I am having one hell of a time finding a finale for my show. I mean, there is a lot of good stuff out there. But nothing that is exactly a finale. I was wanting to are your finales? I am not stealing your stuff, just food for though.
The problem with your act is that it has no structure, just a bunch of tricks muddled together. If you are going to do stage magic, you have consider the fact that most Stage magicians tend to have a Theme with their show, you may not notice it right away, but if you pay attention you can see it as clear as day. The other thing that is lacking is the fact that Pressure isn't big enough for a stage show, unless you can afford a monitor or a big screen (which I don't think you can.). Not to mention Pressure is meant for close up stuff.
This is a parlor show and it's very street mag-icky. If this were a stage show you would pages upon pages, even notebooks full of notes on more details and technical stuff than you can imagine. Marketing yourself as a stage performer with this show will not yield consistent success.
Now, as for the magic, the reason you are getting negative criticism is because there is no structure, no transitions, no purpose or meaning to connect with your audience, etc. It's difficult to give you a finale effect because your show is a jambalaya of random magic, so the finale could literally be anything. Anything will fit because you have not defined the space, the container, the world. It's like an abstract painting and you're asking us which colors you should use and that's why we are like, "Uhhhhh." What you need to do is define your work and give us a space to fill. So if you decide that instead of abstract, you're going to paint a black and white portrait, and you ask us what colors to use, we can very easily say, "Gray, white, and black." And then you can ask, "Should I have people in my painting?" And we can say, " Well, it's a portrait, so yes, you should paint a person."
I hope I am making sense.
So, to answer your question in the only way that I can, a finale should generally be the biggest effect, should focus on you, and it should aim to be somewhat different from the rest of the show. Now, literally tons of effects will fit this criteria, from card tricks to grand illusion. Lance Burton used to close his show with a smaller illusion even though his show was full of grand illusion, but he made it big with "himself."
And for the record, Pressure can be a stage effect.
|| sean ||
I understand the method however the reason I suggested that you do not seem to understand the presentation.
Keys are mix implies that nobody knows which key will open the lock (you included).
They take the keys out of the glass (do you have a chance to examine all the keys after they are taken). Not to mention you get the last key so in reality there is a high % chance that you do not have the correct key.
The point I am trying to make is using 'psychological influence' as a premise is not new for either of the effects however for you to be really able to do it you would need to know exactly which key opens the lock. The is essential because you need to influence the participants, so mixing the keys is fine however you would obviously need to study the keys (even briefly) to determine the correct key. Especially if someone wants to swap the key.
Free Fall:
Walk on stage with some music if possible. I'm holding a paper bag, I tip it over and a feather comes out. I look in the bag again and dump it over once more and a bowling bowl falls out. End of trick.
It's my opener because its fast, easy to understand, and visual.
Pressure:
I am not going to tell you my patter, as its the staple in my act and I feel I am very unique in the way I do it. But first I do a needle through balloon effect demonstrating a "soft spot" idea. Then I move into pressure causing a volunteers Cell Phone to penetrate the balloon thanks to the "soft spot" principle I have demonstrated.
I do this next because its a magical piece that's easy for people to sink there teeth into.
TEARify:
I take a newspaper and tear it up into a bunch of little pieces and start dealing until a spectator tells me to stop. I then hand them the piece they stoped on (without me looking of course) and have them memorize a word on their piece of paper. I then attempt to draw what they are thinking about vaguely and that's the first part. I then tell them the word exactly.
I do this next because its a more intellectual piece. Its a deeper thing than just magic in my opinion.
Correct Key:
I have 6 keys in a glass and I have 6 volunteers come up. I present a lock and have them try there keys out. If theirs doesn't work I have them replace the key into the glass. None of them end up working so I bring out my key on a loosely tied peice of thread, (the 7th key) and it works. Unfortunately the working key slips off the thread into the glass with all the wrong keys. I hole punch a 100 dollar bill and put it on the lock, and lock it on. I say lets try something interesting and I shake up the glass with the keys so they are all mixed up. I have each of the 6 volunteers pick a key of their choice, leaving 1 in the glass for me. I say who ever has the correct key woms the 100 bucks. I hold up my key and explain I psychologically suggested them to pick certain keys and that they didn't even know it. I say you have left me the key that works. Then I say, I might be lying and this might be a test, or maybe I am not lying. In order to be fair, I give each of them a chance to trade keys with me if they would like or they can keep their own. After that is done I say, Welp, you all fell for the plan, you have indeed left me with the correct key. I put it in the lock building suspense, turn it slowly, and bam I win the 100 bucks.
I do this next because its a longer more in depth effect, with a lot of hands on stuff, and some thinking.
(insert finale here)