Stage Show Thoughts~ Essay #11 by Jamie D. Grant

Jamie D. Grant

theory11 columnist
Oct 12, 2008
189
1
Vancouver
www.cardsinabottle.com
Last edited by a moderator:

Jamie D. Grant

theory11 columnist
Oct 12, 2008
189
1
Vancouver
www.cardsinabottle.com
Another thing to mention about this is if you're ever booked for a stage gig, make sure you upsell them on booking you for Walk Around prior to the dinner. Meeting people before you walk on stage is worth its weight in gold...
 
Thanks Jamie for posting this, there is some GOOD info in here. Love the idea about requesting the floor plan. That never really crossed my mind to do that. I usually show up extra early to get a feel for the room, but it would be nice to know what I'm going into a head of time. Good call. As for how the stage act is going... it is painful at the moment. I'm redesigning the stage act to rely less on sideshow stunts, and incorporate more traditional magic ran through a Draven filter. That is to say taking effects or routines, and rewriting or re-envisioning them to make them my own. The immediate attention being focused on mastering a 4 minute card manipulation sequence to serve as my opener. The problem of course being as I've never done this before so learning a new sequence of motor skills is proving to be a pain in my back palm. My goal is to have something demo-able by July, and by next year at this time, have something serious to film for submissions to the Castle. So far I believe I've got my foundations covered between McBride's first two disks on manipulation, and Sperry's three video download here on Theory11, with some of Jikh's material thrown in for good measure. I want to augment the manipulation act with sequences of card steals/ deck switches and XCM moves, as opposed to the traditional cards to mouth, silks, or billiards which you normally see accompanying manipulation acts.
 
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Feb 4, 2008
959
3
So do wireless mics come with Mute switches? Sorry if that's a dumb question but I know nothing about them.
 

Jamie D. Grant

theory11 columnist
Oct 12, 2008
189
1
Vancouver
www.cardsinabottle.com
Not a dumb question at all!

They have an on/off switch on the beltpack that clips onto your belt (this is the wireless transmitter that you mic plugs into). I don't have to tell you how important it is to make sure it's off before you go to the bathroom!
 
Dec 18, 2007
1,610
14
64
Northampton, MA - USA
Another thing to mention about this is if you're ever booked for a stage gig, make sure you upsell them on booking you for Walk Around prior to the dinner. Meeting people before you walk on stage is worth its weight in gold...

ESPECIALLY FOR MENTALISTS!

I've watched my chum Jon Stetson work a room for a solid hour prior to hitting the stage. It's how he manages to covertly set-up important pre-show situations as well as prep the room in that a lot of people don't know what a Mentalist actually is. By doing the pre-show in this way you can win in many ways BUT, when it comes to mentalism, don't use it as an "up-sell" but as something you do as an apparent bonus. The Up-sell would be having yourself and maybe one or two additional Readers at the back of the room doing quickie Readings based on something you've demonstrated on stage earlier. While the main contractor can pay for this up-front I've found the better way (not to mention, the original way) this was done was as a Back of Room Sale e.g. you charge $10.00 per person for a short 5-10 minute Reading. Traditionally the up-sell is done here, on the show patron and getting them to schedule a more in-depth Reading sometime in the following week or two. You'll see examples of this in the works of Nelson as well as Larsen, Sr. and I do believe Burling Hull mentions it in a few spots.

"Stage Work" as I've said elsewhere, varies. There's a huge difference between working the local comedy club or quasi-dinner theatre setting than working an actual theatrical stage where you're facing well over 600 patrons (actually, 1,200 to 1,500 is considered average in such venues). Thanks to a small handful of folks in this biz, that is even different when it comes to auditorium and sporting events where guys have to do magic that's so huge that it's visible to 30 to 50 THOUSAND guests. . . then again, I think my old chum (Harrary) is totally nuts sometimes.

Great words of wisdom Jamie
 
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