September 2020

Brian T. Lees Newsletter

Microphones
Magicians working large crowds usually have some type of voice amplification. The most
common is a flesh colored wireless boom that fits the ears with a small boom circling your
cheek to the microphone near your mouth. These usually have a transmitter that is worn on
the belt or somewhere close. The transmitter has an on/off switch.

I also use a simple wireless stick microphone. I stumbled onto this idea when someone had
to repeat their name a few times as I introduced them. I have hearing aids and the noise
from the audience was not helping. So, I picked up a wireless stick microphone. When I
bring up a volunteer I pick up the microphone, turn it on, hold it to my volunteer and tell
them to introduce themselves.

Two things take place. First they do not have to repeat their name. Second, and probably
more important is that their name is pronounced correctly. This is no problem with a name
such as Mike, Jane or Tod. But what if their name as a bunch of letters in it? My Latina
neighbors children have very long names. I would not want to make them repeat it for me or
mispronounce it on stage.

The stick microphone is not turned on. I turn it on when I pick it up and use it. I turn it off
when I set it back on the stand. The few times I have worked with an assistant she walked to
the stand, picked up the microphone and used it. She turned it off as she walked off-stage. A
minimal investment that adds a lot to my show.

I never appreciated it when someone mispronounces my name. I do not like to correct them.
And, in my opinion, making sure the audience knows their name and the correct pronuncia-
tion is just a higher form of professionalism. What do you think?
Market to Market
3 or 4 Business Cards

A simple marketing trick involves your business card. We all use cards. We pass them out as
we meet people and include them with our proposals. The normal approach is to hand out
just one card. However, there are advantages of passing out a few more.

When you hand out a card, consider passing along a couple extra. I use a simple phrase such
as “share these with others you know who like magic”. The goal is for my contact to hang on-
to one card and pass the others out. It is a way of duplicating my business card efforts.

I also should point out that when one of my contacts passes along my card it carries some im-
pact. Often the individual receiving the card views the card as a recommendation from their
friend. They never come out and make a verbal endorsement. However, when they pass
along the card it does carry a little more referral weight.

Marketing and customer service go hand in hand. When I finish a performance, I always send
a “thank you” letter. I write the letter from an outline draft. It is personalized and I like to in-
clude a couple business cards. I ask them to pass my card along to others. Again, what I am
doing is duplicating my business card contact distribution.

One of my previous customers wrote a friendly note on the back when they passed the card
out. Most ask about my magic when the card is offered. I take good care of my customers
and they take good care of me. They take the time to talk about my performance and often,
after the card is passed, turn the contact into a strong referral.

Two of my sponsors keep a small supply on hand. When they need more they call and ask me
to drop more cards off when I am in the area. Again, performance contracts are a very soft
sell when I am called by someone who received my card from a friend or sponsor. They view
the card as a recommendation.

When they call the conversation focuses on type of performance, how many shows, any walk-
around between them and my price. The recommendation takes care of the “is my magic any
good” question. All we need to talk about it the activity and price.

I still have some YouTube demos I can offer links to. But in most instances when my card is
passed out by a third party, the magic is covered. We just find a way to come together on a
price and set of services that we are both happy with.
 Pandemic Plus
The pandemic problems are not all bad. For many magicians the pandemic was the impact
needed to force some serious changes. Once this is all finished and everything gets back to
normal, a lot of magicians performance will have improved. The pandemic forced distance
between the magician and audience. Close-up magic almost became non-existent. It stopped
magicians from bringing up volunteers. It has a huge impact on verbal presentation. It taught
us:

1. Magic can be performed using body language, gestures, and facial expression to
deliver and enhance our patter.

2. It enforced our use of timing. We allowed more time for the audience to absorb
what we do. We learned to give them more time to enjoy the moments.

3. It allowed us to present tricks using our voice and gestures as if the volunteer
was a silent third party in the routine.

4. It forced us to delivery without relying on music or vocal sounds to carry us

through.

5. We picked up on audience connection by paying more attention to their response

emotions and laughter.

Many of us get into a cycle where we continue to perform the same tricks over and over. We
enjoy working with our audience. But over time we tend to overlook some minor things that
help make our performance unique. Magicians first getting started key in on everything possi-
ble to entertain. Over time we tend to relax and often overlook some of those elements.

The pandemic forced us to take a hard look at our magic. We were pushed into environments
to entertain that we had not planned for. Three years ago, I would have laughed at anyone
who told me “one day you will only perform in front of windows”. Yet, the pandemic has
pushed me into that posture.

