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patrick flanagan Inner circle lisle, illinois 1045 Posts |
Christopher,
So true...most biker-types are a lot of fun and do enjoy the magic. But, as you said,...lol...not doing a kid's show. I've worked many bars where biker groups hung out, and, usually, it's a fun time. I had a show that bombed last year at x-mas time. Same routine which I've done a bunch of times...platform for adults. Works like clock-work. Well, this night, the clocks weren't working. I had the Midas touch in reverse. Just plain embarrassing. Worst yet, two old friends (husband and wife) that I hadn't seen in at least 10 years were there. Apparently, he worked for this company. I couldn't get out of the room fast enough. The strangest thing was that after the show, at least 10 people asked me for my card. I'm not sure if they wanted my card to consider hiring me, or they wanted it to make sure they DIDN'T hire me....lol. another learning experience...ugh patrick |
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Christopher Lyle Inner circle Dallas, Texas 5698 Posts |
Quote:
On 2009-12-29 15:38, patrick flanagan wrote: I have learned that we are our own worst critic. I have had people come up to me after shows and say it was the best show they ever saw and I'm thinking "were we watching the same show?" Bottom line...we are far more critical of our own act than I think an audience of layman are. Food for thought.... Christopher
In Mystery,
Christopher Lyle Magician, Comic, Daredevil, and Balloon Twisting Genius For a Good Time...CLICK HERE! |
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Bill Palmer Eternal Order Only Jonathan Townsend has more than 24312 Posts |
When I was working at the Texas Renaissance Festival, I always made it a point to select at least one biker for an audience volunteer each show. Why? Bikers are exhibitionists. They LOVE attention. I didn't diss them, I just made them part of the show.
And their reactions were very predictable. They understand that the stage is your "turf." They respect your turf as long as you respect theirs. And if they like you they are not afraid to part with a decent amount of gelt!
"The Swatter"
Founder of CODBAMMC My Chickasaw name is "Throws Money at Cups." www.cupsandballsmuseum.com |
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Sir Richard Special user 650 Posts |
Quote:
On 2009-12-29 15:41, Christopher Lyle wrote: As magicians we always know "what's up," however the "lay" audience does not; they don't know if a trick gone awry is supposed to be that way or not. My good friend & mentor once lost a freely selected card & failed to find it. He then asked what the card was and was informed that it was the King of Hearts. He just happened to have an "Insurance Policy" with that card on it & blew their minds...he said they're still talking about it! Sir Richard.
"In the land of Murphy there is but ONE law!"
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Christopher Lyle Inner circle Dallas, Texas 5698 Posts |
Quote:
On 2009-12-29 20:13, Sir Richard wrote: Richard has a good point! Remember...the audience doesn't know what is SUPPOSED to happen...so if you lose a card (for real) and can't find it, begin to improvise and change it up. From time to time, I lose track of where the card goes. Sometimes what I come up with on the fly gets a better reaction to the original effect...which can guide you to come up with new routines. Sometimes, accidents can be a good time! (insert your own joke!) Christopher
In Mystery,
Christopher Lyle Magician, Comic, Daredevil, and Balloon Twisting Genius For a Good Time...CLICK HERE! |
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Sir Richard Special user 650 Posts |
Sometimes I think that when things start to go wrong at the outset we "lose it" & make even more mistakes. To get back to what I said earlier, I remember one night at our club; we had several magicians performing & at least half of them did "The Professor's Nightmare." Then one member got up,and showed what looked like 3 ropes of different lengths. Each was marked on both ends with colored tape; one rope with red, another with yellow, another with blue. He then "stretched" the ropes so they all became the same length, then threw them out to us to show that they had truly become the same length. That ended his routine. I was dying to learn the trick & he had no problem not only teaching me, but made me a set of ropes as well. Then he cautioned me: "just remember, this only works on magicians as the lay audience doesn't have a clue to what's really going on!" He was right. He had used the magicians' knowledge of how "The Prof's Nightmare" worked against them! It was brilliant! However I'll never be able to use that trick anywhere else!
Sir Richard.
"In the land of Murphy there is but ONE law!"
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Christopher Lyle Inner circle Dallas, Texas 5698 Posts |
I believe that is Magic Ian's version of the PN plot. And you're correct...it's ONLY for Magicians as a lay audience wouldn't get it. Ian designed the routine for a Magic Audience.
I use that when I know I'm going to be doing something for Magicians and use it to throw them off as so many people have never seen or heard of Ian's routine...
