If you have to do magic, I would suggest doing something more visual for the class which won't inhibit you from speaking and interacting with your audience. Personally, I think Match Bite is too small of an effect to appreciate from a distance, and it's inappropriate for such a project, because it requires you to put objects in your mouth instead of communicating your thoughts as a legitimate speech should.
When I gave my valedictorian speech in high school, I spoke about how throughout the four years, we were required to constantly juggle various priorities: schoolwork, extracurricular activies, social lives, etc. Onstage, in front of my entire high school class of 500 people, I proceeded to juggle balls representing the various priorities of a student. My speech then touched upon how we interacted as friends, teammates, and students throughout the high school experience and I proceeded to perform a brief Cups and Balls Routine to the words I was saying. To conclude, I said we should look forward to the unexpected and appreciate the surprises to come ahead of us because our high school graduation marked a new beginning for everyone. I produced various fruits from under the cups and a watermelon from under my graduation cap. The speech was apparently one of the most memorable in the school's history and various former classmates still comment on it today.
That's something I'm personally proud of-- perhaps it can give you a few ideas.
Rather than just do some disjointed magic tricks, try to make the magic mean something more. Make your words the focus of your speech and allow the magic to frame it rather than vice versa. Too many people think that magic should be the focus of a performance where it should actually be a more significant message. Think of something important to discuss that you feel passionate about-- and then find magic to appropriately accent it.
Professor's Nightmare: You can discuss how people of different shapes, sizes, and backgrounds are often misjudged based upon their appearances in society. Talk about national values that promote equality and appreciation of character. As you give your speech, you’ll show three normal ropes of various lengths and make them equal between your bare hands.
Ninja Linking Rings: You can talk about how teamwork are like the links of a chain. If one person breaks away from the chain, the rest of the team will be weaker and may fall apart. Naturally, you’ll link and unlink four rings to suit your patter.
PK Touches: You can talk about the value of close friendship, and why it’s important that people find others to discuss feelings and share experiences. The more people socialize with one another, the more people will be able to familiarize themselves in other people’s shoes and understand what they’re feeling and enduring in life. As you talk about all this, you’ll set up any variation of PK Touches where one person feels you touch them even though you only touched their close friend across the room.
These are just a few ideas. I think it’s important that you utilize more visually-appealing magic to compliment a strong, significant speech. Don’t let the magic be the major focus of your assignment—let your message be. People will not only appreciate your performance more but they’ll be able to take a valuable lesson or story away from it as well. Just some food for thought.
RS.
