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rtgreen Inner circle Portland, Oregon 1322 Posts |
Sorry to have been so full of opinion questions lately, but when I am designing things, my mind tends to wander a lot about vague stuff.
What is everyone's opinion about doing both a suspension effect and a levitation effect in the same show. David Ben, for example performs the broom suspension and an asrah. I think his show is very effective, but are the effects too closely related to both play well without diminishing each other? Thanks, Richard |
Magic Monkichi Elite user Ontario, Canada 401 Posts |
Richard;
I think that having the two effects are fine in the same show. Just as long as they are not one after the other. Also you must make sure that the routines are very different. If these aspects are seen to, then it shouldn't be a problem. Magically yours, Matt kielbiski Quick Change Artist |
Oliver - Twist Regular user France 170 Posts |
An other important point is that the levitation should come in the show after the suspension, because the other way round the impact of the suspension will be less good on the audience.
Exemple : Long ago the show of Siegfried and Roy had both effect in their show, but the suspension was shown after the levitation. The impact was less good. Jean Merlin a french magician mentioned this in his french book : "Vegas, the real secrets".
May all your days be magical
Oliver Twist |
Frank Tougas Inner circle Minneapolis, MN 1712 Posts |
Really they are two completely different effects and can both be in your show. The levitation is the stronger of the two as there is apparently no means of support so as suggested above do it after a suspension.
Frank Tougas
Frank Tougas The Twin Cities Most "Kid Experienced" Children's Performer :"Creating Positive Memories...One Smile at a Time"
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rtgreen Inner circle Portland, Oregon 1322 Posts |
I hadn't been thinking about the order of the effects, but that's good thinking. I think in the David Ben show I mentioned, her does the broom suspension very early in the show and the asrah at the end.
Richard |
RJE Inner circle 1848 Posts |
I don't know Richard. Not trying to be difficult, but I would disagree with the opinions already stated.
The Broom Suspension and Asrah look like two very different illusions to the layman and even though one is a suspension and the other a levitation, they can work well in the same show. If by a levitation and a suspension, you mean something along these lines, then I believe it would work. IMO however, if the two illusions were similar in appearance to the audience, (ie) a Dev Ray Levitation and a Blaney Suspension, then I would not put them into the same show. I think the audience would think, well, if you could make her lie on her back and float once, then of course you can do it again regardless of whether she now also goes up and down. So I guess to me, the key is whether or not the two illusions seem to be the same type of thing to the audience or not. Out of curiosity, what two versions, if any, did you have in mind? All the best, Rob |
rtgreen Inner circle Portland, Oregon 1322 Posts |
Quote:
On 2005-03-31 16:56, RJE wrote: Nothing in particular now, but probably a variation on the sword suspension and and asrah. Richard |
Nick Wait Inner circle Lichfield, UK 1042 Posts |
I've seen two magicians perform both the zig zag and ,odern art. One of the magicians performances worked as he did them at the same tim and he had the modern art going to wrong way so when he did it with two girls there was nice symetry. The other performed them back to back and this didn't work at all. It looked like no thought to routineing had beeen given.
Nick |
biff_g Loyal user Canada 240 Posts |
Personally, I wouldn't put both of them in the same show. A lot of people have mentioned that you should put the levitation after the suspension because it is a stronger effect. I think this is true, and the problem that it presents is that you are weakening the effect of the suspension. I think that regardless of whether it is a suspension or a levitation, the audience goes away thinking that the person was "levitating." By this, I mean after a show an audience member would say "hey, that was cool how he/she floated on top of that broom" not "hey, that was cool how he/she was suspended at an angle from the broom."
I think that suspensions are still strong, but in most cases (this of course depends on your presentation as well) I think that the audience views each effect as the magician having the same "magical power" if you will. |
Osiris Special user 610 Posts |
From what I know about magic history and the work of the "masters" this really wasn't all that unusual... Henning would do the Kiddie Car Suspension in the first half of his show and feature a bit like the Asrah or Water Suspension in the second half. Richiardi did the broom in the early part of the show and closed with the Kalanag... then again, Kalanage started off with the Chair Suspension and ultimately shifted into his mega levitation from there (which, I believe in now in Lance's show)
Years ago I borrowed Kirkham's Girl on Light Suspension... now anyone familiar with this set-up knows that there is a risk of flashing the gimmick at one point... he drilled that into my head for weeks. The night of the show I had the girl up in the horzontal position... I deliberately stood to the side and removed the second light... the old man went nuts! NOTHING WAS FLASHED! That's because nothing was there! I'd changed the method somewhat, causing the young lady to raise higher and higher into the air as I moved downstage to get my applause... it was awesome! Then, as the air above her filled with little sparkling stobes, she faded from sight... vanishing into thin air. (Hold your applause... I know, it's a really cool and beautiful piece.) I think you can more than get away with the combination if you just use your head a little bit on the timing and choreography of each... make certain they have a different feel about them and all will be well. But too, make certain you're not doing them 5 minutes apart (unless in combo, as noted above) as part of an act... in a full-evening show with a break it's one thing, in a cabaret feature... well, that's just pure non-sense! |
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