Jan 09 2009
Nuts and Bolts - The “Magic Survival” Kit at Faire
Jeff McBride recommends, in his nifty Mystery School sessions, that magicians put together a “survival kit” - a few bits and bobs which can be used to do ten or fifteen minutes of magic should the occasion call for it.
Admittedly, Jeff McBride has a higher probablity of being called upon to “Do some magic” if he attends a concert or other event than most magicians, on account of his being Jeff Freaking McBride, but I think it’s still a good idea.
When I go out wandering site, I carry a few items with me to facilitate “ambient magic” - just a few small effects which might catch a bystander’s eye and make them interested in the brightly colored fool, and perhaps come see my show later.
This is a form of hawking - frankly I think that if you’re a stage show, any time you spend out in the street constitutes hawking as you’re presenting yourself to the crowd. If you’re interesting, people will want to find out what you do and when you do it.
Here’s what I carry around on my person when I go “walkies” -
- Silk Scarves - 3′ squares and 18″ pocket squares - I have to blame Mr. McBride for inspiring me to take up “silk magic” - which is really just the manipulation of handkerchiefs and scarves - they’re light, they can get shoved into a pocket easily, and the 3′ silk squares I got from Thai Silks have held up bewilderingly well for the pittance I paid for them. They can also, I should add, be juggled. Again, I’m “Trolling for Eyeballs” out there.
- A wand or stick of some kind - I have a 18″ long walnut wand I’m very fond of - it’s long enough to tuck one end under my arm while using the other end to do amusing things with the silks above - I also have a walking stick I carved out of Texas Hickory waaaay back in my LARPing days which makes for big flashy behavior when combined with the silks. Both can also be balanced on a finger, which is a great “Trolling for Eyeballs” bit.
- My “Crystals … OF MYSTERY!” - I found a source for some faceted transluscent high-bounce balls which look, yeah, like they’re not made out of rubber. These can be finger-rolled, juggled, vanished, made to reappear (in conjunction with the bits above the list) and are just good “fidget” material. In fact, if someone stops to watch, I’ll tell ‘em outright “This is how magicians fidget.” I lucked out and found both “big” (3″ diameter) and “small” (1″ diameter) crystals for a variety of fiddling activities.
- A coin of some kind - Naturally, if you’re at a Renaissance Faire, it’s a good idea to have something that doesn’t look quite so modern - it’s getting to the point where those big ol’ silver dollars work just fine from a slight distance, or you can splash out for replica coins of the period. Smaller coins work well for closer up, or a large coin - 2″ or bigger - for bigger flips, flourishes and vanishes.
There’s plenty of other things one could carry about for “walkies” at a faire - I chose these because, well, they’re cheap (as am I), easy to tuck into a pocket, and they’re multi-taskers -you can do a lot with a little, and you’re not stuck with just one trick for that bit of apparatus. With those four items in pockets and pouches, I can, if I want and have the opportunity, bust out a ten minute “impromptu set” whenever and wherever I am on site.
As my old Classics professor , Dr. Douglass S. Parker taught me, in order to improvise, you have to have your chops down. Then you can link those chops together in new and creative ways.
… something tells me there will be an “improvisation for magicians” ramble later on…
