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Blindside785 Inner circle Olympia, WA 4541 Posts |
I love hearing from professionals.
What is your advice on building an act? How do you go about opening and closing your one man show, and what was your inspiration for how you put everything together the way you did? What are some tips you can give for somebody that would like to put together a one man show themselves? |
Michael Kaminskas V.I.P. 117 Posts |
Performing magic and performing a complete act are two different things as you can imagine. I know lots of guys that know tricks...but one effect doesn't segue into the next, there is no act. They merely perform one effect after another. What I suggest is working small acts at first. If you do strolling or tradeshow work this is what you will be doing anyway. Put together a few 7 minute acts for restaurants a couple 15 minute acts for strolling and I try and keep my trade show to 20 minutes...of course these are my guidelines and every situation is different.
Having established a time allotment the next thing I would do is to frame the act. What is the premise....find effects that blend together to create your desired feel for your performance. Each set can be totally different...but within each set the effects should feed and build on each other. The inspiration for my show came from flipping through a book of old magic posters. There was always something about them that drew me in closer. So I decided to fashion my show in more of an upscale adult evening out. The kind of show you might have seen in someones drawing room. I wanted it to truly be a sleight of hand and mindreading show as well..I was clear in my head on that. Then I thought how can I do it...I know a few others namely the Millionaires Magician Steve Cohen and Eric DeCamps had been very successful with similar shows. But I wanted to add a twist. That was moving the show to different cities and having it hosted in only the finest of luxury hotels. You see, the space and setting to me are as important as the production itself. People don't wait for you to walk on stage to make an assessment of you in their mind. The setting, background music, providing cocktails, all this goes into the overall feel of the event. Then of course, you need the act to fill it all in and piece it together. In my show IMAGINE, I open with the gypsy thread while talking about what's to come in the evening...we talk about other magicians such as Henning, Ramsay and others. I wanted to grab the audiences attention but pacing is very important to the show. I originally started the show with the T&R newspaper but it played too big and was too strong an opener for the intimate venue. So I found a replacement in the GT. The effect is the same, but it becomes much more personal and brings the audience in and prepares them for the ride they are about to take. I'm really happy wiht this choice and it has worked out well for me. As for closing the show. I end with the cups and balls....I find it fitting to end with what is arguably the oldest magic trick. Why not end at the beginning..to me it makes sense and brings the whole performance to a definitive conclusion. It is strong, powerful, allows me to showcase some impressive sleight of hand and leaves the audience wanting more after they see the final loads. It is almost too strong of a trick to put anywhere else in my current show. Thanks for asking...I'm happy to share. |
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