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The Great Smartini Inner circle 2280 Posts |
Popo,
good post...I'd like to add to what you have to say about giving your identity time to develop...this happens over time as you really refine and perfect your routines...just when you think you've perfected something a new layer reveal itself...doing them time and time again allows the natural lines and "ad libs" to come out...it allows the routine to become the best that it can be...it makes me think of the effect tail spin...my version is custom made by a prop designer and it's just grown and grown over the years...there simply is no comparison between my original handling and how I perform it now...like you I will add at most one new routine to any program to see how it plays...there is of course a balance between the interaction between you and your audience/helper and the script/timing of a show...my show is pretty choreographed/blocked and this requires that I have some discipline when on stage to maintain my cues and keep my transitions tight...this partially stems from the fact that I do school assembly/library shows exclusively...this more formalized show setting dictates how I perform and would be different compared to say a birthday party scenario which may be less structured Smartini |
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MagicRabbit Regular user 176 Posts |
Ok, I'll say it s-l-o-w-e-r, for those who require it:
Your show should contain ONLY items that you have owned for some time and are comfortable with. Not items that are new. It should use props that you have handled before, worked with, practiced with, performed with, looked at, read about, know about, think about, enjoy using, look good, taste great, less filling. You can fool yourself all you want to that your routine and the way you always perform it will work for every crowd. Look, some audiences are just being nice to you when they tell you they liked you. And PooPoo, of course it would be much more difficult to ad-lib because you work with a partner, I guess I should have pointed that out as well from the beginning, but again I never thought someone would actually consider it or read that into the post, but I suppose a certain type of person would. I'll say this part s-l-o-w too: Just because I suggest that you have DIFFERENT ways to perform an item doesn't mean that they shouldn't be practiced. You should just have the vast amount of KNOWLEDGE within you, that you have the ABILITY to change your direction during the show. C'mon this is age-old advice that is pretty basic, except to the amateur, why are you having such a hard time reading it? You are confusing FLEXIBILITY with INABILITY. One rquires years of hard work, thought process, experience and a natural-born ability to entertain. The other, cannot understand this post. |
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Benjabone New user Japan 29 Posts |
Great Point!
Thanks to the great posts here at Magic Café I have changed my character/identity/routine entirely in the last month. I kept trying to create a routine for the magic. I have been doing small bits for some time, but I am fairly new to the full out "magic show". I kept trying to find new tricks and new techniques to create an identity. Absolutely absurd!! I have been a children's entertainer for years and have had kids busting guts and screaming for encores for a long time now, (not to toot my own horn..just telling it like it is) and I had neglected my bread and butter, my moxy, my fly by the seat of my pants stuff when I approached a "magic show". As much as I'd like to use all the illusions I have purchased, I am down to using a few perfected versions of the ones that are natural extensions or natural fits with my "non-magic" show, and now the magic is an extension of me, my natural character, via my kid's show stage persona. |
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RickyD New user South Carolina 91 Posts |
Thought I'd add a comment on the side-discussion about ad-libbing:
In my show, one effect naturally flows into the next. The silks I produce at the beginning are later used in a "painting" routine. The plush rabbit that appears is used in a comedy card trick. I have a running theme of rabbits throughout the show. etc. My patter is somewhat ad-libbed as I go along, but the order of tricks and what tricks I use are set from the beginning of the show. It's not a rigid, inflexible script. I call it "planning" and "routining", and I don't see this as a bad thing. (In fact, I know several professionals that would say routining a show is "age-old advice that is pretty basic".) While I do carry a couple of extra props in my case, and I can perform those particular tricks with my eyes closed, it interrupts the entire flow if I just stick it in a random place in my act. I can "make" it work, but it seems forced if I do that. I have changed up my show before it started, though. For example, I was performing a birthday party and arrived to find everything set up outside, contrary to what I'd been told. I took a minute or two to think through my show and realized that the wind could affect a couple of things. So I dropped one or two tricks, added in a different one or two, and re-worked a couple of others. The show went well, and the audience had no idea I'd done anything differently. But I still took a few minutes to "re-plan" my act to make things fit together. What does that have to do with your "stage personality"? I'm not sure, really, except that random ad-libbing might fit some personas better than it does others. If it fits your act and your personality, go for it. I don't think it makes anyone less professional to have a more routined show, though. (I think I've gotten us far enough off the original topic. Guess I'll be quiet now ...)
"The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit. Amen."
