I commend you for going out there and performing William and maintaining self throughout the routine, I'm glad you don't perform like everyone on here the fact is your an innovator so keep it going and we learn more each and every day. Peace!
Shane
I'm gonna agree with romeo and the now aswell. If I'm honest, I had to stop watching about a minute and a half in; I just felt THAT alienated. BY the time I got through the whole thing, I just had this kind of "Well...okay...?" feeling; it just didn't make me care.
In addition, I felt, like the previous posters, that your character was very out of place. Surely there was room for some comical excuse for your presence/attire? It might have been an effective but simple way to gain rapport with them.
All these things are simply my thoughts/initial reactions. Hopefully they will come across as being constructive, rather than just critical, which they are certainly not meant to be.
Hope this helps.
Sorry, Draven... I'm going to have to agree with The Now on this one. That entire performance was just... ridiculously contrived.
I understand you stay true to your character 100%, and I can respect and admire that. But with that-- as a performer, you should recognize there are venues where your character just doesn't belong. You looked horribly out of place and that made the entire performance feel very awkward and unsettling.
I would also argue you *didn't* have any patter for the effect. Frankly, it looked like you made most of it up on the spot and had no idea what to say so you simply narrated what you were doing or what was happening. "Just focus on the napkin-- focus on the card-- picture your card on the napkin..." Such presentation is a waste of breath and lack of substance; that opinion is shared by many. You were doing magic for the blind, so-to-speak.
The weirdest? part of the video was definitely the audience reaction. Their entire posture and body language seemed so uninterested and bored throughout your presentation, I couldn't help but think their "reactions" were more polite than raw and spontaneous. The fact that a camera-man had to pry responses out of them felt amateurish and unnecessary. If the effect hit as hard as it should, faces should have told the story-- not some Criss Angel interview.
I'm sorry-- I would comment on the pros of the video, but I blatantly don't think it's one of your best at all... It's everything Darwin Ortiz, Henning Nelms, Ken Weber, and numerous other magic theorists say quality magic ISN'T. It almost begs the question-- was it a satirical video or meant to be taken seriously?
CONTINUED:
The main problem with this whole performance seemed to be this whole tone and manner of almost a used car salesman, pitching an proving. It was "patter , patter, patter, insert line designed to seem like you're interacting with the audience, patter patter patter". That kind of thing. I think they were impressed because water mark is an awesome effect. I think the girl was surprised at the out come because she wasn't expecting (due to your performance) it to be any good.
It just seemed very false and many aspects were simply inappropriate.
Did not like this much at all. First of all, the fact you were doing guerilla style street magic is fine, but its became very awkward due to the fact you were still wearing your quasi formal costume with the almost "Slash" looking hat. It was like you were from some stylized world and wandered into the park. Only you weren't. You were some guy dressed oddly and inappropriately to the environment.
Your approach was also kind of irritating. You went right into performing after coming into their space. You asked them what they were doing and asked for names, but it was rushed like a formality you had to get done quickly so you could start YOUR magic.
The rest of your manner also seemed rushed and a bit false, which made it irritating for me. The moment you took the cards out, things were just inappropriate. You took the cards out of you POCKET but once you took the cards out you THREW the box behind you. Don't you think that would strike your audience as odd, or even rude? You are in a park after all. Then you formally almost explain playing cards to them as if they might not know how they are set up. Its fine to show that a deck isn't gimmicked, but you were kind of speaking to them as if they were much younger than they were.
Then as you began the trick you just over proved the "fairness" of the selection process, and "made sure they realized they could have changed their minds".
The worst thing in this was the fact you MADE A QUESTION MARK with the cards on the ground just because you said the word question, as if they couldn't remember and could do with a visual clue that you were trying to figure something out. Then you left it there for the rest of the trick... and even after you left. That goes right along with chucking the box earlier but now you are being inappropriate for their age, and you're also leaving your crap everywhere.
The rest of the performance was fine except for the line "thats good water" because it sounded like it was just that, a "line".
The main problem with this whol
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