Nothing Beats Actual Stage Time
I like to think that I am really good at routining an effect so that it is workable right out of the gate.
And I am (he said humbly).
I think it’s probably because I was performing for money from the time I was 13 until my early 20s (dropped out of school to focus on it, even — thanks Mom and Dad!), got trained at Ringling Bros and Barnum & Bailey Clown College, and then spent six years as a radio DJ (radio? I know, I just really dated myself), and then did some acting and directing in community theatre. All of that stuff helps you visualize an act.
Here’s the Big But
But yet, you never get it perfect from thinking about it, writing out a script, performing it in your mind, visualizing all the moves, etc. The only way to perfect it is to get it out in front of an actual audience. And you have to do it more than once. More than twice.
Most of the time when I come up with something new it gets performed like this (outside of me just doing it in front of a mirror or camera):
For my wife
For both of the local magic clubs
For at least one open-mic
For a paying audience
The latest routine I’ve done that with is Carnivoracious, and it was a routine that was “settled in” until two shows ago when the audience was a little subdued. It was still good, but got me thinking about what I could do to make it better. Maybe something that would help breathe some life into a passive audience. On the drive home I said to my wife, “I think I need to change the ending for Carnivoracious… if I do X I think it will be more theatrical…”
So I changed the ending and the next weekend that alone moved Carnivoracious from a B+ effect to an A+ effect. Yes, the audience was different, so there’s no way to know exactly if it would have perked up the previous audience, but based on the latest reaction, it’s a zillion times better. The effect has been perfected.
But Wait, There’s More…
Did I say perfected? Well, the thing I added had some additional handling that, once I was on stage in front of a real audience, was a bit more awkward than when I was trying it in my living room. When I’m in the middle of a routine, I don’t often know the details of what’s happening. I’m in the zone, listening for comments I can riff off of, going with the flow…
But I record (audio or video) every time I perform, and watching the routine later that night I saw how I can cut out maybe as much as a minute of “dead time” by doing something a little bit different.
Then it will be perfect…
…until I perform it and see something else that needs to be tweaked. I can say that I’m confident the core of the routine is now settled in, but tweaks will still probably happen for a while.
That Third P Is Vital (Penguin Magic Reference)
Thinking about your routine, visualizing it, practicing in front of a camera, etc., are all important, but to paraphrase Helmuth von Moltke, “No routine remains unchanged after the first performance to an audience.”
So get your stuff out in front of people early and often.