Designing your character...

[Luis Vega]

Hello Everyone..

So as some of you know I am a magician with some experience...and I`ve been designing my character...and I considered lots of points (even the color my clothes should be..)I`ve even stopped doing tricks because it didn`t fit my character... so I am gonna post some of those points...and I was wondering if some of you could point me out to other things I should check out...give me suggestions...criticism...


Luis Vega (Ilusionist/Mentalist)

Main Characteristics regarding Magic

+High Level Skill in sleight of hand
+Routines based on feelings and emotions of the spectators...all about them...not about me...
+capable mentalist
+ signature and hand reading
+No geek magic
+good with kids..
+Good at gambling demostrations
+Sometimes magic produces souvenirs (everything I do is real...)

Appeal

Clothes colors: Red and Black...sometimes touches of silver grey and white
Light makeup (eyeliner...light eye shadow...powder)
Large Tatto in arm (fake)
Accesories in leather (wristbands, necklaces, man-purse) silver rings (pne in each hand)

Personality

+Confident
+misteryous
+Unpredictable
+Slow Movement (even the eyes)
+ Slow and strong voice
+sometimes cocky and funny
+good with women
+physically strong and athletic
+Inteligent knows a lot of subjects
+Calm and relax when not doing magic


There are some things I already have....and somethings I am working out right now...any suggestions or thoughts are appreciated...

 

[RickEverhart]

Draven has a lot of knowledge on character development. I am quite boring when it comes to character because I am well known in the community as a respected school teacher so I cannot really play the "fun" game of wearing make up, tattoos, etc. which I think would be fun. I like what you have thus far Luis.

 

[Luis Vega]

Draven has a lot of knowledge on character development. I am quite boring when it comes to character because I am well known in the community as a respected school teacher so I cannot really play the "fun" game of wearing make up, tattoos, etc. which I think would be fun. I like what you have thus far Luis.

Yes...I am hoping he shows up eventually...thanks for the compliment BTW...well..I think the way you do magic and your appeal has worked for you...since you won Magician of the Year some months ago...

 

[AndrewJ]

Draven has a lot of knowledge on character development. I am quite boring when it comes to character because I am well known in the community as a respected school teacher so I cannot really play the "fun" game of wearing make up, tattoos, etc. which I think would be fun. I like what you have thus far Luis.

I think I would one day love to have a jam session with Draven all about character.

I am in a situation similar to Luis plus some. The character I am beginning to present as a magician will need to be the same character I am presenting as a podcaster, and the same character when I bust out the gear to make music. The present goal is to bring a conceptual continuity into all of my projects and present it under a single brand, which is me.

I can absolutely agree with not performing effects because they don't suit the character.

What's missing, Luis?

A very abbreviated form of a question that some friends and I asked quite in depth was, "what truly interests me?" Two of them really took it and ran. It was astonishing. I only hope to have done as well as they have. It may be that I am not the fairest judge of myself, but I have been putting a lot of effort toward assimilating my answer into my persona.

Please don't tell me your answer. Just ask the question and let it rattle your very soul. That moment of pure childlike joy can be expressed again through you and into your audience.

As a performing magician, you have me beat. I drag a table outdoors sometimes and perform for whoever passes by. Maybe this Sunday I'll finally work up the nerve to perform at a local park. (Saturday is a special day for magicians in Austin.) Yet, I have felt and seen the transformation of a person finding the base element of his true being, and the absolute conviction to which the person can become that. You can always see it when chatting over coffee. You can not deny it when the person is performing.

So, who is Luis the character? Why does he have eyeliner and tattoos? What ties his past to wearing it now? What ties that core of your creative being to the eyeliner and ornaments? Was semi-fictional Luis a roadie for the Cure? Are they talismans of a divine heritage, passed down from ancient civilizations that pre-date Christ? (Egyptians and some shamans had practices that we, today, would consider quite androgynous.) When you know this then you never need to tell anyone. They understand that you know it, and you can fall back on it when running short on other ideas. It's a win/win situation.

It would be interesting to stalk Draven through this forum, then catalog what he has mentioned just how he created his persona. Not to spew worship, or to say that everyone should go so far. Just saying that there's no denying how well he made it work.

