London/Mallorca 172 Posts |
Ok, the key points to marketing yourself to a nightclub are that you will increase both the amount of customers and the speed at which they drink, whilst simultaniously reducing violence and improving the quality of the experience for customers. In other words you improve both the product that the club is offering to customers and improve the promotion of the bar/club to new customers (primarily via creating word of mouth testimonials and recommendations). This next point is perhaps the most important: do not go in telling them that you are the best magician in the world and that everyone will be blown away. You cannot seriouly expect them to believe that you are the best magician in the world but the world is yet to notice. Be modest. Be considerate of their position (they want to make as big a profit as they can, Period) and really understand that if they they had £1000's spare per night to spend, they would probably save for a building expansion/ second venue and not hire an unknown magician. This might sound harsh but I am now performing in Mallorca on Magaluf strip and there were two magicians out here before me, neither of whom were offered jobs, I asked the venue manager why I was picked over them and he said that I was the first magician he had met who hadnt acted like some diva d-ckhead. Ask them for a trial to show them what you can do and then just perform. Let your magic speak for itself and more importantly, let your spectators be the ones to tell the manager that you are the best they've ever seen, instead of trying to convince the manager that you "will be" the best that they "will have" ever seen. Paying customers are far more convincing. My standard starting ask is £125 (same as dj, if anyone questions this, ask them who people are talking about more at the end of the night... the DJ or you?) (which as far as I can tell is average) but this will vary from venue to venue and when I started I asked for a lot less than that per night. No matter what they offer (after you impress them at the trial) make sure 100% of your tips go to you. Very often your tips will more than double your wage.
Not much more I can say apart from that. |
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jay leslie V.I.P. Southern California 9498 Posts |
Dick, My mentor was Jim Swoger. He had the gift when it came to non gimmick routines with coins, cards, thimbles but most of all ball sleights. He was very natural, now you see it and now you don't... as opposed to guess what hand it's in.
He also had the gift when it came to mechanical devices, both performing and manufacturing. Then he had the gift of an entire workshop and business he sold me for a dollar. But to get on track. In the initial post, Sam mentioned that he didn't dress flashy because he didn't want to be a target for aggressive drunks. A. Get out of the clubs where everyone is in their 20s B. If you like that kind of pressure then you might want to carry some Puzzle Oriented stuff = as a way to divert their attention so you can exit. Like the tying the knot over the arm bit where you put your hand through a loop trick. Or a puzzle ring. Give the drunks a job to do and they will either push-away or get so immersed that their attitude changes..... usually. Also, carry an old beat-up deck of cards you can give them when they demand - and you can exit. Just wait till they are occupied and the attention is on them...... This usually works if you say "That's a great trick but I've seen it before.... show him":)
Jay Leslie
www.TheHouseOfEnchantment.com |
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magicalmilton Regular user London/Mallorca 172 Posts |
Deck give aways are great, and you can often get the place you are performing to print and supply their own cards (there are no better flyers in the world than ones that people will keep in their wallet for years after) so instead of this being an inconvienience, it looks good on you from a management perspective. Point A above is irrelevant to this discussion. All clubs have people of all ages. Most clubs attract younger clients and on a discussion regarding nightclubs you cannot avoid dealing with those in their 20's.
As for dressing flashy, it is a tough one and in many ways it is personal preference... out here there is no point because most people are in flip flops, bakinis and swim shorts. I've seen two mankinis being worn and the season is yet to start. Ultimately I take the view that there is no point in trying to "dress yourself out of/above the situation". Black is appropriate in a nightclub, tails and top hat rarely are. Getting people to show their trick to their mates is a really good ploy, I have used it often with great effect. |
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jay leslie V.I.P. Southern California 9498 Posts |
Well. You started off asking for advice then answered everyones questions expertly, so I think you have it handled.
Good luck.
Jay Leslie
www.TheHouseOfEnchantment.com |
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General_Magician Special user United States 707 Posts |
Night club magic sounds like a challenging and maybe a fun venue for performance. Personally, I prefer to perform at a family friendly environment and performing for families. Not sure if the whole nightclub scene would suit me, though I could probably make it fun. It just seems that a family environment is more healthy and wholesome to me. The idea of performing for a bunch of drunks is not really appealing, yet some of the tricks for the environment are fun to perform.
"Never fear shadows. They simply mean there is a light shining somewhere nearby." -unknown
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magicalmilton Regular user London/Mallorca 172 Posts |
Hi Jay, my apologies I didn't realise how rude that sounded until I read it back to myself just now. I meant that there are so few clubs that do not cater, in some way, to those in their 20's that to ignore them may be cutting off a large and viable income stream.
Performing in nightclubs is challenging and so the more experienced people sharing their experiences the better, I did not mean any disrespect. Of course many of us will have different ways of handling each situation as well as have different reasoning behind why we handling each situation the way that we do. With regards to dress/attire I was trying to give the reasoning to my former stated way of handling. I did not wish to state an argumentative disagreement so much as a preferential one. |
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Merc Man Inner circle NUNEATON, Warwickshire 2537 Posts |
Give me an English pub with half-boozed clientele over a formal, boring wedding any day of the week.
Pubs are where people are generally having fun and getting p*ssed. Wedding receptions are places where at least 50% of the guests feel uncomfortable; and don't appear to even want to be there in the first place. I know precisely how they feel; I've personally hated family/friends wedding receptions when I've been a guest. Boring and cringeworthy unfunny speeches, fake reactions, woeful poncey food, getting lumbered on a table with utter borons.......the list goes on. Get a crowd of boozed-up people on your side, and you are deemed a miracle worker. (As well as being able to get away with bloody murder at times)! It takes experience, the right material and a certain character to feel at home within these environments - but I absolutely adore them. And although a Brit, oh how I 'd just love to get in a time-machine and go back to see my all-time magic hero, Matt Schulien, in full flow.
Barry Allen
Over 14 years have passed - and still missing Abra Magazine arriving every Saturday morning. |
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Gordon the discombobulator Loyal user 246 Posts |
How do you deal with the noise from the music ?
Do you tend to shout a lot in order to be heard ? |
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magicalmilton Regular user London/Mallorca 172 Posts |
I tend to just use universal actions that people will understand no matter what. This is a good skill to learn, even if you are not performing in nightclubs, in case you get booked for an international gig where you do not speak the language.
Or get them to lean in which is fantastic misdirection! |
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