Talking about tricks and texture!

•June 30, 2012 • Leave a Comment

Last week I gave some ideas about adding dynamics to your show and this week I am going to finish my thoughts by discussing adding texture. This double approach can be very successful in giving a good make over to any show. Let’s begin with a dictionary definition

Texture.

The feel, appearance, or consistency of a surface or a substance: skin texture and tone | the cheese is firm in texture | the different colors and textures of bark.

The quality created by the combination of the different elements in a work of music or literature.

In my last blog entry we discussed dynamics it was more focused on the audio aspect of these two concepts, as this was the direction that the word generally points to. As you might guess from the definition of texture, our thoughts are moving this week into a more tactile direction. Texture is usually associated with fabric or material. Material is something we can definitely discuss in our performance make over!

Last week I concentrated on what is said/how it is said in a show. By extension the statements also could be applied to the music that you use to complete the presentation of your show. Now let’s talk about the different tricks that create the structure of your performance. Everything said here can be applied to any kind of magic show. An easy simplification of the concept of texture is to think of it as variety. When you are putting together a show you need to create a nice varied collection of effects to capture your audiences’ heart, mind and attention.

Your presence and persona can create a unifying effect over the show but the show itself needs to be created from a broad spectrum of elements and effects.

looked at my show one day and realized it primarily consisted of ‘torn and restored’ and  ‘restoration’ effects. I guess they really appealed to me and initially I even half way convinced myself that there was a theme going on in my show. However, the more I thought about it the more I realized that the act needed a few other effects to be a rounded presentation. I created a less lopsided menu for myself, and the show really improved as a result. The curious part was that I wasn’t consciously aware how many similar effects had bonded together in my show in the first place; I guess it happened gradually.

If you are doing a close-up show you might want to check that you aren’t top heavy with card tricks. I love card tricks but many people get turned off after two or three in a row. You can achieve a much more textured effect by adding a coin or a ring trick into the mix. By planning out the show in this manner you can make it much more varied and appealing, especially to a lay audience.

Even if you perform a dedicated ‘all-card show,’ the principle is the same. Don’t do six ‘pick a card’ tricks in a row, but instead combine a selection of different styled tricks to comprise your show. You can apply some of the variations described in the next paragraph to add texture to this hypothetical card show.

What are some of the basic values that can be assigned to a trick/effect when using your mental paintbrush to create a rounded

performance?  A trick can be funny or serious, short or long, or any of a thousand variations between these opposites. It can be surprising, amusing, unusual, romantic, shocking, cerebral, scary, beautiful, classical etc. etc. Of course it isn’t really any of these things until you make it so and this is what makes an infinite variety possible to all performers.

Some of the classifications you want to watch out for when composing your show are ‘repetitive’ and ‘boring!’ Sometimes, of course, you need to employ repetition to make a trick work— the 6 Card Repeat wouldn’t be very effective if you only performed the basic effect once. However, the fact that you need repetition doesn’t mean that you can’t guard against boredom sneaking in to it. When performing this rather standard trick I introduce a little variation into the proceedings by suddenly finding I have 3 cards and throwing away 6 cards only to find I still have 3 cards. I then revert to the standard method of having 6 cards and throwing away 6.

That is a simple example of how to introduce texture within a single trick. It keeps the audience watching more closely and interested in what you are doing. The same applies to the overall show. Are all the tricks you are performing about the same length in timing? This is a very easy habit to fall into and even easier to cure. Throw in a couple of shorter tricks to break up the pacing a little.

I used to write all the facts, timings, props etc associated with a trick on index cards and put them into box in three groups—openers, middles and closers. I would then create my show by shuffling the index cards into different sequences. I might look at the cards and realize that three tricks in a row involved audience participation—time to shuffle the cards or swap them around. You really could analyze and structure your show this way. Of course, now I use the Bento program on my computer, but the process is identical.

I hope these musings have been of some interest and maybe even given you a fresh insight into adding some dynamics and texture to your show!

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Adding some texture and dynamics to your show.

•June 6, 2012 • Leave a Comment

 There are two simple ides that I would like to discuss in this column, between the two they add some powerful tools to the performers ‘bag of tricks.’ These two subtleties are texture and dynamics and while closely related they are certainly not identical, instead they are complimentary in nature. Let’s begin the old fashioned way, with a dictionary definition or two.

Dynamics.

In musical terms, ‘The varying levels of volume of sound in different parts of a musical performance.’

Using the word as a noun, a force that stimulates change or progress within a system or process.

Texture.

The quality created by the combination of the different elements in a work of music or literature.

