|
|
mmreed Inner circle Harrisburg, PA 1432 Posts |
Thought I would share this with the community here...
Quote: Engaging People vs. Doing Magic
Mark Reed
Wedding and Event Entertainment |
JamesTong Eternal Order Malaysia 11213 Posts |
I certainly agree. There is a lot of difference. There is a lot more work to be done to make the performance entertaining and enjoyable.
|
MattSconce Special user 654 Posts |
I think Charisma is a must for any entertainer, magician included.
Other effects:
http://www.penguinmagic.com/magician/matt-sconce |
Sammy J. Inner circle Castle Rock, Colorado 1786 Posts |
One of the problems with practicing in front of a video camera is the lack of interaction with spectators. I have received numerous compliments about my performances, but when I watch myself practice the routines on video it makes me want to puke! I come across as dull and boring. In other words, it's just tricks. The engagement of the audience is crucial to the entertainment experience. I wish it was easier to videotape my walk around work. It would make it a lot easier to know what astonishes and what just amuses. We all try to monitor that when we are performing, but we are pretty preoccupied at the time. It would be so nice to be able to watch the reactions "after the fact". Much could be learned.
Sammy J. Teague
|
Psycho Power J New user 10 Posts |
Definitely agree. I could do tricks well, but I can't engage people well so all my performances are unimpressive. It's hard since I'm just starting out and don't really have anything to call my own yet.
|
Aus Special user Australia 996 Posts |
As far as adding “shine” to your effects, you’re preaching to the choir as far as I’m concerned. I have known for a long time that presentation is key to many effects but I understand completely that this message needs to be relayed to newcomers (and even some more established magicians at times).
I feel however that this message is often needed to be pushed because of the counter intuitive trend the magic marketing culture boasts of the likes of, “Self-working”, “Makes you the star of the show,” “No slights required” and all the other marketing hype. All this does is to harbour the mentality that you can look as good as the next best thing without any effort required, hence why no one puts in the effort to be creative, and also why broadcasting the message of showmanship is also, so important. But there’s also another problem. How do we add charisma? How do we effectively add blocking? How do we make a routine funny or sad? The point I’m making is it’s all well and good to say we need to add shine to our magic, but exactly how do we do that? Every magician seems to have an idea of what ads shine to their magic, so how do we limit the confusion and make it something that anyone can follow? Watching other magicians have also been a great exercise in deciphering what makes a great performance. However not all aspects are as transparent as it would seem. Bill Malones Standing Ovation Deck has a lot more to do with theoretical principle then the effect of the trick it’s self. To the uninitiated he could have just had more then his fair quota of red fruit punch and letting his excess energy flow over the audience which their riding the wave of. But what he is really doing is ever increasing the level of the room to a point that allows him to get to the stage he wants, the standing Ovation. It’s for this reason that the books of the like of “Strong Magic by Darwin”, “Maximum Entertainment by Ken Weber”, “Scripted Magic by Pete” all have pride of place in my private collection, because they detail the aspects of the how but more importantly they add clarity. Better yet would be to take some acting classes or something dealing is stage craft. In saying that, don’t for a minute mmreed think I’m ridiculing you, but in fact to the contrary, I think your pushing the right message (and one that I have pushed many times myself) but I just think there’s a lot more to the issue then just saying “add shine to your magic” and if anything just wonted to elaborate further on what you said. Magically Aus |
themagiciansapprentice Inner circle Essex, UK 1381 Posts |
Try having two or three critical friends in an audience then LISTEN to the feed-back.
I try to do this every six months or so and have become much better because of it. This gap in time allows them to have forgotten the nuts and bolts my previous performances.
Have wand will travel! Performing children's magic in the UK for Winter 2014 and Spring 2015.
|
Thought farmer New user 72 Posts |
I deal with it this way. I read Ken Weber's Maximum Entertainment and Steve Cohen's Win the Crowd. Since then I go to the flea market and the home show and even a few trade shows and strike up conversations with either vendors during slow times or brief conversations with patrons. I do not do or mention magic at all. I simply try to observe their reactions to our conversation. It works for me because chances are I will not see these people again so I have no pressure to get it right so I can test my edge and get reaction right there. I have discovered that I can have an intelligent and humorous conversation with another person pretty easily. It continues to get easier and I observe more and more. Even if I stumble I try to figure out where I tripped up. That is another way for me to learn so I need those experiences as well. You are already well equipped.
Posted: Aug 31, 2008 9:09pm One additional book that is a great read is Robert Cialdini's Influence-Science and Practice. The local library might have it. |
Keith Mitchell Special user 799 Posts |
I am hearing impaired since birth and about to become 46 years old. With my hearing difficulties I can communicate face to face with a lot of normal hearing people, but cannot stand people in groups. People in groups tend to be very critical when someone speaks, and when someone like myself have anything to say it always comes out wrong. The first challenge is knowing what is being said in any social groups, if this is not possible then group socializing is a waste of time, especially for me.
