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OKAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

2 threads in the space of 2 hours,someones craving for attention:P

anyways,this is really important cause i rele rele need a lot of advise on this

I am planning to go out and perform for the first time on the weekend in various nightclubs.Now,I'm going to be going to teeny night clubs as im 19 years young myself,id rather do tricks for people of my own age.

Now i have points and questions.

1)I'm Scared so i get EXTREMELY shakey even for family members sometimes

2)What effects do i use,considering there is going to be loud music

3)when is it best to start....Before the drunkness or at midnight when people are drunk,again i dont want to interupt people when they want to just dance or socialise or whatever but then again i think it would be somewhat dissatisfying performing top magic for unappreciative drunk people.tips?

4)teens are cynical but i know they will like the magic non the less because im told by so many people

5)performance wise,i could pull off enough tricks to keep a crowd going for 30 mins,but i think it would be best to go for 10 mins max?

6)I'm Planning on making no money whatsoever,doing it all just for fun

7)effects that i have
-ciggy thru card
-wiregrams
-mirage deck
-invisible deck
-pen thru anything

so with that i need an awful lot of advise(so i think) as its my first time and before im told ''blah blah blah'' YES ive read the stickys and the advice giving and have done some research too..

Thank you

Sounds like it might be something of a trial by fire for you. Youre going to learn more about magic than any book or DVD will teach you. Good luck and let us know how it went afterwards.

Hi David,
I tend to always have a bunch of stuff with me when I go clubbing, so hopefully I can be of some help with this.

1. That passes, don't worry about it. Just stick with the stuff you know backwards.

2. More often than not I will actually preform in the smoking areas. Other than that, anything that does not need a load of verbal cues. Sponge routines, TT vanishes, hell, you will be surprised at the reactions you can get in a club with a few backpalms and colour changes.

3. Preforming to drunk young people when you are inexperienced could very well be a death sentence, they can be very rude and critical, and if you think you are shaky before you preform to them, just wait until afterwards!. Get them earlier in the night. More importantly don't preform yourself after any more than a couple of drinks. If you get drunk you WILL mess up tricks. Most of these items become irrelevant once you have built up the experience though (Except the last one, trying to preform card to ceiling when drunk has made me look like an idiot more times then I care to imagine)

4. Course the will, nearly everyone loves to be entertained.

5. I would be more inclined to keep it to three or four minutes max. Just do two or three short tricks for people. If they come back asking to see more, by all means show them more. That way you are not getting in peoples way.

6. That's the spirit. It's great for building up the experience too. I know there is a bar in Limerick that has a magician on staff too, so you never know where it might go.

7. I personally find that the best way to preform for people who have been drinking (especially young people) is to keep it short, and as visual as possible. Here are some of the things that I will preform on a night out:
Card to ceiling (When sober)
Card to mouth (Paperclipped works just as well here)
2 Card Monte
Any visual transpo effects
I have a few different sponge routines that I preform (Night clubs are perfect for sponge productions using FP too)
No end of stuff with a TT (Mostly vanishes, but I also link red bull can fobs)

Best of luck with it!

Ian

I would second oeb's points.

You'll probably find yourself outside quite a bit because that's where the smokers hang out! Also it's quieter.

Don't worry about the shakes, it's just adrenaline.

Stuff that I find works are visual tricks: ACR, Saw (which is just excellent. Go and buy it now), Sinful, 2CM, Torn. Also quick mentalist tricks using peeks and psychological forces can go down well. Start off with quick, snappy tricks. Once that particular crowd has warmed up you can do something a bit longer, but as oeb says you're looking at several 5-10 minute routines rather than longer sets.

A couple of things to bear in mind....You may find yourself outside quite a lot and it gets cold at 2 in the morning so you might want to dress appropriately and I find that a flask of tea keeps my spirits up.

Also, depending on the nightclub, there will come a point at which people are too far gone to actually pay attention to what you are doing, especially if they have been consuming narcotics.

I find it's good to do a couple of tricks for the bouncers. Bouncers like magic!

Performing magic in nightclubs can be a good marketing exercise. Make sure you take business cards with you because people may very well ask for them, and they're handy for doing peeks with.

I don't know if you know any XCM. I have found it a very useful way of advertising my skills in such an environment. Wander round the club practising your cuts and people will ask to see some magic. Two birds, one stone.

Best wishes
Gary

I find a TT works best in this environment.

make sure if you are going to say something funny make sure it is, because if it isnt then theyll think your a joke.

But stick with oeb

D'Lites routines are cool and eyes catchers in night clubs, also flash paper and IT are very effective. Just make sure the lights are not straight up your head when you use those!

I find that Flash treads are also very good for productions and beginning routines in general.

Well anything that create light is good in dark situations.

Use bar props if you can too, a shooter glass or a CIB with a beer bottle, the straws or the small swords are excellent as props for a story. Dont forget the fruits

i would say when performing in night club you really have to stick to patterless effects as having to pause to shout loudly in someones ear isn't really going to help matters, especially if you have several people gathered.
I would stick to the most visual stuff you have (personally I dont think there are many card effects that can work in an enviroment such as this).

I work a regular gig where half the venue is incredibly loud and impossible to give any large amount of patter and I do fork bending, sponges, ropes, vanishes and productions.
Pretty much any effect that at most needs a quick command given "Blow", "Hold", "Rub" (innuendo thread here we come).

Finally I would say that the advice given above of performing some sort of attracting effect can work d'lites, I.T work etc. Watch out for anyone who seems to be looking at what you are doing and approach with a smile.

If your current routines contain none of this I would either go perform outside only, Be prepared to shout alot in peoples ears or wait until you have the proper effects for this kind of enviroment.

