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silver New user 99 Posts |
Well, I do magic in a T-shirt that has my name printed on the front and my homepage address on the back. It's a black T-shirt and of course with short sleeves. People always tell me that they like me wearing a T-shirt with short sleeves because of them they know that there is nothing to hide. Since I am a female magician it's a little different anyway as we normally don't wear jackets.
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Review King Eternal Order 14446 Posts |
Roll them baby's up! Plus, doing so allows for lot of misdirection/steals/holding out, etc.
Roll 'em up and roll 'em down!
"Of all words of tongue and pen,
the saddest are, "It might have been" ..........John Greenleaf Whittier |
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Daniel Faith Inner circle Neenah, Wisconsin 1526 Posts |
This is all of function of your image and character.
Ask yourself if this fits you. I know of many pros that roll their sleeves up. I feel it's a personal thing.
Daniel Faith
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MagicbyCarlo Inner circle has squandered his time making 1062 Posts |
I roll or pull my sleeves back depending on what I'm wearing and situation. In my platform/stage show, the sleeves of my jacket and shirt come back when I perform the Malini Egg Bag (3rd or 4th piece in my act, depending on the show) and stay that way until the end of the show.
In close-up, I will pull them back for coins across or 3-fly. If I'm working a party in formal wear they may stay rolled back. If I'm doing my dress casual (jacket and Crew-neck short sleeve shirt) I will go with pulling them back as needed. I always try to make the look a neat as possible and have even toyed with the idea of altering the jacket sleeves to accommodate quicker rolling and un-rolling. Rolling up your sleeves also subliminally says “I’m going to work now, so pay attention.” So I like to make it part of the prelude rather than just starting with the sleeves rolled up. Of course if you use your sleeves you probably won’t roll them up.
Carlo DeBlasio
<BR>Entertainment specialist <BR>and all around fun guy! |
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truthteller Inner circle 2584 Posts |
Walk into a true "high society event" with touir sleeves rolled up and you are now equivalent in their eyes to the bus boy. Of course, is a particular moment is best delivered by eliminating the sleeves, do it for that moment, but no longer. It is no longer the 1980's. The rolled up sleeve look is "out."
I have been at locales with a client where a magician has been present. As soon as they saw their outfit, they rolled their eyes and said, "ugh, not a magician." Interestingly, I have worked for them for several years. If you want to be a commodity, follow the stereotype. If you want to be taken seriously by top level executives, look and act like they do. Red jackets, sequined buttons saying "magic" and rolled up sleeves must go. |
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truthteller Inner circle 2584 Posts |
Please forgive the typos. Cut and pasted the pre-edited version into the forum. Cannot edit now.
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bsears Inner circle Cincinnati, Ohio 1040 Posts |
Truthteller - I see your point, but, sleeves or not, I never want to look too much like the people I'm performing for. Its important for me to stand out as the entertainment.
Also, I've noticed lately a number of pros who make sure to get their sleeves out of the way before doing slieght of hand. (check it out at the next convention or when you see a magician on TV). No sense in spending all that time learning good magic just to have someone dismiss it all with "he must be using his sleeves!" But to each his own. |
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truthteller Inner circle 2584 Posts |
See, I think being "the entertainment" is not always the most flattering position to be in. I would rather be seen as an equal, or better, of those whom I am brought in to share my skills. The "entertainment" to a Fortune 500 CEO is someone who is dismissed. Do you wish to be dissmissed?
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ithomson Veteran user 330 Posts |
People
Personally, I feel very uncomfortable rolling my shirt sleeves up over my jacket sleeves. So if I feel the need, and I'm performing a long-ish set for a table, I sometimes take my jacket off to hang over a customer's chair, then roll my shirt-sleeves up to my forearms. This takes a small amount of time, which I try to use to get to know my customers. As an alternative, I often get customers to hold my wrists instead of rolling my sleeves. This way they know nothing can get past their hands. However, once when doing this I did have a customer take advantage by holding another part of my anatomy, but I guess that could be seen as an added bonus. Ian |
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bsears Inner circle Cincinnati, Ohio 1040 Posts |
I've never felt looked down upon as being the "entertainment"; quite the opposite.
Personally, I try and look like a magician. Sometimes I wear a top hat. Often a vest, a flashy jacket, tie or shirt, maybe a tux. That way when someone looks over they don't say "is that someone from marketing doing card tricks?" Its showbusiness guys. Nothing wrong with looking the part. |
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truthteller Inner circle 2584 Posts |
I respect that. But I ask you to compare what a "magician" makes versus a "consultant" or "speaker" or "insert your name here". Consider which is invited to sit at the head table. We all make our own choices. A "magician" is an interchangeable commodity and will be bounded by the market rate and social attitudes towards his or her ilk.
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Jaz Inner circle NJ, U.S. 6111 Posts |
Quote:
On 2004-12-21 13:28, bsears wrote: I see nothing wrong with working in a sports coat, pulling suit sleeves up, wearing a vest or T-shirt. Depends on for who and where. As far as pulling the sleeves up to increase the level of deception goes, maybe yes, maybe no. Spectators who like to solve magic mysteries may not think a vanished item was sleeved but instead begin focusing on other possible methods. Maybe even the method you're using. Just a thought. Those who are there to be entertained could probably care less. |
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MagicbyCarlo Inner circle has squandered his time making 1062 Posts |
Quote:
On 2005-02-28 17:33, truthteller wrote: Hey Brad, are they dismissing me with a big fat check? Then, yes please, I love the service industry
Carlo DeBlasio
<BR>Entertainment specialist <BR>and all around fun guy! |
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truthteller Inner circle 2584 Posts |
I contend that the check is fatter when you are the guru, the star, the "name." Shoot for the moon, not the bush.
