Saturday, September 06, 2014

A padded cell...

Some of you should be committed. No I don't mean in an asylum, (well not all of you), but when you deliver your lines.

I see a lot of younger magicians delivering lines, jokes, patter and then apologizing for them afterward. It doesn't matter how corny, bad, hacky what you say might be, you need to just let them be. If they land flat move on. If they hit, let them laugh (or groan) and don't step on the reaction. It's a tough lesson to learn and I can tell you that magicians, for the most part, are not funny.

Saying a line that is funny and BEING funny are two different things. Mike Bent has a great lecture about writing comedy. I don't mean jokes, I mean COMEDY. Most of you can't write comedy to save your life. Trust me, I have seen it.

It's a tough lesson to let sleeping lines lie. We almost seem embarrassed or guilty about saying something risque or "funny". We laugh at the joke and dismiss it like we didn't mean it. Well let me tell you something... MEAN IT! Don't just say a line because someone told you to, or you read it in a book or saw someone else do it. Say it because it's from YOUR experiences, YOUR heart. If you can't write or are afraid to be funny in the moment take some improv classes. They can teach you how to go with it and not be apologetic for what you say.

Now put on that strait jacket and get out there!

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