Let me know if you have any tips on patter or my sleight of hand.
(my YouTube channel)
Chigaco Opener
- Thread starter Caleb the Magician
- Start date
Let me know if you have any tips on patter or my sleight of hand.
(my YouTube channel)
The Chicago Opener is a great routine. Technically, I didn't see anything wrong with your sleight of hand. One thing I will say is that you speak very quickly, and it's important to pause now and then to allow your audience to absorb what was said. I also wouldn't ask "how does that work?" at the end of any magic trick- why would you interrupt your audience's astonishment, and stunt it, to invite analytical thought of the method?
Scott.
Scott.
That is such great advice! I really appreciate the time you took. Thanks so much
To piggy back on Scott's comments -
When I started performing, someone told me I should rehearse my script much slower than I would normally speak. This translates to speaking at a normal rate when you've got show adrenaline going. For me this meant rehearsing at what felt like 50% of my normal talking speed, but in reality was only a little slower.
Another thing to remember is the power of silence. I also had to work on this. Any word in your script should add to the performance. If it isn't adding to the performance, it should be removed. Sometimes silence is preferable to meaningless commentary just to fill the void. However, if you get comfortable with silence on stage you have a very powerful tool. But, you have to allow the silence room to breath, so to speak. For some time, when I put silence into my script, I would mentally count the beats to make sure I waited long enough for the desired effect. Because, again, things go faster in your mind when you're performing. So, for example, if I wanted to make a point with a question, I would say the question and then mentally count, "1 .... 2 .... 3 ..... 4..... 5" and proceed with the script. This gave time for the audience to absorb the script and react appropriately.
Now we get to your scripting. It doesn't add anything. You are just describing what you are doing. I can see what you're doing, I don't need you to tell me what you're doing. And things like, "But if I tap the deck one card turns red" doesn't add to the performance. It's nonsense and the audience knows it's nonsense.
This is honestly a big challenge with a trick like Chicago Opener because it is, honestly, meaningless. Which is why I ultimately dropped it from my performances (though I think I created a pretty good little twist on it, personally).
Regardless of all that - you did well. I didn't see any flashing, all the sleights were executed properly.
When I started performing, someone told me I should rehearse my script much slower than I would normally speak. This translates to speaking at a normal rate when you've got show adrenaline going. For me this meant rehearsing at what felt like 50% of my normal talking speed, but in reality was only a little slower.
Another thing to remember is the power of silence. I also had to work on this. Any word in your script should add to the performance. If it isn't adding to the performance, it should be removed. Sometimes silence is preferable to meaningless commentary just to fill the void. However, if you get comfortable with silence on stage you have a very powerful tool. But, you have to allow the silence room to breath, so to speak. For some time, when I put silence into my script, I would mentally count the beats to make sure I waited long enough for the desired effect. Because, again, things go faster in your mind when you're performing. So, for example, if I wanted to make a point with a question, I would say the question and then mentally count, "1 .... 2 .... 3 ..... 4..... 5" and proceed with the script. This gave time for the audience to absorb the script and react appropriately.
Now we get to your scripting. It doesn't add anything. You are just describing what you are doing. I can see what you're doing, I don't need you to tell me what you're doing. And things like, "But if I tap the deck one card turns red" doesn't add to the performance. It's nonsense and the audience knows it's nonsense.
This is honestly a big challenge with a trick like Chicago Opener because it is, honestly, meaningless. Which is why I ultimately dropped it from my performances (though I think I created a pretty good little twist on it, personally).
Regardless of all that - you did well. I didn't see any flashing, all the sleights were executed properly.
I see what you are saying, thank you so much for taking the time to respond. I no longer perform Chicago opener any more i did it for the video. But still i want to know how to get better. Thanks so much i will practice what you said about patter on other tricks not just Chicago opener.