Troy Magician Magic on UK TV – The Next Dynamo Magician Impossible?

Congratulations to UK close up magician Troy He's been signed by Channel 4 to create 6 new magic shows to TV.

The Merchant of Magic works with many magicians who create pilot shows and pitch to the networks. Although the quality is high, the chances of a new magic show being given the go ahead is very small. The magic shop team have helped Zig Zag Productions by supplying props and giving advice for Troy, so we are really excited that his show has been commissioned!

The first Troy Magician series will highlight the young magician's style and talent by performing amazing magic tricks for the general public. It's a format that has worked very well for Dynamo Magician Impossible. The magic TV shows will fuse street magic and close up magic in the studio, ending with a central big magic trick to close each episode.

Troy Von Scheibner (24) is of German and Jamaican descent and was raised in South London. He has been an active member of the Young Magicians Club since the age of 13.

The first series is due to air in February 2014. We will keep you posted as we get more news.

"We are delighted that Troy has come to Channel 4. He’s a very rare, natural TV talent and the most exciting young magician in the country. We’re really looking forward to making mischief with him." – Tina Flintoff

“We're very excited to have discovered Troy. He has exceptional talent and a very bright future ahead of him. Channel 4 is the natural home for Troy and we're delighted to be working together to introduce him to the British public”. – Danny Fenton CEO of Zig Zag

There's no doubt that the target audience for Troy is similar to that of Dynamo Magician Impossible. Insiders have been saying for a long time that Channel 4 has been seeking a similar format to go up against the hit 'street magician' signed by Watch.

As magicians, this is great news. Magic shows like Dynamo Magician Impossible and Troys new magic show are keeping magic current and popular to an audience fleeing from conventional TV networks over to internet based media such as Youtube.

The focus on street style and urban culture are ensuring that close up magic maintains it's appeal to the next generation of clients for live magic entertainment.

Advice for beginning to learn magic tricks – David Regal Interview

by Dominic Reyes 1 Comment

One of the most recommended books on learning how magic works and how to perform it with impact is Approaching Magic by David Regal. It's been a best selling magic book consistantly since it's first publication, and finds a home on most successful magicians bookcases.

If you are very new to learning magic, I should give you some background on David Regal. David is a television writer and one of the worlds most respected creators of magic tricks for magicians. He served as head writer for Nickelodeon’s Rugrats, and has written for many sitcoms, including multiple episodes for Everybody Loves Raymond. David Regal magic tricks are performed worldwide.

Dominic Reyes caught up with David Regal to ask him for some quick tips for magicians beginning to learn magic tricks.

If you were at the start of your magic career again, what three things would you do differently?

1) I’d have studied more about all types of fabrication. Woodworking, metalworking, plastic, etc.

2) I should have kept a list of magic that I’ve seen and loved, so I could better try and understand the qualities I admire, both in performance and the principles involved.

3) I’d have learned false transfers earlier in my development. Why? I feel a false transfer is the ultimate lie in a craft built on lies, and the least armor a performer can wear. Getting into magic, we often try to cover ourselves with armor via method; but a false transfer, well performed, teaches us and corrects us – it opens a door.

Have you found that being a writer for shows such as Rugrats has helped with your creativity?

I see the problems one faces when writing episodic television, and the problems one faces when structuring a magic routine or seeking a method, as identical. Both involve what I see as multiple knots, tied one upon the other. Issues that lack solutions. There are many ways one can reach the end – the best are the most elegant, and generally seem simple in retrospect.

Are there any amazing creative tips you learned from them that you would like to share?!!?

The best creative tip I can offer is:

Begin.

Most people never do that out of fear of the immensity of the task. Most important, when you begin, have intent. Without intent, it is difficult to evaluate one’s movement. Don’t expect to succeed every time – you will and you won’t. Simply have intent, see where you arrive, and compare it to that intent.

What came first for Clarity Box, the method for the trick or the idea for the trick?

Most things start with a problem I’d like to solve, or an image I’d like to create. I wanted to have a clear box that exact size of The Clarity Box, that would do what The Clarity Box does. I drew it while on an airplane, on the barf bag, and took it home with me. I made the first one out of come pieces of clear plastic I’d purchased for another magic trick I was working on, one that never worked right. I taped it all together and tried it out in front of the bathroom mirror.

If you could give a complete beginner one piece of advice what would it be?

A great thing about magic is no matter what age you are when you start, there is always something wonderful that you can do. Find a trick you love performing that fits your skill level, and do it well. Simultaneously challenge yourself. Work on something that you find more difficult. Work on it for weeks, months, maybe a year. Show your magic tricks to a friend who will be honest with you about the good and the bad. There is great satisfaction to be found when one both enjoys the pleasures that come with performing magic for others, and privately works on that “next thing.”

The Merchant of Magic offers a full range of magic books, tricks and DVD's by David Regal. You can visit the David Regal section here.

