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Head Case Inner circle 1138 Posts |
Any recommendations for some Must-Have lectures or DVDs that talk about how to add comedy into your magic, theory on it, maybe has some great lines, examples, concepts... Just an all around intro to comedy magic,or how to properly work comedy into the structure of serious routines?
Any info or help would be great. Video over books if possible would be appreciated. THANK YOU!! |
Father Photius Grammar Host El Paso, TX (Formerly Amarillo) 17161 Posts |
I don't know about lectures or DVDs but I would first suggest you expose yourself to some good comedy magicians. Guys like Mac King, Nathan Burton, Johnny Thompson, etc. All have good comedy acts and they are different in nature. You have to have a "character" for comedy. Are you a bumbling magician? Are you a wild crazy guy? Are you a prankster? Plus, you have to have the audience laugh with you and anyone you bring on stage more than laugh at you. Comedy can be anything from working in a few jokes into a routine to a whole comedy sketch with magic as a prop. Once you decide on a type of comedy and type of character, you can begin to design a comic act around it. Joke books are a must read. Some you will lift as is and others you will learn to rework. Watch comic's dialogues, like the opening of the Tonight Show or Letterman show, you get ideas fromt here. When I did comedy magic, I varied what I did. Anything from some jokes to liven up my linking rings routine, to two complete character sketches with illusions. One was a drunk magician. Not every routine will play in every venue so you need to have a variety. Johnny Thompson's "The Great Tomsoni and Company" is a great character sketch type routine, as is Mac King's fig newton routine or his Cloak of Invisibility. (Dont' steal other magician's routines). Mac does some great throwing in jokes in other routines he does, though he really plays a character through the whole show. Nathan Burton also has a character, a bit on the wild and crazy side, but I would call his magic more jokes and pranks than sketch comedy. You use what works for you.
"Now here's the man with the 25 cent hands, that two bit magician..."
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magic.99 Regular user 181 Posts |
"I would first suggest you expose yourself to some good comedy magicians" Now that's comedy!!
On a more serious note, I can highly recommend 'STAND UP - A Professional Guide to Comedy Magic' by Ian Keable. This is an excellent read - whether you are a seasoned professional or are wanting to gain an understanding of 'comedy magic'. |
Floyd Collins Inner circle Ohio 1633 Posts |
Comedy Magic takes finding who you are on stage, you will find as Father Photius has said that good strong comedy also has a character with it. Now as for the mechanics of making comedy work for you, there are many different methods that are employed what works for you may not work for others so finding such gems as books or dvd on this subject becomes very difficult. Let me give you this tip, if you look at something and find humor in it that others did not see, you have the making of being a comedy magician. Take a good look at the world around you and find humor, then buy or invent magic effects that you find would make for a great comedy piece at least in your way of looking at it. For example, for me the soda can to silk yells comedy and in my hands it is just that in other performer’s hands it would be a great illusion. Hope you get the point. At last yes buy the book STAND UP it has a great deal of incite to help you see what we are talking about.
Good luck -Floyd
No one said it would be easy, or did they?
Check out my all new book "Chicken Scratches" visit my lulu store for more information. http://www.lulu.com/spotlight/thecenterstage http://www.collinscomedymagic.com |
Sealegs Inner circle The UK, Portsmouth 2596 Posts |
Derek,
Wonderful human being that I am... I have sent you a PM that contains a later draft of the talk/lecture I gave at the Festival of Magic, (part of the 41st International Magic Convention held in London in 2012.). My talk was on becoming and performing as a comedy magic act Learning how to become and performing as, a comedy magic act is a substantially different thing from learning to add comedy into your magic but there might be something there that resonates as the two subjects are related. Initially was going to talk on the difference between a comedy magic act and being a magic act with comedy content. My hook was going to be the claim that I can make the vast majority of performers that see themselves as comedy magicians instantly funnier. An act that the audience perceives to be a comedy magic act either through billing, the introduction, the nature of the act, or anything else, has to deliver the laughs. They are an expected given from a comedy act. From a magic act however, the expectation is that there will be an entertaining magic content and any laughs tend to be experienced as an added bonus. It's a requirement that a comedy magic act get laughs in order to merely to meet it's expectation in the comedy department.... while a magic act that gets the same laughs exceeds it's expectation in the comedy department. So in effect you can make one of two identical acts instantly funnier simply by positioning one as a magic act rather than a comedy magic act. This is how I can instantly make the vast majority of performers that see themselves as comedy magicians instantly funnier.... I'd simply get them to stop presenting themselves as a comedy magician... and get them to present themselves as a magician... that way any comedy comes to the audience as a bonus. For the comedy magic act any under performing comedy content (which is an unfortunately accurate description of the comedy content of too many 'comedy magicians') leaves a huge hole in the act whereas the same under performed comedy in a magic act has less weight given to it's under performance because that is not what the act is perceived to be about. This is a good way to get better at adding comedy into your magic... don't have your performance rely on it. As you get better at making the comedy work for you, and the laughs get bigger and more consistent you can then at that point some way down the line, maybe consider changing how you want to be perceived.... from a magic act to a comedy magic act. But beware, it's a big change and your big laughs as a magic act might well deliver way less as a comedy magic act. But not withstanding that notion... I hope Derek enjoys my lecture material on the more difficult task of becoming and performing as a comedy magician.
