You asked for it! You got it! More from Alexander Pierce.

Thanks to those of you who have expressed interest about the articles posted by local magician, Alexander Pierce. I encourage you to please contact him directly, with your comments. Many of you I have spoken on the phone with about these postings, but feel free to engage Alexander directly too at: alexanderpiercemagic@gmail.com

“Do not follow the crowd you may get lost in it” – Misc

An article of thoughts by Alexander Pierce

“Moves seem awkward the first time they are tried. So sequences of moves need to be practiced until the performer is not only natural but confident” – John Mulholland

Take your time and be yourself…
I attempt not to be much of get out and perform kind of person until I feel I have my methods and moves down and my patter outlined. An I have the confidence and courage that I will perform to the best of my ability and be able to entertain an audience or even a single person with high quality entertainment. I am so sure that anyone reading this or anyone who may have read what I had previously written for SME knows much about me so I would like to give you a brief bio of myself. I first sparked an interest in magic through television programs and various magic sets like so many other magicians from what I have read and heard. I would say the interest started around the age of 6 or 7. I remember trying to vanish my younger sister in a box or it was a tote something you would put things in for storage. I put a blanket over her and said some magic words… And of course nothing, it is funny to think about because it shows in my opinion how imagination and belief are a focal point in magic. So I was hoping she would appear in the other room but of course she did not there is a lot more to magic then that, unless your lets say for respects sake David Copperfield… His magic in my opinion is out standing and genius. I moved around a lot as a kid. I was in and out of many schools, I always attempted to use magic as a way to fit into a new environment or even sometimes as a defense mechanism. By the time I was in middle school my father had been diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia and had been committed to an assisted living home. I spent a few months with my grand parents before I was then sent to live with an uncle and his family. They just so happened to live in Anaheim, California minutes away from many world known amusement parks. By the time I was in high school I had gotten the job inside the magic shop at Knott’s Berry Farm. Working at Knott’s was a great experience. I got the opportunity to perform for customers on a constant basis there were dozens if not hundreds of patrons each day in and out of the shop. I work there and also performed street magic on occasion this also helped me gain much experience as a performer. After graduating high school it was off to college where I did not perform magic as often. After a series of unfortunate events that kept me from graduating from college, I ended up moving to Wichita Kansas to help my mother and ill grandmother and this is now where I reside minutes from SME (lucky turn of events) Since moving to Wichita I have performed in assisted living homes and in a hospital or two. Not as much as I would like but I do have to have a day job to pay the bills. Well to be honest at this moment I work nights at a supermarket stocking shelves gives me time to practice my patter. I also have performed for various groups of people and individuals. As far as my credentials as closeup entertainer I feel I have accumulated many hours if not days of experience and my opinions and thoughts that I express here are valid and worth the read. I only write these thoughts and opinions here as to hope spark some interest in your imagination. I do thank you for pondering the opinions I express here and the time you spend reading this as well.

