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Hi Guys,

I need a bit of help on my stage mentalism routine,i have a talent show on Sunday and I need to prepare it.It starts of with me getting everyone to think of a number between 1 - 9,then I get them to name it out loud and whatever number they name,I have an out for.I then ask what other members of the audience thought of that number and I get 3 people up on stage and perform my tossed out deck routine.

I'm not sure what else i should perform,There are about 300 in the audience ,t quite a large room,I only have 5 minutes to perform and I was thinking of doing a Giant card routine which is Marc Paul's and then revealing a scroll and having the information of everything that has happened in my act written on it.I have quite a wide knowledge of mentalism.I was also thinking of doing a blindfold routine but i think im a bit short on time.

What trick do you think I should do?

Thank you very much.

hey magicollie

I would go with the giant card mental trick by Marc Paul, its awesome and it plays very well. If you had mre type i would suggest Nothing by Max Maven DVD it is great for stage - caberet mentalism.

What books and DVDs do you have then i can advise you on a solid routine?

How about an add a number routine with a prediction in full view of the audience for your 5 minutes

Cheers

Dan

Properly performed, this:

magicollie wrote:It starts of with me getting everyone to think of a number between 1 - 9,then I get them to name it out loud and whatever number they name,I have an out for.I then ask what other members of the audience thought of that number and I get 3 people up on stage and perform my tossed out deck routine.

would fill 5 minutes.

well you've got until Sunday so I really don't think that you've got the time to come up with anything new. As robb has said, the think of a number and tossed out deck is probabaly more than enough to fill 5 minutes. Although I'm not really sure why you're getting people up on stage to perform a tossed out deck, I'd have thought you'd be better off with them at their seats.

cardtecuk wrote:hey magicollie

I would go with the giant card mental trick by Marc Paul, its awesome and it plays very well. If you had mre type i would suggest Nothing by Max Maven DVD it is great for stage - caberet mentalism.

What books and DVDs do you have then i can advise you on a solid routine?

How about an add a number routine with a prediction in full view of the audience for your 5 minutes

Cheers

Dan

Thanks Dan,infact,my original act which i performed in my audition just consisted of a tossed out deck,russain roulette and then a add a number routine to finish it off.

I have the banachek psi series and the osterlind easy to master mental miracles,i use to have max mavens nothing but i have misplaced it.

Cheers Dan and everyone

Why just from 1-9? Isn't that kind of limiting yourself and really doesn't look that good. Most people do 1-100 which is better. Just have two people do it.

As Dirty Davey said, you probably shouldn't try to come up with something new. That said, since you indicated that you have the Osterlind dvds, you might do Koran's Magic Medallion or the Headline Prediction (again, from Koran).

I'm curious, what is the name of the trick you are planning to do with the scroll? It sounds good; and I am interested


Tom
xx

Eshly wrote:I'm curious, what is the name of the trick you are planning to do with the scroll? It sounds good; and I am interested


Tom
xx

Hey Tom,

I have created a method where you predict most things that happen in the show on a scoll,the scroll is in full view the whole time and THERE ARE NO SWITCHES,it has the name of playing cards which have been picked,a random number someone thought of,a words,and fianlly,the full details of what the person who comes up on stage to help you is wearing,I have performed this before and it kills,I invented this method and im thinking about selling it,cheers;

And by the way,no gimmicks,or stooges.

Ohhhh why must you tease me so!

This sounds exactly like the Recession Prediction System, but that's not what I want to be honest; I need something that is small and suitable for walkaround, so no assistance can be used



(it still sounds like a good idea though, so marketing it would be a good move I think)

magicollie wrote:Hi Guys,

I need a bit of help on my stage mentalism routine,i have a talent show on Sunday and I need to prepare

What trick do you think I should do?

Thank you very much.

Cancel the talent show until you've got "an act" that you know inside and out and are actually ready to perform. Then go participate in talent shows and gong show nights.... that should be about a year from now provided you have an act set in your mind within the next week.

Do you think the Evansons decided a week before their big contests, to just throw together their two-way routine?

