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MagicSanta Inner circle Northern Nevada 5841 Posts |
The people who are terrible don't realize it. I enjoyed your performance Courtney!
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MagicOfDamon New user 48 Posts |
My first show was for a family freind's kid's birthday party. I didn't have much of a collection and I was nervous.
Some of my angles were off and the kids picked up on the some the secrets but in the end they all had a great time. That video will never be released HA! |
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Whitewolfny Loyal user 216 Posts |
One of my first big "shows" was a talent show in high school. I had some good size props for the auditorium and I think I did okay. I did get positive comments in the days after the show.
I did a Zombie Ball routine and I thought I was doing okay, until I heard whispers from the audience that they could see the wire. I didn't understand that as from my side it looked like the foulard covered everything well. I was really hurt by those comments and put the Zombie Ball away. A month later a class mate and I were talking about that show and I mentioned the comments I had heard. He told me he heard them also. But the "wires" people were talking about were ones that they "saw" coming down from the ceiling or a couple people thought there were wires running horizontally off stage. One person asked me if I was using magnets some how. The Zombie may have had a bigger impact than I realized. Some day I may even try it again.
Braxton Mannar
<BR>Just an old dog trying to learn new tricks |
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Tony James Inner circle Cheshire UK 1398 Posts |
I started out long ago. Was I terrible? NO, OF COURSE I WAS NOT! Perish the thought.
I was absolutely fantastic. It was 1946, I was 20 years old and Open Sesame was just published. The greatest book on children's entertaining ever written. I read it right through and realised : 1 Entertaining children was very easy 2. Would be very profitable 3. When Open Sesame was read by others, they would be crowding the marketplace. So I started out and got in ahead of the pack and found it was easy and I was fantastic and I did earn a lot of money for doing very little. How things change. It all went splendidly for decades until a few years ago when I came onto the Magic Café and everything went downhill. Reading people here, so many of them were so clearly better than me. I was merely fantastic. They were AWESOME. And some! They had all the latest tricks as soon as they appeared, regardless of size and weight and cost. Illusions, no less. Expertise and showmanship and presentation count for nothing. The right props, big and expensive and multi-colourful will do it all for you. Multiple tables and sound and music systems and remote controls and backcloths - we mustn't forget the backcloths, must we?. All the bags and baggage to go with it too and dressing up in all manner of outrageous costumes. Sadly, I now realise I have gone from top to bottom of the heap. And then I see the videos on You Tube. Well, if those are examples of the Awesome Best and I am bottom of the heap what does that say about my show? I am in total despair! My life appears to have been the reverse of everyone else's. I am too old to change direction now, to buy and drag around all this equipment and apparatus which appears to be so essential for success. Sixty four years ago you went into the magic studio and all the truly great and brilliant entertainers bought their effects and always looked for those essential three words - 'No skill required'. Specially created for entertainers (not magicians, you understand) to help them be even more entertaining and earn lots more money very quickly. The clever, clever magicians bought the clever, clever finger flinging effects and bored the daylights out of anyone they could force into being an unwilling audience and they earned very little over a long period of time. So in my desperation I shall continue to do what I have done for so long and what I am doing every week travelling all over the UK. I am ENTERTAINING tens of thousands of adults and children and earning lots and lots of money for doing very little. I've retained my enthusiasm (for earning lots and lots of money) and I am just as brilliant as ever and above all I am still the same modest fellow I always have been. And I don't have to be a Pirate to achieve it either!!!
Tony James
Still A Child At Heart |
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lemonjug Loyal user 287 Posts |
I wasn't terrible but I was naive. I didn't realize that alcohol, even just a little, and performing magic don't mix at all. Having said that, I never drink around children.
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Potty the Pirate Inner circle 4632 Posts |
Quote:
On 2010-06-28 08:58, Tony James wrote: Wow! Tony, I hope that if I'm lucky to reach 84 years of age, that I'll be down to just one show a month! The rest of the time, I'll be sitting in the shade of a tree, sipping coconut water and strumming on my guitar on one of the cooler beaches of my choice! Potty |
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Tony James Inner circle Cheshire UK 1398 Posts |
Beware Potty, beware. Pirates rarely make old bones and even the Pirate's Parrot outlives its owner.
Tony James
Still A Child At Heart |
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Potty the Pirate Inner circle 4632 Posts |
Quote:
On 2010-06-28 12:48, Tony James wrote: OK, OK...I'll be lucky if I live another ten years, let alone another 35! ;) |
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Tony James Inner circle Cheshire UK 1398 Posts |
Gosh! I thought you were much younger than that Potty.
Tony James
Still A Child At Heart |
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Potty the Pirate Inner circle 4632 Posts |
Yeah - maybe I need to update my avatar!
:) |
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MagicSanta Inner circle Northern Nevada 5841 Posts |
Tony, I know what you mean....
