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Bill Hegbli Eternal Order Fort Wayne, Indiana 22797 Posts |
I thought I would talk a little about routining your silk magic. I see some members say they do a Blendo, Mis-Made Flag, Sympathic Silk, As You Like it, Soft Soap or any number of effects that start out with a number of silks already at hand, that will change into something else, be it large, smaller or a blending of colors.
Instead of just picking up the colored silks to intialize the effect, why not magically produce say 3 white silks. Then use an effect like the Al Baker Color Changing Silk Routine to change those 3 white silks to different colors like red, white and blue. Then continue on with your effect of say the Mis-Made Flag. This will lengthen the complete routine and add a little more magic to the total effect. Being the normal thing to do with say the Al Baker effect is to tear up the paper tube, it is perfectly all right to use another changing device such as a Change Bag or Box to continue with the effect. A performer does not have to stop there, when the Flag is shown, many do; but why not transform the Flag to something else, say a streamer or a container of candy for the audience or something that fits your act or personality. Many performers buy one trick and think that is it. How to grow with your act, and have it connect, look for effects that would enhance what you are currently doing in your show. It is especially fun when you really like to perform a trick and then expand it to a show piece. It took me 3 years to routine together my opening number and I like think it is a good combination. My opening is a producing 3 silks bare handed, that change into a 36" Blendo silk, the blendo is placed in a cyclinder that transforms to confette, that confette is poured into a bowl, which doubles in quantity. The remaining confette is transformed into a 36" silk that represents the original blendo design, those having that come full circle. Additionally, the bowls produce a paper hat coil and it ends with a bowl full of spring flowers. From that large silk is produced a bowl of water, a fire bowl, and 2 bouquet of feather flowers. So basically I have combined 5 or 6 magic tricks that are sold seperately into a several minute opening number. It has many of the elements of flash, mystery, color that audiences like and apppeal to different types of people: men, women, children, young and old and in between. Don't forget to add a little sound if you can, for instance, you can attach those cap devices to your spring flowers so they will bang when opened. Makes a great attention getter. You can ad small smoke devices to some of your equipment to have a poof of smoke before or during a production. Well, I hope this was interesting to you in some way and maybe got your ceative juices flowing. If any of the members which to share what they have combined and found it gets good audience reaction, then by all means share ideas with us. Thanks for reading. |
funsway Inner circle old things in new ways - new things in old ways 9982 Posts |
I am so pleased to see a post about the importance of Routining -- something that seems to have gotten lost in recent decades. AT best magicians have a couple of rope tricks that build on one another, then jump to ring, then to silks, etc. Given the short attention span of modern audiences it may not matter, but if ones goal is to be artistic attention to routining is vital.
here is an earlier post on how a routine used to look http://www.themagiccafe.com/forums/viewt......orum=134 Maybe if newer magicians can see effective routines they will start emulating them
"the more one pretends at magic, the more awe and wonder will be found in real life." Arnold Furst
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JamesinLA Inner circle Los Angeles 3400 Posts |
Thanks for sharing your opening, WM.
Jim
Oh, my friend we're older but no wiser, for in our hearts the dreams are still the same...
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Leland Inner circle St Louis 1180 Posts |
I'm glad I came across this post. I'm trying to routine a silk act and I've gotten some good ideas. Thanks.
Life of Magic!
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hugmagic Inner circle 7655 Posts |
My routine has always been to use a phantom tube. It is a large custom one that I made myself. I needed a quantity of silks to produce a silk fountain from. I did not want to do Snap Silk (Diminishing Silks) as too many people were doing it. I do the phantom tube as my second opening trick. I do not cap it as it slows the pace down too much. I simply hold up and pan it across and show it empty.
As I produce the silks, I use a lot of facial expressions to show surprise and then disgust at the continual appearance of silks. I produce 12- 24" silks and then a 36" Sunburst silk which I hold up separately for applause. The 24" silks have been placed on the table near the fountain. At one point, I used to expand the 36" sunburst to a 6' similarly dyed sunburst in a top hat. I have since taken that out of the act. I set the tube and sunburst down and pick up the 24" silks with the fountain underneath. I walk downstage (which gives me a pause between the steal and reveal) and produce the fountain. I finish with a 6' sunburst and then an 18 bloom sleeve bouquet. Again another version I have since retired, is that I would go into Neil Foster's Center tear using a full sized newspaper. When it was restored I would use the same paper for Mutilated parasol. Which let me work with some more silks. I usually did not restore the parasol. If I was working a regular show (not convention), I would do Soft Soap at this point. I would patter that this was how I kept my silks clean on the road. It all flowed together pretty well and seemed logical. I, as any performer can tell, continue to tweak and remove or add things as I am always trying to improve the act. Routining the act is not just linking together effects but also figuring out the blocking, the build of the show and maximizing the entertainment value. There are a lot of tricks I love but they just do not fit into the act at this time. As several guys have said in the past..."It is not what you put into the act..but what you take out that improves it". I always try to watch an act or routine not just for the effect but why it was done the manner or order it was. Mike Caveney, Jonathan Neal Brown, Levent, Jeff Bride, and Alan Shaxon are all good people to watch and learn from. Jay Marshall was another gem to learn from. Anyone can buy the tricks but it takes a master to properly routine and present them. Richard
Richard E. Hughes, Hughes Magic Inc., 352 N. Prospect St., Ravenna, OH 44266 (330)296-4023
www.hughesmagic.com email-hugmagic@raex.com Write direct as I will be turning off my PM's. |
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