Major Award Winning Acts DON'T DO THAT! They create an act and work it to death so they get all the bugs out and the nuances in. They know they aren't ready until this has been done, so why would you want to do anything different? Why do you believe you don't need to train months or even years prior to a competition?

Sorry, I'm not going to cosign this sort of madness or coddle someone that's being foolish. Those that do so (and there will be several attacking me for being so "mean" to you) aren't helping you and more importantly, they aren't doing diddly squat when it comes to helping improve the quality of magic (as a whole) and how it will be perceived by the general public.

ISSUE #2... why are you asking us what you should do?

If you have to ask you've already lost the battle! You're lacking personal vision, short changing your own imagination and instead of walking out on stage to create enchantment, you will be walking out to show off and do a couple of tricks, most of which probably won't adhere to any given theme or character claim.

Why are you "into" magic at all, if you can't see yourself performing the effects you either own or plan on owning?

Visualization is one of the oldest tools used in theater as well as sports training, so you're shooting yourself in the foot when you can't see yourself doing something flawlessly, consistently, and as part of a planned (and logical) path.

When You Do Ask for Outside Opinions, you should be asking those that know you and have seen you work BUT NOT YOUR "FRIENDS"!... that is to say, not those that will pat you on the back and tell you what you want to hear. Find yourself at least one old grumpy dog in the pack that will rip you a new one for being stupid when you really are being such. That person will care more about you and making you "great" than all those "yes men" do... at least that's been my experience.

I doubt you know much of anyone on this or most forums, so the opinions and suggestions being made on based on the effects listed as well as one's own bias around said tricks. I happen to loathe card tricks when used in Mentalism (and I'm not saying they can't be used, just used with extreme moderation for best results), so chances are I'd tell you this and that effect on your list stinks and find something other than a bloody card trick. So where would my suggestion help you in making your decision?

IF YOU WANT TO WIN, put together a genuine act and stop letting all the new stuff distract you and more importantly, stop believing that the effect is what makes you great -- it's not! It's how you work with that tool so as to create intrigue and remove from the audience's mind that you are "tricking" them... you have to make it "real"! You can't do this with a week's worth of lead time... or even a month's lead time.

Please, wake up and smell reality

Craig Browning wrote:

magicollie wrote:Hi Guys,

I need a bit of help on my stage mentalism routine,i have a talent show on Sunday and I need to prepare

What trick do you think I should do?

Thank you very much.

Cancel the talent show until you've got "an act" that you know inside and out and are actually ready to perform. Then go participate in talent shows and gong show nights.... that should be about a year from now provided you have an act set in your mind within the next week.

Do you think the Evansons decided a week before their big contests, to just throw together their two-way routine?

Major Award Winning Acts DON'T DO THAT! They create an act and work it to death so they get all the bugs out and the nuances in. They know they aren't ready until this has been done, so why would you want to do anything different? Why do you believe you don't need to train months or even years prior to a competition?

Sorry, I'm not going to cosign this sort of madness or coddle someone that's being foolish. Those that do so (and there will be several attacking me for being so "mean" to you) aren't helping you and more importantly, they aren't doing diddly squat when it comes to helping improve the quality of magic (as a whole) and how it will be perceived by the general public.

ISSUE #2... why are you asking us what you should do?

If you have to ask you've already lost the battle! You're lacking personal vision, short changing your own imagination and instead of walking out on stage to create enchantment, you will be walking out to show off and do a couple of tricks, most of which probably won't adhere to any given theme or character claim.

Why are you "into" magic at all, if you can't see yourself performing the effects you either own or plan on owning?

Visualization is one of the oldest tools used in theater as well as sports training, so you're shooting yourself in the foot when you can't see yourself doing something flawlessly, consistently, and as part of a planned (and logical) path.

When You Do Ask for Outside Opinions, you should be asking those that know you and have seen you work BUT NOT YOUR "FRIENDS"!... that is to say, not those that will pat you on the back and tell you what you want to hear. Find yourself at least one old grumpy dog in the pack that will rip you a new one for being stupid when you really are being such. That person will care more about you and making you "great" than all those "yes men" do... at least that's been my experience.

