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Corbett Inner circle Indiana 1161 Posts 
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I’ve been trying to come up with a premise for scripting a coin box routine I'm working on. As it is now, my script is literally talking about what I am doing in each phase, and what is occurring. Not that I dislike this, but I would like to come up with a premise that makes the audience feel like they are seeing real magic occurring. In other words, I think what the audience sees now, is a guy making some cool stuff happen with some good sleight of hand. And what I want them to feel is that they are seeing magic happen, and not necessarily thinking about sleight of hand.
I thought that a possible premise could be that the box itself is magic, and I then proceed to show them what it can do. Or maybe that the box is ordinary, but there is something magical about the lid, because it allows objects to invisibly go through it to enter and exit the box. I am a big believer in scripting, and have found it invaluable in the past, but just seem to be having a creative block with this particular routine. Any ideas? |
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Corbett Inner circle Indiana 1161 Posts
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Additional thought. When I watch David Roth do his coin work, it's obviously flawless and fluid, but his patter is nothing special. He more or less talks about what he's doing and away he goes. This obviously works for him.
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panlives Inner circle 2087 Posts
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Hi Corbett,
Try something to do with the concept of space being a “fabric”, or a ripple in the continuum of time. “All matter, broken down to its constituent elements, is the same. But when matter coheres into things we call objects – planets, mountains, crystals, chairs, a simple box – strange properties emerge. You might think this plain little box is ordinary. That would be a mistake. ..” I have a complete script with a conclusion that audiences seem to like. I also throw in this line: “If this little box was a room, they would call it ‘haunted.’”
"Is there any point to which you would wish to draw my attention?"
"To the curious incident of the dog in the night-time." "The dog did nothing in the night-time." "That was the curious incident," remarked Sherlock Holmes. |
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volto Special user 603 Posts
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Some ideas.
This is a Victorian coin box. Back in those days, folks would... This is a coin box that once belonged to <historical figure X>, and I believe it was the source of his great wealth, because... Have you ever thought about what money really is? When you get right down to it, money is a promise. It's not a real thing, it's just a promise about real things. And like all promises, sometimes the promise is kept, and sometimes - well, sometimes that promise is just words... Heard about Schrödinger's cat? Well, it turns out he had a little coin box, too... 
This box contains a lifetime's supply of invisible magic coins... I'm a magician, so I have an account at the Bank Of Magic. They don't give you a card, or a checkbook, they just give you one of these boxes. See, it's totally safe; I can deposit, like this, and look - the coin has gone from the box, straight into their vault... |
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Corbett Inner circle Indiana 1161 Posts
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I appreciate the ideas guys, but I am not so much looking for patter stories for the box, but ideas about how to present it in a more magical way.
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Andrew Zuber Inner circle Los Angeles, CA 3017 Posts
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I'm currently working on Roth's 'Out With Four' and rather than just producing the coins one by one after they come out of the box, I say that the box makes them temporarily invisible. Then I use a different method to produce each coin (in the fingers, like a Spellbound move, on the table as in a coins across routine, etc.) Basically the routine is stating that the metal in the box and the coins react together to make them invisible...but only temporarily. I'm working on a vanish for the box as the last part (though I may end up switching it out with a slug and just saying that the coins have infected the inside of the box, and now it too has vanished.) Something along those lines.
"I'm sorry - if you were right, I would agree with you." -Robin Williams, Awakenings
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Jonathan Townsend Eternal Order Ossining, NY 27300 Posts
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IMHO it really all depends on how you want to relate to the box and also the coins (and the magic I guess as well)
There are some sets where you get a solid box and some where you get a solid metal item where it looks like the box with the lid on. If you can get the latter - why not just take it out of your pocket, say it keeps your coins safe, let them look at it, switch it for the box and lid and get going. at the end - same thing. do the coins come in the box? do they belong to the box? is the box just a frozen shadow (if it's matte black)? is it just a place to put the coins so you have a free hand - a third hand so to speak?
...to all the coins I've dropped here
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Lawrence O Inner circle French Riviera 6811 Posts
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Take your box out with 4 or 5 tic tac sweets in it. Empty the "pills" on the table (possibly as you load the lid with an extra coin).
Magic is the art of emotionally sharing live impossible situations
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BarryFernelius Inner circle Still learning, even though I've made 2537 Posts
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Corbett,
Seven (a nice mystical number) questions: 1. What kind of character are you in your show? 2. What does your show say to the audience? (You may be communicating your ideas implicitly rather than explicitly.) 3. Why does your character do this effect? 4. What other effects are in the show? 5. What do you do just before the coin box effect? 6. What do you do after the coin box effect? 7. There are many different coin box effects. What are the individual magic effects that comprise your particular coin box effect? Without knowing the answers to any of these questions, it's difficult to discuss a premise for your coin box effect. One exercise that I've found to be helpful is to create the simplest script for each effect that I do. The simplest script is one with no words at all. In that case, the entire effect can be done in pantomime, with no loss of clarity for the audience. Try this with your coin routine. You may find that there are a few places in the routine where you have great difficulty in communicating without words. At those points in the routine, add the necessary words, using as few words as possible. Once you've figured out the simplest script, try to come up with answers to the other questions that I asked. The process of working your way through the questions may help you to discover a suitable premise for your effect. Or, if this whole thing seems a bit nonsensical, you might choose to try something else that will be more effective. (In other words, if you end up ignoring my post, don't worry; you won't hurt my feelings.)
"To achieve great things, two things are needed: a plan and not quite enough time."
-Leonard Bernstein |
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panlives Inner circle 2087 Posts
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Quote:
On 2010-12-08 12:12, BarryFernelius wrote: Great comments, Barry. The issue of one’s performing character is not referenced often enough. Whit Haydn has shared some great insight on the topic in “Food for Thought.”
"Is there any point to which you would wish to draw my attention?"
"To the curious incident of the dog in the night-time." "The dog did nothing in the night-time." "That was the curious incident," remarked Sherlock Holmes. |
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Lawrence O Inner circle French Riviera 6811 Posts
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This was sold to me by an antiques dealer claiming it to be the actual Merlin's pill box of Camelot times. Even though I had doubts about the truthfulness of the guaranty, I liked its crude simplicity and, as it turned out, strange phenomenons do happen around this... "thing"
Magic is the art of emotionally sharing live impossible situations
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| The Magic Cafe Forum Index » » The words we use » » Premise and Patter for Coin Box Routine (0 Likes) | |
Posted: Oct 8, 2010 05:28 pm 
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