showmanship Archives

Do You Hate Magicians Using Scripts?

“It usually takes three weeks to prepare

for a good impromptu speech.” – Mark Twain

You practice a trick, master the moves, get the timing perfect, and the misdirection faultless, now what are you going to say as you perform the trick?

You have two basic choices:

‘Wing it’ and see what happens
Create a script

If you look at ‘world class’ public speakers, comedians and even politicians, they can look like they just chat informally to their audience, moving from topic to topic as the presentation flows.
Actually, they are often highly prepared, rehearsed and scripted in everything they do on stage. They work hard to understand, which words they should and which words they should not use.

If you want a convincer about the power of magicians using scripts,we recommend that you go and see Derren Brown perform live next time he is appearing in your area. Make an investment and buy tickets to the same show on two different nights. Noticing when the parts that seem to be ‘ad-lib’ or ‘off the cuff’ are repeated. They are carefully built into his performance to look completely natural. He’s an expert at this and you will learn a great deal from just the price of an extra ticket.

We will be covering the ‘winging it’ approach in a future post, but today we want to look at the following common objection to using a script:

I don’t want to sound scripted!

You really don’t have to at all. The secret is an additional step, often overlooked when magicians work on their magic tricks. It’s the extra work that professional actors and public speakers use to set themselves apart from the competition.

Magicians Using Scripts – The extra step:

Rehearse your script until you sound very ‘canned’

Then rehearse and tweak it until you sound natural and organic giving the lines.

Once you have the script memorized, the real work starts. Listen to how you sound when you say the script. Record yourself reciting it and play the recording back repeatedly. Note the pace and the tone of your delivery. Ask yourself what you could adjust to make each part sound natural and organic. When you say something funny, does it sound forced? If so, how could you deliver that line better?

The payoff for putting in this extra work will show in your performances almost instantly. It may seem like a lot of hassle when it’s far more exciting to start learning the next magic trick instead. However, that’s the whole point. This work on your presentation is part of the process that will set you apart from the average performer.

If you would like to learn more about creating a script for your magic, we recommend the following book Scripting Magic by Pete McCabe

Please let us know your thoughts about magicians using scripts in the comments section below:

Magic Lessons from Dynamo Magician Impossible

by Merchant of Magic 57 Comments

Every magician should study these magic lessons from Dynamo. Steven Frayne AKA Dynamo has risen from the ranks of amateur magicians to become a household name in a very short time. How did he do it? We look at what we can learn from one of the most influential stars of the UK magic scene.

1) The biggest magic lessons from Dynamo

Steven started magic as a kid, and worked hard at his technique for many years. He started practicing while growing up in Bradford’s deprived Delph Hill Estate and took the opportunity to perform his magic tricks wherever he could. For Dynamo, there was no sudden rise to fame, it was a slow journey of learning the skills, getting out, performing and building up his knowledge and reputation. During the early days Dynamo consumed as much information about magic that he could, attended magic conventions and built a relationship with his favorite magic dealers. This way, Dynamo developed a keen eye for what was possible in magic, and what was missing in the market, for his style and persona.

• Initial Footwork: Dynamo is without question a ‘grafter’. Nothing was handed to him on a platter. The kid puts himself out there as much as possible, talking to the magic shop, asking for feedback with other magicians and immersing himself in as much of the world of magic as possible. This gave Dynamo an excellent foundation for developing his techniques and for spotting the freshest, powerful tricks to build into his working magic routines.

WHAT YOU CAN DO: Practice and learn as much as possible, and let your favourite magic shop know what you specifically like to learn, they can work with you to suggest new magic tricks that would be right for you. Although you may not be able to book magic lessons from dynamo himself, you can get the exact same advice he was given..

• Reputation: Dynamo understood that to make it as a magician: You need to be seen. He wasn’t going to be taken seriously by agents unless he had a reputation that preceded him. So where could he get that? Dynamo looked at his other interests, namely his love for hip-hop, and found a door he could knock on. The festival and music scene became his playground. Attending as many events as possible. Performing magic gave him access to the celebrity areas. This young kid in a baseball cap, doing amazing magic was extremely popular and soon he was networking with both celebrities and the media industry.

WHAT YOU CAN DO: Get out and perform. Go to festivals, charity events and anywhere that people can see your magic and your reputation can build. We now live in a world where everyone has a video recorder on their phones. By being out there performing, your skills will get shared and talked about!

2) He understands that people want more than magic when watching Dynamo Magician Impossible

Dynamo picked a target market for his magic. He understood that the quality of the magic tricks is second place to how an audience relates to the performer. His market was the young urban music fan, the student, and the celebrity watcher. Targeting his magic at this audience gave his magic a brand and a style that wasn’t being catered for in the UK.

