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Ed_Millis Inner circle Yuma, AZ 2292 Posts |
Most of my routines play best to kids in grades 1 - 5. There's stuff in there at an adult level ("adult" as in requiring more thought or not full of silliness), but nothing really aimed at just the adults. I had a thought of crafting an "adult interlude" into a whole-family show (such as a school show or a large birthday party well-stocked with adults). I'm thinking of something like this:
* Before the show -- Ask someone to write down a number; they keep the paper -- Give someone a deck of cards and ask them to pick one face down so neither of us sees it, put it a pocket, then put the rest in an envelope that gets sealed and they hang on to -- Have someone choose a word (Sankey's Slyder) and hang on to an envelope * Introduing the show and throughout -- Mention that we have some special effects involving some parents * Just before the Interlude -- Spoon bend with a kid (funny) -- Spoon bend by myself (dramatic) (I envision this as a connecting transition, revisiting the same effect done with a kid, but now performed in a different manner) * Interlude -- Review the choosing of the word, and that they've been holding the envelope all this time. They open the envelope and inside is their word. -- Reveal the card (ID) -- Reveal the number (magic square) * Last routine and then the closer So ... (A) Is the basic idea and approach sound? (B) Does the "script" look workable? (C) What changes would you suggest? Ed |
TonyB2009 Inner circle 5006 Posts |
Ed, without going into detail, it seems unnecessary. I think each show has a focus, and when you lose that focus you lose something important. I would not do this, but having said that, it might work for you.
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TheAmbitiousCard Eternal Order Northern California 13425 Posts |
Ed, it's great that you're trying to include the adults, but I don't think you need to make it an adult only kind of thing.
How could you make it play to both? How could you make more of your full act play for both? Instead of trying something so cerebral, why not try something that's just plain entertaining.... for all. That's where you'll get your best bang for the buck. I do like how you're thinking tho.
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harris Inner circle Harris Deutsch 8812 Posts |
Using the "Bullwinkle" approach, I use lines and reference which play differently to kids and adults. Breaking the 4th wall is another way I connect with adults.
In the perhaps area of development is a vent/mind reading. It will start out real campy, but end with strong magic/mentalism. Sort of on the lines of the Invisible Deck, but without cards. I also do this during musical interludes. An example is switching from a kid song to a few bars of Stairway to Heaven, then go back to the kid song. Knowing the rules allows one to break them if it works for you. An example is never turn your back on the audience. I suggest after writing scripts to rewrite and rewrite..then go out and use it ..then rewrite some more. Your audiences will tell you what you need to know. Harris
Harris Deutsch aka dr laugh
drlaugh4u@gmail.com music, magic and marvelous toys http://magician.org/member/drlaugh4u |
magicgeorge Inner circle Belfast 4299 Posts |
Quote:
On 2012-02-01 11:02, Frank Starsini wrote: This! It's good that you are thinking about your show but I would be thinking more about presentations that work for the adults rather than doing an "adult" effect. What is the definition of an adult effect anyhow? I don't really buy in to certain tricks being adult effects and certain tricks being childrens effect. I have performed effects sold as "adult" effects to children and vica-versa. Adults enjoy silly too. As long as it's silly not stupid. A lot of kids entertainers use gobbledegook or silly words to make the children laugh, what I do occasionally is say things that sound like nonsense to children but actually make sense to adults like 16th century French philosophy or quantum physics... |
Ed_Millis Inner circle Yuma, AZ 2292 Posts |
I receive all the above advice as excellent and applicable. I'm looking over the things that I do and trying to make it more "all encompassing". And that's why I come here and ask y'all to point out what I'm not seeing. (So glad this is a patient lot!)
It's not that everything is all "Barney" and "Wiggles" through the whole show, and that nothing contains moments that amuse and amaze the adults as well. For instance, the spoon bend: it's wrapped in a handkerchief and the kid blows on it while I ask him if it's time he and the dog stopped sharing a toothbrush. I had a teacher almost scream when she saw it bent. I'm thinking of things that actually get the adults involved in the actions of what is happening. Yes, if they were more captivated by the magic and the stuff on stage, it would be better than it is now - and I am growing in that area. (Sometimes it's a struggle learning to see what you don't see now.) But everyone actually participating in the magic is a kid. In a setting with a large portion of adults, why not involve a few of them in the action of a trick or three? Or am I still not seeing the big picture? Ed |
harris Inner circle Harris Deutsch 8812 Posts |
For this nearly normal entertainer, getting the audience to become:
1. Left side A versus Right side B 2. Olders versus younger 4. Males versus Females With an ultimate goal which is hopefully achieved more than a few times during a Doctor of Laughology program.. 5. Everyone in the audience becomes a single unit..(even if individually they may be perceiving things differently-based on age-background-suspension of belief etc,etc,etc "Let those with eyes see, and those with ears hear". Though most of the time I am fully involved with the onstage stuff, I also experience time when I am "watching as an audience member", while performing. Watching other performers, not just magicians can also be eye opening. Harris still 2 young to know it all
Harris Deutsch aka dr laugh
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TheAmbitiousCard Eternal Order Northern California 13425 Posts |
You're on the right track, Ed.
