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TheAmazingLuke New user 94 Posts |
Hey guys I am 13 years old. Don't let 13 fool you, I have nine years of experience. I have a large illusion show coming up in Branson for 2000 people in August. I really like the Origami and am wondering if I can borrow one from someone. I will be at the SYM Convention and probably IBM also. I just really need suggestions on illusions presentations everything! Thanks!
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Jay Mahon Special user 983 Posts |
Luke,
9 years implies you've been doing magic since you were 4. I have never come across a 4 year old with the motor skills to perform magic. The thought of lending such an expensive prop to someone who is unable to come pick it up by his own accord is very unsettling. I'm sure you're a great magician and you are going to do a wonderful show in Branson, but it should be a show of material you have already worked out. Not a prop borrowed last minute. The trick is very hard to present. Jim Steinmeyer will be the first to tell you that. Ask about how hard it was for Henning. I suggest you start reading Jim Steinmeyer's book. They have the presentation you are probably looking for and the material that you need as well. Hope that helps. Feel free to pm me with any other questions you might have. J |
jimhlou Inner circle 3698 Posts |
Hi Luke:
Welcome to the Café! Jim |
EsnRedshirt Special user Newark, CA 895 Posts |
Hey Luke, yes- welcome to the Café.
There's a reason (apart from price) that magicians generally start out with smaller tricks like the Linking Rings, card tricks, and coin or silk magic- it's to develop performance skills and experience. To this day, I'm still more impressed by a well routined sleight-of-hand performance than the largest grand illusion. Jay is right- go with material you know. You need a lot of rehearsal time to perform an illusion well; it's not something you do at the last minute. I'm sure once you're at the convention, someone may be willing to take you under their wing and show you the ropes.
Self-proclaimed Jack-of-all-trades and google expert*.
* = Take any advice from this person with a grain of salt. |
Chezaday Inner circle Naperville, IL 1673 Posts |
Any 13 year old could do my act .. with 30 years of experience.
Too much, too soon my little friend .. take it one step at a time. Steve |
gimpy2 Special user 960 Posts |
Hi Luke,
I don't have anything exactly like you are looking for but might have something smaller you could add to your show. My shop is just 30 min north of Branson and will at least want to come down and see your show. Where are you going to be Performing? Good luck my fellow Ozarker. Gimpy
Gimpy
www.gimpysmagic.com |
MichaelOzMagic Loyal user Des Moines, Iowa 234 Posts |
Hey Luke welcome to the Café! I am 14 years old and have been doing magic for 10 years. It really doesn't change anything! I have worked with an illusionist in my area and illusions is a lot more then you think. The origami is a beautiful effect but you also have to think if it will go well in your show? If you want to talk more just PM me!
Michael |
IDOTRIX Elite user Darien,il 467 Posts |
I have a 5yr old that has been doing magic since 4. He is not Lance Burton But his motor skills are wonderful and his speaking is perfect. He does card fans not split fans. Silk productions and a silk fountain and of course a mean coloring book. Just because most of us did not start at 4 doesn't mean a 13yr old can't be very talented. As for Luke borrowing an Origami, he's going to need to borrow it for a long time to perfect that. Good Luck luke
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Peter Loughran V.I.P. Ontario, Canada 2683 Posts |
Hey Luke, My advice is not to book shows until you have a show for that venue. To book a show then to start scrambling for props or ideas to perform in it is not a very professional way to go nor a good idea, and in most cases the magic isn't learned properly, or things are just thrown in or added to a show to fill up time and space, and the show, magician, the audience, and the art all suffer.
If I were you I would develop a show with the equipment you have. As you do more shows you can take your profits and dump them back into your show to and add more props that you think you will need in order to fill larger venues or bigger contracts. Espicially being only 13 you shouldn't have the regular bills as professionals have including mortages, families, bills, etc etc. which should allow you to take most of your profits (at your age) from the shows that you do to help build up your act, and in time you can take larger contracts with confidence and professionalism. This is exactly what I did when I was your age. At the tender age of 11 I started off doing small shows and birthday parties that didn't require elobrate staging equipment or illusions, taking all of my profits and upgrading my equipment. By the time I was in my late teens I had a full illusion show, and then in my early twenties I was touring with a light show, dancers etc etc. It didn't happen over night, it was an end result that I worked on and built from the ground up over many years. Good luck with the show. Peter.
Brand New: - SNAKE BITE ILLUSION
www.masterofillusions.ca Follow me on Facebook: https://m.facebook.com/peter.loughran.9 Check out my new movie: www.plasterrockmovie.com www.globaluniversal.com Also visit: www.l2fireworks.com |
PaxMentis Loyal user Long Beach, CA 239 Posts |
Luke,
Do you have anything on YOU TUBE that we could review? All of the above is great advise and hopefully it fulfills your desire to grow. Best of luck to you in fine tuning and expanding your act. Best, Bill
Do not go where the path may lead, but go instead where there is no path and leave a trail.
