Ideas Please for a Gig.

Hi guys I have come to you all because I know I will get good help!

I have a busy month! I havent really done a "gig" but I have one now... actually two.

1. The National Fair in here in Georgia... We are with the horses and I am going to do some walk around stuff.

2. A street fair in my hometown. I brought some little tricks last year when we brought our miniature horses! (ya they are cool.. we do therapy with them) and I had like 20 people around me at once sometimes.

I get nervous easy... but after I perform for a bit somewhere my nerves seem to wear off.

What I am asking is for some ideal tricks for that situation.

I am really good with cards and I already have an arsenal of card tricks, but I wouldnt mind adding a few more. I want to do some tricks other than cards aswell though. I am going to do Gregory Wilsons "Pointless" (I figured it wout myself LOL! Not that hard... and made a gaff)

So If you have any tricks you think would be good for that situation, please tell me! And also if you have any advice for me. People of all ages are going to be there.

Thanks! :D
 
In a situation like yours walk around magic is going to need to be very diverse. I would look at things beyond card magic as well, I would recommend Smoke first and foremost, other things other than card magic that you can walk around with
 
Yes smoke is cool... But I dont have time for it to get to me. It is in two days.

I have Mirage by Alex Geiser... It is pretty angle friendly for a coin vanish... I have about perfected it... so I may break it out.

Any other suggestions?
 
Sep 17, 2007
84
1
I don't see how you could master something in two days.

Take the top six tricks you do, and know inside and out, and do those. Do not do stuff you've never done before or are unsure about.

You only need about six tricks for any walk around gig. There will be a lot of people there, so performing the same tricks won't be an issue. Plus, the more tricks you bring, the more you have to remember. Keep it simple and just do your top stuff.

I used to bring LOADS of tricks to walk around gigs. Big mistake. I had too much with me and would fumble around between tricks looking for the next one. It's best to know exactly what you are going to do.
 
Unless your gigs are all at the end of the month, (and even then it's pushing) trying to learn new material for the sake of a single show is a pain in the ass. You'll probably not master all the little elements that make it work in time, and if you're already naturally nervous performing for a group then working with grey or unknown material won't improve that.

I echo the above stated. Line up your best of your best 20 tricks and pick 10 of those. Then from that 10, only bring 7 with you to the gig. You usually won't need more than seven doing walk around. I'd make sure one or two of those seven are things like sponge balls or the like that plays well with kids.

If you want to pick up new material for a gig, you're much better off planning months in advance.
 

SteveF

Elite Member
Nov 3, 2010
80
6
Hi guys I have come to you all because I know I will get good help!

I have a busy month! I havent really done a "gig" but I have one now... actually two.

1. The National Fair in here in Georgia... We are with the horses and I am going to do some walk around stuff.

2. A street fair in my hometown. I brought some little tricks last year when we brought our miniature horses! (ya they are cool.. we do therapy with them) and I had like 20 people around me at once sometimes.

I get nervous easy... but after I perform for a bit somewhere my nerves seem to wear off.

What I am asking is for some ideal tricks for that situation.

I am really good with cards and I already have an arsenal of card tricks, but I wouldnt mind adding a few more. I want to do some tricks other than cards aswell though. I am going to do Gregory Wilsons "Pointless" (I figured it wout myself LOL! Not that hard... and made a gaff)

So If you have any tricks you think would be good for that situation, please tell me! And also if you have any advice for me. People of all ages are going to be there.

Thanks! :D

I never understood these kinds of posts... "I just got a gig, now tell me what tricks I should do." I'm not a performer, so I'm probably wrong, but I would think that before you accept a gig you would already know what you are going to do.


It's like a doctor getting hired at a hospital but waits until he gets his first patent until he goes to medical school.
 

RickEverhart

forum moderator / t11
Elite Member
Sep 14, 2008
3,637
471
46
Louisville, OH
If I were in your exact shoes I would have 6 effects. 3 that play well for kids / younger audience and 3 that play for the teens and adults. I would only do those 6 effects (2 routines of 3 obviously) and if for whatever reason you have a big crowd....maybe pack one really cool hard hitting effect an 7th that you may only do a handful of times that day.

This will be enough, trust me. I've done many strolling gigs and I never take more than 9 effects and that is performing for 3 hours straight. Pocket management is a must. Keep putting items back in the exact same spot EVERY time.
 
Thank you all for your help and advice!

I know I can't master an effect in a couple days... I was thinking of that after the post...

I guess I am just getting nervous lol!

I have about 10 of my best effects written down, so I will bring/do like 6... 8 at the most. Those tricks I could do upside-down and backwards. Lol

I see now that more isn't exactly better... It could get pretty confusing to keep track of everything.

Main thing on my list is a cool sandwich, the biddle trick (with a couple twists I added), David Blaines card swap trick... I am not sure of the name of it, but the one where the 2 cards swap into 2 different ones in the spectators hand. Dan and Daves card to mouth (for when I have one or two people watching.

I am going to bring the "pointless" pen trick, mainly to perform for kids... But I will prob do for adults aswell.

Thank you all for your help and advice! It means a lot. I have been in magic for about 3 years... And been on t11 about 2 yrs... But never made an account. But I learn new stuff all the time. I think we all do, no matter how good we get.
 
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