Dynamo

If you live in the UK, you’ll probably know all about the cultural phenomenon that is Dynamo (see picture). Magician Impossible, as he’s known, has been everywhere: he’s got his own series, he appears on chat shows, and was 2011’s hottest topic for office water cooler discussion. He’s really fucking famous guys, I’d like to make that clear.

Here’s a video of the man himself, performing a trick on the BBC’s Never Mind The Buzzcocks. He’s doing that trick called SAW. You remember the one? It was all the rage a couple of years ago. No, I never did it either. 

What really interests about Dynamo is the fact that, quite clearly, this guy doesn’t seem to possess anything like the charisma or star appeal that one might expect. I’m not trying to be harsh on the guy here. He chooses his tricks extremely well, he’s clearly very good at what he does, and he deserves a lot of credit. 

But why is he so fucking famous? When you think about it, he goes against pretty much everything which is sacrosanct within the magic community: he doesn’t have an engaging presentation style. He doesn't use his magic to ‘communicate’ a ‘message’. He speaks quietly. He tells no jokes. 

What makes him good? I’ll tell you - in spite of all his shortfalls, Dynamo projects a very clear character. He has an identity. There is more to the character of Dynamo than just the tricks which he does. He is a success because, unlike 99% of magicians out there, he is more than Just Another White Guy.

Darwin Ortiz, I’m looking at you.

Daryl Easton, I’m looking at you.

Allan Ackerman, I’m looking at you.

I’d say that Dynamo managed to secure a TV deal, where so many have not, precisely because he doesn’t follow the magic rulebook. There’s something raw about Dynamo’s magic, something which feels genuine. It seems that Dynamo’s popularity shows that close-up magic doesn’t need to be packed with one liners or deep messages to be a huge success. 

What Can I Do To Deliver A Better Performance?

Due to the limitations of current blogging technology, I’m unable to underline the title of this post. Because believe me, if I could underline it, I would. This simple question, this is the real shit (see previous posts to see why), everything else which you read about magic online is just baby talk compared to this post.

You might have noticed that I’ve been pretty quiet these past couple of weeks. This is because a) I’m moving house (!), but also b) because I’ve been finetuning the answers to this question at the top of this post.

Proof that I'm not JUST a blog

I’ve thought about this for a while now, and I think that I’m at the stage where I have some answers. Not just my answers, the answers. To be honest, this post is only about 20% magic theory; the remaining 80% is just common sense. Nonetheless I’m willing to debate this with anyone who disagrees: the following answers are 100% true, 100% of the time. If you’ve been searching for the holy grail in the world of magic, here it is. No bullshit!

Things I/We Can Do To Deliver a Better Performance

1. Create conflict/tension/intrigue - this is the defining feature of the performance of just about every top level magician out there. A magic routine only becomes truly compulsive viewing when it possesses some kind of emotional core with which to drive that magical experience forward. There are many ways in which performers have created this emotional engine:
• Conflict between magician and his props (ala Cardini)
• Conflict between magician and his spectators (ala John Ramsey)
• Tension around the outcome of a bet (e.g. Shell Game)
• Tension around the outcome of a trick (the bent card phase of Ambitious Card)
• Intrigue, which can come from many sources (“I’ll show you how it’s done”, “I’ll do it face up”, “I’ll do it with the deck wrapped in rope”)
• Note that a lot of tricks have elements of some of the above embedded into their design (for example, ‘sucker’ tricks), so often these things do not have to be presentational add-ons but can simply be an inherent part of the effect itself. 
• Simply put, it is far easier for our minds to get absorbed in our current activity when we have some emotion invested in its outcome. We’re entertained when we care about what is happening: the same is true in books, games, TV shows, movies, comedy. This is not unique to magic.
2. Strive for tight, consistent pacing - this is an extremely simple one, but it may just be the most important thing of all. The target is this: your performance must be structured in such a way so as to minimise and eliminate any ‘dead time’. What is ‘dead time’? Well, anything which is not entertaining - any unintended silences, any excessively long cutting/shuffling sequences, anything where there is more procedure than there is effect. For the masterclass in just how much a consistent flow helps a close-up magic performance, look again at the tight, tight flow in Jonathan Kamm’s ACR.
3. Establish a consistent character - now look, when I say ‘character’, I do NOT mean it in the godawful way which it is slung around on web forums. I just mean knowing what to say and being consistent in that persona. Several months ago I was speaking to a professional comedy juggler: he had been doing street juggling for over thirty years. I was speaking with him about some of these things regarding performance. I’m paraphrasing, but he explained this whole notion of ‘character’ to me.  

 The essence of a truly entertaining performance is to have done your act so many times, that when you step up on the stage, you know the character that you are portraying so well that you ARE that character, you know what to say before they even ask the question.  This might not make complete sense, but when you’ve done your act another thousand times, you’ll know exactly what I’m talking about.

Are you starting to get it guys? The trick? That is not the thing, the thing which we are all chasing, and it never has been. Being a great performer is down to who you are as a person, the experiences which you have had. These are things which cannot be bought at a magic store, but need to be lived and experienced.

