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Montana76 Inner circle I hope I one day reach 1177 Posts |
Hi all!
I am having problems findint the correct form of practicing. I do strolling gigs and I have a set of aprox 12 effects that I do. Let me take my ACR for example. It involves a lot of humour, interaction and on- and off-beat moments. I would LOVE to really practice this routine but when I am at home in my office everything just dries up and I just stand there doing moves. So, how do you guys create the performing atmosphere? |
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drmagico Loyal user 252 Posts |
Are you practicing or rehearsing? There is a difference. If you are rehearsing then I would set up everything as if you are actually performing. Wear what you would wear to a show. Load up pockets with everything you would need and use. Then set up video camera if you have one and go through your entire routine(s) as if you were doing it for real without stopping. Then when you look at what you recorded you will see what others see and then you can make the right changes. I am sure will get a great deal of good advice on this thread. Look up other threads on the Café regarding practice and rehearsing...Howard
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Dannydoyle Eternal Order 21219 Posts |
Some inerrant problems with magic. First doing the moves mechanically vs organically in a show. The fact is the only way to really learn to do them for people is to do them for people. This bites but is true.
Learning where the beats are can only happen live. Again not my rule. It is natures rule. It has been said we learn our craft from each other and our art from our audience. You are getting past craft and moving to art. This is where the audience teaches you. Comedies can write all day long and until it is in front of an audience it never really is known if it works or not. So learn from them! Embrace it as your path. You are not unprepared you are moving to the next stage. This is a good thing.
Danny Doyle
<BR>Semper Occultus <BR>In a time of universal deceit, telling the truth is a revolutionary act....George Orwell |
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RNK Inner circle 7491 Posts |
Quote:
On Feb 3, 2015, Dannydoyle wrote: Agree. Also- I will perform an effect I have been working on at the grocery store to a clerk if there is time. Anywhere you can pull someone aside while on your daily chore/to-do list just go for it.
Check out Bafflingbob.com
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Dannydoyle Eternal Order 21219 Posts |
To be clear I never recommended that.
Danny Doyle
<BR>Semper Occultus <BR>In a time of universal deceit, telling the truth is a revolutionary act....George Orwell |
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mixman Loyal user Northern Colorado 294 Posts |
Jamie D Grant talks about Magic Monday in his book "the Approach". It deals with this very dilemma.
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RNK Inner circle 7491 Posts |
Quote:
On Feb 3, 2015, Dannydoyle wrote: My statement never implied that you did. That's why I said "Also". Just curious- so how do you work out the kinks if you do not perform it for anyone else other than the mirror at home? Not the moves- but the interaction as the OP is asking?
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Dannydoyle Eternal Order 21219 Posts |
Absolutely not by doing tricks for store clerks or anything of that nature.
Try family or friends. Not a bad place to start. Then the rest in front of the audience.
Danny Doyle
<BR>Semper Occultus <BR>In a time of universal deceit, telling the truth is a revolutionary act....George Orwell |
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Montana76 Inner circle I hope I one day reach 1177 Posts |
Thank you so much everybody!
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RNK Inner circle 7491 Posts |
Quote:
On Feb 3, 2015, Dannydoyle wrote: Curious, why not? My experience is that your presentation to family and friends will be different than to strangers. Family and friends are an obvious choice but I notice that performing for strangers will sometimes get you more of an honest reaction. To perfect a trick/presentation I think its essential not to limit yourself to one group.
Check out Bafflingbob.com
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Dannydoyle Eternal Order 21219 Posts |
Like I said use a real audience.
Ambushing strangers randomly in no way gets show reactions or timing.
Danny Doyle
<BR>Semper Occultus <BR>In a time of universal deceit, telling the truth is a revolutionary act....George Orwell |
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RNK Inner circle 7491 Posts |
Ambushing,lol?? that's a new term when discussing the simple statement, "Hey would you like to see something interesting?"
For me the key is to have most of the kinks worked out before performing for a paid live audience.
Check out Bafflingbob.com
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RNK Inner circle 7491 Posts |
And work the kinks out in front of one or two people rather than a bunch of people/audience.
Check out Bafflingbob.com
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Yehoshua Regular user Turnersville, NJ 159 Posts |
I think what Danny is getting at, and if so, I'd agree, is that your show is always evolving. You are ALWAYS learning. Your shows, at a point in your career, BECOME your practice. As a busker and restaurant performer, I can tell you this is ABSOLUTELY the case! I get the mechanics of the trick down, throw in my little one-liners...but that's as far as I can go on my own. After that, it's just trial and error. Ya gotta go out there, perform, reflect on your performances, and better your act for the next audience.
A store clerk isn't terrible, but you'll likely get them in more trouble for watching or holding up a line if it forms mid-trick. And fam/friends doesn't have to be the same people every time. There is always extended family at get-togethers, etc. Street performances are a great way to get some practice in too! Noone is more honest that a crowd on the street! That being said, I've always believed the best practice you'll ever get is performing. Just my two-cents. |
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Dannydoyle Eternal Order 21219 Posts |
Yep.
