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Magician Toronto New user 56 Posts |
A close up magician should always take into account pocket management. I know for me I realized this fairly quickly and have dabbled from using a cell phone holster to carry a deck off cards to sewing extra pockets in my pants.
I have to think very wisely as to which effects I will be doing and which magic I won't depending on the venue. A regular close up show at a restaurant is a challenge as the regulars are always requesting new magic. I have gotten to the point where I have no choice but to bring along an assistant to most of my shows. The assistant is not "directly" involved in the show but they are their to basically carry my magic. I made this decision when I started to average 2-3 solid close up shows per night. Usually the venues are bars, restaurants, lounges, and clubs, and is a weekly gig. With this volume it just makes sense to have someone help out. They also can help with "stooge" work and marketing by passing along business cards. It's a great set up and I just thought I would share it with the magic world. MT http://www.MagicianToronto.com |
jonathandupree Loyal user 238 Posts |
I just ordered a high caliber holster. http://www.HCmagic.com I am excited to begin working with it. I think it will be a silent assistant I don't have to pay.
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gbaratta New user 7 Posts |
Hi,
I'm a non-professional magician, but I'v been performing regularly for about 8 years now. At the beginning I remember bringing with me a suitcase full of props, decks, ropes, you name it. "What will I perform next?!" This was the scariest question, always. One day, chatting with Mauricio Torselli, a Brazilian magician who kick-started my career as a magician, I learned something that changed my life forever: you end up almost ALWAYS performing 3 or 4 tricks, in 5 minutes, to many groups of people/tables during an normal evening as a close up magician. And that was true I must admit. Today I have 3 or 4 routines that I can perform with a minimal amount of props and each routine is completely different than the previous one (just think how many tricks can you make with a pair of rubber bands, a deck, some coins, a few sheets of flash paper and 4 sponge balls?). You can easily entertain a whole party with almost nothing on you and to those "fans" that follow you all around, you can perform the full routines of your 4 sets. This is something that many magicians don't like, I know. But as a professional you must also think objectively. Probably 70% of the tricks you bought, or studied, are not commercial enough for such presentations anyway. Pack small, be brave! Try doing a half hour show with literally nothing! You'll be impressed by your power of improvisation. This happens to me a lot when I go out with friends and someone ask me to do some magic. Not always I carry a deck with me! And the show must go on! I know other magicians that disagree completely to everything I've wrote. That worked for me. Maybe other people feel safer carrying 278 potential tricks to show. I still believe it's better to perform just a few, but flawlessly. |
TheAmbitiousCard Eternal Order Northern California 13425 Posts |
I think it's natural for newer magicians to carry more. There's so much to be excited about.
The longer I do this the less I carry. I'm basically down to: rings,rope,bunnies,cards not always but 95% of the time, that's pretty much it.
www.theambitiouscard.com Hand Crafted Magic
Trophy Husband, Father of the Year Candidate, Chippendale's Dancer applicant, Unofficial World Record Holder. |
jonathandupree Loyal user 238 Posts |
I don't carry a ton, but I also don't like to fumble for what I am looking for. That is why I ordered the holster. A place for everything with no bulges! I definitely pack light. When I fly, I do an entire show 45 minutes long, thousands of people, yet I get everything into a carry on. I don't check anything.
Use a red ox air boss bag for my clothes, and roll on for my magic. |
M&M Magic Regular user 116 Posts |
Magician Toronto,
Bring a case. I would request loading your pockets with a few tricks, then do all of the tables. Come back and exchange the old for the new. Then go around doing your tricks again. |
nonvpro Inner circle 1844 Posts |
I have my coats professionally altered. My coat has a total of 14 pockets and my pants have 4 pockets. For a total of 18 pockets. The same item/effects always goes into the same pocket.
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Mb217 Inner circle 9520 Posts |
I use the very simple "Pocket Pocket." It has 6 pouches in it that allows you to carry a nice bit of stuff. Fits right into your existing pants pocket and keeps everything quite silent and retrievble. gb above mentioned doing 3-4 tricks in a 5 minute set and I totally agree, that's' about how I do things now for a while and it works rather well for me.
