Showmanship for Magicians Chapter 2

Fitzkee encourages modernizing magic performance and props. There are a lot of props in magic that are very outdated.

Fitzkee goes into depth about the special tables magicians buy with the black felt and the tacky fringes and how modern tables never look like that anymore.

But not only the tables that have a problem. Boxes painted in contrasting colors, or worse, fake Chinese symbols. Black dice, funny looking stands and pedestals, and flowers that look like feather dusters is just the start of a list that goes on and on and on.

“Just because it is magical apparatus is no reason it can violate the rules of present day taste.”

If you are getting paid to do a show, you should consider your magical equipment the tools of your trade. Shouldn’t you put your best foot forward when attempting to make an impression?

Magic shops are not to blame for this, because magicians continue to purchase these things. Granted sometimes magicians don’t buy these, but the hobbyists who like to buy their little toys and to play with for an hour and then use them to cover the blank space on the shelf of their magic collection.

Again maybe the past influences magicians. Maybe they have the picture of the magician to be in tails with vibrant painted props, facial hair waxed in strange curls already stuck in their heads and so they feel they must continue the habit. I now see a bad habit of young magicians not dressing up at all. They wear the clothes they wear any where to do a show. Jeans and T-shirt advertising their favorite band. Maybe certain magicians on TV influence that and though acceptable for the realm of street magic, to perform a professional act unless your character is a slob, I would categorize as unacceptable.

Just recently I saw a man in his thirties doing a magic show with illusions and some manipulation in jeans, an untucked shirt and a coat. The shirt didn’t match the coat at all and the jeans looked worn and dirty. He looked ridiculous. Like he was a man that couldn’t face the fact he was getting older and wanted to hold on to his youth for just one more year. The audience judges you within the first five seconds you walk on stage and whether your performance is good or not, that conclusion they make in the first five seconds will haunt their minds and their impression of you for the rest of the show.

Many magicians are characters to their audiences. They have weird haircuts, eccentric behavior, unconventional dress, lack of proper grooming, bad conversation and talking habits.

They brag too much, lie too much and are disagreeable in the attitudes of others and without a care in personal grooming.

People don’t hire a magician for strange boxes, convoluted false stories of the travels around the world, or for poor performances.

No one hires someone for poor workmanship. If you hired a plumber and they did a poor job would you hire them again? If the cable company doesn’t have a clear picture for their channels, do you put up with that? Of course, you don’t.

Now as I discussed earlier, a majority of the people who go to magic shows don’t really know what to expect when seeing magic live. They only can relate magic shows to what they have seen in the past. If they don’t know what a good magic show is, then is it fine for a magician to do a sub par job of entertaining the audience? As a performer of the magical art it is our responsibility not only to the audience, but to the rest of professional magicians out there to the best job possible. To take the time to rehearse, to take the time to replace worn props, be well groomed, have clothes we are proud to wear in front of a crowd.

The point is most audiences are going to be polite to a performer. They’ll laugh politely at the same old lines and they’ll applaud kindly at the end of the show. But don’t think for a second that they didn’t notice the pants that weren’t pressed, the shoes that weren’t shined, the props that look old with the colors faded, or the prop is dirty, or the paint is chipped. Just because they don’t say anything doesn’t mean they didn’t notice, and at the same time you may not get a chance to hear again for it will be the last time you perform for them.

Mind your clothes. If you cannot afford the latest style at least take the time to press and clean them. Mind your grooming, make-up and mind your hands.

Patter is defined as “Glib and rapid talk; Idle chatter or gossip.”

The problem is this truly defines what most magicians have to say during their performances. Most of the time their words are nothing more than explaining the actions taking place or worse a chattering of gags that most of the time do not fit what is being presented.

Prepare, write your lines, memorize the lines, and rehearse. Yes, a lot of work, but none the less fairly simple.

Hiding the secret.

Some performers do not practice enough to make it so the audience can see the effect. Instead they hide the moment with a gag or gesture to block the view of the magic happening. This is a sign of bad rehearsal and performing what should not be performed in front of an audience.

Magic is supposed to be seen. No trick is worth performance if the secret of how it’s done is more important than the impression it makes on the audience.

A secret hoarder is not a magician from the standpoint of being an interesting entertainer.

Rehearse the magic, till it becomes out in the open and still amazing. Practice until the motions, the words and performance is to the ease of breathing. For when you are at this point you can worry about what is truly important; the audience.

One way of doing this is to go to performance of first-class productions, taking notes of dress and behavior. Listen to the music and how the performers responds, take not the delivery of the lines, study the reaction of the audience. Not just a magic show, but a professional theater production. Spend some money and become educated.

Then ask yourself. What do you prefer? Do you go to a magic show because they entertain you ? Or because your interested as a magician?