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Jaxon Inner circle Kalamazoo, Mi. 2537 Posts |
It's only a short 31 second video but I thought some of you might be interested in seeing it. many don't realize just how many of us deaf magicians are out there. Unfortunately I haven't been able to attend a deaf magicians convention yet but I'd like to. You'll also see how deaf audience applaud. It's kind of a trade mark for me now. I always teach my audiences how to "Deaf applaud".
Anyway, here it is: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pYDDQg950nk Ron Jaxon |
Keith Mitchell Special user 799 Posts |
It's been too many years since I have been involved with the deaf community, but I do remember the Deaf Applauses. Also, remember many talented deaf individuals that truely blew me away with their talents.
Have fun folks! |
Josh the Superfluous Inner circle The man of 1881 Posts |
Cool. It seems to me that there would some huge challenges with performing and using your hands to talk at the same time. Do most deaf magicians set up the trick and perform the rest without narration? Does anyone use sign language as a way to facilitate or cover a move? I use words to cover things for hearing audiences. I would think a deaf audience would be more focused with out the additional distraction.
What do you want in a site? "Honesty, integrity and decency." -Mike Doogan
"I hate it, I hate my ironic lovechild. I didn't even have anything to do with it" Josh #2 |
Keith Mitchell Special user 799 Posts |
Josh, I was a student at Gallaudet University for the deaf in Washington, DC. I lived in the DC area for about 16 years, but I do not consider myself fully part of the Deaf community. Before and after my Washington, DC experience I lived in the hearing community and feel more hearing than I do being deaf. My hearing loss is about 80% without my hearing aids, therefore I am legally deaf, but with my hearing aids I can get along with hearing individuals. My speech is well enough that hearing people understand me, with the help of my hearing aids I can hear enough, and therefore I don't depend enough on Sign Language to get by. Sign Language is very magical, and since I don't depend on it, it is a great loss to me.
From my experience living in the DC area for 16 years, I feel that it is the biggest deaf community in the world. And one thing I have learned from living in this large deaf community is that deaf people have the GIFT of expressing themselves with their hands that is beautiful to watch. When they get up on stage and begin to act with their hands it is MAGIC in itself. So, when a Deaf magician begins with their magic fingers the magic tricks are greatly enhance. I truely believe if a hearing magician wanted to improve their magic, they should take the time to go to Gallaudet University and see a deaf Play. I guarantee the hearing magician would learn a great deal more on how to use their own hands and how the hands can be very expressive. Granville Redmond a very well known and respected deaf painter acted in a few of Charlie Chaplin's movies, makes sense, and it makes sense that deaf people could make great magicians. BTW, I am fully dependent on Closed-Captioning/Subtitling that I never go to movie theaters. Always go to BlockBuster to rent my DVDs with Closed-Captioning/Subtitilings. Sadly, 99.9% of magic DVDs do not include Closed-Captioning/Subtitling, and many people who produce these magic DVDs have told me that Captioning/Subtitling "IS NOT WORTH THEIR TIME." These people just simply don't care what they are selling or who they sell it to. Have fun folks! |
Josh the Superfluous Inner circle The man of 1881 Posts |
It sounds fascinating.
But, I was thinking that signing with a stack of silver dollars palmed would limit what you could say. Or turning a spectator's attention to a prop while you slipped a hand into a pocket would be difficult. Transversely, I was wondering if there was a sign, like putting a hand to your chest, that could be used for retrieving IT from a reel. Or something of that nature. Ron is the only deaf magician I have ever seen perform. And he was talking to a hearing audience.
What do you want in a site? "Honesty, integrity and decency." -Mike Doogan
"I hate it, I hate my ironic lovechild. I didn't even have anything to do with it" Josh #2 |
Jaxon Inner circle Kalamazoo, Mi. 2537 Posts |
To be honest if I went to a deaf magician convention I'd feel a little out of place. Only because I didn't grow up in any kind of deaf culture either and I'm not 100% fluent in ASL. I could carry a casual conversation though. Because I don't spend too much time with other deaf people I don't use ASL all that much. I mainly only use it as a back up for when I can't read what they say by lip reading.
I'd love to go to one of them though. I bet it would be fun and interesting. The few deaf magician I have seen perform are either silent performers or they can speak. It's true that deaf people are usually very good communicators. Facial expressions and body language is part of the language. The look on your face alone turns one word into another. For example "I understand" and "I don't understand" are signed exactly the same but your face changes the meaning. That ability is very useful in magic. A few years ago I was talking to Simon Level in a chat room and we where talking about fingrspelling the word "C-A-R-D" while back palming a card. It's possible but not easy. Has to be a very deep back palm. The idea was to spell the word then produce it. Here's one I've used on occasions. Let's say you have to stall a moment. For example you need to steal something from your back pocket. This might seem funny but it works. I'd ask them a question. Even if I know what they say I act like I didn't and make a gesture as if I want them to repeat it. Even though it doesn't seem to make sense for a deaf person to cup their hand over their ear I still do it because it's kind of an international sign that means, "I didn't hear you. Say it again". Their eyes fallow this gesture and that's all I need to stall for a moment while I make my steal. Sneaky huh? Ron Jaxon |
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