Don't be a robot
Don't be a robot
(a guest post by Saavan)
The classic case of using a script and not letting the spectator talk, can be described in one word: horrendous
Time and time again you’ll hear a phrase from people who claim to be professionals. I say claim to be professionals because most of the time they’ve never had any experience in performing for anyone other than their own reflection or other magicians who preach the same.
“Make sure you’re fully scripted and never ever go off that script!”
On stage? Yes. In close-up? Absolutely not.
A few years ago I got to work with another magician. Nice guy, and a decent set. But the one problem he had throughout the night? Going OFF script. As in, this guy wouldn’t be able to talk to anyone unless it was one of his lines, and nothing else. Using the same patter right down to a tea with each group throughout the evening got some pretty weird looks from the audience. Some even said “you’re quite robotic”, to him after repeating the exact same phrase again and again without any change in facial expression. The moment he attempted to say words like a real person, you could literally see the sweat dripping down his head. Spectators don’t notice a lot of things. They really don’t. But if they notice that, it’s a serious issue.
I could name other examples such as; not able to have a conversation unless there’s a deck of cards in hand. Theres probably a few others out there. All things that spectators after the booking will turn around and say “He’s a bit strange isn’t he?”, and not referring to the magic you showed them.
When you perform a close up set, theres things that can and will go off script. A spectator might spill their drink, a friend might join the group late and they start doing their hello’s mid-effect, they might just ask you midway through your routine “Oh my god how long have you been into magic!?”. If you’re one of those magicians who only knows how to interact around what you say or do, and not what the audience is interacting with, you’re not advancing as a performer. You’re becoming worse, and thus your robotic lines won’t be doing you any good.
A vital part of performing is knowing how to interact with an audience regardless of whether it’s time for them to speak or not, magic related or not. As surprisingly as it sounds, most magicians out there don’t exactly have people skills. Even as something as a simple as “how’s your day going?” terrifies some magicians who haven’t got a deck of cards ready to go in their hand, and will send them into a frazzle.
“Oh no they’re talking to me about something other than magic, What do I do? will I live? Why am I sweating? Muggles don’t just talk about card tricks and how great I am?!”.
Now of course this doesn’t just apply to just magicians, but seeing as this is a magic blog it is quite relevant. “So what are you trying to say?”, You may ask;
Interaction is what truly sets a performer apart from a magician.
Are you that person that does magic tricks, not let the spectator talk whilst you’re nervously staring at the deck the entire time? ignoring your spectators interactions? and only letting yourself speak, hoping they’ll be impressed? Before robotically moving onto the next group?
Or are you the person that performs magic, has a good laugh with your audience, where you get to find out a little bit about each other and at the end of your performance go to your next group knowing you’ve left each other better than when you first approached them?
Be a people person.
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