I am asking you to think about employing these two ideas into one step to improve your show.  We will start with dynamics and I will ‘Tweak’ the definition slightly, ‘To use varying levels of volume of sound in different parts of a performance in order to create a force that stimulates change or progress within your show.’

I watch a great many performers who never greatly vary the volume, pitch or pacing of what they say, and how they say it, during their show. They settle for a monotone effect that is similar to what is sometimes referred too as a ‘conversational tone.’ You can significantly improve the impact of your performance by making it a little more theatrical and a little less conversational.

Don’t be afraid to really highlight parts of your show by making your voice louder or perhaps letting it sink to a whisper. Each of these vocal deliveries has its own effect and impact on an audience. They can both draw special attention to what you are saying and the actions that accompany the words spoken. They can jolt an audience into attention or seduce them into silence, both very useful techniques.

During my 50-minute show, I work hard at building the audience into loud responsive fits of laughter and then ‘turning on a dime’ and creating a momentary silence, which is all the more effective because of the dynamic range between itself and the unrestrained laughter that proceeded it. It makes for a much more interesting show.

In my work I take this a step further and concentrate very carefully on the ‘highs and lows’ that my voice uses to convey my words. You can achieve an effect (or create a laugh) just by letting your voice rise or fall in tone, as well as in its volume. Before I begin any show I take five or ten minutes to explore the range of my voice. I perform vocal exercises to strengthen the upper and lower boundaries of my vocal range.

How do you know what will work best for a specific phrase, punchline or statement? You ‘mix it up a bit’ and experiment as you perform your shows and see what works. The very worst that will happen is that you expose the audience to your larger vocal palette. If ‘Variety is the spice of life’ then variety must also be an excellent ingredient for a variety act!

Nowadays it is commonplace for magicians to extensively videotape their shows and watch the resulting tapes to improve their show. This is great, however, the performer watching these tapes is often a great deal more aware of what he is doing than what he is saying—much less the subtleties of how he is saying it. As an organ the eye tends to influence us much more directly than the ear.

It is possible to learn a huge amount about yourself as a performer by slipping your iPhone in your top pocket and making an audio recording of what happens during your show. There is an entirely different dynamic involved in the use of the eye and the ear and it starts to open your mind to potential improvements just by realizing this and isolating your vocal performance,

While you are listening to this audio recording take the opportunity to notice, AND WRITE DOWN, every superfluous statement or words you use. You will be shocked by how much time you waste saying unnecessary things just to fill in time because of something you are doing. Is there a more economical way to choose your words that will allow you to create a more streamlined and effective presentation? Almost definitely, and sometimes by filling that verbal time with a more carefully chosen and polished audio you will make huge strides as a performer.

By carefully analyzing and improving the vocal dynamics of your performance you will have gone a great distance towards improving the overall texture of your show. Texture is the second word I began this blog by defining and we will look at it more closely next week.

Let me finish by saying that although I am choosing to illustrate my ideas about this topic using verbal examples, everything I am saying could, with minor changes, be applied to the material with which you are performing. If this is too abstract then I will happily add a third blog with some examples and hints about putting these thoughts into application in this area. Let me know your thoughts.

‘Cruise Magic 101: how to make a great living performing magic on a cruise ship.’ It is a really great book with tips, tricks and powerful techniques for shaping your performing skills to include bookings in this flourishing marketplace. If you want a signed copy of the book, in it’s early release; contact me at  http://www.nicklewin1@mac.com

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Keeping The Show Fresh and Interesting.

•May 31, 2012 • Leave a Comment

I am a great believer in working hard to keep your show as fresh and up to date as possible. Unlike most performing skills this one doesn’t automatically get easier the longer you have been performing your show. In fact, in some ways it gets harder and harder as time goes on, to remain fresh.

Bob Dylan has described the most difficult part of aging, developing and improving your show as, “Learning to do consciously, what you used to do unconsciously.’ There aren’t many people who use words as carefully and effectively as Dylan or who have re-invented themselves more times. After more than 50 years as a performer who matters and whose career keeps hitting new heights, I think that comment is worth doing a little private meditation upon.

When we begin (as most of us did) performing magic shows as kids, it is easy to be fresh and appealing, it is a huge part of the success we achieve.The longer you perform the more necessary it is to look at your show with fresh eyes. It can become very easy to become slicker but less interesting as performers. Although we still get the audience reaction we want, sometimes we loose the audience’s empathy, which is the magic ingredient that marks all great entertainers.

It is possible to become so immune to the immediacy of our show that we are saying words, or performing actions, without feeling the emotions that should be causing those words or actions to take place. There is much talk in magic about Robert Houdin’s statement, ‘A magician is an actor playing the part of a magician.’ Good actors worry more about being ‘in the moment’ than they do about acting. Gary Cooper once said, “Acting is great, just never get caught doing it.” I believe the same holds true for performing.

