Gary Scott:

Hi again Mark,

What is your take on magicians being 'egotistical'?
A great man once said, " With great power comes great responsibility!"

As magicians, we proclaim to have powers, which are fake.
What advice would you give to young magi on not developing an ego and using their status and proclaims of magic, responsibly?

Magic is full of egos, just look at the way some people behave at magic clubs! Some people seem to come into magic in order to boost their ego, others perhaps start to believe their own publicity. It all comes down to personal characteristics. If you have a tendency to think a lot of yourself, becoming a successful magician will serve to feed those feelings of superiority. If on the other hand, your natural way is to be a bit more self-effacing, then you will probably find ways to come across as being more 'normal'. It takes all sorts in the world - I guess it wouldn't be any fun if we were all the same!

Genuine powers....hmmm. Even Derren Brown, who is currenly so popular that he could probably quite easily get away with claiming all sorts of special gifts, sensibly (in my opinion) chooses not to do so but rather to play down his talents and give them some sort of more rational meaning and explanation. It's amazing to me that sometimes, even today, I still occasionally get people who ask me whether what I do is real magic or whether it's just sleight of hand! You would have thought that in these days of wall-to-wall information nobody would still be believing in real magic, but there you are! I just see myself as an entertainer who is there to use magic as a medium for some fun and relaxation - and that's basically it. I'm not there to save the world or make some heavy point or claim supernatural powers, nice though it might be occasionally to have some in order to change the world to our own liking.

BrucUK:

One of the things that I'm beginning to experience even with friends and family are the "grabbers" in the audience.
As close-up magic is, by necessity, close what techniques do you utilise to reduce the possibility of this happening?
Also, your magic seems to have a good blend of gimmick vs. sleight, so do the techniques you use differ depending on the type or phase of a trick?
I'd appreciate a little more understanding of how the professionals do it.

Yes, you're right, I do tend to use a combination of sleights and gimmicks but with probably more emphasis on natural props and routining than on special gizzmos. If you work close to people and you place something down, there is always the chance that they will pick it up. So if you have a gimmicked prop which you need to put down for a minute, you need to make sure that you audience-manage the situation so that people are not encouraged to handle things that they shouldn't. I use a very small piece of close up mat on occasions where I may wish to place something down, and this helps a little. It's a bit like it's my performing space or area and people tend to grab things off it less than they do if I simply use the table everyone else is using.

Actually, I don't use very many props and so the necessity to put anything down doesn't crop up very often. Keep your props either in your own hands or pockets as much as possible and just don't give the spectators the opportunity to mess things up for you. Certainly if you do put something dicey down, make sure you keep it in view of yourself at all times, so that if a spectator goes to reach for it you can casually prevent them by picking up the object yourself first.

Sleights need to be carefully thought about in commercial performance. Angles are critical, not only with respect to the audience who you are currently with, but also with regard to other groups or tables who are watching you as well from a distance. Being aware of your wider environment will enable you to use your body to shield bad angles form other tables and thus keep your methodology and reputation in tact for when you finally approach those other groups. The key is choosing the right material for the right setting - not all tricks are suitable for all occasions so it's probably not good enough just to always do the same favourite effects even if the conditions make it impractical to do so.

Nigel Shelton:

I would like to publicly thank Mark for the time in composing such eloquent and comprehensive answers to the questions of this forum. Thank you very much for taking the time to read through these questions and to pass on your thoughts.

Rich:

I extend my thanks for Mark for this session. I've only read two or three replies so far but they're among the most comprehensive that I've seen in this forum. Thank you again, Mark.

Doc:

Thanks Mark for your thoughtful and informative replies.

Gary Scott:

Great stuff Mark!

BrucUK:

Thanks again to Mark for answering the questions in such a detailed and insightful way.

Gold_Fish:

Thank you so much for your time here. It's been fascinating reading and I look forward to hearing more from you.

M_B:

Thank you for your time, Mark.

Tubz:

Thanks Mark. I'll make a return to ImagE next time I think.