Last year was a challenging one for many but the magic still prevailed. Throughout this time I was serving my Magic Circle apprenticeship, so this blog was put on hiatus. I was fortunate to be part of a superb Facebook group that was set up to assist apprentices towards passing their entry exam into The Magic Circle. Whilst in the group I took the opportunity to reach out to practicing magicians, creators and entertainers to share their wisdom. The response was phenomenal. As you can see from the picture montage above of those that were willing to share their time with the Magic Circle Apprentice Network in a Q&A. Again, I wish to express my heartfelt thanks towards the group and all of the amazing guests. I’m excited to see the guests we have lined up this year.
During my apprenticeship I spent time in honing an act for my exam and one that I could continue to use after. I love a creative challenge and set upon my goal in creating a short routine that I could perform over Zoom. At the time the pandemic prevented in person exams at The Devant room at TMC HQ, so Zoom was the alternative.
Whilst consulting Pete McCabes Scripting Magic for inspiration, I was looking towards a coin effect, cards and that ‘something else’. The most frequent piece of advice that many magicians would give upon preparing for the circle exam was to do what you have performed many times. The Mr Quinn act mostly consisted of stage mentalism and I realised that most of these effects would be a challenge over zoom with lack of audience participation. Originally my stage act consisted of a book test, PK routine and an ESP card effect amongst others. Back in my former days of close up I used to perform Pat Page’s coins through table. So that was my initial choice of coin effect. Followed by the classic ‘Out Of This World’, using Rob Zabrecky’s ‘Another World’ Houdini card routine.
My good friend Avi Yap also released his amazing coin matrix routine alongside a set of Morgan coins that I would use as part of my act. I had also been practicing Guy Hollingworths ‘Reformation’, a superb signed card restoration. The act was gradually coming together, with the addition of another coin effect, ‘The Moon’, released by TCC. I was also accompanying each effect to music, whilst also drafting a script using the online script writing tool Celtx.
I had booked in my exam and was ready to go, or so I thought. I had shared my routine with some members of the group and it was clear my routine was no way near ready. With their honest, constructive feedback I decided to postpone my initial exam date and go back to the drawing board. Although a minor set back, this took the pressure off myself and enabled me to refocus my efforts.
At the time I was also reading Eugene Burgers, ‘From Beyond’ and always admired his gypsy thread routine. I then set out to research all the various methods and routines on this classic. Special thanks to Peter Samelson for sharing his time and advice with his beautiful rendition of the gypsy thread, ‘Heart Strings’. I also looked towards the performance of a legend in magic Ali Bongo that would also help out towards the script and choreography.
In between inviting guests for the Q&A’s I was also sharing my ideas in my magic club. During lock down the club had a Facebook group where we could jump on and perform our act on Facebook live. Running through your act with magicians proved really beneficial, whilst also seeking any opportunity to perform for lay people. I would record every zoom show and in person performance where possible. By doing this I discovered that an effect I did impromptu in my magic club got a great reaction and was encouraged to add to my act.
I then approached Marc Oberon for advice and we started workshopping my routine. Marcs expertise is paramount and I highly recommend anyone looking to hone their act to look towards his knowledge and experience, it’s worth the investment. Having now got my act to around eight minutes I booked in for my exam over zoom. A deadline to work to is invaluable, motivating you to focus on practice for the day. I had got into the habit of running through my whole routine from beginning to end, yet it was Marcs advice on micro practice that proved to be a game changer. Dedicating practice time whereby I was solely practicing on a specific moves, e.g. this might be a sleight of hand or even picking up and ditching.
I booked myself for a magic workshop with Marc Oberon that was to be held on Lee Hathaways Canal boat. Marc kindly offered me the opportunity to perform my act in between his lecture and I jumped at the chance. Craig Petty was in attendance and gave some invaluable advice on part of another effect I was working on that became my opener. The week before my exam I also had the chance to run through my act between Marc Oberons lecture at my magic club.
Shortly after performing my exam routine over zoom, I set out another goal; enter a magic competition. I had entered a few previously with my magic club, but when I heard of the new London Magic Convention were having their own close up competition I took the chance. Just a week before I was awarded my memberships and was fortunate to be in the line up for the close up competition. Despite nerves and some errors on the day I really enjoyed the process of preparing for the competition. The first London Magic Convention was a roaring success!
Entering the London Magic Convention close up competition was a great highlight of the year, but most importantly it’s been making friends within the magic community. I’ve already signed up for this years close up competition and looking towards creating more more magic opportunities and friendships throughout this new year.