How did Bob Dylan master this art of rediscovery of self? He spent a decade on what is now known as ‘The Never Ending Tour,’ and just performed gig after gig after gig changing something every time he performed. Sometimes it worked and sometimes it didn’t—he didn’t care. He was just trying to recapture his state of mind when he was young, fresh and bold enough to create some of the most important songs in musical history.

One night he would sing ‘Like A Rolling Stone’ as a country waltz, the next night as a snarling blues. The next night it was an angry attack and then a rueful ballad of regret. Every night he played in different keys and used different chords to try and regain the spirit within him that created the song in the first place. Each night he was interested in finding at least one new and fresh moment of truth in his performance.

By the end of the first decade of ‘The Never Ending Tour’ he had taken those songs and turned them inside out—sometimes making them almost unrecognizable in the process. This didn’t always make his old fans happy and a lot of them dropped away in the process. However something strange began to happen and young people started to attend his concerts again. The new younger audience he acquired recognized the truth and sincerity with which he was dismantling and rebuilding his legacy.

Then something really exciting began to happen, and after a decade of scarcely writing a new song, he started to write some of the finest songs of his entire career. He made exciting and commercial albums that received huge critical acclaim. Of course, these albums didn’t sound like they did in the first rush of his creativity in the ‘60s; they had a maturity and insight that his early work was always building towards. To put it another way, he started to be able to achieve consciously what he once achieved unconsciously.

Now it may seem that I have wandered a long way from doing a magic show, but the title of the column is ‘Keeping the show fresh,’ and that is why I used Dylan’s process as an inspiration. Of course, you and I aren’t genius level icons like Bob Dylan, but if we want to keep on performing for 50 years and remain as popular, relevant and successful as he has then we may find a very important lesson here. I did.

I compressed the first decade of Dylan’s ‘Never Ending Tour’ into the five years I spent performing my one-man show in Las Vegas in the mid ‘90s. I performed two one-hour shows a day, six days a week, 48 weeks a year for nearly five years. That is a lot of shows.After the first two years I discovered what the term ‘Vegasy’ meant and why it was so used as an insult. I would be performing and not even thinking about what I was saying to the audience. I’d say things like “Good afternoon, welcome to the show,” and, not only not mean the words I was saying, but not even know I had said them! The show incidentally, was a huge success and getting great reaction—I just wasn’t there to be part of it.

Then I began to try and do something new everyday, say something totally different or even use a different voice; in order to wake myself up at some point. I would then try and stay awake and be ‘in the moment’ for the remainder of the show. This is what I have been doing ever since and it has resulted in a quantum leap in my performing skills.

The strangest thing in the world is when you discover that it is possible, without realizing it, to spend a large part of your day in a state of sleep. It may be shallower than nighttime sleep but it is still sleep, even when you are doing something as vibrant as standing onstage entertaining hundreds of people. I am happy to say that this approach is really working and I am now ‘conscious when I used to be unconscious.’ That is my thoughts on keeping the show fresh……..

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Women in Magic: The Magic Castle Tribute to Geri Larsen.

•May 16, 2012 • Leave a Comment

On the week of May 7th -13th the Magic Castle presented a fine tribute to one of the great ladies of magic, Geri Larsen. Geri as many readers will know was the wife of William Larsen Sr, and therefore mother of Magic Castle founders Bill and Milt Larsen. This is distinction enough in the magic world, however Geri deserves more than a ‘matriarch reference’ to magic lovers.

Along with Bess Houdini she was the founder of the first woman’s magic organization in 1936, and that same year founded the venerable magic magazine Genii with her husband William Larsen sr. thus sowing seeds that are still flourishing to this day. Ms. Larsen was also the first woman to perform magic on television in San Francisco in 1939. By the ‘40s she was also starring in her own children’s magic show on ABC TV and a syndicated show for Telemount Pictures. This was quite a lady, a pioneer whose vision of a woman’s role in magic was way ahead of her time. In many ways it still is an avant-garde position, especially among male magicians.

The Castle tribute was the brainchild of one of the Magic Castle’s most creative and key figures—Dale Hindman. For years I have enjoyed a relationship with Dale that was mostly based on us saying mean things to each other, and I think both of us have thoroughly enjoyed the process! Neither of us craves the warm fuzzy roles that life can offer. I guess I’d better begin by taking of my ‘distancing’ gloves.

Dale did a really fabulous job of producing and directing the ‘Palace of Mystery’ show that was the emotional heart of the tribute week. He sensitively and expertly blended footage of Geri with a live re-creation of one of her television shows performed by her great granddaughter Liberty Larsen. He created a special event that really was special.