The pandemic has had harsh financial impact on all of us. One thing a dear friend told me
was to try to take every speed bump in life and search for something positive. You may have
to look hard. But the pandemic has a positive side. It did force us to reconsider our delivery
and performances. We all hope we never have to go through this again. But at the same time
we can enjoy what we have been forced to learn.
Blink of the Eye
As magicians, we use our hands a lot. And as we go through our every day routines we often
do not give our hands a second thought. I am in an area that got hit with 85 and 90 mile an
hour winds during a storm. As you might suspect many trees and limbs came down. And I
have many things to be thankful for. But two stand out as the most recent and most valuable
to me.

We just paid to have the house painted. We have listed it and plan to
move onto another page in our life. There was a large Burch tree in
front of the Kitchen window. That tree came down. It nicked the
gutter and missed the house by four inches. That is one of the most
recent things I am thankful for.

As I was clearing the tree I was forced to work in very close quarters.
Long story short the tree trunk wedged against itself binding my saw.
The saw kicked back and caught my left hand. You can see the cut
was such it could not be pushed closed to stitch.

My second thing I am thankful for is the saw came in at an angle. No bones or nerves were
hit. Just an open cut that will take a lot of time to heal. The entire thing happened in the
blink of the eye. I was cutting and then the next thing I knew I was wrapping the cut with
pressure to stop the bleeding.

I am ok. No infection no damage beyond surface cut. But the point I need to make is that we
all need to be aware of our hands. Our hands are a vital element in our magic. Without them
we cannot perform. And, thinking about it there have been many times I have just reached in
and worked without thinking.

Now that I have been hurt, many things come to mind. Cooking over hot stove, changing a
tire, using tools for repair and others pose a risk. We all need to be aware. Safety glasses,
work gloves and other things are out there for us to help protect ourselves. The last time you
used a table saw did you use the guide to push the wood through? Or did you just put your
hand on the edge and push it?

A lot of our equipment have safety buttons, switches and slides. Do you use them? Or did
you dismantle them because they were a hassle to work with? Problems can happen without
warning and at blink of an eye. If this article prompts you to be a little more conscientious as
you work with tools and other things, it was worth the time to write it. I was very lucky. It
could have been much worse. Do not take chances with your hands. You need them.
 VCR Tapes
Magic video first came out on video tape. You might remember those large VCR tapes and
containers. Just like other magicians, I picked up more than my share. They are loaded with
performance ideas, teachings and other valuable information. But today, very few people
have VCR players. Everything has moved to DVD.

One day as I was looking through my VCR collection, and setting up my player, I decided I
wanted to find a way to convert my tapes to DVD. I do not believe there are license violations
as I already own the tapes. I was just looking for a way to push them onto DVD. I began with
a software search.

I found “Roxio” software. It was rather expensive but did a lot more. I could duplicate audio
and visual materials, capture things off my computer screen and others. It had a benefit
where I could blend video with my own screen title and chapters. I began using it to transfer
my VCR tapes.

Roxio works in real time when transferring VCR tapes. I plugged the VCR into an adapter that
came with the software. The adapter enabled feeding through the USB port. The first step
was to play the entire movie allowing Roxio to capture it and save it on the computer. Once
that was done I had to insert a DVD-R (the R stands for recordable) into the computer. I se-
lected the movie and destination source. Then Roxio recorded the movie onto the DVD.

This worked very well. For those VCR tapes that only had two or three things I wanted I was
able to capture only those segments and not be forced to record the rest of the junk on the
VCR. The only problem was everything worked in real time. If it was an hour long VCR that
translated into an hour for Roxio to capture and another hour to transfer to DVD.

There were other software out there, but they all had to work in real time. Next I researched
a few devices that would transfer the tape to DVD, but they also seemed very expensive. I
looked in my area and found a local business that specializes in transferring just about any-
thing you need to.

They charged me $4 per tape and that included the DVD and a care for it. I took fifteen VCRs
over to them and picked them up the next day. I did not stop with that $60 investment.
When I got home I used an external DVD player to duplicate the disk to another on my com-
puter DVD player. Now I have a master that I keep. I use the duplicate when I wish to view.
On one occasions the duplicate had a couple bad spots so I made another form my master
disk. Transfer those VCR tapes, do not just toss them because the technology is outdated.
Recycle Old Magic
Most magicians have a drawer, box or area where they keep old magic. This is magic they do
not do any more and just have no idea what to do with. It is too old for many of the magi-
cians you know. They would never use it. You may have thought about a magic garage sale
but in today’s world the magic is so old it does not hold much value.

