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Ed_Millis Inner circle Yuma, AZ 2292 Posts |
I've got the same seasonal thing here in SW AZ. Our summer population is about 90,000 and spends a lot of time indoors until after dark. Our winter population is about 200,000, and there are huge "resorts" open only 6 months of the year with their own "community centers". Yes, I've been pondering how to break into these markets. Probably a dinner-type show.
Then again, we also have two casinos within a 5-minute drive with cheap shows, cheap food, and one-armed entertainment. Gotta be a pretty special magi to compete with that! A full-up lights and music stage show might do it, but I'm not the guy. Ed |
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Jason Fox New user Washington, D.C. 48 Posts |
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On 2010-01-13 11:28, HerbLarry wrote: Agreed, not in the least. Not with the internet and TV....or the magic cage' |
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Vick Inner circle It's taken me 10+ years to make 1120 Posts |
Latimer was doing interesting things in the techo-art type direction as well as McBride in the Burning Man direction
Where should it go? Is that the question or is it where should we take our audiences? What new directions and frontiers can we forge as artists? We must keep our art fresh and evolving, it is up to us and our challenge as artists. We must create for our audiences Much (so called) magic is languishing and stagnant, how many do we see doing the same old, same old. What is new and ground breaking? Not to magicians but to the layperson? A new techinque or method but with the same old overall effect to the lay person is not new or fresh to anyone but a magician I'm the guy who shouts that all art (and entertainment forms) is what we compete with as entertainers All entertainment should have movement, music, costume, lighting, scripting, youth, sex appeal, dynamic props and much more to create mood and to transport our audiences to another place. Sometimes props are not as prominent as in minimalism but you get the general idea Most important, they have to like you, you must engage them, they must think and feel APATHY IS THE ENEMY OF ART
Unique, Thought Provoking & Amazing Magical Entertainment Experiences
Illusions By Vick Blog of a real world working magician Magic would be great, if not for magicians |
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funsway Inner circle old things in new ways - new things in old ways 9982 Posts |
As to the future of our art in stage and parlor setting one should consider the ever growing elder population. Part of the "Silver Tsunami" will be an increased number of 'ElderKin' in Assisted Living Centers and being taken care of in HomeBound environments. Their demand for entertainment opens new markets of opportunity with special considerations for vision, sound, patter, setting, variety, etc. While you may not be able to get many exclusive magic gigs you could partner with other performers to provide mini-variety shows. Though you will not be dealing with children, many visual effect made popular by 'kids party' demands can be modified for Senior viewers. Shows with safety themes can be modified for Persons planning on being CareGivers, etc.
So, the future of stage magic may be finding those people who consider stage magic a viable form of entertainment -- people over 50 years of age.
"the more one pretends at magic, the more awe and wonder will be found in real life." Arnold Furst
eBooks at https://www.lybrary.com/ken-muller-m-579928.html questions at ken@eversway.com |
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Ed_Millis Inner circle Yuma, AZ 2292 Posts |
Vick, I'm not sure all entertainers see themselves as artists. Especially not those in the beginning stages. Just doing one show has been such a "big deal" to me that it's consumed all my time and thought - not with artistic presentation, but set up, prop management during the performance, flow of one routine into another, repaint the table, keep the batteries out of the chicken until before performing AND DON"T FORGET TO PUT THEM BACK IN!!, and a lot of other little details.
I have no lights, no sound, definitely no youth or sex appeal. I don't have all the business stuff worked out, either. When do I have time to work on artistry? Ed |
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DWRackley Inner circle Chattanooga, TN 1909 Posts |
I used to literally write out my program in outline form and add in all the minutia that each effect called for – beeswax on the button, lighter fluid in the candle, etc. After a while I could run it in my head, but that’s not how a pilot does his pre-flight. When something is important, you use a check list.
When I first started doing plays, I was the property manager, the teleprompter, the gaffer, and just about everything else. The show could not have gone on without my checklist. Getting back into Magic now, I find myself right back into the outlines. You can’t remember it all. Write it down. Then you can focus on presentation. Quote: “I wrote them down in my Diary so that I wouldn't *have* to remember.” - Professor Henry Jones
...what if I could read your mind?
Chattanooga's Premier Mentalist Donatelli and Company at ChattanoogaPerformers.com also on FaceBook |
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Vick Inner circle It's taken me 10+ years to make 1120 Posts |
Quote:
On 2010-01-14 10:50, Ed_Millis wrote: There is your artistry ...... You care about presentation, art isn't always Rodin, Robin Willliams and Red Skelton are art also and you wrote a great piece about family entertainment http://familyfunmagic.com/familyfriendly2.htm I sent you an email about it but it never got through to you
Unique, Thought Provoking & Amazing Magical Entertainment Experiences
Illusions By Vick Blog of a real world working magician Magic would be great, if not for magicians |
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imgic Inner circle Moved back to Midwest to see 1337 Posts |
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On 2010-01-13 09:07, wkitwizard wrote: I would argue that these other related theater arts are languishing as well...attendance at live events of all types are down. The top plays on Broadways are remakes of older versions. There are some breakouts: Cirque du Soleil is the most obvious. But 10 years or so, if you would have said Circus Acts will rule Las Vegas and allow the founder to travel in space...you would have been laughed at. David Blaine has gone the opposite direction...peforming on the street to crowds who provide the greatest reaction that is perfect for capturing on film. While I'm not trying to equate David Blaine to theaterical arts...it's to illustrate that thinking outside the box, like Blaine, like Cirque, could lead to a resurgance in magic...or not.
"Imagination is more important than knowledge."
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wkitwizard Elite user Los Angeles 466 Posts |
Take a look at Marco Tempest, Galina from Ukraine, Jeff McBride and Cirque du Soleil and you get some idea of where theater magic could go in the future, but it's up to the person to be inspired to grow "outside the box".
Nothing is truer than the incomprehensible, because the sum total of our knowledge consists of the fact that we know nothing. Our reality is an illusion. Thus illusion is reality-Punx
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Phil Tawa Regular user Mass. 103 Posts |
When I was in a rock band I used to do mouth coils,flash stuff and even things like professors nightmare. Not as a major part of the show but it was one of those,"You never know" things.
When I learn a new trick and know it's a keeper I try to routine it 3 ways. For children,adults and very importantly silent.(sometimes necessary in a noisy place) If I had a big show no doubt I would use the lights,sound and visual stuff but I don't know how and what means I'd apply |
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wkitwizard Elite user Los Angeles 466 Posts |
Clarification: I misquoted Mr Weber from his book. This is what he actually said:
" I would make more use of music if I were to go back to full-time performing, but I certainly never would work with no patter." Sorry for the confusion.
Nothing is truer than the incomprehensible, because the sum total of our knowledge consists of the fact that we know nothing. Our reality is an illusion. Thus illusion is reality-Punx
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Phil Tawa Regular user Mass. 103 Posts |
I think you misunderstood me. If on stage or anytime I can actually I use patter.
I learn a silent way if possible because in a noisy place with a band,D.J. etc. People CAN'T hear your patter. If I had a choice I'd always patter. |
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wkitwizard Elite user Los Angeles 466 Posts |
No, I got a PM from Mr Weber telling me that I had misquoted him. As far as "silent patter", do you mean
a "silent script"? All performers should have a silent script-no matter how they execute their act-with or without words. Because I started this thread with the idea of "pushing theater magic forward", I wanted some feedback about artists such as McBride, Galina and the Circ du Solei performances-that don't use words at all. That way, the audience is only asked to watch, not get hung up on what the performer is trying to say. Magic as a performance art means transforming entertainment into a flowing, visual experience.
Nothing is truer than the incomprehensible, because the sum total of our knowledge consists of the fact that we know nothing. Our reality is an illusion. Thus illusion is reality-Punx
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DWRackley Inner circle Chattanooga, TN 1909 Posts |
I think Hal Holbrook might not capsulize it so completely, but I can see where the visual aspect would eclipse other dimensions, if only when the mundane was competing for attention.
An audience has more than one sensory organ, and if the performer adequately controls the venue (and I recognize that sometimes you just can’t make the busers stop clanking the dishes) then every sense comes into play. A sound can be an illusion as well (ask any Foley artist). Smells can be give-aways. I’ve seen Lance Burton use taste. Touch is fooled every time a newbie uses the out-of-the-box instructions for Scotch and Soda. But whatever gateway(s) we choose, the target we have to engage is the mind. This is most commonly done with words. Even in those “special” moments when a look speaks volumes, we internalize the meaning through our personal vocabulary. I like your definition, but for one word. “Magic as a performance art means transforming entertainment into a flowing, moving experience.” The audience should be transported to a place where time, physics, consequences, reality itself plays by a different set of rules. And altering reality is ONE of the primary functions of art, yes?
...what if I could read your mind?
Chattanooga's Premier Mentalist Donatelli and Company at ChattanoogaPerformers.com also on FaceBook |
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wkitwizard Elite user Los Angeles 466 Posts |
Altering reality is a given with art-absolutely. When I have been "moved" by a theater magic performance done in pantomime with a music background, the artist was always a "risk taker" and stretching the limits of his talents and skills. They eventually persuaded me that the art could be taken to a higher level-not necessarily the ONLY level, but one by which magic would finally be transported from the "puzzles and tricks" to theater at its best.
Nothing is truer than the incomprehensible, because the sum total of our knowledge consists of the fact that we know nothing. Our reality is an illusion. Thus illusion is reality-Punx
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wkitwizard Elite user Los Angeles 466 Posts |
Ok, if you wander over to Youtube and do a search for Galina Magic, you'll see videos of the female magician from the Ukraine. An accomplished graduate of the old Soviet Circus college, she went on to perform on "Worlds Greatest Magic", and countless foreign tv shows, before the cabaret circuit in Germany. Now married to a British stage comic, they both live in Australia. Watch her performances on the above site and realize just how dramatic stage magic can be.
Nothing is truer than the incomprehensible, because the sum total of our knowledge consists of the fact that we know nothing. Our reality is an illusion. Thus illusion is reality-Punx
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