 

[Jacob L]

I can't really help with the character development, but I do have a question. How do you create a character when people already know you and know who you are? For example, say I wanted to do a darker and more mysterious character for the next talent show (I'm not really, just hypothetical) how would I do that without people going "what the hell is he doing? this isn't Jacob." When I perform, it's just me, since I'm me wherever I go, it's the easiest character to portray. Any advice would be appreciated.

Jacob

 

[AndrewJ]

Stage it as a play as much as a magic act. Create that fictional persona as you would for writing a novel. Give him a past, one core motivation, and a goal. Then make the persona larger than life.

Dress as the character: not yourself. Run through your DVD collection and look at the attire that make the most memorable characters: Neo, Freddy Krueger, Ben 10, Clark Kent. It's amazing how one stripe down a jacket can become so entwined with a single character's visual identity.

Study a bit of drama. A quicker path might be to study body language. Find a book on it. See Keifer Sutherland in Dark City, then in 24. Watch a Pirates of the Caribbean movie on mute just to see Johnny Depp's body language. Then watch The Ninth Gate, also on mute and starring Johnny Depp. Then, get your favorite camera and practice different variations of your own body language until one fits the character.

Do not outright say that you are someone else on stage. Be someone else. Become him when you put the costume on, remove him when you take the costume off. Writers summarize that concept as "Show, don't tell."

And if we're going darker, please remember that you don't have to dress in all black with goofy makeup. Dolling yourself up like a monochromatic televangelist's wife might make you look more like an evil mime than a master of the spooky. Likewise, match your effects to your persona, please. Pulling out the bright yellow balloon and asking for a phone when you're dressed like the walking dead might be a bit jarring, and not in a good way.

 

[Mr.MadMan]

I don´t mean to start bashing up front but there is an unwritten rule that a Mentalist can not be a capable card guy.
There are many reasons for it the biggest being: YOU ARE NOT A MAGICIAN YOU ARE A MENTALIST.(sorry for that, seems more dramatic ). Your mentalist character should be a normal dude with big powers(to say the least, there are tons of stuff you need to take into consideration).

Take into consideration your intonation. This is probably the most important feature of your personality. If people can understand every word you say you are 40% done.
Also a little tip for you: Making a character is not about changing or taking on new features(although good) it´s what you already have that you should work with. Take Max Maven - unbelievable presence on stage but he is basically the same outside the stage environment. Take time with your character let it come to you rather than force it to come. Make adjustments, throw away certain stuff - every gig gives you new direction.

M.

 

[NeitherBlindNorSilly]

This is not your character, but rather attributes to your character. You character is who you are as a performer. From your characteristics, it seems you are very skilled with sleight of hand with cards. Are you a skill based performer or a magic based performer?... It really just depends how YOU want to present yourself to the audience and how you want them to remember you as an entertainer. Just stay consistent when performing. If you are doing this professionally, then I wouldn't recommend swapping between magic based and skill based presentations, but if you present yourself as a hobbyist, student of the art.. etc. you can really show them anything because you are a STUDENT that is studying the arcane, magic and mystical arts, which do not just include "magic", but rather anything pertaining to the art of magic. Would love to hear your thoughts.

 

[William Draven]

There is no doubt in my mind that the single difference between someone doing magic, and a performance from a magician is personality. It's the show element, that single bit of humanity that you express when you take the stage, the patter, the way you present your self that differentiates your cut and restored rope routine from the nine thousand others doing the same schtick. Personally, I've found that often times the character presents the reason WHY the magic is happening. It's not a puzzle, or a trick that I'm challenging you to figure out, it's a presentation of an interesting situation that develops much in the same way a story would before your eyes.

Luis: You've answered many questions about your character, but there is one missing that is pretty important. We know WHO you are, and WHAT you do, but we lack the WHY. What is your motivation for performance? Why do you do what you do? I think the more we understand about ourself the more we will know how to express that to our audiences.

NeitherBlindNorSilly has also touched upon a good point. What you list above isn't really a character dossier as it is a list of elements that make up your characters attributes. For example under Appeal you list a lot of physical appearance stuff as appeal but I think you've got it in the wrong spot. Appeal should be what endears you to the audience, what your selling points are. If I am a talent booker, and I need to chose between you and five other guys what is the one thing that will make you stand out above the rest? That's appeal. I'm going to re-work your post a bit, and as an exercise, let you fill in the blanks.