I know, I know. I’m scared too, guys.

Best of Youtube: Magic Edition

So I decided that I would put together some of the best YouTube magic videos on the web. Now, I've watched a lot of YouTube, and I decided to show what I reckon are some of the greatest magicians who out there today. In a world where it's so easy to be mediocre, you really have to give credit to those truly superb magicians who are out there. Anyway, here's the list:

Whit Haydn

I can't say how good I think this guy is. I've posted one of my favourite routines here, but he has a range of effects which are equally polished and equally effective. One thing which I find interesting about Whit's approach to magic is that he has spent years and years with one repertoire. He has then used this one consistent repertoire to grow as a performer. I think that is a hugely inspiring thing to do.


Al Schneider

If you can turn your head away from his public meltdown on The Magic Cafe, you'll know that Al Schneider is a man who produces some incredibly deceptive magic. Every trick of his has a wonderful method, with real economy of motion. And his book Schneider on Coins is still one of my top magic books ever.

Dani DaOrtiz

I just watched this again, and this guy is just simply unbelievably great at card magic. If only he spoke English, I'd know what he was saying. Although, can you imagine if he spoke English? Wouldn't it be great if it turned out that his patter is seriously awful? Some total crap like "this card represents star-crossed lovers, and the rest of these are merely grains of sand along the beach"? Wouldn't that be f***ing hilarious?

Although now I come to think of it, that line about grains of sand was pretty fantastic.

Derren Brown

Derren is surely the best of the mainstream magicians out there. This early video shows what us what it's all about in terms of connecting with an audience, how to own a performance, as well as how to have command and authority as a magician. Although, don't watch his new show, Derren Brown Investigates. Derren really struggles as a presenter, it just seems like Derren and his production crew set out to make some poor misguided guy look bad on TV. And the ending, don't get me started on the ending. The worst TV show I've seen this year.

He's good at magic though.

The REAL Magic Way

This is not about the Juan Tamariz book, sorry. This is much more simple than all of that. This post is about the real foundation of my magic, of your magic. I'm going to summarise what this whole site is about, right here. Because it's important. It's a lot to cram in, so I hope I can put it all into words :)

Let me put this into some bullet points:

1. You have one shot in life, one opportunity, to be the best you can be. Because of this, we owe it to ourselves to actually try our very hardest to be able to give as good a magic performance as we possibly can.
2. We study sleights and moves, we buy books, DVDs, everything, we build gimmicks, we buy gimmicks, yet none of these things are actually concerned with the one fundamental question: What can I do to deliver a better performance for the audience?
3. Because let us not forget that THIS is the goal. That is the reason we're all here, right?
4. The reason why we do not focus upon this important issue, and instead push it to the sidelines, is because this stuff inherently involves performance. In front of laymen. Understandably, after a while it can be hard for an amateur magician to find new audiences (myself included, to be honest).
5. Because you have expended your friends and family, it becomes harder to find fresh opportunities to perform. Because, let's face it, approaching people you've never met with the sole intention of showing them your magic is quite odd. I'll be the first to admit that I feel like a total asshole whenever I go up to two random people on a park bench and ask them if they 'want to see a card trick'.
6. Of course, that type of thing can work. However it takes a certain type of person in order to make something like that work. 
7. I'm not that type of person. No way. And you know, I don't think that you are, not really. If you were, then you wouldn't be reading magic blogs, you would be out in a bar, doing amazing magic and having glasses of champagne bought for you.
8. This stuff isn't easy. I reckon that there must be thousands of magicians out there who feel the same. 
9. But I've said it before, and I'll say it again: when it comes down to it, we owe it to ourselves to actually try our very hardest to become the best performer that we can possibly be. 

Suppose that I do, starting from today, truly apply myself? Cut out all the crap which gets in the way, and really give this thing a shot.

Why have I not done this before? I actually think that doing this is a win/win situation. Even if it goes bad, I'm sure that I will learn so much. It is our struggles which make us who we are. Although, if I have as much dedication to this as I have to my sleight of hand, I'm sure I'll improve my skills. I just cannot let my own apprehension/laziness stop me from doing this. This to myself. I owe myself to at least try.

This is the way, right?

LIVE MAGIC PERFORMANCE EXPERIMENT [Updated!]

Okay, so this blog is finally coming out of the practice room and into the real world! I'm going out now, ostensibly to find me some lunch, but really I'm gonna head out, right now, and do some magic for some people.

This is earlier than I was going to do this, but I now realise that this whole thing is about getting over the hump. Now is as good a time as any to start.

TODAYS CHALLENGE

1. While buying lunch today, go out and do ONE MAGIC TRICK to a layman. 
2. Whether it goes good or bad, you've still completed today's challenge.

It's as simple as that because, as I say, this is just about readying myself for the types of things which I'm going to be getting up to in future. Now that I've sat down and posted this, I basically have to go out and try a performance. Because if I don't, I'll end up feeling like a such a complete and utter jackass. 