One thing you can do is recycle it. As we perform we run into children and others who show
an interest in magic. If you spend some time speaking with them you may learn that they
want to be able to do a couple tricks. That is one source you could donate some simple magic
to. Every magician gets started with simple older magic. New magicians could be a second
donation choice. Don’t forget grandparents, they like to do things for their grandchildren.

If you look around you can find others who you could donate some of that old magic to. If not
an individual then consider small groups. A local church youth group might show an interest.
Perhaps an individual who runs a day care would enjoy doing some magic for the kids. The
activity director at a senior center may want a trick or two to walk-around with.

At one time these were very good tricks. As magicians, we just outgrew them. That does not
mean that others would not use them. What they end up with might surprise you. I have a
friend that combined four older magic tricks with one gimmick and a new patter. All of a sud-
den those old four tricks and now fresh, exciting and part of his regular show.

I have taken an old prop, an old piece of magic and choreographed them into a routine that is
done with music. The routine has two surprises that fail and cause the audience to laugh. In
the end the finish is very strong. I am asked to do that routine during most of my performanc-
es.

There will be times when old magic is so worn, broken and just needs to be thrown away. But
many of those tricks can be donated to others who would appreciate them. Do not just think
of magicians. My Chiropractor has a few of my tricks. He uses them when he is working with
children. There is also a local Pastor who carries pocket magic as he makes visits to shut-ins.
His patter is religious based, but the end result is entertainment.

Take some magic to the local magic club meetings. Other magicians may have friends who
would use it. Do not be surprised if one of them picks up a trick to work with himself. Magic
is magic. A new patter, presentation and maybe some touch up on the props can turn it into a
fresh new trick.
 Magic goes Vaudeville
The pandemic has pushed all entertainment into a different arena. Close-up magic, working
with volunteers and entertaining in front of a “standing room only” house is long gone. Magi-
cians must find new ways to perform. The audience cannot be as close or packed as tight to-
gether.

Back in the days of vaudeville there were traveling shows. In the United States the term vau-
deville connotes entertainment popular from the mid-1890s until the early 1930s that consist-
ed of 10 to 15 individual unrelated acts, featuring magicians, acrobats, comedians, trained an-
imals, jugglers, singers, and dancers.

Many used easels that were set on one side of the stage. A series of signs were placed on the
easel with a blank sign on top. When it was time, someone would step to the easel and re-
move the blank cover sign. The sign displayed with the name and served as the announce-
ment for the next act.

When that act finished their sign was removed and the next act’s sign displayed. This elimi-
nated the need for an MC. The last sign probably read the end. That is when all acts came
out on stage for one last bow.

Today, magicians can revert to the days of vaudeville to produce their show. The audience can
be blocked social distance away from the stage. The audience members can be socially dis-
tanced apart. This is an ideal setting for a magic show.

You would want some music playing as your theme. When you begin, walk out on stage, and
perform your opening routine. When finished, take your bow, and go to the easel displaying
signs of the opening remarks. You could list some nostalgia facts of vaudeville. You can dis-
play some of the big entertainers that got their start on vaudeville.

Casually walk over to your easel on the side of the stage and display the sign announcing your
next trick/routine. If you have dialogue that you need to communicate, but cannot reach the
audience with your voice, you can sign it. Step over to the sign and display them.

As you work through your routine when you need to use dialogue you can change signs again.
As an example, let me use Professors Nightmare.
1. Walk over and display the sign that reads “three ropes, all the same length”. Show
them different sizes and scratch your head. Walk over to the easel and display the next
sign that reads: “this is the big one”. Hold up the short rope.
 2. After the audience initially reacts, change the signs. The next sign reads “this one is
bigger”, holding up he medium sized rope.

3. Change signs to the one reading “this one is biggest”. Hold up the longest rope.

4. Let the audience see you place the three ropes in your hand. Move over and display
the next sign that reads “I bring the bottom to the top”. Manipulate the trick moving all
three bottoms to the top.

5. Change the sign to one that reads “now I stretch them to be the same size”.
Manipulate the trick and take your bow.

When you are finished you can do something that does not need introduction or narration.
Then walk over to the easel once again and change the sign to read your next routine/trick.
When you complete your finale, change to the last sign that reads: “the end”. Let your theme
music play as you walk off-stage.

