Al put it really well. All I can add to it is to remember what Tamariz taught at his lecture. Watch video of him in performance and watch him expertly apply it. It's truly a learning experience.

WOW Juan Tamariz
Now there is a guy that can fill a whole stage with just himself, and a deck of cards. He gets applause, and belly laughs with his over the top personality. I have always called him Groucho Marx with a deck of cards.


Josh
I'm so jealous you saw Juan Tamiriz.


Michael
Juan Tamiriz has video's up on youtube watch him, and you can forget about that phony baloney Chris Angel guy.

Michael, all you are looking for is for us to tell you that you are great and on the right track and things are going to be great.

What you seem to miss about this is that teenagers DO applaude. Oh lord do they. Al is trying to help you and you are letting it go so you can have your little ego stroked.

When you are 18 and not getting applause what will be your excuse then? You will not be 14 forever my friend and when you have no foundation on which to learn from you are going to be lost in the forrest and no compas.

Al is trying to give you sound advice and you are choosing for whatever reason to simply let it go by the way side. THiS IS A MISTAKE and it will make you kick yourself when you are 19. Most have given up on you as you probably know, but Al is offering some help.

Here is a hint, and I don't expect you to believe or understand me. Magic is not about the magician, it is about the audience. Your magic is about you and how cool you are and how you can wear your black berret and try to look cool. It is about how much you can impress people. You need to make it about how THEY CAN HAVE FUN. Till then you are not a magician, you are a kid doing tricks, trying to play grown up magician.

Do yourself a favor, listen to Al.

Danny
I thank you for all your kind words.

Michael
Here is a video that you should look at. This is that hook nose Spaniard that Josh, and I spoke of, and after you see him you can forget about that turkey Angel. You may even give up your barret, and buy yourself a green silk top hat. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EaOmjJToBM4
Enjoy
Al

Thank you to everyone for your advice! I will add enthusiasm to my performances and really encourage applause. Josh, unfortunately I missed Juan's lecture (which I surely deserve a slap in the face for. Instead I was at a jam session) but will work a bit more on it. Maybe if I develop more of a likeable personality, connect with my spectators, and encourage applause at the end, things will change.

Michael,

You shouldn't have to encourage applause. You can condition them to applaud, like Bill Malone does in his "Standing Ovation Invisible Deck," or like John Born does, "Since this might not work, maybe you should applaud now." However, applause should truly come as a spontaneous reaction from the spectators. You have to wow them so much, that they have no choice but to.

Your profile says you're an actor, if you haven't already, I'd suggest getting involved with the drama club at your school. Everything you learn from stage is directly applicable to magic, even close-up (5 Points attests to this). I only wish I started applying stage craft to my magic sooner.

Hint: treat individual tricks like a one act play.

Thank you Josh, wonderful advice!

Any more thoughts?

Here are some of my notes from the Tamariz lecture. They're brief, and there are diagrams, so I'll have to fill in the gaps where I can, they may be choppy:

* Magic has no resolution, tension is very high at the end.
* Make the tension high before the climax, drop it sharply usually with a laugh, and build it up slowly again, then make laughter after the climax.
* Make volunteer stand and be visible, but play to the crowd.
* Build the suspense of the trick, but not too much - leave the crowd hanging, but not for too long.
* Give a pause after the climax
* Give tension before that relaxed moment

It may seem jumbled, and it is a bit; however, after that he went on to perform and explain another effect, and correlated each point to the explanation. You can learn the same lesson from his tapes, and presumably lecture DVDs.

Let's examine Reuben's "Card to Mouth" effect. It got a great reaction, and he justified the loading of the card well enough, but where's the mystery? It's fairly obvious how the card got there, and there's really no build up of an effect. Understandably, it's hard to patter with something loaded like that. So you have to present it as a stunt, or sort of gag. The best example of this is Simon Lovell's "Sleight of Tongue in Cheek," in his book "Simon Says." It's fairly obvious what's going to happen, but the way that he presents it (and unfolds it with his tongue) is masterful. Definitely worth looking into.

If you have more specific questions, feel free to PM me.

Josh

Michael
I think you will be a different (better) performer than you were on your video because of the advise you got here.
What a deal
Al


PS If you finish a trick and you have their visual, or verbal approval take a bow, and thank them. After you establish proper etiquette they will follow you, and applaud.

Unfortunately, there's a world of difference between understanding the lessons, and being able to see them in that revelatory light and incorporate them. If you've been on the right track, you'll find that you've done most of this instinctively though.

