2007-06 Rocky Raccoon and a Way of Thinking

Rocky Raccoon instantly captures the attention and interest of kids from 2 - 90. Why is that? Because he is different and yet plausible. I have had people from babies to Mensans keep grins on their face while Rocky goes through his paces. (Note the wording - Rocky goes through his paces, I don't put him through his paces - it's an attitude!)

Now, I am strictly an amateur magician but I have learned some lessons from working with Rocky.

People accept Rocky as long as I treat him as I would a living animal. He keeps moving and I pet him while talking to people. If someone walks by, he watches them. His head follows the conversation.

At our annual banquet I brought Rocky out and an unnamed magician made the statement that Rocky is just too hard to sell as real. Is that to say everything else we do in a magic show is real, or that the audience believes it is real? People like Rocky, they make him real in their own minds; good enough.

People ask questions, but the questions, as worded, open the door for some diabolical slight of mouth. People just don't ask what they really want to know; we can work with that error to our advantage.

The invariable question "Is he real?" takes me back to Kenton Knepper's Wonder Words. It isn't the answer given, but the effect the answer has on the questioner. I have taken to answering the question by: "He's as real as he gets." What does that
mean? Search me! I flippantly said it one time and noted the odd reaction. Cha-ching bank that one! Yet, people do not pursue the question further. Obviously, Rocky is real; he is a real spring animal.

The intended question of course is "Is he alive?" Strangely, people seldom ask that question. My answer to that question is: "He thinks so." The point though is that people don't ask the questions they really want answered. They will ask a related question, one that we can answer in ways that build mental illusions.

What questions do you get during your performance? How can you give direct questions to the words used and not address the questioner's intent? Find your answers and add to the humor and illusion of your act.


Dan
Dan Knapp