Magic and Showmanship by Nelms Henning;

Author:Nelms, Henning;
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 1894630
Publisher: Dover Publications
Published: 2012-10-12T16:00:00+00:00

KEEPING THE AUDIENCE IN CHARACTER

As the audience has its own role to play, you should do everything in your power to keep it in character. This applies to the audience as a whole as well as to individual volunteers. Treat everyone precisely as you would if the theme were genuine. For example, in Lie Detector, you tell the exact truth when you say that experts begin by detecting a chosen card. If a spectator doubted this, you would try to convince him even though you did not intend to give a demonstration yourself. You should adopt the same attitude toward your claim in Chromavoyance in spite of the fact that it is completely false. You have always taken it for granted that everyone could recognize hues by touch. You never happened to mention it to anyone before because the sense is too weak to be much use. You believe Your friends have the same ability, and You are quite sincere in your assertion that You can prove it by letting them make the test. You do not offer to demonstrate Your own power until You are challenged. You know that you can feel color; You do not need to convince Yourself. If you handle this properly at least half of your victims will expect to feel color and will be disappointed when they fail.

Apply the same treatment even to fantasy. Decide how the audience would act if the theme were real, then seem hurt or indignant when they refuse to respond properly. Thus, if The Obeah Man in The Haunted Conjurer really did turn the dice into guinea pigs, The Conjurer would be annoyed when the spectators laugh at his discomfiture. He might protest openly, or he might try (unsuccessfully) to hide his attitude. He might even pretend to take credit for the magic. Nevertheless, it would be only a pretense, and you should contrive to let the audience know that. In an act of this sort, the audience laughs at your role, not with it. The best way to get laughs is to stay completely in character. The act may be fantasy, but you should always treat your own part with complete realism.

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