Choosing the right number of effects and shaping them into a routine is a common topic for magicians and is of special concern to table workers as recent threads here show. As a means of introducing myself to these forums, I thought I might offer some observations from a playwright and stage director’s point of view. Magic has been part of my life for forty years and I’ve worked a lot of clubs and restaurants over the years but theatre is my mainstay. Naturally, these opinions are my own and are offered only as a starting point for discussion not as an end unto themselves.

One-act, ten minute and even one-minute play festivals have grown in popularity in the theatre world. Many people look at these as a great starting point for new playwrights and directors but crafting them well is much harder than people think. Regardless of the length of the play, we still have to do a few things: Establish the hero, give folks a reason to care about him and make them want to take a journey with him. That’s ***ed hard to do in a minute and is still difficult in ten minutes.

Consider your table set as an eight minute one-act play. You need to introduce yourself, get them to like you, and invite them on a journey that has a beginning, a middle and an end; three effects that can tell a story when put together. Don’t undervalue that first step, however. When table hopping, you only have a few moments to introduce yourself and get them to like you or they won’t want to spend the next seven minutes on the ride with you. This is why I avoid “I’m smarter than you, watch, I can prove it” tricks or effects that set one person against another when I’m table-hopping; it’s too hard to work yourself out of these in such a brief period. I can still do these tricks as long as I frame them as “This is what happened to me” to keep the audience sympathetic and interested.

From a directional perspective, the actual types of effects don’t matter as much as their presentation. You can do a coin trick, string effect and a sponge act as long as you don’t do three rapid fire effects in a row. Pace them slow – fast – slow so you don’t exhaust your audience and let them enjoy the entertainment. Think of your selected effects as the call to adventure, the fun and games, the conflict and the big climax where you save the day and end the romp. Naturally, each trick should end with a bigger and bigger ‘aha moment’, the last one wrapping everything up and leaving them agape as the baked clams arrive.

It’s actually not that hard to craft your table routine as an eight-minute play. It can be as simple as “Where are you folks from? Really? I was there last night and did I have a crazy trip home…” with three tricks as three things that happened on the way i.e. I lost my key when it fell off my ring, didn’t have change for the toll, and had to sneak into the house (card to wallet). It can be as complicated as “Romeo and Juliet Abridged in Four Acts”. It’s not hard to tie it all together and you’ll have a routine that transcends, “Can I show you some tricks until your appetizers arrive?” Make a game of it for yourself: when you read reviews or see a new trick, ask how you can tie it into a story. You’ll find these little playlets starting to come to you naturally.

I hope this will start a discussion or, at least, prove useful to some of you. On that note, I’ll end this now. The clams are here!

Good thoughts.

That'sjustwrong sounds right on.

Thanks for the thoughts & welcome to the Café

kOnO

I must say yes and no to the idea.

Yes it is good to have things this way, but no because people go to a play for a different reason than they may enjoy a magician at a restaurant. The interaction between the guest and magicians is key to having them come back. If you don't make them feel welcome, if everyone gets the same words, it is robotic and it is not warm and welcoming.

When you have the whole interaction in this fashion it takes away from what makes restaurant magic, at least in Chicago, work.

So to a point I think it is a good idea. Each trick certainly needs a script, but the interaction needs to be genuine.

Its an interesting thought, but I'm going to disagree.

Not all efforts to present something entertaining have to become "The Hero's Journey"......despite those who've read the books desire to turn everything from balloon twisting to sidewalk busking into a Joseph Campbell spectacular.

Sometimes, tablehopping is simply tablehopping........nothing more.
A warm, friendly magician moves unobtrusively from table to table in order to entertain families waiting for their dinner or desert with some excellent, and very well rehearsed close-up magic.

The Power of Myth and the resultant Hero's Journey may be powerful indeed, but its tenants apply to a specific brand of storytelling whereupon the story is the focus of the endeavor.
Tablehopping magic for waiting diners doesn't fit that profile.

In other words, Tablehopping isn't Star Wars.

I normally try to avoid replying to threads started anonymously, but this one was very interesting. Your post was also a story and I appreciated the way you wanted to start a discussion. I agree that you need to think about routining and scripting to perfect a presentation and that a story (read motivation) is a great way to entertain with magic...

Your reference to a hero was probably taken too literally but the basic premise of entertainment in any form is exactly what you said in the snippets above... Routining is important, getting the audience to like you is important, the journey is important and the end (read finale) is important...

Seinfeld's take on magicians comes from real experience of "clever dick" tricksters, you have to be really experienced to ad-lib your way through a set of "here it is... Now it's gone... You're an idiot..." not sure if this is the correct quote from Seinfeld but it sums it all up...

Maybe you would like to introduce yourself by telling us your name...?

As always may I direct your attention to my disclaimer below...

I'm glad I was able to start a conversation and apologize for not adding my name; I thought it was on my profile. Hi folks, my name is Joe Leo from NYC. I've been out of the magic scene for awhile but the bug's been nibbling again and it's a great way to stay busy with funding for theatre slowly dying. One can only coach so many kids for grad school auditions before you feel the need to get back in front of people yourself.

