School Talent Show

Aug 14, 2014
63
5
Canada
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 :)
 

RickEverhart

forum moderator / t11
Elite Member
Sep 14, 2008
3,637
471
46
Louisville, OH
If you want something that is cheap, but will play huge on stage then I highly recommend Richard Sanders Fiber Optics routine. 2 months would give you a sufficient amount of time to get the moves down. It looks beautiful when done correctly. One can never go wrong with a strong rope routine.
 
Dec 20, 2009
672
9
Massachusetts
Rope routines are great. If you have some money to spend, Linking Rings are fun too. If you're choreographing to music, try appearing/vanishing candles? Very elegant. If you're talking with audience, funnily enough, the Egg Bag is killer.

EDIT: Thought of more things. Miser's Dream is a fun one because of the audible noise.
 
Feb 18, 2014
146
0
52 shades of red by shin lim is a great one! It gets awesome reactions! Or you could check out his iconic! It also great I have done both :)
 
Dec 5, 2013
146
2
Boston
52 shades and iconic (and all of shin lim's released work) would not work well for a school talent show because there likely isn't live video projection so no one past the first row would be able to see what is happening. Dress code as an opener would be a great idea and then you could go into your routine whatever that my be. For example: "I'm here to show you some magic blah blah blah but I'm not really dressed for the occasion." perform dress code "Ok! now we can start" (something along those lines and hopefully les corny.)
 
Aug 14, 2014
63
5
Canada
hmm... playing with candles sounds fun... do you know the names of any effects that involve appearing/vanishing candles? Will also check out fiber optics, thanks, and yeah, I was also thinking of opening with dresscode and then getting into a routine :)
 
Aug 14, 2014
63
5
Canada
I think that's plenty of time for me to build a routine, I think I just gotta work hard on it and put in the work. Also, any tips on performing live on stage? I'm looking at an audience of around a hundred people, depending how many people come to watch
 
Dec 18, 2007
1,610
14
64
Northampton, MA - USA
Rope routines are great. If you have some money to spend, Linking Rings are fun too. If you're choreographing to music, try appearing/vanishing candles? Very elegant. If you're talking with audience, funnily enough, the Egg Bag is killer.

EDIT: Thought of more things. Miser's Dream is a fun one because of the audible noise.

And nearly every single thing on this list requires an exceptional amount of practice before one is considered "fair" let along "good". . .
I know people that practice ring routines for over 3 years before they started performing them in live shows, just for the sake of having proper control and an "artistic" feel to the presentation.

To the OP. . . why are you asking for suggestions?

If you do not have material in your arsenal at this point in the game YOU ARE NOT READY FOR A COMPETITION especially two months out. So look at what you have now and what you do well. I happen to know first hand that the Wilson Course will give you more than enough material for a Talent Show BUT, you needed to know it and been rehearsing it months ago if you want even a glimmer of hope to win; especially in today's world where magic is looked down on by so many.

The Second Reason I'm saying this is that no one here knows you, your character, style, vision, etc. so how can we suggest material that would be appropriate to you; effects that will "fit" you, so to speak?

Other considerations are your age as well as the age you appear to be (two very different things. . . I got cast as a teenager well into my late 20's) and too (and probably most important) the style of magic you see yourself doing; not everyone can go out and do a Dancing Cane routine ala Fred Astaire and make it enchanting but similarly, not everyone can look like Harry Potter and present an effect or series of effects akin to Micky and the Sorcerer's Apprentice.

Go Back and look at your existing material and use what you know and if possible, what you have on hand.
 
Aug 14, 2014
63
5
Canada
As harsh as that sounds I think you're right. What types of effects would be appropriate for this type of setting (i.e criteria to look for in my arsenal, I don't feel like listing every single thing I know how to do.)?
And I DO have rings but I think that's too "classic" and cliche or whatever and I kind of want to do something different.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Please don't do rings, i have seen hundreds of ring routines and only liked 2. and they were beautifully mastered and one actually used a special set of rings, it is so overplayed and overplayed badly for the most part.

I agree Craig you have to find what fits you

But i would also suggest fiber optics. it's what i close my street show with, fairly easy and and intensely magical.
 
Aug 14, 2014
63
5
Canada
Yes, I wasn't going to do ring magic, I like fiber optics cause I do have some experience in rope magic. However, if I were not able to speak while I perform what other effects are there to do?
 
Dec 18, 2007
1,610
14
64
Northampton, MA - USA
Yes, I wasn't going to do ring magic, I like fiber optics cause I do have some experience in rope magic. However, if I were not able to speak while I perform what other effects are there to do?

Do you own a copy of Tarbell? There's a plethora of material in there that's used daily in silent acts; everything from basic silk magic to livestock productions & vanishes.

Get to Youtube and study the acts of people like Jay Scott Berry, Jonathan Neal Brown, and even Lance Burton. . . look at the simple tools they work with and what they present without speaking. Johnny Thompson is another awesome example in how he communicates so much without saying a word and though his work is comedic, it's elegant.

Studying other performers, especially those we admire, will take us much further in bringing our vision into fruition.
 
Jul 13, 2014
176
27
The same thing is happening again. Two months isn't enogh to comfortably learn something. You need to figure out what you have that will work and do it. However, gimmick end effects might work. Envylope morph by Brandon David and Chris Turchi sounds great go that. But I don't actually have it so I don't know what moves are used.
 

Justin.Morris

Elite Member
Aug 31, 2007
2,793
888
Canada
www.morrismagic.ca
What are some of your favorite effects to do now? What is you absolute favorite? Perhaps taking one of those close up effects and finding ways to present it on stage would work even better than buying a new effect. I'm sure there are some guys here that would work with you on developing that.
 
Aug 14, 2014
63
5
Canada
I do have an idea now, thank you, it's something that I have done in close-up magic but I'll find a way to adapt it for the stage.
 
Searching...
{[{ searchResultsCount }]} Results