Ghostbusters

August 29th a local theatre decided to have a midnight showing of the movie Ghostbusters. Being thirty years old, I have fond memories of going to the theater and watching the movie as a child. I remember catching ghosts with my backpack, a stick and a shoe box acting as a ghost trap.

I dragged my poor wife to the theater at around 11:30 PM thinking it would give us plenty of time to get settled in and find a good seat.

I was surprised to see we had to stand in line to get into the theater. There was already a wait which matched the one we were in to see the new Batman movie. I was flabbergasted.

There were some people my age, though most of the people who were there were much younger than me. In fact, I believe most of them were college kids that couldn’t get into the bars on a Friday night. Some people were wearing old T-shirts with the Ghostbusters logo on it. And a couple of them looked like they hadn’t worn the shirt in two decades. No one was dressed in full out Ghostbusters gear with the proton packs and ghost traps. I guess Ghostbusters fans have a bit more dignity or argued less enthusiasm for the movie compared to Star Wars or Star Trek fans.

I was a bit worried, not because of trying to find a seat, but because I actually was going to the movie to enjoy seeing it on the big screen. I was afraid the crowd was going to get rowdy and turn a great movie like Ghostbusters into a shouting match like The Rocky Horror Picture Show. Yell out lines before they happen, yell at the characters to watch out, or shout whatever non-clever remark the restless ones can think of at the time.

I was ready for the worst and was wondering if I could get my money back if that was what was going to happen.

The lights faded down and of course the audience cheered. The opening scene is a librarian going through the basement… I’m sure you, the reader, have seen the movie. And the audience was dead silent, watching the screen. After the first big scare of the movie the memorable version of Huey Lewis and the News “I Want A New Drug” starts in with new lyrics by Ray Parker Jr. (just do a quick search on the net) and everyone starts singing along.

It was that moment it hit me. Everyone is here to enjoy the movie as much as I am. Everyone here is trying to get a piece of their childhood back and forget about things for about 100 minutes.

People laughed at the jokes and were quiet during the dialogue.

To tell you the truth, I got wrapped up in the moment. I was 6 all over again. I was really enjoying myself and then my annoying analytical side of me starts in wondering if there is a pattern, or a way to recreate this hold that something like this has.

I have customers who are hiring me for the fifth year straight. The reason is they know I give a great show. When I first started getting repeat shows I was paranoid I needed to have a brand new show for the old customers and a lot of times the clients asked if I could show new magic. When you do this, you run into the problem of things not being as polished because you haven’t had as much time to spend with the new material. The show will end up looking forced and you’re worried about the next effect instead of worry about the most important thing, the audience.

What I found was that after the repeat show people would come up to me and ask me why I didn’t do certain magic tricks I did the year before, because they loved them.

Hmm…

I immediately stopped trying to find new material for past clients and now I explain to them there is a reason why they are hiring me again. There are parts of the show people really love and actually want to see again like a really good movie you can watch over and over again. My clients understand because all they care about is their guests continuing to have a great time.

At this point there are 6 tricks I put into rotation two at a time in my show. Two tricks will be in one year and then two different tricks will replace them the following year. But I leave in the ones that really leave an impression on the audience. Things people want to see over and over again.

I’m not saying I’m never developing new material because that would be a lie. The point I was making is people are hiring you back for a reason. They want to see you at your best, not your second best. There must be things in your show people want to see again because they were simply amazed the last time.

This has worked for me and I continue to get called back year after year.

It’s true some people are interested in the new fad, but sometimes oldies stay goodies

Always wishing the best,
Adam White
https://dalemagic.com/Other_Artists.html