Effect

You predict which bingo spot the spectator marks with a bingo dauber. Not to be confused with Dauber.

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Note From Editor

As many of you know, Jay Sankey recently released his 3 volume tome, The Definitive Sankey. I’ve actually read volume I and II from cover to cover and I’m about a fifth of the way through volume III.

It’s a compilation of 600 effects, tons of essays, interviews, quotes, and the complete contents of his excellent book, Beyond Secrets. Reading the contents of Beyond Secrets in this epic three volume set made for the 5th time I’d read the content. I always pick up something new each time.

When I came across this essay (below) again, I felt it was a perfect match for you, my loyal readers – It’s a perfect fit for the mission of Roots and Branches. And of course, Jay without hesitation allowed me to republish it here for you. Enjoy!

The post Performing New Material appeared first on Stone Cold Magic Magazine.

Nature never deceives us; it is always we who deceive ourselves.
– Jean-Jacques Rousseau

Are you elegant? Funny? Mysterious? Sexy? Fast-talking? Many magicians get distracted by their fantasies and never take a long, serious look in the mirror. Sadly, this only undermines their ability to make at least some of their most cherished fantasies a reality.

Who you are and your particular performance style should play a large part in determining your target market. Corporate clients are looking for one thing, parents of children celebrating a birthday are looking for another, and the owner of a bar/restaurant is looking for yet another. I suggest you specialize rather than trying to be a “jack of all trades” because being very good at just one thing is challenge enough.

However, I realize that many magicians choose to try their hand at a variety of performance situations, so allow me to suggest that you at least develop a different promotional package for each of the venues. Think about it. You own a restaurant, a guy comes in claiming to be a magician and when he gives you his card it reads, “Parties, banquets, trade shows, restaurants, anniversaries, bar mitzvahs and funerals.” Now imagine meeting a magician who hands you his card and it reads, “Restaurant Magician.” Who are you going to be tempted to interview first? And who is going to be able to ask for more money? That’s right. The specialist.

Magicians claim that they have to work at birthday parties, restaurants, office parties, banquets and a dozen other venues “to make ends meet,” but in my experience, spreading yourself so thinly across so many markets is a great way to guarantee that you will be struggling to make ends meet for years to come.

There’s an old show biz adage, “Grab one bell and ring it until your arm falls off.” It takes years to establish yourself in a market and typically just when you are beginning to get completely bored with a market is when that market “suddenly” takes notice of you and your services are in great demand. Be patient. Look at yourself in the mirror, check in with your heart and decide which market you suit and enjoy performing in. Then commit to it and promote yourself with everything you have. I bet you will be thrilled with the results. The universe responds to commitment.

Republished with permission from Jay Sankey.

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Obviously you must perform for the entire group, making eye contact and warmly extending yourself to each of them in turn. But, to start, you have to choose one person in particular to participate in the performance. It will fall to this person to “pick a card,” or  “take a look at this string,” or “lend me a $100 bill please.” The choice of who you will initially “play to” is very important; it often makes the difference between a “so-so”, show and an “o my god I don’t believe it what’s your phone number” show.

Before you can decide who you want to perform to, you have to ask yourself, “What characteristics do I want a spectator-assistant to have?” Some performers work best with quiet business types, some with psychotic drunks. I like to work with and intimately interact with someone who is respectful, uninhibited, and attractive, in that order. It’s nice for people to watch you interact with someone who is attractive; but it’s much more important that the person is going to, first, extend to me the same respect and consideration I extend to them; and second, that the person is feeling good and is willing to have some fun. These people are a joy to work with, and they participate in creating an exciting, dynamic performance.

If you keep your eyes open, you’ll often find that these people don’t wait for you to find them, but actually “reach out” to you during your introduction. They’re easy to spot, if you look for them. They meet your eyes with a warm, curious, and confident look; they don’t quickly hide their hands below the table as soon as they realize that a close-up performance sometimes involves a spectator holding onto something; they will rarely speak to you first, but once you talk to them they freely open up.

These people are most often women. That women usually make better assistants is a simple fact, and not sexism, for the following two reasons, one small and one big. The small reason is that because you are probably a male performer and, I hope, relatively charming, it follows that there is often going to be a special kind of chemistry between yourself and a member of the opposite sex, especially with the heightened emotional situation of a performance. The big reason is that given the values and customs of our culture, women tend to not only have better communication skills than men, but are also more emotionally expressive than men, if only because men, in general, have this ridiculous notion that being sensitive and emotional is not masculine.

Even when you have learned how to best pick an assistant, there will be times when an assistant will be an exceptional part of – or perhaps steal – the show, and times when they bring your show down a bit. How to acquire the most control possible over which case it will be is another important topic; the start is picking the right people. Once you have chosen an assistant, you should work throughout your performance on creating a special relationship with this person.

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