-- Philippians 4:23 |
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MagicRabbit Regular user 176 Posts |
Quote:
On 2006-04-07 09:02, RickyD wrote: So do I, hence the name. Quote:
My patter is somewhat ad-libbed as I go along, but the order of tricks and what tricks I use are set from the beginning of the show. Your starting to get it... Quote:
It's not a rigid, inflexible script. Yes...I feel it coming! Quote:
I call it "planning" and "routining", and I don't see this as a bad thing. me either, that's why I never told anyone NOT to do this... Quote:
(In fact, I know several professionals that would say routining a show is "age-old advice that is pretty basic".) I'm one of them, keep going... Quote:
While I do carry a couple of extra props in my case, and I can perform those particular tricks with my eyes closed, it interrupts the entire flow if I just stick it in a random place in my act. I can "make" it work, but it seems forced if I do that. Forced randomness? Interesting. You underestimate your abilities most likely. Come now, I have faith in you that you will entertain yourself & them. Quote:
I have changed up my show before it started, though. For example, I was performing a birthday party and arrived to find everything set up outside, contrary to what I'd been told. I took a minute or two to think through my show and realized that the wind could affect a couple of things. So I dropped one or two tricks, added in a different one or two, and re-worked a couple of others. The show went well, and the audience had no idea I'd done anything differently. BINGO!! (woop-woop-woop - sirens blare, whistles go off) Quote:
What does that have to do with your "stage personality"? Everything- dude, you might have sucked otherwise, had you not been intelligent enough to be FLEXIBLE. However, YOU made it where you were more comfortable with the show, more confident with yourself, you had more fun and in turn - So DID THEY. That, my friend IS character. Quote:
I'm not sure, really, except that random ad-libbing might fit some personas better than it does others. I'll second that. That's why I said, if you don't really belong in this biz, PLEASE get out or become a robot. Thanks for agreeing with about everything I have said! ...next! |
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Al Kazam the Magic Man Inner circle Living in Perth Western Australia 1042 Posts |
To MagicRabbit,
Hello, while your posts are great for a subject of "How to adlib and take the plunge when you're in the middle of a show" it is not the main thrust of this thread. This thread is mainly to discuss performing personalities. It would be most helpful if others were allowed to post on that particular subject so we can get others to share their performing personality. Please feel free to start another thread on the aspects of performing that are very close to your heart. Thanks for your understanding! So, please feel free to add to this thread on the topic that is was started on. Thanks and all the best, JoJo
Magic guy in Perth Australia
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MagicRabbit Regular user 176 Posts |
To JoJo,
Hello, unfortunately you were not adept enough to understand that my post was not about ad-libbing at all, but about allowing your character to be first and foremost FLEXIBLE. My post went far beyond the scope of some minds, to explain that a situational "character" could suffer on many occasions as some other posters here have pointed out by being cussed at by their audience, and my post recognized how having a more flexible character could better feed off the energy of the crowd and allow the performer to do what he is being paid to do and that is to ENTERTAIN. Some people actually make the mistake of hiring a magician for an event, when the crowd and the atmosphere is not the right tempo or maturity level for such a performance and so a professional, being able to "read" this from early on SHOULD have the experience and knowledge to be able to take what energy IS there and transform it into an entertaining event and thus producing CHARACTER. I apologize that my "help" was apparently misplaced and wasted on this board. ...next! |
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The Great Smartini Inner circle 2280 Posts |
MagicRabbit,
I'm sure that you have our best interests at heart but in my opinion you're starting to get on the rude side of things...relax, grab a coffee or whatever you need and then try to refocus your disappointment with some people misreading your posts...you seem to have some good things to share but you seem very angry and frustrated...thanks! smartini |
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MagicRabbit Regular user 176 Posts |
Quote:
On 2006-04-07 15:47, The Great Smartini wrote: Actually if you go back and read, my post was quite pleasant, it was YOUR post that insuated that my show "ain't too good". I am actually one of the few who are making a very good living out of only performing, as I have stated I have my own venue, staff, stage and everything else I need. People come to ME for entertainment and there aren't enough hours in a weekend to handle them all. But look - it took me a lot of time, sweat & learning to get there. My advice is real world, some just don't like it. Let me explain, as much as everyone may hate me, please listen - here on this post, people are looking for a PERSONAL character, and yet they own NOTHING magical that THEY have invented,(including me, except one item) almost none of their patter is ORIGINAL, (including me, with a few exceptions) and yet they think they have their own PERSONAL CHARACTER! Ha. That's the same character we see in club after club on audition night, the same character we see week after week filling in at my venue, the same character once a month at the IBM meeting. If you really think those lame jokes, sight gags and colorful props are your character, you are GOOD only at fooling yourself. Just because you get a crowd to laugh or make a compliment means very little, it is a step in the right direction (mind you), but listen - the ONLY thing that is truly YOURS in a magic show are those 75 people sitting their waiting to be entertained. You have to own them. Evrything you brought with you is crap. They are going to peering so deep into YOU that you would shudder to dare think about it while on stage! To be the best, you had better learn to read your crowd & adjust. Your character (whatever it is) better be flexible. Quote:
you seem very angry and frustrated...thanks! I swear to you I'm not. I don't mind differing opinions from anyone, I have only poked back when I felt the comment was personally hurled at me. No big deal. Send your next one......next! |
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Popo Loyal user Valparaiso, IN 219 Posts |
MagicRabbit, your air of superiority has an unpleasant smell. I am happy for you that you have found success. I have yet to meet a "true professional" (as you have put it) who retorts to others by misusing their names or replying so condescendingly. Being force fed a message is not all that conducive to learning but to each his own. I wish you continued success.
POPO |
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MagicRabbit Regular user 176 Posts |
Your welcome.
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Benjabone New user Japan 29 Posts |
Magic Rabbit, I have 98% confidence that none of my patter has been done elsewhere in the same way. Your schtick (sp?), or your patter or monologue may be almost comepletely un-original, but mine however, is not. If any of my gags have been done elsewhere, then I assume I am on the right track. I frankly have no idea what other kid's show magicians say in their shows except for the blurbs I have read here at the Magic Café and I have not copied one iota, even though it would be the sincerest form of flattery.
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