LESSONS LEARNED ON THE STREET
STREET MAGIC:
Street magic is one of the fastest growing new styles of magic, yet it is one of the oldest forms of magic as well! Today, there are many successful magicians that began their careers working the streets. The streets are a place where a beginner can go and get real world experience. When I first moved to New York City, I had the pleasure of studying with the man who literally wrote the book on Street Magic. Jeff Sheridan and I met in the mid-1970s in New York City. Over the years, I have met many of the top “classical” street performers from all over the world, including Jim Cellini, Chris Capeheart, and Gazzo, and I have learned something from every one of them. There is also a new breed of internet street magicians, like Cyril, Marco Tempest, and David Blaine, and they have lessons to teach us as well…. The world is changing.
OLD SCHOOL
The old school street performers are very low-tech and high-touch. Their effects must be able to be performed in the round. They have to play for small audiences as well as large audiences.
NEW SCHOOL
The new school techno-mage designs effects that are often specifically created to play for “the home viewer.” Many of these effects are shocking, get spread as viral videos, and reach a global viewership. Years ago, a young magician might upgrade their stage show by adding an illusion, such as a zigzag or sub trunk. Today’s new magicians are getting a high-def video camera as the upgrade to their shows. The amazing thing is that some kid living in the boondocks can make a clever magic video at home, and be seen by thousands, perhaps millions of people. Twenty years ago, this was unheard of. Street magic, and the internet, are changing the way we experience magic.
MYSTERY SCHOOL
I have been very blessed in my life to have traveled the world with my show. Street performing has taught me many important lessons:
Many of the lessons that I learned in the school of hard knocks are ones that I still use today, whether I am designing a corporate show, a theater show, a casino show, or even when we design a show to play a luxury ocean liner.
I’ve learned many tricks of the trade and secrets that make a great street magic show. These lessons can help you. I will be sharing these secrets with many of our friends at the Magic School, October 9, 10 and 11th.
http://www.magicalwisdom.com/events/view/395
MAGIC AND MEANING
“Magic is the art of reaching into a deeper reality and bringing gifts from it into the ordinary world”
—Robert Moss
The Magic and Meaning Conference is a distinctive, annual small-group conference that focuses on creating meaningful magic routines, effective scripts, and new venues for performance. If you love magic, storytelling, motivational speaking, the philosophy of magic — or want to learn more about it — this is the place to be!
The 2009 conference will feature Keynote Addresses by Jeff McBride, Eugene Burger, Robert E. Neale, and Lawrence Hass. The conference also features a select number of Short Talks by conference attendees on subjects relating to the themes of the conference. Also, the conference will offer interactive small group sessions as well as “works in progress” shows where we create a safe and fun space to try new ideas and get valuable feedback on your magic.
http://www.magicalwisdom.com/events/view/392
CHINA MAGIC
Magic is exploding in China. Recently, a Taiwanese magician named Lu Chen appeared on the biggest Chinese New Year’s television show. He only did three close-up effects, but it made a huge impression on the Chinese viewers. Now, the entire country is crazy for magic. I experienced this recently, at the World Championships in Beijing, and I took a few videos, too! You can see them on my internet television channel here:
http://streetofcards.tv/channel/27/jeff-mcbride/
MCBRIDE MAGIC WORLD TOUR
Our entire company is off to Shenzhen, China, to a huge theme park called Happy Valley.
http://www.chinahighlights.com/shenzhen/attraction/happy-valley.htm
See you on the road, or here in Las Vegas!! (We’ll be back October 8, just in time for the Street Magic Class).
Jeff
NEWS FLASH: JEFF MCBRIDE ON NATIONAL TV
Extreme Magic on Travel Channel
Don’t miss the Travel Channel’s “Extreme” coverage of last spring’s World Magic Seminar, featuring Jeff and many of our close friends. The show is set to air September 23rd at 8pm EST (5pm PST…. Check your local listings for more specifics).
FROM TOBIAS:
I just want to say a quick ‘Thank you’ to all of you who wrote asking about the Show / Lecture / Workshop “McBride Experience!” We’re continuing to book these whenever Jeff has a free day or two, and he’s having a great time doing them. We appreciate your help in getting the word out!
Best to all,
Tobias Beckwith
Greetings All…
“I cannot give you the formula for success, but I can give you the formula for failure, which is – try to please everybody.”
Herbert Swope
Teller said to me, many years ago, “Jeff, it doesn’t matter if the audience likes you during your show, as long as they’re standing up and cheering at the end.” A few years later, at Mystery School, Max Maven was on a panel discussion, and the topic of “likeability” came up. Max said that there is a frequently heard statement in show business, which is that “you have to make them like you.” Max disagrees with this somewhat, and thinks really what you have to do is to make them want to spend time with you. Granted, he says, making them like you will accomplish this, but there are other ways to accomplish the same goal.
One of the most valuable things we have in life is our time…. and how we spend it. Ask yourself a few questions:
Eighteen years ago, I asked myself these questions. Here are the steps I took. When I made a list of the most influential magical thinkers, the names Eugene Burger and Max Maven were at the top of the list. I wanted to study with these men. The next step was to create a place where we could meet. We called this place Mystery School. For a few days, we shared our stories, our intentions, and yes, great magic, too.