You can make an old time vaudeville looking sign to set outside the entrance, or center stage
as the audience is coming in. Using a title such as “Magic goes Vaudeville” also helps set the
tone. One can easily find information on vaudeville on the internet. At one point in our histo-
ry it played a valuable role in entertainment.

Vaudeville shows played on local stages, when available. If there was no stage in the small
town they made a performance area with backdrops setting the environment. Audience
members usually say on small chairs. You can host a show with a simple announcement for
audience members to bring their own lawn chairs, if seating is not available.

Following this approach one can set up in front of a building’s blank wall. Pavilions in the local
park work well. Of course any venue that has a stage works. But one can make their own if
you have materials to use as a backdrop. Many magicians carry their own. Mine was pipe
and drape. I could set up in a 10’ area or expand it to 25’.

Easels are easy to find or build yourself. They fold flat and do not take up much room. I sug-
gest using poster board or something stronger. You do not want to make signs for every show.
If your magic is already on signs all you need to do is set up the signs for the magic you wish
to perform.
Clean you Cannot See
A lot of things go into your overall appearance. If you do not think that people pay attention
to details consider a magician wearing a tuxedo. He just finished a show and is meeting peo-
ple in the lobby. You walk up to him and notice he is wearing a black tuxedo with lime green
tennis shoes. If that did not catch your attention, nothing will.

People can form many opinions based on that example. Opinions are fine. The ones that hurt
you are the ones that are bad. Some people may think that is tacky. Others may just overlook
it. Still, it may turn a lot of potential customers off. But this is only a visual. There are other
elements we must consider.

Your attire should not look like you just unrolled it from a duffle bag. It should not be badly
wrinkled. It should be clean. The last thing you should wear is a dress shirt that is stained.
The attire should also smell fresh. If you hung it in the barn overnight in humid weather, it
will smell like the animals. People notice that immediately.

Showers and soap prevent body odor. But there are vapors that you may not be aware of. It
is easy to tell if someone smokes. The smell is in their hair, on their breath, and in their
cloths. People who smoke are used to the smell and have no idea they stink. People who do
not smoke are able to spot a smoker from halfway across the room.

It makes no difference if you step outside to smoke. The visual smoke may be gone but the
aroma that lingers remains. With the pandemic it is a lot worse. Smokers who put masks on
after they smoke coat their face. The mask acts as a baffle and holds the smell close to their
face. The end result is that one can take the mask off and create a small wave of smell to any-
one close by.

This can go the opposite way as well. Many try to cover the smell with cologne. The problem
is that they drench themselves. Those are the people who walk by and others look around at
who just flooded the room with the aroma. We know how men refer to ladies who wear
heavy perfume. I can only imagine that opinion others have of a man who does the same
thing.

Just because you shower, shave and put on your costume, that does not mean there is a clean
that others will notice missing. Be aware of everything that may affect your profile. Carry
breath mints if you have to. I usually carry an extra shirt in the event I soak mine during the
performance. When I meet the audience I want to look and smell as clean and fresh as I can.
 Brian T. Lees
Author, Publisher

Abraca-Poof is published monthly and is available as a PDF download. Articles are written by
Brian T. Lees. The primary purpose of this newsletter is to provide helpful supportive infor-
mation. If it prompts new ideas, and helps raise the level of your performance it was worth
the time taken to draft, write, and publish.

Brian has a series of books available on the skills associated with performing in front of an au-
dience. His business, Back Stage Magic, focuses on meeting the magician where he/she is and
provides ideas, support, and suggestions to take the magician’s performance to the next level.
Beyond his lectures, Brian has also worked as a coach, and consultant.

He has a series of lectures available on his books and performing experience. Your comments
are welcome and can be emailed to: bsmagic2018@gmail.com. This newsletter is a free
download available through www.lybrary.com and off his website: mybackstagemagic.com.
Brian also publishes a monthly newsletter, Grease Paint, for the Quad City Clown Troupe. That
newsletter is available through: www.qcclowns.com.

Subscriber addresses for his newsletters are considered as company assets. They are not
shared or made available beyond the publisher’s office.

Brian has a column in MUM Magazine (Society of American Magicians). Look for valuable tips
and information each month in his “Taking the stage” column. He also has articles published
in other trade journals.

Always remember:

The entire world is a stage. The only difference is the size of the audience.