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trickster2000 Loyal user Toronto 284 Posts |
what types of routines do people perform at trade shows?? i know of ambitious card, but how do some tradeshow magicins incorporate 3 card monte effects with the corporation??? any help would be great...
thanks |
corpmagi Special user New York 725 Posts |
There are several video tapes available on trade show magic. The Eddie Tullock 2 tape series showcases an old master and there are the Mike Rogers and Dick Ryan tapes from Stevens Magic Emporium.
Viewing these tapes should give you some insight into how a trade show routine is created.
A Modern Trade Show Handbook
www.trafficstoppers.com/handbook |
trickster2000 Loyal user Toronto 284 Posts |
thanks for the advice, but i watched the eddie tullock tape and in my opinion, he seemed like he was almost intimidating the spectators...it almost looked like he was being an old coot in someof the routines.. but thats just my opinion.. thanks
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corpmagi Special user New York 725 Posts |
I thought you were looking for ideas on how to incorporate a message into a routine, not a perfomers performing style. You must look past the performances and look at the structure of the routine and see how you can take your routines and adapt them for the trade show floor . There are excellent examples on all of the tapes I suggested. The performers style/personality worked for more than 30 years for these performers (what worked for them might not necessarily work for you as far as style goes). Each of these men were pioneers in the trade show world and you can learn a lot from watching them.
A Modern Trade Show Handbook
www.trafficstoppers.com/handbook |
trickster2000 Loyal user Toronto 284 Posts |
i guess i never thought of it in that manner... thank you for the advice...
trickster |
corpmagi Special user New York 725 Posts |
Just another thought for you. Most magicians don't realize that it's not the tricks that you do on the trade show floor that are important, rather the way the message is incorporated.
I've never been a fan of trade show performers who customize props with a company logo , mention the company name once or twice (or 50 times) and call it a trade show routine. The best trade show presentations focus on the real benefits of the product, what the company does and how that product or service can be beneficial to the end user. In other words, a trade show performer must do his/her homwork before ever setting foot on the show floor. My advice to you is to take the magic that you do extremely well and by using some of the verbiage and examples from the performers tapes/books, design a corporate message/presentation around your effects.
A Modern Trade Show Handbook
www.trafficstoppers.com/handbook |
Scott F. Guinn Inner circle "Great Scott!" aka "Palms of Putty" & "Poof Daddy G" 6586 Posts |
Corpmagi is spot on!
as far as Tullock's "style," suffice to say he was making $200K per year in the 1970's working trade shows!
"Love God, laugh more, spend more time with the ones you love, play with children, do good to those in need, and eat more ice cream. There is more to life than magic tricks." - Scott F. Guinn
My Lybrary Page |
RayBanks Special user Nassau Bay, TX 533 Posts |
Try to see DIck Stoner if you can. He is nearly always in the booth of Belden Cable so if you are ever at and electonics show look for him.
He does a great job of working in a short product pitch into his routine but his main job, and I think the main job of most trade show entertainers, is to get people to stop at the booth. And he is really good at it.
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Pick a card, any card...No. not THAT one...THIS one Ray Banks |
trickster2000 Loyal user Toronto 284 Posts |
you guys are awesome...thanks...
trickster |
RayBanks Special user Nassau Bay, TX 533 Posts |
You did ask about routines.
Dick Stoner has several routines (about 7-10 minutes)he does during the day but pretty much each one of them has multiplying sponge balls, a chop cup routine, a card effect that he markets, and he nearly always closes with the Invisible Deck. His product pitch is geared more to an "ask for literature - or - ask a salesman" for more information. About halfway through the routine he makes note of the new products being showcased at the convention then goes on about his business. Did I say he was also very funny?? Before the revelation in the ID he makes one last comedic pitch for the audience to visit the booth and get more information on the products. As I said before his main job is to atract people to the booth. The salesmen take over from there. I certainly hope you get to see him in action sometime.
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Pick a card, any card...No. not THAT one...THIS one Ray Banks |
Steve Friedberg Inner circle 1402 Posts |
Ray:
As someone who's hired magicians to staff a trade show booth, I agree with you 100%. My purpose was to attract people, and to have him blend a very high level message about the company with sheer entertainment. And we succeeded, BTW. Corpmagi, one thing I'd respectfully disagree with you on...is the use of the company logo as an element. We handed out the ESP trick with the rigged pen, and the three cards in the envelope...sorry, I've forgotten the name. Instead of the the circle, square and triangle, we had the company's logo reproduced on each card in a different color. That way, when people took the trick back to the office...more people saw the logo. If they took the trick home to impress their kids, they were a hero, and the logo was reinforced. Viral marketing, folks. (Wanted to hand out a TT with a logo screened on a silk; I was told it was too good of an effect to let go!)
Cheers,
Steve "A trick does not fool the eyes, but fools the brain." -- John Mulholland |
RayBanks Special user Nassau Bay, TX 533 Posts |
Quote:
On 2002-03-20 16:51, stevepr104 wrote: WHen I saw this done it was kind of a three card monte deal where you show three cards, ask the spec to take the middle card then show tyhat it was NOT the Q clubs or whatever but a card with the vendors information on it. These were indeed passed out to the specs. It does a couple of things--it gets your info back to the office, and it satisfies a spec's interest in how things are done. You've showed him how it is done and he is satisfied to watch the rest of the show. I did this last year at the Johnson Space Center chili cookoff. The 'middle' card had our chili logo on it. Got a lot of good reactions. I gave out some of them when I thought it was right.
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Pick a card, any card...No. not THAT one...THIS one Ray Banks |
corpmagi Special user New York 725 Posts |
Corpmagi, one thing I'd respectfully disagree with you on...is the use of the company logo as an element. We handed out the ESP trick with the rigged pen, and the three cards in the envelope...sorry, I've forgotten the name. Instead of the the circle, square and triangle, we had the company's logo reproduced on each card in a different color.
Perhaps I wasn't clear on my point about corporate logo's. My point was that the main presentation should be about the product or service. A giveaway demo (magic trick with a logo) that is usually done at the end of a presentation is always a good idea. My comment was more focused on so-called trade show magicians whose entire presentation is nothing more than a few props decorated with logo's and the use company's name as the magic word as the sole components of a custom trade show presentation . A good trade show presentation needs the high level message.
A Modern Trade Show Handbook
www.trafficstoppers.com/handbook |
Steve Friedberg Inner circle 1402 Posts |
On that point, Seth, you're absolutely right! Having magic for magic's sake in a booth does nobody any good, except maybe the spectators who take it in and then move on.
Any come on at a trade show must be regarded as means to an end...which is to get qualified leads into the booth. And any magician who would work trade shows has to realize that the corporate message must be woven into his/her presentation...as you said, not just emblazoned on a "one size fits all" show. My .02; YMMV.
Cheers,
Steve "A trick does not fool the eyes, but fools the brain." -- John Mulholland |
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