I'm mostly a coin guy, so I typically pack a couple of my favorite coin tricks, include a closeup miracle like Linking Cigarettes (I use a couple of little wooden dowels for cigs) and I always keep a few Ultimate Positive Negatives ready to go in my wallet and I'm just about good to go with 3 impromptu tricks. I will typically also carry a deck of cards that I can do several effects with but usually I do just one and it's all I ever need, works like novocaine. All of this packs extremely small on my person and since that's about all I have on me, I do it over and over again and thus have gotten quite proficient at these effects. Of course I can do all sorts of things and will veer off the road at times when I just want to play hit & run with the specs but this little 5 minute set of about maybe 3 effects works so well, doesn't bore people and allows you to keep it moving without any setup. Now I have 3-4 of these little 5 minute sets I can choose from but will typcally only take 1, maybe(?) 2 along with me in a day or to a party or meeting, etc. After I do a 5 minute set, I move on and might just do 1 of the 3 at my next stop through a crowd. Loads of flexibility and jumping frome coins to closeup to mentalism is a great recipe I have found out. Keep the tricks easy to follow but don't scrimp on the amazement part. There are great tricks that are quite involved, perhaps a bit moreso than a spec at dinner or walking through a park would like to spare you time, and they don't like long drawn out explanations and or stories to have to follow. Hit them with the magic almost immediately and they'll want to linger a bit. My 3 effects flow one to the other, so as I'm about to finish one, I typically during an effect draw brief attention to what's coming next. Like while finshing a coin trick, I might reach into my pocket to give another spec there a deck of cards to shuffle, etc. Also, while I like and can do a great deal of stuff, I have a few favorites and I concentrate on doing those well like gb above mentioned here. To specs, it doesn't matter what 3 tricks you show them but try not to do coin or card trick (the same genre) one after the other. While they might be amazing effects, they tend to get lost in the overall presentation of the same genre. Let the coin trick stand out to itself, the same for the card effect and whatever closeup miracle you like to perform. Different people will remember different things, but most people will remember whatever you do last so do some real work on picking your 3-4 effects and their flow/build-up. I like to start with a good coin effect and finish with one if I can in doing 3-4 effects all in about 5 minutes time, and I keep all that magic in a little "Pocket-Pocket" while keeping all of the much more important good presentation in me.
*Check out my latest: Gifts From The Old Country: A Mini-Magic Book, MBs Mini-Lecture on Coin Magic, The MB Tanspo PLUS, MB's Morgan, Copper Silver INC, Double Trouble, FlySki, Crimp Change - REDUX!, and other fine magic at gumroad.com/mb217magic
"Believe in YOU, and you will see the greatest magic that ever was." -Mb |
Doruk Ãœlgen Elite user 466 Posts |
Just wanted to share my table hopping equipment. I do 4 nights a week to 300 people every night which pay around $120 to the restaurant per person, its the best in city.
all I have is a pen, a coin, a jumbo coin, ligher, flash cotton, deck of cards and a couple sponges. And let me tell you, I use the sponges if I really need them and its like twice a night. if you do what you do good, people would love to watch it again to catch you and if they cant then its just amazing again. so you need to carry your skills with you not so many props... but for marketing point I liked the idea of an assistant... |
Bill Palmer Eternal Order Only Jonathan Townsend has more than 24312 Posts |
I used to carry a carpet bag and a table. Now, I have the carpet bag and the table in the van. I bring in a doctor's bag with refills for the card to envelope. The rest I carry on me. The "rest" consists of C/B/S and my version of Scotch and soda, color changing knives, hanky, TT, two sharpies, three decks of cards that are in different pockets in my vest. That's it!
"The Swatter"
Founder of CODBAMMC My Chickasaw name is "Throws Money at Cups." www.cupsandballsmuseum.com |
Magic Patrick Inner circle Minnesota 1591 Posts |
I have used many tricks in the past. I hated it and sometimes lost smaller tricks. Recently, I did a 4 night gig for the Harry Potter release and I wanted to get in and out quickly. Here is what I used and it was the best show(s) I have ever done.
The Web in honor of Aragog 100 names (of course with Harry potter characters) scotch and soda hopping half a deck of blue cards (normal with a wow gimmick and a dark card gimmick) 25 red cards for the dark card routine NFW Color Monty Two rubber bands (one around each wrist) 25 million dollar bills (business card) carried in my mulica wallet two sharpies a fold down table Back right pocket: Blue deck of cards in a metal card guard and the two sharpies Back left pocket: 25 red cards and web gimmick for spider Front right pocket: Scotch and soda with bang ring Front left pocket: Hopping half and spider for the web Inside left jacket pocket: Mulica Wallet Inside Mulica Wallet: 25 million dollar bills, 100 names, NFW and Color monty I only give out million dollar bizz cards to those who are really interested and I do not give them one without their card first. Any critiques are welcomed. Patrick |
Mauro New user Italy 49 Posts |
I do agree with Frank Starsini "The longer I do this the less I carry" and, honestly, I can not imagine to have an assistant to carry my props!
The standards pockets I have in my suite are more than enough to carry all the things I need for my show.. Anyway, thanks for sharing. |
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