It was the intergenerational Larsen relationship that turned the show (and therefore the week) into a true tribute that spanned the years and wove together these threads from the magic world. Dale did a truly great job and balanced a great contemporary show with a historic experience.

Hand in glove with my appreciation for Dale’s work, must be added a reference to the great work done by the Castle’s booker—Jack Goldfinger. Week by week, and bill-by-bill, Jack shows the benefits of having a professional magician book the acts into this weekly mosaic of magic. This must be one of the toughest juggling acts ever attempted by a magician, bravo Jack!

The all female roster of performers for the week included: Suzanne, Joycee Beck, Lisa Cousins, Sisuepahn Phila, Liberty Larsen, Luna Shimada, Sophie Evans, Juliana Chen, Joyce Basch, Jeanine Anderson and Misty Mew. It is tough to catch even half the scheduled shows in one evening at the Castle, however it is easy to catch the ‘buzz’ and ‘vibe’ from the Castle visitors. They loved it.

With due respect to all the other performers, I am going to focus my brief column on the Palace show, as it was definitely the centerpiece of the tribute. Liberty Larsen acted as a bridge between the generations and the show began with her performing in one of her great grandmothers costumes. The Costume was on loan to the Castle from the S.A.M. Hall of Fame and looked great!

Liberty was charming, fresh and exuded scads of appeal, not only in the opening vignette but while acting as MC and hosting the show. She even presented a short card routine with Peterkin, a hand puppet who had not performed since his days with Geri. I amongst many others was utterly charmed by Liberty’s performance skills.

The three women who formed the core of the show were all top-notch performers and their shows blended into a synergistic performance that allowed each lady to shine individually and achieve an effortless standing ovation upon their full-cast curtain call. The feeling of unity they presented throughout the show was creativity and gender based in equal parts.

Luna Shimada presented her fast paced blend of theatre and magical skills and was correctly introduced as a ‘Rock Star’ of magic. Luna’s act is bold, dynamic and innovative; it keeps improving and getting more exciting every time I see it. Her musical score was a highlight and could be studied by anyone wanting to improve his or her show. It was a wonderful way to kick off the bill and could just as easily have closed the performance—one of the signs of a skillfully directed show.

 The sizzling Sophie Evans followed Luna and performed her ‘fire’ show with much charm and quietly witty undertone that made it all the more enjoyable. Her show includes magic and fire eating and like Luna has been crafted and re-crafted to achieve maximum impact. Her floating ball of fire was a magical highlight in its simplicity and direct audience appeal. I enjoyed her work immensely.

Juliana Chen presenting her masks, magic and exciting card work, was a great closing act. The attention to detail in her work was exemplary and turned small moments into exciting ones. Her final costume change brought gasps from the crowd. The pacing and arc of her act were nicely designed to build to a theatrical finale that got enormous audience response.

All four performers were excellent and I feel Geri Larsen would have been proud to watch the show. Geri was way ahead of her time and after years of ‘men only’ magic shows it was fun to see the Castle pull a ‘rabbit out of the hat’ with a little reverse sexism and an all female cast in each of it’s showrooms.

On a personal note I thought back fondly on some of the great female performers who have broken some Castle barriers in past years. Diana Zimmerman, Tina Lenert, Becky Blaney and Judy Carter were four of the names that sprang to my mind in this regard. Each one of them is a part of Geri’s legacy as a groundbreaking magician, who was also female.

Let’s have more ‘tribute’ weeks—this one was a blast!

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The late great seance for the late great Lenny Bruce.

•May 8, 2012 • 2 Comments

Ross Johnson was my co-host for this particular event and Ross is a performer I hold in high esteem. However I had no idea how potentially disturbed he was until our dress rehearsal for the Vegas event; which was held in the Oak Brook suburb of Chicago. Ross began to unpack his personal séance equipment; there was the fetal casket, the pentagram that dripped blood etc. etc. I took a double look at Ross and noticed that his eyes gleamed just a little too much for the superb corporate entertainer I knew him to be. I had assumed that as the crazed comedy performer in the team I would lead the way in any madness. Dream on, Nick!

Ross and I didn’t actually have any effects at all to enliven the dark segment of the séance other than Johnson’s brilliant Q & A and a picture of Lenny Bruce, attached to a length of thread being held by Jon Stetson in the audience. Jon had surprised us by arriving unannounced minutes prior to show time and was thrown into covert duties instantly. Magic Magazine recently spent several pages of a cover story trying to define Stetson. They missed out the most elemental one of all; he is the magician who is most often in the right place at the right time. I bet Jon will tell you the same thing.

