Hi:

I was into magic as a kid...always loved it, but never performed...and I've been asked to do a children's show this weekend. What tricks should I do?

HA! Just kidding. I've been DYING to start a post like that.

Seriously, though, I'm curious if anyone uses the Axtell cds--aka Axtrax--in their shows. Are they any good?

--Jon

Don't worry about it. Just wing it, I'm sure it will work out just fine!

Regarding Axtrax, my first one is on it's way here, but I've heard nothing but good comments about them.

Brian

I'm much fonder of the birthday Axtrax than any other - but some other people have reported doing well with them all.

This has been in many threads. Personally I would rather just learn to vent because of certain complications that may arise.

Vern the bird is excellent

Are you reffering to the Atrax for Vern or the puppet itself. I can't choose which too get.

I have personally used "Happy Bird-day" and the "Christmas Bird" in the past. They are fantastic!!

I own the Art-O-Matic Axtrax CD and I have used it in a handful of shows. I wasn't crazy about Art-O-Matic, but I had bought the Drawing Board and really wanted to get some use out of it, so I learned the script and practiced with the CD. My problem was that the Drawing Board got such a great reaction and elicited such loud laughter and screams from the kids. I know - how could that possibly be a problem, right? Well, I had a boom box that I played the Axtrax out of, and no way to pause it during the routine. So the kids would be screaming, and the audio from the Axtrax CD would just be drowned out completely. When the kids stopped screaming, they usually would have missed a few lines which would cause some of the next jokes to fall flat because they hadn't heard the buildup!

It does sound weird that the ability of an effect to generate huge response is actually the reason I took it out of my show, but that's the way it was. Since I took the Drawing Board out of my show, I've purchased a great sound system and I will probably work on incorporating the Board back into my show for next year.

But I would still prefer to make my own track instead of using the Art-O-Matic Axtrax cd I have now. It's nice to make it personal to your character. I will probably have my board say my name in the routine at some point, to really sell the interaction between the board and I.

This solution might be too late for you, Danny, but there are devices that you can plug your boom box into (while leaving the cassette in the "on" position), and then that into the wall (or extension cord). This device is a remote power switch that you can turn on and off with a wireless controller, turning your boom box on and off (making the cassette pause when you want it to). I have never used one, but I have heard of them for this application (turning music on and off for a show).

Thought others might want to be aware that such a thing exists. Some people use them for their household lamps. It's most likely at your local Radio Shack (U.S.), The Source by Circuit City (Canada), or possibly at a store like Home Depot, Home Hardware, Canadian Tire (for the Canadians).

With all the remotes available for minidisk players and MP3 players, that is also a practical solution. (Cassettes are now a bit old school, but I still use them.)

Of course, you do not want to use the remote power switch for your PA system (as opposed to a boom box), unless you want your other mic'd sound to turn off, too.

More information on remotes, players and sound systems are on threads in the F/X section of the Café.

- Donald

P.S. For my drawing board presentation, I use a tape with music that cuts in and out, like David Ginn shared in one of his "Unpublished" books. I created mine from scratch many years ago. The face sings "Rock Around the Clock".

Good advice, Donald. For those interested, Dan Garrett goes into depth about this very thing at the tale end (pun intended) of his "Kidshow Konnivery" VHS tape.

Mike

Ihave used art o matic since AX put it out many years ago. It is has worked great for me.

I found that if the track is turned up a bit louder than most stuff it plays betters simply because it is heard better.

Also if you react to the board and start to talk to the board then the kids will want to know what you are saying so they begin to listen more. Then it becomes a story and you can almost hear a pin drop when I do the routine.

Ken

I use Axtrax for The Magic Drawing Board (Art-O Matic) and 3 Axtraxs for Vern...
Rope trick, happy Bird-Day, and Christmas Bird. I must admit, learning the routines was easy, but making it look professional was much tougher. The timing is VERY important on the dialog (in my opinion)and working a puppet while reciting your lines is a challenge as well. If you can learn not just the routine and your lines, but also the timing and delivery, and make your puppet look alive, you will be very successful with your shows.

***HELPFUL ADVICE***
I use a wireless headset and my voice comes out from the sound system. Since the Axtrax uses prerecorded puppet voice, their voices come out of the sound system as well. I setup a mic for the puppet so it appears normal.

