2010-12 Dennis’ Deliberations

I did fly back to Orlando for a few days the first of this month but family business, fixing our house and attending a cataract operation for my brother took all my time.

Cindy had already been there for a few weeks with her car so we returned on the road. On the way back, on Saturday, we hit snow on I-77 just north of Charlotte, NC and followed the tracks of snowplows for 3 hours through the mountains and in southwest Virginia. Here in Harrisonburg we only had a light dusting but the temperatures have been in the 20s and strong winds. More snow expected.

The Christmas Holiday Party Season is looking pretty bleak up here for shows as most companies have cut way back again this year but I have my regular shows doing restaurant magic. I do hope that all of you have a happy holiday season and things will be looking up for next year. Many of us have been down for so long we don’t know what “up” looks like. I have a new school show going on the road in January and I will keep you updated. In the meantime, I am still doing radio work and substitute teaching. Ring #320 here elected me their Secretary so you will again read my Ring Reports in the Linking Ring.

There has to be a new paradigm in magic marketing and Jay Sankey seems to understand it well.

Ya gotta hand it to him, Jay Sankey is working the Internet like a violin. And likely, profiting handsomely from it. If so, then if I ever meet him again (his hard luck), I'll say to him "GOOD ON YA!" -- as it's always nice to see magicians giving back as much as they get. ... Or some such.



But!! His magic "Advice for Beginners" gave me a chance to genuinely question some of it. It's not so much that it is "wrong", as that it is often incomplete, and as such, misses a number of essential points and subtleties that ... to be fair ... the intermediate and professional entertainers will understand and appreciate more than the beginner, after each piece of advice given by Jay. With the help of my friend, Canada’s Larry Thornton, I decided to enhance some of Jay’s thinking.



Jay Sankey gives some of his best tips, advice and inspiration for new magicians and says:


Practice Makes Perfect: before you show anyone a trick be sure to practice it at least a few times. Much better chance of performing it well!

Yeah, at least "a few times" -- like three! Then you'll be performing the trick so well, that you'll be ready to print-up some business cards and go out and do paid gigs.

Never repeat a trick: I don't mean, never show a trick more than once to anyone, just to the same audience! If you repeat the trick, they will have a much better chance of figuring out the method.

After you've fooled your mom, dad, the neighbors, and your friends at school, having no more audience to show the trick to, you can get "further mileage" out of the trick by showing them all how it was done! --NO, I’m kidding. Seriously, there are many tricks that, in fact, are designed to be repeated before the same audience, as each showing contains minor variations that make the effect progressively stronger. ("Ah!! I think I saw a few lights go on in the minds of some of you. You think you know how it's done? Then let me show you again..." -- patter I've never used, but maybe someday...).

Be an entertainer, not a trickster: people only like being fooled when you make it FUN. Don't just try to "fool them" (i.e. make fools of them) but try to ENTERTAIN them.

Jay must have matured: The last time I saw him perform (back when the Dead Sea was only sick…) he never made fools of anyone, but rather, treated them from the start as if they were already fools.

Fewer the words the better: most magic can speak for itself so be sure to keep your script or words to a minimum. Then practice those few sentences until you know them by heart.

Never practice to the extent that your patter begins to sound robotically "rote". Most magic, unlike theatre, is primarily an interactive medium that involves direct interplay with your audience. Breaking "the fourth wall" in magic is a rule rather than an exception. Practice a routine until you know it so well, that if you are interrupted, you'll see an opportunity to inject a bit of spontaneous by-play or humor into it (depending on audience response), so go for it! Always remember, you are dealing with real people who don't always react in the same way.

Only show your magic to people who like magic! As wonderful as it is, not everyone likes magic. Also, you want people to be polite and supportive of what you are doing! They will also make for the best audiences!

Good advice, except that the larger the audience, the less you know the degree to which some of them "dislike magic". Your job is to do your very best to awaken in even the most magic-phobic individuals a 'like" -- if not outright love -- for magic. Perhaps such jaded souls had the unfortunate experience of being an unintentional witness to some mediocre magic act in their forgettable past. Only they didn't forget that the magic was mediocre! Many professional magicians 'break through' to these people through the use of humor; so much so, that some have turned themselves primarily into comedians who do magic. Remember: nobody was born disliking magic -- they have to have a legitimate reason to hate it.

Avoid the "the hand is quicker than the eye cliche" and perform your magic SLOWLY. This will take a lot of practice because you might be a little nervous, but you will be able to do it with enough experience. Slower is clearer and much more magical.

"The hand is quicker than the eye", a popular notion of the public, completely misses the psychology of the art. Science tells us that the human eye is, in fact, infinitely faster than any hand. In rare cases it applies, but it is an aphorism more suited to boxing. (Well, you wouldn't have argued the point with Muhammad Ali in his prime!) On the other hand, magic PROPS can be quicker than the eye. Examples include the Vanishing Bird Cage, the vanishing and appearing Walsh Canes, and the vanishing Botania. The Metamorphosis illusion (aka Sub Trunk) as performed by the Pendragons may, or may not apply.

