Hi everyone!

I have always wanted to perform some bizarre/story telling magic and have always enjoyed reading and studying about it. But I guess the thing that always put me off was the question "Where to perform it?"

First of all this kind of magic does not exist here in Malta which is a plus, but it also has it's cons. Some effects can easily be done walkaround or table hopping, but I know that others require carrying larger props or else management of the surrounding environment to create the neccessary setting.

So my question is: Where do you perform your bizarre routines and shows? The only ones I can think of are haunted attractions and medieval festivals. Anything else?

I appreciate your feedback. Thanks.

In home shows! You can either advertise in home shows or hire an agent to look up the work for you. There are also a lot of ways to market items as well. I'm not going into detail there as we all have had to work at that one, but if you look at how the movies work you will get some ideas. For instance the movie Batman came out with a bunch of marketed toys (action figures)just about the time the movie was released. Extra income is always a good thing. If you have bed and breakfast hotels that is another good idea. Just don't sit and wait for the phone to ring!

Magickman

There's a topic here.
http://www.themagiccafe.com/forums/viewt......forum=14

I see that Malta has it's share of haunted places and legends.
Building a show around these things will work.
I notice there something called the Valletta Ghost Walk.
Maybe you could look into this enterprise and see if there's a place for a bizarre magick performance.

Good luck,

Thanks for the comments.

Yes Malta does not lack bizarre things. Neolithic temples (many of them... some even theorize that Malta could have been Atlantis in fact it once joined Sicily to Africa). Mdina where the Great Siege took place between the Turks and the Maltese aided by the Knights of Malta. Ghost stories are not rare too.

Any traditional place for classic magic + private parties, museums and art galleries, theatre, ghost tours, Renaissance fairs...
Create your own venue, there's no limit to the genre.

I've been performing storytelling magic for very high fees in Malta (Valletta) 5 years ago for a private party. As I've done it in a berber tent in the desert (Tunisia), castles in Belgium and France and so on, ...

Really? You where in Malta? Oh my. It would have been great to see you perform live. Shame!

Yep, it was in the wonderful Hospitaller place in Valletta.
But, as usual, it was a very private party for a Belgian company. I don't remember the exact date, but it was little before Malta became part of Europa.

That's so cool.

Yes I think private functions are the best, because you have more control over the environment.

I should also check local activities around halloween etc...

They also do parades with Knights of Malta. I should check with those too.

I was going to be “funny” and say …mainly churches,
but indeed, there can be a fine line and grey area between Bizarre and Gospel magics!

At times we feel Bizarre Magick is too “dark or edgy” for some venues,
but the Bizarre Genre can also be elegant, quite erudite, and emotionally stimulating…
it need not shock, but charm, in some venues.

Like Christian I perform in various public and private venues.
My “bread and butter” is corporate and convention work,
the key… is that your client must know exactly the style of show his is booking!

If you are in a mansion, castle, hotel, museum, or other evocative setting,
laying part of the show around the “history” of that location is valuable and logical.

If done the way Eugene Burger did in his restaurant video…
where the performer is invited to join an entire table over coffee with the guests,
quality restaurant work is possible and rewarding… though challenging.

As with any magic, it is important not to be “out of bounds”
of the mood and tone of any gathering,
so your spectators are not abruptly shocked or disturbed
in an “inorganic” setting where the bizarre is not welcome to occur.

Best of luck!
Magically,
Walt

We are fortunate in Albuquerque to have a small showroom, called the IMP, associated with our local magic shop. The shop handles the tickets and advertising, including putting the schedule on the Internet website for the shop. I have performed bizarre shows there and have more planned for this year.

Another idea might be to contact Bed and Breakfast places. It is good to have free places where you can work on a new show before playing it to the wider audience. (I do my rehearsal performances for friends here at my home.)

Contact catering services. They might be interested in recommending entertainment to a party they for which they are providing food.

Choose wisely grasshopper. As above - many times churches are not the place for these routines -- unless -
you happen the be Father Daniel Roland -- a Catholic Priest of the Dominican order now at the University of Utah Newman Center. He takes magic in a whole new dimension.

One thing that always bothers me -- is our willingness to think that a man appearing in an outdated tuxedo, pulling rabbits from various places and letting wands collapse in kids hands like a senior without Viagra -- is NOT bizarre.

Sure, you do not want to do a "death trap" for nursery schools --- but -- without exposing the magic -- why not let your character "investigate" the way it "might have looked."

It is that attitude that can bring wider audiences into your world.

You can also mix it in with parties, Halloween parties in particular.
However, that tends to be more the amateur path, than professional, at least, in terms of pay.

I disagree with Halloween parties as a venue. My experience that it's such a party atmosphere that it's difficult to get people to settle down to a bizarre experiment. If you have a light touch with a bit of humor it might work for you but a serious story presentation has its problems. Maybe around Halloween, say the week before, might be better, but Halloween is a big night for alcohol consumption and it's hard to get them to think seriously when the guy sitting in front of you is dressed as a giant bee!

Lol true.

In fact for me it's even difficult to do some efects in my restaurant work, because of the sometimes loud music.

I'll have what Steve's drinkin'!

Anyone who came to one of my Halloween parties dressed as a Bumblebee wouldn't make it in the door - cya!

It depends on what kind of Halloween party you throw, and indeed, if you're the one throwing it!
I throw the parties. I set forth ground rules. I also control the music.

:bat:

Almost exactly what I would have posted.
No Bee's allowed.
Gwyd

It's the same thing for me too ! No bee allowed to my halloween party. Anyway, No halloween's costums allowed at all ! No pumpkins, no fake bat... Remember : less is more !