Magic Tricks – Understanding How a Magic Show Routine Works
Making a routine for your show, or organizing a number of tricks so that the act flows smoothly and elicits the proper reactions, is a skill that is not difficult to learn, if you know the secrets. The first step is to choose a number of effects that:
- You perform very well
- You are comfortable performing
- Fit your stage personality.
Make a list of all the effects you know which fit the above criteria, and next to each effect, make notes on the amount of time required for this effect. To determine the time frame, get a group of friends and / or family together with one of them designated as the timekeeper . Go through your entire routine in exactly the same way you would for any performance and make note of the time it took to perform the trick. Never, never try to time yourself. This will only end in disaster as the timeframe will be totally inaccurate and not dependable.
Possibly the most important two effects to chose are the ones you use to start and end the show. You want to grab the audience's attention right away, so choose your opening effect with that in mind. You want them to think "Wow! This is going to be great!". When picking your opening effect, consider this, whatever effect you use will set the "tone" for the rest of your show . As an example, here are a few different approaches to opening a show:
- Scenario # 1 The magician walks out in front of the audience, seemingly ignoring them as he has a problem with cards constantly appearing in his hand, even after dropping them in a hat. Suddenly he sees and acknowledges his audience, apologies, explaining the problem he is having, asks for help in holding the cards so they do not come back. Magician then proceeds to "dump" the cards into audience members hand, BUT the hat is empty.
- Scenario # 2 Music is playing in background, stagehands appear on stage and proceed to set up a tall four walled box, in full view of the audience. While they are setting this up, the music stops and a voiceover starts, extolling the virtues of the performer, stagehands leave the stage as the voiceover is coming to an end. Voiceover then says "Please welcome (2 second pause) (Your name here)" and suddenly the box falls apart and the magician is standing there in full view.
Both of these approaches have their own merits. In the first one, the magician is creating a feeling of disapproval in the audience, which then changes to sympathy as they think he is a "bumbling fool" and then to utter surprise. This sets the tone to one where the audience never knows quite what to expect and therefore are more interested in the show. With the second approach, the magician is operating on the premise that most members of an audience are not really paying attention at the start of the show and when he suddenly appears from nowhere, it catches everyone unawares. This then sets the tone of "Hey, pay attention, there is something going on here you do not want to miss." If you incorporate this type of thinking into choosing your initial effect, then your show will be much more likely to receive the rave reviews you so richly deserve. Likewise, you want to end your show with a bang, leaving the audience feeling like they really saw something great. Many performers save their best for last. This should be your signature trick. Yet another secret is to select your effects so that they build on each other. A good idea is to use a "sucker" effect and get an audience member to shout out how they think it is done and then have them join you on stage, while you finish the trick, At the end of this trick, you now automatically have a volunteer for your next effect.
One of the little talked about secrets of a successful act is pacing. In order to hold an audience's interest, your act should have some variety in terms of the effects you perform. This does not mean that you have to perform all different kinds of magic, although this can be useful at times also. For an example of how this can work please read this topic in Magic Hat . Even if you are a close-up card or coin magician, this will apply to you as well. What it means is you should stagger quick effects with longer ones, nice little effects with mind-blowers, audience participation ones with self-performed ones. If you are a comedy magician, stagger small jokes with big ones. If you use music, mix silent (music background) segments with talking ones. If you are a stage performer, weave large illusions in between in-front-of-the-curtain effects. If you do birthday parties, intermingle "watch me" type tricks with ones which utilize audience participation.
A final tip for making a good routine for your show, which is often overlooked, is to select your effects to fit into a specific time frame . As a general rule of thumb, audiences rarely retain interest in the show when it starts to "drag", no one enjoys sitting through a 30-minute act that takes 60 minutes to perform. Choose effects that fit into 30, 45, and 60 minute time frames so that your routine can fit any number of different requirements while still allowing you the freedom to either expand or shorten the show, as the situation dictates, without seeming to end the show haphazardly.
Making a proper routine is often skipped over by magicians because it is not exciting. Yet a solid routine is the backbone of your act. The successful magicians spend as much time, if not more, perfecting their routine than practicing their magic skills. It is well worth the effort.