By: Paul Sanchez
Hi to everyone. It's been a little while since I've posted here. I
read the board every night if I have time, but I find myself in need
of some advice and I apologize if this is long.
My dilemna is that I have recently purchased the McBride Stage Magic tapes and have been turned on to a whole branch of magic that I previously avoided. I just never saw myself as being interested in doing this kind of magic. I was wrong. I still maintain my interest in close-up and sleight of hand, but want to put together a stage show. The reason is that I would like to have the ability to offer a performance of this type to those who see my close-up and ask if I do bigger shows.
I do not want to spend a ton of money and love the idea of pack small play big. Here's a list of the effects I was thinking about in no particular order: Zombie routine, McBride's 20th Century Silks with Vanishing Silk to Appearing Cane, Torn & Restored Newspaper, Miser's Dream, Short Card Manipulation, Linking Rings, Sterling Egg, Snowstorm, Rope Routine (Sandsationsal - Cut n Restored - Professor's Nightmare - Rope Escape), Airborne, Color Changing Silks, Mouthcoil, Williamson's 4 or 6 ? Card Routine, Watch Steal or Comedy Watch Smash and Reproduction, Signed bill to Impossible Location such as TT bill switch only to be found in a lemon in a bag held throughout the show by a spectator, Kevin James's Floating Rose ( I know lighting and venue would be absolutely crucial to performing this), one mentalism effect (maybe a book test), water suspension
Please give any input, advice or guidance. I am not the greatest person when it comes to routining. I currently do not own the linking rings, airborne, appearing cane, 20th century silks or water suspension but like them and think they may fit my personality / style. I know I may be putting the cart before the horse, but I wanted to have a rough idea for a show and spend however long it takes perfecting the routines, showmanship, etc.
Lastly, what do people think about performing the linking rings since they were exposed on World's Greatest magic?
And
I know the general idea of how torn and restored newspaper works, but what is the best source to learn the mechanics, routine, patter and timing. Is No Tear a better way to go? I would like to avoid buying any tapes or books if there is an available source for learning this such as the public library. My wife probably won't let me spend anymore money on magic for the next 3 or 4 months.
By: Bob K
: Here's a list of the effects I was thinking about in no particular
order
I'd suggest you start with a little less. Pick 2 or 3 of the tricks you listed and start working with them- don't try to put together 20 tricks and a 2 hour stage show all at once. If money wasn't a concern then you could buy a few hundred tricks and play with them, but you said that money is a concern.
performing this), one mentalism effect (maybe a book test), water suspension
: Lastly, what do people think about performing the linking rings since they were exposed on World's Greatest magic?
I don't know anyone that's quit doing them since then. They've been exposed dozens (or hundreds) of times in the last 50 years but people still do them. Every kid that ever got interested in magic knows (or knew at one time) about thumb tips, but they're still used by a lot of magicians.
: torn and restored newspaper
I don't know of any free source (such as the public library) to learn the newspaper. There are several sources for Gene Anderson's (probably the most popular version in history) and there are a number of other versions.
Gene Anderson's is published in his book 'Newspaper Magic'- about $12-$15 from Magic Inc. It's also sold as a separate manuscript (but the book is a much better deal). It's sold on a couple videos- I think Magic Inc sells a video with just that routine on it. Gene also explains it on his video from Steven's Magic Emporium.
Then there's the Slydini Newspaper Tear, Neil Foster's Newspaper Center Tear (the one Lance Burton does), and a few others. But none are free.
: Is No Tear a better way to go?
For some people. Depends on what's more important to you. Probably the biggest consideration is are you more concerned with quick reset or do you really want to tear the paper before you restore it (rather than start with it already torn).
By: ERIC
I have to agree whole heartedly with Bob on this. Pick two or three
effects and work the he-- out of them til you KNOW them inside and
out. work them together into a nice FLOWING routine that takes about
three minutes to perform. Get you timing down to a fault. THEN and
only then should you move on to another two or three effects,
etc.etc.etc.
You just don't put together a full stageshow overnight. If you could have seen Jeff's show down in Atlantic City,N.J. recently, it was broken into segments. Some were single effects such as Miser's dream, others were routines of multiple effects that flowed into each other and were centered around a central theme. It was a joy to see him perform.
