Failing|Thoughts
Hello, long time no see eh
.
I thought i'd talk a little about Failing and the actual benefit of it. So without further ado, ill go right in.
My Thought Cycle:
Recently i had an accident with an image duplication. It happens from time to time that something goes wrong and comes out the way you wouldn't want it to come out.
There is a real big benefit of failing in front of a crowd of 150 people. And that is...
you learn to handle your audience. I bet there have been times where a certain sleight, peek, tool or something of that nature did not work.
Well then you know the feeling that the blood from your face will flow away pretty quickly if the desired effect does not protrude.
In my case it was an image duplication which by some unexplainable reasons got messed up really badly. Being that i drew a House and she drew a Sigarette. Although i hide all kinds of things on my pictures from time to time(something i picked up from Psychological Subtleties i believe) it's still pretty bad to draw the wrong thing. The thought i had instantly was to play it off as securely and as damage free as i could.
What was my initial reaction?
My face went white, i sweat like hell and i looked at the sigarette for 20 seconds to lift my sight and say: "You know, there comes a time, where everything just does not want to go the way you want it to".
Ill stop right here and discuss what this sentence did. I'm actually going to use the exact same procedure i had right there. But the sentences actually implies that something MIGHT have gone wrong but you are not admitting it. It's a kind of 50-50 sentence which makes the audience believe that something has happened but they don't know what. Anyway, what i got from that was that 90% of the audience laughed. Later i learned that the sentence had made them laugh due to the tension being to big and that was the last straw.
So i talked BS for 30 seconds trying to find a connection between the two. Then i finally had to give in and show my drawing. I talked about mixed messages and sent the spectator away.
But i didn't give up though!
And here comes the advice of the day. Hold a straight back, full confidence and just hit them with your backup effect(make one!!!). I always have the Copperfield Thumbs up illusion in my head. It has helped me get through sticky situations in the past when i've gone bold and done something psychological which hasnt turned out.
But it always helpes me and it takes away from the Fail you made and puts something new and fresh into their heads.
Always, use something simple as a backup though. And do it quick, nothing complicated, nothing serious. Simple, effective and straight on!
Always smile, always be confident and always try to keep entertaining in mind. Your magic is secondary, the entertainment part is what keeps the show rolling.
For me, i kept the tension in the theater so high that you could hear a hair hit the floor. The entire time i drew it was quiet and thats what was the point. Later people talked about how tense it was and how funny it was, rather than talking about how i failed.
So the main point i'm trying to make(besides bragging about my show) is that always be ready for a bad situation. And make sure to not miss anything during the Fail period. Try to learn from it, advance and make corrections.
And the benefit?
You become universal. You will be successful no matter what the circumstance, either if you are doing everything right or failing, the impression must stay the same.
A little question, what have you learned from a fail?
M.
Hello, long time no see eh
.I thought i'd talk a little about Failing and the actual benefit of it. So without further ado, ill go right in.
My Thought Cycle:
Recently i had an accident with an image duplication. It happens from time to time that something goes wrong and comes out the way you wouldn't want it to come out.
There is a real big benefit of failing in front of a crowd of 150 people. And that is...
you learn to handle your audience. I bet there have been times where a certain sleight, peek, tool or something of that nature did not work.
Well then you know the feeling that the blood from your face will flow away pretty quickly if the desired effect does not protrude.
In my case it was an image duplication which by some unexplainable reasons got messed up really badly. Being that i drew a House and she drew a Sigarette. Although i hide all kinds of things on my pictures from time to time(something i picked up from Psychological Subtleties i believe) it's still pretty bad to draw the wrong thing. The thought i had instantly was to play it off as securely and as damage free as i could.
What was my initial reaction?
My face went white, i sweat like hell and i looked at the sigarette for 20 seconds to lift my sight and say: "You know, there comes a time, where everything just does not want to go the way you want it to".
Ill stop right here and discuss what this sentence did. I'm actually going to use the exact same procedure i had right there. But the sentences actually implies that something MIGHT have gone wrong but you are not admitting it. It's a kind of 50-50 sentence which makes the audience believe that something has happened but they don't know what. Anyway, what i got from that was that 90% of the audience laughed. Later i learned that the sentence had made them laugh due to the tension being to big and that was the last straw.
So i talked BS for 30 seconds trying to find a connection between the two. Then i finally had to give in and show my drawing. I talked about mixed messages and sent the spectator away.
But i didn't give up though!
And here comes the advice of the day. Hold a straight back, full confidence and just hit them with your backup effect(make one!!!). I always have the Copperfield Thumbs up illusion in my head. It has helped me get through sticky situations in the past when i've gone bold and done something psychological which hasnt turned out.
But it always helpes me and it takes away from the Fail you made and puts something new and fresh into their heads.
Always, use something simple as a backup though. And do it quick, nothing complicated, nothing serious. Simple, effective and straight on!
Always smile, always be confident and always try to keep entertaining in mind. Your magic is secondary, the entertainment part is what keeps the show rolling.
For me, i kept the tension in the theater so high that you could hear a hair hit the floor. The entire time i drew it was quiet and thats what was the point. Later people talked about how tense it was and how funny it was, rather than talking about how i failed.
So the main point i'm trying to make(besides bragging about my show) is that always be ready for a bad situation. And make sure to not miss anything during the Fail period. Try to learn from it, advance and make corrections.
And the benefit?
You become universal. You will be successful no matter what the circumstance, either if you are doing everything right or failing, the impression must stay the same.
A little question, what have you learned from a fail?
M.
Last edited by a moderator:
