In a recent issue of
Vanish Magazine I wrote an article asking some different female magi about various things. One of the performers I talked to was
Billy Kidd. One of her answers intrigued me and I asked her to expound upon it to publish here.
Thus...
I think magicians need to learn
how to be more aware of themselves on stage and more aware of their audiences.
If you are a solo act you should always be listening to your audience. They
will give you secret information as to when to say your next line, when to do
your next sneaky move, when to say the punch line to your joke and so on. If you
are a double act, learning to actively listen to your partner on stage is equally
important. I don't mean just listening for your cue... actively listening and
reacting to whats going on around you. This will naturally put you "in the
moment" during every performance making things seem fresh and spontaneous. This
also allows the magician to improv and react accordingly which is what clowns do
all the time. Which in return might give you new material that actually comes
out of something spontaneous. But how does one learn how to do this? Well its
not going to happen in front of your mirror.
The amount of hours and time one
puts into practicing their sleight of hand should be the equal amount of time
one should put into there stage time/actual performance time. Sadly this is
not the case for most magicians. I think this is why some of the public consider
magic cheesy, and unappealing at times is because they are actually witnessing
bad performers and not bad magic.
Sometimes I think magicians
think that being a good performer just means talk loudly and do facial
contortions and mug to the audience. Blagh. I know our books say video tape
your self and watch what you do. This isn't just to see what angles are
best. Listen to what you are saying and when you say it. Are you repeating lines
as transitions because you have no idea what else to say? How many times do you
say the word " actually...." or " and now for my next trick...." or " you know
what..." etc. Watch yourself on camera and ask yourself if you can stand on
stage without moving or holding something and still be equally engaging. And if
you are not getting booked and have nowhere to practice stage time then make
it happen yourself. Go out and street perform, do open mic nights, create your
own theatre even if its in your back yard. Just go out and DO IT!
Magic is such a technical art
form in one sense. I think one of the most important things we forget to do
as adults is keeping in the essence of play. If we can unlearn how to be an
adult on stage you can find so much freedom within your magic to make things
more memorable and stronger for your audiences. Its so easy for us to copy
patter word for word in the book or watching the DVD. So how do you make those
classic tricks unique to your performances? How do you create something new even
if its from something old? Play. But to Play you have to know so much about
your habits and who you are as a person and magician. Violist Stephen
Nachmanovitch says " To create, we need both technique and freedom from
technique. To this end we practice until our skills become unconscious." Then
there is the argument of are you a magician that entertains OR an entertainer
that does magic? Ugggh.... to this I say F*** off! You should be doing both
equally and just as importantly. Unfortunately our concern over the technique
takes over everything. We should be able to take our technique and basic
sleights for that matter, personalize it until it engages people rather than
relying on the store bought gimmick that will make you a superstar on the
internet over night.
I have been working
professionally in theatre since I was 12 years old and have been fortunate
enough to work with some of the top actors in Canada. When I got involved with
magic and started meeting magicians I looked up to everybody and every bit of
knowledge they were willing to share. People were very generous in telling me
what books to read how to practice certain sleights and what not. For that I am
forever grateful. When I first started watching magic shows and competitions
at conventions I didn't understand why it felt like I was watching a high school
drama production. Until I realized that lots of magicians don't create enough
stage time for themselves, are unaware of who they are as a performer, and are
too concentrated on the technical side of things. Are magicians merely actors
who are playing the part of magicians? I think we should be but are not quite
there yet.
