magic castle routine
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I'm thinking about auditioning as well. In my mind, I think they would probably prefer you avoid any gimmicks, but I doubt you are planning to change your routine at this point. I actually do in fact like your routine though, so don't get put down. If I were to give some constructive criticism, I would probably tell you to speed up the routine slightly when performing for professionals instead of going so slow. You should add more enthusiasm with your act as well, try not to sound, well, not dead (not that you do, just a reminder). Finally, I would probably say that make sure to perform with a smile on your face, not a face of terror and panic. If they see you are genuinely enjoying magic, and they potentially see you being happy and enthusiastic about performing routines that they may have in mind for you to perform, I think you would have a higher chance to be accepted. Again, I'm not part of the Magic Castle, but these are my thoughts and I'm usually pretty good at seeing what others want and generally reading minds a bit. Good Luck! & Have Fun out there! Let us know how it goes! Oh & sorry for this essay lol, but hopefully you like it!
thanks so much for the advice. I will definitely take your advice! especially the one about being not dead haha thanks!
You do not need to avoid using gimmicks. They do not care about the effect so much. They really want to see that you are a good performer and are eager to learn more and contribute to the community. I have seen people get in using gimmicks all the time. As long as you do something creative and original with it.
So I have no experience with the Magic Castle, but...
I would make the load and the ditch for the packet trick a bit more natural. I would do it on an offbeat. For the load, maybe put the cards on top of the deck and hold the break, and keep talking for a bit (also, I would use something else to get the break. Either spread further or use a pinky count. It was just kind of awkward when you spread through just the 4 cards). For the ditch, I would keep talking a bit more after the ditch, and then leave the packet on the table before doing the reveal.
The Triumph was amazing. I would just not do "the move" as tensely as you did it, but I think that is because of the camera being fixed. Maybe even due "the move" in a natural gesture. If you want more info, PM me, I wouldn't want to give away the secret because it was very clever!
Finally, for the last "blank" effect, I would just used a different colored back design, the opposite of whatever you used for the triumph effect. It just adds a bit of contrast, and throughout the whole performance, I was expecting a deck switch with the other deck sitting there. I would also leave it in the box, for that same reason (you take out 2 boxes, 1 red and 1 blue, do the packet trick, & the triumph trick, then move into the ending with the blue deck).
Overall though, it is an amazing routine, and your performance was spot on! The effects flowed really well together, and fit perfectly with the patter, and that ending blew my socks off! Maybe just loosen up a bit lol, you seemed really tense (again, probably just the camera).
I would make the load and the ditch for the packet trick a bit more natural. I would do it on an offbeat. For the load, maybe put the cards on top of the deck and hold the break, and keep talking for a bit (also, I would use something else to get the break. Either spread further or use a pinky count. It was just kind of awkward when you spread through just the 4 cards). For the ditch, I would keep talking a bit more after the ditch, and then leave the packet on the table before doing the reveal.
The Triumph was amazing. I would just not do "the move" as tensely as you did it, but I think that is because of the camera being fixed. Maybe even due "the move" in a natural gesture. If you want more info, PM me, I wouldn't want to give away the secret because it was very clever!
Finally, for the last "blank" effect, I would just used a different colored back design, the opposite of whatever you used for the triumph effect. It just adds a bit of contrast, and throughout the whole performance, I was expecting a deck switch with the other deck sitting there. I would also leave it in the box, for that same reason (you take out 2 boxes, 1 red and 1 blue, do the packet trick, & the triumph trick, then move into the ending with the blue deck).
Overall though, it is an amazing routine, and your performance was spot on! The effects flowed really well together, and fit perfectly with the patter, and that ending blew my socks off! Maybe just loosen up a bit lol, you seemed really tense (again, probably just the camera).
Stand when you are auditioning. It gives more presence and power over the audience sometimes. Make eye contact with the audience. It connects the story with them. Put emphasis on some words like "friends" or "family" or "vanish" in some sort of way that makes the patter better. Also, listen to your feedback from your last audition! It will really help! Good luck. It is tough to get in, especially for junior members. You are very good with the time (under 5minutes), but if you lengthen it somehow, with the applause and everything, you could be in danger of going over 5 minutes.
PM sent
There was a ton of exposure in my comments so i could not post it in the public forum lol
I've seen a ton of questions posed regarding what to expect in the various forums online, whether here, or magic cafe, etc. An appreciable number of these accounts varied and in some cases, contradicted each other. This can be really frustrating -- particularly because after reading them all, one doesn't necessarily even feel more prepared for the legendary audition. In fact, the more of the various accounts that I read, the worse I felt. Eventually, the conclusion that I arrived at is that I'll never really know what it is that the judges expect unless I go in there and just do the audition; and after chickening out once already in July, I signed up for the audition in October and this time, I followed through and I passed. For me at least, it was nothing like how I thought it would be. Unless the person giving the account of what the AMA wants has auditioned there (and frankly, within the last 10 years), I'd take it with a grain of salt. That being said, my account of the audition starts out the same way as a lot of others, but there are some specific differences.
I checked in at the front desk with my application in hand. The sent me down to a room called The Inner Circle where I waited until about 7:30pm. At that point, they pulled applicants in to a room and conducted each audition one at a time until everyone was finished. For us, things wrapped up (I think) around 10pm. At that point, everyone finds out their results in private from the judges. Each judge came out and paired up with someone except for me and one other applicant. We were brought back in to the performance room and given the good news. Man, I was relieved and ecstatic! About what it takes to get in, I have a much better idea now and I hope what I say next puts your mind at ease. I wish someone would have told me this stuff before I pulled the trigger. The recipe I used:
* Prepare 5 tricks but expect to only do between 2-3 due to time constraints.
