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Jaxon Inner circle Kalamazoo, Mi. 2537 Posts |
This is a good discussion.
One suggestion I make is to go back do some of the simple stuff that you learned when you first got into magic. Pull out the Royal magic props. The Nickels to dimes, The wonder blocks, vanish a silk with a T-tip, ashes thru the hand, vanish a coin on your elbow after doing a French drop, Three color monte. All these things you learn and now probably think are to out of date to perform anymore. Remember back when you saw a "professional magician" do a nice fan of cards and you where amazed at how well they fanned them. Maybe you saw some magic videos when you first started. You now know those where very common tricks but back then they where the coolest thing to you. This is how some laymen see what you do now. So as others have already said. You won't be able to see things exactly like a laymen anymore, but you can remember what you use to feel when you where one. By going back to these simple effect it'll be easier to remember that feeling. Only now you are the one giving that feeling to others. We tend to get to caught up in what's new on the magic market or mastering the latest and most difficult moves that we'll probably never really have a use for. Personally I rarely do anything more then a top change, a double lift and an Elmsley count in my card magic and I'm kind of known as a pretty good card magician. The truth is I don't know to many advanced moves. Oh, I practice some of them but I rarely use them. So going back to the basics can be a real advantage in understanding how our spectators feel. Ron Jaxon |
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DomKabala Inner circle I've grown old after diggin' holes for 2827 Posts |
Man... the hairs on my arms stood up Jaxon...very well put...nuff-said!!
<<<KRaZy4kardz>>>
We don't stop playing when we grow old...we grow old when we stop playing.
God is enough, let go, let God. Gal 2:20 "Anything of value is not easily attained and those things which are easily attained are not of lasting value." |
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Doug Higley 1942 - 2022 7152 Posts |
Through an Engineers eyes you have no hope of re-capture. But through the eyes of a 12 year old you will.
How much do you still want to 'believe' and how much to 'disect'? It is a rule of thumb when I create a weird exhibit for someone who is going to show it to the public for $. The showman/woman will get no pictures of it or descriptions of how it is being made etc. The point is to see it for the First time as if they were the spectator...there will only be this first time to see it as one of their customers will. This is important 'down the road' as it becomes a familiar object to them but it will always be a wonder to new eyes. Doug
Higley's Giant Flea Pocket Zibit
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Jonathan Townsend Eternal Order Ossining, NY 27297 Posts |
Is this a How to question?
That would be better than bemoaning how a little knowledge has destroyed one's imagination and ruined one's ability to simply enjoy a performance. I discussed the distractions like telegraphing and unmotivated actions elsewhere, and so we probably need to move on to the theatrical basics... what enrolls you and what is it that prevents you from being enrolled? Answers?
...to all the coins I've dropped here
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Doug Higley 1942 - 2022 7152 Posts |
Personally, just about everything enrolls me...I can forget the 'engineering' in an instant after seeing it layed out...and the 'next time' will be fresh from different angles...(yes Jonathan...performance) I keep those 12 year olds eyes intact and engaged. I will always be amazed and astonished at the Pendragon's Metamorphses...
Higley's Giant Flea Pocket Zibit
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Bill Hallahan Inner circle New Hampshire 3222 Posts |
Al Baker's famous dictum, “Don’t run when no one is chasing you” is correct, but it doesn't answer the question of when we're being chased and when we're not.
Alternatively, some great creators of magic have had trouble with understanding whether a method was deceptive or obvious. Paul Curry was surprised that the method for his famous trick, "Out Of This World" fooled magicians, and he was also surprised it fooled his wife. He created it on a whim when investigating many mehods and he only found out that the trick was effective by performing it for others. Long ago when I was a child and I first read about vanishing a handkerchief with a TT, I thought the method was naive and wouldn't fool people. I still sometimes think this when learning other magician's routines. I'm probably wrong to think this most of the time. Obviously some tricks require proving certain premises so as to disprove obvious methods. So there is a dilemma. How can we design routines to prove only critical premises when it's difficult to judge whether something is deceptive to others if we happen to already understand the method before we see it performed? I think only experience solves this dilemma. Fortunately, we have the collected experience of many magicians over the last 500 years in magic literature (albeit most of it written in the last century). I'm grateful for this. I should have trusted the books when I was younger. I could have been performing with a TT for at least a decade longer!
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" |
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Alan Wheeler Inner circle Posting since 2002 with 2038 Posts |
It's interesting to me that some of the responses here focus on the layman's feelings of wonder, some on his problem solving and thinking processes, and others on the layman's aesthetic or theatrical experience. Here's another example that focuses on the feelings of wonder:
In the movie _Finding Neverland_, the playwright of _Peter Pan_ on the play's first night seeded the audience with 25 orphans. The children's laughter and feelings of wonder were contagious, and the adults quickly loosened up, warmed up and enjoyed the fantasy. The point is that the adult audience of _Peter Pan_ needed to set aside some things just as magicians perhaps need to wipe away the frost of coldly considering only technical details. alan
The views and comments expressed on this post may be mere speculation and are not necessarily the opinions, values, or beliefs of Alan Wheeler.
A BLENDED PATH Christian Reflections on Tarot Word Crimes Technology and Faith........Bad Religion |
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Doug Higley 1942 - 2022 7152 Posts |
2 quotes that begin and end my book "Scary Dark Rides" both from Walt Disney...
"Why do we have to grow up? I know more adults who have the children's approach to life....You see them at Disneyland every time you go there. They are not afraid to be delighted with simple pleasures..." Walt Disney "That’s the real trouble with the world, too many people grow up. They forget. They don’t remember what it’s like to be twelve years old..." Walt Disney Doug
Higley's Giant Flea Pocket Zibit
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Pablo Leal Regular user Chile 187 Posts |
Quote: Perhaps neither do we, as we perform. Maybe we forget our old fashioned children's approach and we tend to see what we show to laymen as we were all mature people. Maybe we're forgeting that our art is connected directly with people's inocence and childhood, including ours.
On 2005-03-19 04:44, Xmosis wrote: Cheers
"The one that seeks for the truth takes the chance to find it". Isabel Allende
www.magopabloleal.com |
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Jonathan Townsend Eternal Order Ossining, NY 27297 Posts |
I'm gonna suggest a position on this one:
I like to be entertained, and am willing to watch without expectations. When the performer telegraphs their intentions and methods... what else can I do but be dissapointed. They did it. I was just there looking to be entertained.
...to all the coins I've dropped here
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Brent McLeod Inner circle 1792 Posts |
Good topic-
I have just solved a problem about how a lay audience sees an effect-Its the morning after a big show I performed at a High school last night about 400 people. The last few weeks Ive had a few doubts about an item I perform to music-whether it was really effective as I percieved-Well last night answered 2 questions for me- Yes its entertaining & Yes it it got a fabulous reaction from the audience!! I don't rate this effect as 1 of my favourites but it goes over so well I will keep it in my show & I do enjoy performing it-I thought as I don't rate it maybe I should drop it-Big Mistake going by Last Night!! I read somewhere that if you eliminate all your weak effects that don't get the reaction you expect from the audience-drop it no matter how much you enjoy or like it etc Eventually you will have an act of strong , entertaining magic that will work anywhere!! Remember the audience must be entertained -nothing else matters-hence why the Classics of magic have been around a long time-even if we think there a bit old etc-They are audience tested!! Cheers -Brent |
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