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[Mark ScivierParticipant]

The performance styles are pretty similar. All card magic. Bar magic. Close-up. Almost no other props besides the cards. Very energetic, loud, and fast-paced. Attention-demanding. They both are essentially showing-off, and they both present themselves as lovable rogues – card cheats who use the cheating to entertain. There is a strong focus on comedy too with lots of one-liners – some of them very hackneyed. The double-entendre struck me as a little creepy a couple of times. Watching the audience at the back of Malone’s, they didn’t look anywhere near as entertained as the front row! It could be they were too far away to appreciate what he was doing, or it could be that, while the front row was amped up, the entertainment wasn’t as great as the front row’s reaction would suggest. Personally, I enjoy other kinds of performance more. I find the intensity too much – it’s a constant “look at me” “watch this” “see that” “did you miss what I did just now” barrage of words and movements. I also don’t like the “card cheat” character in general. The magic itself is pretty much flawless and reflects the fact they’ve been doing these effects for decades. They know how to work the audience. They have what is (or has become over the years) a natural sense of timing with the cards and the jokes.

[JackKeymaster]

Mark, so the question I have then, is why do you think both of them perform with the “look at me” “watch this” “see that” “did you miss what I did just now” style that you describe?

[Mark ScivierParticipant]

Jack, I’d like to understand your question better. Are you asking the question because you disagree with my characterization of their performance, and would like me to provide examples? Or are you asking because you would like more discussion about why their performance might come across that way? Or perhaps you’re asking why they might purposefully create their routines that way (e.g. to get and hold people’s attention in a noisy bar)?

[Mark ScivierParticipant]

Jack, Assuming you’re asking why would they perform this way – then I think it is because of the environment they’re working in. They’re typically going to be in a busy, noisy environment with lots of distractions. The magician has to constantly work to keep the audience’s attention. The magician is also likely to be dealing with people who have had a few drinks – which usually makes people louder than normal (I don’t drink and so I really notice the increase in volume at parties, bars etc.), and, in some cases, these people are more likely to be disruptive (even if there is no intent to disrupt). Instructions (like who to show/not show the card to, where to put the card etc.) typically have to be explained more clearly (and more loudly!) to someone who has had a few drinks.

It’s a good point. I hadn’t really thought about it in these terms until you asked the question!

[JackKeymaster]

Hey Mark,

Aye that’s exactly why I was asking and you’ve hit the nail on the head with the reason. One of the reasons I selected Malone and Eason this week was to start the conversation around the context of our performance and how that might affect our performing style.

Malone and Eason do two very specific things in their performances:

• They overtly invite challenge from specific spectators, often times falsely creating it – they do this to keep those that might actually directly challenge them onside by seeing that the challenge is being made – and they do this in a way that is fun and light-hearted so it comes across as a joke to everyone else. This is a clever technique to manage potential hecklers or awkward spectators.
• They create a loud and energetic atmosphere because they are in effect “paid by the cheers”. In bar situations your next audience are the guys at the back of the room who are going “what’s going on over there?” and come to investigate. And when you make your money by tips and selling drinks (you notice Doc actually checking if his spectators have enough drink etc and helps them place orders for refills etc) you want to make sure your next audience is hungry the moment you finish with the current one.

These things coupled with a typical loud and brash environment means they have to create larger than life personas and they have to keep the attention of those in front of them who might wander to the other noise in the bar etc.

I know I am not that kind of performer, so I do not accept work in bars or walk around gigs at parties because I am not able to create that energy or perform over the sound of background music or drunks laughing at the back. And if I wanted those gigs (i.e. needed them to pay the bills) the tricks I would chose to perform would be extremely different to those that I would do sitting at a table opposite my captive private audience.

It’s an interesting thing to have to think about and one that catches many performers out (including me!)

[Andy CostiganParticipant]

hi Jack and Mark,

The Bill Malone video is an L&L Publishing one. They were a mostly paid audience and some of the members gained some notoriety of their own from appearing in multiple videos.

See Steve Pellegrino’s post over halfway down. He worked on L&L shoots for 18 years.

https://www.themagiciansforum.com/post/who-is-this-guy-11376483

[Andy CostiganParticipant]

Whit “Pop” Haydn has some great insights on the difficulty of making a performance video in here – another discussion on L&L audiences

https://www.themagiccafe.com/forums/viewtopic.php?topic=46661&start=20

[JackKeymaster]

Hey Andy,

I’m not sure what your point is with the L&L audiences being paid, but yes they were often hard to work with for some magicians as they were plied with alcohol at lunch. But as can be seen from Malone’s performances (they film 3 tapes over a weekend for that shoot) shows that this is something bar magicians can deal with brilliantly. And actually illustrates the points of our discussion around the character choices of both Malone and Eason quite nicely.

Malone is like that with every audience, check him out on the Paul Daniel’s show in 1995.

For Eason, the clip was filmed at a bar he works in and he performed for 10 different audiences and they included 3 of the full audience performances on the DVD that clip is from, and used the rest during explanation and discussion on performance.

But yes, the L&L crowd are notorious and we’ve mentioned David a couple of times in the classes I think when talking about clips we’re sharing. David is my favourite 😂😂

J

 

[Andy CostiganParticipant]

hi Jack,

I was just addressing this section of Mark’s observations –

“Watching the audience at the back of Malone’s, they didn’t look anywhere near as entertained as the front row! It could be they were too far away to appreciate what he was doing, or it could be that, while the front row was amped up, the entertainment wasn’t as great as the front row’s reaction would suggest.”

I much prefer Doc Eason’s slower pace and sense of humour. The authentic audience only adds to it.

Andy

[JackKeymaster]

Ah fair enough Andy. :)

I like both for very different reasons personally.

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