I actually agree with everything folks have written. I was afraid I was too lengthy last time and tried to trim back my post. One thing I dropped and want to point out is that I never used the word script. I fully agree that every table is a new audience and a new experience, and they are going to react to you and your *story* differently. I refer to the tale and the journey as a means of providing flow and some sense to what might otherwise be "here's a few tricks". Establishing yourself as someone to like is a necessary but difficult thing in the limited time you get approaching a table. I worked tables for ten years and learned that "I;'m smarter than you" and "I can trick you" approaches aren't nearly as successful as "here's how I was tricked" or "Let's work a miracle together". It also lets you shine a light on the alpha at the table (there almost always is one) and featuring him helps win over the rest of the table.

I personally prefer a bit of a story to routine tricks more than "here's the three coolest tricks I know" but also agree that every table isn't there for a course in Joseph Campbell. You'll still end up ad libbing and tailoring every table to its spectators which is why I like broad stories like the example I gave. "Where are you from? Really? I was just there and here's what happened" is easily adapted to the majority of tables and builds an instant rapport, especially when you get to name some local businesses or attractions to personalize that experience. It's the equivalent of saying, "It's so good to be back here in <insert name of town on the hotel stationary here>!" at the start of a show. It accelerates familiarity far better than the "Wanna see a miracle?" I see some other folks open with; he's thinking rising card and I'm thinking it will be a miracle if they get my steak right this time.

Anyway, I hope this conversation will continue and thank those who have joined so far. I'd love to see it continue! There are lots of ways to routine your time at a table. Of course, now I'm trying to think of four tricks that can be routined to a Star Wars theme!

How much table magic have you done out of curiosity?

Thanks Joe - Great ideas. I'm working my close up repetoire as we speak. I'm stringing routines together and working on patter ideas. Your thread is very thought provoking and inspirational. One of my favorite Carl Andrews routines is called "you don't know Jack," which sounds like a challenge to the audience. Actually, it is magic based around the fairy tale of the frog and the prince. It is great sharing a story with a table, especially if kids are there.

Also, Dan Tong does his egg bag routine and describes... I once saw a magician who did this and then this happened. That is so much better than. Look the egg is gone and you can't see it. It's not in my sleves. I'll do it again. No wonder kids often grab magicians props in the middle of their routines.

I worked a few nights a week, when I didn't have shows running, for about ten years from the mid-1980s until the mid-1990's. Venues varied from family chain restaurants to fine dining with far more of the former. These were a bit of a challenge since my club act was decidedly not for kids (hence my nickname - an audience chant) but I had a lot of fun doing it, the money was pretty good, and the free meals were a boon to a starving artist and his new bride. As I transitioned into a day job to keep a roof over our head, I still kept some of the restaurant gigs because I enjoyed them and they were always, um, interesting!

Thanks for the post, Joe. I have been thinking more and more about this recently. I hope to hear more from the Pro's on this subject.

I try to make my routines flow together as smoothly as possible. I have been performing for friends for years, but have only recently started performing in restaurants. Sadly, it only dawned on me a short time ago that it's not about how many tricks you know and how well you know them, but more about having an entertaining set of tricks that flow and entertain.

My current project is building one solid routine of three tricks for my restaurant work (i am also a balloon artist, so I don't do magic at every table, one set will work fine for now). I know that every table is a different situation, and other than a basic script, I realize that I may not be able to truly have my routine down until I have performed it for real people a hundred times or so. But if this is a misguided notion, and this goes out to all the Pro's, please feel free to give me any advice. Any tips on putting together a meaningful set will be greatly appreciated.

Thanks
Alex

Nice to meet you Joe...

Very nice thread that has gotten me re-thinking my routines.

Hi Joe. Thanks for stimulating the discussion and welcome to the Café.

Hey, Joe

this is a great stuff to post.

routine is the important thing.

still entertainment is the most important.

anyway. hope see more things from you.

Daniel Greaton

These are some good thoughts, Joe. I study Tommy Wonder's Writings and routines, and he incorporated a lot of theatre in his theory as well. These are some great thoughts!

I don't agree or dis-agree all you say. You make some good points. And anything that gets us thinking about our routining is helpful. Thanks.

Joe interesting perspective, you might be intersted in my view in routining.

http://www.themagiccafe.com/forums/viewt......forum=41

Magically

Aus

I guess I am different because I routined my act for restaurants to deal with constent interuptions. When your working "live" and performing for real people I don't think magic has anything to do with a play. However in my opinion performing magic in the real world is often performed as if "at play".

In every restaurant I have performed in (over 87) while doing magic the interuptions can be the kids at the table, the wait staff, friends of the people you are performing for, and other things. I have found the best way to deal with such interuptions is to have an act that can deal with these things.

Short routine - punch finish - short routine - punch finish.

Perform the magic for them and not yourself.