Luis Vega (Ilusionist/Mentalist)

Short Bio: Luis Vega is a talented magician who has appeared at <location(s) of merit>, and entertained for <person(s) of note>. Currently Luis can be seen <current project, or place of performance>. <List any other credits, awards, certificates, or notable achievements>

Magic Related Skills

+Expert Skill in sleight of hand
+Hellstromism This is the name of what you are trying to describe.
+Expert Mentalist
+ signature and hand reading
+good with kids
+gambling demonstrations
+Audience participation

There is no need to specify the things that you don't do. Otherwise the list will be longer than the things that you do. Highlight only what you do. In most situations you never want to use wording like "good at" or "moderate skill", you are either Proficient, Expert, Advanced, or Master. Sometimes you can get away with just listing the skill, and not your proficiency level.

Appeal: fill in the blank


Appearance:
Clothes colors: Red and Black primary, highlights & accents of silver grey and white
Light makeup (eyeliner...light eye shadow...powder)
Large Tatto in arm (fake)
Accesories in leather (wristbands, necklaces, man-purse) silver rings (pne in each hand)

Personality: This should be a short paragraph or a few sentences describing yourself in third person. This can incorporate many elements of your character traits you listed below.

Character Traits:
+Confident
+ mysterious
+Unpredictable
+Slow Movement (even the eyes)
+ Slow and strong voice
+sometimes cocky and funny
+good with women
+physically strong and athletic
+Inteligent knows a lot of subjects
+Calm and relax when not doing magic

Mr.MadMan also brings up two points that I'd like to elaborate on myself. The subject of Max being the same in and out of character is something to consider. Max is never out of character, he never turns it off. You meet Max, you meet Max Mavin not Phill Goldstein. Now, granted you don't have to have such a dramatic character like Max's. You could just be you, but if you are just being yourself make sure you turn up your personality "volume" several times over before you take the stage. Everything on stage must be bigger than in real life so it reads right. Even if your stage is the street, and your audience is only two people.

The other thing that Mr.Madman said that I sort of agree with is the unwritten rule of mentalists stuff. Personally I couldn't give a damn about rules. They are made to be broken, and if you can find a way to make it work then do it! However if you are going to go breaking rules then you bloody well need to understand your motivations, and why you are choosing to do things differently. Distilling down to the essence of why mentalists are usually never card guys returns us to the basic character concepts of the Mentalist and the Trickster Magician. The Magician, your typical card guy, is a trickster. Possessing skills and moves that are invisible to the non initiated, allowing him to amaze the masses out of ignorance. However the mentalist is a different animal. He is a sage, or mentor. His power is that of the mind. To a mentalist there is no false moves, nothing gaffed or fake. The mentalist demonstrates his ability for entertainment, or perhaps education, but how he achieves his feats is radically different than the magician (if only in show). Thusly, typically you can't be both because the nature of WHY you're able to do your show works against each other. However... if you can overcome this, and justify your abilities with your character then I believe the sky is your limit. That being said I'm sure there will still be hard core mentalists who will starkly disagree with me.
Hope this helps, and gives you a few more little things to think about.

 

[RikAllen]

I would give you but one piece of advice if you're going to be an mechanic and a mentalist - don't use cards in your mentalism (at least not regular playing cards). You'll also have to explain why you're able to do mind reading (or whatever demonstrations) and sleight of hand...maybe one interested you (card handling) and then you stumbled upon these other abilities as you grew up.

Everything else I've thought of has already been said (articulated clearer than I would be able) so go read it again and pretend I'm saying it.

 

[Justin.Morris]

Luis, there is a ton of great advice here!

I don't have much to offer, because I am just myself on stage, but as I was reading Draven said something very important regarding being yourself : "You could just be you, but if you are just being yourself make sure you turn up your personality "volume" several times over before you take the stage. Everything on stage must be bigger than in real life so it reads right."

Acting 101. Excellent advice.

 

[AndrewJ]

I don´t mean to start bashing up front but there is an unwritten rule that a Mentalist can not be a capable card guy.
There are many reasons for it the biggest being: YOU ARE NOT A MAGICIAN YOU ARE A MENTALIST.

What?