WHAT YOU CAN DO: Look at yourself and your personal style, what market do you closely match, show can you create a persona that fits that, that you can establish as your ‘brand’

3) Dynamo teamed up with excellent management.

Dynamo has an excellent manager. Because of this, he has reached a huge market and is guided through the jungle that is entertainment media. His management team opens up new possibilities for him, and allows him to focus on developing great new magic, without being swamped by the day to day demands of marketing and business.

WHAT YOU CAN DO: Send your magic CV to agents and build a relationship with the ones you trust and work well with. Build your reputation and move to being fully managed if that becomes right for you, once you are in a position to benefit from it.

4) Dynamo understands where the attention should be.

Some magicians are critical of how Dynamo presents his magic tricks. They argue that he lacks a unique personality and doesn’t ‘perform’ with much showmanship. However, others would point out that this is one of his strong points. Learning from David Blaine’s huge success, Dynamo puts all the focus on the spectator rather than himself. His character is unassuming. The trick and the spectator’s reaction are the most important elements of the presentation. He increases the power of this, by performing to celebrities that are a good fit to his target audience. Each time Dynamo performs for a film star or musician, it’s just as exciting for the fans of that celebrity to see them ‘freak out’ as it is for them to be fooled themselves.

WHAT YOU CAN DO: Be seen in the right locations for your target audience. When you are photographed performing magic, make sure the camera is capturing the audience going wild and having a great time, not just you standing in a group ‘doing something’ This is one of the powerful magic lessons from Dynamo: Be the background to the reaction you create.

5) Dynamo left his ego at home.

Dynamo Magician impossible is all about Dynamo. But as we discussed above, he is not fighting for attention. This is exactly the same as when you meet him in person. He is polite, funny and unassuming. Dynamo shows real interest in other magicians and loves to discuss magic with them. That’s why you often find him at many of the more serious magic conventions and he is a member of The Magic Circle. There is no ego about him, and this makes him a very likable guy.

WHAT YOU CAN DO: Join in with magic communities and go to lectures and conventions. Become friends with other magicians and don’t try to come across as more successful than them. Share idea’s and help other magicians improve their technique as they help you do the same.

6) Dynamo understands social media.

Did you know you can follow Dynamo on Twitter? His twitter name is @dynamomagician. You can also join his YouTube Channel and website Dynamo World. Right from the start he engaged social media to help create his brand. He didn’t post videos of him doing magic in his bedroom or magic lessons from Dynamo revealing tricks.. Instead, he had spectators film him while performing and then upload the footage. He tweets regularly so fans can interact with him.

WHAT YOU CAN DO: Get as much footage of real world performing as possible and create a channel to show this off. Suggest spectators can film you and share the footage. Use Twitter to reach out to your audience and make sure your twitter name is on your business cards

7) Dynamo Magician Impossible makes people care about him as a performer with a back story.

This is one of the most valuable magic lessons from Dynamo to take away.. The format for Dynamo Magician impossible focuses on his back story, how he grew up and the people in his life. The messages contained in the series include themes such as how he loves his family, he understands how lucky he is. Sometimes fame is hard to deal with, he still hangs out with his old friends. His family is important to him. This insight into his character help to make audiences identify with him as a person.

WHAT YOU CAN DO: Read this article on making people care about your magic tricks.

I hope you found these magic lessons from Dynamo useful. The Merchant of Magic can help you develop and put into action any of the suggestions above. The team gives help and advice to magicians on all aspects of improving their magic. Email or call the team

There are also dedicated sections featuring new magic tricks to learn that fit the urban performer in the Dynamo Magic Tricks Section

Useful Posts:
Choosing Good Magic Dealers

Please let us know your thoughts in the comments section below:

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How Magicians Keep Control During a Magic Trick

by Merchant of Magic 5 Comments

I remember I was booked to perform at a large award party many years ago. I was quite nervous about it. I knew my act was fine as I was going to use my set magic routines that were tried and tested at gigs over the years. However, it was the first time I had been booked for a central London awards event and was ‘out of my comfort zone’. Whenever I start working tables, I like to take a few moments to walk around and assess which ones look the most fun. I try to spot which groups seem deep in business conversations and look out for those that could do with some energy being added to them.

