This presentation Copyright 2009 Bruce Chadwick, All Rights Reserved

1. This presentation Copyright 2009 Bruce Chadwick, All Rights Reserved

3. MAGIC and Showmanship

4. What is Showmanship?

5. What is Showmanship? “the ability to put romance, mystery, the element of suspense, interest, emotional feeling, and effectiveness into your performance.” Harlan Tarbell

6. What is Showmanship? “Showmanship brings out the meaning of a performance and gives it an importance that it might otherwise lack.” Henning Nelms

7. What is Showmanship? “applying skill and taste and creativity. It is a form of expression that variously combines nobility, beauty, depth, and grace.” Tristan

8. Showmanship is a designation to describe all the theatrical elements that go into the performance of magic.

9. Showmanship is a designation to describe all the theatrical elements that go into the performance of magic. Showmanship encompasses all areas of presentation including how the performer moves, speaks, his choice of words, his timing, and his skill.

10. Showmanship is a designation to describe all the theatrical elements that go into the performance of magic. Showmanship encompasses all areas of presentation including how the performer moves, speaks, his choice of words, his timing, and his skill. Showmanship can include the magician’s appearance, his attire or costume, look of his props, his personality, demeanor, magnetism, characterization and style.

11. Showmanship is a designation to describe all the theatrical elements that go into the performance of magic. Showmanship encompasses all areas of presentation including how the performer moves, speaks, his choice of words, his timing, and his skill. Showmanship can include the magician’s appearance, his attire or costume, look of his props, his personality, demeanor, magnetism, characterization and style. Showmanship includes focus of attention, the way a performer controls his audience and establishes rapport, how he puts together his routines, chooses his effects, and maintains flow and continuity.

12. WHEW!

13. IN OTHER WORDS

14. Showmanshipturns magictricks into the artof illusion.

15. Whendoes MAGIC become art?

16. Any performance of magic is art.

17. But this doesn’t mean thatevery performance ofmagic is GOOD art!

18. Maskelyne and Devant in their monumental book OUR MAGIC state that there are threekinds of art. FALSE ART NORMAL ART HIGH ART

20. The field of endeavor most closely related to the performance of magic is theatre and drama. Most of the staging techniques, principles, and philosophies that playwrights, theatrical directors, and actors use apply to the performance of magic.

21. The tools of the theatre are available to themagician in the same way they are availableto the actor. The only difference is that actorstake them for granted, whereas few conjurers are even aware they exist. – Henning Nelms

23. Tarbell says, “The more power you have to build these elements into your work, the greater will be your rewards. Take your example from the playwright. He puts into his plays the same principle of showmanship which you must use. He creates interest in his audience, arouses their emotions, and builds up from lesser effect to greater until he reaches a climax.”

24. “And you must work in the same way. The Showman makes a masterpiece of a commonplace trick. He clothes it properly, he studies his presentation, he stirs up his audience with interest and suspense, he puts reality into the part he is playing, he works the whole thing up to a climax.”

26. BASICTHEATRICALTECHNIQUESYOU CAN USE TOIMPROVESHOWMANSHIP

27. Center Line

32. Awkward

33. Better

34. Best

37. POSTURE

38. Slouch Excessive Good

42. STOOPING AND KNEELING Kneel on theDownstage Knee

43. STANCE

44. Five Positions of Ballet

45. Second Position

46. GoodNaturalStance

47. Don’tArgueWithHim.HisStanceisFine.

49. Either Stance is Acceptable

50. MOVEMENT