I doubt you know much of anyone on this or most forums, so the opinions and suggestions being made on based on the effects listed as well as one's own bias around said tricks. I happen to loathe card tricks when used in Mentalism (and I'm not saying they can't be used, just used with extreme moderation for best results), so chances are I'd tell you this and that effect on your list stinks and find something other than a bloody card trick. So where would my suggestion help you in making your decision?

IF YOU WANT TO WIN, put together a genuine act and stop letting all the new stuff distract you and more importantly, stop believing that the effect is what makes you great -- it's not! It's how you work with that tool so as to create intrigue and remove from the audience's mind that you are "tricking" them... you have to make it "real"! You can't do this with a week's worth of lead time... or even a month's lead time.

Please, wake up and smell reality

This really annoys me,I know what I'm doing,I was just wondering if anyone had any advice,and so what if I fall flat on my face,its experience,I don't need to polish an acts up for a talent show.I agree,it needs to be smooth but not a years work going into it, I'm not going to perform all over the world with this act.

oh dear, you seem to think that you have the right to perform without practicing for a whole year first.

This is how it is supposed to be:

Step 1. Read everything ever published
Step 2. Practice for at least a year until you are perfect
Step 3. Go back to step 1 and read the new stuff.

Honestly, some people think that they can actually get practice in the real world and, God forbid, use someone else's patter while they practice. Probably the same people who watch DVDs. Tut tut.

I mean, I can't imagine that any musicians ever aped their heroes before finding their own style, no, all the great performers just emerged like a glorious butterfly from their maggoty practicing.

</end sarcasm>

magicollie, I honestly don't care if I "annoyed" you with that post. In fact, it's rather well established that when critique of this sort results in an annoyed or agressive reaction it's typically because the one affects knows the truth of said suggestion and the fallacy of their approach.

IF YOU WANT TO WIN a "Talent Show"

IF YOU WANT TO MAKE A GOOD IMPRESSION during your spot in a Talent Show...

IF YOU WANT TO GET REFERRALS by being part of a Talent Show

Then you WILL put your all into what it is you do and not take a course of action that is pre-mature and ill-prepared. The language of your original post sustains the fact that you are inexperienced and know little to nothing about what you're doing and too, the fact that you are thinking like a magician and NOT a Mentalist (the latter of whom don't require 101 different outs, they can accept failure here and there and willing do material with the risk of failure).

No, you don't have to practice for a full year... just a few months before you start showing off is fine PROVIDED you have a solid script and the material you do fits your claims vs. doing a dozen and one bits and pieces that do not cohere or support anything other than an ego showing off. On the other hand, I do not know of a single major award winner that didn't invest a year or more into their act and getting it polished, before they entered a single competition. Lance Burton spent 5 years perfecting his dove act; Richard Ross practiced his Linking Ring routine for 3 years before ever doing it for the public; Pete Pit worked on the Dancing Cane with Fred Kapps' help, for over a year before he went public with it.

I dare you to find a single major player who hasn't followed this course of path during their early career... I stress that because you will find those that toss in a piece here and there, to see how it works for them. But even at that, most will rehearse the thing for a few weeks if not longer, it's rarely an "on the spot" kind of thing.

The Moral of the Story Is, you must decide if you are just another hack out there trying to show off or if you love magic enough and the idea of being a SHOWMAN enough, to actually invest some time and effort into being that?

I hear all the moaning by guys like yourself, who don't understand how this and that person (those within their age group) are going places and they aren't. When you tell them that it is the result of discipline, focus and actually having a product worthy of marketing, they get ticked at you (just as you have done) because they lose their self-willfulness and have to mature in order to gain those same results; they don't ask a week before an event, what or how they should do something (though they may do so six or so months out).

We have a member here that's been talking to me and at least one other person I know of, about doing Seance type programs for over two years now. He'd getting things in order so as to be in the position to "do it right" rather than just gathering a bunch of "spooky" tricks and thinking it will work... What makes you so different?

How can you justify taking half-measures?