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*Mark Lewis* V.I.P. 1325 Posts |
I do have another method of drawing a crowd but I think it may well be a bit too harsh and flamboyant for a trade show and I have never tried it in that scenario. Still who knows? Maybe it would work.
I usually do this at a venue where nobody is about and traffic is very low. With it I have had the whole bloody place round me in three minutes. I may post it later if I find the energy. It isn't going to suit a lot of you but it may be interesting nevertheless. |
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TomBoleware Inner circle Hattiesburg, Ms 3163 Posts |
Keep in mind that when we say flash the cash, that doesn't mean you passing it out. It could mean that the company is having a drawing and you simply showing the prize. It's a way to get them over to register. People seem more willing to register for a cash prize than any other type prize. Once you have them lined up to register, you simply hand the money over to the company people and begin entertaining those waiting to sign up. You actually doing two different jobs, but some companies will welcome you being somewhat the spokesperson as well as the entertainer. Cash can certainly be used many ways to draw a crowd.
But for the magician/entertainer, I too really like the way Mark opens with the sponge balls. It sort of lets them know right off there will be magic. Tom
The Daycare Magician Book
https://www.vanishingincmagic.com/amazekids/the-daycare-magician/ My Blog - https://boleware.blogspot.com/ |
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Ray Pierce Inner circle Los Angeles, CA 2607 Posts |
Mark, I like the sponge balls as well. It reminded me of my sponge ball routine I would do at Hollywood Magic to start a tip. It was simply starting much like your routine then taking a sponge ball and splitting it in two, and handing them out for others to try. I would then go up and down the line taking back their ball and splitting it in different ways and handing it out to more and more people. I had about 10 different methods and would switch out each time. This all started as we had a huge drawer of sponge balls of all shapes and sizes so I just grabbed as many as I could and shoved them in the servante behind the counter and went to work! By the end of a few minutes, I had 12 or more people all looking at these stupid sponge balls but really engaged!
The other routine was strangely enough the little coil and ring puzzle. Again, the "Have you ever seen one of these" come on was great. You simply lift the ring up and slide it off... here you try it. While they were failing, I got another one for the next observer... after about 10 or more were out I would just run back and forth doing it with their coil and ring then handing it back to them much to their befuddlement. People would walk up wondering what all of these people were doing and become engaged. In the right situation, they became give always and at the end of the routine I explained the puzzle. They then became my emissaries around the trade show floor for the rest of the day trying it on other people!
Ray Pierce
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*Mark Lewis* V.I.P. 1325 Posts |
Actually I forgot an important line that I use to draw them over. I do this after showing the sponge balls and before saying, "you don't have to spend any money-nobody else does" When they are in a bit of a trance looking at me and the two sponges wondering what the hell they are I say, "you can't go through life without seeing these,you know."
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Oscar999 Elite user 401 Posts |
Mark,
That's a pretty giving thing to do. Many performers wouldn't give away their lines like you've done in your posts. Thanks, most appreciated! In fact everybody here has been very generous ... with special thanks also to Ray, Tom and George! Oscar |
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*Mark Lewis* V.I.P. 1325 Posts |
It doesn't matter. I'll be dead soon.
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gman Special user Lancaster, pa 751 Posts |
Mark you ain't going to die soon. Your too tough for that. You'll live forever.
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*Mark Lewis* V.I.P. 1325 Posts |
[quote
But for the magician/entertainer, I too really like the way Mark opens with the sponge balls. It sort of lets them know right off there will be magic. Tom [/quote] Actually, that actually isn't quite true. They have no idea I am going to do magic when I hold up the two sponge balls. If they did they would probably run scampering off. They have utterly no idea what the balls are for until I start the trick. They just see two sponge balls and they are torn between curiosity about them and figuring out how to respond to me. If I weren't holding up the two balls and simply said, " have you got a minute I've got something to show you" they would scamper off very quickly. The balls confuse them and they don't know how to respond. And then when I follow up and say, "You can't go through life without seeing these" it makes them laugh and breaks the ice. And the further follow up of "You don't have to spend any money. Nobody else does" gets an even bigger laugh because they half wonder if I am trying to sell them something. Then I start to do the trick and they start to respond. If a woman is present they will often start to laugh and scream and this brings more people over. I do remember one idiot trade show magician who is very well known in the business telling me that it was impossible to draw a crowd without a microphone, not knowing I had been doing it my whole life. He also said, "You have to use a microphone. You are competing with professionals" He had no idea that he was the amateur and not me. He had this ridiculous reasoning that people don't want to butt in on private conversations and and will walk by if you don't have a microphone and only a couple of people in front of you. Biggest bunch of tosh I have ever heard. If it were true every grafter in Britain would never be able to draw a crowd. British pitchmen never use microphones and we have no problems drawing a crowd. In fact if a grafter uses a microphone in Britain they are considered amateurs and are laughed at. Not only that they will probably be asked to switch the microphone off by the exhibition management. |
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TomBoleware Inner circle Hattiesburg, Ms 3163 Posts |
I think you right Mark. I did misspeak there. It sparks the curiosity, a very powerful draw, and something most people can't walk past. I guess in a way that's what magic does too, but I agree it is much stronger the way you do it. Thanks for clearing it up.