As I was expressing before I went on that long who I am tangent, I am writing this to express my thoughts and feelings on how I prepare the magic I perform. I would also like to discuss briefly a little about my process on scripting and creative development. So I would like to just dive right in. I prepare first and foremost by utilizing the 3 P’s PRACTICE PRACTICE PRACTICE! In my opinion practice may not ever make perfect but I do believe practice is always progression and the more you progress with a certain routine the more it develops into a nearly perfect presentation of magic. I prepare every effect I do with the mindset that, if I do not have a confident presentation then I’ve belittle those who are willing to give me their time and focus. I always have in mind the entertainment value and this is in everything I do and perform. Will I get a laugh? Will I get applause? Will they ask me how I did that? As a magician with every magic trick I perform I would always like to get one of those three responses. Please don’t get me wrong I’m not you’re always confident my poop don’t stink kind of person. I know I have to give effort and strive for excellence to get such responses and in the end give a confident and entertaining performance. So I attempt to put forth the practice and the preparation it takes to achieve that. I always like to prepare my imagination for thinking, not only when creating tricks but when creating a message or a story for each presentation. I prepare my imagination by day dreaming or sleep dreaming, writing, drawing I’m a bit of an amateur artist and so I use different methods of creating art to help spark interest in something I might be able to create a presentation from. By using my imagination to really try to look at what I am performing through the eyes of the audience. Nowadays I give credit to where credit is due thanks to the internet and the enlightened world we live in people are informed, creative and smart as ever. In my opinion have a good way of perceiving magic. I believe that every audience and participant in every presentation of magic is not stupid they will watch and analyze every move with the hope of catching your method or figuring out your trick. So I attempt to eliminate the want to figure out the magic by attempting to instead entertain. I never perform to belittle or make my audience feel like I’m getting one over on them. I want them to appreciate what I do as an art and I want them to appreciate it as having some entertainment value. So I do try my best to make every piece of Magic I perform artistic. Now I’m not here to argue or debate what is art but instead I’m going to describe what I believe is an artistic way to present magic and in short that is by creating a piece of magic that has a way of connecting or creating interest from my audience. I prepare my presentation by scripting my magic in such a way that even if they make out a sleight which of course I tend try my best to practice practice practice so they never do, but of course nothing or no one is perfect but still if they do see a move I hope to have created a piece of magic that they can still appreciate for its artistic and entertainment value I tend to do this by developing a script that I feel is intriguing and that can capture the imagination of my audience. I am very well aware that not every person is the same in some may like one presentation and others may like another but I do my best to script a routine even though they may not be interested in I hope that they might appreciate the effort time an artistic vision of the presentation. Ever since my early beginnings in the study of magic I’ve always heard the advice be yourself, be who you are, put who you are into your magic. It took me a long time to figure out what this meant. If I can give any advice to those who may have trouble putting themselves into their magic, I would like to say one thing be proud and confident of who you are. Proud of the things that make you laugh, the things that make you cry the things that bring you joy and interest. These are the things that make us human and when you try and apply these things to your magic this can help in my opinion bring out who you are and show what you have to offer the world. I myself attempt not to sacrifice my artistic integrity by creating a script around ideas for stories I am not interested in. So I feel one step of being myself in my magic is to present my interest and storyboard every trick I perform around them. I believe that this helps me to be more of myself in my magic and treat magic as an art by doing this, also in my opinion it may help create some sort of appreciation from my audience.

My creative development is all based around the magic I choose to perform and the way I perform it. I normally feel once I have work through an effect and I believe that I have the methods and moves thoroughly practiced then it is time to start asking myself what sort of story or positive message or even both can fit with the effect. I begin to brainstorm around positive or interesting ideas I think that fit the mood and the ending result of the illusion after some trial, error and good old fashioned thinking. I attempt to create a script that is easy to follow that might be informative above all else creates an image of what I am saying as well as what I am doing. In doing so I attempt to visually and verbally communicate this story and positive message to the imagination of my audience. With such presentations I believe I can entertain as well as hope to amaze my audience and even a single participant, of course every person reacts to everything you say or do differently but in my mind that’s the challenge, the work is to create in my opinion a piece of magic, a piece of art that no matter who you may perform for they can still appreciate who you are as an entertainer and the entertainment you perform. This is just a brief description of my preparation and creative process and to be honest maybe just a compilation of thoughts on the subject. I do hope this gets your own mental gears turning and thinking about some ways you can not only be yourself but maybe different way of put your imagination into your magic and of course as well perform confident and strong with an end result of creating outstanding excellent entertainment. In my opinion we may be magicians but we are also entertainers and to entertain is too perform a good service to the world, be proud of who you are and be proud of what you do. I would like to end this article in the words of Jami Ian Swiss
” magic only happens in the spectators mind everything else is a distraction magic talk on the Internet is a distraction the latest advertisement the latest trick distraction methods for their own sake are distractions you cannot cross over into the world of magic until you put everything else behind you including your own desires and needs and focus on bringing an experience to the audience this is magic nothing else.”

