I'm just curious....

How far do you go during your Bizarre act? What won't you do? How frightening do you make things for your audience?

It never bothers me when people scream --in fact, those are the ones that I pull up as a volunteer later in the show. They always seem to have enjoyed the show even though the needle through arm looked so real or the razor blades made them uncomfortable

Iv gone as far as bleeding on the spec. (only with close friends, and fake blood)

I stop when the spectators' faces prove to me that they are not enjoying the act anymore.

1. Isn't that too far then?

2. If it is bad enough, perhaps the spekkie can have such an act "enjoined"--assuming a court would hear such a motion on an expedited basis and irreparable harm could be shown

First of all, bizarre magic does NOT have to be frightening.
I was asked if comedy would fit in bizarre; as a response I came up with the routines Vampire Bat and Lord Of The Rings (Marucci's Bizarre Bazaar, in the e-zine Visions: http://www.online-visions.com).
Our job is to move and/or entertain the audience.
It's not a case of limits; it's a case of common sense!

Depends entirely on your audience and its size as well. Sometime I push the envelope if thats the type of group I am performing for and at other times more storytelling.

I agree tiptophat.

There are so many variables to consider, and it does pay to be flexible with each audience, reading them well. But no matter what we do, I think it's paramount to play safely.

Many people enjoy being frightened so long as they know that they are not in any real danger. Good judgement and good taste should be the governing parameters.

Sid

As Mr. Marucci says, bizarre magick isn't about *frightening* people, or being gory, or even being devilish. It is a genre of magic almost like Dadaism in art: its goal is to evoke a response in the watcher. As long as the people in front of you are involved, emoting, (and not calling 911) you can know you're on the right track.
Bizarre is, like most forms of magic, about telling a story. One just goes about it in a way that is blunt, and, well, Bizarre!

It's all about the audience.

If I am performing at a haunted attraction or dark theatre, people expect to be scared, and I will really push the limits. Doing the same routine in someone's living room might cause deep emotional scaring for years to come. Point is, you really need to use common sense and be sensitive to the situation.

And no, bizarre magic does not have to be frightening, but it often is. I love to scare people, that is why I have been in the haunted attraction industry for so long and what attracted me to bizarre magic in the first place.

On the other hand, I consider what I do as children’s magic to be bizarre as well. I love to illustrate fairy tails and such with magic. Point is, bizarre is what you make it.

Just my two cents worth,

Dave

Bizarre can be both slightly disgusting and funny at the same time. Consider "The Wrath of Renfield" as done by Docc Hilford. (From an idea of Paul Britt's; and directed by Michael Blum.) It is really the 4-bean trick, but done with (plastic) flies. After wetting each one in his mouth, he pokes them into his ears and nose. All during this, he loses the ability to hear and speak clearly because there are flies in his nose and ears.

The routine was published in The New Invocation, and I have been known to do it on occasions.

"samthemagical" makes a really good point...in that Bizarre is like Dadaism in art...especially since Dadaism was a rebellion from the standard conventions of the art world at the time. I seem to pick up this vibe that many who are into Bizarre, although they respect it, tend to view "conventional" magic as just that...conventional.

By the way...I feel I should apologize for limiting my initial query to one example of limits "frightening". It was just one example, and I totally agree with those of you (Pete especially) who state that Bizarre should not just be frightening.

As an interesting note/observation...I have found that there are limits in provoking thoughts and emotions in an audience. Some people (who I won't, out of deepest respect, refer to as ignorant...let's just say their world view is more finely focused than others), I have noticed, can find themselves pushed to their limits when confronted with a an event that they cannot explain fully. It's the very essence of superstition.