The 7 Habits of Highly Successful Close Up Magicians

by Dominic Reyes 3 Comments

By Dominic Reyes

Over the years, I've had the pleasure of working with some of the most talented close up magicians in the world. By viewing these successful working magicians in action, it's possible to spot several factors that they all have in common. We can copy these 'habits' and add them to our own practice and performance of magic. Lets look at the 7 performance habits most often found in the behavour of successfull magicians:

1) Keeping control of the audience

It's important to learn how to control and direct your audience. Successful magicians take time to learn how to capture attention, foster interest, and control a group of spectators. Reading books on direct sales and showmanship just as much as you read magic books can help you learn ways to gain control of your audience and keep their attention throughout your performance. Discuss audience management with other performers. Take note what works well in a live situation. Successful magicians will often spend just as much time relating to their spectators as they do performing the mechanical aspects of their magic tricks. Time is taken to perfect posture, eye contact, and pacing, to control how a spectator reacts. Learning how to control an audience will ensure that you don't hesitate if a spectator suddenly asks you a question in the middle of you trick. You learn to keep your cool by anticipating this behaviour in advance, whilst not appearing to ignore the interruption that may have taken place.

2) Punctuality.

Successful magicians make a habit of arriving in plenty of time for their shows. Being on time is vital if you want to build a great reputation. In fact, being on time is not good enough. Arriving early to a gig gives you time to check out the venue, chat with the client and the event staff, and address any unexpected problems that may have occurred. If you are booked to start at 8pm, make sure you arrive by 7pm. An extra hour may seem excessive, but it pays off over the long term. Being relaxed, ready and prepared is far more important than an extra hour before you set off for a gig. That hour is usually spent in 'preparation limbo' anyway, so spend it at the venue instead. Being early means that you stay calm and relaxed.

3) Pocket Management and Resets.

Do you remember your first magic gig? I do remember my first time performing as if it were yesterday. I took way too much stuff with me, and loaded my pockets with as many magic tricks as I could carry. I remember laughing after the gig that I really only needed 20% of the items I carried with me that night. In fact, the gig was harder because of all the equipment getting in the way. Successful magicians know exactly what they will need for each gig and streamline their pocket management, so every item has its place. The magic tricks that successful magicians perform tend to be built into working sets. Each set is designed to have the right resets and the magic props have locations on the magician which allow him or her to move through the set without fumbling for pens, cards or any of the props needed for the set. Good pocket management will make your magic seem effortless and spontaneous.

4) Knowing when to arrive and leave.

The best close up magicians know just when to join a new group and when to leave. They don't just plough into a new group as they stumble through the room working. They look for 'in' moments, when there is a break in the conversation, and they can engage the group without interrupting a guests anecdote or joke. Successful magicians know how to leave a group wanting more. Their magic are constructed to:

Introduce
Engage
Create energy
Build to an applause.

Knowing when to stop performing is just as important as the choice of magic tricks that you perform. Successful magicians perform just enough to entertain the group, but not so much that they are taking over the whole event. The secret is to leave them wanting more. Perform a few tricks, and promise that you can return later if they request it.

5) Effective use of space.

Close up magicians don’t use a stage for their shows. The magic happens right in the thick of the action. That means there is little or no control over the performing environment. Successful magicians will have already scouted out the venue before they start performing. They know the blind spots in the room, the walkways, serving points and access channels around each table. When they perform, skilled magicians move around through the show, making sure that everyone is engaged and gets to see the magic tricks up close. Motion is life, and motion created energy. Standing in one spot though your whole set of tricks, doesn’t help build energy. It’s one of the reasons modern comedians tend to pace up and down the stage as they deliver their stand up comedy. Movement keeps peoples attention.

6) Simplification.

There are commercial magic tricks, and tricks designed for entertaining magicians. One of the most common differences between the two forms of magic is simplicity. Successful magicians understand that the magic tricks they perform need to be simple to understand. A general rule of thumb is: A magic trick should be easy to explain in a single sentence. When it comes to casual walk-around magic, effort= boring to the spectators. That doesn’t mean that the magician can’t perform magic that touches on complex concepts, but the presentation needs to be clever enough to reduce the complexity to it’s simplest form, so most of the thinking has already been done for the spectators. A great example of this in action is the work of Derren Brown. Many of these presentations involve quite heavy theories or concepts. However, his entertaining presentation simplifies this for the audience, so they don’t feel like they are having a mental workout.

7) Timing.

Probably the most important skill of successful magicians, yet one that is so often overlooked, is timing. Knowing just when to pause, when to speed up, and when to pass a cheeky smile to the spectator. Timing is everything, once the mechanical aspects of a magic trick have been mastered. Despite this, it’s often not discussed in the instructions for most magic tricks. Timing comes from rehearsal of the whole trick, including the patter and physical actions. It’s then developed through live performance and remains in a constant state of development though out the magicians whole experience performing the act. There are many courses and books for actors on timing, and it’s effort well spend, building up as much knowledge as possible on this key skill to becoming a successful magician.

Where the 7 habits of sucessful magicians come from.

What do all 7 habits of successful magicians have in common? None of them are found in the instructional DVD that comes with most magic tricks. They develop through performance. Not necessarily live to the public, as performance can be simulated in rehearsal, but they only develop through applying each magic trick into the environment that it will be presented within. To develop the 7 habits of successful magicians, I recommend getting as much experience as possible, performing your magic to strangers in a social setting. This doesn’t need to be paid gigs, you can do charity events, fund raisers or community social gatherings. The key is to get out and find out how magic is presented in the real world, with all the distractions and interactions that provides. The rewards you will gain, in the development of your magic performance will be limitless.