Welcome my dear friends to another chapter of (cue dramatic music…)
Tales of a Road Warrior!
I was scared out of my mind! I was only 16 years old and had to travel to Japan for my very first international tour. I was the opening act for a salsa band called the Fania All Stars, a huge band of famous Latin musicians. My adventure to Japan was full of unexpected challenges, and I have learned so much over my years of traveling. Here are a few of the lessons I learned the hard way, that can help you avoid the mistakes I made.
The Magic Flying Carpet
My touring show is like a real magic flying carpet that takes me all over the world. One of the great pleasures of touring is meeting so many wonderful friends and fans. However, one of the down sides of traveling is that often there are dangers and pitfalls on the path. Following are some professional travel tips so you can enjoy your adventures in style and comfort!
Managing Energy
One of the challenges that face traveling entertainers is energy management. In my early days of touring, I would arrive worn out from the travel, and it would take days to recover. Managing energy is challenging, especially when there is a major time change. I suggest you travel with earplugs and a sleep mask. I have trained myself to fall asleep and get deep rest as soon as I put these on. I rest most of the flight, and arrive at my destination with energy to spare. Strange hotel rooms often keep people up at night. The sleep mask and earplugs will help you get deep rest even in noisy surroundings.
Arrive in Style
Always be prepared for magic! You never know when your friends and fans will show up in numbers to welcome you. In the video below I was surprised, but I was ready with a few magic effects to please the paparazzi. You will see in the following video that arriving at the Voodoo Casino in Riga, Latvia, was a joy. (I’ve learned a lot in my nearly 50 years of international touring.) The organizers did a fine job of helping me “arrive in style!” Thank you Dace and Enrico Pezzoli, the organizers of the Magic Mania competition!
Ambushed!
In my early years of traveling, just arriving in a new country was full of surprises. I learned early on that if you perform a bit of magic for the customs agents, it will help you pass through faster. But as soon as I passed customs and arrived in the lobby of the airport – boom,Surprise! Dozens of fans with video cameras rolling were there to “Welcome Jeff McBride” to their country. These days, everyone is shooting content for their social media, and you are the news they will be posting about. So remember, this is part of our job as performers. Always be prepared! Shakespeare said it best, “All the world’s a stage.”
Always Dress Like You are Going Somewhere Better Later
I learned this fashion tip from a NYC hipster back in the 80s. When you are out in public performing, look like a star both on stage and off. If a news reporter entered a crowded room, could they spot that you were the magician? It is always better to stand out in the crowd than to get lost in it. This doesn’t mean you must wear a tuxedo all the time. Just look the role of “the magician!”
Packing Tips
There are only two kinds of luggage:
Always take an emergency show with you in your carry on. Here is my “Emergency Show Case.” This is an eyeglass case filled with my Commando Show, my most essential props. I can perform a 60-minute show with what is in this case. Quiz time, can you name all the routines I can do with the props in this photo?
Travel in clothing you can perform in, or have that in your carry on as well. Make sure to take a book and a sweater. You will always have time to read, and you can stay warm and cozy!
Traveling to Las Vegas
Why come to Las Vegas to study? First of all, Las Vegas is the magic capital of the world! At any given time, it features shows by the world’s greatest magicians and is an entertainment mecca. Further, this is where over 3,000 magicians live, including top magic celebrities. Finally, travel to Las Vegas is inexpensive and easy. There are reasonably-priced flights from every major city many times a day. Hotel rooms and food are also notoriously inexpensive here.
Make It a Vacation
Bring the family. Between the shows, free attractions, and all of the shopping on The Strip, Las Vegas is a great vacation spot. We try to schedule our events so that the students have free time for playing with friends and family while they are here. Go see a great magic show, have a fine dinner, visit amazing new attractions. There is so much to do. Call Abigail to set up your private in-person or online zoom class at 702-450-0021.
Complete information to plan your Vegas vacation here: https://www.magicalwisdom.com/about/las-vegas
So, with a spin of my cape and a wave of my magic wand, I vanish into thin air. But, each and every Monday night you can find me in the classroom for our online zoom class – Mystery School Monday. Just go to www.mcbridemagic.tv and I will magically reappear!
See you soon!
Jeff
Dear Friends,
Our guest contributor this month is the dean of the McBride Magic & Mystery School, Dr. Larry Hass. Larry offers some thoughts, and a few challenges, that are particularly apropos for this time of year.