Mentalists use cards. Oh, boy, can some of them use too many for my tastes. Max Maven busted out a deck of blue bikes when I saw him live. My learning introduction to learning mentalism was a book of almost all card tricks with themed presentations.

I'm really, really tired of cards. I still have to disagree with you. Perhaps set the XCM aside, but there are plenty of ways to present cards as mentalism pieces. And hey, maybe you could say some spiritual leader taught you great balance of the mind transferred to the body which you'll demonstrate by performing a 12-part cut with duct tape on your eyes. Whatever makes the performance work.

 

[D ICE R]

Andrew you are missing the word capable, yes cards have their place in mentalism. However, when you perform with them the skill level you display should be reduced. If the audience believes that you posses the abilities to manhandle a deck of cards you are going to have a lot harder time trying to sell the idea that what you are doing is real.

 

[AndrewJ]

I suppose I get that.

I suppose there's an exercise in compare & contrast here: SHOUTING A MESSAGE TO MAKE A POINT is also against the rules. The person who declared what the rules are and are not as he broke the rules himself made an interesting case. He covered the little movement, the sensible part of his post which I had to re-read, with the big movement of breaking the rule.

It illustrates both why the rules exist and that a rule can be broken. I'll personally judge the whole thing a moot issue as I admit to also pulling my own foot out of my mouth.

 

[Luis Vega]

Ok..I am back...

@AndrewJ: I really think it´s very hard to answer the question of who is Luis Vega? and how I came up with all this? to be honest I have being creating this look for some months...all the ornaments (tatoo, eye liner, leather wristbands) create an atmosphere of mysticism even before the first trick it´s done...also I have a strong sight so I enhance it with the use of eyeliner...also the place where I am working now (Diablos= devils) has influenced my new look...regarding the colors...red and black

I talk slower,I try to blink slower...so I try to not appear nervous or rushed...

In a sincere way...I have always been a little bit dark in my mind...I am just passing the look I have in my mind to the reality...and I do feel diferent when I wear the look...Who am I? Luis Vega it´s just a stranger´face...almost identical to my own...

@JacobL: well people usually not know me unless I am in a show...and it´s usually weird when I do magic to a friend...so it´s OK

@Mr. Madman: I agree at some extent...since when I do mentalism...I try to almost not touch anything and since I focus in the people thoughts and feeling (readings, telepathy and remote viewing) people never thinks that what I do is accomplished by hand skill...I do try to reduce the skill in the eyes of the spectator (to the spectator eyes...although my skill is very high)

Voice it´s indeed very important...I try to talk louder and project my voice instead of peeking (like a chicken) when doin magic in a table...also talk slower helps a lot...slow and strong

@Neitherblindnorsilly

I am an entertainer after all...I do use all the tools I have at hand, cards, coins, billets, peeks, etc...
The good thing about here..it´s that most people has never seen magic live...and even when flourishing people believes that I do the work of the devil...at first was annoying but now it´s an advantage..it´s a cultural thing...so when I present both, they have an overall opinion of the show and not when I do mentalism and sleight of hand...I do not present them as separate things...but different aspects of magic...

@William Draven

Awesome Advice!!! I totally loved it!! I now have a much clearer view of how should I continue this...

@Rikallen

I don´t use cards in mentalism...I do use ESP cards but I don´t treat them like cards...I treat them like papers...

@Justin Morris

Yeah!! you are right!! Awesome advice here!!!

@DICER

Yes...I don´t show magic with cards in a flourishy way...I try to keep it simple...however I do use some "moves" to look elegant like a charlier cut, a Le Paul spread, Ribbon spread, and some slow color changes...


Conclusion

To be honest...in my years doing magic I have asked if I could card tricks, dissapear coins, read minds, read hand and tarot cards, do gambling demostrations and all this years I took a look at all this aspects of magic....and in the end I learned lots of skills and abilities...I guess the circunstances create the Luis Vega...I am now...it´s not something I choose, but how my character fills all the requiriments of the spectators in general to be a more integral magician and show people many aspects of magic not only card tricks, and some people aside from enjoying it, want to learn it...it´s weird...and I choose to continue experimenting and never look down at this art...and to continue evolving...

THANKS EVERYONE FOR THE ATTENTION AND ANSWERS!!


