.. from Vaudeville at the Baker, the Stupidest Thing I Have Ever Done On Stage…
Sometimes I feel almost ashamed. Sometimes.
As I mentioned on Tuesday, I spent last weekend doing a Vaudeville show in which I had a set of small acts spread throughout the show. I decided to try an experiment in audience training (in the interest of science!)…
The first time I came out on stage, the audience had no idea who I was beyond what was on the program. I came out, took off my top hat, and struck a “ta-da” pose with my hat held high. Suprisingly, it got some applause. I acted surprised and pleased.
The next time I came out, I hit the same pose. More applause.
The third time I came out, hit the pose – people went nuts.
The fourth time was more applause than I could have expected (and probably more than I deserved at that point) but by then the audience had been conditioned to clap when I came out, and they expected something entertaining to happen. That’s when I did the Stupidest Thing I Have Ever Done On Stage (soon to be copyrighted) and the crowd lost it in laughter and applause – the perfect payoff for all that tension and conditioning.
This may sound like a cynical thing – training the audience to respond in the manner you desire – but there are quite a few people out there who do not understand that they’re allowed to respond to a live performance! There’s no “like” button to press.
We have to let them know it’s ok to be heard.
Tags: audacious gambits, cheap advice
This last week I was part of a Vaudeville show in which I did a series of small bits, as opposed to doing a single, longer, act.
A lot of magicians worry about doing little short bits as they fear they don’t have anything that can stand up to being compressed into two or three minutes. I think it’s a great opportunity to see what you can come up with that’s quick, visual, punchy and above all else, entertaining. As I’ve mentioned before, my current “set” is very modular and can be mixed and matched. Since I already had things which would fit into the time constraints, I was able to pull three bits from my show and, in a fit of creative pique, come up with a fourth one that brought the entire series to a gloriously stupid crescendo.
I’ll get some video up of these bits some time this or next week – stay tuned!
It’s official, I’m in Texas.
This July 1, I’ll be at the Blue Star Arts Complex in San Antonio on South Alamo Street, doing the Street Show two or three times through the evening thanks to the courtesy of the Overtime Theatre – come on down, have a refreshing beverage at the Blue Star Brewing Company and then follow the klaxon-like sound of my voice to the Overtime’s “Back Porch” to watch me once again risk life, limb and dignity for the amusement of others!
This is all part of the First Friday art and entertainment event that happens at the Blue Star the first Friday of each month, so come out and see the Idiot in Texas!
Tags: Performance Dates, Texas
The past few weeks I have been going to the “Open Mic” night at a local comedy club to work on some material. Open Mic nights are good places to, well, “not be brilliant” in front of a non-magician, non-family-member audience, because they’ll be totally honest in their responses to your material.
Here are some things I’ve picked up on so far, based on my own experience:
- Call first. – Going to a club “blind” is like going to any other event sight unseen: Unadvisable. Call the club and find out what the rules are for open mic, when the list “opens” (becomes available for sign up) and what you need to do to get your name on the list. This will help you plan the rest of the evening around actually getting up on stage. It will also let you know how much time you have up there, which may have some bearing on what you try to do.
- Get there early. – If the club you’re going to is a popular one, you’re likely to have a lot of people trying to get on the list to get up on stage. This means finding out the earliest you can get on the list and showing up to write your name down.
- Be prepared for a long night – not just because you’re going to be watching other people’s matieral, but because some clubs have a “sign up and stay here” policy. This means if you sign up at 5:30 to get an early number for an 8:00 show, you’re going to be there for a while. Bring a book or something to do to pass the time. (It’s also not a bad idea to use this time to go over what you’re planning to do and make certain you remember the lines and blocking.)
- Plan your material – While some comedians can just go up and start rambling off lines off the top of their heads, magicians have to plan, plot, practice and then perform. Most open mic nights allocate three to five minutes per entrant – this means you have that much time to get on stage, introduce yourself, do what you want to do and then be done.
… mind you, Rudy Coby and more than a few other magicians out there have espoused the merits of having a three minute act. So it’s good practice. - You don’t have to be funny. It helps, but you can just be amusing or entertaining. Remember, you’re here to put your material in front of an audience that is not accustomed to seeing you do magic (ie: not your friends, family, magic club, coworkers, etc.) The novelty of a magician in amongst all the comedians will work to your advantage.
- Relax - You’re a performer amongst performers, or at least a guy going up on stage amongst a bunch of other guys going up on stage. You’re all in this together.
- Be nice - So far, a lot of the comedians I’ve seen at open mics tend to be mean and obnoxious when the audience doesn’t think their stuff is hilarious. You don’t have to be That Guy. The fact that you’re nice in comparison will also help make you more entertaining than That Guy.
- Make notes afterward – As soon as you can, jot down your impressions on how it went. If you have a spotter who’s brave enough to join you, get your spotter’s impressions (this may be worth a dinner, or at least a few beverages).
