Cabaret or not?
Most close-up magicians will say that they do a cabaret, however most of them don’t. What they do is Close-up magic and they stand further away. It’s a bad habit formed from magicians usually being given the job of compere and then later on trying to tie that same material into an act. A good cabaret needs structure and it can’t be a hotch-potch of tricks thrown together. It needs a beginning a middle and an end. Structure is what makes the difference between a poor cabaret with strong magic and a great cabaret with standard effects. The structure is more important than the magic.
My current act isn’t as good as it should be. I’ve manged to do okay based mainly on my ability to perform but it’s been lazy.
The act is as follows:
Splash bottle production.
Rope tie with selected card, based on an idea I saw in the Ricky Dunn book along with other aspects that I worked out on the streets last summer.
Cups and balls, framed with a bill in lemon. It the natural progression and I have used it over the last 20 odd years.
So that it. 3 tricks, (4) if Bill in lemon is a separate trick. I don’t need any more for a 30 minute spot but obviously I have other material if needed, including: Slydini torn and Restored Newspaper, Salt Pour, Slydini Silks, 11 Dollar Bill Trick and Egg Bag.
I think less is more and if you do fewer effects then you do need to be a stronger performer but isn’t that the point? Be prepared to drop material if it will help with the pace of the act and don’t be precious.
Structure is really important to me within a cabaret, but maybe you’ve got that point already. The “for my next trick” approach jars with my need for a through line and a narrative or flow. It’s very difficult to achieve and one of the ways I try to avoid it is by overlapping routines or changing the whole tempo by properly introducing an effect. For example if I produce a bottle of water at the beginning then I will pour a drink from it during the performance – it doesn’t sound like much but it fixes the effect in the overall program and gives it reason. Introducing an effect is also a great way to move from one trick to another and to create a greater sense of theatre. Simply saying “and for my next trick” results in a kind of catalogue of effects and is very clunky. By changing the tone, pace even costume as you introduce an effect you are essentially doing a ” visible scene change.” It allows you to frame your presentation correctly instead of asking your audience to continually jump from one moving train of thought to another. But it takes careful scripting and thought – spouting a load of bollocks about your recent trip to India wont do it and I think I’ve had that rant before.
So what about the tricks I do:
Splash bottle – I wanted to change this as a good friend of mine opens with the same effect although now I feel I have a different feel to the trick and so I’m toying with keeping it in. It allows me to establish my character as I can deliver lines as I inflate the balloon. I have been looking at using the Derek Dingle balloon sequence from his card in balloon to begin with, as it is a piece that suits my style of humour. If I drop the trick I will need a new opener, maybe the Salt Pour.
I started working on the rope tie last summer. It’s a basic Kellar tie with a card selection added to the mix. My hands go in and out of the bag during the routine as I fail to find the card or to flash that the hands are momentarily untied etc. I produce a glass of orange juice from the bag along with some other sight gags to add more to the routine, and will use it to pick pockets and steal watches where possible. I like the effect and I’m happy with the way it is coming together. To introduce the trick I talk about Houdini and how he was formerly billed as the King of Cards, giving me a reason to do an escape and a card trick all rolled into one. It’s also potentially a closing trick which could replace the….
Cups & Balls. Of course I love the trick but it has several problems, mainly to do with sight lines. I currently have a large case which doubles up as a small stage whenever I’m working a private event that wont be kitted out and I’ll use this for any after dinner where people are still seated. The Cups is very versatile up to a certain crowd size and then after that you need to work really hard to sell it or rely on AV to make it visible. Also doing the bill in Lemon as part of the cups mean effectively I loose an effect. So the plan is to work an Egg Bag sequence that will finish with a Lemon load and to do this before I introduce the Cups as a separate effect. The egg bag is a bit like the Cups in that it will be difficult to find a sequence that isn’t the same as someone else’s, but I’m trying.
So that ‘s the basics I’m starting with at the beginning of 2010 lets see where it goes over the next 12 months. How about you? Can you honestly say you have an act or do you have a string of tricks that you’ve cobbled together?
