Dark Magician...

[Luis Vega]

Hello everyone!!

So I´ve been a little disconected from here...and the reason is that I wasn´t able to define my character precisely...sure...I know what tricks I could do...and what tricks cannot do....but I wasn´t even sure who I was...IO had the look. the tricks, the patter..but I didn´t know what my character was..until now...

I had this huge revelation the other day...and it clearly defines who I am....and how my magia incorporates classic magic, mentalism and sleight of hand...since I do some classic of magic..but in a dark way...

Let me know what you think..."I was a common magician, with a top hat and kids magic, with the usual magician tricks and patters...until I pass to the dark side of magic: voodoo, spells, black magic, ouija, etc...and stayed there for sometime..but then I returned...and now every trick I did before is influenced with the darkness that I brought...a Dark Magician"


Sounds a little corny....but It clearly defines my magic...and now I have a reason to do my magic..and exactly what should I comunicate to the audience...surprisingly...I did a routine called "The Rage Routine" where I appears a couple of mechanical ravens, card manipulation and then I finish with a dancing cane (of course..this one is a staff with red neon lights...that allows me to do stuff the normal cane cannot do...photos on my next journal!!) and people loved it!!! even a kid told me that he wanted to be a magician like me!!...

anyway..thoughts?

 

[CaseyRudd]

If you are really loving your style and people in return like it as well, I would most definitely stick to it. It seems to be working out pretty well, and it's important you agree and want to continue with your character. Glad to hear its working out!

 

[Bizzaro]

It's good to have a direction or fondness for a type of presentation as it will focus your material better. Just be careful not to go overboard and become a cartoony version of what you want to be. Be whoever you are.

 

[PurpleMustache]

i've never really been into that type of persona for some reason. not saying it's bad, just not my thing. i do things that seem really serious like doing a knife under cups russian roulette thing but i try to make it funny

 

[alexlopez00]

Theres already a dark magician lol!

 

[Craig Browning]

This post sounds very familiar to me and yet, I could swear the person that posted on E used a different name?

We've spoke about these things before . . . if you want to chat, give me a yell.

 

[Toby]

Welcome to the dark side...

 

[RickEverhart]

Sith Lord Vega.....ha ha. Sounds great Luis. I'm sure your character will evolve more and more over time and you'll dial it in even more.

 

[Andrei]

Theres already a dark magician lol!

That just made my day. Speaking of Dark Magician, I just finished dueling Patrick Kun's brother Alex. He kicked my butt. He's awesome.

 

[WakingHollow]

Since were talking about dueling i'm a dueler i created my own deck and i have a Dark Magician haha.

 

[Justin.Morris]

Sorry Luis, a bit off topic, but as you described you dancing cane, I thought how funny it would be to put on a darth vader helment and cape during an act and float a lightsaber.

 

[Steerpike]

In an attempt to violently wrench this thread back on topic, I'm just going to repost what I told you over at E.


I would recommend before you ever start talking about things like voodoo and spiritualism that you first immerse yourself in dark fiction. Here's my recommended list:

The Twilight Zone
The works of Richard Matheson
The works of MR James
The works of Thomas Ligotti
The works of Ramsey Campbell
The works of Neil Gaiman
The filmography of Dario Argento

If you can find it, Thomas Ligotti has also published a philosophy book that is quite possibly one of the bleakest things ever committed to print.

In order to create this character of a man who has touched darkness before returning to the light, you actually do have to immerse yourself in this stuff. You can't go half-way on this. At some point, you're going to run into someone who knows what they're talking about.

Other recommendations:

-If you have the Tarbell Course, re-read the segments on the history of magic and superstition in world cultures. Do some follow-up work researching ancient and/or indigenous cultures. Seeing as you live in Mexico, you probably have easy access to libraries and museums full of information on the Mayans, Aztecs, and other Toltec civilizations from pre-Columbian times. Picking up a smattering of Nahuatl could conceivably be useful at some point. Don't prioritize that, but keep it as a possibility. I admit I'm partly biased out of my own deep love of languages.
-You can find episodes of the show Oddities on YouTube. If you haven't seen it, it's two different shows about antique stores in New York and San Francisco that specialize in the bizarre and the macabre. Won't make you an expert in old-timey quack medicine or macabre art, but it is a nice introduction. Good source of inspiration too.
-I would recommend learning at least two psychic sciences. Palmistry and astrology are pretty consistently popular, but numerology works too. Runes might be a little harder to market, but perhaps as a tertiary pursuit, you could make it work.
-I would highly suggest vocal training and a study of rhetoric to take your speaking to the next level.
-I would also suggest learning to draw or write or play an instrument if you haven't already. Having proficiency in several artistic disciplines will help with a character like this.
-Certain bands can also help you get a feel for the kind of mythos you're working on. I would recommend starting with Type O Negative, Candlemass, and Blue Oyster Cult.

Right now the biggest favor you can do yourself is to do the research and read more fiction.

 

[Josh Burch]

Theres already a dark magician lol!

Haha that's exactly where my mind went!

