Hello my dear magicians,
today I'd like to resume my first 5 performances in a restaurant (each evening 4 hours).
So in the beginning I didn't have a program for the first 2 times. As you can imagine it didn't work out so well. It was awkward and I tried to show as much tricks as I could. That was the time I realized I had to change something. So I sat down and watched some magicians like Eugene Burger, Tom Ogden (!), Gregory Wilson and Jon Allen. I didn't take any tricks of them but rather some advice on presentation, opening lines and I adopted Tom Ogden presentation of the Invisible Deck and some of his jokes. At some point I also realized that I had to try out a program like 20 times before I can tell if me and the audience feels comfortable with it.
My program is basically constructed by 3 tricks:
1. Manhattan Opener
2. Standup Monte
3. Invisible Deck
I start off with the line:
"Is this a fun table." by Jon Allen. If they say yes I proceed, if they say no (usually the women are laughing) I say: "If one woman is laughing, this should be a fun table."
Then I ask them: "Which person ist the most trustworthy?" also by Jon Allen. That person receives an Invisible Deck to guard and it receives some giggles. I tell them that I am color-blind and I can't distinguish between red and blue. I am wearing blue glasses so I ask them if the glasses are really red as my seller said. That receives some giggles too. Then I tell them I need their help with the deck where I lost a red card. Then standard presentation of Manhattan Opener under the plot of being color-blind. Then I just go on with a simple presentation of StandUP Monte by Garrett Thomas which gets so huge reactions I don't need to be funny. I close the gap by saying: I'm not only color-blind but I also like to play scam games. "Btw Do you know the Cups and Balls game?" "Never play this game with a stranger, that's what I'm here for now . But not to scam you but to show you the moves..." The spectators will laugh in awe anyway. So after I did that I let them pick a card from another deck and I read their minds. Then I reveal that the deck is a One Way Force Deck. This gets a huge huge laugh. Finally I present the Invisible Deck as you can see here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VFn5W86usl4
All in all I can say that after I sat down and made this program (by far not perferct) I'm really starting to feel comfortable in my role as a magician and also I can be relaxed while performing because all sleight I need in the program is a DL, a Hindu Force and a Flustration Count. I am sorry for copying the presentation of Tom Odgen, but I tried to make it my own with the One Way Force Deck and some jokes I added to the presentation and the opening line by Jon Allen is just too great to not use. Also this program might be a little bit unlogical
Through this program I learned that no spectator wants to bite me, I learned smalltalk, I feel more relaxed in my role as a magician and I learned to pull off a DL smoothly in front of any audience cuz nothing can make me nervous any more because I have a red line to follow.
Some downsides I learned is that the worst thing that can happen is that the waiter brings the food. But this problem is solvable by simply asking: "Did you already order the food?".
Also my problem might lack a logical structure. I try to make a logical ending with the Invisible Deck I gave a spectator. That makes them curious and makes them care.
If you have any improvement suggestions please let me know but please consider that I am only a card guy. I am learning other material but I don't feel comfortable enough to perform it and I never had a spectator that got bored.
Cheers
Philipp
EDIT: I am able to perform ruber band magic but for me I feel that the rubber band magic gets nowhere near my card effects. One downside is that I have to reset the decks for Manhattan Opener after 2 tables (I set 2 decks up).
today I'd like to resume my first 5 performances in a restaurant (each evening 4 hours).
So in the beginning I didn't have a program for the first 2 times. As you can imagine it didn't work out so well. It was awkward and I tried to show as much tricks as I could. That was the time I realized I had to change something. So I sat down and watched some magicians like Eugene Burger, Tom Ogden (!), Gregory Wilson and Jon Allen. I didn't take any tricks of them but rather some advice on presentation, opening lines and I adopted Tom Ogden presentation of the Invisible Deck and some of his jokes. At some point I also realized that I had to try out a program like 20 times before I can tell if me and the audience feels comfortable with it.
My program is basically constructed by 3 tricks:
1. Manhattan Opener
2. Standup Monte
3. Invisible Deck
I start off with the line:
"Is this a fun table." by Jon Allen. If they say yes I proceed, if they say no (usually the women are laughing) I say: "If one woman is laughing, this should be a fun table."
Then I ask them: "Which person ist the most trustworthy?" also by Jon Allen. That person receives an Invisible Deck to guard and it receives some giggles. I tell them that I am color-blind and I can't distinguish between red and blue. I am wearing blue glasses so I ask them if the glasses are really red as my seller said. That receives some giggles too. Then I tell them I need their help with the deck where I lost a red card. Then standard presentation of Manhattan Opener under the plot of being color-blind. Then I just go on with a simple presentation of StandUP Monte by Garrett Thomas which gets so huge reactions I don't need to be funny. I close the gap by saying: I'm not only color-blind but I also like to play scam games. "Btw Do you know the Cups and Balls game?" "Never play this game with a stranger, that's what I'm here for now . But not to scam you but to show you the moves..." The spectators will laugh in awe anyway. So after I did that I let them pick a card from another deck and I read their minds. Then I reveal that the deck is a One Way Force Deck. This gets a huge huge laugh. Finally I present the Invisible Deck as you can see here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VFn5W86usl4
All in all I can say that after I sat down and made this program (by far not perferct) I'm really starting to feel comfortable in my role as a magician and also I can be relaxed while performing because all sleight I need in the program is a DL, a Hindu Force and a Flustration Count. I am sorry for copying the presentation of Tom Odgen, but I tried to make it my own with the One Way Force Deck and some jokes I added to the presentation and the opening line by Jon Allen is just too great to not use. Also this program might be a little bit unlogical
Through this program I learned that no spectator wants to bite me, I learned smalltalk, I feel more relaxed in my role as a magician and I learned to pull off a DL smoothly in front of any audience cuz nothing can make me nervous any more because I have a red line to follow.
Some downsides I learned is that the worst thing that can happen is that the waiter brings the food. But this problem is solvable by simply asking: "Did you already order the food?".
Also my problem might lack a logical structure. I try to make a logical ending with the Invisible Deck I gave a spectator. That makes them curious and makes them care.
If you have any improvement suggestions please let me know but please consider that I am only a card guy. I am learning other material but I don't feel comfortable enough to perform it and I never had a spectator that got bored.
Cheers
Philipp
EDIT: I am able to perform ruber band magic but for me I feel that the rubber band magic gets nowhere near my card effects. One downside is that I have to reset the decks for Manhattan Opener after 2 tables (I set 2 decks up).