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Withnail Special user 974 Posts |
Arrrggghh.... Why should anyone want to check your wallet? It's supposed to be invisible.
It's NOT a prop - it's a ****ing wallet. Does the cashier at your supermarket ask to check your wallet every time you pay for something over the counter? NO. It should be no different. Some people on here have been slated on here for putting out shoddy performances which tip mathods to laypeople and this is no different. As this is a public formun I'll keep my real thoughts private but don't just think about your scripts - look at your timing and pacing. 1. "Here is a list of six items to choose from on this post it note." Someone reads them out in a random order, not mentioning numbers but just the items (like holiday desitnations as per the DVD). 2. Replace the note in wallet. 3. Briefly explain the reasoning behind the post it note. Ask someone to name a number between one and six. 4. Remove the post it note and give it to a different spec to hold while you re-explain, in more detail, the reasoning why there's all this info on a little scrap of paper. Your wallet should be back in your pocket as soon as you start this explanation. 5. Tell a joke or something else which is related to the list. Get a laugh. Use a corny line - move your empty hands around in the air a lot. Use your freaking imagination. 6. Ask your volunteer to re-affirm his choice of number. 7. Mis-recap what has happened. "You read six items from the list which this <other> spectator has been holding for us. You said you wanted to pic item number <inseert number here> 8. "Ok, mr spectator - read through the list in order and tell us what the item which corresponds to that number is." 9. Make your impresive reveal impressive. Use an envelope and put your prediction inside. Make people WANT to burn it, make them WANT to examine it for secret flaps, magic ink, whatever they want. 10. Don't ruin any more amazing utility items with a p-poor performance. Eggs. Suck.
Yet again that oaf has destroyed my day
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Stephen Young Inner circle Thought Illusions 3933 Posts |
I'd never heard of Shortlist.
But I'd like to say the post from Withnail is one of the most informative I've read in a long time. Thank you for a very succinct and very useful lesson. steve |
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TheGingerWizard Special user 733 Posts |
Round of applause for Withnail!!!
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bugjack Inner circle New York, New York 1624 Posts |
I like the "Shortlist" routine. I do it very differently and very casually. I work in the film business, so I use a list of movies and a ticket stub. The stub matches one of the movies on the list. I explain that I had to do an interview recently and jotted down some films to jog my memory. I also found a ticket stub in my wallet. Both of these are next to each other and visible in the wallet. Ask for a number, and then remove the list and give it to someone to open up. Do the little adjustment move described in the DVD as I hand the ticket stub to someone else. The addition I made to the routine is that the film title on the ticket stub is the third title on the list that's visible in the beginning, so if three is chosen the specs themselves can take both items out of the wallet.
I'm just an amateur so I only do stuff very occasionally for friends and family. My favorite performing situation occurred a couple of years ago with just this routine. I was at a party and a guy came up to me and said, "My girlfriend can do a magic trick. Do you want to see it?" Sure, I said. She then took out those little computer cards you see in beginner magic sets and had me pick a number and then say yes or no as she flashed the various cards at me. She then divined my number. I acted suitably amazed, and then said, "Can I try something? It's more of a little experiment involving a kind of prediction. I have this list in my wallet." I went through the above and they picked "three," so they could take the list and ticket out themselves. They both looked just completely puzzled because it wasn't like I was doing a magic trick or in any kind of performance mode at all. The guy said, "Well, what if we had picked another number?" I said, "But you didn't." Honestly, I'd love it if more magic could be like that -- something that walks a line between the possible and the impossible and which is framed by real-life encounters and not more traditional magical presentations. |
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J-Mac Inner circle Ridley Park, PA 5338 Posts |
A few comments from someone very new to mentalism, but has performed magic acts primarily for family and friends:
1) OP said this was a friend; apparently this friend either has had the term "billet" explained to her or she dabbles in mentalism herself. (Sounds like the former...) Did you happen to explain the term to her? 2)I agree that it doesn’t sound like there was much of a script - or actually no script at all. Greater minds have already addressed this above, so I won't even try to elaborate. 3) If this happened to me, I would immediately say, "OK, cut your crap or go home!!" Of course I would say this because the spec would be one of my nieces, or aunts, or even one of my daughters or my wife!! The OP mentioned this was a friend and unfortunately, besides being great sources for you to try out your routines on, family and friends - the closer the friends, the worse! - are the spectators who are most likely to blurt out these kinds of comments. They are terribly familiar with you and feel no shame at all in calling you on an effect. Heck, mine have even reached out and grabbed a wallet or a coin from me before I could pull them away and swat them! Quite seriously though, close friends and family are definitely the toughest and most inconsiderate of spectators. Avoid them like the plague until you have some routines truly mastered. And be very aware that they still may challenge you - just to mess with you! (Oh, don’t we all have them in our close circles?!) Thank you. Jim |
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gabelson Inner circle conscientious observer 2137 Posts |
Quote:
On 2010-10-19 13:40, bugjack wrote: IMHO, that is the very essence of mentalism. |
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unclesamayen Elite user Taiwan 459 Posts |
Quote:
On 2010-10-19 12:25, Withnail wrote: Oh! It's Great! Thanks a lot! After reading this post, I know that I did make so many errors in presenting this effect. Thanks again and thanks all the response! Please give us more good advice! YuYen
Comedy, Mental, Busking.
