Creating a character?

[Peter Slim]

hello, all.

When you working wizards perform, are you just being yourself with a deck of cards, or are you playing a character you have developed? If you play a character, do you feel it has elevated your performance?

Many thanks for your time
-Peter

 

[WitchDocIsIn]

When you working wizards perform, are you just being yourself with a deck of cards, or are you playing a character you have developed?

Both. But I don't use cards in professional gigs currently.

I am my character, and my character is me. The only difference between me at home and me on stage is how much effort I'm putting into commanding the room. When I first developed The Witch Doctor persona, it was a character I put on for performances, but over the years my personality has meshed with the character, and the character has meshed with my personality. These days, 24/7, I am The Witch Doctor.

To put it another way - the things I do on stage would not be terrible unusual to see me do at a party with friends.

If you play a character, do you feel it has elevated your performance?

Yes.

I am a very big on character and persona development. I think understanding your persona on stage is key to a good performance - even if that persona is just an exaggerated version of your normal self. Having that understanding allows you to create a consistent performance reality, and that's what offers the most engagement and immersion for the audience.

 

[Josh Burch]

Both. But I don't use cards in professional gigs currently.

I am my character, and my character is me. The only difference between me at home and me on stage is how much effort I'm putting into commanding the room. When I first developed The Witch Doctor persona, it was a character I put on for performances, but over the years my personality has meshed with the character, and the character has meshed with my personality. These days, 24/7, I am The Witch Doctor.

To put it another way - the things I do on stage would not be terrible unusual to see me do at a party with friends.



Yes.

I am a very big on character and persona development. I think understanding your persona on stage is key to a good performance - even if that persona is just an exaggerated version of your normal self. Having that understanding allows you to create a consistent performance reality, and that's what offers the most engagement and immersion for the audience.

Christopher wrote the book on character (literally) his advice on the subject is always great.

When determining a character I think a good starting point is what you like to do and see in magic. As you begin to chip away I think of it like a super power. It would be weird for Spiderman to start flying, it would also be strange for Wolverine to sling a web. Every super hero has strengths and weaknesses and I think that every performer has strengths and weaknesses. Part of your job is to determine your performing limits.

It would be strange for David Copperfield to perform hypnosis and it would be weird for Derren Brown to saw someone in half.

I think it's safest for magicians to start with an exaggerated version of themselves. It's very difficult to create a character like Teller, Ed Alonzo, or Rob Zabrecky. Lots of magicians try to create this type of character and they fail, it makes it hard to watch.

 

[WitchDocIsIn]

Thanks for the kind words.

It's easiest to perform as an exaggeration of oneself. Teller's silence is an aspect of his desire for people to focus on the magic. Zabrecky's an oddball off stage, too, and has said that The Oddman is an exaggeration of those tendencies. I'm not terribly familiar with Ed Alonzo so I don't know what he's like off stage.

Acting is hard. Many people don't realize that.

The key, though, is understanding that when you decide to "be myself on stage", that also means you have to know who are you are. Could you describe yourself in 14 words or less, in a way that gave any specific information to someone who doesn't know you? By introspecting like that you can fine tune who you are on stage and make it a better performance.

 

[obrienmagic]

My character is actually quite “me.” I use things from my life that make me happy in my act including; My daughter, my wife, Pokémon, Doctor Who, Jungle Cruise humor, Etc. I feel like the more things you draw from your true passions the more real your performance is!

 

[Lord Magic]

hello, all.

When you working wizards perform, are you just being yourself with a deck of cards, or are you playing a character you have developed? If you play a character, do you feel it has elevated your performance?

Many thanks for your time
-Peter

Just saying...non-professional and non-working magicians also need to go through the trouble of creating a unique character and striving not to look ''too mainstream'' or like a copy. And we have to do it to elevate our performance...

Just saying...

 

[WitchDocIsIn]

My character is actually quite “me.” I use things from my life that make me happy in my act including; My daughter, my wife, Pokémon, Doctor Who, Jungle Cruise humor, Etc. I feel like the more things you draw from your true passions the more real your performance is!

Absolutely!

When you use the things you care about, the audience can feel that and they respond to that passion.

 

[Al e Cat Dabra]

For better or worse, my character is 100% me. Whether performing or not, I joke around a lot, try to listen carefully to people, and to be positive and uplift others.

 

[RealityOne]

Could you describe yourself in 14 words or less, in a way that gave any specific information to someone who doesn't know you?

A purveyor of stories of whimsical wonder accompanied by emotion, intellectualism and awful puns.

When you working wizards perform, are you just being yourself with a deck of cards, or are you playing a character you have developed? If you play a character, do you feel it has elevated your performance?

Let's start with the premise that we each emphasize different aspects of our personality when we are around different people. We are different around our parents, our significant others, our children, our friends and our co-workers. In a performance character, we can select the aspects of our personality that are most likable and entertaining.

For me, I have always been able to convey emotion when I speak and I have always had a very intellectual sense of humor based on word play and puns. I have an insatiable need to expand my knowledge and derive some level of authority from that knowledge. I'm sure there is a psychological term that properly classifies that disorder. My sense of humor also allows me to laugh at myself. I am in my heart a romantic and want people to find their better angels but my realist side knows that the contrary path is easier. My character simply asks the audience to come and play for a while in my imagination. When was the last time you played, pretended or just imagined a different reality?

 

[WitchDocIsIn]

A purveyor of stories of whimsical wonder accompanied by emotion, intellectualism and awful puns.

Ha! Accurate.