I agree with a lot of what is being said here that Engaging the audience is important when performing magic, and I have a long way to go. There is a very good chance that I might not ever reach this point. One thing I could do is to only perform for individuals or two people at a time instead of groups of people. If this works out then hopefully the experience from that will help me handle larger number of people. Sometimes I think performers engage too much to the point where the magic is insignificant. I have seen Gazzo perform street C&Bs, he is engaging the people long before he even touches the C&Bs. For someone who is hearing impaired and not knowing what he is saying, it would be completely boring entertainment. If Gazzo were to do a silent performance, would his C&Bs routine be any good? I saw a video of Ricky Jay performing C&Bs and I was very impressed with what I saw through my eyes although I did not hear what he said. His performance involves both patter and skills with the C&Bs that worked very well together, but still works without hearing the patter. Charlie Chaplin hired Redmond Granville to help out with Pantomime in his silent movies. Redmond Granville was Deaf and an accompliced painter of his time and actied in Charlie Chaplin's movies. Engaging the audience does not always mean using words that come out of your mouth. For some performers words mean more than the trick or routine itself these are the perfomers I avoid, some performers combine the two, and some performers give silent performances where the routine can shine on itself without the need to vocalize words. Look at a painting on the wall. Can the painting be hung on the wall without the frame and still make the room enjoyable to visit, or does the painting have to rely on the frame to help itself standout in the room? Have fun folks! |
themagiciansapprentice Inner circle Essex, UK 1381 Posts |
Another approach is to have a SCRIPT (a major theme at the FCM Conference - Tim Sonefelt, Barry Mitchell, Steve Harmer and Oz and Wilde all pushed this). It should include visuals, comedy and the patter. But not the methods!!
That way you can practice all of your performance so you are not worried about the sleights. That way you can entertain. Then adapt the script according to your audience reactions. Books can involve you, but you can't learn Shakespeare just by reading. You need to study, get feed-back and practice/perform.
Have wand will travel! Performing children's magic in the UK for Winter 2014 and Spring 2015.
|
Aus Special user Australia 996 Posts |
Since I have posed some additional questions to this topic I will issue some advice in my approach to adding “shine” to your magic.
This subject is so broad and big it’s hard to know where to start, so I’ll only offer a few suggestions, if people would like to know more on my approach they can go to the below link: http://www.themagiccafe.com/forums/viewt......forum=41 To Start I wont to say that continuity of illusion is important, as I had this discussion with David Mitchell via Pm not so long ago in asking a few questions about his marketed effect “Promises Kept” in light of a recent review. In one review I read it had put into question some of contradictorily nature of the story. For one the story narrates the telling of an unrequited love during the civil war and the telling of a gift of a box and a coin. Lost in the ensuing chaos that is war and after the passing of the lovers, it’s mysteriously found many years later by a construction worker on a site. The story further develops where the worker takes the coin and the box out of grave and when searching for it later finds it gone. This strange occurrence is credited to the ghost of the lovers returning the coin. How’s this have anything to do with continuity? Well the said reviewer had issues on a few fronts, the first one being that since this box was apparently a civil war relic, the appearance of the box was quite the opposite, rather something that was new. Secondly that the story contradicts the nature of you having the box you possess. If it was found then lost again, how do you have it? In saying this I do not have David’s effect (although I soon will have) and can not say one way or another if any of the above is true, but I use it none the less to it illustrates my point. No matter what you’re trying to achieve, all other cohesive elements need to be in check so the illusion you’re creating is complete. Since David’s routine was more based on the story he provided it was more easily remedied just by a few modifications to the script, nothing to drastic. Just make sure continuity is in check and it will help your magic truly shine. Stepping away from that for a moment, another aspect to help your magic shine is showmanship. Before I talk to you about this watch this clip: http://www.magictricks.tv/videos/850/the......ck-.html Funny huh, but why? Could it be that his facial expressions portray his ever increasing dismay, his sense of achievement (him smiling when his perfected palming as narrated by the recording) or many of the other situations in the routine. He does this with out even uttering a word and is able to get the necessary emotion and reaction. I also feel David softened his audience a little into a comical atmosphere with his whimsical dance and a few jokes that processed the actual trick. This made them a lot more receptive the humour later on. Anyway, these are some of my thoughts and I’ll leave you guys to think more about how you can add shine to your magic. Magically Aus |
The Magic Cafe Forum Index » » New to magic? » » Engaging People vs. Doing Magic (0 Likes) |
[ Top of Page ] |
All content & postings Copyright © 2001-2024 Steve Brooks. All Rights Reserved. This page was created in 0.06 seconds requiring 5 database queries. |
The views and comments expressed on The Magic Café are not necessarily those of The Magic Café, Steve Brooks, or Steve Brooks Magic. > Privacy Statement < |