Practice practice practice! Knowing not just what to say but WHEN to say it is most important. Like I described above, timing is important. Nothing worse than rushing your line and having a big delay before your puppet responds. I listened to my Axtrax night and day (even while driving) until I knew BOTH parts and the timing as well.

If you have never learned to work a puppet, it's not as easy as just moving it's mouth. I discovered AFTER I got Vern that working a puppet is more difficult than I imagined. Besides trying to move the mouth to the prerecorded Axtrax, you also have eye contact and body movements that convey feelings and emotions that I never realized until I watched a taped rehearsal of myself. The puppet appears dead unless you mimmick the head bobbing and dipping and tilting that a person would normally do while having a conversation. There are books and vidoes how to bring your puupet to life. You can also learn by watching any 2 people interact. Watch Sesame Street and see the way they move them and learn the different body languages that people/puppets use naturally. Again, just making the mouth open and close will not work.

Axtell Puppets are the BEST! Axtrax routines are the BEST for non-venters. I spent 100's of hours learning all the above before I performed and I must admit it was time well spent. However, looking back, I should have spent that time learrning to vent and I would have much better flexibilty with my puppets than I do now. Hindsight is always 20/20...I wish someone would have told me so that's why I'm sharing all this with you!

Jon,

IMHO... The Drawing Board works best when you use your own voice as a vent would. It gives you total control as to timing, personalizing the patter, etc. No need to worry about pause buttons, remote controls, boom boxes, etc.

Okay... Okay... I can hear it coming now.... "But Dave, I'm not a ventriloquist so that wouldn't work for me." Guess what??? NEITHER AM I.

Please, please, please believe me when I say, "YOU DON'T NEED TO BE A VENTRILOQUIST WITH THIS EFFECT." Just look at the board when the character speaks... and just talk the words. Don't even worry that YOUR lips are moving. The kids will be rivited to the "talking drawing." ...and the kids that DO notice your lips won't even care, because the conversation between you and the sudden 'come-to-life' drawing will captivate ALL their attention. The value of performing this way is priceless. You can, for instance, cause the drawing to refer to the 'birthday kid' by name. i.e., "...Hey, that Jessica... she's pretty as a picture." or... "Hey, what are all these kids doing here with all those funny birthday hats? Could you draw a hat like that on me?"

As Danny mentioned... the kids will definitely become VERRRY loud when he starts talking. After letting them vent their excitement for a few moment, I hold up my hand and say, "Hold on! Wait a minute! Should I ask him what his name is?" Then I wait for the noise to die down. If it happens again (and it will,) I just hold up my hand again and say, "Should I ask him if he has a girlfriend?" ...and so on. This works great for me.

I'm not saying you shouldn't buy Axtrax. It might be useful to have, just to loosly pattern your routine with. When it comes to actual performance, I just like the control of 'doing it myself.'

Again... No need to fear the ventriloquist thing. Try it just once this way and I'm sure you'll see what I mean.

Hope my 2¢ helps someone.

Dave

If you ever get a chance to see Edgar Bergen in an old movie or something it is plain that his lips moved. It was his raport with his characters that made the fact that his lips moved when he talked and when the puppet talked unimportant to watchers.

Bryan

We are producing several new AxTrax routines right now. If you would like to preview a script send me an email to - steve@axtell.com The first one will be for the Magic Drawing Board and it is based on drawing Houdini. Funny.

Ax

Announcing the new HOUDINI AxTrax routine for the Axtell Magic Drawing Board! You draw Houdini and he comes to life and does a funny mind reading trick in your show! Come read the script and listen to a clip!

http://www.axtell.com/axtrax.html

Enjoy!

Routine Looks Great,
Can't wait until I get mine.

They are great!

I recently bought one. I think the production value is great, and at a good price. However, I really doubt if I'll be able to do this entire routine convincingly. I'm with Gideon on this one ... my time might be better spent learning to vent (which I'll never be able to do. I might as well learn to do a backflip at age 45!) I think I'll just take my monkey and do a mime routine with it (he'll mime ... I'll still talk! My lips move when I talk, but nobody cares.)

The Magic Drawing Board was what got me to learn vent. Like the others I didn't like the risk of stepping on audience reaction by moving at a fixed pace with the tape/CD. It took six months before I felt ready to try it on an audience and about a year before I was actually pretty good. It was time well spent! Vent is a lot of fun. I use it in every show. In fact in a few weeks I have my first show that is all Vent (although Vern will do a magic trick in his segment).

Oliver