 

[KeoSilver]

I've met much resistance with my switch from bubbly man to the darker side of myself. Everyone who has a great personality or is friendly has a darker side to them and sometimes those around them aren't really prepared for it.

 

[Craig Browning]

Sorry Luis, a bit off topic, but as you described you dancing cane, I thought how funny it would be to put on a darth vader helment and cape during an act and float a lightsaber.

I actually did a complete show as Darth Vader demonstrating the Force for a comic book convention many years ago. I stood at over six foot and am a rather big man so being the dark lord of all the Universe was easy to pull off physically. The material presented was essentially pure Mentalism, including Orville Meyer's Telepathy in Action as a way to demonstrate "the old Jedi Mind Trick".

And while it proved nearly impossible to perform in, I actually got to wear the "Darkness" costume from the film LEGEND . . . talk about a balancing act. . . very heavy and cumbersome outfit.

 

[AndrewJ]

IIn order to create this character of a man who has touched darkness before returning to the light, you actually do have to immerse yourself in this stuff. You can't go half-way on this.

Thank you, Steerpike.

Luis, I had a job once writing fiction for a businesses started by a former Industrial Light & Magic employee and a former Blizzard employee. If I ever summarized any important story element with that little then there would have been a meeting. The effects artist was the best boss I ever had. This is all coming from that perspective.

What you have now seems to be working for you and your audience. I still see a lot of big holes, plus some connections that you may have missed. Still, good work on improving! A lot of people are here want to see you improve. You are proud to be improving, and you should be!

I was a common magician, with a top hat and kids magic, with the usual magician tricks and patters

How old are you? Most of the magicians who perfected this style are long dead. The good news is, you can use this!

...until I pass to the dark side of magic:

I'm being serious. Where else could you have found the best mentor in top hats and white gloves? Maybe you still had more to learn from a deceased mentor. Maybe you were just absolutely enthralled by the old style of class-act stage magic. Why not ask the original, long-dead performers instead of a dvd? This makes sense. The author Brian Lumley wrote a wonderful book called Necroscope. It's a few years dated. It also a very good take on what a person who can talk to the dead might gain and lose from it. If you want dark, this book delivers.

Or, make your own connections. Look for all of the disconnected facts in what you presented to us then connect all of them. The more details, the better. Just do it in your style.

On that note, finding as many definitions of the words "occult" and "occultist" as you can may help you flesh out your character. Just those two words.

Finally, your list of tools:

• voodoo Does a practitioner of Voodoo believe that he or she is working with dark elements? Do they believe themselves to be healers or villains?
• spells Fifty year old women with herb gardens, homemade candles and pentacles made of yarn are doing dark work?
• black magic Craig Browning covered this so well that I dare not insult him by trying to add more.
• ouija I suggest learning about many forms of divination and/or spirit communication. Some can claim roots in numerology, Jungian symbolism, cosmic patterns, or anything bigger than our mortal world. Ouji boards were patented as a toy in 1890. On the side of Ouija, I'm reminded of a low-budget horror flick called Necromentia. This has living, unwilling Ouiji boards and a LOT of supernatural darkness.

...and stayed there for sometime..but then I returned...

What compelled you to stay? What did you find there? See? Hear? Smell? What seduced you into the darkness? What became an annoying chore when you were neck deep in it?

Finally, why did you come back? You did not simply shrug, walk away, and get yourself a nice topaz rosary at the mall. Some profound event transpired to break you convictions, commitments and routines.

and now every trick I did before is influenced with the darkness that I brought...a Dark Magician

"Trick." Witnessing the dark, terrible, and supernatural powers that lie in the cosmos beyond our senses has influenced your mundane sleight of hand?

This is something I have been wrestling with in my own way. Some of this is even a reflection of my own process.

Most of the best horror writers research real, grizzly human violence. They require themselves to immerse themselves in some of the worst human terrors that ever existed. No one is asking you to do that, but you still can't fake this. You can't fake knowing about a darkness that you haven't thoroughly invested in. You can only go so far playing a character if you know only a handful of disconnected facts about him.

 

[Craig Browning]

AndrewJ... awesome post!

 

[KeoSilver]

Bah late to the game with a serious post. Basically, what Andrew said. Very nice post my friend.

 

[AndrewJ]

Thank you Craig and KeoSilver.

To be fair, I was called into those meetings for glossing over big story elements. They grilled me hard, in a way I'll never be able to repay them for. Best boss ever. Horror is something I have been passionate about just about my entire life. Bringing magic back into the mix meant having to fight this same fight personally. It has been a struggle.

Anyway, I sincerely wanted that to be helpful. Luis, if you have questions then I do lurk here often enough to get them. The forum will notify me of private messages by email, too. I'm only now learning to enjoy performing for others, but I'll gladly offer to help from the writing point of view.

 

[Luis Vega]

Ok...I took the time to read and re-read the entire thread....and I think I still want to keep going with this...sounds like a good challenge and still I don´t think is going to take some years....a lot more...

The truth is that I am very confortable with all this...and I think it really reflects my personality since I did a stage performance with this style..and I loved it!!! more than ever with my previous style

I enjoyed the info....from Craig, AndrewJ and Steerpike....I have a long journey...