BTW. a quick look at my new look...it´s my avatar a little bit bigger...and the general outfit

 

[romeo sierra]

I think it's important to state that a fabricated character should not detract from who a performer actually is. The point is debateable but I think it's worth some valid consideration. Before you don the make-up, fake tattoos, and flamboyant wardrobe, it's important that you come to terms with who you actually are. By recognizing the strengths of your actual persona, you can naturally bring credibility and authenticity to the character you want to portray.

When first getting out there and performing, I was admittedly a complete Blainiac. I watched Street Magic and fell in love with the notion of an urban shaman who did card tricks and read minds in jeans and a t-shirt. I spoke with a monotone voice and gave people death stares, because I saw how perfectly that character played out on television. I loved the appeal of David Blaine's performance so much, that I blatantly imitated his work for a solid year or two when I was still in school. It wasn't until a few friends questioned the 180-degree shift in my performance demeanor that I realized aspects of myself lent more validity and originality to my work.

I recommend doing some self analysis without magic in mind. Think about your sense of humor, background, personal interests. Think about the type of people you're attracted to and the friends you keep. Think about how all these aspects make up who you actually are. Once you can grasp that, gradually implement some of the more original qualities into your character when you perform. I think you'll immediately realize how muh more relateable and dynamic that character will be for the people you perform for.

Honestly, I think many magicians' characters create a boundary between the performer and the audience. Arguably, a select few may pull off the excessively loud kabuki martial artist in leather or overly pretentious gothic wizard in black, but all too often a fabricated persona gets in the way of genuinely connecting with an audience. It's important to have an organic basis for your character for others to anchor to. Otherwise, you may be in danger of just being a trivial spectacle instead of a living, breathing individual providing a worthwhile experience.

I've long since abandoned the Blainisms and adapted my own quietly sarcastic humor, subtly crass language, and other quirky touches unique to myself to the general persona I perform with today. Boiled down, my character really is nothing more but an exaggerated version of what I consider my "best" self. I think that's an ideal starting point for people venturing into designing their character for performance.

Hope it helps.

RS.

 

[William Draven]

Boiled down, my character really is nothing more but an exaggerated version of what I consider my "best" self. I think that's an ideal starting point for people venturing into designing their character for performance.

And this ladies and gentleman is exactly the point I was making earlier. RS nailed this one strait on the head!

 

[Luis Vega]

I think it's important to state that a fabricated character should not detract from who a performer actually is. The point is debateable but I think it's worth some valid consideration. Before you don the make-up, fake tattoos, and flamboyant wardrobe, it's important that you come to terms with who you actually are. By recognizing the strengths of your actual persona, you can naturally bring credibility and authenticity to the character you want to portray.

When first getting out there and performing, I was admittedly a complete Blainiac. I watched Street Magic and fell in love with the notion of an urban shaman who did card tricks and read minds in jeans and a t-shirt. I spoke with a monotone voice and gave people death stares, because I saw how perfectly that character played out on television. I loved the appeal of David Blaine's performance so much, that I blatantly imitated his work for a solid year or two when I was still in school. It wasn't until a few friends questioned the 180-degree shift in my performance demeanor that I realized aspects of myself lent more validity and originality to my work.

I recommend doing some self analysis without magic in mind. Think about your sense of humor, background, personal interests. Think about the type of people you're attracted to and the friends you keep. Think about how all these aspects make up who you actually are. Once you can grasp that, gradually implement some of the more original qualities into your character when you perform. I think you'll immediately realize how muh more relateable and dynamic that character will be for the people you perform for.

Honestly, I think many magicians' characters create a boundary between the performer and the audience. Arguably, a select few may pull off the excessively loud kabuki martial artist in leather or overly pretentious gothic wizard in black, but all too often a fabricated persona gets in the way of genuinely connecting with an audience. It's important to have an organic basis for your character for others to anchor to. Otherwise, you may be in danger of just being a trivial spectacle instead of a living, breathing individual providing a worthwhile experience.

I've long since abandoned the Blainisms and adapted my own quietly sarcastic humor, subtly crass language, and other quirky touches unique to myself to the general persona I perform with today. Boiled down, my character really is nothing more but an exaggerated version of what I consider my "best" self. I think that's an ideal starting point for people venturing into designing their character for performance.

