Jason Alexander LIVE: Sunday Jan 3rd @7:00pm Eastern. (Penguin LIVE) Required viewing for every magician and mentalist! SUPPORT LIVE MAGIC.

http://www.penguinmagic.com/p/6430

Who is he?

Obviously, you recognize Jason Alexander from his role as George Costanza on the highly-successful sitcom Seinfeld. He's also had an active career on stage, appearing in several Broadway musicals, even winning a Tony Award as Best Leading Actor in a Musical. And, he's amassed an extensive list of TV and movie credits But, what you may not know is Jason Alexander is an avid amateur magician with a love for mentalism.

In 2006, he was convinced to perform a week at the Magic Castle, and (as a result of his engaging presentation) he was awarded the Parlor Magician of the year!

In this Penguin Live lecture, Jason breaks down his performance beat-for-beat to reveal how he (as a trained actor) approached the role of a mentalist. What he reveals goes way beyond mere methods, and speaks to the very core of context, motivation, and believability. It will inspire you in your own work.

What will he teach?

He starts by explaining why he chose to open with Jon Allen's Silent Treatment and how he scripted his opening remarks to answer questions and set the mood.

In his second effect, he raises the stakes on the old which-hand-is-it-in plot by incorporating a charming, character-driven story that makes you care.

Then, he employs his theatrical training to read a helper's internalized emotions and reveal them through a beautiful piece of original poetry.

Next, delving into the realm of chaos theory and the work of Dr. Meehl, he connects people emotionally with a random process that turns out to be predictable.

Then, taking a classic device in directions you've never seen before, he creates an epic reveal that will make you re-assess the potential of this prop.

You'll learn so many valuable lessons in this lecture, it should be required viewing for every magician and mentalist! Don't miss it!

I'm looking forward to this.

It sounds interesting...

I'm going to start watching tonight. Has anyone else seen this? Thoughts?

This is just my type of material, character not trick driven. I'm interested in hearing your thoughts Mr. Mindbender, you and I seem to have similar opinions.

Yes, I watched it. I didn't think that this would be that good, but I really liked it. You don't learn any new effects as everything is store bought props, but that is OK. What I enjoyed was the thinking that went into each routine. I really bought this lecture just to see his which hand routine, and I have to say that this was the most entertaining which hand routine that I have ever seen. Every routine had great presentation.

I have to admit that I am glad that I bought this.


Best
Ray

Fantastic lecture. I went in thinking it would be a lesson in character and not teaching tricks and that exactly what it was and I loved it. Learned a lot. And I am a Seinfeld fan so added bonus to hear a few behind the scenes comments

Ryan

Yes, I echo everyones thoughts. I love these kinds of lectures. Truly useful talk about character and routine structure. A lot of talk about the thought that goes into presenting mentalism. Definitely a great value.

Does anyone know if the complete uncut Castle performance is available anywhere?

Great to hear George Costanza's thoughts

You might want to look at issue 2 of Reel Magic....he was on the cover and covers a lot of great ideas about character development. If you don't buy this lecture from Penquin you're simply not serious about magic.

These pretzels are making me thirsty!

I thought it was going to be a lecture about nothing

Does this happen to have the entire Castle performance?

Is the "discuss" area on Penguin's site down? It's taking an awfully long time to load.

This was one of my favorite Penguin lectures. You'll see Jason's Castle act followed by interesting discussion about his choices of material, plus thoughts about character development, and a whole lot more. Although this isn't a learn-a-trick lecture it will definitely get you thinking about your own act, and was most entertaining.

I shot this so as far as I know Jason and I are the only ones with the footage. I'm not sure what rights he gave to Penguin Magic but nearly 100% of the show was seen in the lecture and yes, it was amazing to see in person!

Ray,

Thanks for the info. Much appreciate!

Finally we have a lecture that analyzes presentation more than tricks! And it doesn't just speak in vague generalities about presentation, but uses Jason Alexander's entire mentalism act at the Magic Castle for its specific examples. Each effect is shown in performance, and then its presentation is analyzed. It's brilliant.

The best part is that this is a coherent act, not just a random bag of tricks. It's presented by a character who has a worldview and a purpose in showing these effects to an audience -- and Jason Alexander talks about all of this.

Towards the end, he notes that he teaches acting master classes assuming that students have a bag of tools -- they've studied methods and know exactly how to use a hammer, a radial arm saw, and a screwdriver, but that doesn't mean they know how to build a house. Building an act is like building a house. Magicians have mastered plenty of tricks, but few know how to build a well-designed act. This lecture assumes you have those tools, and is almost all about design.

Top marks. Highest recommendation.

WOW, just finished watching this and was totally mesmerised listening to what Jason had to say. Dan did an almighty job asking the questions. The material is all commercially available and everyone will recognise them. But what a great structure, storyline and master class on how to engage the audience. Fantastic lecture. His which hand plot/story was the best I've ever seen. Never liked the effect, now I luv it.