I'll let you know how it goes when I come back.

*****UPDATE*****

I did it! I must admit though that I did kinda suck at the whole thing. I got up 'inside my head' about the whole process, spent a whole lot of umming and aahing about which people to approach.  I must have spent half an hour, just pacing around with my lunch in hand. Eventually, I got there. I showed a card routine to two early-twenties kinda guys. One was wearing a Man U top, I think.

Overall it went okay, not great. I got the feeling that they didn't actually speak the best English, but that's okay, I found the card, so at least I didn't look like a complete dildo. I still felt a tiny bit like a psychopath, approaching some people for no real reason, but I'm sure this feeling will fade (right?). Overall I feel very pleased, because I finally went out and I actually did some real magic. This is the first step to rehabilitation went out and did it! Things are moving!

I completed my first challenge! Yaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay!

Amateur Magician vs Professional Magician

The Cafe is in serious need of a redesign.

So, there's a lot of talk and trash on The Magic Cafe (as well as every other site out there) between professional magicians and amateur ones. Personally I feel caught in the middle over this whole issue. On one hand I'm a complete and utter hobbyist, but on the other hand I can kinda see what people mean when they say that, really, only a pro is able to give a truly informed opinion on how a particular trick plays for laypeople.

I'm at a crossroads. I really want/need to develop myself as a magician, I know I've got better technique than a lot of pros, it's all that other stuff I need to work on :).

I've spoken to magicians who tell me that the best way to become completely confident in front of an audience is to take the plunge and go pro. I'm not so sure that's the best way, though. Let me explain why.

Go pro?

Before I talk too much, I should address the realistic prospect that guys like me might need to go professional, in order to quickly gain experience of countless performances. Otherwise, you run the risk of becoming one of THOSE GUYS who learns magic but has no new audiences. With regards to performance, you defininitely gain a lot more opportunities as a pro than you ever do as an amateur. You're free to refine the same effect performance, developing that sense of confidence and assuredness with your material. It opens so many doors to you, as a performer. This is the real secret. This is what really matters.

Being a professional tends to ease the actual process of performance, too. The very fact that you are there as a professional magician can make it easier to approach a new group of spectators. I know that I have certainly found this to be the case from my own limited experience of professional magic. It also seems easier to get those big reactions that we all love when you are there in a professional capacity: your magic insantly gains more status and is more likely to be accepted by the audience. These are big points.

As a hobby

Could I just get one thing straight: the majority of magicians are amateurs, right? I don't think it's just a small minority, either. We're talking something like ninety percent. And you know what? That's okay. Personally, I actually really do enjoy doing magic as a hobby. It means I get to sample everything which makes magic so much fun: freaking out friends, meeting new people, and all the satisfaction of working on new sleights. It's just that I don't have to do all that other stuff like hassling sales calls, filling out tax returns, long drives to gigs. That stuff sucks.

Besides, if we're honest with ourselves, the world could probably do with a few less professional magicians. Many of the so-so hobbyists who end up doing magic on a full-time basis make it a more crowded marketplace for those guys who are genuinely 'the real deal'. I've always been of the opinion that if you want to dip your toe into the world of professional magic, then you'd better be bloody good at it. Obviously, a lot of people think differently!

If you stay as a hobbyist, there are genuine upsides. You keep the energy, magic stays as your love rather than becoming a source of cash. You enjoy creating magic for the sake of the art itself (sorry to use that term, I hate it). Because, in reality, no-one should really pay magicians to do their thing. Unless the guy is really, really good, there is no way to rationalise the fees which magicians charge.

When pursuing magic as a hobby I don't have to suck up to potential clients, I can just create something wonderful. As a hobbyist, that in itself is enough to constitute success. I don't know really, it's just that there is something within me which resonates with such a simple vision.

When I think about what would make me proud? If, in six months or a year, I wasn't a professional, but I was a fucking great amateur, that would give me much more pride in myself. If I was the type of guy who, any time he wants, be able to head out to a bar or club, and just show people magic and blow them away. I'm talking balls out, straight up, ripping up the club. Being the star of the whole damn show.

Because that is the cool stuff. Not going table to table at a restaurant, it's about going out there and being able to kick total ass in the real world. Forget the money: if you are that good, people will offer you money to come and do magic. This whole thing isn't about being a pro or an amateur, I think it's about being active in your magic. It's as simple as that.

So with everything considered, which route is the best to take? It seems obvious that the best way to improve my magic is through rigorous performance practice: this can be done as an amateur, you just need to be proactive about it. I'd need to actively seek out new places to perform. This might entail hanging out at coffee shops, parks, and bars with the intent of performing magic. Believe it or not, this is something I've never really done before. Oh well.

[Video] Card Magic Practice

Okay, so I put together a short video showing off a few card sleights. Seeing as this is The Internet, you'll probably judge me super harshly, but I'm pretty pleased with how it came out.



In all honesty though, this is chump stuff. Until I take this stuff out to audiences, I'm just all talk.