School Talent show in a week

[ArmanMagic]

Hey guys,

Recently I just signed up for a talent show at my school and of course I'm doing magic obviously. Anyway I have a week to make a routine due to only being a small talent show. It's more of a parlour magic setting so the audience will be close by and the routine will last about 8 min. Anyway I have a opener and closer for routine but I'm still trying to figure out the other trick for the routine. Below I have listed the opener and closer, as well as the three tricks I'm deciding to pick.

Opener: Dresscode. I wanted to do someone that would catch their attention. I learned from my mistakes from the last school talent show and now I'm opting for the formal performance of Dresscode. I will be presenting it like how my mom made me wear this black shirt and red tie and how I don't really like the colors so I put stickers with the color I want to be and when I turn around the shirt and tie becomes those colors.

Option 1: Think by Shin Lim. With this affect I have a prediction in plain sight the whole entire time and I can have audience participation by picking different spectators to name numbers between 1-52 and subtract the numbers to come up with a random number.

Option 2: Invisible Deck. This is a classic and it could be twisted so it can have a lot of audience participation like Think.

Option 3: Bill in Lemon. For this kind of trick I would be doing Doc Eason's presentation where he has the lemon in a bag and the audience member holds the bag and then the bill disappears and appears in the lemon. This would be good because it involves the spectator and is pretty cool

Closer: Fraid Knot. This trick is a killer closer and it's always been my closer for all of my routines.

If you could help me pick which trick would be a good middler that would be great.

 

[TylerRouss]

What kind've presentation do you use?? Does your routine have any sort of theme? and What do you have the most experience with?

 

[ArmanMagic]

I'm pretty sure I explained how I would perform each trick. The theme is undecided. And I'm most experienced with everything except bill in lemon.

 

[TylerRouss]

I think i incorrectly phrased my first question, i mean what is your presentation style, as a magician? Magical? Mysterious? Comedic? Dani Da'Ortiz style? (as if anyone else could do that...)

 

[heatedjeans]

choose an effect where it involves a couple of spectators .

 

[YRAMagicMan]

Could you do a simple multiple card find? Or Everybody's Card form the platform tricks section of Royal Road? I know these weren't listed, but they involve a number of people and could play really big. If you do the Invisible Deck, use the old beach ball trick to have people select suit and value, that way you get a ton of people involved. I don't know how you're gonna fill 8 minutes with those tricks, but if you know how to do it, more power to you.

 

[Craig Browning]

I'm pretty sure I explained how I would perform each trick. The theme is undecided. And I'm most experienced with everything except bill in lemon.

And there's your second big mistake. . .

. . . the first was committing to a show a week away that you're not prepared for.​

Ok. . . I'll not rip you apart as I was going to but I will point out some important Do's & Don'ts when it comes to what you've outlined;

DRESS CODE is NOT a good opener but what many would classify as a sub-opening effect. You open the act with something that's attention getting and then move into the shirt be it as a card reveal, name revelation or simply a color change. . . maybe you use it as a costume change so as to fit with a given story theme in the next routine? The point is that this is an incidental effect and not something you would feature. . . especially as an opener.

THINK is a Close-Up effect that would prove difficult to do on stage and sell it well . . . this is true of most card effects using a standard deck with you on stage not having a more intimate performance setting. Too, this really doesn't come across as being the sort of piece you would "feature" in an act. . . but more on that in a moment.

INVISIBLE DECK is a wonderful piece of business when used correctly. . . and I like the connection you have between it and Think. If you can work out the visual challenges behind THINK, this might make for an interesting twist. BUT, I'd put these two together as your closer because of how potent TOD is and the psychology between the two. . . the build-up is a strong tool that will work to your favor.

BILL IN LEMON as well as FRAID KNOT really don't seem to work with the main premise you've established. You have a very strong bit with THINK coupled with TOD. The question you need to ask yourself however, is what is it you want to be known as, a Magician or a Mentalist?

If it's a "Magician" then cut the two bits that are presently your strongest material and replace the Mental type routines with a stronger bit of magic . . . then again, I think most of the Magic based bits you have are weak in that there is no core or structure to what you have. Bill in Lemon is an awesome piece of business IF you have a way or reason to approach it. . . so let me give you an outline that might prove to be a bit more "fluid"

OPENER (totally mimed with music): Walk out and start things off as if you were doing a traditional manipulation act involving silks, so you produce one and then split it into two and whatever else. . . maybe even do a silk fountain . . .ultimately though, you end up with a Lemon. . . you might turn a silk into a lemon or have a lemon come out of the silk fountain or any number of things. The point is, you were doing the pretty stuff and all of a sudden the lemon shows up. . . you react and try to get rid of the lemon only to have another appear, etc. until you end up with lemons either over-flowing and filling a bowl or at least covering a table and maybe a bit more. . . Think of it as a very sour Miser's Dream (I know of a few things that can help you on this)

Now you begin patter, using some deliberate "corn" lines such as "I hope I've not soured you when it comes to my act" , etc. But this is the point where you do the T-Shirt Color Change. It breaks with what they've seen you do, gives them something that's totally unexpected and goes a long way when it comes to punctuating the fact that you ARE a Magician vs. some kid with a Criss Angel Magic Kit.