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RealityOne Loyal user 227 Posts |
Quote:
On 2012-02-01 13:02, Ed_Millis wrote: Ed: You are seeing the bigger picture, but not the biggest picture. Eugene Burger talks about how a good show has "texture." I think where you are going with your ideas is to add some texture to your show to make it appealing to adults. To do that, you are thinking about varying the magic and presentation isn't all the same. That is a good thing. However, the hard part is to balance the need for some texture with the need for a show to be coherent. Someone else mentioned Rocky & Bullwinkle, so I'll go with that theme and suggest that you shouldn't have to introduce different parts of your show with the line, "And now for something COMPLETELY different." So the variety has to fit within the theme of your show and the bounds of your character. I think there are (at least) three good ways of involving the adults. The most common is to have a dual-level dialogue. The kids get it at one level and the adults at another (this is what I like to call the Shrek method where the jokes go over the kids heads but the adults get them). One technique that can be used here is the theatrical aside where you break character and talk to the adults in the audience. The second method is to have STRONG magic. That is, performing something that isn't a gag or a look don't see effect or the vanish of a silk using a TT. I remember one show that the parents in the back of the room were telling the kids to sit down so they could see my cups and balls routine. I also use David Regal's Clink which astonishes the adults as well as the kids (heck, I'm even amazed when I see the child's tossed imaginary coin materialize in the glass and I know how the "trick: works). The third method to engage the adults is to present the effects so that they are interesting and meaningful (I like to think of this as the Disney/Pixar method where the movies seamlessly engage both child and adult). To do that you have to get out of what Eugene Burger calls "the adventures of the props in the performer's hands" type presentation (don't know if you do this or not, but just setting it out there as an example of what not to do. If you make the presentation meaningful, the adults (as well as the children) will be engaged. I like to think that the way I present Dan Harlan's Hovercard is a good example of using all three methods. I talk about seeing this amazing magic trick (I don't say what it is) performed by an older Asian magician behind the counter at a San Francisco magic shop while I was on a business trip. I ask him if I can buy the effect. He says it isn’t for sale, but offers to teach it to me the next morning, if I show up at 6:00. So I show up at 6:00 and wait for an hour. He arrives at 8:00 and tells me that to learn strong magic you need to be dedicated. He then tells me that he doesn't have time that morning but to come back the next morning at 6:00. The same thing happens the next two days. At this point, the audience is picking up on the Karate Kid feel to the story and the kids react to the predictability of it every time the older magician says "Come again tomorrow and I will show you." Finally, on the last day, on my way to the airport I stop for one last time. The magician recognizes that I'm dedicated and that I value the knowledge of magic enough. He then tells me that I've passed the test by coming back four times. He then took me in the back room and shows me how to do the magic trick. He then leaned over and whispered the most important part of the secret to me. I ask the kids, “ Do you know what he said?” The card starts to levitate off the deck and hover in the air. The children are silent as I stage whisper “Believe." **NOTE – I don’t perform this effect for the younger (5 and under) crowd, but for “family” audiences where the ages run from below 5 to over 15.
~David
Any perception of reality is a selection of reality which results in a distortion of reality. |
TheAmbitiousCard Eternal Order Northern California 13425 Posts |
Nice thoughtful post R1.
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Mary Mowder Inner circle Sacramento / Elk Grove, CA 3659 Posts |
Ed, I think you are headed in a good direction.