Show time arrived and just as the séance was about to commence a thunderstorm broke out in the gray Illinois skies. A bolt of thunder and a flash of lightning filled the room causing the shutters behind us to bust wide open with a loud clatter. The audience chuckled with the prospect of upcoming fun and games.

Ross and I just looked at each other with wry looks of uneasiness, as we were the only ones present that knew this was an unplanned addition to the event. Even Stetson must have been fairly impressed. He had plenty of time to observe the action as a cocktail waitress had walked through the thread he was holding and caused a premature departure of the 8×10 of Lenny from wall to floor. It fell totally unnoticed to the ground: so much for our big finale!

The séance was a blast and Johnson and Lewin rocked the room, perhaps a little too much, as during the course of the events a grown man fainted and fell from his stool to the ground. The event was powerful and impressive and totally unsuited to its location and audience. I loved every minute of it. Unlike Ross, who had the added pressure of actually living in Chicago!

Two weeks later Ross and I presented the séance again in Las Vegas on Halloween night creating something of a press sensation and twice selling out the 500-seat theater at Bally’s. I have presented other celebrity séances since but this one will always be my favorite. The next celebrity seance was for Elvis and proved conclusively to me that cult is better than mainstream when it comes to seances.

The very best part of the séance biz is hearing the reactions as people exit the showroom. Some people walk up and earnestly grasp you hand and whisper, “You know! You really know!” Others give you a nudge and a wink and thank you for the fun. The correct response to everyone is an impassive smile and the words, “Thank You.”

If you decide to try out this séance business for yourself my wife will probably be delighted to sell you everything you need already packaged in two black footlockers. Add equal parts magician, mentalist and Elmer Gantry and you are ready to go. Enjoy!

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It was a wild spirit filled nght!

•April 26, 2012 • Leave a Comment

There are two large black footlockers in our garage amongst the magic muddle: if I ever want to panic my wife I just move them a little closer to being inside the house. The content of these trunks consist of the hardware necessary to present the Nick Lewin Celebrity Séance Show.

Inside the footlockers is a strange assortment of objects; black candles, jumbo tarot cards, glowing objects of all kind, a voodoo doll, lazy tongs of various lengths and about a dozen long black poles with swatches of luminous paint daubed cloth attached to the end. Add a bit of theatrical skill, more than a little nerve and the séance is complete.

Those footlockers contain such a strange collection of items that it is amazing that they could create panic in anyone, especially my wife who after thirty-four years of marriage to me, is acquainted with most of the weirdness in the magic world. However panic they have created over the years!

It would take a curiously deranged person to look at the ragged items in the footlockers and say, “There they are, just as I created them!” That particular deranged man, in this case, would be the one and only Eugene Burger. For these props are my realizations of the ideas in Mr. Burger’s splendid handbook for the Séance giver ‘Spirit Theater.’ If you want to present a séance this is the only book on the subject you need to own.

Given a place of honor in my magic cupboard is a superb set of Dr Q locking spirit slates that Eugene passed on to me to feature in the experiment. He seemed to feel you couldn’t be a spirit medium without owning a set of these nifty gizmos. I suspect he is right because the toughest part in any séance is letting the audience know it is finished. The slates can get the message across, so to speak.

I presented my first séance in 1978 at the Ice House in Pasadena. It was designed to bring back the spirit of Buddy Holly. In those days I didn’t have much to scare the sitters when the lights went out. Curiously enough the crack that suddenly appeared in the lens of the thick horn rimmed glasses, borrowed from the Holly family, got the job done nicely and created a splendid reaction in those present.

In fact the gasp from the audience when the cracked glasses were revealed may even have covered the sigh of relief that my wife Susan and I gave when we realized the damn thing was over! There were times prior to (and during!) the séance when I wished I had been in that plane with Ritchie Vallens, the Big Bopper and Buddy when they left the airport on that stormy night to fly to their next gig.

These magical séances are curious things, they leave you elated, depleted and in no uncertain state of mind that this finally was the final one. However as you get hooked on their dark charms there is no such thing as a final séance; hence my wife’s alarm at any sign that those footlockers are moving back into the house.

I have performed about fifteen séances since that first one in Pasadena when we brought Buddy back from that great gig in the sky. Speaking for myself, which I am eminently qualified to do, my favorite was the Lenny Bruce Séance presented at Bally’s in Las Vegas. It was a grand evening of laughs and chills.

 

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How to be funny!

•April 15, 2012 • Leave a Comment

Now that is a provocative title for a blog post! The accepted answer is that you are either funny or you are not. I really can’t disagree with that for the most part. However it is possible to learn about anything and comedy is no exception. Let’s see if we can set up a few guidelines.