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Lee Darrow V.I.P. Chicago, IL USA 3588 Posts |
Brad, one can be "the entertainment" and still be "the star." It's all in the perception of the client. If one present's ones'self as a professional, a specialist and someone unique that could NOT be duplicated or bought somewhere else for cheaper, then you will go much farther.
Remember, we spend at least as much time honing out skills as many licensed professionals in other fields (at least we should) and have skills that are expremely rare in the total population. While one should not come across as some kind of prima donna, one should act like and expect the respect that a true professional should have as their due. I've worked with some of the largest corporations in the world - Siemans, Akzo-Nobel (the makers of dynamite and the Nobel Peace Prize came from their founder), McDonald's, the Social Security Administration, Discover Card services and even Oprah Winfrey and have never been treated as "just" the entertainment. Perhaps it's in how one makes a presentation to the client and how one acts. If one acts as a professional who is worthy of respect, yet able to meet the client's needs in a polite and friendly manner - or refuse those demands that may be impossible in a polite and professional manner, then one will usually be treated with that respect and professionalism that one puts forward. Maybe it's me, but I always have been treated either like a long-lost member of the family or as a working professional who should be assisted in any way available, if needed. Then, of course, I show very little need by making their interactions with me as easy as possible for them. That pulls a good paycheck, return engagements and a lot less stress for all involved. But there are a few people out there who will try to see how far you can be pushed. To handle such instances politely and, especially, to make the pushy client believe that they are actually even more important for having helped YOU is the mark, in my eyes, of a true professional. Other people's mileage may vary, obviously. Lee Darrow, C.H.
http://www.leedarrow.com
<BR>"Because NICE Matters!" |
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truthteller Inner circle 2584 Posts |
Lee, I agree. And I think there is a difference in dressing/acting professionally and looking like a baffoon (sp?). Let's face it, most magicians cannot handle themselves in polite company. Their "always on" "laugh at every moment - at anyone's expense" attitude has relegated us socially one step above the mime. To choose to don the trappings of the stereotype, I fear, is placing oneself intentionally in a negative light. I feel that such trappings as pulled back sleeves while wearing a jacket (except perhaps for the very moment of making a magical effect), ties and vests with playing cards on them, "character hats" (unless one is a street performer) and the like demean us socially and are liable to be met with a "God, I hope he doesn't come over here."
However, a well dressed man or woman who carries themselves with confidence and civility will be welcomed into the cocktail circle as "one of us." One of the most flattering quotes I have received was, "This is so much better than magic." I think that says a lot about people's perceptions of what "magic" is. |
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Lee Darrow V.I.P. Chicago, IL USA 3588 Posts |
Not so sure I agree completely on the slightly odd dress issue. Many performers dress in a manner that is rather odd, to say the lease and pull down some remarkable paychecks and are regarded as major stars, whether it's comedy or magic. One needs look no further than the Blue Collar Comedy Tour, Lance Burton, or the Amazing Jonathan to see that the odd can work. None of them dress in what one could call "office normal" couture.
The trick is to be appropriate to either your character or the sales venue. Let's face it, on one episode of the Blue Collar TV show, Larry the Cable Guy, who usually wears a battered ball cap, a plaid shirt with the sleeves ripped off, battered blue jeans and work boots, showed up in a business suit, playing a cop. He cleans up really well and would have been able to handle himself, from a visual standpoint, in any office from Wall Street to Fleet Street. The trick, to me, is knowing when to do what and how. Let's face it, Mac King, one of the more successful performers in Vegas, is NOT what you'd call a GQ fashion plate when he's performing, neither is Chris Angel. But Mac has been working steadily in Vegas for a long time and Angel has just nailed down a TV series. To me, it seems that there is a way to handle the people and still maintain professionalism while being true to one's character and art. But, for many, it's a tough call and, to some, impossible as they have little idea of where the boundaries are and when it is and is not appropriate to challange them. The performer who has that knowledge should be able to open almost any door. Lee Darrow, C.H.
http://www.leedarrow.com
<BR>"Because NICE Matters!" |
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truthteller Inner circle 2584 Posts |
Each magician you have mentioned is a stage performer and there is a different sort of theatrical expectation there. However, the key I agree is knowing your venue and clientelle. I still contend that pulled back sleeves as a fashion statement is seen as "de classe" in upscale performing environments.
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bsears Inner circle Cincinnati, Ohio 1040 Posts |
I think its important to stand out a bit in the crowd. In a good way, of course.
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Lee Darrow V.I.P. Chicago, IL USA 3588 Posts |
Truthteller, for other examples, let's try Cellini, Chris Capeheart, Eddie Tullock, Don Alan and Steven Burgoon for close up examples. None of them wear what could be called street-normal wear, yet people welcome them upon their approach with open arms. Their dress ranges from Don Alan's western dressy on Magic Ranch, to Burgoon's rather odd attire to Chris Capeheart's red coat and miniature live bunny.
Why? Because they are genuinely nice guys, know how to make the approach and still have the "performer's persona" going for them from a coture standpoint. While I agree tht often the people who wear the ties with playing cards on them are often not the most socially adept people on the planet, there are those who wear them and who are - Matt, Charlie and Jimmy Schulein would be good examples - Heba Haba Al, would be another. Doc Eason, while well dressed, still has the affectations of the bowler hat and the suspenders (braces for our friends in the UK), so, it really comes down, in large part to the personality, much more than the slightly outlandish clothes. I remember doing a show at an Armory for a women's group about a decade ago. I was wearing my tux at the time and got no fewer that six requests for butter, ketchup and getting a table bussed on my around the tables as the wait staff were all wearing tuxes as well. Sometimes, it pays to look a little different. Lee Darrow, C.H.
http://www.leedarrow.com
<BR>"Because NICE Matters!" |
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