This is where you get the aid of someone and do the Bill in Lemon. Understand that you can get a lot of time out of this one bit and if, like most talent shows, you are only allowed 10-Minutes total, you will be running really close to that limit if you just do an opening similar to what I've noted and ending with the Bill in Lemon . . . It's a solid bit of business that will allow you to ENTERTAIN the audience vs. doing a bunch of unrelated effects.

If you were to choose Mentalism however, we must consider what would be a solid opener in that you already have a very good closer. There are a couple of bits that come to mind, that are rather quick & to the point like the Fogel Flash Opening; it's mostly Swami Work with some very basic Psychological Forces as well as the typical comedy gags like holding a card with back to the audience and asking someone if they know what it is. . .when they say "NO" you turn the card over revealing the word "NO" (if you use this, do it only as a lead into a bit tied to decision making and intuition -- choosing things without knowing all the details) Luke Jermay's "Dangerous Opener" is an excellent follow-up if this were the case; it not only gives you a great demonstration when it comes to people making decisions, it gives you a major variant to the Smash & Stab bits that are so popular these days.

The point is, you open hard & fast. . . if you don't want to go with decisions (in that THINK kind of plays to this theme) you can explain the need to warm-up your mind a bit before moving into your act and in so doing, have random folks in the room call out numbers which you write on a large pad for all to see. . . you hand the pad to someone after a few dozen numbers have been called and jotted down. . . you then recite each and every number in exact sequence while pointing to people in the room . . . trust me, it's far easier than it sounds and it doesn't involve mnemonics. It is a very impressive bit of business however and it can take you in a number of directions that still related to and can be tied in with the Card routine previously discussed.

Now, everything I've noted can be learned and performed in a reasonable matter of confidence in the time you have IF your slight-of-hand skills are somewhat proficient. If not, the Lemon routine would be a no, no.. . it was just a suggest though.

If we had more time it would be much easier rounding out a more polished set while helping you understand why you assemble an act in a specific way. . . I would however, double check to see how much time you will be allowed, chances are you already have more material planned than you'll have time for. Most talent shows don't allow much more than 6 - 10 minutes

 

[ArmanMagic]

Alright I'm doing bill in lemon because it's not something I've practiced in awhile. I would say that if I were to build a routine off of THINK and Invisible deck and using Dresscode as a to do mentalism then I think I'll be good. Also I'd like to point out that this is more of a parlour setting for magic. I'm more on a platform not a stage.

 

[ArmanMagic]

Also with Invisible deck or Think I will be using a beach ball and throwing it around to different spectators to think of numbers, suits, values, etc. Also with Think I can have the prediction basically on a huge banner or even in a yellow envelope in full view the whole entire time.

 

[ArmanMagic]

I might make a being a student theme. Like how I use magic to fix my mistakes. For example I talk about how my mom still picks outs my clothes for school even though I'm 14 and I can do it myself. And then I proceed to change my shirt into a shirt that I really like. Then I would say that during lunch I would always perform magic. I then show them my lunch and show them I have a sandwich, chips, water bottle, a napkin, and then a 8 foot pole inside. and then a lemon. I proceed to do write a prediction on the napkin and then do a invisible deck routine. Then I end it by showing the prediction is wrong but when I pour water onto the napkin the watermarks make the card value on the napkin. This is still a rough idea in my head. It might work.

 

[WyattSB]

You should get irreversible by Daniel Madison, I guarantee you will immediately replace the normal ID presentation with it. Its much much cleaner, and allows you to predict any card they turn over behind their back. Suits the prediction theme of think better.

 

[TylerRouss]

Irreversible is a wonderful concept, i highly recommend it over the ID.

 

[lax047]

For a school talent show I would really recommend a humorous approach to your presentation, like telling jokes and stuff like that. It helps relax the crowd and makes the overall experience better in my opinion. Granted my style of magic is more based on humor, if yours isn't then don't put jokes in, try to stick with one theme throughout the whole performance.

 

[William Draven]

Woah boy did I get to this thread late! Craig's already given you the run down on theater theory for your performance, and as always his advice is gold. I'm not sure what I can say to expand upon what he's done but I'll try none the less.

Looking at your line up of effects, and If I were in your shoes, I'd ditch the bill in lemon (for time sake) and insert a tossed out deck following the invisible deck. It's a great one two punch! Of course you'll have to deck switch but that is as simple as simply putting the deck in your pocket and then taking out the switch to do "something else".

If it's a school talent show then you may want to try some story telling magic with Stan Kate, and Edith by Channing Polleck. It keeps in line with the card theme that we've got going with the other two above. -On second thought, if it's a school talent show you may NOT want to do that one. Depends on how much of a sense of humor your teaching faculty has.

If the Fraid Knot is what I think it is, then it's just a revamped presentation of the Professors Nightmare. That would be a nice closer! Best of luck to you!

 

[ArmanMagic]

Thanks Draven, My routine is gonna consist of Dresscode, Insurance policy, invisible deck, and fraid knot. Thanks for all the feedback you guys!