talkmagic.co.uk

Hello!

I am a little unusual in that I am a novelist-turned-magician, currently more well known as a novelist than as a magician.

Importantly, I don't want people to find this site when googling my name or the names of any of my novels, so users of this site should avoid posting these details. For those who wish to google me, my first name is Darren but with one 'r' instead of the usual two, and my surname is K!ng (rhymes with 'thing').

Equally importantly, I'm not here 'looking for something to write about'. I make my living as a novelist, but I am actually far more interested in magic than literature. Writing is an introverted activity, and I'm rather tired of staring at a screen all day, immersed in my own thoughts. I want to get out there and interact with people in the real world.

If I ever do decide to write about magic, I certainly won't give away any secrets. I've been into magic since I was a kid. Magic is my favourite thing in the world, ever. Why would I want to spoil it?

I can't claim to be highly original in terms of the effects I perform, but I like to think that I have my own unique style. My repetoir includes:
* All the usual TT effects
* Coin vanishes: I usually do the £1\1p Coin Unique, but entirely in the spectator's hand, with my own hands on my head; I then vanish the remaining coin using my own take on Kevin Parker's Revolution (easier to perform: uses a prop that I invented, so far as I know)
* A 'bottle cap through bottle' effect (basically Charlie Justice's Prohibition); I then retreive the cap from the bottle and rub it into a nearby wall until it (the cap, not the wall!) disappears
* Some card stuff; haven't settled on anything specific

Not much else at present. I need to learn a lot more over the coming months...

My current status is that I'm 'turning pro'. OK, I've only performed at one party, but I enjoyed it immensely: one of the most fun experiences I've ever had. It was a children's party, actually a school fete (I refrained from performing Cigarette Up The Nose!). Ultimately I want to perform at adult parties (weddings, corporate events etc), but, since I find children less intimidating than adults, I intend to perform at several children's parties first.

Here's the cool thing: I can't claim to be the greatest magician in the world, but with any luck my status as a fairly-well-known author of children's fiction will help me get some bookings. The kids get to 'meet an author' (ask me questions about the characters or whatever) then marvel at my effects ("I insert the novel into my left ear, like so...").

I live in London, and I'm very keen to meet some magicians so that we can learn from each other, so anyone who'd like to meet, please get in touch.

(The image shows the front cover for one of my children's novels, publication date February 2010.)

(Not sure why the image didn't appear. I'll try again. Any ideas?)

Welcome to TM Deren

Hi Daren, welcome to TM

Welcome to TM

Welcome to TM Daren, hope you have fun here mate

Aw. It's lovely to receive a warm welcome.

I've been reading reviews on this site for aeons and I thought it's about time I showed my daft face.

Hello!

Greetings, Daren. I am intrigued by a novelist turned magician and would ask why? - If it is not so bold. You should not excuse your preference for performing for children. In the view of this old mind, children have an intuition beyond that of adults. They have a belief in true magic which is knocked out of them as they grow by adults who have lost their way. Oh, to be a child again and see the true wonder and enchantment in this world. Please forgive the musings of an old wizard!

Welcome my friend. Much love, Kryzal x

Hiya, welcome to TM

Hi Daren, welcome to TM!

Kryzal wrote:You should not excuse your preference for performing for children.

I wasn't excusing it, just explaining where I'm at. In my experience, children watch far more closely than adults, ask more questions and so on, and are therefore more difficult to perform for, but really, there are pros and cons of performing for both adults and children and both are challenging in their own ways. I'd like to perform for both adults and children, though children seem a good starting place for me personally...

The Devil's Tailor wrote:

Kryzal wrote:You should not excuse your preference for performing for children.

I wasn't excusing it, just explaining where I'm at. In my experience, children watch far more closely than adults, ask more questions and so on, and are therefore more difficult to perform for, but really, there are pros and cons of performing for both adults and children and both are challenging in their own ways. I'd like to perform for both adults and children, though children seem a good starting place for me personally...

Are you serious? I would've said almost the opposite. May just be the kind of people I'm performing for, but I find the minds of children disengage very quickly unless you really interest them, and you could even end up doing some pretty obvious things that they don't notice. Whereas adults watch attentively and though most don't want you to slip up, there are some idiots who will watch the deck of cards the entire time even with misdirection and will point out the Pass or w/e. Children are easier in every way...

Cerulean

Cerulean wrote:there are some idiots who will watch the deck of cards the entire time even with misdirection and will point out the Pass or w/e.

Interesting choice of words.

Welcome to TM!

I don't perform children's magic, but with a few nieces and newphews I do have experience performing close-up magic for children, and I tend to agree with Daren.

A child's mind is immature and as such it cannot properly comprehend a lot of the subtleties worked into a decent effect; it does not matter that the way you are holding your hand just has to mean it is empty - to a child, you are simply hiding the coin in your hand, no matter how seemingly impossible that might be. But an adult, with years of experience handling coins and such, just intuits that if you are holding your hand in that particular way, it "must" be empty. Children will tend to ignore (actually, just not understand) the convincers and see right through to the underlying, basic mechanics.

Cerulean, you say that children disengage with magic pretty quickly and that this allows you to get away with bold moves... but if that's the case, if their interest is not on the magic, then what's the point in performing at all?

A good children's effect is designed to capture and maintain their interest, with a handling built from an understanding of how their mind and thought processes works.