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chmara Inner circle Tucson, AZ 1911 Posts |
Luke --
I am an old box magician (68 - which must seem ancient to you -- but only middle aged to me) and congratulate you for your focus, goals and brash (to some) approach. There are many here in the Café that feel that card magic, coins, and things like linking rings are essential, take a lot of motor coordination and take a while to develop as skills in ordinary mortals who wish to be magicians. Let me remind them (and you) that magicians -- real magicians -- on stage and life -- are anything but ordinary. My hand-eye coordination has never developed where I feel good about even the simplest moves and counts of manipulation. Yet I have made a reasonable living (sometimes extra money too) as a magician by understanding and using optical illusion (boxes, magnets, smoke and mirrors) as well as the magic of mind and drama. Let's face it some pretty dull people and dull acts keep going, and going and going....maybe its the bunnies. As I remember, SAM and/or IBM have divisions for people your age in which to compete. I know Jeff McBride has a number of very young (at least one I met) even younger than you. They are being professionally coached in stage presence DURING their routines’ development. I hope you have parental support for all this -- and not the type Mozart or Paganini did in their youth as they became the world's greatest musicians -- not just of their era, either. The reason I mention this is it it going to cost a lot of money invested in props, coaching and direction to solidify this into a product the public will accept AND pay to see, and as a PROFESSION FOR YOU. Eventually you have to learn how you earn the money back to pay off your parents and investors while investigating or building new things to put on the stage in your act. Honestly, I have seen way too many young, possibly talented guys you age have their relatives buy them an act, try magic for a season or two -- not pay back the money and get out of the business. They did not have the focus, OR MORE IMPORTANTLY, the love of the art with support from people already in the art. Used to be in Long Beach, California, a Group Called the Long Beach Mystics. That group was for people your age (I do not know if it still exists) and out of it came Mike Caveney (Linking Coat-hangers and wonderful Magic Books, often starring as an international performer), Stan Allen (Owner and Publisher, Magic Magazine), and Andy Greget, one of the world's best and least publicized magic book dealers. Finding a mentor or support group that loves magic I think is a must, if you have chosen this (as did David Kotkin -- better known as Copperfield) at your age. Be prepared to sacrifice other stuff - but if you love magic you’ll never miss it. BUT DISCUSS THIS SUPPORT WITH YOUR PARENTS and have them vet (check out) any coach VERY CLOSELY. There have been more than enough great magicians who have been pedophiles. I do not care what people do when they are of legal age -- but guard against these people as talented and friendly as they may be using your parents care and wisdom, at least until you can fully accept responsibility LEGALLY for your own actions. Often, remember, the coaching in any PROFESSION (and magic is a profession) is as good as you pay for. With more than 40,000 members on the Café, your work will get at least 39,000 opinions and tips on any one trick. (Well maybe not quite that many -- but you get the idea.) Remember -- the these free ideas are indeed worth your thoughts whether they work for you -- but are worth exactly what you paid for them as to any value after that. You may pay by testing, trying and failing or trying and winning -- but that part of the price is experience. From my advancing age -- I can tell you experience AND FAILURE are the best teachers. Especially if you conquer both the emotions and problems surrounding failure. You may end up scrapping a favorite piece or illusion because the audience (not you) hates it. You may have to get rid of a cheap version of a trick and buy (at great expense) the same trick from a really high priced good builder --- OR in the reverse, find that you spent $5,000 for something that the $600 version is better for you. You will drop things -- break things, rip costumes, forget lines, miss cues, have lights and mikes go out -- IT ALL HAPPENS -- and even when you least expect it . Then it starts going right -- at least for a while. Pam Thompson, Johnnies partner tells of the time he walked out on the stage and started into the act, center stage. She came out as his assistant to hear him whisper, “I forgot the boids." Somehow he had forgotten to load his doves into his costume and props -- and that was 50% of his act. His act ran a little short that time. Mr. Electric (Marvin Roy) tells of when he was first starting the Mr. Electric act and a short in his battery pack (mounted next to his body and very high powered) developed and started to smoke, then burn while he was onstage in the middle of the act. George Kovari, performing in Canada on tour moved his Lester Lake Guillotine from the cold backstage into the warm stage lights -- and at the end of the trick -- found the wood had swollen in the heat enough that he could not release the audience volunteer-victim from the rig -- and had to help the victim up with his neck still trapped in the rig then help him off stage carrying it on his shoulders. More recently JP was caught (on U tube) trying to disappear as his twin appeared on stage. Dozens of magicians have been injured in danger tricks -- and even gentle and wise Mac King tells of the show where doing a simple rope trick he cut off the tip of his finger and stopped in bleeding (it was a good chunk of finger too) by sticking it into a patron's iced drink before he continued to finish the act and had to have it treated by an MD. Every one of us has had problems. But those who stick to the dream, never let it turn into a "chore" or just a way to make money -- can be successful at many levels. If you are heading for performance -- remember -- box magic can be powerful if you think beyond the box and what it can disappear, hold or produce. No matter what you do as you work toward Branson -- remember the QUALITY of your performance - your stories and stage action will be remembered long after the quantity, paint job and variety of the tricks you presented. You are in a very unique place. While you can draw on the experience and ideas of old guys like me --and even younger guys like Copperfield, Koby and Buss, you are in a unique generation with a new view of what MAGIC and MAGICK really are and are going to be in future performance. So, remember, that you need to invest as much of yourself into stage craft, routining, scripting and presentation as you do in "tricks" and props. Then -- each of the magic Principles, made larger, smaller, seen sideways or repainted in your emotions will add up to a show -- not just a parade of tricks done by a kid, who as soon, as he grows up is no one special on stage.
