I love the Hospitality illusion, but I was just wondering if anyone knew what the best resource would be to learn a one-man version? I'm looking to add it into my show, but I'm not sure what the most practical version would be?

Many thanks!

If you're referring to Jim Steinmeyers any-drink-from-one-container-routine; A one man version is discussed in his booklet "modern art and other mysteries".

Really don't know what you mean by "one man" as they are all one man pouring. The problem comes in when you hand out the drinks for tasting. How can you pour and run all over a huge theater or even a small room full of people. The millionaire magician solved it by having a the people join him near his table. That is not the best solution, and he was performing in a hotel conference room. Lance Burton's video on YouTube used the people in the 1st row, but again, that created a little drag time, and repeating of the comments made by the audience members.

As with most stage magic, presentation is the key, and that is usually left up to the performer to figure out, as we are all individuals, and what works for one person will not necessarily work for all magicians.

My suggestion is to buy it, build it, practice it, then rehearse it, until you find your solution that works for you. But - it never really hurts to have a pair of long legs serving drinks, in my opinion. Just hire a waitress for each show, she is already trained in serving.

I worked on this effect for a show I was involved in creating a few years ago and I completely understand what the OP means.

Of all the routines in all the shows I have helped create for solo performers this routine was the most difficult to effectively stage and piece together. There are many issues that needed to be addressed to get it to work and in the end it took 3 creative and talented minds to get it to work. (well 2, plus mine)

I thought it might help to identify some of the aspects of this effect that make it a particularly tough nut to crack for the solo performer.

As Bill indicated one issue is ensuring that there is no dead time. There is a lot of potential for this to happen within this effect (the handing out of the drinks, the moving between the audience and the onstage action, etc) but this can be addressed through really good scripting. So be prepared, even more than usual, to write, and rewrite and rewrite, etc, etc, etc...

Another issue, of a more practical nature, is the 'moment' in the routine with the big prop/tray. Finding a way of directing the attention of the audience for this moment requires some very careful and creative staging if you are a solo performer and you don't have a paid assistant to aid you. Engaging the audience in a meaningful and plot driven way that doesn't draw them to the performer at this moment is a challenge but it's a challenge that needs a strong and robust solution.

Yet another potential issue is that this effect has several moments that appear to be natural endings... this would be fine if each was an intrinsically bigger moment than the last but that isn't the case and this can be a big problem. A way has to be established to direct the focus and interest of the audience from one ending to the next such that the each false ending moment does indeed top the previous one.

As well as this there are other points to be aware of... For instance if the carton being used appears to be just an ordinary carton what does showing it to be normal, by ripping it up at the end, bring to the denouement of the routine? The answer to that is, nothing... and nothing is not a great way to end a routine. For this final moment to have a meaning and add value to the routine there has to be some suspicion attached to the carton... the removal of this suspicion at the final point in the routine when the carton is shown to be indisputably innocent then gives the action a meaning. But if the audience is highly suspect of the carton throughout the routine then the potentially interesting and magical parts of the effect are in danger of being dismissed as being a result of simply using a 'trick carton'. Getting the suspicion level and timing of it just right, so it is seen as an innocent carton but so that it also has a degree of suspicion about it that carries through to the end of the routine, is no easy task. It's a fine balancing act and difficult to achieve but given the right script and the right performer this can be achieved.

I have to say, that despite the work that that went into this routine I felt that it was never really going to hold together seamlessly. Trying to keep the action moving, the plot building, the handling invisible and the endings focussed and topping each other appeared to me to be too much of an ask. After some weeks of working on this with the performer of the show I couldn't see how it could be made into a piece worthy of inclusion and I was at the point of suggesting the entire routine be dropped from the show.

Fortunately the performer wanted to persevere. He brought in a third magic mind to help and together they took what we'd already created and came up with a choreography that solved all the issues and allowed the performer to make this this a marvelous piece of theatre that I honestly didn't think was possible for a solo performer to achieve with this effect.

I have to say I was in complete awe of the final routine. It painted the exact series of pictures that the effect strives for, with incredibly strong magic and successive endings that built to the very last beat.

But it took weeks of work, countless rewrites an incredibly talented performer, and the help of a one of magic's great minds (not mine) to take it from an ok lumbering effect to a smooth, powerful routine that was the final effect of the entire show which picked up a 5 star award rating with the national press.

So to the OP, it can be done but I suggest you get as much help as you can and be prepared for this to involve lots of trial and error. It's a tough nut to crack for a solo performer.

Maybe Hospitality by Max Francis is what he's looking for?

Doug

Dougini; I'm sure it's not. There are issues with performing the Hospitality illusion as a solo performer... the Max Francis effect you mention doesn't have such issues but then I'm hard pressed to see a good reason to perform it. As a piece of magic it's pretty weak, maybe as a bar stunt it could be an interesting curiosity.

The Hospitality illusion is a different beast altogether.

You're right about that, Sealegs. I can't see how that can be done one-man, though.

Doug