They say a picture paints a thousand words, but if you can paint a good question mark, you will get a thousand words. Thanks for all your sharing Mark, Tom
The Daycare Magician Book
https://www.vanishingincmagic.com/amazekids/the-daycare-magician/ My Blog - https://boleware.blogspot.com/ |
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Mike Maturen Inner circle Michigan's Beautiful Sunrise Side 2726 Posts |
I just find the whole concept of "flashing cash" to draw a crowd incredibly tacky and low-class.
But, that's just me.
Mike Maturen
World of Wonder Entertainment The Magic and Mayhem of Mike Maturen 989-335-1661 mikematuren@gmail.com AUTHOR OF "A NEW DAWN--Weekly Wisdom From Everyday Life" member: International Magician's Society |
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Starrpower Inner circle 4070 Posts |
I have done oh-so-few trade shows, but I have been to lots of trade, consumer, and fairs that I can address this technique as the "mark." I think that getting people to stop under the pretense of giving away money would make me feel cheated, or lied to, or fooled. People do not like to be fools, and I think it would sour their attitude toward what follows -- that being the message of your client. So yeah, it certainly could stop people, but then you'd be fighting the mindset your created.
Just to drift off topic a hair .... this reminds me of an audio tape that Brian Flora and Doc Hilford put out back in the 80's. The tape was about how to perform outdoor shows at fairs and festivals. His pitch was something like "Money money money! Magic magic magic! Watch the money, watch the magic, and see how it's done. Later on we'll bring out the furry little animal, He's the strangest thing you've ever seen, etc etc." It always seemed odd to me to promise an audience something that you will not deliver on. There was no money, there was no animal. Now, if all you wanna do is build a crowd to show your client lots of people, I guess it works. But if you want to provide a quality show and be remembered in a positive light, I really find this questionable. |
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TomBoleware Inner circle Hattiesburg, Ms 3163 Posts |
Same here, I don't have experience as a trade show magician, but I have took part in a few.
The companies I helped with trade shows had one thing in mind, to promote business. I think it all comes down to what you hired to do. If you hired to just do an entertaining magic show, then yes you need to do a great show. But if you hired to do more, you will need to do more. Sometimes you have to ask yourself, what's the real purpose of me being here? When you working for other people, it's not about you, it's about them. Tom
The Daycare Magician Book
https://www.vanishingincmagic.com/amazekids/the-daycare-magician/ My Blog - https://boleware.blogspot.com/ |
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*Mark Lewis* V.I.P. 1325 Posts |
Quote:
On 2011-07-08 11:34, gman wrote: You can get a better view of the routine here. Different clip but same routine. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lemy01UJWYo |
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*Mark Lewis* V.I.P. 1325 Posts |
As for the Doc Hilford thing he is actually using the Don Driver method of drawing a crowd which is as old as the hills. I think Don taught it to him. There is absolutely nothing wrong with it and that includes the idea of promising the punters something but not giving it to them. In fact you SHOULD do it that way for reasons I have no time or inclination to explain.
However, it is a method for drawing a crowd for a busker or a Jam Auction hustler or in fact anyone that wants to draw a crowd. It is far better worked outdoor than indoors and could be useful for certain types of pitchmen. However it is NOT a valid method of drawing a crowd at a trade show. And I do indeed find all this flashing of money to be vulgar and not conducive to trade show work, nothwithstanding the fact that I have heard that Joel Bauer uses it in that manner. The Patrick Page money trick is another matter and I see no problem with it. And the miser's dream might be quite good at a trade show I imagine. But just flashing money for the sake of it I don't favour at all. But trade shows are very easy to draw a crowd at. I really don't know what the problem is supposed to be. At a consumer show they are quite liable to walk rudely past you but this is virtually unheard of at any trade show I have worked. They are a higher class of people and more polite and will stop if you have even half an idea what you are doing. I have never used any of my more flamboyant methods of "pulling a pitch" at a trade show simply because it hasn't been necessary. |
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*Mark Lewis* V.I.P. 1325 Posts |
Here is my very flamboyant technique for drawing a crowd. I do this if traffic is quiet of if I am in a not so good location and I can promise you that within two minutes I will have the whole bloody place round me. I still remember seeing a well known trade show magician standing behind his booth like a lemon trying to get someone to watch his cups and balls and I asked when he was going to start and draw a crowd. He shrugged his shoulders saying "there are no people around to draw over" I was visiting the show rather than working it and didn't tell him who I was. I prefer to spy on trade show magicians and not tell them who I am. Far sneakier and much more wicked. When I first started in the business I would pretend to them that I was a business executive interested in their services and they would send me all sorts of promotional materials with their prices and the rest of the guff which I found quite useful.
