theory11 — Magic Tricks & the World's Finest Playing Cards

School Talent Show

JTangarang said:
So there is a school talent show coming up in about 2 months and I'm excited to perform. does anybody have any ideas on which effects to perform on stage (preferably one, short, powerful illusion)? It is a school talent show so no fancy trapdoors, smoke and mirrors, etc. Thanks :)
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How long do you have to perform? I have performed in 4 talent shows when I was in high school. I had about 5 minutes, but then the fourth year I did it, I think I was on stage for about 15 minutes. The limit was 5, but they knew me and liked it a lot so they let me continue on with it. Anyway. I did a few effects. String through neck my first 2 performances and a couple of card tricks. The last two years, I really put some time and effort into it. I should have the first two, but I was younger. Maybe look into the Zombie ball? It's a pretty nice stage routine. You CAN do close up magic on stage, but maybe look into a projector. Not saying you want to, but you do have that option. Fiber Optics is a great suggestion that has already been made. A good cups and balls routine is really neat as well.
 
Thanks for the suggestions guys, I have been looking at other performances watching how people perform on stage, and what types of effects are being performed, so I do have some ideas on what to do now :)
 
If you're wanting to work on a stage but are on a budget, one option is to add a little mental magic to your show. Because they focus more on the people, mental stunts tend to play big and require few if any props that often don't even need to be seen well by the audience. Just be careful routining that way and make sure any mental magic you add fits smoothly with the rest of your act.
 
RedbeardThePink said:
If you're wanting to work on a stage but are on a budget, one option is to add a little mental magic to your show. Because they focus more on the people, mental stunts tend to play big and require few if any props that often don't even need to be seen well by the audience. Just be careful routining that way and make sure any mental magic you add fits smoothly with the rest of your act.
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ABSOLUTELY NOT!

Mentalism is far more demanding than Magic for starters; it requires far more showmanship to sell. Secondly, this push to put mental effects into a magic performance is hurting those that do proper mentalism. The two forms are related just as Mime is related to Magic but they are NOT one in the same thing. One invokes belief while the other suspends it; one is an agreement with the audience that you are going to be tricking them while the other is viewed by the audience as some plausible, though "fantastic" (in some instances).

Yes, when executed properly Mentalism can "Play Big" but you'd best have the chops to pull it off.

If the individual isn't yet versed in Magic then they should not attempt to move into Mentalism or even Mental Magic yet, they simply are not ready especially when they are under 20 years of age (30 is actually the best age for moving into Mentalism but we're talking pragmatically here, not how the trend has unfolded).

And Before It's Stated. . . yes there have been some brilliant young minds to come along in Mentalism but they are quite rare; a few of them being my own students or those of Kenton Knepper. Very, very few achieve public acceptance without long term guidance and coaching. This can be said about traditional Magic but not to the same degree as we find with Mentalism.
 
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