First let me begin by saying that having a sense of humor really doesn’t have very much too do with this process. I have met many fabulous comedians who haven’t any discernable trace of humor when they are offstage. I won’t say a majority of them, but you might well think so, if you didn’t know the way the comedy mind works.

A real comedian puts a great deal into his work and spends endless hours jotting ideas and line into little notebooks to experiment and dissect later. If you think perfecting your comedy timing is less difficult or time consuming than dealing a perfect center deal—YOU ARE WRONG. They both take a lifetime, both to get them right, and to keep them right.

It is impossible to be truly funny just spouting of standard lines that you heard another magician get laughs with, or stuff you read in a joke book. You might get some laughs but it won’t make you truly funny. In fact it will just get in the way and probably give you a false sense of confidence. Nothing really worth achieving arrives quite that painlessly. Sadly.

Being funny requires a fully developed sense of self/persona that binds together the words you say into something that is truly unique. Watch Michael Finney, Paul Kozak, Amazing Jonathan, Mac King and other performers who really incorporate true comedy into their magic show. Notice how unique each one is in his attitude and approach. One of the reasons that this is the case is because each of these performers headlined on the highly competitive comedy circuit when it was at its zenith.

We, I include myself, as I headlined the comedy circuit for 11 years, had the benefit of watching real comedians hone their craft. We had a chance to learn from them and with them. You learn magic by watching magicians and not comedians; you learn comedy by watching comedians not magicians. The previously mentioned performers (and two others) have transcended the scope of being categorized in any single mode. They really are funny.

Watch the precision with which a comedian slices unnecessary words from his performance. It is like watching a brain surgeon carve the Thanksgiving Day turkey! See how they choose words with the care of a master chef choosing his ingredients for a special meal. Notice how, over time, a comedian will ruthlessly discard any joke that doesn’t fit his particular character regardless of the laugh it gets.

A good practice for someone who wants to be funny is to write down every word they are going to say onstage. EVERY SINGLE WORD. Then start to work on cutting words out and adding more laughs while doing so. Now this is a challenge that deserves all your active attention. Can you visualize whom you want the audience to see onstage and verbalize why they should think he/she is funny? It requires a great deal of hard continuous work.

Is this work worthwhile? Well it is if you want to be funny, and the old saying is ‘Funny is Money.’ Generally speaking there are a greater number of higher paid comedians than magicians. I hate to burst anyone’s bubble, but most audiences prefer to laugh than be fooled—it is just a fact. If you can be truly funny while fooling people then you won’t have many empty dates in your datebook. Ask any of the performers I referenced!

Be ruthless! Begin by cutting out anything that is really old or ‘hack’ in your act, fill the gaps this creates with original comedy that makes you into more of the person you want to be onstage. You don’t always need jokes to be funny, sometimes they just get in the way, but you do need a clear vision of what it is that you feel can make you different/funny.

Then work at it the way Charlie Miller worked at his bottom deal, and one day, just like that illusive sleight, it will just arrive. It won’t be perfect at first; it will just be the raw gemstone that you can cut, polish and facet into a jewel that sparkles. Is it worth it? Wait until you experience the rush you experience when a real comic comes up to you and says, “Hey, you are funny.” That is priceless!

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Cheers to the new ‘Digital Era’ of reading!

•April 12, 2012 • Leave a Comment

I want to congratulate a few people about the direction that magic publishing is heading. The new digital media is really coming of age in the magic community

I was delighted to see the first issue of Paul Romhany’s new digital magazine ‘Vanish.’  It is a great addition to the magic scene and I am proud to be a part of it. It is wonderful that a magazine of this quality is available free of charge. I wish it much success and hope that it has a long and continued success.  If you haven’t read it, then download an issue and enjoy the content!

I have also been catching up with the latest digital issues of Stan Allen’s ‘Magic’ Magazine. It is a really great digital read and has been a powerful and very enjoyable addition to my magical reading. The iPad edition is just so beautifully thought out! The transition from story to story and the inclusion of video and the photo slide shows really get to the heart of learning a new move or trick. It is sophisticated, slick and simple in its delivery.

I do love the freedom of knowing I have a long air flight and downloading 3 or 4 copies of ‘Magic’ for the journey. It is truly reading on demand, which is a great thing! I can’t imagine life without my iPad now, and this is just one more great reason.

I can’t help feeling that we are looking at the future of magic publishing in this new medium, which the iPad allows us to explore. It is not only cool but it just works so darn well! I think that for a format like a magazine, magicians collectively have struck pay dirt. Much against my will they are winning me over away from the ‘dead tree’ world of publishing. I used to resent that term but now use it freely.

