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Talent Show Video
- Thread starter Donald C.
- Start date
well I just watched the video (sorry bad connection) and here is what I think of it, don't take it personally man 
.
You have skill and it shows, it looks like you have practiced the routines (and I mean the sleights) and I thank you for it, As I have said before you don't have a problem with technique so its nice to see that all your practice is giving results.
The only concern that I have is that you should interact a little more with the spectator, I mean, you are chosing them for a reason and they are there for a reason...let's take the second guy for an example , they are not just "picking cards machines" and althought your presentation was allright, you could take a breath and try to interact more, you have your lines so worked out that you dont give time to interact with the spectators a little more, Im not talking about beggining the conversation with them, because the flow of the trick shouldn't be cut out, Im talking about maybe some more eye contact, even calling them for they name, playing with them a bit more, make them feel that they are PART of the trick and not just watching it from the sidelines...
Well that's the major thing about all this, overall the crowd was hyped, they enjoyed the show and I bet that your reputation there is better than before, just remember,DONT BE ARROGANT (Im saying this in the nicest manner) you are a skillful guy and we don't need you to be teling us about it, your videos talk for themselves.
Take care.
.You have skill and it shows, it looks like you have practiced the routines (and I mean the sleights) and I thank you for it, As I have said before you don't have a problem with technique so its nice to see that all your practice is giving results.
The only concern that I have is that you should interact a little more with the spectator, I mean, you are chosing them for a reason and they are there for a reason...let's take the second guy for an example , they are not just "picking cards machines" and althought your presentation was allright, you could take a breath and try to interact more, you have your lines so worked out that you dont give time to interact with the spectators a little more, Im not talking about beggining the conversation with them, because the flow of the trick shouldn't be cut out, Im talking about maybe some more eye contact, even calling them for they name, playing with them a bit more, make them feel that they are PART of the trick and not just watching it from the sidelines...
Well that's the major thing about all this, overall the crowd was hyped, they enjoyed the show and I bet that your reputation there is better than before, just remember,DONT BE ARROGANT (Im saying this in the nicest manner) you are a skillful guy and we don't need you to be teling us about it, your videos talk for themselves.
Take care.
i am not suprised that you did a good job bcoz i have seen your other videos.BTW,try to get one of those michrophones which you can attach to your face(i dont know what its called).
well I just watched the video (sorry bad connection) and here is what I think of it, don't take it personally man
You have skill and it shows, it looks like you have practiced the routines (and I mean the sleights) and I thank you for it, As I have said before you don't have a problem with technique so its nice to see that all your practice is giving results.
The only concern that I have is that you should interact a little more with the spectator, I mean, you are chosing them for a reason and they are there for a reason...let's take the second guy for an example , they are not just "picking cards machines" and althought your presentation was allright, you could take a breath and try to interact more, you have your lines so worked out that you dont give time to interact with the spectators a little more, Im not talking about beggining the conversation with them, because the flow of the trick shouldn't be cut out, Im talking about maybe some more eye contact, even calling them for they name, playing with them a bit more, make them feel that they are PART of the trick and not just watching it from the sidelines...
Well that's the major thing about all this, overall the crowd was hyped, they enjoyed the show and I bet that your reputation there is better than before, just remember,DONT BE ARROGANT (Im saying this in the nicest manner) you are a skillful guy and we don't need you to be teling us about it, your videos talk for themselves.
Take care.
Thank you rdchopper I will take in allthe advice you gave me and throw it all into next year's talent show so it is that much better. I never really thought having them interact more it just did not come to me. If you have any examples on how I can do so that would help a lot beause I do notreally know how I could add more interaction.
Thank You ,
- Donald
Good work mate, keep it up. The first assistant was very hot - You ought to ask her for some help and do a double act! 
- You ought to ask her for some help and do a double act!
well, lets talk about a thing first, RAPPORT what is that?
Rapport is kinda like a connection that you make with a spectator, if there is a connection, the spectator is going to trust you more, he is not going to be burning your hands and he is going to overall like you and your performance even more, when the spectator is a complete stranger, gaining rapport with them means to gain their trust in a very short time and I'll explain how in just a second.
NAME....
