The 4th Shikoku Magic Friends Magic Club Public Show will be held in Takamatsu March 21, 2010. Doors open at 1:00PM and the show begins at 1:30PM The event is free and free refreshments. This is a great event as it gives a chance for those Magicians here in Shikoku a chance to perform with regular performers. There will be both a close-up show and a stage stage. The venue is small and intimate. If you will be in Takamasu, Kagawa Prefecture and want more information please let me know! I will also be in the show.
This is a picture I took of myself in a green room before a show. My props are already set on the stage and the audience who was a Japanese company I was performing for has already started their dinner and speeches for the evening. I am to perform after the dinner and speeches with a 25 minute stage show and an hour of close-up magic after that. Now I am just waiting. All dressed up and just waiting. What do you during this time? In my case most of the time my show is already set up at the stage area or already on the stage so it’s just me and my iPhone and the few props I keep in my pocket. Well This is what I do. First before I change I usually do some simple stretching to warm up my body and get it limber and it also feels good. Next I get changed and check myself in a mirror and set my props in their proper places in the right pockets. Next I run through my show in my head a few times. I go over some new jokes and other things I have prepared for the group I will be performing for. I also go and wash my hands then I head to the backstage area if I can depending on the event and venue earlier than planned so that I can see the audience and start to get a feel for the atmosphere. When I perform for dinners and other private events the atmosphere can be very different from event to event. In the case of the show I took this picture at the president of the company was there, so I can already guess that most of the people at the party will be on their best behavior. This is especially true I found here in Japan. Anyway it is REALLY important to feel your audience because at last minute you may need to change the show depending on the audience from the feeling you get. Also don’t be afraid to do this as it is a very important point to know what will work and what won’t as well as what is appropriate for a certain audience. So use this time to get some advance feeling of this. Next I confirm with the Booker, MC, producer, or whoever is in charge that I am all set and ready to go and head on out and give the audience the best show I can. When you arrive at the event you are doing your job so work during this time to help make you show its best. Like someone said but I forget who “Your are only as good as your last show” so make every show good!
During December many of us magicians are very busy with seasonal parties. For some of us it’s our busiest time of the year. It’s a great time for performing, however you must be careful not to double book yourself. Don’t take a better gig over one you have already booked just because the new offer is more cash. This will give you a bad reputation. Of course there are certain cases where this can happen but you should try to always follow through on your original booking or you will get a bad reputation. I have seen this too many times. You also need to be wise about the length of time between shows and to take into account delays in shows, travel time, set up, and take down. You need to give yourself breathing time, you don’t want to be late for shows. When you book your shows be honest with the clients about the times so the show and set up times can be set so you do have enough time to get from a to b and set up on time. Also be careful not to burn yourself out! I did this one year and got extremely sick. I didn’t cancel any shows but I was so dead tired and sick until my last show of the year I perhaps made myself more sick. This season can be exciting and fun because of the many shows you will book but be careful and look after your clients and look after yourself and most of all have fun!
Today I wanted to talk about the magic delay. What is this? If you are experienced in magic you know about this concept, if you are new magic you may not have encountered it before unless you have used specific effects that use it. Again in this explanation I will not use any specific magic examples to explain the theory but explain the basic theory the best I can. The idea behind this is that there is a delay between when some effect is started and the the revelation of the effect. The time delay hides the method, so that an audience can not backtrack to find the method, because too much time along with other events in the performance have happened that people’s short term memory can’t remember the point where the method occurred. Make sense? Now the thing is to use the time delay technique effectively for certain effects a well structured routine or show is required. You need to really think and write and test the routine to find the proper time delay that fits in with the routine. This idea is VERY powerful and some of the best performers in the world use this theory. However to use it effectively you really need to think about your show and routines as I mentioned. This is a very short explanation but if you have any thing to add to the idea please post it in the comments on this website or send me an email! Until next time!