Gregg (C. H. Mara) Chmara
Commercial Operations, LLC Tucson, AZ C. H. Mara Illusion & Psychic Entertainments |
JVHarrison Regular user 105 Posts |
Luke,
I think a lot of the older folks here (i.e., anyone over 18) have forgotten what it's like to be a 13 year old magician obsessed with magic and illusions. At 13 I was performing the sub-trunk, the zig-zag and a crystal casket. Was I brilliant? No. Did I know what I was doing and entertain my audiences? Hell, yes. I don't know you, so I don't know if you were like me when I was your age, but if you are, I think you are probably smart enough and talented enough to prensent the Origami--and if I have one I would lend it to you. About 10 years after I stopped performing, I gave (as in did not sell) the 16 illusions I owned to two younger magicians that had a passion for illusions--one of them was only 15 at the time, and he currently works behind the scenes in one of the very large illusion shows on the Strip. So please, take all of the good advice offered above and ingnore anyone who says you "can't" because you're too "young". Only YOU know if that's the case. |
Kune Veteran user 312 Posts |
There's some very good advice in this thread, but I find Chmara's both useful and inspiring for all
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Eshla Inner circle 1239 Posts |
I'm 17 and can make my audiences scream; and I see no reason why an intelligent 13 year old could not do. Don't let your age put you off, I won't lie and say that being young is NOT ad a disadvantage... because it is.
But it is not an automatic barrier to good magic, just treat your audiences like adults and try to remain calm under any situation; and you'll be awesome Tom xx
I come from the future to culture you poor sods with fire.
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TaylorReed Special user Branson, MO 743 Posts |
What are you going to be doing here in Branson? A convention or what?
Anyhow the Origami is a bad choice of Illusions for Branson anyhow. Every magic show left here performs that Illusion including me. Although it's one of the greatest Illusions in the history as far as being a fooler, if it's a magic convention they would rather see you do something that took some thought more than just some money to buy or rent a prop that they have all seen a 100 times.. The only one that will love it is you.. The Origami is such a hard Illusion to perform and perfect.. This Illusion is very fragile. Made of thin aluminum sheet metal, gaff tape and lots of velcrow.. I say if you can't afford to buy one, then your not ready for it.. If you save up and buy one and then break it, well atleast it would be your mess. The reason I mention this is because I rented mine out and let a guy rehearse it in his basement for over a month last year and then he went on stage and bombed. I should have known better. This guy was around 17 and I'll never do that again even for the big bucks for rental.. Most of the time and money was used to restore a part of the prop that is so important for the illusion to work right and not designed for the girl assistant to stand on. I would rather not go into detail, but lets just say it was less than a desirable situation. Good luck with you show in Branson.. Let me know where your going to be and I'll come see you if time will permit. I have a neon Mirror box that may work for you and it's not over done. PM me if you would like and I'll tell you more about it.. Kinda like a modern day sword box with a kick. Needs a little work, but a great price.. Or look at http://www.usedmagicillusions.com for some special stuff... Welcome to the Café! I also started performing magic or playing around with it when I was four yrs old... Put together a Magic Convention act the involves slight of hand, doves, candles, silks and stuff that is cheap to buy and you will be more respected from the magicians than just buying some big stuff. You can always buy that stuff when you get the money later on in life.. It's the small stuff that will make you great, not the big stuff... But mainly your on stage personality... Your Friend In Magic, Taylor Reed http://www.taylorreed.com http://www.facebook.com/themagicoftaylorreed taylor@taylorreed.com 979-482-0714 PS: call me and I'll comp you and your family into my show while your in Branson.
www.taylorreed.com
www.usedmagicillusions.com taylor@taylorreed.com (979)482-0714 See: The Magic and Comedy of Taylor Reed, Live in Branson, Mo |
JimmyH New user 85 Posts |
Luke,
I am with JVHarrison on this. In my teenage years I was addicted to magic and would eat, sleep, & live magic. I wanted everything I could get my hands on or could afford....I remember being 13 and wanting a zombie ball and the guy behind the counter telling me that it was to advanced for someone my age. I bought it anyway! he didn't know me as many reading and posting on this thread will not know you. I mastered the zombie ball routine, and performed it for many years.I do not perform it regularly anymore It sits diplayed with my other magic tricks as a trophy of accomplishment of what somebody told me I "Cant" do. you can do anything you set your mind to and put 200% of time energy and love into. if I could go back to those years the only thing I would have changed was buying trick after trick. stick with what you have and master each and every effect that you LOVE to perform. I Love the Origami, and for an "Illusion show" it plays extremely well. if you feel you are ready and have the time to invest in creating a performance that this Illusion is worthy of, rent/borrow if you can in plenty of time to have enough rehearsal so you could perform it with your eyes closed. good luck to you and your future in magic Jimmy H |
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