Chabang: My guess is that this question is a continuation of a discussion Geoff Durham had in his time as a special guest where he pointed out that his beliefs meant that he simply could not "lie" to an audiance? Instead he developed a performance style that allowed audiances to trick themselves without him having to say anything that was actually untrue.

"...have a good look in this little envalope"
as opposed to
"...here is a completely ordinary envalope that is completely empty"

Peter: Chabang,

Ok, that's an interesting idea and one which I think I have heard Geoffrey talking about, although I confess I don't remember the whole argument.

As far as I am concerned I don't worry too much about the specific words when I'm talking to the audience from the point of view of 'lying'. Although it's interesting now I stop to think about it how much of what I say is descriptive rather than deceptive.

Is it any less of a lie if I allow the audience to assume something that is not true because of the way I describe it, even if I technically don't lie? If I don't say "this is an ordinary deck" but I do say "you have 52 choices" they assume they have 52 separate and different choices.

Hmm.. this is a topic which could go round and round and I think at the end it comes down to what you personally feel happy with. The key is that we are 'honest deceivers' we tell folk we are about to fool them and then we do.

Peter Mc

Mouser: My apologies at leaving any ambiguity in my question. I was interested in the direction that this thread has taken but my original intention was to enquire whether you had ever been requested to move your act in a direction that you felt was alien to your own personal beliefs. For example, I feel uncomfortable with the use of tarot cards and I would never move towards the realms of “spirits” in the explanations of my effects. Would you say that have been occasions when a director or producer has placed pressure on you to add a slant onto an effect with which you felt was inappropriate for your own personal beliefs?

Peter: Mouser,

Well now we are back on track the simple answer is 'no'. I have never been forced to do something which didn't sit happily with my beliefs. You will notice that in Monkey Magic I was the only one not to do the 'naked magic' strand. There are a number of reasons for this (not the least being that I am a big guy and shy) but when I talked to the producer and explained it was fine.

If I feel unhappy with an idea my first instinct is to discuss it, not bottle it up. Most folk are happy with a reasoned point of view and if not, well you would have to wonder why you were working with them.

All the best

Peter

Kaos: Hi Pete!
Whilst looking at your website I stumbled across this piece of info!

Spectaculars & Stunts - Created individually for your unique purpose they can serve to draw attention to an honoured guest, present a new product or just grab the attention of the media. Limited only by your imagination.

So I was just wondering what you think about David blain's latest stunt and whether You would ever do anything that crazy?
thanks

Peter: Kaos,

Do I look like the kind of guy who would stop eating for forty four days!! My take on Blaine is that I have a lot of respect for what he has achieved in magic. Without David's influence magic wouldn't be as popular as it is now, and I probably wouldn't have had the chance to make Monkey Magic.

He brought a new 'cool' to being a magician and gave it an 'edge'. So how does that relate to his stunts? Well I confess that these have got progressively weirder. No suprise really though as I guess he has to keep trying to top the last one and the natural ending is...? Well I guess he dies!

I'm not sure that they are magic any more in the traditional sense but I think they fit with his persona as a 'showman'. This last one however might have been a bit too much, although it is genuinely tougher than the rest it doesn't have the audience appeal that the rest did. The papers and the TV pundits are getting bored waiting for stuff to happen and then they turn against him.

It's all interesting stuff to discuss, but basically I don't think there is any danger of getting me in a box like that!

Peter Mc

Zoink: Firstly, thank you for being a guest on MagicBunny- i have had the good fortune to meet you on several occasions (irish conventions and when you were at the Ulster society), and you are a great performer!

My question is this- as a guy trying to break into doing professional work, i find the whole idea of naming prices daunting, and dragging myself round restaurants and so on looking for work!

How did you go about breaking into doing magic professionally, naming your price etc, and what tips would you have for a guy like myself trying to do the same?

Thanks

Peter: Hi Zoink!

You know you would think I would remember meeting someone called 'Zoink' but that's the wonder of the internet and user names!

I completely understand the dilemma you are in, the issue of money is one of the biggest pains in business. How much do you charge? If you charge less than others are you a 'bargain' or are you undercutting others and selling yourself short?

How come some guys charge hundreds and I can only get fifty's? These and many similar questions plague most of us at the beginning (and even later if we are honest).

First thing to know is that most folk exaggerate their earnings when chatting in the clubroom! When those pros sit round with a pint talking about how they never go out for less than a thousand and the booker has to arrange a helicopter to pick them up, welcome to the fantasy world of one upmanship. The truth is that anyone with bills to pay will always negotiate on price. Better to earn £250 than nothing.

On the flip side of course there is a point at which you start to say no because if you keep accepting £20 plus a MacDonalds voucher you will never be taken seriously by agents or clients.

My tips would be: Don't price yourself out of the market (don't be too low OR too high), Don't do endless freebies for restaurants etc unless you're getting lots of private gigs from the customers as a result, Concentrate on a market you enjoy and can offer something special to (don't try to be jack of all trades) and finally Get out there and perform to real people. There is no point in learning great shuffles and card flourishes if you perform to your knees. Eye contact and personality are far more valuable than card control skills.

There are loads of great books on this topic and plenty of folk willing to give you their two pennys worth but experience is a better teacher than all of them.

Peter Mc