talkmagic.co.uk

I say go for it. When I was a younger performer I almost went down that route, but one thing stopped me. If you do it right (really convince them) then you can really only do it once. There's the rub.

After Ricardo did his buzz saw with blood for the first time, everyone knew that no one died. It was a great act for shock and gore, but the believability was there only for the first performance.

If I came up with a brilliantly convincing routine I might save it up for a television appearance (live, of course). That would get maximum impact for what is a once-off shock.

On one of the Derren Brown live shows didnt he collapse, after his Q and A act.

My initial impression was 'What a tit' he has just dropped his own standards.

Later on i was speaking to a close friend (Who is a V well known entertainer) and we were discussing what we had seen.

I peronally wouldnt go down this route as it doesnt really suit the premise, and my persona.

If you can make it work, why not. But if it gets good publicity (Which i am kinda guessing you are after) You definately wont be able to do it again.

And make sure your liablity insurance covers induced heart attacks

Now when I saw Derren do that live the audience bought it.

The current issue of Magicseen has an article about Jay Fortune's "Magick and Mayhem" show, which goes down some very dark paths, including some black comedy about death and a routine based around suicide. But the show is clearly advertised as dark, so the audience knows what they're letting themselves in for. Even then, some people walk out because they're offended or else find it too strong for them.

As Fortune mentions in the interview, there are other emotions than comedy, and most people enjoy horror. The only thing I would say is they should know what they're letting themselves in for up front.

I think Derren's collapse at the climax of his Q&A routine worked because he built the act up as such a difficult, draining feat. He was feigning a faint, not death.

It's very easy to shock an audience or overstep the boundaries of what is considered 'acceptable' for a particular context and setting.

It's very difficult to be consistantly entertaining.

The two aren't mutually exclusive, but being entertaining and offensive at the same time is a very tricky tightrope, and I don't know of many performers that genuinely get the mix right.

Remember too, that we're talking about two very different things in the initial post:

1. Pushing the boundaries of an effect and making it your own.

2. Pushing your luck with regard to taste, decency, and audience expectations.

Issue one is the important one, and has nothing to do with shock value.

Issue two is one you need to work out for yourself, remembering that audiences, bookers and venues have very long memories and will always vote with their feet and their wallets.

Pete

I felt Derren fainting could have been a very powerful moment, but he did not have the acting skills to pull it off as well as he needed to.
It highlights the importance of acting classes (which we all neglect to take). Ideally we should stop worrying about technique, because most of us have more than we need, and should start studying presentation.

Are you looking to push boundaries for your benefit, or for the benefit of the audience ?

Remember they have paid money to be entertained by you.

I dont know you. and I know this will sound arrogant, but it is intended to be constructive. Are you looking towards 'shock tactics' because your act/content is weak ?

Having said that, I can see how an 'out of body experience' could be incorporated into a mindreading act. [having lots of pre-show work] but perhaps it would be better if you were accidentally put in a trance [hypnotism gone wrong, accidentally hypnotise yourself etc.] rather than fake a death.

It sounds to me like whatever the show is, it can't be that good. It seems like you lack a talking point so this is how you are giving it to them.

Personally I'd stay away from the dying thing. Its been done so many times, it is a bit of a cliche escapist/magician thing and I'm not sure if as many people will buy it as we'd like to think.
I've seen TV shows take the micky out of it before. The masked magician did a show where he "died" and was brought back, Paul Daniels did it (as someone mentioned earlier).

Then again, Im not into the whole shocking/gory magic stuff myself, so I'm bias!

Though, its your show, your butt up there, do what you like my friend! I don't think its pushing any boundaries but do as you like and like what you do!

Okay dokay, a decision has been made.

Thanks for the feedback guys!

A bit harsh maybe saying that a performance isn't good merely due to an idea without ever actually seeing the performance on the whole itself, but it is an opinion all the same, so kudos to you

Cheers!

and there was me waiting for someone to say "overkill"...

you could always kill an o.a.p. on stage and pull out a string of sausages from their guts instead?