Tips From The "Cos"
| I once saw Bill
Cosby interviewed on a talk show, and what
he had to say about comedians also pertains
to magicians. The main two points that snapped
my synapses were on audience responses and
the use of "off color" material. |
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Gene Anderson suggests
in his lecture that you audio tape your performances.
There may be some good lines that were used by
the audience or ad-libbed by you that may be lost
and forgotten if it weren't taped. Equally important
is for your own sake. Specifically, you may think
that during your performance that you were not
getting the response that you should have gotten.
Perhaps you may have been concentrating on your
performance rather than paying close attention
to the audience's response to your routine. When
you play back the tape of your show, you may be
surprised to find out that the audience response
was better than you thought at the time. Furthermore,
you may learn what part of your routine caused
your audience, in your opinion, to be rather non-responsive.
Here is where Bill Cosby's advice comes in. But
before I make my point, let me digress once more.
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Many, many years
ago Walter "Zany" Blaney performed in Omaha
before a group largely comprised of magicians.
In Walter's opinion, he bombed. There was
little or no audience response. He was disappointed
and discouraged to the point that he was
concerned about his act and future and particularly
about his act the next evening in Des Moines.
Fortunately, he went on to his next engagement
and presented the same show, word for word,
for an audience where no magicians were
present. He went over great! They loved
him! His future (and self confidence) was
secure. He just crossed off the unresponsiveness
of the Omaha group and went on to success
much the same way that a professional golfer
must forget a bad shot and not let it get
him down on the way to winning the tournament.
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Bill Cosby said that
there are no unresponsive audiences . . . only
different levels of responsiveness. Some audiences
will hoot, holler, clap and whistle while others
may occasionally give you polite applause (or
what I call a "golf clap".) Neither of these responses
nor any range in between is bad, just different,
and appropriate for that audience at that time.
Little to moderate response does not mean that
they don't like your show as you may be appealing
to their intellectual level. Likewise you may
not be the best thing that the hoot`n holler`n
audience has ever seen as they may give the same
response to a pig who can walk on his hind legs.
Just as you have always heard it to be true for
magic, so it is with audiences . . . timing. But
an audience doesn't have to respond enthusiastically
to enjoy your show. As a matter of fact, I usually
elicit the best compliments after my show from
those audiences that were the most reserved. I
have always wanted to say to them, "gee, I wish
that you would have shown how much you liked the
show DURING the show." As "Cos" says, there are
no unresponsive audiences, just different levels
of responsiveness. I have heard it said that you
know if the audience is from Minnesota because
they cast a shadow. Another level of appreciation,
I guess.
I see audiences as a mass of people who can respond
like a mob. It only takes a few "leaders" in the
group to get the mob moving in your direction.
Many things contribute to their reaction that
may have nothing to do with you act . . . the
size of the group, whether they know one another,
are they comfortable with one another, the time
of day/night, the environment/venue, how much
(if any) alcohol has been consumed, how they are
dressed, the temperature, and many other factors.
Any one or more combinations of these factors
can be in play when determining how your audience
will respond and the thing is that you cannot
do anything about these outside influences! You
can only do your act and try to entertain them
so that they can forget the troubles of the day
. . . at least for a while. That's why it is so
important to win over the audience from the moment
that you start your act. You have to show them
that you like them and that there is no place
that you would rather be than entertaining them
right then. You must first like them before they
will like you. And if you can get a few people
"rolling" with you early in the show, then you
have a better chance of getting the rest of the
audience to join in and respond enthusiastically.
Even though the audience may be thoroughly enjoying
the show, we as performers always seem to feed
off of the audience's reactions, and it's hard
to give them your top performance when they set
on their hands and just stare (in amazement?).
This is where professionalism really enters in
when, just "Zany" Blaney did, you need to go beyond
the moment and give your best show despite their
reaction because you know from previous experiences
that your show is solid.
As to Cosby's second
point, off color, dirty, or "blue" material has
no place in magic. "Cos" pointed out that in the
days of vaudeville when the comedian didn't get
the laughs from the audience that he thought he
should get, then he dropped his pants and resorted
to debased humor. Many of today's comedians and
some magicians use "blue" material or "potty"
humor as the mainstay in their act. His point
was that if they start with this kind of humor
and it doesn't work, then where do you have to
go to get the audience to laugh, particularly
if you have alienated most of them to the point
of no retrieval? Their pants are already down
so to speak and they have nowhere to go except
to pull them up and go home.
Along this same line
of thinking, once you have started working "dirty",
then it's difficult to change your image as you
mature. People will remember the joke or trick
you did or line you used and ask you to repeat
it. You may have moved on from there and no longer
want to be associated with that kind of humor
or reputation. But an image has already been created
and you are stuck with it. So the best thing is
not to use it at all and not resort to "dropping
your pants."
Magic itself is funny
enough. People laugh or smile as a natural reaction
to being fooled. You can only make it more enjoyable
by weaving a web of joviality with "clean", family,
G-rated humor.
So be known as a "clean"
entertainer that appeals to the widest variety
of audiences regardless of their reactions. Take
a tip from "Cos" because you can't knock success.
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