Don't be a pest. As excited as you are about magic, try not to "burn out" your friends or family by showing them a trick every single day. Instead, try to show them magic only once or twice a week and wait for a time that works for them, not just you!

The peculiarity of magic is that it is the only form of entertainment that has the problem of amateurs bungling it and becoming a constant nuisance to others in the process. Do people who decide to take up singing go around doing it for others at the drop of hat? Do dancers, musicians, actors -- I've made my point. In no other branch of the performing arts does any advice-giver have to beg beginners not to become an idiotic nuisance to others.

Learn everything you can about magic. You can find books about magic in your local library and there is lots of information on-line. You can also purchase magic tricks, books and DVDs from your local magic dealer.

Astute advice, but "finding books about magic in your local library" went out with the dinosaurs and eight-track tapes. This is the digital age, where anyone with a sincere interest in magic can find a ton of information online (as Jay does acknowledge); and magic tricks, books and DVDs need no longer come from a local magic dealer. Most smaller cities and towns don't have a magic shop anymore (if they ever did). Street-level magic shops are becoming as rare as an ice cube in the Sahara desert, while hundreds of online "magic shops" can be found very easily at the click of a mouse. And dealer's demos can now be seen via video clips on YouTube, where the "golden rule" of magic is shattered by their endless repeatability. But that's another story...

Don’t reveal the secret to a trick! This is hard not to do because it's fun to show the cool trick behind the magic. Also, friends and family will often push you to tell them, but don't. They will be disappointed and think less of the marvelous magic you do.

These days the "bigger game" is to go on YouTube and tell the entire world how your trick is done. --Even if the trick is a commercially-sold item that you have no business exposing. So Jay's advice here should be expanded to include not only your personal and local "friends and family", but everyone!

Mirror practice: spend time on a regular basis practicing your tricks in front of a mirror so you can see how the tricks will look to your audience. This will teach you a great deal about performing magic.

That may satisfy your narcissistic urges. Today, you will want a video recorder so you can watch every move. You never can get a complete view with a mirror.

Surprise is one of the golden keys. Don't tell the audience what you are going to do before you do it or you increase the chances of getting caught. It also lessens the drama of any story you are telling.

The element of surprise is paramount. But you needn't always be secretive about what you are about to do. I routinely do an effect where I tell the audience "I'm going to attempt to turn these two doves into a rab -- oops! I nearly gave it away!" and after some more by-play of that nature (you had to be there) the doves disappear totally in a break-apart box. There's no expected rabbit to be seen anywhere (at least not until the end of the show). The point here, is that you can tell the audience what you are "going to do" (albeit with tongue-in-cheek) with a very small number of effects; but for beginners, Jay's advice is largely correct. Perhaps I'm splitting "hares" here , pardon the pun.

Every trick should have a magic moment, some moment when you snap your fingers or wave your hand or when the magic is supposed to have JUST happened. That makes for good theatre.

Every trick? Some tricks, like the Six Card Repeat, or the Linking Rings, just to name two of many, have a continuous blending of unfolding "moments". With a lot of magic, the journey can be as much of a reward as the final surprise ending. (If you truly want to call yourself an entertainer, the "journey" should be entertaining even if the trick has only magical moment.)

You don't have to be funny! You can be serious, silly, witty, funny, thoughtful or anything you want when you present your magic! If you don't feel comfortable trying to be funny, don't worry, just be yourself!!!

Show me any young person who, if they were asked, "Just who are you?" could give an answer. Or someone of any age for that matter. If a magician is really an actor playing the part of a magician, then what kind of advice is it to say, "Just be yourself!" ? If I was truly myself, I wouldn't be getting in front of audiences and pretending to do the impossible while I lied through my teeth about it. You should try to reach beyond yourself and practice, practice, practice playing a character who can actually DO the impossible: a magician with the skills to defeat the laws of logic and common sense, starting, say, with that venerable chestnut of a card trick that has the line in it, "And now tell me what row it's in!"

Make the magic yours! Develop your own presentations and even the way you go from one trick to another. Bring your own unique style to your magic.

This assumes that everyone can conjure up a unique style. The popular myth is that by inventing your own unique presentation, you'll be the best performer that you can be. If that were so, then thousands of magicians wouldn't be doing the same tricks in the same way, almost word-for-word. If magicians had to be totally original in order to succeed, most of them would abandon magic.

Get the audiences involved as much as possible. Shuffle the cards, think of a number, examine a prop, etc. The more they get involved, the more they will care about what you do!

The last time I tried to get a bunch of adults involved, I had to tell six of them I wouldn't be able to begin until they pocketed their Blackberries and iPhones. The more they got involved with their addicting toys, the less they cared about what I was about to do. Welcome to the second decade of the 21s century.

Get a magic buddy! Not only can you watch this show together, you can learn a lot by watching each other and rehearsing together!

Maybe this is a hint to come to ring meetings and luncheons and have a lot of magic friends!

By Jay Sankey - Be sure to check out Jay's website: SankeyMagic.com

From our house to yours, Cindy and I wish you the best from the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia!

Dennis