Hi

Need a small advice here....in my acts, I have all the world class props, music, costume..etc BUT I lacked something important!

Guess I am a late bloomer, even though I knew about this problem way back in 2000 but I just disregard it My scoring sheets in International Magic Contest, the catagory areas on par with other performer...ONLY in this showmanship, presentation area in magic competition, I lose out.

Anyway I am still not too old; I need someone to consult on my acts professionally from beginning to end.

: 15mins Commercial silent act & 7 mins stage competition act, step by steps from staging, performance, choreography & showmanship.

E.G I will send the video of these acts to the person, they will consult EVERY single details of the above mentioned details, guiding EVERY move, when to smile, pose...hence I will follow 100% exactly the choreography…as the both acts are very short, hence should be not to difficult & not too long to master every single details.

Once this is fulfilling, hopefully this will be a world class act.

I have 2 people in mind to send the video to: Joanie Spina OR Jeff McBride ...but I am not too sure if the café member can advise who else can do this consulting & the best person for this job.

Cost is not a factor here.. as long as the person can consult a great act.

Thanks for the advice
dove-boy

My feeling and experience has been that Jeff McBride is one who can develop an act of unique and powerful magic to world class in many genre's. Ask Rafael (of Belgium) who worked (and works) on his acts and props with Jeff and won the Golden Lion award.

I think Joanie is a great stage choreographer and has helped many -- but Jeff is a great taskmaster when it comes to theme development, timing and various magic AND other stage techniques that blend in to world recognition. His talent is well beyond his masks -- you might also check with Christian and Katalina who are world class mentalists and a duo act of straight magic. They had used several directors (even from NY) before they went to Jeff. And Christian is NOY easy to impress (he started magic after retiring from another career -- and has been on the road since -- now looking to buy his own theater so he can stop traveling sooooo much.

And -- even though I remain relatively unknown - Jeff is the one who inspired me to go full time -- and I have enjoy4ed every minute of it -- until I became ill and had to start selling props. Now I need to go back to hom with my mentalism ideas and see if he and Eugene can smooth me out and psych me up........to get my seance open down here in Arizona,

I would also add Bob Fitch to the mix of this discussion. Bob has helped many of the top pros polish and refine their act. He has given me some very valuable advice on my own act.

I guess it boils down to what you want to do with your act. If you want to win Magic contests, Jeff is probably the way to go. Though I must admit there might be a backlash from so many people using Jeff for consultation. It was the same when a lot of guys went to Neil Foster. A lot of the acts started to look the same. That can work against you. It no fault of Jeff but simply a reality. We all have our strengths and tendencies.

I guess I have mixed emotions about this whole contest thing. It is great but an act is only as good as the next job. You will never make money working magic conventions.

Richard

Hi dove-boy

Have you thought about getting both people to help you?

Colin

Could somebody tell me, what's the cost for this type of consulting ? I know the price for a consulting by Joanie Spina, but what about Jeff McBride and Bob Fitch ?

Thanks.

Oliver.

It is based on what you want them to do. Simply write them and ask what kind of services they could provide you.

I think the Bob is mainly do reviews by video now but does a few in person interviews.

Again, I would simply write and ask them.

Also the idea of having both work on the act is a good one. I have had at least 8 different people that have made some major contributions to my act. That is not counting all the other ideas guys have given me.

Remember, the bottom line is you will have to decide what to do and keep. Unless you want to learn magic by the numbers.

Richard

Thanks Richard,

Collin your advice isn't bad at all and Richard explaines in an excellent way why.

Oliver.

Having attended Jeff's Master Classes, He would be the FIRST CHOICE for me to act as a consultant. Call him and discuss your thoughts and needs. He has helped many students via the internet and in person.

Kent

Bob Fitch would be a great choice to help you improve your acts. I've participated in Bob's camps on 4 different occasions and also hired him to direct a magic play that I produced.

Bob's strength lies in the fact that he will help you become a better performer not by dictating what you should do, but through helping you discover who you are and how best to present yourself. Problematic areas are identified and then solutions are created. He teaches a methodology so that you can use the techniques later on to help yourself improve. This approach ensures that you will not be a carbon copy of someone else.

Bob is a very caring and warm individual. His experience in theatre is unsurpassed and not many people can bring that to the mix. Working with Bob would be money well spent.

You may also consider taking his course which will happen in August this year. You would get the benefit of working on your act and also learning plenty about showmanship, stage presence and acting.

Best of luck in your pursuit.

Cheers,

Chris

http://www.borntoamaze.com

Attend Bob Fitch's MagicCamp this summer. I believe it's $2,500 for a week including accommodations and meals. After I went, I hired him to direct my show. It took 3 days to fine tune a 90 minute show. Bob coached Jeff McBride.

After a long thought and watchning Joanie's video tapes again : Here's the anwswer !

Get both of them. Joanie Spina for everything concerning corporal expression and dancing on stage during the act and Bob Fitch as the final director afterwards.

Like this you'll use each one for his specific experience.

What do you think ?

Oliver.

Depending in your act I will highly consider Avner the Eccentric. I saw his lecture in Spain not to long ago and I was really impressed on how he manages everything on stage. His timing, control over silence and everthing on stage was superb. I know he conducts a couple of seminars through the year.

Well,there is always Tony Clark.He offers this kind of consultation.

I know some people that have used Tony Clark in the past and were very pleased. One of them is a member of the Café and post from time to time. His name is Tony Dowell but I don't know his user name. Tony are you out there?

I would go with Jeff McBride He has to be one of the nicest people I ever met and he knows his stuff He could really put you on track

Did you decide on someone? Please let us know how it goes.

I believe that Peter White and Tony Spina do consulting.

John Pyka also offers consulting

$3500 for McBride for 2 Days

Gary Darwin , Johnny Thompson : These are 2 guys whom know much about the ART and probably a lot less expensive .

Hi Dove Boy
Have you ever taken acting lessons?