Talent show!!

[Jrishton]

I'm a senior this year, and every year I've wanted to do the talent show, and its now or never. Originally I was going to do a bunch of different sized Rubik's cubes... But that's a bit harder than it seems... I've only ever known street magic and close up work, not the kind of stuff that you stand in the middle of a stage to do. I'm 110% sure that the only thing I'd be competing against is wannabe bands and amateur singers, but with no clue as to any stage tricks within my budget, the odds are against me. If anyone that does stage magic can tell me of a few routines or tricks I could preform without tables and mirrors, please help me out. Thanks

 

[Steerpike]

Okay, in order to give you good advice, I need to know 4 things.

1. What is your timetable? How much time do you have to prepare?
2. What do you already have? Don't tell me the single tricks, tell me what books and compilation DVDs you have. I need to know how good your fundamentals are.
3. How much time will you be allotted at the show?
4. What sort of presentation style are you used to giving? What's your persona like? I do not want to hear the words "laid back" because every yahoo describes himself that way. I want to know what about you makes you interesting enough to watch on a stage.

 

[Jrishton]

@steerpike
I've got 2/3 of the school year, more than plenty of time to prepare. I'm good with simple close card magic. I've got the trilogy by D&D, Metal 1&2 by Eric jones, and Dangerous by Daniel Madison. I know A LOT of tricks taught on T11, Ellusionist, and D&D. I don't think the show has much of a time limit, but I'd like to keep it no more than 15 minutes. I like talking to people. I've never done much stage stuff, but despite he nervousness, I love it. I'm pretty easy to talk to. I like to go out with an idea of what I'll say, not word for word kind of stuff. I've been into card magic for three years. If that helps.

 

[Steerpike]

I've got the trilogy by D&D, Metal 1&2 by Eric jones, and Dangerous by Daniel Madison. I know A LOT of tricks taught on T11, Ellusionist, and D&D.

Okay, primary problem identified.

What we have here is a loose collection of stuff, but not the real fundamentals needed. The first thing you need to get is Mark Wilson's Complete Course in Magic. It's 20 bucks and has everything you need, including stage illusions.

If there is a theater class you can take before the show, take it. You want to get a feel for what it's like on stage as well as back stage as well as try to learn about acting. This is assuming you haven't done so already. I would also recommend a creative writing class if one is available.

If you prefer more audience interaction, you need to build a routine that makes appropriate use of it. Keep the jokes to a reasonable level. Laughter breaks tension, so it's important to use it at the beginning and at the end. Don't use it during the build-up to the reveal as it will diminish the impact. If you invite someone on stage, a quick joke to get them loosened up is ideal.

Inevitably, someone here is going to suggest mentalism. I'm going to say right now that's a bad idea. You need a broader range of fundamentals and more stage experience before you can attempt mentalism. Believe me, it's not as easy as it looks. It requires good acting skills, a strong sense of theatricality and character, and large-enough-to-be-a-sovereign-nation-sized balls.

 

[c.t]

A trick you can perform with a partner, which ive done at a school talent show once (we won) is the "worlds most difficult card trick" performed by Brynolf and Ljung on Penn and Tellers fool us show( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t9879j4Y_yQ ) i used a palm to get the card from the bottom before passing the deck to my partner and using him as misdirection, folded their signed card into quaters and then switched the random card that was already in his mouth for the signed card, hope that helps

 

[Jrishton]

Okay, primary problem identified.

What we have here is a loose collection of stuff, but not the real fundamentals needed. The first thing you need to get is Mark Wilson's Complete Course in Magic. It's 20 bucks and has everything you need, including stage illusions.

If there is a theater class you can take before the show, take it. You want to get a feel for what it's like on stage as well as back stage as well as try to learn about acting. This is assuming you haven't done so already. I would also recommend a creative writing class if one is available.

If you prefer more audience interaction, you need to build a routine that makes appropriate use of it. Keep the jokes to a reasonable level. Laughter breaks tension, so it's important to use it at the beginning and at the end. Don't use it during the build-up to the reveal as it will diminish the impact. If you invite someone on stage, a quick joke to get them loosened up is ideal.

Inevitably, someone here is going to suggest mentalism. I'm going to say right now that's a bad idea. You need a broader range of fundamentals and more stage experience before you can attempt mentalism. Believe me, it's not as easy as it looks. It requires good acting skills, a strong sense of theatricality and character, and large-enough-to-be-a-sovereign-nation-sized balls.

Thank you I'll definitely get the complete course on magic and I'll work on the acting skills over the course of the year. I appreciate the advice

 

[Parker Nolan]

A trick you can perform with a partner, which ive done at a school talent show once (we won) is the "worlds most difficult card trick" performed by Brynolf and Ljung on Penn and Tellers fool us show( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t9879j4Y_yQ ) i used a palm to get the card from the bottom before passing the deck to my partner and using him as misdirection, folded their signed card into quaters and then switched the random card that was already in his mouth for the signed card, hope that helps

Wouldn't it be better to have your partner palm off the card, and have it in his mouth, so that you don't have to switch them? Like, as you are taping him up, slide the card into his mouth. I just figured this would be less fishy looking than switching the cards later.