All terribly unethical and also terribly useful. But here is my technique for drawing people out of the woodwork. I don't know if it would be suitable for a trade show but it might be. I have never used it in that environment so I don't really know. It works well in other environments though I have a penetrating voice which, when combined with the following procedure, can make a crowd appear like magic out of nowhere, no matter how dead the venue is. This system works better indoors because the voice carries better. While the following patter is going on, I am stacking the cased decks in a pile in my hand in a criss-cross fashion until there are too many to balance like this. I can usually get up to about a dozen in a criss-cross tower-like formation before they start to sway precariously and I have to steady them with both hands. This “tower” draws attention and helps gather the crowd. “All right now here we go again, the famous magic cards! For those of you that didn’t have the great honour, and the great privilege, and the great pleasure of seeing me demonstrate this, I am going to consider showing you now. Now whenever I demonstrate this, someone always says that the pack I am using is not the same as the one that I am selling. So to show you that it’s honest, to show you that it’s genuine, this is what we’ll do.” At this point quite a few people will have gathered out of nowhere, yet they have not moved in close yet. However, I need to build the crowd still further before I start the actual pitch. By now the stack of cards is at its height and will be balanced rather precariously. Now comes a very important part of drawing in more people. I think it can be adapted somehow for anyone that wants to build a crowd. Counting out loud, for some weird reason, draws people. If a street magician were to find some excuse to count “One, two, three…” up to, say 10, with pauses between each number, many people will crawl out of nowhere to see why he is counting. He has to count very loud, though. I throw a deck down on the table as I count. I will remove any softness on the table temporarily such as a close up mat because I want the crowd to hear the noise each deck makes as it slams onto the table. I take each deck one by one from the top of the stack I am holding. “Now here’s number one! Here’s number two! Number three! Here’s number four! Number five! Number six! Number seven! Number eight!” By now a massive crowd will have arrived but they still haven’t moved in close enough. At this point I will throw whatever card decks are left in the tower onto the table in a great untidy mess and say, “ I don’t know how many there are! Which one are we going to use? Point to one, please!” The spectator complies. A very large crowd has now gathered. However they have to be pulled in and controlled. Here is how it is done: “Now I ask you all to do me two favours before we start the demonstration. Favour number one is very, very important. Can you all move in to the table as close as you possibly can? That’s it. If you move your legs forward you will find that your body will follow automatically. Take your time but hurry up. That’s it sir, one foot after the other. It’s known as walking. You’re very slow dear; do you work for the post office?” The crowd is now packed in as tightly as possible to the table with no gaps. I should mention that it is essential for a Svengali pitchman to have the crowds tight against the table so that they cannot escape. A pitchman does not allow anyone to walk away if he can help it. They can disrupt a tight crowd. If one person walks away it other people will tend to follow suit. Here is how I handle it. “Favour number two is also very important. I don’t mind if you don’t buy anything. That is your privilege. What you do with your money is your own affair. But whatever you do please do not walk away in the middle of my demonstration. When one person walks away everybody walks away. Wait till I finish. Don’t worry; I won’t be more than an hour and a half!” The last sentence is a joke to take the sting out of the fact that you have given them orders. The crowd is now ripe for the picking. Like a stage hypnotist giving initial suggestions and getting people to obey, the same psychology exists here. If they do as they are told at the beginning, they may well do as they are told at the end. What are they told at the end? To get their money out, of course. If the above nonsense is adapted for a trade show it may be useful to some of you. |
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*Mark Lewis* V.I.P. 1325 Posts |
The above is a pretty long post but it could be worth money to some of you. Print it out if you think it might be useful.
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Starrpower Inner circle 4070 Posts |
That is the best post I have seen here in a long long time!
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*Mark Lewis* V.I.P. 1325 Posts |
Quote:
On 2011-07-09 21:53, Starrpower wrote: Naturally |
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Starrpower Inner circle 4070 Posts |
And that was among the worst.
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*Mark Lewis* V.I.P. 1325 Posts |
You have to take the rough with the smooth, my boy.
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