talkmagic.co.uk

Not that I have personal experience in the field but I believe that the large illusion market is a bit slow at the moment (That's what the boss has told me anyway) so it might be a good idea to go for the intermediate sized stuff. As this has already been suggested this post is a bit redundant, but I like to add my comments occasionally!

Out of interest it is also possible to just hire out big/medium sized illusions. If you wish I could give suggest a few places that do this.

Silver Shadow

I started magic at the age of 12 and for 6 years did magic on stage using small but large enough props to be seen by a crowd.
For example. A wrist chopper, pom poms, etc and interjected these with cards and mental magic.

I agree that you need to start small and that a stage magician is also an actor but I think that all magicians have to have an ability to act.

I joined an amateur dramatics society. This gave the link onto the stage. Did bit parts, intervals and scene changes by coming to the front and performing what I loved (The magic).

I have now gone the other way to childrens shows, restaurants as that is where the money can be made short term but my heart is still on the stage.

There are a couple of illusions I have that were fairly well priced which play huge.

Magic Carpet
Sawing through a victims head with a Black and Decker.

Both effects cost about £600 in total.

I guess what I am trying to say but maybe not very well is take the advice from us but live your dream. Just get there by starting within your means.

mjay did you nick part of my life wile i was away.
that was like looking into a mirror next you'll be telling me you want to go comercial.

maybe even end up a consultant like me.

you can also purchase illusion plans and build them yourself or have them made or scale up something you already have.

i had a sliding die box that was three feet long now its hand held still the same effect though but more room in the car, i also had amasive breakaway wand for the realy big tricks

another way to do stage on a smaller buget is to set up avideo camera feed to a tv or projecter and do table magic, packs small goes over big.

Sorry magicdiscman didn't mean to step on any toes.

I have tried in the past to buy plans but can never seem to find anything that jumps out at me. Any suggestions of retailers and effects?

I did a party a while ago for a neighbour who is a carpenter. He has always said he would make whatever I asked for.

you cant go far wrong than to start with a tip trunk ie you tip it forward and open it up to sho it completely empty, tip it back and open to produce your assistant or anything else thst will fit.
think treasure chest for styleing.

hi, I don't know how experienced you are or anything, but a good progression from kids shows into adults is cabaret, the shows are roughly the same length and meny of the tricks are the same but with different routines. E.g. pants across, this can play out for 15 mins and is a scream if done right. What everyone's saying seems right, go to www.tilfordillusions.com to get an idea of how much all this stuff costs new, Holiday parks are good venues as they have stages but not 100's and 100's of people usally, I did the cab circuit last summer, it was fun, i did a couple of illusions and then parlour tricks. Head choppers are great fun and if done right can be areputation maker, thats what did it for me, you can get one for 100pounds. But the first thing to know is a bigger more expensive trck won't make you better, like I said small ones, kids tricks even can become the big hitters in your show. Only get an illusion when you feel your show needs it

dont forget that a simple but classic prop goes down well, i recomend a sliding die box which you can get in a variety of styles and the audience can relate to it.

many years ago i had a stage version made up that needed to be lifted at each end and the final load was a girl absolutely lovely but nowadays i get the very same reaction from a handheld version so size realy dosnt matter as long as they can see it then it all good.

exactly, can't stress enough how important this is. This is about presentation, a friend of mine did a russian roulette with 5 coke cans, probably the simplest trick he ever did, and it made him a legend where we were, its all about what you do with the trick. A 5000pund illusion that plays for 3 minutes with a bit of nice music is ok, butwhen you could get so much more out of a smaller trick... Essentially, you should go with what your show needs. If your show is a manipulation act, cards, flowers, etc all to nice music, then you probably don't want a buzz saw at the end. Try to find a theme throughout your show and everything will flow better.

I do stage shows(i am specifically a stage performer but do close up as a side line) pretty much every couple of weeks and i dont think it is one of the best types of performance for several reasons.

1. Space, if you have a big illusion show you need places to put it all. Luckily i have a large garage where i store illusions, tables etc. I use smaller things in the act as well, which can be stored in my room.

2. Transport, how do you plan to get your stuff to the venue. In my dads car you can take the back seats out which allows more room. I have to get tables, illusions, smaller props, costumes all in at the same time because i go 50/60 miles away normally when i do my act, therefore i cant do two journeys.

Dont get me wrong, stage acts are brilliant and i love doing them but it is very expensive, but if you do put a stage act together, take your time when you are buying for the act. The last thing you want to do is spend loads of money on a prop that doesnt suit your routine, ive spent 2 years building up my stage act to perfection, and its still not perfect so think about every single aspect of it like storage, transport, cost,style

Thats my opinion though

hear hear boywonder i know how you feel, as i do magic and discoes then space is vitaly important thats why i have a limit on size of props, i hope to get a van soon that will allow me more room for more magic.

my bedroom is full of lights and amps for the disco so i can emphasize, just moved to a bigger place which is nice.
just like in life size realy dosont matter its the effect it has on the audience and as long as the can physicaly see then no problem, haveing said that i intend to video my close up sessions and feead them to a projecter screen so i can do more intamate magic for kids but still have larger audience apeal, not good to have fourty kids crammed around a table the will always try to grab or worse see something i dont want them to see .
so i'll need the room for that to, also its amazing what you can fit into a citreon saxo if you buy to size