Last night I worked a venue where the consumer told me they would have their own system including a mike stand.

Murphy's law, they did not. I made a mike holder with a rope (could have used a wire hanger). Later in my program my wife became the mike stand. Usually she is just there for the writing and director's notes.

Her latest line made its debut last night.

After one of my more manic bits, I asked the audience if they knew what ADHD was.

They shook there heads.

I then looked at my wife and quipped, "Annie says it is Attention Deficit, HUSBAND DISORDER."

Be safe and creative.

Harris

Yeah, that is the kind of thing an assistant would say. I do not yet have my own mike stand, and I had to use a mike holder so I had my hands free, and I had it tall enough that the mike bit hung in front of me. It worked fine but a mike would be better. Any suggestions, (if possible, high quality, low price)

Matthias

I use a DPA headset that is flesh colored when I do talking material. They are nice because they pick up the vibrations through your check and only come down around your check bone. I can't stand it when I see magicians wearing those big Madonna headset microphones with the black bar running along their face and the big pop filter in front of their mouth. I see a lot of young magicians wearing these and they look awful. It totally covers your face and is a distraction. If you were Justin Timberlake you could maybe pull it off.

It's just my opinion that they look unprofessional. But who am I...

SperriS

I prefer to use a lapel or lavaleer mic and a stand mic when doing any of my shows. I also always bring my own fender passport 150 system with my own mics and patch cords. I am more use to my own system and over half the time, my system ends up being far superior then what the client can provide for me.

Kyle

I use a lapel mike, it's the best way to go

I go for the wireless Samson since they have the sender on the headset, perfect with no wires running down to your pockets and you can also take it off your head using it as a mike for a volounter...

Their PA isn´t that good.

They are at http://www.samaontech.com by the way

I use a lapel Shure mic and a hand held Shure for bringing people up...Thats what works for me.

Finney uses a Gim-Crack. It's only about $10. That's what he used at Abbott's Get-Together, a couple months ago. I use a Gim-Crack, too.

I used wireless mics, but got fed-up with them becoming obsolete a few months later. Even wired mikes in my area are affected by wireless transmission - always use shielded cable.

I use a Sennheiser Evolution 845s, a hand held mike. It has such good feedback rejection and great gain that I can talk in front of the speaker. I've been really disappointed with the feedback and low gain when using any clip-on mike. Besides, a great handheld can be had for a reasonable price. My handheld wired mike only cost about $130. The Shure Beta SM-58a is a great mike, too, at about $160.


Someone mentioned turning off a wireless mike before going to the john. Many years ago, I was in church when a visiting priest went to the john with his on. Everyone got the gory details, over the PA, of his number two.

FOr those of you using a mic holder that is slung over your neck so that the mic dangles somewhere below your chin, do you find that the mic cannot effectively pick up what you are saying? I have seen a mic holder which is like a steel structure that sits on the performer's shoulders and the mic is held directly at the performer's mouth. Do you guys think that might help?

I think it might throw off the balance a bit. I know where you are coming from but I would just use a lapel mic as opposed to having to rerig something up for a hand-held.

Kyle

Magic_streak, several people have said (both here and in your same thread under "Tricks & effects for sale") that they use and recommend the Gimcrack. It's $10 or $12 bucks. Buy it.

For working fairs, my battery-op Maxi-Mouse from Lectrosonics is an indestructable workhorse. It is the unit that street magicians use most often when they can find them...and I can go 2-3 days with a single charge.

For a very workable 30-cent mike holder: Take a shoestring and a 10" length of coat-hanger wire. Curl the very ends of the wire tightly (to remove the sharpness of the ends) and insert it, thru the fabric, into the shoelace. Center it, then tie a knot in the lace at each end of the wire, to prevent the wire from travelling. Now, bend the wire around the bottom of the mike-head almost to a circle, and then bend each end outward, v-shaped. Tie the shoelace around your neck at the proper length... (or add an adjustable bead)...the mike slips in and out from the rear and will stand out from your chest at the proper angle to pick up your voice properly. Highly compact, reliable and almost free. Works for handheld wireless or corded mikes.

When I was at a magic convention. They suggested the coat hanger idea. Steal a coat hanger, grab the center of the long side and pull. You now have a diamond shape. Bend the hood up and put your mike in it. Your head goes thru the diamond shape.

Fast and simple!

I actually find that a good handheld hyper-cardoid mike, with a Gim-Crack Holder, gets better sound than the lapel mikes I've used. I've used a lot of lapel mikes over the years.

Never tried a holder that angles the mike right at the mouth, but I remember one that Steve Hart used, made of electrical cable, that did the same thing. It was a length of cable, held in a loop by heat shrink tubing.