If you have any questions , comments or concerns please feel free to email me @alexanderpiercemagic@gmail.com

I would also like to include a version of the storyboard card trick some of you may find it amusing, some my find it is something they may use or or even some find it worthless but whatever is the opinion I included It because I find it entertaining and interesting.

there were 5 witches sisters of sorts
They could cast magic spell with A ease of course
they could morph into creatures magical things
with 45 eyes, six legs and two wings
but that was for fun they were also running a shop
one day a man came and they were concerned with what he bought
2 toads 6 bat in 39 drops
of tears that came from a magical ox
they knew of only one spell that could be made
that would clone whoever drank a mix of which this potion contained
concerned with the risk of such a spell would have
went to see their mighty magician who was also their dad
he said he knew the man he was born in 87
and as fate would have it he was a brother with a twin but the twin had went to heaven
so the man had grown up alone in a 3 bedroom home
with a mother who was heartbroken over the son she would never know
so one room stayed vacant not even the chair
and at the age of 10 the man became aware of the fact
there may be a magical way to bring his brother back
and to show his heartbroken mother that she still had two sons
and her world could still be filled with great joy and much love
the five sisters were torn what should they do
the father said get the man to eat all of this magic stew
if his heart is true the spell will be fine
if not it won’t work and the man will just die
so they traveled 73 minutes outside of town
this is where they heard the man could be found
there he was praying next to a pine he was surprised it was 7:49
surprised because his potion was almost ready 10 more minutes in time
he asked why you have you come and bothered me now
the sister said well we have brought you a stew to help keep your potion down
but I am not hungry said the man like a grump
10 more minutes and my potion will be done
the sisters insisted they knew of the spell
instead if the man did not eat the stew then things would not turn out well
they said 99 percent of the time if you don’t eat this stew
then the Ox tears will not blend right and they will just stay inside of you
he trusted their judgement after a little debate
they gave him the stew so he 8 and 8 and 8
after 34 minutes the potion and stew were gone
he drank the whole Flask in 6 swigs like a hog
10 minutes went by and the five sisters were scared
nothing had happened so they just pondered and stared
then 67 minutes went by nothing perculiar or weird
then in a flash the man had four eyes then another man appeared
the man split into two and finally had his twin
so the sisters were happy to send him home to his kin
where the man’s mother could have her family and be happy again.

order of cards in use:

5 of clubs
queen of spades
ace of diamonds
four of clubs
5 of diamonds
6 of diamonds
2 of diamonds
the uncolored little Joker
Jack of Clubs
2 of spades
6 of clubs
three of spades
9 of hearts
Jack of Diamonds
Jack of Hearts
King of Diamonds
8 of clubs
7 of hearts
3 of hearts
Queen of Hearts
10 of diamonds
jack of spades
two of hearts
ace of hearts
5 of spades
queen of clubs
King of Spades
2 of clubs
ace of spades
7 of spades
three of diamonds
big colored Joker
7 of clubs
four of hearts
9 of spades
10 of clubs
10 of spades
9 of clubs
nine of diamonds
8 of hearts
8 of diamonds
8 of spades
three of clubs
4 of spades
6 of spades
ace of clubs
10 of hearts
5 of hearts
6 of hearts
7 of diamonds
four of Diamonds
King of Hearts
king of clubs
queen of diamonds

I believe I have laid the groundwork here for a very fun entertaining fairy tale with a deck of cards. The cards fit with the patter our you can create your own moment in which the card should be presented. I hope that you find some enjoyment in just reading the patter or you may even attempt to perform this story you yourself.
Again thank you for entertaining the idea and have a great day! Be a wonderful magician and perform wonderful Magic, good day to you and goodnight!

Again – If you have any questions , comments or concerns please feel free to email me @ alexanderpiercemagic@gmail.com