Photo by MichaelERay
There are two distinct ways to approach performing on the street, there’s the way of the Street Performer and the way of the Busker. (These definitions are mine by the way. Many people use the term busking and street performing to describe the same thing and they are as right as I am.) read more
You know the test that you can pose to people, “Can you tell me what the numbers on your watch are, Roman or Arabic?” Most people can’t tell you because they have been looking at the damn thing every day for such a long time that it is now taken for granted and ignored. Well how mindful of your environment are you when you perform. read more
I have a lot on my mind at the moment. I’ve got a lot of things that need to be done and I’m not doing them. I should have written a post 2 weeks ago but other things got in the way and I began to feel myself slipping backwards. So I’m going to try and remedy this by posting about procrastination and the art of the incomplete project. read more
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. read more
Image from http://www.sxc.hu
I’m not one for New Years resolutions but I do believe in planning ahead. It also seems that change is taking place in the magic business whether I plan for it or not. So I really have been thinking long and hard about what the next 12 months will mean to me. Starting with the big one – my job. read more
Image from www.SXC.hu
As I write this I’m sitting on a coach traveling to Madrid having just finished performing at another InterMagia, festivals of magic for the general public. The Spanish love magic, there are probably about 70 pure magic festivals across Spain each year, maybe more. One of the many positive aspects of working at festivals like these is that I get to work with some world class acts and even better I get to spend time with them during the long Spanish meals that we’re treated to. read more
You may or may not have noticed that the blog has morphed into a fully fledged website. After spending so long working on pushing Brandmagic it dawned on me that I didn’t actually have a site of my own that was anywhere near up to date.
So I was wondering if you could help out:
If I get no replies then I know I’ve gone wrong somewhere.
Once the site has bedded in then I will get back to the task of posting stuff that might be interesting. A few things spring to mind:
Please let me know if this actually lands in your inbox etc.
Photo by Mark78_xp on Flickr
I had a conversation with someone recently who wanted to become a professional magician and to be honest I was a little jealous of their freedom to choose where their career in magic would take them. I started off on the street and spent a long time try to shake off the “street” image in order to move into the world of corporate entertainment, ironically my street performing background is now part of my whole marketing strategy. read more
Most magicians do most things according to their websites, and they’re all competing for all the jobs. The best way to succeed is get rid of the competition and here are 5 ways to do it. read more
“Practice lady, practice.”
Okay so it’s a very old joke but the fact is practice alone won’t get you anywhere as a performer. You need to rehearse. read more
