Live Magic

hhahaha some great advice there man, thats actually the point we were trying to make with the interview its why we put it in there. it was a complete joke. I was trying to hold in from laughing the whole time but by the end i let it out lmao. Watch again but thanks for the great advice anyway. -Jake

I'll just second what everyone else said and say you need to work on your performance. You had some very strong tricks there, but from the reactions you wouldn't have known. People seemed rather indifferent to the tricks because (and I'm only being honest here) they came across as very dull, which we know they are not. Oh and also, something that really gets my goat, why does everyone always stick a cheesy 'interview' in the middle of their videos. Blaine did it on his first special and that was interesting because he was doing something new, but now every kid with an Ellusionist DVD and a video camera is doing it. In honesty, it just comes across as ego boosting for the magician. You're not doing anything new and no one is really that interested in how you got started in magic. Work on the tricks and presentation rather than trying to act like you are famous. I'm not trying to be harsh, I can see you are obviously really into your magic, and your technique was sound. I also admire you for keeping your stuff simple and easy to follow. That's always the stuff that is the most impressive to lay people, not the finger bending,super fast cadistry infused stuff. Keep it up though mate, not bad and definitely some potential for greatness. Rev

You didn't amaze anyone, because you're patter was soo weak dude. Try a story, and instead of doing a come-back trick (Where you mess up and then get it right) Or even anything long just do a simple effect. Like the Jack trick.

yes actually since last saturday when we filmed I went out again. I tryed definitely a bit harder to work on my performance, etc. I will submit it when ready. For now I will go practice more!

yea. sit at home and maybe write out some patter. or record it with voice recorder. if you can get a BASIC patter down, it makes it easyer to improvise from that. yea you dont want to drag out a trick too long. but you can draw it out longer. excpeccially if you have a good sense of humor. ALSO try to get involved with the people. dont just go up and be like, CAN I SHOW U A TRICK. go up to them and be like Hi how are you! (shake hand ) and be like hi my name is ....(in my case chris wiehl) and introduce yourself. a good line is oh im not selling anything so dont worry. then be like im a performer or w/e. i noticed u were telling people you were working on a project. thats a way to get into it. but yea. just take in the advice you get here. and i know u say thats not how you usually act. but maybe you just dont think you do. the camera picks up how you act. which is a great way to learn. when i look at old footage of me performing and the newer footage i notice differences, and i use the differences to change my style/ work on patter and performance. taping is a great way to learn and not just a way to show off! but yea go out and tape some more when you can!

with the two girls?

Oh that first guy was so annoying the spectator

Pick up a copy of "maxium entertainment" by Ken Weber. This book pretty much completely covers in details everything the comments above stated plus alot more that will help you become a better entertainer. Or a copy of Jay Sankeys - beyond secrets. both these books will help your actual performance

also what i forgot to say was to tell jokes and talk to them too.. you dont want the people to think you are just a person that does tricks and leave... you want them to think you are a fun person..

I do agree to what they have said... it was good to me.. but like they said is to stretch it out.. but it has to be perfect... too long and they might get bored.. to short and they wont remember it.. the way i do my magic is that i do like 3 or 4 tricks.. but they all lead up to the next.. i also tell storys through out the tricks leaving the spectators asking for whats going to happen next.. and at the end i do a big tricks to leave them speechless... cause then they will remember you... also if you are trying to get business out like the guys said about youtube... try and do a trick that you can give away at the end.. i myself do a couple cell phone tricks at the end.. so when i leave, they ask for my name and number because they already have their cell out... i have actually been in picture with them after too... but thats besides the point.. the point is that you will be remembered, and you will have a better connection with the people you are preforming too. still great vid. and keep up the good work...

yah, thank you guys alot for the advice. It's really the main reason I wanted this to get into the media section. Now watching this about a billion times I do notice this is not how I always perform. But I need to deffinitley change my patter up so thank you for the words. Next time we go out in town I will think of the advice and make it alot more entertaining for the people watching the vid. Hope to go out soon and perform again. -Jake

I agree with Chris. The camera work could have been better angle wise but the quality was great. Good job! 4 stars from me.

your biddle was alright. the patter was TERRIBLE. you can deff milk that for more than its worth. check out born to perform card magic. same with the other trick. great tricks and you could change them up to be even more than they are. the tricks were executed well. but the patter made them boring and less than they really are. the biddle trick alone is one of the tricks i use when someone asks me to show them atrick. they explode after that and they have no clue what to do with themselves. With some more performing and some scripting, you'll be on top. you have the slights down, now all you need is the patter. take thoes 2 tricks, add 2 more also, like a bill switch and maybe a coin trick. or another card trick. work on the patter and scripting and find times where you can put in a joke or a magical pause. also you need to slow down the performance a bit. with the biddle trick you can stretch it out to be a 3 min long effect if not more. but you havta take your time and know what you are going to say. Good job going out and performing. just do it more and you'll grow into the patter that works the best for you.

Well, it was okay. I think technically it was passable, but you need to eliminate the "Ums" and "Uhs" in your presentation. Also, don't say "now here is what were going to do", it's filler and they know your going to do something, so come up with a presentation that captivates the audience. Also, the first trick you do for an audience should not be one were you supposedly "mess up" and then fix the problem by changing the X card to their selection. Put a routine like this in the middle of a set. Another thing is to not sound so full of yourself, which you did at points, but that is another topic that I won't cover here. It's a good thing that you got out there and performed live though! -Dmagic :D