 

[Jrishton]

Wouldn't it be better to have your partner palm off the card, and have it in his mouth, so that you don't have to switch them? Like, as you are taping him up, slide the card into his mouth. I just figured this would be less fishy looking than switching the cards later.

Actually taping his mouth closed first makes the possibility of sliding the card into his mouth completely impossible. That's the whole basic idea of the trick... Getti it into his mouth in an impossible way

 

[Parker Nolan]

I just figured that you could palm off the card, and slide it in as you tape up his mouth. It would take some practice, but in my opinion, it would make it cooler because you could even have the spectator take it out with chopsticks. Either way, it's an impressive trick.

 

[Jrishton]

That is a good idea xD haha, guess it's impressive however you do it. I'm gonna search P&T vids to see if I can come up with any more

 

[c.t]

That is a good idea xD haha, guess it's impressive however you do it. I'm gonna search P&T vids to see if I can come up with any more

some of the fool us performances are damn cool, u might get some more there

 

[Parker Nolan]

Yeah, when I saw their performance on Penn & Teller, I thought they did the fake reveal and switched the cards. They then stated that they didn't switch them. So the only theory I had was them sliding it in as his mouth was being taped. I can't wait to try this effect!

 

[WitchDocIsIn]

Yeah, when I saw their performance on Penn & Teller, I thought they did the fake reveal and switched the cards. They then stated that they didn't switch them. So the only theory I had was them sliding it in as his mouth was being taped. I can't wait to try this effect!

Ever see that quote from Ricky Jay about someone stealing his TV?

 

[Parker Nolan]

No, what is it?

 

[WitchDocIsIn]

Understand, this isn't directed at you, but at everyone who sees someone else do an act and says, "I'm gonna do that!"

"A guy comes up and starts telling me he's a fan," he recalls. "I say thank you, that's nice to hear. He says he used to see me perform in Boulder, Colorado. That's nice, too, I say. Then he starts talking about this wonderful piece I did with a mechanical monkey-really one of the most bizarre routines I ever worked out-and I thank him, and he says, `Yeah, I get a tremendous response when I do that. Audiences just love it.' And I say, `Let me ask you something. Suppose I invite you over to my house for dinner. We have a pleasant meal, we talk about magic, it's an enjoyable evening. Then, as you're about to leave, you walk into my living room and you pick up my television and walk out with it. You steal my television set. Would you do that?' He says, `Of course not.' And I say, `But you already did.' He says, `What are you talking about?' I say, `You stole my television!' He says, `How can you say that? I've never even been to your house.' This guy doesn't even know what a metaphor is. People ask me why I don't do lectures at magic conventions, and I say, `Because I'm still learn- ing.' Meanwhile, you've got people who have been doing magic for ten months and they are actually out there pontificating. It's absurd."

 

[AO356]

Keeping the initial post on track,

You may want to try celebrity/smart-ass by bill abbott. The thing about about stage magic is the presentation, not the trick. For example Piff the magic dragon essentially is doing a colour change as his whole stage act but it plays well because he interacts will with the audience. If you have a short time to prepare, my suggestion is simple tricks but work hard on presentation. Smarts ass by bill abbott i would say ALMOST self working. I don't use the performance on the dvd. I created a routine based on my working situation. PM me if you want to know how i perform this routine. I think i still have a video of me performing it if you want to see how well it plays.

Second would be cups and balls if already know the sleights. You can take a look at Gazzo's work for inspiration.

This two are what I usually have in my performances. Hope it helped.

 

[TeeDee]

I've got to second ChristopherT here. It really isn't polite or ethical to watch someone else's performance and steal it. It's fine to take inspiration from it, but using someone else's performance as a shopping list of stuff you want to try isn't the correct approach.

 

[LarryX]

Sorry for a late reply, but I know of a trick called "Blank Night" performed by John Archer (also fooled Penn and Teller with it). It is a great and pretty simple routine. It is the closest to an impromptu effect Bank Night that I know of, because you appear to be clean almost through the entire trick. It is also very easy to engage with the audience with this trick, because you can use any number of volunteers (1 envelope/person). This trick alone can take quite a bit of time as well, depending on your presentation.

 

[Jrishton]

So I was thinking... I got some inspiration from Daniel Madison and the Penn and Teller act I watched. I'm going to show a Manila envelope completely empty, then close it up and set it down. Next I'll get a completely unopened, cellophane wrapped deck of cards. I'll have someone pick a card and I'll rip the corner off, which I'll then vanish and make appear inside the envelope, which I'll have the spectator open.
Any suggestions t improve it? Or more ideas? Thanks everyone for the comments and advice

 

[Steerpike]

What's the motive? How do you explain and justify this particular course of action? The key to a great effect is that the logic has to be internally consistent.