Hey guys,

I would like to add some length (time) to my tricks and routines as I feel they just seem to fly by. Do you guys have any tips on doing this? Are there any books on this topic I should check out? Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks,
Nate

Lengthening the routine can be done in quite a few ways. Of course you can add more magical climaxes to it. You can also add more to the presentation through showmanship or weave stories around your magic. Having a spectator have you help you can enable you to lengthen the trick with dialog. I would recommend either "Strong Magic" by Darwin Ortiz or "Magic and Showmanship" by Henning Nelms. Both books have a lot of theory about how to add showmanship and make better routines. I would highly recommend you reading both books, if you haven't already.
Some magicians perform more tricks than others, it really depends on each magician's performing style. You should have a variety of lengths of tricks throughout your show, which is explained in the books.
And if you think the tricks fly by because you're rushing, then you should just relax during your tricks and try to go at a slower pace. Also, the tricks may fly because time flies when you're having fun, which is definitely a good thing for magic.
I hope this helps. Get the books! They can explain it much better than I can.

Some of that may have to do with the types of effects you're performing. What are you currently performing.

@drewer thanks for the suggestions. Strong magic will be my next magic purchase.

@motown The main tricks I perform are acr, triumph, one coin routine, sandwich routine, extreme burn, crazy mans handcuffs, and multiple card revelation. I want to try to add more patter in them but I'm not really sure what I should say.

Sometimes the best thing to do is slow it down, let each moment sink in, rather than fill the void with talking. Most magicians work to eliminate unnecessary patter for a reason. Laymen don't want to hear you talk, they want to see the magic! If nothing else, (and I don't know if you do or not), don't use narrative patter, i.e. "I will now take the card, put it in the deck....I have a red handkerchief, I will now...

If you want your magic to take a bit more time, then give the audience pauses, to take it all in.


You ever get to the end of a good book or movie? Last thing you want is someone talking about it to you immediately afterwards while you're still trying to process it.

^ Good advice, Herr Tabor!

Pete McCabe's Scripting Magic is also a good resource for developing routines. Some of the best magicians in the world give their insight into this.

I think this is really good advice. I try my best to do things slowly and fluidly, letting the spectator see the moves I want them to see, plus an extra pause for them to process it in their brain. When nervous, and the heart is beating fast, it's hard to "slow down". I find the effects much more astonishing if performed like I just overdosed on valium, and I'm almost going in slow motion. Not exaggerated like that though

Tell a story.

Magic is best conveyed on the wings of a well told story.

And it is easy to expand/contract a story to shorten or lengthen a routine.

The magic is still there, and should be well performed, but people will remember the story.

The Doctor

If you are not sure what you should say perhaps your tricks are good the way they are.

Or, interact with the spectators more. Pause, ask them questions. Multiple card revalation is what it is with built in patter.

Look at David Blaine,"...pick a card, remember it, now, put it back." Not much patter there.

The three "Ts"! TEMPO...TIMING...TIME are all a part of PRESENTATION! --the PERFORMER, and his PRESENTATION are always more important than the PROP! A PROP is basically something that a performer uses to illustrate "what he is talking about".

The success of a PROFESSIONAL'S PRESENTATION are closely related to the three "Ts".

A major factor in a PROFESSIONAL'S PRESENTATION, is KNOWING WHEN TO PAUSE!!! (Study comedians like Jack Benny and/or George Burns. or magicians like Jay Marshall (especially his "Lefty" routine!)

Another factor is knowing how to PAD! Padding is not stalling! Padding is "inserting" (for example) an extra adjective or adverb to one's lines.

Avoid excess padding! (The speaker ahead of Abraham Lincoln spoke for several hours! (who was he?) Lincoln spoke for just a few minutes. His Gettysburg Address is a classic.

Too many amateurs (I saw one's "performance" --hekk no!--It was a "demonstration"==last Tuesday.)just "talk". They never heard of "scripting"!

I had a professor who taught us to use a sentence instead of a paragraph, a clause instead of a sentence, a phrase instead of a clause, a word instead of a phrase. EDITING!

Too many "magicians" earn the "Chinese" billing: Onn Tu Long! --Don't go past "the end"!

May I suggest re-reading friend drewer's Herr Brian Tabor'sm "13 steps", John C.'s, Doctor Cognnos' and tmills27's posts again!

The running time of your trick--or your show--is definitely related to how long you can ENTERTAIN your aucience!

Great advice guys. I just bought "Magic and Showmanship"

I worked a whole month in a one week gig in Biloxi, Mississippi, The Ace of Clubs, a strip joint. The "ladies" would dance if they were not in the audience 'B' drinking with the airmen from Kessler AFB (the club made more money selling drinks with a pretty lady at your side). I often went 30 minutes between dancers doing one liners and stretching out tricks. If you have never heard a joke echo off a wall, this was the place to be. Plus the usual "bring on the girls" catcalls from the audience ws a real learning experience. Thank you, Robert Orben.
The clubs on Bourbon street were more fast paced with lots of tour busses going thru every hour and no need for the ladies to work the audience.

I'm a little late following Jim's great story, just above, but, that line about a joke "echoing off a wall" reminded me of Mitch Cain who was working a strip club in Minneapolis about 20 years ago.

The "girls" would stall in their "dressing" room, leaving him to fill. He finally bought a loud alarm clock and put it on his prop table. When it rang, he would announce the next act. The girls learned to be "ready"!!!

Great stories!

I would add one more thing to think about. Who are in non-performing life? How do you come across? Are you a fast-talking New Yorker like Harry Loraine of more slow and deliberate like DMC? Take that into consideration as you think this through because it can inform the padding or trimming you do.

And I certainly second Dick's points of editing and slowing down - that is usually more the problem with performers. They talk too much and don't let the audience marinate in moments of magic or give applause cues.

9 to 5 theory
Most magicians acts would be much better if they would be able to tighten their 9 minute routines into tight 5 minute pieces. In many cases we tend to keep too many bits and pieces in routines that don't get laughs or reactions all the time. We just like them ourselves and we are blinded by the fact that they work sometimes. So skin off the fat and have a really tight 5 minute piece and you are far better off than having 9 minute piece that is just good. You can easily get thst 4 minutes back by doing extra piece on that saved time.