Performing magic for the blinds. http://youtu.be/nW3O0nucQUI Busking in Mong Kok http://youtu.be/WqohXqTxRVU |
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guitarmagic Elite user Southern Louisiana 425 Posts |
Great thread! Thanks for everyone's thoughts and in particular thanks to you Mr. Rowland for the invaluable advice!!!
Why is it that on one side of the world a person looks at a picture of the Grand Canyon and says, "it looks so real." At the same time on the other side of the world a person looks at the Grand Canyon and says, "it looks like a picture."
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mywords4u Regular user New Zealand 153 Posts |
I really enjoyed this thread myself. I've learned a lot myself and also confirmed a few things I've had in the back of my mind.
I'd like to view what J-Mac has said slightly differently. I actually go to my friends and family once I think I have it down. They are familiar with my presentation style so they make great comments. I even go to them while I'm practicing just to make sure that I'm on the right track. Thanks very much for everyone's thoughts. |
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jdmagic357 Special user 737 Posts |
How one handles their props is of utmost importance in a case such as this and while I think more lucrative to just force an item in a one out of six choice, perhaps the use of a wallet would make sense under the right circumstances. Lets break it down and see how?
1. If one were to FIRST pull six bills from their wallet giving a choice of one and then producing a slip perhaps with the chosen bill serial number? 2. If one were to FIRST remove 6 credit cards from their wallet one could then show a slip with the correct card number? 3. If one were to remove 6 Photos from the wallet FIRST and then show a slip with the name of the correct person on it. Do you see what I'm doing? Making the wallet just a place to carry the things you would NATURALLY carry in your wallet will go a long way in LEGITIMIZING the wallet to begin with. Of course by casually leaving your wallet on the table as you do the effect and even for a few moments after you would MISDIRECT the audience into not thinking there was anything strange about the wallet. If you really fear discovery you could just switch out a normal wallet for the gimmicked one but it shouldn't be necessary if you handle your props right. Lastly this is why we practice and need to perform in front of people as not all situations can be anticipated and we must learn to recover fro such situations. Prop and audiance management are two of the most important skills of our craft and worth working on to see the difference between good and great stuff. Jmnsho, Cheers
Just cause they say it, doesn't make it true.
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psychicturtle Special user UK 821 Posts |
Quote:
On 2010-10-20 13:57, unclesamayen wrote: In my opinion (as a performer in the real world) points 5, 7 and 9 are very flawed, and I would ignore them largely. Point 5 will only work for some performers, and I am SO bored of people trying to make mindreading a comedy act. PLEASE have more imagination than this. It is lazy and tacky. Point 7 - recapping is occasionally useful (when the piece is long or you NEED to make the mis-remember something, usually time misdirection is better for this), but usually it is just time wasting and boring for the participant. I know this from watching and talking to people who have experienced it. I try to avoid re-capping, it is needless patter most of the time. And as Eugene said, take your script, and remove every word that is not NEEDED. This is true. It makes the piece much more powerful. point 9 - Why would they want to examine anything unless they doubt you? You should be doing the opposite of making them want to examine everything. They should be believing in what you are doing. |
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