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Levi Bennett Inner circle 1778 Posts |
Well, I opened the proverbial can of worms. This is good news and I'm excited and a little scared at the same time.
My step-daughter wants me to do tricks during a bake sale she is having at our church to raise money for a missions trip to Ireland this summer. I called the youth pastor to get permission and got the most incredible response. He was so into it, it was crazy. I got permission and then some. He thinks it's awsome that I'm doing Gospel oriented magic. So awsome in fact, he wants to book me for a show for the youth group this summer! Yikes! Didn't see that coming. This is awsome. I know the Lord is really working in this, but I'm a bit nervous as well. I know the Lord equips those that He calls, and boy do I need some equipping! I know some really good tricks, but I need to invest in some larger illusions for a show, most of my stuff is for close up and street work. I think I may need some things for the teen's attention spans. I made a pathetic square circle last weekend. It's like the Charlie Brown Christmas tree of square circles. It's ugly, but it works. Thanks to this forum I have some great ideas for making a professional looking one. Props are some of my concerns... This is a great opportunity for me to step out into what I feel the Lord is calling me to do, really where the rubber meets the road. I just wanted to ask for prayer from all of my new friends and brothers here at TMC. Pray -that the message is presented. That is more important than anything. Since I'm performing for my church please pray that the Lord equips me with what He wants me to share for His glory; to both the kids who know the Lord and the ones there who may not. Pray -that the show goes well. Pray -that the Lord works miracles by the summer and provides me with what ever He thinks I need for the show. I know how busy we all get. Sometimes prayer gets put farther down on the list, but even if you could just pause and say a prayer for me right now as you read this, I would appreciate it. I also realize that it may be necessary to say I'm not ready for this yet if I really feel I don't have enough of an act for a show. I don't think that will happen because I really feel the Lord will provide, but please pray the Lord gives me wisdom in this area as well. Should I do this for free? He said he wants to book me, but I have absolutely no clue what to charge for a magic show! Any advice here would be wonderful. Thank you! Be blessed!
Performing magic unprofessionally since 2008!
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Heres Tony Loyal user Orlando 259 Posts |
First thing that hit me is how awesome is your step-daughter that she wants to raise money for a mission trip! I will certainly be praying for you and I'm sure many more here will as well.
Remember the "message" is more important than the "trick" so focus on what you want to say. You may be able to visually explain it in trick form with a thumb tip! It doesn't mean you have to spend money or build props to perform magic in a fashion that glorifies God and gets the message across. Related to fees; I never charge my home church for anything. It's my Home Church. I feel an obligation to them since they are my friends as well as fellow members. Pray about that is my suggestion. Tony Brent http://www.herestony.com Outta Control Magic Show |
Terry Owens Inner circle Ft. Wayne, Indiana 1707 Posts |
Tony gave you some great advice....
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marD Loyal user 274 Posts |
I think that this is great! You have an opportunity that I hope to have soon in my town.
I would have to agree that the message is the most important. And I'm sure I'm not alone in saying that if you need any help at all in scripting or routining your show, you have a lot of folks here that will be glad to help! I wanted to ask you what tricks you had and what you meant by "street work". If you're talking about David Blaine style stuff then it's different than what many, including myself consider street work... One thing that I've been dealing with is that I still tend to overlook the simple stuff because I don't think that it will "wow" them. That's simply not true. Don't overlook a silk vanish or something like that because it seems to be too simple. As far as the attention span thing, I taught a Sunday School class for 7-12 graders and had no trouble keeping them focused. It all boils down to making sure that you have control of the show. This doesn't mean that you have to be overbearing, but you do need to keep things from getting out of hand. Don't try to act like the "magician", just be yourself. Kids can smell something false and it will be harder to keep their attention. If you're yourself they can relax and enjoy the show and will be more open to the message! If they want to book you and you aren't sure about it, then leave it up to them as to whether or not they pay. Just let them know that you weren't really thinking about money and that you will leave that part up to them. If they pay you, then that's something you can use to further the ministry. If they don't then you're not upset because you weren't expecting anything to begin with! I hope that helps. Like I said, please let us know if there is any way that we can help you out! Mike
At Ease Tees - Christian apparel and other items!