I was also pleased to receive a copy of Shawn McMaster and Jonathan Levit’s new ‘Mendala’ digital magazine from the publishers and found it to be a superb read. I had written a tribute about the late Martin Breese and it really looked better than I could have guessed in print. I was taken aback at how well the magazine handled all of its various goals. Both ‘Mendala’ and ‘Magic’ charge a very reasonable fee for their product and I think they are the cutting edge of the future wave of publishing within our niche market.

I am sure Genii is also doing a superb job, and their policy of allowing subscribers to access back issues is a great one. I am not much of a subscription person though and buying Genii still gives me a reason to visit magic shops and leave with a minor purchase if I don’t need a new thumb tip!

I think there is a very real place for old fashioned  ‘pen and Ink’ books too, and I feel that there are forms of information that are best transmitted in this format. Just as certainly there is a place for DVDs, PDFs, and eBooks in the teaching of magic. Different things are best learned in different ways. We live in a grand time when we can even enjoy all these methods on one device! How lucky we are.

Each medium presents its own challenges and advantages to the publisher and bestows different advantages to the purchaser. I believe we are moving into a new area of sophistication in this entire field of education.

Next month will see the publication of my ‘Ultimate Linking Finger Ring Routine’ as a multimedia Book, DVD and CD combined into one package. It just seemed the correct way to handle the density of information and subtleties involved in doing the job right. I will also be publishing my far less expensive but highly comprehensive guide, ‘Cruise Magic: how to make a great living performing magic on cruise ships.’  I am also re-releasing my the first video of my ‘Perfect for Pros’ video, ‘20210s’ I think each project has a very real reason for being in the format it is presented in.

Next I plan to create a really inexpensive augmented and updated ebook of my favorite columns from Magic New Zealand to be published and distributed via iBooks,

I would like to thank all the pioneers of introducing magic to the digital age for the influence they have had on my ideas of presenting magic to the magic community. We live in exciting and rewarding times.

Email me at nicklewin1@mac.com

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Sleazy Dealings in New England and some better ideas…..

•April 3, 2012 • 2 Comments

I suspect most people in the magic world are familiar with the charges that have been leveled against magic dealer Hank Lee and his New England based ‘Magic Factory.’ He pleaded guilty to the charges, which include (amongst other things) over 500,000 dollars worth of illegal credit card charges.

It is hard to believe from reports of the incident that this isn’t a tip of the iceberg to his dishonest dealings. Somehow he is being allowed to keep his store open and running while waiting for the sentencing of his case. Sweet deal.

I don’t plan to go into great details about the case (or peoples reactions to it) other than to suggest you Google and research it for yourself, it is a shabby and sickening business. I dealt with Hank for many years with no problem but a couple of years ago I was at the short end of a business transaction that made me decide to refrain from doing so in the future.

It wasn’t a grand, concerted, criminal case such as Lee just pleaded guilty too. It was just a $125 transaction that I really didn’t bother pursuing. Life is too short. I just decided not to continue my dealings with Hank. I want to make it VERY clear that this problem was with Hank Lee alone, and not with his staff in any way.

Now, Lee is apologizing and saying that he has instigated new policies to ensure the safety of his customer’s orders. Hard for me to buy that one! You were the problem Hank, and have pleaded guilty to unacceptable and dishonest behavior. Having read the published details of the case, I don’t think you deserve any renewal of trust within the magic world as a businessman.

An apology from someone who has allegedly (is it still alleged, when you plead guilty? I’m no lawyer so I will use the word) broken the law, doesn’t seem to amount to very much. Shame on you Harry P. Levy, I personally don’t accept your apologies and promises of a change of heart, after you have skidded away from this current situation so lightly.

There has been a vast change in the way buying and selling of magic is taking place, and I think most of it is a healthy thing. I deeply regret the extreme difficulties and expenses that face an old fashioned ‘brick and mortar’ magic store. They are becoming an endangered species and that is a loss to magicians everywhere.

Magic Shops were a wonderful place to meet and mix with other magicians and improve your knowledge and skills as a performer. However, as in so much retail purchasing, the Internet has changed the game forever, there are pros and cons involved but it is just the way things are moving. The good news is, there are wonderful people selling magic on the Internet now and doing so in a fast, efficient and honest manner.

Better still, is the fact that, individual magicians are selling individual and limited amounts of prized routines that are hand tested and real finds. Merely as an example, I recently bought ‘Restored Credit’ from David Regal over the Internet and it was a dream transaction. A great trick, at a fair price, paid for by the very secure Papal system and dispatched quicker than a scaled card by Jeff McBride!