People are egoistical , they love the sound of their name and that's why you could say their name more often, why don't you try it? next time you are performing just before the sleight try saying their name like "rebeca, you still remember your card, right?" 98% of the time people look up to see you, and other people watching will look to the spectator wich name was called, thus giving you lots of misdirection AND gaining rapport with them.
SHAKING HANDS
......Have you noticed that when Danny G. is about to perform to a complete stranger he first asks his name and then he shakes hands with the guy? when you come to someone and you smile, asks their name politely and then you present youself while shaking hands with the spectator in question, kinda makes you look to the spectator like a nice and friendly guy, thus he has no reason in the world to not trust you.
MAKING THE SPECTATOR PART OF THE TRICK OR ROUTINE
Well taking your Invisible palm routine for an example, you could have said somethng like this...
" So (insert guy's name here) , do you know any way to cheat at poker? (guys tells you what he knows) well there is something called palming, that means holding a card like this(shows palmed card) here, try it, (spectator tries to palm a card) pretty obvious you say? well, there is something called invisible palm...."
Im sure you are thinking right now," well that's exatly what I said and did!" well, there is a diference and Ill tell you where.
There is a reason why all your audience wanted to be your spectator, your volunteer, and the reason is that they wanted to be part of the trick, watch it close,but in your performance you were giving all your attention to the audience, not the guy holding your mic, (wich in some cases it could be nice depending on the trick) in my opinion, it rather should be you focusing on the spectator itself ( the guy holding the mic) while letting everybody else see what's happening bewteen you and the spectator, you did this well on the trick with the girl, you never forgotted that SHE was there, but with the guy you kinda got carried away and you started losing your focus on him while giving it to the audience.
Watch the top pros at t.v or large escenarios, they focus on the spectator they chose while letting everybody else see what is happening between you two...
Well there you have my thoughts on the subject and I hope that you can use them, glad to help
Last edited by a moderator:
RDChop covered some good stuff - so I will give you my feedback, since requested.
Magicman1212 - realize you are still young and learning, so overall - realize, I think you did a good job for where you are at. That being said...
Effect selection - your first effect was not a bad choice. It had audience interaction, and played big - I think you could have given it more "meaning" or have more fun with the audience.
For example - you picked a pretty girl...imagine the "moment of magic" was the two of you touching cards while they were in your mouth - the crowd would have went nuts...as you guys were close to kissing, but never actually kissing. Not your style? You still could have made the magic less about process, and more about the magic. This will come in time.
The second effect - PH's Invisible Palm - I see hack a lot - many magicians don't realize they are stepping on mini moments of magic. Magic happens when the card vanishes, then reappears - that is two effects, not one. I could teach a course on how to do that effect better!
Obviously, this is hard to see...even with a camera - on the table. Even though you have a camera, you may want to think of things that play larger or at least where the magic happens off the table.
Now - to talk about presentation - your young, so it is okay to come off young - but to improve, give your magic a hook. Much of what you said was instructional in nature - I didn't learn anything about magic, you, life...no real impact on me. I was just "fooled" by magic.
This is a perfect example of how reactions make us think we did a great job, which you did...but long term...well, think of it this way. You can win a game by 1...or by 1000. You can win a fight, or knock a guy out...what I am saying is - you could have punched their nuts up into their throat...metaphorically, but it will come.
I am not going to lie - I found the actual performance part, a bit hard to watch. The Blair Witch style filming was one reason...sound problems (the best thing was getting that girl to hold the mic)...anyhow, you see your room for growth....however, everyone loved it and you fooled them.
Congrats - you have reached level 1 of being a talented magician - procede to level 2.
Good work.
Magicman1212 - realize you are still young and learning, so overall - realize, I think you did a good job for where you are at. That being said...
Effect selection - your first effect was not a bad choice. It had audience interaction, and played big - I think you could have given it more "meaning" or have more fun with the audience.
For example - you picked a pretty girl...imagine the "moment of magic" was the two of you touching cards while they were in your mouth - the crowd would have went nuts...as you guys were close to kissing, but never actually kissing. Not your style? You still could have made the magic less about process, and more about the magic. This will come in time.
The second effect - PH's Invisible Palm - I see hack a lot - many magicians don't realize they are stepping on mini moments of magic. Magic happens when the card vanishes, then reappears - that is two effects, not one. I could teach a course on how to do that effect better!
