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Goldfield Veteran user Traveller 388 Posts |
I found this short clip of a magician's first time on television. I thought it was really useful for beginners like myself as a learning tool so wanted to share
http://youtu.be/O-cR88io34o Enjoy!
The greatest thing you'll ever learn, is just to love & be loved in return.
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JonBarr New user New Mexico 73 Posts |
That was painful.
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morro3 New user 54 Posts |
That indeed is a good source for learning. Everyone should study this one. And if it really was his first time he might be quite traumatized. I know I would be.
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RobertlewisIR Veteran user Colorado 367 Posts |
It's rough to watch something like that, but I imagine it's better to learn from others' mistakes than to have to learn the hard way.
I think there's a lot to be said about this that beginners can pay attention to. First, his nervousness overcame him. When you're a beginner, there will be nerves. That's just the way of it. You need to find a way to make sure that, when those jitters begin, they don't interfere with your performance. What I did when I was starting out was to always open with nearly self-working material. You still need to work hard on the presentations with such material, but at least if your hands shake a little, it won't mess up the trick. I found that once I got through my first piece of the evening, my nerves largely faded, and I was able to find my footing and do much more difficult sleight of hand work. Second, and related to the first--some of the stuff just didn't work. Clearly, you need to have a technical mastery of whatever you're doing to such an extent that even the most difficult sleights should feel self-working to you, simply because you're so practiced. Nerves had a lot to do with what went wrong in the video, but even with nerves, there's no reason you shouldn't be able to get the cigarette out of the pack. This just comes down to practice. Practice a lot. I also think that, this was likely relatively early in his history with these specific tricks--perhaps he even learned them for the television show. I think it would've gone better if that aforementioned practice had included some real-world performances, even if just for friends. You want to be confident not just in your ability to do the tricks, but to do them *for people*. Thirdly, you'll notice that he was hunting around in his pockets to find the props. That's a big no-no. Pocket management is not easy, but it's essential. When you're performing, you need to know what props live in what pockets. They need to stay there all the time, so that when you need them, you know exactly where to find them without hunting or fishing. Your pockets should also be empty enough that you can go straight in, get exactly what you need. Otherwise, you'll be sorting through all the crap in your pockets, and it'll look like you're doing dirty things to yourself in your pocket (or worse--setting a trick up) instead of just grabbing a prop. More important than the technical side, though, you'll notice that he didn't have any presentation. Everything he said was just exposition. Especially as beginners, it's okay if you use a sort of cliched presentation. But think of the credit card to bank note he did. Mechanically, perhaps it was the best success of his show. Things didn't go horribly wrong. However, he just said he was changing the card to a note. It would have been better to tell a little story about it. Even just something like: "When I went for a cup of coffee, I realized I'd reached the limit on my credit card, and I didn't have any cash on me! Fortunately, as a magician, I can turn the worthless credit card into something much more useful." That's a very simple presentation, and probably not one I would use. However, it gives the trick a reason for being. It gets the audience intellectually involved, and it makes the trick much better. The lesson here is that, even if every single trick he did worked flawlessly, it still wouldn't have been great, simply because there was no thought given to how to present them. On that topic, by the way, I recommend beginners should check out the work of Eugene Burger. Even just watching him perform is a lesson in magical presentations, but I strongly suggest picking up a copy of his DVD, Exploring Magical Presentations (I think it's from L&L). He'll talk about what a huge difference the little presentational differences can make. Finally, there's one good thing to note. Even after he had what was probably (I hope) the worst performance he ever did, he wasn't crying on the floor, running for the hills, or ready to give up. He handled himself professionally, acknowledged that things didn't work out, and I believe he really did intend to go back home, keep trying, and get better so it wouldn't happen again. That's an important lesson. If you perform, you're going to have a bad day, probably sooner rather than later. The important lesson is just to learn from mistakes, and then get back on that horse and try it again. Lord knows I've had bad performances. I've used a mathematical f***e--except my spectator couldn't do mental arithmetic (go figure). I've lost cards. I've had gimmicks break, and I've had props fall right on to the floor. I've had spectators from hell who would announce how they thought I did each trick--and even once I had a guy who liked to grab props right out of my hands. Each time, I went home, poured myself a very stiff drink, and then tried to figure out how to keep it from happening again. If I dwelled on each failure, I never would have progressed.