Neal Austin
"The golden rule is that there are no golden rules." G.B. Shaw |
Floyd Collins Inner circle Ohio 1633 Posts |
I simply enjoy to hear Neal prospective on comedy, he is a great resource here and Derek listening to his wise words will only make you better.
Floyd
No one said it would be easy, or did they?
Check out my all new book "Chicken Scratches" visit my lulu store for more information. http://www.lulu.com/spotlight/thecenterstage http://www.collinscomedymagic.com |
Joe Toplyn New user 2 Posts |
I'm a four-time Emmy winner for writing for David Letterman. If you want to add comedy to your magic you need my new book, "Comedy Writing for Late-Night TV." Here's a link to it on Amazon. http://amzn.to/1jXffof
It's a practical how-to manual that takes you step-by-step through the process of creating short-form comedy. Short-form comedy is any comedy under about ten minutes long and includes exactly the type of material that would fit a magic act: monologue-type jokes, found comedy, funny characters, sketches, silly props, and more. |
Bairefoot Inner circle 1097 Posts |
First question? Are you funny now?
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Kel says poof Regular user 200 Posts |
Thanks Joe, I'm gonna check that one out
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Kel says poof Regular user 200 Posts |
Quote:
On Aug 30, 2014, Joe Toplyn wrote: Purchased and can confirm its another excellent comedy tool and probably the closest how to book on writing comedy we can use for magic routines |
TomasKancyper New user 78 Posts |
Well, in the Aldo Colombini penguin lecture you will hear a lot of gags and funny jokes from Aldo. They´re indeed very funny
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jay leslie V.I.P. Southern California 9498 Posts |
Doing jokes and being funny is in the same realm as someone doing tricks or being magical.
(Lights OUT at the prison) "49" the inmate yelled after he memorized all the page numbers to the jokes in a joke book... but no one laughed... Apparently he yelled the page number wrong.
Jay Leslie
www.TheHouseOfEnchantment.com |
ULockJustice Loyal user Columbus, OH 201 Posts |
I think it was Allen Ackerman who said, "Comedy is fundamentally about telling the truth, and magic is fundamentally about telling lies. Resolving this dichotomy is the most important part of developing a comedy magic act."
I think rather than watching a DVD or reading lecture notes you should spend some time taking improv classes. I'm a working stand up comedian, and I truly believe that a practical crash course in live comedy is the only real way to learn how to put comedy into your magic. Learn how to say yes and. Learn how to handle situations that are outside of your control using only your words. Spending time with practical lessons on being funny will allow you to find the truth that you have to tell. When I say practical lesson, I mean being out in front of real people trying to get laughs without the crutch of an effect to save you if you get to the applause point and nothing comes. Spend time in the trenches at open mic comedy nights. See what it takes to make people laugh. Try it yourself. Then take the lessons you learn there and apply them to your magic.
This is the profile of Comedian + Magician Erik Tait. A self-promoting sleight of hand artist who thinks he is the cat's meow.
PM for beard tips. |
JoshRyan Regular user Kitchener, ON, Canda 123 Posts |
I read a book about comedy and then I wrote a comedy puppet show .... it wasn't funny. I accidentally take a pause during a specific moment in my magic routine and people laugh out loud. I say a line in one show and people laugh but the next show my inflection is different and no one laughs.
I'm not a funny person but people laugh a lot during my show only because my audiences taught me what's funny. |
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