Obviously, this is hard to see...even with a camera - on the table. Even though you have a camera, you may want to think of things that play larger or at least where the magic happens off the table.
Now - to talk about presentation - your young, so it is okay to come off young - but to improve, give your magic a hook. Much of what you said was instructional in nature - I didn't learn anything about magic, you, life...no real impact on me. I was just "fooled" by magic.
This is a perfect example of how reactions make us think we did a great job, which you did...but long term...well, think of it this way. You can win a game by 1...or by 1000. You can win a fight, or knock a guy out...what I am saying is - you could have punched their nuts up into their throat...metaphorically, but it will come.
I am not going to lie - I found the actual performance part, a bit hard to watch. The Blair Witch style filming was one reason...sound problems (the best thing was getting that girl to hold the mic)...anyhow, you see your room for growth....however, everyone loved it and you fooled them.
Congrats - you have reached level 1 of being a talented magician - procede to level 2.
Good work.
Yah good job man i loved the reactions! It's amazing, all that loudness for something that us magicians do with cards lol. Anyway yah really great job.
C
CaseyC
Guest
You clearly were a hit and I truly congratulate you on that! I thought your first trick was extremely hard hitting. With that said I think it would have been a little bit more suitable for your closer.
Harry Houdini once said how important it is to recieve critism, so I will be one of your critics. Take what you want and if you feel something doesn't apply feel free to skip over it. With that said lets get started!
Introduction
Although it seems as though many people know you throughout the school a good introduction should definitely have been put in your show. It seemed as though you just kind of went up and said "Hey everybody, my name is Donald"(I think that is your name?). It could have been more enthusiastic leaving the audience with a great first impression of your show. I don't want to give you too many ideas because an introduction should really be unique to the performer. For the nest talent show I would really spend some time on the introduction as it is one of the most critical parts of the show.
Trick Selection
Great picks for tricks (I love rhyming)! They both were hard hitting and left the audience amazed with your skill. Like said earlier though I would have flip flopped the order (Invisible Palm first, Mouth Transposition last) as to make the hardest hitting trick your closer.
Patter
I liked how your patter wasn't too fluffly and too storylike, it was straight to the point. Personally I like straight to the point tricks as in the Queens. Four queens vanish one by one...thats it. The four queens aren't going on a magical journey where an evil warlord locks each one up one by one so they can't be found. With that said I felt your tricks were very direct. But with direct tricks you need some good lines or gags. I noticed this when you said that it was called "sleight of mouth". It was a good gag but wasn't delivered well. It seemed as though it was an awkward moment. I would have delivered it extremely cheesy with more enthusiasm.
Your invisible palm routine opening seemed too much like a "I need to make up an introduction to this trick". You could have made your speaking slower and practiced it a little bit more. Really make an opening that you can follow for the rest of the routine. Lets say you used that opener and you are right about to make a card appear from the invisible palm. You could say "and here comes the gambler laying down a card to make a perfect hand"...something along the lines of that.
Picked spectators
I always thought it was fun when a magician would pick a spectator to help him by throwing out a frisbee or ball of some sort. There were so many people that wanted to be picked (...nice) and by throwing out an object it is completely random. Someone that didn't get picked might not be as sad considering that it was random. What I am about to say has also been touched upon earlier but you need to involve the spectators more. The second spectator basically picked some cards then held a microphone for you. He probably wanted to be more involved instead of just standing there.
Obviously I only touched on a few points but I would recommend looking at that recording again and again and try to pick out anything that wasn't good. Watch it again and again and again and again until you can't watch it any longer. It is a real treat to get your performance recorded, be sure to use it to your advantage.
I gave you a lot of critism and I just want to say one more time that your performance was great! It killed! Obviously the audience loved your performance and you did a great job, but what I mentioned are just some small details I might have done differently! Once again great job and make sure you watch the performance again and again and critisize yourself.
Harry Houdini once said how important it is to recieve critism, so I will be one of your critics. Take what you want and if you feel something doesn't apply feel free to skip over it. With that said lets get started!