~Bob
---------- Last night, I dreamed I ate the world's largest marshmallow. When I woke up, the pillow was gone. |
scottds80 Special user Victoria, Australia 730 Posts |
What a horrible but learning experience. All newbies should watch this to learn what not to do. The above post was excellent advice.
"Great Scott the Magician", Gippsland
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JonBarr New user New Mexico 73 Posts |
Great advice, Robert Lewis.
I love watching Eugene Burger perform and hope to get his DVDs soon. Thanks! Jon Barr |
Father Photius Grammar Host El Paso, TX (Formerly Amarillo) 17161 Posts |
I have actually seen worse.
"Now here's the man with the 25 cent hands, that two bit magician..."
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RobertlewisIR Veteran user Colorado 367 Posts |
Jon, two of Burgers DVDs that I really love are the Exploring Magical Presentations that I mentioned. I also recommend his Spirit Magic DVD just to watch the way he blends drama, humor, and magic in his presentation. Even if you're not interested in doing that kind of magic, I think watching his work is like a masterclass in magical theatre.
Fr Photius: yes, I have too. I have been in shows that were worse. I remember one show I did. It was another guy's show, but I was going to do one interlude set while he prepped some of his items backstage, and then join him for the finale. In that show, he had audience management such that some of the audience wandered backstage, set lists were changing *during* the performance, the sound guy didn't show up until thirty minutes after the show started, a dove got loose in the dressing room, and one of the assistants had an allergic reaction to the stage blood. At some point, I just made the conscious decision that there was no way I could save the show, so I'd just do my set the best I could (and it was a good thing I was ready, because the set list changed and they announced my name forty-five minutes before I was supposed to go on) and not do one of those shows again. Ahhh, showbiz! Sometimes I think I would have done better to retire to the back country and to live in a wigwam.
~Bob
---------- Last night, I dreamed I ate the world's largest marshmallow. When I woke up, the pillow was gone. |
David Fillary Special user 662 Posts |
Had the guy ever performed in public at all? I can't understand how he could have done magic for so long and be that bad. I've done it less than a year and I could have done a much better performance (which really wouldn't have been hard so don't count this as boasting!).
Were there not many magician performances on tv back then for him to see others? I'm thinking perhaps that youtube has been a good thing for magicians in that it allows us to see some really great magicians to aspire to, and to know what sort of level is expected for performance. |
professorwhut Inner circle Posts R US sold me 1353 Posts |
Maybe he was just very nervous.
Maybe he simply bought some tricks from the magic shop and therefore became a magician. Maybe he had been toying with magic for years, never really learned anything and was self deluded. I have seen some guys just as bad and are far from newbies. far indeed. Still, I do feel for the poor guy.
After much soul searching about a signature, I decided not to have one.
TG Pop [aka ProfessorWhut] |
MRSharpe Special user Never a dull moment with 940 Posts |
What a terrible performance. I couldn't even watch I to the end. This young man was not at all prepared to go on TV. All I can add to the above is never preface what you are going to do by telling your audience what you are going to do. If the effect doesn't work for any reason they then know for sure that it didn't work. They also know what to look for while the effect is being performed. Bad showmanship!
Custom Props Designer and Fabricator as well as Performer from Indiana, USA
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Herr Brian Tabor Special user Oklahoma City 729 Posts |
Hopefully he learned from his mistakes, rather than letting them run him down. It's a good lesson for anyone to be prepared.
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landmark Inner circle within a triangle 5194 Posts |
I think it a put up job.
Click here to get Gerald Deutsch's Perverse Magic: The First Sixteen Years
All proceeds to Open Heart Magic charity. |
ZoOpDoG Veteran user All the cool people have 311 Posts |
Things go wrong. Just hope its not you on tv when they do.
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