Hello once again. Thank you to every one for all the advice you have gave me.

I just made a video for my website and would any one who wishes to view it and tell me what I can improve on. How well I did. And any uplifting comments.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z-AQ8-kaGUY

Congratulations on having the courage to submit your work to be seen by such a diverse group of your peers. Don’t want to say too much in the open forums, but you have enough posts now to visit “Secret Sessions”.

I watched the video one time through (no repeated study), and on first glance I would say two things could be improved (and I'm sure some would say they're not even that critical.)

First, when you're "poking in" the red hanky, I was taught that the last digit used should not be the t***b. After the steal, go ahead and poke a couple more times with a finger, just to "throw them off the trail".

Second, when you drop your right hand to your side, it shouldn't stay still for such a long time. The TT is visible and not all that well camouflaged. If you keep things moving, the audience doesn’t have as much time to focus their eyes on any one spot.

One other thing you want to consider as you build a routine is the “Why”. Does the hanky represent a kidnapped princess, a missing diamond, or a lost sock? (This is more for interest's sake than for execution.)

Overall, not a bad presentation. I’m told a lot of people nowadays know about the “plastic t***b”, but for someone who doesn’t know, I’d say it’s a fooler. Good job!

I agree, very courageous of you to show your work this way. Overall it was pretty good. The TT was visible a few times (angles) but I think most laypeople wouldn't catch it if they were a good distance. Cheers.

I'll redo the video. I don't want to flash/expose. I am going to write down the tips (lol pun intended) and maybe make a story on this since it should be for children.

Thanks for the advice.

Brent

BTW what is "Secret Sessions"

After 50 posts you have access to the forum's 'secret sessions' section which has an area where you can freely workshop effects and discuss methods specifically...given that I'm below that amount of posts, I probably am not the one to ask though...try scrolling through the menu until you find the section.

Secret Session is one of the forums here on Magic Café.. It is done towards the end of the forums list in the BANQUET ROOM section.

It is open only to people with 50 or more posts and is where you can discuss the specifics of a particular trick or illusion.

You get a lot of expert help on how to improve or strengthen your magic.

John B.

I think looking up the Pat Page TT DVD might help. Or possibly "Rules of Thumb" vol 1, which has a number of tips on how to handle the TT vanish. Both available via your magic shop.

Good effort....
what you need is to work on taking the heat off urself and come up with a presentation that brings you routine to life...
a lot of kids already knows about the gimmick ur using and it was even exposed in a movie recently "night at the museum"...
therefore when you r performing to children the probability of having a kid who already knows about it is very high, the probability that you will flash the gimmick is high without a stronge presentation...and you don't seam very comfortable using the gimmick any way...
solutions:
make ur routine quick and short
be able to stop ur routine at any time with the appropriate out
come up with a stronge presentation
keep moving
add comedy to the act
read books about deception, misdirection

and good luck

Brent,
Congratulations on the courage to put this in front of such a tough crowd! I am nervous about the required audition at our local IBM Ring -- even though I am very confident of my routine. Bravo for your courage!



I absolutely agree with this point. Magic is about entertaining. So entertain. Tell a story, a mystery, a comedy, a drama, a fairy tale -- it doesn't matter except that it fits your style. If you watch the great contemporary magicians -- many by searching on YouTube -- you will see that most of them have a story line though the entire routine. It is not just the magic (which is great), but the story the magic fits into. Magic becomes the prop. Imagine a great actor practicing their lines in a room by themselves -- no props, no co-stars -- the emotion and the message still would come across. Get a great story that your audience would enjoy even with out the magic and then use the magic to make it even better!

Hudson

I think I lack the skills to develop a story, but I will give it a try.

Then do what successful people have been doing since the beginning of time. Steal someone else's presentation until you develop one of your own.

It doesn’t always have to be a full-fledged Fairy tale. Sometimes you can just play off the situation you're in.

A couple months ago I was showing some Cub Scouts the Professor's Nightmare. I started by telling them I'd just been hanging out with the Boy Scouts (an older group) and what amazing things Scouts could do with ropes.

Earlier, for older Scouts I talked about rappelling, and needing to tie two ropes together. “But when you’re sliding down a rope, you don’t want to hit one of these…” (point to the knot – make a face - get a laugh – make the knot fall off).

Once, promoting a contest, I used the old “folded bill” thing to change a regular $1 into a jumbo $100, and just said, “The grand prize is going to be some really BIG money!” (hold it, hold it…wait for the effect to set in – get the laugh and move on).

If you just relax and allow yourself to get comfortable, you’ll probably surprise yourself how well you can devise your own lines, that fit your personality, and entertain the audience who came to see YOU.

Agree with DWRackley -- it's not that hard to come up with a story. Simple example for me, I will often do coin production from a silk (old slight, learned from David Roth's DVD), and I start with this: "Do you know the story of Jack and the Beanstalk? The other day I went to Starbucks (or your favorite coffee shop/ice cream shop) to get my wife a coffee. Outside the door this man told me he had a magic handkerchief ... and so instead of bringing home coffee,..."

Not hard, not even that clever, but brings something to life that they are familiar with and gets them into the magic. Try this link for ideas:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_fairy_tales

I'll bet you could tie nicely to Emperor's New Clothes -- depending on age, would be very funny for the kids to think that the silk the emperor is wearing vanished!

Good luck!

Hudson

I simply tell them I'm going to make this disappear.

The first time, I push it all the way through and let it fall. I open my hand and it's gone! Of course they point it out.

The second time, I just open my hand and let it fall while I look the other way. Again, they point it out.

Finally, they're not too sure what to expect - but this time it actually does vanish.

That's my whole story line.

Ed

Good job!

Watched about 40 seconds of the video, from that ......

A - Create a character. Make me care about the person I'm seeing on the screen, make it so I can feel for or about them in some way. Allow me to form ideas or expectations (doesn't matter if they turn out to be incorrect) about the character who is performing for me. Come alive, make me feel, think and care. It doesn't matter if I hate the character as an evil doer, just make me feel something!

B- Perhaps give some thought to not telling the audinece what you are about to do, move by move. Craft a story of reason for the action.


It takes courage and ego to put your work up and ask for opinions, you've made a good step in that regard.

Create a unique expereince and share it with your audience