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Razamatazz New user United Kingdom 8 Posts |
We recently saw a magician perform a reasonable act.
Not the best but ok. It would have been so much better but for one fact. He took himself far too serious. It was like he was on a mission. He must at all costs get the magic textbook perfect and his whole act became a mecanical process. Technically he did nothing wrong but perfomance wise it was not good. You see, an audience does not want to see a smart arse magician, performing smugly - they want to be entertained and enjoy the experience & to be lost in a world of make beleive. You see, many acts focus so much on getting the tricks right that they forget about the rest of the performance - ie: Entertainment ! One of the best ways of making your act more audience friendly is to inject some comedy into it. Your whole act does not have to have comedy but break up some great effects with some light relief & make them laugh. Nothing wins over an audience better than laughter. We perform Close Up, Cabaret - Illusions & childrens shows & all have comedy built into them. Example :in our children's show we bought a puppet dog from practical magic ! & started using it straight away. He was great & had a good responce but we wanted to add a bit more fun. So we bought the dissappearing milk glass again from practical magic & came up with a very funny part of the show. The dog who we call Barney gets very thirsty performing magic for the children so wants a drink. He gulps down the milk. Moments later he wants the toilet. We of course don't want to stop the show so carry on & tell him to wait. Well the comedy you can get from a puppet that needs the toilet is fantastic. Adults were rolling about with laughter, but the best part was when we put the dog behind our magic screen. We grabbed a loaded water pistol & squirted it into the audience over the top of the screen. We really should of let him use the toilet!!!! We were a little worried about this to start with. Would it go down ok ! Well we need'nt of worried because each time we did it, it was very funny & went down very well - but the fuuniest part was watching the adults in the audience, it was priceless !!! Much laughter & wet eyes. Do any magicians out there have a favourite gag or piece of comedy they have in their acts, we would be interested to know ! Look forward to hearing from you all RAZAMATAZZ
Pro Magicians / Husband & Wife Team
Children's Magic to Illusions Have Fun Life Is Magic !!! |
felix501 Regular user Lewes, England 134 Posts |
It varies which gag goes down best - but many wand gags are great, rubber chicken material, when underpants accidentally come out of my change bag, ...
possibilities are endless ... felix |
rossmacrae Inner circle Arlington, Virginia 2475 Posts |
I'd never want to fall into being a "technical magician" for kid audiences - for one thing, I'm not one - and for another, comedy is WHAT THE AUDIENCE EXPECTS, and you'll please neither the kids or the lady writing the check if you don't deliver what they want and expect to see.
Too many magi are, like, "Your kids should learn to appreciate really skilled sleight of hand. It's an art. So is the art of clowning. VERY SERIOUS STUFF! The kids should be honored to sit quietly watching me pull another card out of my a** for an hour!" And then there's the performer who is the STAR. You hired me, so of course it's all about me. I sometimes worry that just doing "comedy comedy comedy" trivializes what I do - then I remember that those whose lives will be seriously touched by "serious" will latch on to their OWN PERSONAL "serious" when they see it and are ready for it, and it's a very self-important notion to think that they'll somehow never find out about serious performance if I'm not the one to show it to them. |
MikeRaffone Special user 623 Posts |
I believe that a serious performance can be greatly entertaining if the performer engages the audience and makes the audience feel like they are part of the magic. Have seen this work with adult shows, but have yet to see this happen in a children's show.
Mike Perrello
DC Area's Leading Family Entertainment Expert |
NJJ Inner circle 6437 Posts |
I take what I do seriously so my audience don't have to!
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AragorntheMagician Veteran user Metro-Atlanta 304 Posts |
You've hit the "Nail on the Top of the Head" on the difference between a "Machanic" & a "Entertainer". There are people that know 300 card tricks well but have the entertaining ability of a sack of patotes. I know 6 card tricks well (another dozen not so well) but they are killer audience interactive (with comedy) routines. And three of them work down to 3 year olds. And with kids the funnier the better. Now with that said there was a gentleman from Germany at Kidabra (I apoligize, I don't remember his name) whose character was very, very serious and the kids howled along with the adults. His character was one of Pathos with all the weight of the world on his shoulders. Think the cartoon "Droopy Dog" or the robot from "THGTTG". As Harry Anderson said, "It's the Character that sets you apart!" (shortened and said badly).
My $2 Bill's Worth, Aragorn TM
aka: I used to be BOB (It's Cellini's fault)
"All Right, Who's Volunteering to be Turned into a Frog???" www.aragornthemagician.com |
muzicman Special user LaCenter, Wa 989 Posts |
I've always avoided the serious shows. I've seen em and I believe the main problem is the audience cannot connect with the performer. The could care less if he/she escapes from the straightjacket. The "look at what I can do" performer always falls flat in my opinion.
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magic4u02 Eternal Order Philadelphia, PA 15110 Posts |
And... just because you know 150 ways to vanish a card... or 200 different card tricks... does not mean your audience wants to see every single one of them in a show. We must remember that we are not performing for ourselves. We are there to perform for our audience and we must always keep that fresh in our own minds.