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Levi Bennett Inner circle 1778 Posts |
Great suggestions! Thank you all so much!
As for tricks I'm thinking of doing as of right now- cut and restored rope-using patter that reinforces how Jesus wants to restore us torn and restored card-ditto on the patter color changing silks with a TT-I use a red silk and a white one. I talk about how we are all guilty of sin and are stained as red as crimson, but by the blood of Jesus, also red, we can be washed white as snow. The final vanish tells how it's as if our sins never even happened. penetration frame-neat little prop that can be used to speak of how Jesus was pierced for our iniquities snowstorm-if I get permission needle through arm-since they are an older group of teens I think they would be open to this, but I'll ask permission first from the pastor. A good visual lesson on how Jesus was pierced for our iniquities-my kids loved it. I'm also thinking about coin in a ball of yarn. A good opportunity to talk about the parable of the lost coin. I've got some time to think some more and pray a lot. Thanks again for the input!
Performing magic unprofessionally since 2008!
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GlenD Inner circle LosAngeles, Ca 1293 Posts |
Your'e getting an opportunity to get up there in front of people and that's what it is all about. Do the things you do now and do them as well as you can and most importantly don't get discouraged or beat yourself up if anything goes wrong. Rather use this to the full extent that you can for the experience and as an opportunity to learn and discover what other things you may want to work on for the next time. And for goodness sakes lift the whole thing up in prayer, as you are doing here, and remember to have fun!
The effects you mention are all good and it is a good idea to go over the needle through arm trick with the pastor or whoever. That one could be a little questionable and I agree with your approach. One other thing to consider is to have at least one effect that would allow some audience participation, like a volunteer etc. Just my 2 cents worth. GlenD
"A miracle is something that seems impossible but happens anyway" - Griffin
"Any future where you succeed, is one where you tell the truth." - Griffin (Griffin rocks!) |
Levi Bennett Inner circle 1778 Posts |
Great advice Glen, thanks. Was your avatar picture taken on a sound stage? It looks like a studio.
Performing magic unprofessionally since 2008!
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Joe Marotta Special user Can You Believe I Have 944 Posts |
Preston, you are on the right track. Tony, Terry, Mike and Glen have offered some really good advice. Just go for it Preston. You can do it and you certainly have the right heart. Just don't get discouraged, like GlenD said. We all screw up sometimes. It's how you handle the mistakes that count.
I'll be praying for you. Please let us all know how your performances turn out. |
GlenD Inner circle LosAngeles, Ca 1293 Posts |
Thanks Preston and that picture was taken at a Lutheran church whereI did a 30 minute presentation.
GlenD
"A miracle is something that seems impossible but happens anyway" - Griffin
"Any future where you succeed, is one where you tell the truth." - Griffin (Griffin rocks!) |
Ethan the emazing Elite user anywhere but here USA 454 Posts |
I'll be praying for ya!
Ethan |
Levi Bennett Inner circle 1778 Posts |
This forum sure is a blessing. Joe, you mentioned how Steve would be proud-magicians helping magicians-on another thread. You're right. I appreciate all the encouragement, suggestions and shared experience that I've received since coming here.
It's very refreshing to fellowship with a group of like-minded brothers who all share the same passion. The Lord is really working powerfully in my life and I just want to say thanks again.
Performing magic unprofessionally since 2008!
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KurtK Regular user 164 Posts |
Yeah Preston Ive been meaning to reply to this thread but I am always too busy to type a reply sorry about that . Im praying for you and I hope all goes well. Pray for me tomorrow. Im performing in church again! YAY!
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Levi Bennett Inner circle 1778 Posts |
Awsome! How'd it go?
