Theatrics | Article

[Mr.MadMan]

Believe in nothing you hear and only half of what you see...

-- Dinah Mulock Craik

Performance......what is it exactly?
Why should i think about what i say when im performing?

This seems to be the problem in common magic and mentalism grounds.
The false perceptions of the real work that go into the effects we perform.

I´ve seen many newcomers say that they don´t really care about the theatrics part of performing.

"I have been practicing my moves for over a year, its perfect why do i have to waste my time on theatrics."

"Experience teaches only the teachable"

-- Aldus Huxley

What amazes me is the lack of understanding we have in our art. Although there will always be misfits but i feel that there is too much of this. The art of magic is also the art of presenting.

This is what i think is misunderstood within us. Why didn´t this occur a decade ago? Because people in those days understood the point that magic/mentalism/spiritualism/comedy and others are just plain theatrics. (ah i love Staind, Tangled up in you made it easier to write this)

If we took away the tools then what we would have is acting. We would have a play, but what makes it work is the visual part of it.

Remember, "Dont believe in anything you hear and only half of what you see".

If we are not allowed to believe in anything we hear and we are only allowed to see with one eye, we must get the point across the best way we can. And that is with the aid of tools, but thats all they are. Tools for making the point clearer, we must make the theatrics work if that does not work the play will not be good.

Now we started off with the second half but what about the first one. If we are not heard all we have is the tools. This is where our confidence our knowledge in the areas we perform in, the stuff we talk about must be believable. If it isnt the above quote will go into work. If we dont back up our stories then the props will be much bigger than they should be.

We need to go against that quote. Thats what i try to do, if i can get my point across with them being totally with me to the end of it, and they see with two eyes and they hear what i do then what i have done is made them Believers.

I have made them Believe into my own reality, the reality that i have brought to their table and fed them with. If you can make them Believers in you, then you know that what you do is good, what am i saying, if they are Believers in you then you can say whatever you want, they WILL believe all your words.

A good example is Derren Brown, he made people believers and now he is taking all that he can take out of that.

How did he achieve that?

Personality, characteristics, believable stories, knowledge, confidence and most importantly theatrics(and much more of course).

"Our job is not simple, but if done right we make contact for 5 minutes but make a bond for life!"

Thats what theatrics do for our magic. Thats what it does to make it more memorable, its not only us that do it. Its not about misdirection, quick hands nor clever hidden devices. Its about how you present it.

"You cannot depend on your eyes if your mind is out of focus"

-- Mark Twain

Another great quote that proves the theory.
Our job is to make a memory of something simple and weld it into their minds.
Theatrics make the spectators imagination go wild, if we make them believers then they wont go to their eyes to get the picture they go to their mind.
If we can deceive the mind then we will deceive listening and seeing, thus making an effect ultimate in the spectators mind.

Aaron Fisher made the point of effects breaking into pieces in the spectators minds and staying there.

"An effect is broken into pictures that linger in the minds of the spectators"

--Aaron Fisher
(not 100% accurate but the point is the same)



Thanks for reading and thanks for making me understanding this principle.
Thanks go to Max Maven, Paul Brook, David John Rhodes and Derren Brown.

Mikk.

 

[D ICE R]

Interesting post Mikk.

I have discussed this before with many people but I will give it a little more of a public domain. When I talk about the greatest performance I have ever seen (either live or on TV/youtube etc.) it has to be Derren's take on the "Which Hand Game" from Comic Aid.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ei-Pw5KgE7k

Whilst there is nothing new in terms of methodology the way he performs it is nothing short of perfection. Very briefly there are some points that I would like to mention about the method. In the first phase he is aware that the audience knows who he is and more importantly what he is 'doing'. He than exploits this by over doing the suggestion to the point that he invites the audience to try and catch him out. The second phase when he gets the woman on to the stage is nothing to special as most of the information can be found in many many sources. There are a few aspects in there, that are fairly original and a few bits of luck thrown in for good measure.

However, this topic is about presentation so I will get back to that. The first phase seems to have gone exactly as he wanted it to. It may have, but Derren is a shows his true strength as a performer, if it did not go as he wanted all he would have to do is alter his patter. This act is something that on the surface is all that impressive. I mean the first phase only has a 1/8 chance of success and the second half is a 1/16. But Derren turns this into a mircle, and the reason, because they believed him. It helps that the method was almost the same as the pseudo method.

But it transcends that, this to the audience was not a trick. He took something that everyone has done in their life, either as a stand alone game or as a precursor to one. Then used that connection to create something that everyone would participate in, and most importantly invest in. He gave the audience things to look for so that they could try it at home and make a game out of it. This respect is something that a lot of magician's do no give to the audience. The role of the magician often comes across as a 'look at me' I can do something that you cannot, and that is one of the easiest ways to lose their respect.

 

[Shakutau]

How did he achieve that?

Personality, characteristics, believable stories, knowledge, confidence and most importantly theatrics(and much more of course).

I especially liked this part of the post, and would like to delve a bit further.

As you may all know, many of the forums have submited to topic and posts regarding to performances and presenting your character, also getting that message of your premises across (if you have started creating a premise for your powerful performances that is). Sites like Papercrane Productions have blog entries written by our honored member Dee Christophper, helping newcommers step and go, in the proper direction of this Art. Even forums like Ellusionist and Penguin Magic have people writing about these topics, and there is valuble, valuble knowledge and experiences to be learnt. People are sharing these gems for free here, and what do we do? We glance across as if it was nothing, while we carry on searching for the newest of the newest, competing against other magician's sleight of hand skill, the best cards, what magician is better than whom, etc etc. We settle our minds on so trivial things and we become nerds basically.

I hope more and more of you start doing your research and studies now.

Most of the time when people are performing, when they begin to add even a speck of presentation in ther performances, they will tend to immitate either the (full) patter and presentation of certain magicians; and immediately people start to feel that your performance becomes less plausible.

"Is it the tricks? Is it what i said? What am i doing wrong? I said what he said! Followed exactly how he taught! The hell am i doing wrong!?"

Its neither and everything. Many magicians teach us to do things our own way, while they share theirs to point you the general direction. For example, the presentation given by Chris Kenner in his Sloppy Shuffle Triumph - i once saw a few people online and even my friend perform this, with the exact same patter and presentation. All i had to say was that i felt embarassed to even watch them perform that.

Backstories. We have to share our OWN. Not other peoples. Unless you're a zombie and you have none. Share that too! At least it's yours. People like Paul Harris, Daniel Madison, Bob Cassidy, Derren Brown, Joel Paschall all have their own backstories, own history, own experiences which formed their magic. Thats what makes them a lot more credible and enjoyable to watch and understand.

You have experiences people. Use them.

 

[Althor]

Thanks for the great post. Until a few weeks ago, I'd just do a trick or two with minimum presentation. Now I'm giving the presentation more thought, but had no direction..

You've given me a lot of help there. Thanks again!

 

[Mr.MadMan]

Thanks for the awesome replys guys.
::TP

Mikk.