Good Luck and enjoy it.

I'm with Mr. Chan on this one. Go armed with what you know best and jump in. You will either figure it out or you won't.

Be scared but have fun anyway. It will be okay.

lxzer wrote:make sure if you are going to say something funny make sure it is, because if it isnt then theyll think your a joke.

???

I second Lxcer, never say anything that isn't funny when making a joke.

Otherwise my tuppenceworth is that any plans you had will go out the window as soon as you start, you'll encounter so many issues you never thought existed that it'll be a bit befuddling. Basically, do stuff to girls, that's the first rule of magic.

bronz wrote:Basically, do stuff to girls, that's the first rule of magic.

You shouldn't say things like that, you've just started me off giggling

CLUBS MAGIC GUIDE...

1 Dont Be their dancing monkey!!!

2 Dot use "non venue" props like cards, coins, silk handkerchiefs, ropes etc etc.

3 Finally don't let people feel that you re in a nightclub to actually PERFORM magic.

Yup...By now i seem to be speaking over my head but READ ON...
See in clubs people already have a SOCIALIZING mindset so take advantage of that...

Start a normal convo with a pre-planned opener (Hey i need an opinion on somethin, i am here with friends and i can only stay here a minute but we were havin this argument and i think we need a neutral opinion, who do u think lies more? men or women?) and only after you have done some talking for some time about random topics, u say, "are u guys fascinated by psychology?" girls mostly say "yes", then add, "are u interested in psychology or are u fascinated by psychology?" whatever their answer is U NOW JUMP INTO A TOTALLY IMPROMPTU ROUTINE USING ONLY CLUB PROPS...

The most common ones are...

1 Rotate their straw in their glass without touching it.

2 Take the straw out, vanish it, then reproduce it.

3 Tell them to concentrate all of their energy into the glass, then without touching the straw, make it fall out of the glass onto the ground...

4 ESP 1 to 5 and 1 to 10 number guessing routine.

5 Bottle Levitation.

Dont go overboard with the routines, LESS IS MORE. Remember, You re just a CALM CONFIDENT STUD

If a hottie tells me "hey do that again, do that again", i say,"Man ur demnding." then i add to her friends with a cocky smile "how do u guys roll with her???" they all crack up...

All these SIMPLE routines coming from a NORMAL Non-Magic guy have a super impact...

Finally after some more intersting talk, isolate the hottie using your creative on-the-spot thinking, then say "u seem like a cool person, we should hang out some time"...Take out a pen n paper, tear the paper into half, write ur number on one half, then give here the other piece of paper and the pen and she will know what to do...

Lastly...Not a single word of convo or routine or patter or attitude or psychology which I use was actually invented by me but the credit goes to an illusionist called MYSTERY...

Cheers and peace as always
GURVIN

As a teen myself who is a working pro, ill answe this the best I can.




1)I'm Scared so i get EXTREMELY shakey even for family members sometimes.
A.) This is going to be a really hard obstacle to get round, everyone gets nerves when performing though. If you are wanting to build your confidence, can I suggest some performing arts classes, it will help you to stand up and perform in front of complete strangers and will boost your confidence no end

2)What effects do i use,considering there is going to be loud music
A.) As visual as possible. Try using tiger Bicycle Cards, as they have a UV coating on them, also try using a UV pen to have the cards signed, they will look ultra funky! Dont go into any in depth patter. An ambitious card plot is easy to follow. On the same train of thought, personally I wouldnt do any coin stuff - just think of how hard it is to find change to buy your drinks!!! Im thinking of doing the Muscle pass when im in Nightclubs, but to make it visual im going to coat the coin in UV paint.

3)when is it best to start....Before the drunkness or at midnight when people are drunk,again i dont want to interupt people when they want to just dance or socialise or whatever but then again i think it would be somewhat dissatisfying performing top magic for unappreciative drunk people.tips?
A.) Dont stand in the middle of the dancefloor bothering people with a Hotshot cut. Go round the tables where people are sat, make sure you watch who you are approaching though, make sure they are up for a laugh. Personally, I think the best time to approach them is when theyve had a couple of drinks and are just starting to loosen up a bit

4)teens are cynical but i know they will like the magic non the less because im told by so many people
A.) You cant pidgeon hole all teens under the same belt. I know if someone wanted to come and entertain me in a Club id love it, yet my best mates would absolutely hate it. Best thing is just to assess the situation as you perform, if its going well for one group then keep going, but if its falling on its backside, then thank them for watching and move on

5)performance wise,i could pull off enough tricks to keep a crowd going for 30 mins,but i think it would be best to go for 10 mins max?
A.) Too long in a night club, 5 minutes at the tops. Remember, they are there to get drunk and have a dance. Also the communication barrier will make it extremely hard to do 10 minutes

6)I'm Planning on making no money whatsoever,doing it all just for fun
A.) Good stuff, will build your confidence

7)effects that i have
-ciggy thru card
-wiregrams
-mirage deck
-invisible deck
-pen thru anything
A.) Sounds ok to me, but ciggy tricks are becoming harder to pull off IMHO because of the smoking bans


I hope thats helped you out a bit, remember, just be yourself and have fun. It isnt a booking so dont worry if things go a bit wrong, its all a confidence builder and a great learning curve!

MW

This post has more of an underlying theme of picking up hot girls than the performance itself lol.........

If your performing to teenagers at a club make sure you isolate the cocky friends and make them the main attraction that way youll still be in control of them........

I hope youve got good crowd control skills my friend?

I work clubs so PM if you have any other questions that your not sure on...


Good luck x