Performing magic unprofessionally since 2008!
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Levi Bennett Inner circle 1778 Posts |
Ok! The bake sale was a success. My daughter raised $258.00 towards going to Ireland. The Lord really blessed her!
The tricks went well too. I got to share a lot of truth about Jesus. Only one trick went poorly all day. (We did the sale between the two morning services and again after the second one) Even the one I blew wasn't that bad because it was a Brainwave deck and I just revealed the wrong card. Oops! I was really nervous, but after that I relaxed and got into "character." After the second service I got a little crowd of 7-8 little ones around me and had a BLAST! The little kids were such a blessing to me! To see their innocent little faces light up with amazement was so cool. And they got to hear about Jesus love for us, how he died for us and how He wants to save us and restore us. The little ones were also the most honest. Of course. When I do cut and restored rope I explain that I'm an amateur magician and I often mess up the trick by not cutting the rope into two equal lengths. I do this in front of them, to my feigned chagrin, and when I tie the ropes together to "restore" it I always play it up like a goofball by saying, "Tada, isn't that a great trick?!" This adorable little girl about 4 shouted, "No!" and broke into a fit of giggles. Ah, from the mouth of babes! I said,"Finally some honesty!" and thanked her for it. Most people try and be polite and say it's ok, or something lame like that, which is really nice of them since they are on the spot and want to be courteous. Then I finished by telling them the really good part about how Jesus wants to restore us fully, not some lame attempt like tying the ropes together, which is similar to how we try to fix our problems on our own. On the negative side, some people seemed a little stand-offish. Ok, more than a little. I knew I would run into some of this, but I didn't expect it so much from the church I go to. It's very solid teaching there. There are a lot of new believers there, so maybe they are just trying to be careful. Or they're just plain scared. I think it's good that all of us here do what we do. We can show people through love that what we do is for the Lord and His glory and message. And if they don't want any part of it, that's ok, I understand we need to respect that, but I like the idea of doing our part to break down this strange phobia many Christians have against "magic." One man in particular didn't want any part of it until I mentioned it was a tool I use to share the Gospel. He got really interested then! We talked for several minutes and I showed him a couple of tricks. Turns out he works for department of corrections and is looking for a way he can share with the juvenile offenders without getting into trouble. I showed him a trick that I do that leaves the spectator with a tract at the conclusion. We talked about how he might be able to do the trick for the juveniles and leave them the tract without sharing so much that he would get fired. The possibilities are there, he can experiment and decide if it is a good course of action for him to take. He left with my phone number, knowledge of how to do a simple trick and some extra tracts that I had with me. Who knows what the Lord may do here? And, it's one more person cured of the "magic" phobia! This was my first real attempt at performing for any real duration before more people than just my family or street/one to one witnessing. It was great! I loved it. The youth Pastor wants to get me involved in some outreaches and there's still the possibility of a show for the youth or middle school kids later this summer. We do serve an awsome God. I feel so blessed to be used by Him to get out His message of love in such a fun way. And I really appreciate the opportunity to perform for real! Thanks for all your help and suggestions.
Performing magic unprofessionally since 2008!
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marD Loyal user 274 Posts |
Preston,
That's wonderful! Praise God that you got to be a part of what He was doing! I'm glad that your daughter raised that much money, but I'm even happier about the presentation of the gospel! I love working with younger kids (7-9) because there are no boundaries. They just say what they think! I am glad that you didn't get discouraged by the people who were unsure. Many of them don't understand and it's up to us to show them (in love) that there is nothing wrong with what we do. I pray that you continue to get the opportunities to present the gospel! God Bless, Mike
At Ease Tees - Christian apparel and other items!
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Levi Bennett Inner circle 1778 Posts |
Thanks Mike!
And, I was thinking about this as I drove to work this morning. I forgot to say thanks for the prayers! God bless you my brudders!
Performing magic unprofessionally since 2008!
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KurtK Regular user 164 Posts |
That's great Preston!
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