The Adequate Blog

Whenever possible, get on site early.  I’ve said this before, but this time for a diffferent reason - in this case, it will give you a chance to get at least a passing acquaintance with the vendors.

Why do that?

For one thing, it helps to establish you as a participant rather than a “playtron” (that is, a patron who gets dressed up), which can save some confusion and bother later as it’s less likely you’ll be hawked to. It’s good ettiquite for vendors to tone down or skip the hawking when it comes to folks who actually perform at Faire. 

It can also give you a chance to get to know who you can come to to “sell singles” - if you’re a pass-the-hat act, you’re going to get a lot of one dollar bills. Most vendors start out with a “bank” of twenties, tens, fives and ones, but through the day customers will pay for things with twenties because that’s what comes out of the ATM. So, if you show up with a nice stack of singles, especially near the aftenoon part of the event, you can make some points with vendors by “cashing up” and trading a stack or two of singles for twenty dollar bills. 

… and that can make life easier for all involved.

Magicians have two types of props, really…

1. Specialized Devices for specific tricks
2. Utility Items which can be used for multiple tricks

A deck of playing cards is, I suppose, the most common Utility Item that people see - you can do all kinds of things with a deck of cards - flashy handling flourishes, subtle mental experiments. In the lexicon of Alton Brown, a deck of cards is a multi-tasker.

There are plenty of multi-taskers out there - handkerchiefs or scarves, rope, cards… shockingly enough a roll of toilet paper might be one of the best (and cheapest) multi-taskers out there as it can provide a rediculous amount of “raw material” to do effects involving paper and / or balls of paper.

As far as unseen items… and here I’m voyaging into secrets territory (I did warn you about this), the best and worst kept secret in magic is the humble thumb tip.

oh dear lord I said it. Ok, in for a penny, in for a pound.

The Thumb Tip is a smallish plastic or metal tube shaped so that it fits neatly over the thumb, usually to the first ‘joint’ after the thumbnail, permitting the magician to carry a small item in his hand without the use of his fingers. Originally, a thumb tip was just a metal or leather thimble, much like the ones people still use for hand-sewing.

Paranoid magicians began to paint it flesh colored, and even more paranoid (and profit-motivated) magic manufacturers began to make it look more and more realistic in an attempt to ‘hide’ the item in plain site.

In my opinion, that’s going in the wrong direction. The idea is that the audience isn’t supposed to be looking for a Thumb Tip.  Here’s another secret:

The “moment of magic” in a magic trick is usually not the moment when the “dirty work” - the unseen folderol that makes the trick work - happens.

So, if you know what you’re doing and have the physical skills and the ability to direct the audience’s attention where you want it to go - remember giving focus ? - then the unseen utility items a magician may use can be bright day glow orange for all the good it’ll do.

Some more cheap advice, in short bursts

• Always Take Credit - if it’s cool, maybe you did have a hand in it
• The Answer is “Yes And” - The key to improvisation
• Master Your Domain - Control or at least understand your environment
• Treat ‘Em Like People - your audience like to be talked to not at
• Frugality Make Genius - Get the most out of what you have - you’ll be amazed at how much you can get out of it
• Fail Funny - Brilliant success and brilliantly screwing up are closer together than you might think

More Cryptic Maxims soon - or do y’all have any to suggest?

Magic is one of those rare fields which does not require any qualitative demonstration of skill before the practitioner declares his membership in that group. Sort of like “poet” and “Internet Marketing Guru”.

However, “Magician” is also one of those fields where declaring yourself to be one inevitably results in a request, if not a demand to demonstrate your skill.

“So do something magical!”

Now, aside from the responses we all think about saying, there are two ways to react to this.

• Graciously demur
• Perform something small and quick

There is a third option: request money as you are a professional, but it’s rarely received in the spirit in which it is intended.

So, the practicing stage magician must have a few bits of close up stuff which he or she can do for the appropriate people. I’m not suggesting one become a performing monkey, busting out tricks on demand or (god forbid) doing them when they’re not requested*, but having a couple of things on hand will be useful for those occasions when it is appropriate to do so.

Fortunately, it’s not too hard to find small variations of what one does big on stage, and have those handy.  A piece of rope, a handkerchief, even the dreaded “little vanishing bit of silk” and the gadget with which magicians cause things to vanish  is enough. Oh yes, and a deck of cards if you’re into that sort of thing.

Jeff McBride did a great demonstration of how to take a small card trick and turn it into something big enough to play for a large crowd - the exact same trick, it’s all in the presentation and how “big” you make yourself and your demonstration.  Don’t worry about having an entire close-up magic act on hand, just one or two things and you’re good to go.

Now, deciding when it’s appropriate to perform an impromptu magic trick is the stuff of long, sometimes heated debate. Some say to go ahead and do so when asked the first time, some suggest demurring until at least two or three requests have been made.  For me, it depends on a number of things - where I am, who I’m with, what I have on my person at the time - even taking a napkin or straw wrapper and making it go away can be enough.

One of the more satisfying impromptu moments came from doing a bare bones, bone-simple ‘tear the bill up and restore it’ gag - we’ve all seen this - for the checkout clerk at a quickiemart as I was loading up on carbs and sugar for the drive back to the airport after a gig. But that’s just me.

Having a balance of big and small things will make you a more effective performer. I recommend you look into it.

* Much like being a bagpipe player or demolitions expert, knowing when not to demonstrate your trade is as important as knowing when to demonstrate it

In an earlier post I talked about my “Magic Survival Kit” when I’m at Faire, but I haven’t babbled much about the non-magic stuff I tote around with my when I’m not at “base camp” - my stage, backstage or “Someone kind is letting me dump all this stuff behind their booth or encampment so I have a backstage” area.

Some of this is may bear explanation:

• Wallet, ID, Keys - The Book Carter Beats The Devil gave me a show biz maxim which I will adhere to my entire life: Never go on stage without your wallet.  While this was thought up during the Vaudeville days when a common backstage area and a not-always-trustworthy peerage made it an imperative to keep an eye on your goodies, it’s just a good idea to have these things with you no matter what.  You never know when you’re going to want to buy something, prove you are who you say you are (new security guy? Have to suddenly run off-site to get something?).
• Cell Phone - Yes.  I have one. This thing is my “office” for the magician thing and contains, among other things, a running tally of my “hats” per show, my schedule, and of course a handy way to get in touch with people if necessary. Yes, I keep it on silent or vibrate mode.
  Note: having your phone on vibrate mode while carrying it in the codpiece of your costume trousers… may lead to hilarity. Or talking like Jerry Lewis. Sometimes in the most inappropriate times, like when you’re in front of the Queen.
• Chapstick - Me. Shouting. Dusty dry location. Sun. Nuff said.
• Small packet of wetwipes - FAIRE.  Nuff said.
• Beverage Container - This one’s a point of irritation for me. Mostly because in order for the container to hold enough to make drinking from it meaningful, it has to be big enough that carrying it around has to be done on your belt when empty, hand when full, or you get to play ‘Sloshy McSloshington’ with your Tankard On A Rope trick.  Size, weight, and the fact that it’s gonna contain a liquid at some time all make this an obnoxious thing to deal with even if you never accidentally sit on it. I’m still sorting out a better answer for this one. More as it develops.
• Small Tube of Sunscreen - FAIRE. SUN HOT. Etc.

Phew. That’s quite an assortment of goodies. Most of this has been carried about in the ubiquitous pouch on the belt strategy for the past few years - I don’t seem to do well with shoulder bags. As we work on the new costumery, I suspect we’ll find clever places to store a lot of this gear.