Where's the best place to store your magician's case?

Michael asks: 'Where do you store your equipment when you are doing walk-around magic? Should I keep everything with me, or have an area that I use as a base?'

It would be lovely if magicians only performed material that allows them to carry everything they need with them at a magic gig. Working without a bag or case is a great position to be in, as it allows you to just turn up and start performing. However, in reality, that's just too limiting. Unless you are performing only mentalism or card magic, chances are you will need to take a wide range of items with you to most gigs. Take a look at this post about essential items to keep in your magicians case.

Here's a short video I recorded at a recent gig that talks about something I highly recommend you start doing when you take magic bookings:

Ask for a private room

Whenever possible, either myself or my agent will ask the client for a private room or area to be put aside for me to set up. It's worth taking a moment to ask for this, as it's often easily provided. Most venues do have small side rooms that could be put aside for the magician, or they will be happy to set aside a screened off area for your use. Don't assume that this will be an issue, as almost all venues are used to this request. You may also find that either the venue or the client will provide some refreshments in that area for you. There is never any harm in asking…

Finding your own place to store your magicians case

Most of the time, you will need to turn up at a gig, have a look around, and choose a place that will be best to store your magician's case. You need to pick an area with the following 2 features:

1) Easy access

You will need to return to your magician's case several times through the event, so it's important to make sure you will be able to gain access easily when required. At the same time you need to find an area where the case won't be in the way. It's a balancing act between accessibility and consideration for the guests and event staff.

2) Security

A lot of magicians have had their magician's case stolen over the years. That's really not a nice feeling! Pick somewhere that is quite hidden, so your case it not in view to people passing by. Keep items like your wallet or car keys with you if possible.

Put your business card on your magicians case.

Leave one of your business cards on the case when you are away from it. If a staff member or security find the case when you are away, they will know who it belongs too and why it's there. Your business card as a 'marker' will also stop them moving the case to reception or a cloakroom.

Performance Versus Magic Practice

by Dominic Reyes 1 Comment

Performance vs. practice – Do you practice your magic to perfection or get out and perform in order to perfect your magic tricks?

Sam writes:

'I've been into magic for a while now, and when I was young I could perform magic to people without worrying if I were going to mess up the trick. I'm 21 now and for some reason I feel the need to practice the trick to perfection before I can perform it to anyone, even family. Is this a good or bad thing?'

Here is what Ben Williams said in reply, hopefully if you have the same issues this advice will help you out too!

When we mature our brains develop much more of a realisation of consequence. When you were younger, you probably didn't think about any consequence of performing a magic trick due partially to this fact. It is not a bad thing to practice an effect to perfection before performing it. The problem would be if you are not performing the trick because of fear it is not good enough, not that you don't know it inside out. When going to perform we all have fears at the last minute, such as the trick you feel like doing is just not going to fly or get the reactions you imagine. The real truth is that you just don't know how your magic is going to go down and in all reality it most likely is going to get a much better reaction than you imagine.

Magic Practice

I truly think that practice is not a bad thing at all, but you should be able to realise when you have practiced something enough. Take a punt on performing it, this is where your skills will become honed.

You can practice a move in front of a mirror until it looks invisible, but if you go to pieces in front of someone when performing then no amount of practice at home will get you past that. My advice would be to practice some easy tricks that you can do without a hitch. Even if they are self-working, get two of those tricks, one to begin a set with, and one to end it. Sandwich those magic tricks around a new trick that you want to perform, but haven't road tested yet. This way, if it goes wrong, it doesn't matter.

It's not the end of the world

There is nothing wrong with a trick not working; it is only your ego that is harmed. If you can brush that off, then there is nothing left to worry about. If a mistake doesn't matter to you then how can a spectator be bothered by it or harass you? Sure, you may feel for a moment like you have egg on your face; or that you have not done yourself justice. However, if you let those feelings pass and look at it from a different perspective, that of it being a positive experience to learn from then you will only get better and better. Learn from your mistakes, remember a mistake is only a mistake if you refuse to learn from it, if you learn a valuable lesson then how can it be anything other than a positive experience?

A friend of mine, Justin Flom said he will ALWAYS offer magic up to his friends and people he meets, he always has something prepared and will always try new things on his friends. True friends would not care if anything went wrong, they may laugh at you for a moment but if they are real friends it won't change anything, just laugh with them. It is true; it can feel horrible if you are trying to make an impact with your magic and then it goes wrong. If the secret is revealed or just does not work at all, the illusion you are trying to create falls to the floor like a backdrop curtain revealing all that is behind it. But in truth nothing is that bad, yeah an effect won't have worked, an illusion is destroyed but did anyone get hurt? Was anything illegal done? Did anyone lose their life savings? No! So in the grand scheme of things nothing has happened. Just brush yourself off and forget how it made you feel and make sure you get to the bottom of why it went wrong. Then work on the issue so that you do not make a mistake by repeating it.