Spending time with inspiring teachers is one of the great pleasures in my life. It is a pleasure to be able to open our Mystery School to you. When the student is ready, the teacher appears. I want to thank the many teachers and faculty at the Magic & Mystery School for all the gifts that they have given to me and to our students.
I hope to see many of you this Fall at our Magic & Meaning conference. It would be my great pleasure to spend my time with you! If you’d like to see what we’re up to, go here:Â http://www.magicalwisdom.com/events/view/392
Onstage photo by Louis-Olivier Ostrowsky
Yours in greater magic,
Jeff McBride
FROM TOBIAS
Hi, folks! Jeff is just back from Italy, from whence I’ve been hearing lots of excitement over his show, lecture and workshop. Which reminds me — if your group, or a group you know, is interested in having Jeff come lecture, perform and conduct a workshop in your area — let me know! We’ve gone out of our way to take away as much of the financial risk as possible of having Jeff come out for these events — and we want to do as many as we can. The two day Show/Lecture and workshop is really a one-man mini-convention, brought to your location with very little financial outlay, and a chance to show a good profit for your club as well.
While Jeff has been traveling, I’ve been moving my home and office to El Sobrante, CA — just across the bay from San Francisco and Marin County. We’re on a sunny hillside and in a much larger house than before — and excited about all the new possibilities of being close to not only Silicon Valley, but Berkeley and San Francsico. It’s an exciting area, filled with vibrant, exciting – and especially magical people! My new phone number is (415) 889-9491. Of course, the Vegas number still works as well (forwarding to the new cell phone number). If you’re a magician in the East Bay area, I’d love to hear from you by e-mail to tobias@yourmagic.com.
Can you believe it’s September already? The summer flew by almost before I noticed! With the fall comes Magic & Meaning in late October, and I just wanted to let you know that if you wanted to come, but haven’t registered yet, we do still have a few slots available, and, when we last checked, the Marriott still had rooms available at reduced rates. October is a great time to visit Las Vegas — and right now, Vegas is particularly affordable. Sign up now at MagicalWisdom.com. If you’re not quite convinced you want to do it…go to the web site anyway and read all about it, including what your friends and acquaintances who HAVE attended have to say. Watch some of the PEP talks…and at least you’ll get to feel like you’ve participated in one of the magic world’s top events!
I hope this finds you gearing up for a happy and prosperous fall season. We look forward to being in touch again soon!
Sincerely,
Tobias Beckwith
tobias@yourmagic.com
“The idea that excellence at performing a complex task requires a critical minimum level of practice surfaces again and again in studies of expertise. In fact, researchers have settled on what they believe is the magic number for true expertise: ten thousand hours.”
–Malcolm Gladwell
Greetings Magical Friends,
Abbi here, holding down the home front while Jeff is away in China, touring with the All-Stars. I frequently travel with Jeff when he goes on the road, but sometimes, I stay home. It’s been fairly quiet here in the House of Mystery with the magic man being away. Granted there are daily calls from prospective students, and plenty of office work to tend to, accounting to keep track of, ads to proof and approve from our graphic designer and website improvements to work on… but I also have time for myself, which is pretty magical in and of itself.
I’m planning to break in some new material for the upcoming Master Class in August. When I’m not polishing my new Sympathetic Silks routine, or rehearsing my version of the Zig Zag, I spend time practicing my instruments. Many of you know that I have a passion for making music, and some of you know that I sing, and play hand drums, the African harp, and the piano. If you’d like, you can check out some of my music here:
http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/asmcbride
I’ve been playing some kind of instrument since I was four. I fondly remember my first piano teacher, Mr. Charles Rose. He was the one who taught me how to practice. He told me that I had to spend at least half an hour a day, every day, at the piano, and that some of that time should be on new material, and some should be spent drilling my scales and other exercises.
As a child, I would get so frustrated, so angry that I would pound my little fists on the piano keys, infuriated that my fingers couldn’t produce the sounds that my mind could imagine. I didn’t want to drill and play scales, I wanted to play, like a virtuoso, and I wanted it right at that moment. Malcolm Gladwell, in his recent book, Outliers: The Story of Success, reminded me that it takes 10,000 hours of practice to achieve mastery. Hmm. That’s a lot of half hour sessions.
I asked Mr. Rose, “How long do I have to practice for… not how many minutes, but until I’m how old do I have to practice?” He said “You have to practice… until you want to practice.” His words stuck with me through the years, and sure enough, these days, I want to practice, a lot. In many meditative and contemplative schools of thought, your “practice” is the time you spend meditating or contemplating… your time to connect to your source of inspiration, comfort or divinity. As an artist, when I practice my music (or my magic), I am connecting; I am in a state of focused concentration, and, additionally, I am improving as an artist, taking one more step along the path to mastery.
So, perhaps, as you practice, whether it’s music, magic or something else entirely, you can bring some of this mindful awareness to your path, and like Eugene says, make it regular and make it conscious.
May this day be filled with magical surprises for you all!
Your friend,
Abbi McBride