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Al Angello Eternal Order Collegeville, Pa. USA 11045 Posts |
Tony
Just who are you trying to kid? You are no where near 83 years old. My guess is that in 1946 your parents were still thinking about having children.
Al Angello The Comic Juggler/Magician
http://www.juggleral.com http://home.comcast.net/~juggleral/ "Footprints on your ceiling are almost gone" |
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Tony James Inner circle Cheshire UK 1398 Posts |
I wish Al.
Tony James
Still A Child At Heart |
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seadog93 Inner circle 3200 Posts |
Great post Tony!
Thanks
"Love is the magician who pulls man out of his own hat" - Ben Hecht
"Love says 'I am everything.' Wisdom says 'I am nothing'. Between the two, my life flows." -Nisargadatta Maharaj Seadog=C-Dawg=C.ou.rtn.ey Kol.b |
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Potty the Pirate Inner circle 4632 Posts |
Quote:
On 2010-06-30 17:56, MagicSanta wrote: Santa, I'm old enough to feel sympathy for those who have yet to understand why "sarcasm is the lowest form of wit"; and young enough still to really not give a d**n who may feel professional jealousy toward me. Potty |
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MagicSanta Inner circle Northern Nevada 5841 Posts |
I'm not sure what you read but I was actually agreeing with Tony. If the bulk of the material put on youtube, and this isn't a reference to anyone specific, is suppose to be good performances, why else would they be on there, then by comparison our magic much suck since we don't put material on there. I cannot believe some of what is on youtube and people actually associate their names with it.
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TheAmbitiousCard Eternal Order Northern California 13425 Posts |
Quote:
On 2010-07-01 13:35, Potty the Pirate wrote: I thought puns and out-of-the-box patter were the lowest forms of wit.
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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Al Angello Eternal Order Collegeville, Pa. USA 11045 Posts |
Frank
Puns make me groan, patter tells me I'm listening to an amature, and contradiction makes me angry. The highest form of humor is irony. Sarcasm doesn't even come close to puns, patter, and contradiction for being the lowest form of humor, but then again I'm a very sarcastic guy.
Al Angello The Comic Juggler/Magician
http://www.juggleral.com http://home.comcast.net/~juggleral/ "Footprints on your ceiling are almost gone" |
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Potty the Pirate Inner circle 4632 Posts |
Quote:
On 2010-07-01 14:40, Frank Starsini wrote: Frank, you do surprise me. Sarcasm and irony are brilliant tools in the hands of masters, but there are those (most of us) who simply can't pull it off, because to be sarcastic or ironic, you need respect, and a strong character. Most of all, you need to show that even in being condescending towards others, you have compassion and humour in your derision. In contrast, puns can be worked by amateurs, and, "out-of-the-box patter" means, I presume, gags that are tried-and-tested. As you are no doubt aware, many of today's leading comics rely on "out-of-the-box patter". I have encountered many entertainers who have on occasion gotten away with the derision of others to make themselves appear smart and clever. But unless they really are smart and clever, this approach rarely works in the long run. :) |
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TheAmbitiousCard Eternal Order Northern California 13425 Posts |
Potty,
Out-of-the-box patter to me means the patter that is supplied with a given trick, which, as far as I can tell, has usually never been used on a real audience. If it has been used on a real audience, it was a real BORED audience. Irony and sarcasm do not equate to put-downs. Personally, I do not make myself out to be smart or clever during my act. I leave that to the amateurs and Max Maven. I've been doing magic for a while now and I think that from my years of experience trying specifically to build a strong character (as opposed to shuttling tricks in and out of the act hoping to turn lead into gold), I've eventually gotten there. When other magicians comment on my act usually their first remarks are that I seem very confident on stage with a good stage presence. my act is full of sarcasm for one very simple reason: that's what I'm like in real life so I just enhance it on stage. I figured that would be the easiest path for me to achieve a strong character that I could relate to and build on. Yes, puns can be worked by amateurs and it is just an awful, embarrassing mess. It goes like this: They say a pun They look out the the audience with a stupid smirk or grin They wait for a great reaction It does not come (usually crickets or a groan. a polite groan on a good day) They get a polite *heh heh* from a few that feel embarrassed for the entertainer. They might get a forced chuckle from an adult that was trying to convince their child it was funny and to laugh along. They consider that a good response or they make an apology for such a dumb attempt at humor. Rinse Repeat *puke* In my opinion, to successfully work puns in an act it requires an extreme amount of theatrical skill and timing and I do not have that. I've scripted one trick with puns and I do not react to them at all. I only react to the audience's reaction to them. There's a big difference there. I am sure there are many fulltime pros that do it the amateur way but would swear on the Café that people are in fits of laughter with tears rolling down their eyes, and farting uncontrollably at their witty puns but I would not believe them. Lastly, the seasoned pro comic could use puns toward the end of their act; after the audience already knows that the guy's a comic genius. At that point, anything would be funny.
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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