Most of all, remember: You’re doing this for the Flight Hours and experience in performing. Maybe this might lead to you getting a spot on an actual show bill, maybe it won’t. It will, however, add to your experience as a performer, and that’s never a bad thing. At the very least, you’ll have some stories to tell your friends.
Tags: cheap advice
Moving to a new base of operations can mean that all your regular haunts – the places where you perform – are not accessible to you. No one in his right mind (wait, we’re talking about RenFaire people and magicians here) wants to travel a couple of days to go somewhere to perform for not enough money to cover your travelling expenses.
Since I’m now here in Texas, I need to find places to perform… here in Texas. Here are some things I’ve sorted out so far:
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Open Mic nights can be your friend. Be prepared to have only a chunk of your material tested and performed, and expect the time allotted to go by much faster than expected. The bad news is that you will likely need to sit through a lot of other people’s performances before you can do your set. On the other hand, you might catch some geniunely good material and, if you’re a magician, it’s not likely anyone else will be doing your stuff during an open mic.
Ask around – is there an arts district or marketplace near you that has special night outs like “First Fridays”, “Art Walks” and the like? Find out who organizes these things and contact them, asking if street performing is possible? Even if you can’t negotiate compensation, you’re getting a chance to get out and perform (“He who does the most shows wins!” – Jeff McBride) and get your name, face and act seen by people.
Contact the organizers of local festivals. Be prepared to call and email more than a few times – these folks are up to their eyeballs in organizing the events and usually also have a day job of some kind. Be polite, but persistant. Most county fairs have a “Community Stage” on which you can block out at least one show during the run of an event. Some of them permit passing the hat and / or vending merchandise too.
Balance the amount of time and energy you’ll need to spend with how much exposure and promotion you can generate – even if you’re performing for free, is the event one which would look good on your list of venues? If so, get out there!
“… you can amaze people once or twice, but if you can make them laugh you can entertain them forever.”
Jeff Dunham, All By My Selves
I like to call myself a “hack magician”. “Hack” in this case is a bit of self-deprecating humor, implying that I know that I’m not the greatest magician in the world. (Heck, with a name like “Tobias the Adequate” do I have any other directions I can go?) And, while I do my best to be as good a sleight-of-hand artist as I can be, I know I have miles to go before I can come close to some of the big names in the industry.
However, I do my best to be as amusing as possible. This is my choice, and my path in this business. Entertaining can last for an awful lot longer than amazing, especially since anyone with access to an internet connection can find out how any particular trick is done within minutes of seeing the trick itself.
Seeing Jeff Dunham (yes, the ventriloquist with Achmed the Dead Terrorist, Walter, Peanut and Jose Jalepeno [on a steek]) say, or at least write that made me feel pretty good about my approach to this business. If one variety artist can take that approach, so can I.
Here’s the book in which he said it, which was also a really fun read:
Tags: books, cheap advice, shameless plugs
“Strolling Entertainer” is a phrase which magicians use to describe any set of performing circumstances where they don’t have a set place in which to perform. I like “Ambient Entertainment” a little more because it brings what we do more in line with what musicians and other variety artists do – provide ambiance for an event without having to draw and hold a crowd. In Ren Faire terms, this also equates to “gigging”, of which more will be babbled here soon enough.
Instead of trying to draw a big crowd when performing as an Ambient Entertainer, the focus is on “trolling for eyeballs” – you’re trying to catch the attention of a few passes-by for a moment, amuse them, and move on. This can be done by actually accosting them (as we’ve seen in a highly edited form in the many “Street Magic” specials which have come out in the last 20 years) or by just… being magical.
Personally, I enjoy the second method much more – It takes the risk of being denied (there’s a great clip from the second or third season of Criss Angel’s MINDFREAK show in which they compiled about six times he was turned flat down after asking if someone wanted to see a trick. Yes it happens to everyone.) and gives you the opportunity to do what musicians do all the time – get away with “working out” a bit in front of people without them knowing you’re doing it!
For myself, I like to play around with silk scarves for Ambient Entertainment. You can get any number of books on handkerchief magic out there. Silk scarves are big, brightly colored, and can be quickly stuffed into a pocket. Just tying one of a number of “dissolving” knots, while walking, and doing so with a baffled expression can draw eyeballs. Once I know I have someone, I’ll stop and mention “This isn’t so much a trick as an exercise in incompetence…” and depending on their response, do more or carry on.
Think about this for your next “Strolling” gig. Ambient Entertainers draw the audience to them, rather than imposing themselves on their audience. It’s a subtle but significant difference.
Sources for silk / handkerchief magic:
A friend of mine, Steven Moore (of the now famous Knight of the Living Dead Kindle book!) and I were talking about what it’s like doing more than one “job”, that is, being a magician and doing something as a “day job”.
Steven has had a few full time magicians give him grief about not going “all out” as a performer. His response was one of the best I’ve heard…
“Well, I’m sorry you don’t have the stamina to be able to do two full time jobs at once!”
Remember: Even if you only do shows part-time, if you’re serious about your work, you’re doing it full-time.
Also: shameless plug!
Tags: shameless plugs
