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MagicalArtist Veteran user Hobart, Indiana 378 Posts |
It is very hard to critique fellow magicians performances. Human nature being what it is, the subject of the critique either gets defensive or accuses people of “flaming” him. This is a pity, because how else does one learn and improve?
Well, perhaps by critiquing the performances of OTHER magicians we have seen! Summer festival and fair time has just ended, and over the past few weeks, I managed to see the shows of two outdoor magicians, one good and one poor. What I saw I think may be instructive to all of us. I will give the name of the good magician. It was Nicholas Anthony, who said he normally works in comedy clubs. Even though he had the children all sit up front, his show was really aimed at the adults. He even had a few mildly suggestive jokes in his routine, but these went over the heads of the children, as did most of his verbal humor. In fact, he didn't even use any child volunteers from the audience, only adults (there was one effect in which he poked a bit of fun at a volunteer with a sort of bongo hat with words and playing cards printed on it rather than colored patterns). So why was he a good magician? Because everybody seemed to be entertained-- including the children, who surprisingly did not become rowdy once during the half-hour act. He also did some effects of pure skill, such as producing jumbo coins of different sizes from the air, and having several different spectators scattered throughout the audience select a card and later naming the card of each of them in rapid-fire succession. The magician whose name I will not mention, though not as skilled as Anthony, was at least technically proficient. He did not fumble or expose any of his effects. So why was he poor? 1, He opened his act to music with a rope routine. Unfortunately, without any descriptive patter, it was very difficult to follow what he was doing. I assume that if it was difficult for me as a magician, it was even more so for the rest of the audience. 2. He played his music much too loudly, to the point where it was nearly painful for the audience (he had 4 ft. tall speakers at both ends of the stage--we're talking LOUD). He even had the music blaring at some points during a patter routine, making it impossible to hear what he was saying. 3. At one point, when he had a couple of child volunteers on stage with him, he chastised a child whose attention was wandering to "pay attention". NO NO NO NO NO! THIS IS A TERRIBLE THING TO SAY! It made him seem less like an entertainer than a schoolmaster! If a magician fails to hold the attention of a volunteer, it is the magician's fault and no one else's. 4. The act had a slow, plodding pace to the point where, by the end of an effect, it was difficult to remember what had happened at the beginning. 5. He did a jumbo card transposition, which, under the right circumstances, and with a brisk presentation, could have been quite impressive. In this case, he had to have a park staffer hold the cards on the stand to keep them from being blown away. This brings us to another important lesson: choose effects that are appropriate for the conditions you will be performing them under. In this case, not only should he have chosen "windproof" effects, he should not have performed a card trick (at least not this trick ) in a show aimed primarily at children. The most telling commentary on this magician? He lost two-thirds of his audience during his act! The ironic thing was that both magicians were preceded by comic jugglers. I thought I didn't like jugglers, but both were quite entertaining. I am sorry I have spent so much more space on the poor magician than the good one, but sometimes I think we can learn more from other people's failures than from their successes. Posted: Oct 12, 2004 12:44am ---------------------------------------- I should extend this thread by asking, "What bad magicians have YOU seen and what have you learned from them? (No need to name names). I think the point should be to take these bad performances and make something good of them-- the elevating of the art of magic. |
Hideo Kato Inner circle Tokyo 5649 Posts |
After learning by watching several bad magicians, I recommend you to sum up your opinion on bad factors with them and start learning by watching good magicians.
You can learn much more from good magicians as watching them influence you on your mind (soul). By the way, I recommend you to watch good magicians in live as much as possible. Rapport between magician and the audience will influence you most. Hideo Kato |
MagicalArtist Veteran user Hobart, Indiana 378 Posts |
I disagree. I think we can learn as much from the bad as the good. If the members of this board don't think they ever see magicians do anything wrong, I must conclude that either thay don't see very many live magicians or they can't tell the good from the bad.
The problem with only learning from the “good” magicians is that this often leads to copying a magician's act. This is why we have so many bad amateur copycats out there. |
Whit Haydn V.I.P. 5449 Posts |
Beginning magicians should copy.
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Jonathan Townsend Eternal Order Ossining, NY 27300 Posts |
Okay, agreed that one has to ape their way through a few basic routines WHILE ONE LEARNS TO BE ATTENTIVE TO ONES AUDIENCE.
When does the student need to find their persona and natural rhythms? Where does one learn to balance acting skills against caricature?
...to all the coins I've dropped here
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salsa_dancer Inner circle 1935 Posts |
Monkey see, monkey do.
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mplegare Veteran user Forest Grove, Oregon 310 Posts |
Beginning musicians play stuff other people have written.
Beginning artists copy other artists paintings. There's nothing wrong with learning from another magician's act and routine. The only thing wrong would be not moving past that point, not seeing for yourself which bits from Magician A and B work for you, fit you, and make your audience react the way you want them to. Magician A got the crowd involved, interested, and entertained. Anyone can be a "move monkey". It takes more work to be entertaining. Tobias! of course that's just *my* opnion... I could be wrong.
Matthew Legare aka Tobias the Adequate! - http://www.adequateblog.today.com - you know you want to.
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Hideo Kato Inner circle Tokyo 5649 Posts |
Graduate from one school and enter a school of higher level. Let's not spend too much time in the former one.
Hideo Kato |
MagicalArtist Veteran user Hobart, Indiana 378 Posts |
Some people never make it past the first step.
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alexhui Inner circle Hong Kong 1956 Posts |
Learn the mistakes from bad ones and inspired by good ones.
We cannot play all the things by ourselves from the very beginning. Move and step on stage by stage is important. We should 'see' the Bad and know how to make better by seeing the Good. Nothing is absolute when it comes to learning. Alex Hui PS: See Don Alan's act and you will be inspired alot, as I did.
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gocall911 Loyal user Salem, VA 247 Posts |
The bad Magician you talked about sounds just like one I watched a week ago. Except to anyone that was watching close he did expose an effect at lest once. This guy made me want to cry he was so boring.
"Use your head." ~Dai Vernon~
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