It is well known that autumn was Eugene Burger’s favorite time of the year. He loved the transition from warm to cold weather, the turning of the leaves, and the weeks of anticipation for Halloween—the time for his scary stories about spirits, witches, and a haunted bell.
Above all, Eugene loved the season because it carried his thoughts to what he saw as the heart of magic: “As the leaves change, life changes as well.” “Halloween has always been a celebration of transformation…” (Eugene Burger: From Beyond, pages 131, 171).
With our teacher in mind, these days I have been reflecting on times of transformation in my magic career. As you may know from my book Dying to Change, Eugene was there at the start of it, but he was also there at some of its most pivotal points. Here is a story about one of them.
Many years ago, Eugene and I were backstage after one of our two-person college shows. He came up and put his hand on my forearm—his favorite gesture for these moments—and said, “Larry, you were really good tonight…really good!” I beamed because Eugene didn’t give false praise. Then he gently added, “I think you have enough card tricks.”
Boom! Wow. Yes. In a flash I realized Eugene was correct. I had more than enough card magic, not merely in that show but in my repertoire. I needed more variety in the props I used so I could create different textures of experience, and a wider range of effects.
In retrospect, I understand how pivotal this moment was for the magician I would become. After Eugene spoke from his heart, my mind and eyes quickly opened up to other objects and the effects and themes I could explore with them. For example, my well-known “Philosopher’s Rope” routine grew out of this new perspective, along with several non-card openers and close-up effects that are in the core of my working repertoire.
Of course, I still love creating psychologically “deep” routines with playing cards. I love working on my key sleights to make sure they stay invisible. But after Eugene’s little gift of seven words, “I think you have enough card tricks,” the world of magic got much bigger for me, and I became a better magician.
The memory of this moment brings some questions to mind—for me, but perhaps also for you. First, how are we doing with card tricks these days? Do we have enough already!? Have I been backsliding? Perhaps, because after seeing the wide-ranging innovation at FISM in July, I came home and developed four non-card routines. Coincidence? I think not!
But also let me ask: what have been one or two pivotal moments of change in your work as a magician? Who or what brought about these transformations? Can you write or tell the story of them? These are excellent tales to share over dinner with family and friends, or perhaps around an October fire when the wind blows cold.
And there is one last question for this Halloween reflection. Is there some real change in my magic or in my life I need to make at this time of seasonal turning? If there is, how can I transform that thought into action?
At this moment, I feel Eugene’s hand on my forearm and hear him say, “Larry, by taking one single step.”
My best wishes to you during this season of change.
What is Doomscrolling?
Doomscrolling, or doomsurfing, is the act of spending an excessive amount of screen time devoted to the absorption of negative news. In some cases, increased consumption of predominantly negative news may result in harmful psychophysiological responses.
Recently I heard a saying that goes, “Your master is what gets your attention most.” When you doomscroll, your attention feeds the social media machines, but leaves you feeling empty, or agitated, or like you are missing out on something. Now is the time to reclaim your attention and focus on what really matters in life.
What is the Antidote to Doomscrolling?
Magic! We all need magic in our lives. Did you know that one of the world’s greatest magic resources is at your fingertips? But, perhaps you didn’t even know it. It is an antidote to doomscrolling! Just watch the video below:
Let Us Inspire You and Lift Your Spirits
Magic feeds your mind, body and soul with one of the greatest resources to nourish you and to bring you back to life. The McBride Magic and Mystery School’s online archive is filled with programs that are life enriching and will inspire you. Meet and interact live with a caring community, learn new magic concepts from experts, watch interviews with the world’s most inspiring magicians, and participate in mind expanding conversations in all areas of magic.
Hundreds of hours of magic content and training await you. So the next time you hop online, know that you have a choice; doomscrolling, or uplifting magical wisdom. I think it’s an easy choice!
Did You Know?
Mystery School Monday is the longest running online magic show in history. It has been going for twelve years every Monday night. Just go to www.mcbridemagic.tv to join in.
I would like to personally ask you for your support for our school. I’ll meet you online every week and we can share inspiration and magic.We are doing good work and we need good people like you to help us share the magic. Please support us and become a member of the most prestigious magic school in the world – https://shop.magicalwisdom.com/m/magic-mystery-school
The McBride Magic & Mystery School – an oasis of magical wisdom in a desert of doomscrolling!
