The 13th Hour Challenge

[William Draven]

Greetings Fellow Magicians!

I've got an exciting challenge for you to wrap your heads around. I can't offer cool prizes or fancy things in exchange for your creativity, but I can offer bragging rights. Really, this is just a thread designed to help improve creativity, and critical problem solving skills.

I am fairly sure this may turn into a weekly serial so I'm calling it "The 13th Hour Challenge." The name is selected because of the theme of the challenge, being that it must be done at the absolute last minute.

Here's the details. You are here by challenged to put together a show that will play for as little as 25 people, and up to as many as 200. You are challenged to assemble a stage/parlor show with a run time of no more than one hour, and no less than 40 minutes. Since there will be children in your audience you can't go too risque with your material.

Material selected for the performance -must- fit the theme somehow. Theming is very important to a performance, as any theater production will tell you. A properly themed act can set the audiences mood long before the performer even takes the stage. Companies like Disney have made millions because they know how to effectively theme an event or location. If the selected effect for your act isn't intuitively obvious to the theme then you will need to explain how you plan to make it work: IE: patter or other wise. Your spending budget for the show is minimal. No more than $25 dollars may be spent aquring props or other wise.

The show's theme this week is: "Pirates".

Detail how you would complete this task to the specified theme. What would your set list be (Names of effects and order they appear in), what kind of unique patter or jokes would you use, costuming, wardrobe, stage effects, assistants, etc.

Good Luck!

 

[ReubenGazertheAmazer]

This is one hell of a challenge!

 

[William Draven]

I wanted a challenge to present to everyone here that is rooted in real world applications.

Getting a client that wants to pay you good money to do a themed event that may fall outside your normal comfortable area of specialty is JUST the kind of thing that happens to magicians.

I'm curious to see how people react to this.

 

[KeoSilver]

So you want us to design an entire show? Sounds interesting, Dead line? Because I am a busy wolf and need to pencil in things here and there.

 

[William Draven]

Why don't we say 1 week?

 

[KeoSilver]

*taps his muzzle in thought*
Hmm, sounds fare and something that I would definitly have to do in theatre tech. I except your challenge Mr. Draven.

 

[KeoSilver]

Storyline:

A small boy is reading a book about Gray beard; he wishes that he were there to meet the sailor Gray beard. Something catches his eye near his toy box, he goes to inspect it and Gray beard appears in his toy box. Gray beard begins to tell the boy tales of his journeys. At the end of the show the boy goes to sleep and Gray beard vanishes back into the book/ he undoes his costume and it is revealed to be his father.



Effects:

Egg bag with a diamond instead of an egg,
Story
“One time I was sailing with my pirate friends, and they accidentally left me on an island that wasn’t on a map. Exploring the island I came face to face with monsters that would scare any living person, but not Grey bear. I fought my way past the snakes big enough to swallow a man whole, I cut through the vines that were alive wrapping around you trying to keep me from moving forward. This just pushed me harder I wanted to know why such horrible beasties were protecting. I found out why in a big valley there were diamonds all along the ground. Observing the site in front of me, I noticed it started to rain meat. I knew this couldn’t be and looked up seeing some people. Big giant birds began swooping down to pick up the meat to their nest carrying some of the diamonds with it.

I had to get of the valley and I wasn’t about to go through the forest again. Do you know what I did? I strap a hunk a meet to my back and the birds took me to their nest. Boy* didn’t you get any of the diamonds? Gb8* A whole sack full but I was caught by the locals an had to give up most of them I tricked them and still had one left.”
Egg bag routine begins

Victory Cartons
Boy shows the boxes empty while looking for the thing that caught his eye.

100 foot rope escape
This could go after the egg bag using audience participation,
Gray beard instead of being let go by the locals is tied up to a chair, He sees his ship has returned and needs to escape which he then does in a comical way. Kids laugh at the big guy falling down and struggling.

BA table vanish

Cardboard with black spray paint, and lots of blinding light because I am cheap gosh darn it.


This is what I have so far more to come later including maybe some costume drawings and stage and set pieces

 

[Mr.MadMan]

Hmm sounds interesting, ive been wanting to assemble a Mentalism act for some time now. Ill let ya know when im finished

Mikk

 

[Dima]

Could one twist the theme into "piracy" as a joke and present it more in that direction? As in downloads and whatnot.

Although there is much more historical value in traditional pirates, it would be tough to present properly to a mostly adult audience. I would don a suit with an eye patch and hat perhaps, to give it a more modern feel.

Interesting...