I would avoid "Magic Square" which is fine for a well chosen audience but frankly there are MANY adults who's fear of math simply won't let them engage with a Magic Square so unless you have a way to entertain around that it is not a good choice for a family show. I agree with what several have said. Make it make it truly magical and strong in at least 3 places. Have an humorous Adult sub-text (not too blue, skimming may be OK but this is not the context for any raunchy stuff, hidden or not). If the Magic is not that strong for Adults, make sure watching the kids enjoy it is enjoyable to the Adults. Aim for a family show throughout rather than have anything that totally excludes any group. Visual Magic is an obvious avenue so check your repertoire for color and surprise. Make sure the premise of each effect is clear. If the audience is lost they don't connect. Scripts really help. -Mary Mowder |
TheAmbitiousCard Eternal Order Northern California 13425 Posts |
The only trick I do that's not strong enough for (some) adults is the change bag but I have a kicker ending that IS strong enough for the adults. I would never do a trick that I was not convinced would fool an entire audience.
Even at a kids show, I don't know who's gonna be there. I assume a mixed audience always. The only people I don't give a crap about fooling are magicians and I make sure they're fooled too. That's easy. You just do something nobody else does. But the last thing I need is a group of teen-agers watching my show rolling their eyes and spreading bad press about my show afterward. I don't mind if they talk afterward but I want it to be about how surprised they were that is was fun, funny and fooled them badly. Obviously it's ok not share my opinion but at least try to come up with some kind of surprise that will fool everyone at some point in each trick. Even if it's just a sight-gag of some sort. I'm mean... fooling humans really isn't that much of a stretch, is it? There are books written on this stuff! Just do it and get it over with. As Michael Weber (just saw his lecture) said to us numerous times: Do the hard work up front and the rest is easy. Ed, I'm excited that you're headed in this direction. You'll reap the rewards soon enough.
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Mary Mowder Inner circle Sacramento / Elk Grove, CA 3659 Posts |
I don't believe that many Teens are fooled by a change bag but I have a really fun effect for kids that uses one.
The routine is so strong for families that I wouldn't want to leave it out. It is one that entertains and engages Adults but doesn't fool. It is an example of making the experience of watching kids enjoy Magic entertaining and having clean humor for adults as well. -Mary Mowder |
TheAmbitiousCard Eternal Order Northern California 13425 Posts |
I think that's the right idea, Mary.
I don't think it fools too many teens or older, hence my surprise ending, that I hope does fool them. I do the routine for the same reason as you; it's also the birthday trick with the bday kid so I never leave it out. Aside from the humor aspect, I'm baically going for a: Yeah, whatever Yeah, whatever Yeah, whatever Hey, how did that happen reaction from anyone that thinks they know (and probably does know).
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drosenbe0813 Elite user Long Island, NY 405 Posts |
When I am playing for a family audience, I usually do 1 of 2 routines. I put this slot, 4 routines into my act. This is before I use any children from the audience.
The first is a very funny cards accross routine, which has everyone laughing, until I reveal that 3 cards actually have travelled..and it gets ooohs and ahhs. I use this routine if there are teens in the audience. If there are not appropriate teens, then I do Whit Hayden's Linking Ring routine. These routines are fun for the kids, but also display a little more 'ability' than some of the other routines that I do, and it shows the adults that they will be participating and also have some cool magic to see. Just my 2 cents. |
Al Angello Eternal Order Collegeville, Pa. USA 11045 Posts |
I find that adults enjoy watching you make the kids laugh, so if you make kids the star of your show the adults will be entertained. If you do a trick for adults only you risk loosing the attention of the kids, and my biggest fear is having the little ones leave the room in the middle of my show.
Al Angello The Comic Juggler/Magician
http://www.juggleral.com http://home.comcast.net/~juggleral/ "Footprints on your ceiling are almost gone" |
harris Inner circle Harris Deutsch 8812 Posts |
If you are a worker you have experienced the highs and lows of being an entertainer.
I have to laugh everytime I think of one birthday party. During a routine a young 4 or so young lady got up and got a drink of water from the fountain. Before long, there was 3 other youngsters in line. If you can't beat em, join em...so yes...I got in line.... On the other hand, at some nursing home gigs, I have the activity director invite a near by preschool, or advertise the event asking for grandchildren to come. The residents get as much a kick out of watching the kids as watching my show. This is similar to me going to another entertainers gig and watching the audience as well as the performer. Harris
Harris Deutsch aka dr laugh
drlaugh4u@gmail.com music, magic and marvelous toys http://magician.org/member/drlaugh4u |
TheAmbitiousCard Eternal Order Northern California 13425 Posts |
Quote:
On 2012-02-10 10:31, Harris wrote: Absolutely brilliant!!!
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