Jeff McBride
Dear Friends,
Our guest contributor this month is Jay Fortune. A long-time friend and contributor to the McBride Magic & Mystery School, Jay resides in the seaside town of Blackpool, England in the UK, where he follows his passions as a magician, artist, producer, author, and illustrator. In this Museletter, Jay reminds us of a simple, yet empowering, truth.
Back in 2006, during a Master Class in Cornwall, England, I was performing a comedy Lie Detector routine for the group. At the end, we opened to questions and one student asked, ‘How do you be funny?’ Whilst there are many techniques in books on how to write and perform comedy material, it’s what’s implied behind the question that has always stuck with me. As magicians, why do we feel the need, or the desire, to be funny? Is it because the performers we like best make us laugh, so we think that by making our audiences laugh they will like us more?
When I was a working professional I always remembered the shows where the audience was enjoying it, but there was that one person who sat with their arms crossed, clearly not having as good a time as I thought they should be having. On the long drive home from those gigs, I would spend my time and energy thinking about that person, that tiny minority, and wondering what I could have done differently to make them enjoy the show more – to make them laugh more. Because in my mind, if I made them laugh, they’d like me.
I was a comedy performer until 2018, when I transitioned into being an artist and author. With the release of my debut novel All Fall Down hitting UK bookshops this summer (cheeky plug!), I have once again found myself returning to the question ‘What if they don’t like me or my art/writing?’ Here’s the thing I eventually learned as a performer – I stopped doing the mental tug-of-war between that 1% of my audience who didn’t seem to enjoy the show, and the majority who had. I simply dropped the rope. And now, with my art and writing, I’m relearning to do that once again. It’s OK for them to not like me!
If we think about other disciplines like art, writing, or music, we don’t automatically feel we need to laugh to enjoy the experience. Yet, with magic, more often than not, magicians try to be funny, because they think that funny equates to entertainment. Yet we know this isn’t always true. Let me tie these rather abstract thoughts together (if I can!).
If you want to make them laugh, do so, but go all in. Use your comedic writing and acting ability to create situations and lines that will really make them laugh. Think about what you find hilarious and then put that kind of humor into your magic. You won’t win them all over, but that’s OK. What you will do is build venues and audiences who seek you out. This is the difference between being a bland run-of-the-mill unmemorable magician and being a personality who people make time and effort, and pay money, to see.
As I write, Jerry Sadowitz has just been canceled from one of the major venues at the Edinburgh Festival. A minority of people were offended by his show. They obviously didn’t know who Jerry was or what he did. Jerry is offensive, but that’s what makes his fans seek him out and pay hard-earned money to enjoy as entertainment. One thing I guarantee this cancellation will do is sell out his UK tour next month quickly! Fans will fight to support those they enjoy.
Be more Marmite than Magnolia (Marmite is a food spread, and their entire marketing is about people loving or hating it). People either love or loathe Marmite, whereas almost everybody can live for a while in a magnolia-painted room! One is a memorable experience, the other is easily forgettable. I’d encourage you to be more “Marmite” in your performances.
As a past agent, we would manage acts that were “Marmite.” We had countless unmemorable “Magnolia” singers, magicians and comedians. They’d get occasional work, but at a lower fee. The “Marmite” performers would be requested, and that usually commanded a much higher fee. Please don’t misunderstand me; I’m not saying it’s OK to offend, or that you should try to do so!
I’ve recently released some ebooks with Lybrary.com which feature some of my pro routines. In these I repeat my Golden Rule; if in doubt, leave it out. As Eugene said, ‘Not all laughs are good laughs.’ But if you really crack-up at a particular line you’ve written or situation you’ve imagined, then try it out at the right venue for the right audience, and then stick to playing those venues! (An example–I recently released Gobsmacked!, a routine about mugging I performed in London, at the right venue for the right audience.)
Many performers take any work offered, even if it is not suitable for their show or style, just to keep working and paying the bills. Whilst I can sympathize with that position, I feel we’d have stronger, more memorable performers if we all played the venues we best fit. We’d then have less chance of them not liking us. To get the biggest laugh, you sometimes need to take the biggest risk, and this is much easier when we’re playing those “best fit” venues.
To wrap up, as performers and artists we put ourselves out there – and that’s scary! In a world where everyone is encouraged to constantly review everything, it makes everyone a critic. If you stay true to yourself, your strengths as a performer, play venues that suit you, and build an audience of fans who enjoy your work, then you can sleep well at night knowing you’re not suppressing your creativity and personality (or your magic).
And as for those who don’t enjoy your work…it’s OK for them to not like you!
– Jay Fortune