The new Facebook page, ‘Magicians Surplus Props’ is dedicated to magicians seeking to buy, sell and trade magic props, and is another wonderful asset to the magic world. It is like a glorified digital swap meet! If you haven’t checked it out yet you should do so. Is the Internet medium open to fraud too? “In the words of Sarah Palin, “You betcha’…” but individuals can be held responsible and banished accordingly as incidents occur.

I admire and respect all the legitimate magic dealers around the world who sell us the tools of our trade in an authentic and honest manner. However, when we discover the bad apples in the pile, let’s expose and put out of business, those that are thieves—whether by barefacedly stealing our cash or by stealing other peoples intellectual property and making money from it dishonestly. For me, this last statement includes revealing marketed routines for free on YouTube.

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‘Desert of Dreams…………’

•March 27, 2012 • Leave a Comment

Like most people who watched the Kevin Costner movie ‘Field of Dreams’ I was charmed, not only the movie, but also the wonderful philosophy it revolved around. If you didn’t see the movie then the best thing I can do is just quote the key principle, “If you build it—they will come.”

I am not going to waste time putting this statement into the context that it assumes in ‘Field of Dreams.’ I am just going to re-apply it to the area of magic shows, where there is a general theory, especially as seen Las Vegas, that if you put on a magic show—an audience will arrive to attend it.

Just a couple of weeks ago I wrote two columns about new magic shows that were ‘Tossing their top hats’ into the Vegas ring. I made careful references about how tough the market in Las Vegas is at the moment, and especially at this time of year. I am not naïve.

Since the year began many magic shows have opened and changed locations in a very short time and it is beginning to look like a potential ‘Hunger Games’ with magicians replacing the photogenic teenagers. Well, I’m writing this column in a Vegas hotel room sadly reflecting that my pick of the new shows has already closed, within a week of the opening media night!

The first casualty in this ‘Battle Royale’ was ‘Avant Garde,’ which had the best and biggest cast of performers of the new shows. It got great word of mouth, and in a better economy should have been able to gain enough traction to become a hit show. The only thing lacking was a producer who knew how to ‘produce’ a big enough audience to finance his production and pay his company. The smaller (essentially single performer) shows can run a little longer, while still not making enough money to actually do much more than pay the rental fee to the hotel for the service of four walling their show room to the performer. The latest casualty, I hear, is that Paul Stone’s ‘Vegas Magic Theater’ at the ‘Gold Coast Hotel’ is now on ‘hiatus.’

This kind of development doesn’t improve the quality of the magic shows in Las Vegas— instead it tends to multiply the amount of available choices without doing much to extend the variety and individuality of the shows that are playing. My belief is that ‘Avant Garde’ may be revamped/re-launched and still become the commercial success it deserved to become.

What it does say to me, is that you need a very good game plan as a producer to have a ‘hit’ show, and not just one that limps along quietly hemorrhaging cash and overexposing the art of magic while doing so.  Steve Wyrick spent about 12 years proving that seemingly endless ‘fresh starts,’ new showrooms, and infusions of cash can’t replace a really innovative Show. What is needed in Vegas is something new and exciting.

When Siegfried & Roy, Lance Burton, and Penn & Teller were the chief resident magicians on the Strip, you had a choice of style, content and ticket price that helped establish Las Vegas as the magic capital of the world. With the former two shows closed only Penn & Teller and frequent visitor David Copperfield are occupying the headliner role that is took decades to create in Vegas, as opposed to the 10 minute variety acts that it had previously primarily been home to.

Smaller ‘self contained’ performer/shows like Mac King, Amazing Johnathan and Gerry McCambridge have all done a great job in making this smaller show format look easier than it really is. Often overlooked is the tremendous variety in styles these performers have brought to the Vegas scene, and the creative and tireless self-promotion (I mean that as a true compliment) that they have displayed in so doing.

A magic show in Vegas is quickly becoming a four wall equivalent to Andy Warhol’s theory, “In the future, everyone will have 15 minutes of fame.’ In the future, perhaps every performing magician will appear on a TV talent contest for a few minutes, doing something that doesn’t actually represent what they do. Those few minutes, might even get the performers a Vegas show, if they are willing to finance it themselves.

Will this regain Vegas’ status as the prestigious capital of magic? I think we need some more seasoned and visionary performers to populate the showrooms. Performers that are so exceptional that a Casino will want to pay them to be there— in order to build their audiences, mentor their talents and develop their individuality. This used to be the case. Until then, forget ‘Field of Dreams,’ because just putting on the show does not mean the audience will come and it might just be creating a glut in the market.

Email me at nicklewin1@mac.com

You can also reserve an early copy of my new book, ‘Cruise Magic: how to make a great living performing magic on cruise ships.’ Just in case your Vegas show doesn’t come through.

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