by Salsa Jack » Jul 4th, '05, 10:25
Hi Taylor
You make a very valid point about the auditions to join a Magic society.
It's very much a Catch 22 situation...you have an interest in Magic and are eager to learn and seek advice, yet you need to pass an audition in order to access these areas.
The reason for an audition is so that the General Public can't just wander in gain a few secrets for the benefit of their own curiosity and then spend the rest of their life blowing Magicians acts.
In practice each society is made up of a wide range of individuals from Professionals to semi Pro's to amateur hobbyists all with varying degrees of experience and competence.
The society that I go along to, if contacted will invite a prospective new member along to an open to the public night where they will have a little chat about your aims and experience, offer some advice and perhaps suggest an audition date a month or so away which will give you time to knock up a very basic 10 minute routine.
They are not trying to catch you out at the audition or to see if you are of almost professional standard, they just want to see that you have demonstrated a commitment to spend some time practicing and are genuinely interested in Magic, remember they have all done it and all will have made a hash of an effect during an audition or later performance in front of their fellow Magicians.
So just buy a few simple effects, practice some fairly basic illusions and give it a go, remember they are on your side and will clap your basic successful routines and laugh with you ( not at you) at your failures, (they've all gone through the same experience)
In my case I have been quite lucky through one reason or another my audition has been postponed for months on end but they let me keep coming every meeting anyway until they find a suitable date and I have to admit that watching the others has been entertaining and also allayed my nerves a little as I see them trying out new ideas which occasionally go wrong and realising that no one is there to criticise or ridicule.
So make contact and seek the secretaries advice.
All the best