Danny Doyle
<BR>Semper Occultus <BR>In a time of universal deceit, telling the truth is a revolutionary act....George Orwell |
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RNK Inner circle 7491 Posts |
Quote:
On Feb 4, 2015, Yehoshua wrote: That's is why is stated in my post, "If there is time". Of course you don't want to get the clerk in trouble- though what usually happens others around join and watch and end up leaving with a smile on their face. I understand what you guys are saying about "Your Show Becomes your practice". They key statement is, "At a point in your career". The OP sounds to be a beginner and looking for ways to fine tune his presentation with people interaction. If this is the case and he does not do a lot of shows then he/she has to find people to see how they will react to his presentations. Therefore, with no shows on the table he has to find someone and IMO friends and family are not the only way to go. You need to be able to judge the reactions of people other than ones that know you well. Also- yes, if you are grabbing people off the street to perform to that is the same thing I have stated- "walking up to strangers and simply asking them if they would like to see something interesting". The stranger can be anybody, people off the street, a store clerk, whomever you can grab that is willing to watch and participate. The main key as we all agree on to get better- just perform. And my main point- don't just use friends and family- you need to use strangers (if you are in the beginning of your career).
Check out Bafflingbob.com
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Dick Oslund Inner circle 8357 Posts |
The "advantage" of doing an average of 13 shows per week, helps! --I "practiced" 2 or 3 times a day.
Once you have a new bit, or routine "polished", you keep it polished, by performing it! Someone above said that "you are always learning!" I think it was a prof. in college, who said, "When you are through learning, you are through!"
SNEAKY, UNDERHANDED, DEVIOUS,& SURREPTITIOUS ITINERANT MOUNTEBANK
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Dannydoyle Eternal Order 21219 Posts |
Practice goes only so far. Ambushing strangers is in no way practice.
I tell you why. Because the most important part of almost any performance is transitioning from effect to effect. The "tricks you do between tricks". When you put yourself in a situation where this does not matter, you tend to neglect it. The tricks yea they are important. But at some point in the same way every great chef must cook at least on edible meal, you have to do shows. Now if your only interest is doing tricks for people, not making money or putting together a show this advice is void. But the OP said he wanted to learn to do this better. The problem is that you play the game the way you practice. You have enough effects I am sure, now the key is to get them in front of paying audiences and learn the art from them. Learning the mechanics in front of a mirror in practice and rehearsal (There is a MAJOR difference.) is one thing. Walking up to strangers is another thing. But doing them under show conditions is just not going to be learned this way and I maintain you can hurt your performance by doing this. Just an opinion mind you. You may have different results and those are just as valid if not more than my opinion.
Danny Doyle
<BR>Semper Occultus <BR>In a time of universal deceit, telling the truth is a revolutionary act....George Orwell |
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RNK Inner circle 7491 Posts |
The term Ambush is also just your opinion. Wow. To say I meant ambushing strangers is absolutely hilarious. Different strokes for different folks. 90% of the strangers I APPROACH are very receptive and always express a good smile and thank you when I am finished. In my experience I have had great success in honing my presentations by approaching strangers not to mention it builds confidence. Confidence building you won't get by merely only performing for friends and family.
If you re-read the original post-it does not talk about transitioning from effect to effect in his first post, he talks about getting better with one effect and how to better present the one effect. Yes- transitioning between effects is a different story but that wasn't what the original post asked. If you are looking to better your presentation- just go out and perform the trick- pick someone or a group and go for it. You have to get experience performing in front of people you do not know.
Check out Bafflingbob.com
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Yehoshua Regular user Turnersville, NJ 159 Posts |
We agree, RNK, that strangers are wonderful to practice on. Where I think our opinions are differing is "Guerrilla Magic" vs "Proper Show". That difference being that a spontaneous performance does not contain all the important transitional techniques to carry you from and connect one effect to another...i.e. Routining an entire act! Busk. 'Nuff said. You can perform for all the strangers you want, but are you just practicing a trick, or a show? There's a huge difference!
As mentioned above, if you want to be a hobbyist, then by all means, unleash a wave of magical diarrhea on your unsuspecting store clerks. But if you really want to GROW as a performer, you much not focus so much on magic as you do on performing it! When I started doing my shows many moons ago, I had a loosely strung together succession of tricks. That was it. That was no "show". But performing over and over, for changing audiences, allowed me to hear myself, face the problems in scripting (or lack thereof), mess up tricks (therein discovering how to "think on my feet" and creatively alter the trick to cover for the mishap... These things forced my show to evolve, and me to evolve as a performer and character. I stopped using scripts and tricks that made no sense, and dropped bad jokes (most of 'em ) Get out on the street (when it warms up a bit) and just give it a go! If people don't like it...you'll never see those peeps again! And if they DO like ya, they might even PAY ya! So it's a win-win! Best of luck to ya, hope this helped! |
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