talkmagic.co.uk

Alas, this topic is not about the timely t.v programme........... more so about something that caught my eye on this morning nigh on only a few seconds ago.

im not too sure of what this "bit" was.... other than i assume theyve had people on at various points who claim to have various "powers" for want of a better word...... I.E.... a woman who read asparagus, a woman who read bums and a woman who read feet

Let me start by stating that i've no qualms with anyone who claims to have such powers as part of their act, as far as im concerned as a magician/mentalist, you are a performer....ergo..... you can introduce to your character whatever traits you wish.... should you chose to portray yourself as a spoon bender (a-la uri gellar) and cause no one any real harm other than uppity magicians who know you cant ACTUALLY bend spoons with your mind bulletts... then good for you...... but if you're going to make these claims, at least follow them through and go about your busines with the authority and confidence that you are fully in control of what you are doing, irrespective of wether your cold reading is hitting the mark or not.

i use the cold reading as an expample.... as on this aforementioned show.... there was a man who claimed he could read belly buttons....... using some fairly basic cold reading (noticed by eagle eyed mr schofield may i add) he attempted to read the belly button of a "celeb"..... now he was doing well with the veiled facts, blurred statements and what have you..... but when the celeb was revealed and he saw that he had been mildly correct with his reading... he began to get overly excited and jumping about "look i was right, i was actually right! kinda businesss....... which was picked up by ms. willa-booby...... who said "you seemed suprised!?"....... which is very true...... he did seem shocked....

if you're going to play these characters people (and that is your right to do so as a perfomer) at least try and sustain your excitement when you do get things right..............

to echo your point if your going to milk it..... milk it like a professional milkmaid not a goat hereder.

Indeed, in such situations where a performer reaction is appropriate. less is often more.... let the specs do the OMG, NFW and 'Are you a Guru?' stuff - it's far more effective!

When performing you must believe you are that very character that you're claiming to be. Confidence in your abilities is very much key to this, if you don't believe that you can successfully do as you claim then how can you ever expect your audience to. Would a carpenter dance a jig because he managed a to turn a piece of wood? Of course not, it's nothing special to him, he's done it hundreds of times.