Michael, I doubt you are taking this on board.

But think of this. Performance is not about the performer. It is about the people in front of you.

You will never be doing magic, till you stop and think that the tricks are not important. People don't like or dislike magic. They like or dislike the magician.

Wow guys, thank you so much for the wonderful advice! Especially Josh... you were very helpful, especially with those Tamariz notes... Im sure you will all see a huge improvement in our videos when our second installments are uploaded early this week. Thank you so much for using your time to help us out. It has indeed helped us greatly.

Michael

Thank you for the link Al. I shouldn't have missed his lecture!!!!! However, his jam session was the highlight of the convention for me. Mindblowing stuff there!

Michael
What convention was that?

Sorry to interrupt, but it was the Camaraderie 2007 in Ontario this past summer.

As for Michael, I really hope you're digesting and taking this feedback to heart. I seem to recall a thread on Tarbell where, at the beginning, you were opposed to it and then within a matter of hours you sang its praises.

Stagecraft and presentation do take time to develop. It would do you well to watch other entertainers, not just magicians, to see how they work an audience.

I was at a comedy club last month, and there were two performers before the headliner. Each had their own technique and approach and got different reactions from the crowd. I personally thought the first guy could have learned a lot from the other two. His mistake? He focused on his jokes and not the audience.

Think about it.

Michael you have the potential to become a great magician, but in order to do that you need patients. Josh has made a very good point regarding the Tarbell thread, I advise you to slow down. This is a lot of information to take in, you will not become a seasoned pro over night, it takes a very long time. Have patients, do not get defensive when people offer you advice. Rather then tell us what we want to hear, in time show us. I advise you study more, observe other performers and entertainers. The proof is in the pudding.

Cheers

Michael,

It's good to see you perform out there doing your best trying to do whatever you were doing. However, it seems like you're running in circles again, doing the same thing thread after thread to people who try to give you their best advice. From what I've seen of your threads, you always do the following:
1. Post an effect/video/explanation/advertising of your own effect/opinion
2. Other magicians, who I have no doubt are better and more experienced, give their opinion and advice on what you're doing wrong.
3. You would then jump the gun and insist on how great and awesome you are and how great of a magician you are.
4. Other magicians hit back at your stubbornness and your persistence in thinking that you know best.
5. You try to reason your way out and then starts to patronize everyone and thank them for their advice and move on and disappear.
6. Rinse, repeat steps 1-5.

Like they say, "Same shit, different days".

I really don't think Al was talking about your lack of reactions but rather he may be commenting on your performance. I'm not Al so, I probably shouldn't comment on what he said. Some of the things that he said actually got me thinking regarding the performance of effects, no matter how good it is, that will only get the reactions when it's performed well or in the right situation. (Refer to Michael Ammar's essay on the Heirachy of Astonishments in p.33 of Oct/Nov 2007 issue of Street Magic magazine)

I also think that personality(or characters of a person) will play a big part in determining what kind response or reactions that you're going to get. If you're a hard-ass stuck-up bag of potatoes doing magic with a "BECAUSE I CAN"-attitude, obviously you're not going to get that good of a reaction compared to someone who spent the time to analyze every detail of his routines/set and able to tailor each routine to different crowds and know how to best milk the effects for all it's worth. It's all about who you really and believe or not, most audience can see through you when you're 'pretending to screw-up'. In reality, it looks awkward like a fish stuck in jello but since you're the performer, they're probably too embarrassed to tell you that you look really fake.

Sincerity plays a big role too.

Thank you for your comments and advice Phillys. Although I do disagree. When did my posts say any of that?

We will film some new footage tomorrow and I'm sure you will all see an improvement!

Episode Two! I will have more footage tomorrow!

http://ca.youtube.com/watch?v=wLfz8ZiPQVo

Please, I would love some feedback!

I'm going to break ranks hear and bring up the fact that Michael is something like 14 years old.

Talent comes with lots of practice and hard work but experience comes from...well...experience. He's in the trenches in the effort of earning such experience and I certainly won't bash him for not having lots of experience under his wing at this point in his life. The talent.. I'm not worried about. He's got that.

Timing and presentation will only improve in time but I think they are are in pretty good shape this early on in a very young career.

If I had to find fault with Michael at this point I'd say its in the fact that he seeks so much advice and varied reviews when he's doing pretty darned good on his own. Michael... you can't please everyone and never will. Don't spend too much time trying to fit everyones version of how YOU should be and get back to YOUR magic.

You'll be fine.

Bill Malone...look out!

Best,

Tim