Parlor Show

[aznofspades]

My friend is a really talented local musician and he's having a CD release party. So I'm thinking of opening for him with magic, because unlike the other bands there, I don't have to set up so I can fill in any dead time. The angles are pretty good, I'm only half surrounded and the people are about 10 feet back. I got the ok from him and I was thinking of doing 3 tricks.


So while telling a story about me and my friend,

Who's Your Momma (Chicago Opener) This is my friend's favorite trick and whenever I pull out the deck he always asks me to do the one where the card changes.

Any ideas to help me get this to play to a bigger crowd?
For the final transformation of the odd backed card do you think it should be a visual change (twirl change) or an invisible change (top change)?

Rope This is the trick that my friend helped me perfect so I could get into the Foreign Language Talent Show. He's really encouraging to other performers and he has no ego. And I can throw in the joke, that if you saw this trick before in the Foreign Language Talent Show, you can finally understand what I'm saying cuz it's in English.

I'm pretty solid with my rope routine. I've performed it for larger crowds. So I don't really think that I need suggestions on this one. Unless you have any really good advice?

Tagged I'm gonna tag a word on my friend without him knowing. He has a lyric book of all his songs, and I'm gonna borrow it and have a volunteer point to a word. (dictionary improv)

Show it to the audience

Close

HIm and the volunteer both hold the book him with his right hand (tagged) and her with the left hand. And I do the pseudo transfer thing and try to get him to "read" the word. I can be like, I would normally say to clear your mind, but since it's your book, I'll pretend to forget the song and have the volunteer tell him. Then I'll have him like play that song in his head and just try to not focus on one word. But to trust his instincts And I'll just do the questions

If it works it would be good. Keep thinking of the word, grab your arm.

but if not I'll say something corny like, that's ok you're a musician not a magician. And I think I know why it didn't go through. It went through subconsciously.

Either way: Let go of the book. Grab your arm, and just clear your mind. Do you feel something happening to your skin? The word materialized on your arm.

Do you think it would work in this form?
Do you think there's a better way to use Tagged like this?
Does the presentation make sense to you?

Thanks

 

[True2Coins]

Why not try and do something related to music. Perhaps Alvo Stockman's mix tape or another effect like CD prediction or whatever.

 

[aznofspades]

Why not try and do something related to music. Perhaps Alvo Stockman's mix tape or another effect like CD prediction or whatever.

That's an interesting idea. But I'm trying to get advice on what I've chosen to perform, instead of trying to learn a brand new effect in a month.

Plus, I already have a tie in.

 

[turgon]

Hi, the second two effects sound spot on but I'm not sure about the first one. If your audience can be up to 50 people, most of them won't be able to see whats going on and as your opening effect you can't really afford for your audience to miss it.

 

[aznofspades]

Yea I agree. I decided to open with the Ropes to get their attention. And then do Chicago Opener.

Any ideas to help make cards play bigger?

I could have someone pick a card. And kinda do like a lap around the room showing it to everyone, make a running (no pun intended) joke out of it. Because I have them pick 3 cards.

I'll be using the stool that the performers sit on as my table where I put the odd backed card.
And have a spec put their finger on top.

How hard is it to Top Change in front of a large audience?

And I'm thinking of giving out free copies of the CD to the volunteers. So I'm thinking of 1 for the person who cuts the ropes, 1 for each of the 2 people that picks the cards, and 1 for the person who picks the word. How do I get my friend to give me a discount on the CDs.

Thanks

 

[popchris3]

Man... I don't know what you should do. Chicago Opener can be used for an audience that big, but I would definitly combine it with a color changing deck. I did that once in a parlour show.

I did Sankey's variation, to where you show the audience the different colored card with a big sharpie mark of DO NOT CHOOSE written on it. 50 people can all see that. Place that into the deck "and lose it". Then, I had the person select a card, and showed it as the one that had the DO NOT CHOOSE on it(obviously with some comedy and stuff in between.)

I then told that person to run around the audience with the card so everyone can see it (play it off as comedy, works well. You don't even have to be funny and people laugh at a guy frantically running around the audience with a card).

During that moment, I switched out the deck with one in my pocket that had ALL cards that said DO NOT CHOOSE on the backs, at which point I scaled them out into the audience. It played HUGE. Just make sure everyone clearly knows that ALL the cards are the other color at the beggining.

Fun idea. Try it like that and see if it doesn't work for you. I do that routine for audiences of up to 150 or maybe even more.

If you are going to make it play for an audience like that, make sure your voice is commanding and you hold the card high above your head (I'm starting to sound like my mom now...)

 

[popchris3]

Oh, and top changes are easy in front of large audiences. I would actually advise a Twirl Change for a big audience though. Plays a lot bigger if you do it up and down at a sideways angle.

Oh, and instead of making YOU running around the running gag, make the spectator run around. The same one every time. Choose wisely though.

Well the spectator is running around, say things like, "Well, at least you are getting your exersize."

Another thing you could do is get him to be a comedy stooge. What I mean by that is before the show, rehearse him to where you guys can say things like this,

"Trust me, he needs the exersize... Tubby..."

Have him say,

"What?"

and you say...

"Oh, nothing."

Easiest thing. Or you could take your chances just by doing it yourself.

I also forgot to write that right before scaling the cards, you could say something like,

"Although it isn't THAT hard to choose it, seeing as there were several more that looked just like it."

I really hope that helps. Sorry if that post was hard to understand! I need to get to bed!

But remember, for future reference, don't try and make certain tricks fit the audience. You won't be a very succesful performer if you can only do one venue of magic (close-up) and you have to do it for stage and parlour too.