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Flying Magus Loyal user 286 Posts |
One of the great things about the Coloring Book, is that the whole audience gets to be involved. Everyone gets to throw some color up and help with the magic.
I'm not wanting to add the coloring book to my show (although I'm still contemplating it), but do have a need for that type of trick - one where the entire audience helps out. Does anyone have any suggestions for tricks that lend themslves to this type of routining?
Magically yours,
Michel Fouché Believe in the Impossible |
magicgeorge Inner circle Belfast 4299 Posts |
Of course, most tricks can be adapted so everyone has to perform some kind of action to make the magic happen. I was kind of hesitant to put an "everyone wiggle your fingers" bit into my show because I thought it was quite lazy entertainment however I tried it and it's a lot of fun and you can be quite creative with it.
Effects already geared towards the whole audience could be Growing/shrinking head illusion Magic Bingo Miser's dream George |
magic4u02 Eternal Order Philadelphia, PA 15110 Posts |
I will second the growing and shrinking head by Bruce Kalver. If you ever want a strong effect in a show that gets everyone involved and freaks everyone out at the same time. THAT is it. I LOVE perfomring it and the audiences simply goes crazy over it. You really hear ooh and ahhhhs from everyone at the same time. It can be a greta effect that can be anywhere from 2 minutes to a 10 minute bit pending how you routine it. It packs small and plays very big.
Kyle
Kyle Peron
http://www.kylekellymagic.com Entertainers Product Site http://kpmagicproducts.com Join Our Facebook Fan Page at http://facebook.com/perondesign |
Flying Magus Loyal user 286 Posts |
This isn't really the place, but I have to admit to not really liking the Growing/Shrinking Head. Basically, it's not magic. It screams optical illusion from the outset. That's not to say it's not entertaining, but it's just not magic.
I also wonder about claiming proprietory rights on the use of a 2000 year old optical illusion - which after all is simply a natural phenomenon.
Magically yours,
Michel Fouché Believe in the Impossible |
magicman812 Regular user 121 Posts |
I had never seen the Growing Head Illusion until recently seeing Chris Capehart do this at a convention. I loved it and yes, I am sure most folks realize it is an optical illusion, but it is so amazing and entertaining.
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LVMagicAL Elite user 460 Posts |
If we are to be honest about the art of magic, isn't every effect we do really an optical illusion of one sort or another? When we produce an item, we're not really producing it, we're in reality creating the (optical) illusion of production...The same can be said for vanishes, levitations, transpositions, transformations, penetrations, animations, torn and restored, etc;. The only difference is that the shrinking head illusion simply allows the audience to see the gimmick we use up front before they see the magical end result; the apparent growing or shrinking of the victims cranium. The gimmick is moved out of the line of sight and then the "magic" happens.
OK, so perhaps it is simply a semantics issue, but I think everyone will agree, it is a really cool and potentially entertaining effect. And, like virtually EVERY magical effect, it's not really the trick/effect that's entertaining, it's the ENTERTAINER and his/her presentation that makes an effect magical, worthwhile, memorable and most of all FUN! May all of your shows be filled with magical, worthwhile, memorable and fun effects! (Even the magic coloring book can fit that bill...have you seen what Chris Capehart does with the magic coloring book??) |
danryb Special user 506 Posts |
Miss made flag or clown etc in a change bag are good (especially the clown). Get the audience to pick colors off their clothes and toss them into the bag.
I do the story of the three pigs and when the wolf blows - I get the audience to take 2 or 3 deep breaths and also to say BOOO each time I say the big bad wolf. Do the same with other story magic and keep it short and exciting. G/S head is very good for audience participation. I teach juggling (also not magic but v. entertaining) in my show. I get the audience to imagine they have 1, 2 and then 3 balls in their hands and they follow my actions. then I get one or 2 to give it real try with real balls. its fun. Dani |
Jeff Haas Special user 929 Posts |
I tell the audience that the Growing/Shrinking head is an optical illusion, and mention how the spiral actually trains the receptors in your eyes for a few moments. I figure now and then there will be a kid who will hear that and then head to the library to find out more. No need to pretend to take credit for how it works; just present it so everyone has fun!
And to be technical, most effects we do are not optical illusions...they do not make use of the way our eyes perceive the world to fool us. We're not doing shows completely made up of spinning spirals and Escher prints! Instead, most magic takes place in your head, and you have to see and remember the sequence of events to perceive it as a trick. Example: Show something (like a ball), cover it with a cup, snap your fingers (the theatrical moment of magic) and then pick up the cup to show the ball is gone. The audience has to see all the states of what happened to "get" the magic trick. If they miss one, there's no magic. This is different than an optical illusion. Sorry to get off subject, but it's a key distinction. |
Spellbinder Inner circle The Holy City of East Orange, NJ 6438 Posts |
You can turn many effects into full audience participation moments by organizing the audience into cheering teams. For example, the Afghan Bands is often routined as a race between a boy and a girl, and you can get half the audience to cheer on the boy and the other half to cheer on the girl. In doing the egg bag, many magicians get the helper to make noises like a chicken, but you can also ask the audience to help out by clucking and flapping their wings. The problem comes when you do too much of this kind of thing, the kids can actually find it boring... so pick only the best bits and spread them out so they don't happen back to back.
Professor Spellbinder
Professor Emeritus at the Turkey Buzzard Academy of Magik, Witchcraft and Wizardry http://www.magicnook.com Publisher of The Wizards' Journals |
phill Veteran user Connecticut 365 Posts |
Props that can tell a story can be full audience participation routines as well.
For example, every time a blue silk, sponge ball, balloon etc is seen the audience is to respond with a certain phrase that would apply to the character that object represents. Barry Mitchell has done this with volunteers in some of his routines - but this could easily be expanded to the whole audience. Here is a site with some audience participation stories. These are just stories and not magic routines, but it will give you the idea of the concept. http://macscouter.com/Stories/Participation.asp I know the original question was for specific routines, but the creative challenge is to adapt an existing routine to an expanded audience participation one. Hope this helps. peace, phill
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