On this occasion, however, I was asked by the client to stay outside the room until each award was announced, then pop in and do a table, before exiting for each of the award announcements. Because of this, I didn’t scan the tables first and went straight up to the nearest table and started my set. It became instantly apparent that my choice was not a smart one. Half the table was talking on their phones and the other half were in deep discussion about the previous award. Most of the table stopped what they were doing and started to watch me, but several of the guests continued to talk on their phones and asked questions of the other guests through my routines. In the end they loved the magic, but I simply did not have control and finished that table deeply dissatisfied.

Let’s look at something I could have done to improve that situation and how magicians keep control:

Maintaining Control

When you perform magic tricks for a group, every moment is important if you want to keep control. The goal is to stop your audience’s minds from wandering.

To do this effectively you need to ‘play the audience’ and not allow them to ‘play you’. If your audience unconsciously feels (they do ‘feel’ as a group) that you are not in control of the situation, someone within that group will automatically adopt the ‘Alpha’ dominant position and take control of the group. That’s fine if it’s a person who loves magic tricks and is interested in keeping that as the focus of the group. However, if the dominant person wants the group’s attention for themselves or on another topic, your act can go downhill very fast.

Luckily, there are a few easy techniques can use to help maintain control of a group. Try out a few the next time you perform:

1) Magicians keep control by Looking at the group and seeing who’s boss
Try to spot the dominant ‘Alpha’ group member. He or she is probably already the focus of attention. Engage that person first of all. As you approach the table, make eye contact with that person as you introduce yourself. Privately, you are discreetly asking permission to take some of the attention away from the ‘boss of the table’ and by connecting with that person right from the start, you help let them know you recognize their position, respect it, and are happy to keep them in their position. This all goes unsaid, in a moment of eye contact, but the communication is there and you will be amazed at the difference this can make.

2) Magicians keep control by changing pace
If attention starts to wander, increase or decrease the energy of the routine you are performing. Decreasing the pace can work best if you feel a connection to the group reducing. I discovered this, while reading bedtime stories to my children, and then trying out the technique at the tables.

Slow right down, reduce the volume and pitch of your voice. This signals very loudly that something important is happening and spectators will snap to attention to see what’s going on. You can also switch suddenly to a more conversational style as you add in an anecdote, right in the middle of the routine. Keep it quick, it’s a sudden change of pace and will increase interest.

Remember that the goal is to change the pace. Just going too slowly through the whole routine is a sure fire way to switch your audience off. Aim to make your presentation style like a series of mountains and valleys. Building up, then dropping down, building up again and so on.

3) Be the captain of the ship
The moment you join a group, you want to appear totally in control. You may be starting out and secretly thinking you are out of your depth, but they don’t know that. To them you are a professional entertainer, and a magician. Assume that role totally. Act like the person you would like to be, and you become that person. Have a confident approach, make eye contact, give a big smile to one of the guests in the group and introduce yourself without hesitation.

Here are some behaviors that can signal insecurity to the group and should be avoided:

Pacing Around – Yes, I know it’s fashionable for comedians to do it on stage, but close up situations have different dynamics. Stand still. Move your arms but don’t shift around as it looks like you are unsure or nervous.

Sway or shift your weight from leg to leg. – It just makes you look submissive, unsure and uncomfortable. These are all associations you don’t want the group to have.

Keeping your hands in your pockets – It feels reassuring and casual for you, but not for your spectators.

4) Don’t respond to ‘calls for attention’
This is tricky for close-up magicians, after all, you have just entered the group and it’s their conversation you are joining. However, when you are half way through your routine and just about to get to the climax of the magic trick, when one of the spectators say’s “Excuse me” and asks a question. DON’T stop. Just ignore it and respond when YOU are ready to pay attention to the question. Obviously, if the question is “You are standing on my foot” that needs to be addressed right away, but you should be in control of the magic trick. It’s very easy for a conversation to start which destroys the pace and timing of your trick.

You have playing cards selected and suddenly the spectator starts tell you about a magician they met a while ago and how great his magic tricks were. Don’t be rude, but focus on the trick at hand, and continue with it. A quick “that’s cool” acknowledgment is fine, but there is plenty of time for you to chat about it after your act is over.

Learning how magicians keep control while performing is one of the most important skills to learn, once you have your working material mastered. It’s hard to develop just reading about it. Next time you show a group a magic trick, remember these points and try a few out. Most people don’t see live entertainment close up like this and don’t understand the social rules involved. You are officially there to entertain them. If you are aware of control within a group, you can make the experience of magic so much more enjoyable for them.

Do you have a question about showmanship? The team at the Merchant of Magic can give you advice on this subject and suggest further reading – You can call or email the team here

Whay other tips and techniques can help magicians keep control of a group? Please let us know your thoughts about this topic in the comments section below: