So what do you do If you REALLY flub a magic trick.

[tim]

Originally Posted by stitches

Another time, I used the wrong deck of cards. I thought the kid had the 7 of diamonds. I had a 3 1/2 of diamonds in my pocket (7 divided by 2). When I told the kid to divide his card by two, he said 5 of spades! oops! I just grabbed the correct deck and started over.

I might have shown the card in my pocket, said, "No, that's wrong, 3.5 of diamonds. I was always bad at math! So spade me."

[SuitcaseSam]

I enjoy "flubbing" a Magic trick simply for the comedy element one can play off of. This is where facial expression is the key and enhances the comedy of your act.

Jackie Gleason once said in an interview with Johnny Carson that he hated to practice routines as it took away the spontaneous comical surprise and reaction that would not come off as comical had it been rehearsed.

'course alot of what I perform, I have performed for years and it's somewhat routine already.

~Sam

[Fifi D. Clown]

Keep on going -- Chances are that nobody even noticed you flubbed. I had a whole sock full of candy slide out beneath a trick can on top of my volunteer's head and land with a loud plop on the floor. I anxiously picked it up quickly "pay no attention to the clown behind the volunteer", stuffed it back under the can and continued on. When we got to the point where the candy actually appeared when it was supposed to, the audience gasped and applauded.

[Cheery]

Er.. you're a clown when you do the tricks. Right? So if you are then be one. tell the truth. Say you messed up. go nuts if you mess up. And i'll say it again. BE A CLOWN!!!!!!!!

[Mr. Dazzle]

I flubbed up with my Break Away Fan the other day... The trick worked and broke the first time I handed it of to the person ... but the next time he switched the direction of the opening blades and it opened correctly... I played it off by saying... "Well it looks like you have the magic touch" Then I took it back from him and tried opening but "broke" it on purpose... acting frustrated that I didn't know how to get it back together... Then moved on to the next trick.

[magicgeorge]

Great responses.

Basically, if you're not embarassed or upset when something goes wrong your audience won't be either.

No matter how much you practice things can still go wrong. Props can break or you can just flub up a trick you've been performing perfectly for years for no apparent reason.

Funny thing is noone has a problem when performing a trick where something intentionally goes wrong (in fact most adults know you're doing it on purpose). So it's not what's happened with the effect that can cause uneasiness and embarassment but your reaction to it. What I do is note how people react when something intentionally goes wrong and then how they react when it goes wrong unintentionally then swap those reactions around. Then you can really take people for a ride for the "performer in trouble" effects and carry on regardless for real flubs.

Sometimes I say "never buy your props from e-bay" and throw the thing over my shoulder. Makes me laugh.

George

[The Infotainer]

Hi Clowns

There's already some great comments on this and hopefully here's a couple more:

=> Yes, ideally this shouldn't happen. So the key is preparation, preparation, preparation.

=> Yes you should both practice and rehearse over and over until you're done!

=> And then you should ask of every routine and every part of each routine and all the parts in between the routines ... "What if ....?" and see just what COULD go wrong.

=> Then decide what you'll do!

=> The worst thing is to hesitate. To be caught cold. It shows! Do NOT be phazed. Yes some useful 'lines' help. Great ones already, here's a few I use:

--> "Whoops ... first time that's happened again!"

--> "Oooooh ... sudden gust of gravity"

--> "Looked easier in the book"

--> "Great audience ... wish I had a better act"

--> "No, it WAS the right ending ... wrong trick!"

--> When kid gives 'wrong' answer: "So you're not Cindy then!"

=> Obviously what you do is hugely determined by what went wrong. Clumsy drops and similar can usually be passed over with a line. But when the trick cannot be recovered, that's a whole different matter. As above, avoidance is the best tactic but you can be prepared for certain things by having 'spares'. By this I mean another prop item, or second gizmo or gadget or simply


=> And be sure to learn from the experience so that it doesn't EVER happen again.

=> Unless you WANT it to!

[The Infotainer]

Hi Clowns

There's already some great comments on this and hopefully here's a couple more:

=> Yes, ideally this shouldn't happen. So the key is preparation, preparation, preparation.

=> Yes you should both practice and rehearse over and over until you're done!

=> And then you should ask of every routine and every part of each routine and all the parts in between the routines ... "What if ....?" and see just what COULD go wrong.

=> Then decide what you'll do!

=> The worst thing is to hesitate. To be caught cold. It shows! Do NOT be phazed. Yes some useful 'lines' help. Great ones already, here's a few I use:

--> "Whoops ... first time that's happened again!"

--> "Oooooh ... sudden gust of gravity"

--> "Looked easier in the book"

--> "Great audience ... wish I had a better act"

--> "No, it WAS the right ending ... wrong trick!"

--> When kid gives 'wrong' answer: "So you're not Cindy then!"

=> Obviously what you do is hugely determined by what went wrong. Clumsy drops and similar can usually be passed over with a line. But when the trick cannot be recovered, that's a whole different matter. As above, avoidance is the best tactic but you can be prepared for certain things by having 'spares'. By this I mean another prop item, or second gizmo or gadget or simply another way of doing it.

=> The bottom line is that it generally doesn't matter. It's only a trick! You and your audience are what it's about ....

=> And be sure to learn from the experience so that it doesn't EVER happen again.

=> Unless you WANT it to!
Yes ... some great comedy moments have been created because they started with an accident or surprise event ... but the worth was spotted and then routined in forever.

=> A classic example of this is in an earlyish David Copperfield show. He's doing an introduction and spots a girl in the audience with some binoculars. He halts the patter intro almost mid sentence and goes down and gets them. He shows the entire crowd of perhaps a thousand what she's using .... and she's in the front row!!!!!!

Then he trains them on her ... "See how you like it" ) Then he scans the rest of the audience, especially connecting with those way up in the gods.

A great bit of business that happened for real one night. She wasn't initially in the very front row, but they took it and turned it into a warm, comedyy bit and now plant a girl there each night!

All for now ...

John Gordon
=> The Infotainer <=

[Reddy R. Knott]

So...
That begs the question...Are we Clowns or Magicians? My thoughts...

When in Clown Character... give em' a clown! So, if my character really flubbs a magic trick, say needle through the balloon, I play it off like the jokester I am.

If it's magic they want...Be a magician, and practice, practice, practice.

Clowns aren't meant to be taken serious. They help us laugh at the best parts of ourselves..the ones tha taren't perfect!

My two cents.

Make em Laugh!

Reddy

[The Infotainer]

Reddy

I agree that we should be clear who we are ... but it could be that the answer to that question is a hybrid.

The boundaries are now, and actually always have been, blurred. It is possible to be a clown and a magician with varying degrees of both making up the whole.

I believe that anyone can perform something 'magical'. Equally, anyone can clown. By that I mean has the freedom to, the platform to .. then requires the doesire and ability to.

At the risk of creating some flames .... I have always had an aversion to people calling themselves clowns, getting booked as a clown but then NOT doing any clowning.

All they did was dress up like a clown.

I've seen wonderful clowns dressed as 'ordinary' people. Tati, Keaton, Williams are all examples.

But I still hold that any failure within an act should be rehearsed so that there is no danger of it appearing like ineptitude. After all ... as a paid perfromer, it's essential to deliver .... and not merely rely upon natural disasters!

John Gordon
=> The Infotainer <=