I have been reading through my journals, I cannot incorporate my stories into my magic.

My stories are long theatrical plays it seems, that would put even the writer to sleep! It MIGHT pass in a stage setting. But never on the street, So what am I to do?
How am I too keep "my" magic, but yet perform outside of my friends and family - who know I have a point to my story.

I have tried a floating dollar bit several times to no avail. It takes to long to get into my effect, and everyone is just so busy. Yesterday I was performing for a lady and did not know it. I asked my mother for a dollar, she gave it too me and I started floating it. Just took it, and started floating it.
My mother leans over to tell me the thread is visible, of course she whispered. I then left took the groceries to the car while my mother paid, and she commented the lady was eccentric about the dollar.

So, is less more and I waist time coming up with stories to use my magic by?
Or should I just let my magic talk for me? " Have you ever seen a dollar do this?"
Basic, direct and to the point. But passion is drained from that and it feels bland. But the audience adores it.

I am actually making my self sick thinking about this. But I have been in bed for the past three hours contemplating my magic, and really had to vent.

Your very confused friend,
~Mayo

Mayo,

I think the answer, and you're going to hate it, is both. There's a time for stories and a time for just shutting up and letting the magic do its own thing. The "trick" is knowing what is needed, when. When I consistantly figure that out, I think I'll probably spontaneously combust and move on to the next plane. Even after almost forty years on this rock, I'm not always sure.

However, there is one thing you CAN do. Look at your scripts, and start cutting all the bits that don't move the story forward. You'd be surprised how much that is. I know how hard this can be, scripts and stories can be like children (or that fungus in your shower that won't go away (actually, they're pretty much the same)), but trust me, 99% of the time, you'll end up with something better.

Good luck friend,

Mark

Oh, and don't do thread under flourescent lights!!!!!!

;)

Mark

What about the story is supposed to be of interest to the reader or audience? How does the magic trick connect to the story?

Very good point Jonathan.

Mark, I think you hit the nail on the head also. I am working on a not so bizarre routine that I think mite be worth a penny shell at least. I will start typing that now. In a few I have to go to town for a few items, and that will keep me most of the day so I will try and hurry to get this routine posted.

Jonathan, don't get your hopes up for me, I think you are one of the few guys that have followed my posts. You know how I am about dragging things out.
But hey I am working on it! Well I am off to type.

Thank you both so very much for your time! And replies they have been eye opening

Your now very happy friend,
~Mayo

I find it helps sometimes to just take a break. Take a week off from magic, from thinking about your routine, from reading about magic; give yourself a magic vacation. You may find that in that time your subconcious will have worked out some problems for you. Pushing too hard can backfire, especially when it is starting to cause you grief.

Some of the slickest magic I've seen was done without any patter at all. Just a magician and something neat he "discovered." Stories are great when they are funny, have a good moral, or to help emphasize an effect. A story for the sake of a story or just to show off a trick means nothing and usually bores the audience.

So, I am discovering. I think my story telling days are over.

If story telling is your bag then check out Ron Baeurs scripts - they encompass appropriate stories with beats, jokes and moves - imparticularly get his Owed to Poker Dan... this will give you ideas how to do it with your own tricks...

Worry more about linking/transitioning between effects than trying to tell a single meaningful story... and keep each element/transition as short as possible... if the transitional patter/story takes too long it's probably because you are moving to a trick too different from the previous one so the pair don't make a match...

Having a large arsenal of tricks to choose from makes putting together routines much easier... eg. the better the match the shorter the transition from one to another...

Mayo,

I wouldn't necessarily give up on story telling. It can be a very powerful kind of magic, in the right time and place.

Mark

Mayo,

Try to follow Eugene Burger's advice on scripting and edit heavily. Keep only what is really essential to the magic while keeping the understanding of the story.

Or...the other route you can go is to be a storyteller who happens to have magic happen in the tell of the story.

Good luck either way.

Mayo,

I didn't mean to suggest that tricks that use a story are bad. A good story can make a simple trick kill.

Take, for example the Okito Voodoo doll. With the right presentation and buildup, this trick can really freak people out. Done without a story, its just a cute little gimmick.

Mayo,
I really hope that you don't give up on stories. You have a great imagination
and some very unique ideas. I understand your problem and share it to some degree. I was a serious story-teller long before I was a serious magician. In fact, I didn't much care for performing magic until I discovered the bizarre.

That said, I recognize that my performance opportunities are limited by my choice of performance style. It is one thing to walk up to a stranger on the street and say "do you want to see something strange?" It is quite another to begin telling a drawn out story. The passer-by has neither the time nor the interest. You don't have enough of a chance to engage them.

So, what to do? You have several choices (probably more than I come up with off the top of my head). You can develop routines with longer stories and search for opportunites to perform them (you need to gather the people), You can perform effects with very short stories/patter (this doesn't mean it can't be bizarre), or you can do both and perform a different style depending on the situation. I think that latter is probably what most do, but as I said, I am a story-teller...

Given the interest you have expressed in crafting stories, in acting, and in theatre in general I think that it would rob your audience to remove these element from you craft. You just need to gain the experience to understand
what plays in what environment to what audience.

You are off to a great start. I wish I had taken it more seriously at your age. Don't get discouraged. And remeber, we are always here for moral support.

Dave

If you're going to tell a story, it should be good enough to stand alone as a story without anything magical happening.

First, read Punx.

Then think about what constitutes a story. Many people get caught up in the "once upon a time" approach, but that's not the only way of storytelling.

A story is a vehicle for taking your audience from point A to point B to point C. Each point has its punctuation marks. Each phrase leads to the next point in a (logical) progression that invites the audience to follow along.

If there's a dissonant point, it needs to be tied in to the routine, or it blows the whole thing.

Though this kind of story doesn't need words, it can have some. Though it doesn't need "once upon a time", you might use that. But what it must absolutely have, is that logical progression.

The trick, to be used best, is only a punctuation mark, a vehicle to make another kind of point.

BTW, hey Dan! Hope you're well!

Greetings,

Storytelling magic is tough. The first lesson I learned was that you can't do all story routines. The tempo and pace of the act needs to vary enough that it builds the energy.

Good luck paring the story down to the minimal necessary words. Might I sugggest David Mamet's "3 Uses of the Knife" as an invaluable tool for scriptwriting. And of course Brad Henderson's excellent notes on patter. He provides an objective method applying the knife

I look forward to seeing and hearing one of your story routines.

Sincerely,
Sam Haine

The lady was eccentric about the bill? I don't understand. Do you mean she was all weird about it?