Rudy Colby made it with a three minute routine. Lance Burton won his awards with his 2 minute and 20 second dove routine. You get the idea.
By: dondunn
Paul, I once saw Dick Cavett stand on a stage before about 1,500 people with a six-foot length of rope and do a cut and restored routine that lasted 15 minutes and had the crowd in stitches. I once saw Orson Bean stand on stage in the middle of a Broadway revue that starred (as I recall it) the incomparable Beatrice Lillie and actor Jack Haley (yes, the Tin Woodman of Oz)and "magically" make a "paper eucalyptus tree" from sheets of newspaper in a routine that lasted probably 10 minutes and brought thunderous applause (his tree reached up about 30 feet into the stage's flies). Penn & Teller do the old cut-and-restored turban in a 10-minute very funny routine on stage; Blackstone used to do it more My point is that if you want to entertain a larger crowd -- larger, that is, than the handful you can work to up close -- you only need a scant handful of effectts and very little expenditure. Bob Orben's early books -- maybe Encyclopedia of Patter in 1950 -- had a Clippo routine (make it from a strip of newspaper and rubber cement)I rewrote with more topical gags and got about five minutes from it. A clever Linking Rings routine (or a graceful artistic one) can last five minutes or more. A rope routine can run ten minutes. You can build Miser's Dream into a "big" effect with climax after climax, etc. How about YOU -- not us -- settling on THREE effects YOU want to work on, and then really LEARNING them? Ropes, rings, coins -- (forget Zombie, card manips) -- and you've got a half-hour "big" act visible on a theatre stage or in front of 50 folks in an old-folks home or a hospital ward. What YOU must decide is whether you want to present them seriously, humorously, mystically, or whatever. It's that easy.
By: Olde Rabbit
Hi Paul. I do a linking ring routine which runs about 7 minutes. It
took me 5 months to learn it. when you send for a set of Linking
Rings, you don't generally get good routines with it. These have to be
scouted out and purchased, and learned.
When you first look at your set, you won't say "Oh, now I see how it works". And be doing it 20 minutes later. This is a long term trick, involving a lot of practicing over a long period of time. So do work on the rings, as they are an excellent effect, despite all the exposure, but take up other effects first, as you continue working on the rings.
Don and Bob have excellent advice. Think about what you're doing, and take your time building a show from only a handful of effects, which rely on presentation rather than props, special lighting, etc.
By: Jon A. Hand
Books that will help you get a handle on what tricks to choose:
Henry Hay's AMATEUR MAGICIAN's HANDBOOK has a nice chapter on stage/platform magic, with suggested tricks and information on routining.
Marvin Kaye's STEIN AND DAY HANDBOOK OF MAGIC (recently reprinted as THE COMPLEAT [complete? not sure which...] MAGICIAN) has excellent ideas for stage movement, stage management, routining, and a good rope routine to boot.
Henning Nelms' MAGIC AND SHOWMANSHIP, while requiring a slow and thoughtful reading, is full of excellent ideas for converting standard tricks to entertainment, as well as thorough coverage of stage movement, staging placements, etc.
On to effects:
Small stuff that plays big and holds audience interest well; I have used all of these things for audiences from 20 to 400, though not all in the same shows, of course.
Dollar Bill to Lemon
Torn and Restored Card to Orange
Signed Card to Wallet
Ring Flite (nice version in MAGIC MENU: FIRST 5 YEARS; non-reel version with aural misdirection in a mass market book; email me for more info)
Linking Rings (nice 3 ring routine in ART OF CLOSEUP MAGIC by Ganson that would work well on platform)
Professor's Nightmare, Cut & Restored Rope, or other rope routine
Afghan Bands (learn it in most beginner books, present it as a paper-cutting race or a cloth-tearing race between two spectators)
Book Test or Spirit Writing (I combined three ideas from Annemann's PRACTICAL MENTAL EFFECTS) to make a book test in which the chosen word appeared in the spectator's hands, on a board which he personally had checked as clean 3 times!)
Cut Spectator in Half With Ropes (grandma's necklace principle)
Production Number (Square Circle, Hat Load, or other -- lots of info in Bill Tarr's 100 CLASSIC MAGIC TRICKS)
This is just off the top of my head. I am sure that many others can suggest many more possibilities, as do the above books.
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