Introduction
Although it seems as though many people know you throughout the school a good introduction should definitely have been put in your show. It seemed as though you just kind of went up and said "Hey everybody, my name is Donald"(I think that is your name?). It could have been more enthusiastic leaving the audience with a great first impression of your show. I don't want to give you too many ideas because an introduction should really be unique to the performer. For the nest talent show I would really spend some time on the introduction as it is one of the most critical parts of the show.
Trick Selection
Great picks for tricks (I love rhyming)! They both were hard hitting and left the audience amazed with your skill. Like said earlier though I would have flip flopped the order (Invisible Palm first, Mouth Transposition last) as to make the hardest hitting trick your closer.
Patter
I liked how your patter wasn't too fluffly and too storylike, it was straight to the point. Personally I like straight to the point tricks as in the Queens. Four queens vanish one by one...thats it. The four queens aren't going on a magical journey where an evil warlord locks each one up one by one so they can't be found. With that said I felt your tricks were very direct. But with direct tricks you need some good lines or gags. I noticed this when you said that it was called "sleight of mouth". It was a good gag but wasn't delivered well. It seemed as though it was an awkward moment. I would have delivered it extremely cheesy with more enthusiasm.
Your invisible palm routine opening seemed too much like a "I need to make up an introduction to this trick". You could have made your speaking slower and practiced it a little bit more. Really make an opening that you can follow for the rest of the routine. Lets say you used that opener and you are right about to make a card appear from the invisible palm. You could say "and here comes the gambler laying down a card to make a perfect hand"...something along the lines of that.
Picked spectators
I always thought it was fun when a magician would pick a spectator to help him by throwing out a frisbee or ball of some sort. There were so many people that wanted to be picked (...nice) and by throwing out an object it is completely random. Someone that didn't get picked might not be as sad considering that it was random. What I am about to say has also been touched upon earlier but you need to involve the spectators more. The second spectator basically picked some cards then held a microphone for you. He probably wanted to be more involved instead of just standing there.
Obviously I only touched on a few points but I would recommend looking at that recording again and again and try to pick out anything that wasn't good. Watch it again and again and again and again until you can't watch it any longer. It is a real treat to get your performance recorded, be sure to use it to your advantage.
I gave you a lot of critism and I just want to say one more time that your performance was great! It killed! Obviously the audience loved your performance and you did a great job, but what I mentioned are just some small details I might have done differently! Once again great job and make sure you watch the performance again and again and critisize yourself.
Some great advice their I am going to print this out so I do not tforget about these words.
I thought the first effect worked really well on many levels. I really think you should have reversed the order. The first effect just seemed stronger. It was funnier specially in a High School setting with the embarassing undertones of cards switching in your mouths, and trying to talk etc... Also a hands free mic is not that expensive/uncommon these days. My school had them in the 90's for plays.
I loved the manner in which you took a standard transposition effect and added an inherently humourous (and flirty) element to it. You made a very standard close-up effect into a good few minutes of stage magic. Well chosen piece.
As to your overall presentation... you have not been doing magic for too long so this isn't totally a big deal, but your act missed a lot of the key components for developing a compelling stage performance... flow, a presentational hook, jusification, segues, audience connection, things like that. Like I said, considering you've likely not performed on stage too much, this isn't a big deal right now but it's something to consider and work on. It just felt like you were doing casual school hallway magic on stage.
Otherwise, you had some very strong reactions and an audience rooting for you. A definite success in my opinion. Great work!!!!!!!!
As to your overall presentation... you have not been doing magic for too long so this isn't totally a big deal, but your act missed a lot of the key components for developing a compelling stage performance... flow, a presentational hook, jusification, segues, audience connection, things like that. Like I said, considering you've likely not performed on stage too much, this isn't a big deal right now but it's something to consider and work on. It just felt like you were doing casual school hallway magic on stage.
Otherwise, you had some very strong reactions and an audience rooting for you. A definite success in my opinion. Great work!!!!!!!!
Thank you! Something I realized today, I was performing at an art festival for a few different crowds of 40 - 60 people and I had someone tape my performances so I could go back and review it. I had people laughing and all that good stuff but I realized I was dull in my performance such as my voice being monotone and just rushing my performance. I know I have been told this before but I never really "saw" it. It definately made me rethink all my tricks and add my own flare to them. I am honestly going to try to do this and when I get a better performance style I will go out and tape some magic and you guys can comment on it.