In Mystery,
Christopher Lyle Magician, Comic, Daredevil, and Balloon Twisting Genius For a Good Time...CLICK HERE! |
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Sir Richard Special user 650 Posts |
To get back on topic, I've never had a whole show bomb before, but I've had tricks "go south" a time or three. One thing that I've learned from my mentor is "always have a back-up." Lose their card, go to the invisible deck, 52 on 1, card in shoe, etc. We recently had a University student who just graduated & was learning ask: "What do you do when the trick fails, or you get "caught." His problem seem to be that he was totally focused on the trick more than the entertainment factor. Being relatively new in magic, (with some of the greatest raw talent, I might add.)that's probably not so bad. Both my mentor & I shrugged & said: "you go with it!"
Awhile back our club was doing a show at a fundraiser at a new library. I was using a spectator by name of "Stan" to help me with a certain card trick. The trick required Stan to keep the deck, unobserved, behind his back as I'd previously did some "dirty work" with it. Then Stan did the unthinkable, he peeked at the deck, noticed that a card was face-up that should, in his mind, be face-down, so he turned it over, ruining my trick. In my performances it's always more important for everybody to have fun, and if they can be amazed as well, that's an added bonus. No one was going to be amazed this time around! I looked at the spectator & said: "Stan! Dude! You ruined my trick!" Then I turned to the audience and said: "Everybody, Stan ruined my trick! Boo Stan!" They could tell from my demeanor that I was being comedic because my trick was messed up so they all laughed, which is what I wanted. Then I turned to Stan & said: "Okay guy, you got me good there! Here's another chance for you to do it again!" I went to "Scotch & Soda" & amazed everybody, including Stan. Now they all thought that Stan was "supposed" to mess me up. Stan was in his 40's & kept coming back to help me out, just like a child would in any magic show. I related this to show how I could have been so devastated that my 1st trick failed that I might have blundered on trying to compensate for it, there-by causing even bigger problems! It has been my experience that when things start to go wrong that I just pause, lighten up the situation, giving me time to think about what I should do next, & above all, keep the audience entertained. Of course this only works if you can keep the audience in the 1st place. I now refuse to be set-up next to anybody doing balloon animals as I always see my audience leave to go get a "rubber poodle" or some such thing! Sir Richard.
"In the land of Murphy there is but ONE law!"
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S2000magician Inner circle Yorba Linda, CA 3465 Posts |
Speaking of backup plans:
I was at our local magic club's annual picnic a few years ago. A friend came over to our table with his date, who loved magic, and asked me to show her something. I started to do Triumph, but lost my break. Apparently I winced or something because my friend looked quizzically at me. I nodded, "I think so." I continued with the routine, shuffling face-up into face-down, cutting, blah, blah, blah, snapping fingers, whole deck's straightened out, except for the Queen of Spades face-up in the center. At least she was impressed that the other cards had all turned face-down. However . . . "That's not my card." "What was your card?" "The Three of Clubs." Think fast! I remembered an idea that I believe I read in one of Harry Lorayne's books. (I always thought it was in Close-Up Card Magic, but I can't find it in there.) I told her that this had happened to me only once before, and that the explanation must be that the Three of Clubs had disappeared from the deck. "I'll go through the the entire deck and you tell me if you see your Three of Clubs." I ran through the entire deck, slowly. No Three of Clubs. She was impressed. "Now, if the Three of Clubs hadn't disappeared, the ending would have looked like this:" I spread the deck across the table. There, face-up in the center, was her Three of Clubs! She was most impressed, and to this day believes that that's how the routine was supposed to work. Much better than the non sequitur of an Invisible Deck, or the letdown of a 52-on-1. |
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TheAmbitiousCard Eternal Order Northern California 13425 Posts |
Very nice!!!
www.theambitiouscard.com Hand Crafted Magic
Trophy Husband, Father of the Year Candidate, Chippendale's Dancer applicant, Unofficial World Record Holder. |
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gaddy Inner circle Agent of Chaos 3526 Posts |
No one will hate you if you blow a trick,
...but Everyone will hate you if you respond to it badly...
*due to the editorial policies here, words on this site attributed to me cannot necessarily be held to be my own.*
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Sir Richard Special user 650 Posts |
Quote: Now THAT was super-cool & very inspirational! I like that! Thanks for sharing, I'm probably going to steal that idea you know.
On 2009-12-30 13:44, S2000magician wrote: Sir Richard.
"In the land of Murphy there is but ONE law!"
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S2000magician Inner circle Yorba Linda, CA 3465 Posts |
Quote:
On 2009-12-30 22:10, Sir Richard wrote: My pleasure. Quote:
On 2009-12-30 22:10, Sir Richard wrote: You're welcome to it. I just wish I could remember where I read it. By the way, what I had learned wasn't an out; it was a fully-contained effect. I just happened to remember the outcome and the method at exactly the moment I needed it. |
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magicsoup Elite user 461 Posts |
Sort of off topic. I do a insurance policy type of trick. When I can't find the card my reaction gets a good laugh. Sometimes people have more fun watching you squirm. If the person who hired me was watching and couldn't hear they would think everything was going great!
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