Ever Wanted....

William Draven · Mar 31, 2013

Ever had a source of inspiration so profound that you absolutely wanted to put together a piece of magic to bring it to life? I know I have. For years I've been trying to find a simple, but powerful way to bring the story of "The Little Match Girl" to life in my close up show for the holidays. I've not yet worked out anything that I've been happy with but that's neither here or there.

Reference here: [video=youtube;yUSzQBaWq0Q]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yUSzQBaWq0Q[/video]

I wanted to know what your inspirations were, and what you would do if you could to bring it to life with your magic?

I know that for the story of the Little Match Girl I would want to work with something that dealt with destruction and resurrection. Preferably with matches to tie it closer to the story. So what would you do?

Steerpike · Mar 31, 2013

Before I dedicated myself completely to mentalism, I fantasized about doing a stage show set completely to some of my favorite rock and metal bands from around the world. In particular, I really, really wanted to do Against the Wind by Dungeon and when Tim sings, "A thousand sins behind my eyes," I wanted there to be fog on the stage and my eyes to project beams of light visible in the fog while I look around the stage and into the audience. A nice thought, but I don't see it ever coming to fruition. Aside from the fact that my style is so minimalist these days, my good intentions of trying to bring some exposure to bands that inspired me just wouldn't be that commercial. Anyway, if anybody cares, I found an acoustic version of the song from the lead singer's solo project LORD:

[video=youtube;f7_VzRpXg_U]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f7_VzRpXg_U[/video]

Reg · Mar 31, 2013

Back in the day, my friend and I had the idea to make a Westside Story inspired cardistry video, a 'fight in the streets' but using flourishing rather than fists. Sadly it never got beyond a rough storyboard in our heads, and I certainly don't have the skills to make it happen now.

Craig Browning · Mar 31, 2013

I've been lucky enough to create several such fantasies, my favorites being bits in our last Macabre show tour in which we used a car display lift to raise the Buzz Saw about 10 ft. into the air, making it rotate as the saw cut through the young lady. . . using music from Phantom of the Opera. . . which was used for several other routines like a piano levitation (Magic of the Night).

The stage is a place for the mind & soul to express themselves and when we think things through it's sometimes possible to find the resources to me it a reality even when working on a shoestring. Frequently you come up with new and unusual methods in the process, but this is how such fantasies come to life.

There's still a few bits I'd love to do; effects as well as acts, but those days are gone.

RealityOne · Mar 31, 2013

After seeing The Adventures of Tin Tin, I've been playing with developing a kids / all ages show based on an adventure that jumps from continent to continent. I've fallen in love with an Animatronic Parrot from Axtel Magic and think he could play a staring role in the show.

Craig Browning · Apr 1, 2013

RealityOne said:
After seeing The Adventures of Tin Tin, I've been playing with developing a kids / all ages show based on an adventure that jumps from continent to continent. I've fallen in love with an Animatronic Parrot from Axtel Magic and think he could play a staring role in the show.

I like that idea. . . Steve's new Tree might be something to look at as well or the Book which could be some kind of History texts or the journal of some famed explorer.

Magic is one of the best mediums available for teaching, especially young minds. If you need ANY help in massaging this idea, please don't hesitate to ask.

RealityOne · Apr 1, 2013

Craig Browning said:
If you need ANY help in massaging this idea, please don't hesitate to ask.

Craig:

Thank you for the offer. This project is on the back burner for a while as I'm working on the routines for what will become my "standard" kids show. Each of those routines is going to be my version of a classic - cups & balls, linking rings, billiard balls, Miser's Dream, Benson Bowl. Not surprisingly, learning all the different versions and then coming up with something that is my own takes a lot of time.