Even the most serious of shows, needs elements or personality peices. These are parts in your show where you hit the audience on a more personal level so that you break down that barrier or wall that exists between you the performer and them the audience. You can do this by letting them see you as someone just like them who has the same problems they face and the same funny things happening. I do this in my shows through the use of personality pieces that allow my audience to see me in a different light. Audiences want to have fun with the show and be entertained by it. I would much rather have an audience leaving saying they had a fun time with me and enjoyed my show then talking about a specific effect or trick or prop. If they are doing the latter, then I am not doing a good enough job of letting them in on who I am and what I am all about. Kyle
Kyle Peron
http://www.kylekellymagic.com Entertainers Product Site http://kpmagicproducts.com Join Our Facebook Fan Page at http://facebook.com/perondesign |
Razamatazz New user United Kingdom 8 Posts |
Absolutely right Kyle - Let your audience leave with a smile : )
Im not condeming serious performers though - as there is a place & time for every kind of magic. I do enjoy clever sleight of hand or fantastic illusions & being a magician I relly really love it when someone fools me (thru misdirection), even though I know the effect - yes even magicians can be fooled !!! The trouble is, some entertainers are misguided and think that everyone in the world wants to see a billard ball manipulation or the linking rings for the 100th time. Instead of putting thought into an entertaining show, they learn magic mechanically & technically, you cannot fault it. But it's souless. Ive seen good magicians perform fantastic entertaining shows from simple props like a paper bag etc I'm no master magician (or masked magician for that matter - would like the fee though) - I'm certainly not the best - but I beleive that I do perform to a level which fully entertains my audience and I feel satified I have done a good job. Oh & Yes Aragorn 'Droopy dog' acts are great - I love Teller the silent one of Penn & Teller. It was a stroke of genious to have him silent & miserable looking. And as for card tricks for children - Kids love card tricks that are very visual. There are some card tricks which are made for childrens performers which are quite good and have animals printed on them. Practical magic sell some really good ones. http://www.practical-magic.com Now back to my orginal posting. Whats you favourite gags or bits of business in your shows that you feel really makes you audience laugh. One we use a lot in our childrens show (its old but still good) at the moment is the invisable soap & dirty towel. You give to the child some invisable soap to wash their hands to wave the magic wand. Lots of bits of business here - you dropped it (when they go to pick it up) No its over there !!. When they have used the invisable soap you hand them a towel which is displayed both sides & you say that its nice & clean because you took it out the washing machine this morning. When they give it back to you - you show dirty black hand prints all over it. ( double flap drops down ) - Look forward to hearing from you all - ANDY
Pro Magicians / Husband & Wife Team
Children's Magic to Illusions Have Fun Life Is Magic !!! |
Razamatazz New user United Kingdom 8 Posts |
Felix - Yes underpants in a changebag good idea. We used to do a small trick - magic washing where we got our a pair of dirty looking socks. Put them in the change bag - Poured washing powder in (from an empty box) waved the wand & they came out as tiny socks - next time they came out spotty - after a few gag moments they would finally come out as a pair of large silly underpants !!! - Who ever said magic was not fun eh !!! & yes you are right - the possibilties are endless. We find the best gags just happen on the spur of the moment - If you have a good audience - you usually have a great show !! _ Cheers for your input - Andy
Pro Magicians / Husband & Wife Team
Children's Magic to Illusions Have Fun Life Is Magic !!! |
Razamatazz New user United Kingdom 8 Posts |
Hi Ross
- I like your style. Yes we have all seen the performers who are the 'STAR' - come look at the clever man. Now this is ok if you are someone like Copperfield but the average jobbing magician - hmmm - NO !!!!!!!!!!! Yes clowning is very serious stuff & only very dedicated performers actually can pull off being funny all the time. It is an art in itself - We should get a certificate - saying something like - Professor of physiofoolery !!! Do you have any favourite gags !!! - Andy
Pro Magicians / Husband & Wife Team
Children's Magic to Illusions Have Fun Life Is Magic !!! |
magicgeorge Inner circle Belfast 4299 Posts |
I sometimes think my act is probably not serious enough. I catch myself on during a show and think; maybe I should stop mucking around and just do some magic...
George |
Kent Wong Inner circle Edmonton, Alberta, Canada 2458 Posts |
I read somewhere that a magician's personality should be a larger than life version of his normal self. I wholeheartedly agree with this theory. I get along well with kids and love to joke and have fun with them. My normal personality is such that they don't feel intimidated by me and feel free to laugh and yell. I simply magnify these features of my personality when I perform, and the kids have a really great time.
Yelling, screaming and laughing are what kids like to do when they have a good time. If we are going to entertain children, we have to recognize and foster this reaction as much as possible. But, not every personality can do so. If you recognize that your personaility is not naturally conducive to eliciting this type of desired reaction from the kids, you may have to question whether performing for children is right for you. I know of some magicians who can "force" themselves into this role and have absolutely no fun at all when they perform. This is because the personality they convey is totally artificial. It's totally contrived - and the kids know it. This is not to say that the person is a bad magician. He may find that his personality fits more with adult audiences or on stage. But the personality has to fit the audience. Just my thoughts. Kent
"Believing is Seeing"
<BR>______________________ <BR> <BR>www.kentwongmagic.com |
Razamatazz New user United Kingdom 8 Posts |
Hi Magic George
Yes we sometimes have to keep ourselves in check & get back to the magic. When you are enjoying performing a show and getting laughs, sometimes its hard to pull yourself away from that to go back to the routine. From your comment you sound as though you enjoy what you do and that can only be good !!! As magicman845 says it's your personality coming out. I agree with him on the fact that you should enjoy performing otherwise get a normal job but some magicians have the personality but not the knowledge to entertain the audience. There is no substitute for experience. We also know a couple of magicians who shall remain nameless who don't like children but do many childrens shows - they just do it for the money. This seems wrong to us. What do you think.
Pro Magicians / Husband & Wife Team
Children's Magic to Illusions Have Fun Life Is Magic !!! |
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