* Contrary to what people say, it *is* ok if they're all card tricks (straight from the horses mouth -- I asked after the audition was over).
* The tricks don't have to be overly technical and in fact one can be self working, but if you do not demonstrate any slight of hand in your audition at all, they won't pass you. That's what one of the judges told me after the audition.
* As soon as you walk in to the audition room to perform, make eye contact with the judges. Look them right in the eye and thank them for setting aside some time on a Monday night to consider you. In other words, show them respect -- after all, the collective experience in the room can probably be measured in centuries.
* Pick material that you're comfortable performing and that you could pretty much execute by reflex. If you need to make major adjustments to something, my *opinion* would be that you either don't make the adjustment if it's not crucial to the performance, or push off the audition by another month to get comfortable with whatever the change is. I heard someone once say that if you can't do it clean, don't do it.
* I recommend that you open with whatever you're best at. If you save your best stuff until the end, you may not get a chance to perform it.
* Dress well. Since the last suit I bought was back in 2006, I was due for a new one anyway, so I got fitted for a new one before the audition (and shoes, haha). One of the judges mentioned that they liked my shoes. Another mentioned that he liked my tie. I'm not saying that it's a make or break kind of thing, but they're apparently paying enough attention to say something about it.
* Above all, find a way to connect with the audience. My opinion is that this is the most important thing. Truly entertain them -- and there are plenty of ways to do that even if you're showing them a trick that they've already seen.
* The panel is on your side. They do want you to succeed. Of course they want more magicians to be members and pay dues. They're hoping that you're the next one to write a check to the Magic Castle.
Last but not least, what I did. I opened my performance with a 4-card monte routine similar to the one by Dave Nabors. From there, I performed a silly production of a full deck of cards using something called "3D Advertising" by Henry Evans. From there, I did a 4 ace production where each spectator drew off about a quarter of the deck to reveal an ace at the top of each packet. From there, I went right in to Jazz Aces. After that, I reached in to my pocket for my silver dollars, planning to close with Daryl's version of 3-Fly-iii, but they cut me off and said that they'd seen enough to make a decision and sent me on my way. None of these routines are crazy, but I definitely nailed them hard and with my own patter. Oh and by the way, if you need to reset, they will allow that and (according to them) not hold it against you. They understand that people are super nervous and stressed out and some candidates may even be really intimidated -- I know I was. Hopefully this makes some of you feel better. It doesn't take miracles. Just be humble and professional. Connect with the audience and show that you care about magic and you'll do fine. Hope to see you all in the hallways of the Castle sometime. Cheers.
I checked in at the front desk with my application in hand. The sent me down to a room called The Inner Circle where I waited until about 7:30pm. At that point, they pulled applicants in to a room and conducted each audition one at a time until everyone was finished. For us, things wrapped up (I think) around 10pm. At that point, everyone finds out their results in private from the judges. Each judge came out and paired up with someone except for me and one other applicant. We were brought back in to the performance room and given the good news. Man, I was relieved and ecstatic! About what it takes to get in, I have a much better idea now and I hope what I say next puts your mind at ease. I wish someone would have told me this stuff before I pulled the trigger. The recipe I used:
* Prepare 5 tricks but expect to only do between 2-3 due to time constraints.
* Contrary to what people say, it *is* ok if they're all card tricks (straight from the horses mouth -- I asked after the audition was over).
* The tricks don't have to be overly technical and in fact one can be self working, but if you do not demonstrate any slight of hand in your audition at all, they won't pass you. That's what one of the judges told me after the audition.
* As soon as you walk in to the audition room to perform, make eye contact with the judges. Look them right in the eye and thank them for setting aside some time on a Monday night to consider you. In other words, show them respect -- after all, the collective experience in the room can probably be measured in centuries.
* Pick material that you're comfortable performing and that you could pretty much execute by reflex. If you need to make major adjustments to something, my *opinion* would be that you either don't make the adjustment if it's not crucial to the performance, or push off the audition by another month to get comfortable with whatever the change is. I heard someone once say that if you can't do it clean, don't do it.
* I recommend that you open with whatever you're best at. If you save your best stuff until the end, you may not get a chance to perform it.
* Dress well. Since the last suit I bought was back in 2006, I was due for a new one anyway, so I got fitted for a new one before the audition (and shoes, haha). One of the judges mentioned that they liked my shoes. Another mentioned that he liked my tie. I'm not saying that it's a make or break kind of thing, but they're apparently paying enough attention to say something about it.
* Above all, find a way to connect with the audience. My opinion is that this is the most important thing. Truly entertain them -- and there are plenty of ways to do that even if you're showing them a trick that they've already seen.
* The panel is on your side. They do want you to succeed. Of course they want more magicians to be members and pay dues.
They're hoping that you're the next one to write a check to the Magic Castle.Last but not least, what I did. I opened my performance with a 4-card monte routine similar to the one by Dave Nabors. From there, I performed a silly production of a full deck of cards using something called "3D Advertising" by Henry Evans. From there, I did a 4 ace production where each spectator drew off about a quarter of the deck to reveal an ace at the top of each packet. From there, I went right in to Jazz Aces. After that, I reached in to my pocket for my silver dollars, planning to close with Daryl's version of 3-Fly-iii, but they cut me off and said that they'd seen enough to make a decision and sent me on my way. None of these routines are crazy, but I definitely nailed them hard and with my own patter. Oh and by the way, if you need to reset, they will allow that and (according to them) not hold it against you. They understand that people are super nervous and stressed out and some candidates may even be really intimidated -- I know I was. Hopefully this makes some of you feel better. It doesn't take miracles. Just be humble and professional. Connect with the audience and show that you care about magic and you'll do fine. Hope to see you all in the hallways of the Castle sometime. Cheers.