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chias Regular user 144 Posts |
Granted lighting is the same, which item shows up best on stage?
Thimbles Cards Billiard balls Candles |
Michael Baker Eternal Order Near a river in the Midwest 11172 Posts |
Color and size matters a lot, but if the candles are lit, the flame will catch the eye faster than anything else listed, making them readily identifiable.
~michael baker
The Magic Company |
magic4u02 Eternal Order Philadelphia, PA 15110 Posts |
Color and size matters for sure. So does contrast of the objects color to what you are wearing and the background. Also what factors in is your own pantomine mnovement on stage. Things can be coveyed clearly and easily to an audience by simple means of pantomime.
Kyle
Kyle Peron
http://www.kylekellymagic.com Entertainers Product Site http://kpmagicproducts.com Join Our Facebook Fan Page at http://facebook.com/perondesign |
Mike McEathron Regular user Peterborough Ontario Canada 163 Posts |
Since most stage manipulation acts use all four or a combo of the four I think that if presented correctly they show up about the same....I feel that thimbles are the hardest for an audience to make out ....that being said Shimada used to have thimbles that had rhinestones on them and you could see them a mile away...I agree with kyle that what you wear and the back ground behind you are very important as well......
Good luck Mike |
Bob Sanders Grammar Supervisor Magic Valley Ranch, Clanton, Alabama 20504 Posts |
To me, I convert all of this to the square inches of sight and motion focused in the act. (Yes, even misdirection!)
Lighter and brighter colors get more focus than others. Motion beats the static always. And the one I see many performers often miss is that the audience looks where you do! Thus, of these items, I would rank them: Candles Cards Billiard balls Thimbles As an old booking agent, I would not consider any of them as suitable for stage as for television. The two have little in common. Everything on a stage stays the same size all the way throughout the show. That is not true of television. Today in a theater that seats a thousand or more, I would avoid all of the above. In a nightclub, they might work fine. Card fans might be the only exception. However, remember to the audience in a theater, they are no longer seen as playing cards! They are just more magic props. Given that, audiences are receptive to magic props in stage magic just as they are to huge headdresses on the dancers. They come for the "eye candy" in a stage show. Since most of us see much more TV and electronic magic than real live stage magic, we tend to fail to make the important distinction and go for the effect. Don't count on a stage audience doing that. Often they have seen more stage magic than the performer. Reality has a price! Bob Sanders Magic By Sander |
chias Regular user 144 Posts |
Thanks everyone for the feedback.
Bob, then in your professional opinion what do you consider to be a good manipulation prop for stage? |
Bob Sanders Grammar Supervisor Magic Valley Ranch, Clanton, Alabama 20504 Posts |
The size stage is very important.
If you look at the competition acts that won at the Combined Convention 2008, of these items they were card fans, snow storms, and silk fountains. Otherwise, you got into flag staff productions and the big stuff. But also remember that these were for magicians and not a normal paying audience at a theater stage show. Winners here are not total matches for a paying theater audience. Manipulation is certainly very skilled and artful. Most of us start out with that and playing cards. As we move to commercial theater stage magic, the small items are replaced with larger items, livestock and grand illusion. It is a matter of audience and audience size and distance. Candles allow us to use motion, fire and silks which have much larger surfaces and more color for the audiences to see. That allows a transition to canes that are even larger and lead to even larger silks. The theater at Magic Castle is small enough to get good disclosure for the audience to see what is happening during a manipulation act. In a larger theater stage show, things are not as clear. Audience size is critical to the manipulation act on stage. Perhaps this is why manipulation is also well suited for television where the zoom lens solves distance and vision problems we cannot solve in a real live theater stage show. Remember too that all the possibilities are not limited to Candles, Cards, Billiard balls, and Thimbles. Watch Jeff McBride work. Is that stage manipulation? And what are his props? A lot needs to be known about the venue. Not all “stages” are created equal. Some are actually just platforms for parlor magic. Manipulation of Candles, Cards, Billiard balls, and Thimbles are easier seen in parlor magic. For the early history of stage manipulation magic, theaters were very small because there were no PA systems. That has really changed. Bob Sanders Magic By Sander |
Dynamike Eternal Order FullTimer 24148 Posts |
Chias, you should try at least one the following, they show up real good:
Chinese linking Rings Doves White Rabbits |
Doruk Ülgen Elite user 466 Posts |
Sizes are the order,isn't it
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Jeff Jenson Veteran user Denver, Colorado 319 Posts |
As they say "It's not the size that matters, it's how you use it !"
Jeff Jenson
"Keep The Magic Alive" |
Ken Northridge Inner circle Atlantic City, NJ 2392 Posts |
Quote:
On 2008-12-24 18:36, Dynamike wrote: All three of these are a staple of my act. But to answer the question.(IMHO) 1. Candles (with flames) 2. Cards 3. Billiard Balls 4. Thimbles (I should note I once saw someone attach red sponge balls to all of thier timbles. That looked very good on stage.) Quote:
On 2008-12-27 09:59, Jeff77 wrote: This is a myth. Size does matter.
"Love is the real magic." -Doug Henning
www.KenNorthridge.com |
Jeff Jenson Veteran user Denver, Colorado 319 Posts |
Anything with a loud color or anything shiny will always show up on stage as long a you show it and not let your hand cover half of the item, example: coins, show it with the finger tips and wiggle it a little, as the light hits it, it will be seen even in the back of the biggest theaters.
Best
Jeff Jenson
"Keep The Magic Alive" |
TheAmbitiousCard Eternal Order Northern California 13425 Posts |
Personality shows up well.
www.theambitiouscard.com Hand Crafted Magic
Trophy Husband, Father of the Year Candidate, Chippendale's Dancer applicant, Unofficial World Record Holder. |
ufo Inner circle Phoenix, Arizona 1185 Posts |
I second Franks last comment!
"What's your drug?" she asked. "Hope" he said, "The most addicting one of all."
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