Think like Dr. Pepper, what is the worst that could happen? Take a deep breath, clear your mind of any negative thought. Just rock up with an opening line that gets the ball rolling so you cannot simply back out, and you will have a great time. I used to turn up at gigs worried sick that it would be terrible and after every gig I would leave and feel amazing as it was never as bad as I had imagined!

Guessing the Secrets of Magic Tricks

by Dominic Reyes 1 Comment

By Dominic Reyes

A spectator guessing possible solutions, can be just as bad as spotting the true secrets of magic tricks. How can magicians defend themselves against this?

I have a good friend who is totally obsessed with zombie movies. He must have watched them all. Zombie films are almost as much of an obsession for him as magic is for me. Watching these old zombie flicks with him has taught me two things:

1) Zombies simply shouldn't run.

2) Some of these films are truly terrible.

The weak story I can forgive. After all, there's only so much plot you can build in. The low budget is fine. What gets me is the sloppy lack of attention to detail. Sometimes a sound boom pops into view. Every now and then you see a reflection in a window of the camera crew.. Little details that shouldn't be there. That's also a valuable point in the performance of close up magic:

If your audience becomes distracted by something that shouldn't be there, they lose part of the experience.

When you perform your sleight of hand, it goes without saying that you should have learned to perform the moves to a point where they are automatic, natural and flawless. You should work on your technique until there is very little chance of a something 'flashing' or 'talking' during its execution. A messed up move can pull your spectators out of the 'magical experience' in the blink of an eye. Switching their attention from the theatre of the routine, to an appraisal of your abilities. But what about 'tells' and flashes that don't even exist…

When a move that never happened goes wrong

It's quite possible for an audience member to detect a move, even though it never happened. Even if your technique is flawless, an audience member may think of an explanation for a trick even though it isn't the actual method you used. To the spectator, it doesn't really matter. If the trick COULD be done like that, in their minds, they got it right. Once any explanation is present, the magic is lost.

'It could have gone up his sleeve'
'The playing card could have already been there'
'It could have been wires'
'He could have hidden it in his other hand'

ANY explanation is the right answer to a spectator viewing your magic as a puzzle. Magic needs to be impossible, so it's your job as a magician to make sure you remove the possibility of methods even when they are not present.

Spectators are not chained to technique

Unlike a magician, a spectator is free from the restraints of technique. You may know that it's not possible for the coin to be up your sleeve, because it would be in the wrong place for its production later in the routine. You understand that even if you were to be able to peek at the playing card before it went into the deck, that would not help you, because it changes colour once it's revealed.. You understand what's possible within the context and structure of the trick. Your spectators are free from any of those cares. They don't know any of the secrets of magic tricks. If they find ANY explanation, they have solved the 'puzzle' and that's good enough for them. They don't care about the fine details in the same way.

How do we fight this?

Destroying possibilities

Look through the tricks that you perform. Try to shed all your magical knowledge and see them as a spectator does. How COULD the trick be done, if you could do anything within the laws of Physics?

Could the card be swapped?

If the other hand had the coin, would that be an answer?

Is it possible that the choice wasn't totally fair?

Taking time to come up with an alternative, unlikely, and even apparently silly 'solutions' for the magic tricks you perform is valuable. Once you collect all the 'wrong answers' you can make sure your presentation guides your audience to dismiss them without even giving them attention.

Know your enemy

Work on dispelling possible solutions to your tricks, by identifying them. It's easy to be blind to them because you are so wrapped up in the mechanics of what's really required to make the trick work.

Try to think from the perspective of your spectators. Ask yourself what they would be thinking during each moment of the routine.

If you can, show your magic to some young kids. They will be brutally honest, and surprisingly imaginative. The tricks may go over their heads or fail to hold their attention, but they will probably have quite a few possible solutions you never thought about.

Once you identify all the possible solutions, you can adapt the structure of the trick, and the presentation of the effect, so that you clearly cut off each 'solution' as impossible.

Expose your own magic

You may even draw attention to a few common 'solutions' and point out to the spectators how they would be impossible. It's fine to take a moment during a trick, to recap on the fairness of the conditions, the impossibility of what is about to happen, and to dispell any solutions that the audience may have. You may find this an interesting presentation in and of itself.