Hope it helps.

RS.

Thanks for all the advice given!! I think lots of people will benefit from it...although as I said before...Luis Vega is just a stranger´s face...but no so different from my own... since I have been always a little bit dark...I just increase it for my Ilusionist persona...

 

[AndrewJ]

And this ladies and gentleman is exactly the point I was making earlier. RS nailed this one strait on the head!

A great guy and mentalist friend of mine relentlessly nagged me into answering "Who is the character?" when I began podcasting. I spent a great deal of time rewriting "Andrew M*** J*****" the same way I wrote background material for any fictional character.

I rewrote my own past with outlandish reinterpretations of the truth. I introduced one common nemesis -- not a person but an opposing force just the same -- and focused on those elements that either described the nemesis or the cure to it. There even came a little bit of philosophizing.

There are two relatively short books I have read on the writing process that really stand out.

The Art of Fiction by Ayn Rand. Yeah, with the new movie just coming out a lot of the usual posers are going to present themselves as Randroids until the next Batman movie gets released. I can't blame anyone for not wanting to hear her name right now. Ignore them all and read this book. She has a lot of good things to say about creating drama and tension. The book also includes a lot of great advice on the creative process as a whole. This second style of advice will help you create anything from novels to upholstery. Magic, too.

How to Write Science Fiction & Fantasy by Orson Scott Card. This book includes a dense, powerful process for creating a workable set of rules for "fantasy" magic to exist by. He does not give you the rules. He gives you advice and rules to create your own rules.

With this, I'll propose three questions:

1. From the ground up: who is your character? From the moment he came kicking and screaming into this world to the person your audience will see tomorrow, who is this character? Start with the important details of the character's birth. What has he experienced between Day 1 and today? If you focus only on today then you have a shell of a character.
2. What antagonist urged your character into learning deeper secrets? Sure, this character may have had a natural aptitude. An opposing force gives the best reason to turn that aptitude into mastery. The antagonist does not need to be a person. It's just like we learned in English Class: Man vs Man, Man vs Self, Man vs Nature.
3. What are the rules of your magic? Forget your techniques, gimmicks, and practice. Write as if your magic is all real. What are the rules of this "real" magic? Knowing the rules by which your magic exists will help you in all things. They can help you write patter that is consistent across all of your effects. It can help you choose what to learn next. The rules and your opposing force can become inescapably but valuably linked, feeding off of each other to help your material seemingly write itself. Of course it hasn't written itself. You wrote it when you declared your rules and reasons.

Yes, I am telling you to write a lot of background material that your audience will never - and should never - know one trace of. The benefit is a more consistent narrative to your character and your act, one that has a life of its own, and one that can at times write itself after all this is done.

If it helps establish credibility, I have been a paid author of sorts: writing for one of the many freemium MMOs that came out a few years back.

I'll stop railing on the issue now, except to summarize: The more in-depth and cohesive your background material is, the better off you will be.

 

[eostresh]

I am certainly no authority on this and what I have to add is not from expertise but from the fact that I am going through this exact same process right now. With that caveat here is the one thing that I haven't heard yet, (possible I missed it in all these posts??) Your character sounds like "Mr. Perfect." Have you considered how off putting that may be to spectators? "I'm a mind reading card master who is in great shape, good with the ladies and even their kids, I know a lot about most topics and I'm a man of mystery to boot!"

Wow! That's a lot. I'm not saying that it won't work for you but it seems like an awful risk. Seems like your begging to get heckled. Think of a romantic comedy. Mr. perfect is never the hero...he is usually the villain...and somehow our plucky, imperfect, "everyman" over comes Mr. Perfect to steal the heart of the heroine.

Now some guys play the villain very well, and to be sure, for a mystery performer, that may become a powerful character. I do think it may be good to consider your faults as well. If you think of the guys who really seem to master their character, they seem not to be afraid to let some of their faults show. Lenart Green embraces the "drunken klutz," and Derren Brown embraces a very sick sence of humor(who the hell else thinks to hypnotize some poor dude and wake him up in the middle of a Zombie attack!)

Anyways, just something to think about. Over the last few months that I have been developing my character I have been seriously examining my faults and trying to figure out which ones I need to keep tucked safely away behind my super ego and which ones I can use to better entertain my audience.