The Adequate Blog

Let’s face it, when you have a magic show and it’s on a stage, you really want to have a lot of people cheering, laughing, and giving you money at the end of the day. It’s just a thing that you do - otherwise you’d be practicing at home by yourself, right?

Last year I was performing at the Golden Gate Renaissance Faire and afterward, we took the week that followed and spent some time in San Francisco - just touristy things. Of course, since I’m a magician I took a little something to fidget with because that’s what we do.

So I’m standing outside at the Cannery (one of the many mini shopping centers off Fisherman’s Wharf) waiting for my best beloved to come out of the restaurant where we  ate. Like many of these places, there’s a little stage area where, in better weather and economic times, performers do their thing.  I’m standing there in my Tobias the Adequate jacket, just waiting…

There’s a family nearby - two young girls and their mother, apparently waiting for someone in the same manner I’m waiting for someone.

I absently reach into the air, pluck at something, and carefully convey it to my left hand.

I look into my hand, thoughtful, and tease out the corner of something… a little more tugging, and a long streamer of many colors emerges, the loose end held aloft by the constant breeze pushing through the courtyard. I look at it, then carefully tuck it, bit by bit, back into my hand, finally giving a little squeeze… and open my hand. Empty.

Out of the corner of my eye I see those two little girls watching me. I don’t say a darn thing. I just glance over at them and smile at them, the look of suprise and wonder on their faces.

Sometimes the best audiences are the ones we don’t plan for.

Max Malini (born Max Katz Breit 1873 - October 3, 1942) was a magician who at his peak performed for several U.S. Presidents, had command performances at Buckingham Palace, and received gifts from monarchs across Europe and Asia. Magicians are said to revere him for his skill and bold accomplishments.Malini’s performance style was marked by great audacity. For instance, he would often walk up to people of great celebrity and unannounced simply bite a button from their cuffs and magically restore it. He would also borrow a gentleman’s hat for a coin effect, where he would cover the coin and attempt to make it flip over. This he would fail to do, but would finish by lifting the hat to reveal a block of ice under the hat, barely large enough to fit^[1].

Malini was born in the small town of Ostrov on the borders of Poland and Austria. At a young age, he emigrated to America with his family, settling in New York City. He studied juggling at age twelve, but under the tutelage of Professor Seiden he began his studies of magic (illusion) when he was fifteen. As he grew older, he began performing in bars. As his reputation grew, he would sell tickets to see a private show in his hotel room. He specialized in close-up magic, performing with coins and card magic.

- From Wikipedia 

Max Malini was known for his skill, his timing, and for the seemingly impossible way he could make magic happen at any time, in any place, for any reason.  A recurring theme in conversations about and with him is that he’d “load”, or hold ready, some object (an egg, a block of ice, a brick, at least once a whole roast chicken) to produce at the opportune moment.

His advice, when asked “how long should you hold it” was reported to be “at least a month”.  I’m guessing this was an exaggeration by him (especially for the block of ice), but it does pose an interesting concern:

When you’re performing in an “environmental” situation such as a Renaissance Faire, how much should you have “handy” to do at any time and how long should you tote things around?

To wit: Suppose you have (without giving anything away here) a method for producing a full goblet from behind a handkerchief. When do you “load” this goblet? At the beginning of the day? Before your show?

Now for more questions: how many goblets do you “load”? Do you want to be able to do this more than once before you have to duck backstage to reset?  And who do you do it  for? Is this a special presentation for the King / Queen  / Monarch / Special Guest, or do you want it to be a little bit of street theatre: I’m thirsty. Hm.. *produce*  *drink* Much better.

… personally I’m leaning toward the second.  So now I have to sort out what kind of beverage container, how do I keep it from spilling, where do I “load” it, when do I produce it, etc etc etc.

I’m not planning on doing anything with blocks of ice or bricks - yet - but it’s giving me a greater appreciation of what Malini did as a matter of course.