An Easy Personalization Trick

“Who can guess what ferocious, dangerous animal I have in the box?” I asked the audience.

After a few standard guesses of “snake,” “lion,” and “dragon,” one little girl; pipes in with “bunny!”

“A bunny?” I said. “They aren’t really ferocious…unless maybe you’re watching the movie ‘Night of the Lepus.’”

I glanced at my wife in the back row, who immediately started laughing.

The rest of the 70 or so people in the audience looked at me in confusion as my wife continued to laugh.

One person in 70? No problem.

To understand the reference, ‘Night of the Lepus’ was a terrible movie we had recently watched on RiffTrax, a streaming service featuring comedians tearing apart, or ‘riffing,’ terrible movies with directors’ commentary style presentations.

As the name suggests, the movie is about giant killer rabbits that ravage a small 1970s town.

It’s great fun and I’ve turned my wife into an addict of the service.

I don’t normally reference that awful movie in my show, but knowing my wife was in the audience, I just couldn’t resist.

The plot of the routine I was doing was Wolf’s Magic’s Chicken Sword. It’s basically a card Stab effect but with a rubber chicken.

My idea was to hold the chicken and its KFC-style bucket in a cardboard box with hazardous symbols on it on display throughout the show.

After building up the apparent horrifying-ness of the creature inside, I reveal it to be a harmless rubber chicken. It’s worked well and has been the highlight of my Summer Reading Program run this year.

But that reference to the ‘Night of the Lepus’ reminded me of a key ingredient to make every show you do special.

Find something unique you can add to the throw just for that audience.

It can be anything – an adlib, a joke, or a reference to a local well-known celebrity, whatever.

Little things like that make the show sparkle and come alive for a particular audience.

Anyone who knows me or follows my work knows I’m a huge fan of scripting every routine. This has its advantages.

Last month when I was dealing with severe back pain, I was able to more or less go on ‘automatic pilot’ to get through my shows.

It worked and my shows got rave reviews. But I much prefer it when I can add something special.

While I’m pretty good at adlibbing, having some of these bits of business planned in advance really adds to the live show experience.

Here’s another little one I drop in for one routine I love.

Currently, I perform Tommy James’ wonderful version of Cards Across.

In case you’re not familiar with the plot: Two volunteers each hold a packet of seven cards. After some magical-ness, one packet miraculously has only four cards while the other now has ten.

I prefer Tommy’s method because the cards are red-backed and yellow-backed, so the audience can easily tell the difference between the cards.

Second, there are no gimmicked cards, so at the end of the routine, the two kids are left holding the cards.

Even though I don’t tell the kids to ‘examine’ the cards, the fact that they are holding them communicates to the audience there is nothing funny to discover.

Anyway, I have three bits of business I do to supposedly allow the audience to ‘see’ the three cards moving invisibly from one packet across the stage to the other.

The first card ‘walks’ across the stage and jumps into the other packet. The second ‘glides’ invisibly across the stage. The third launches, I say, with the velocity of an NFL quarterback throwing a touchdown pass.

This third card is where I drop in a little local flavor. I simply reference the local quarterback. In Western New York, I’ll get whoops of approval if I say, “Just like Josh Allen throwing a touchdown pass.”

In case you didn’t know, Josh Allen is the current starting quarterback of the Buffalo Bills. He’s got a cannon of an arm.

But if I’m performing this effect closer to another NFL franchise, I’ll reference their quarterback.

Is it a big deal? No. But it’s something to make the audience feel as though I’m not just sleepwalking my way through another show.

I’ve got little things like that sprinkled throughout many of my shows.

Adding things like that to your show does two things: makes it special for the audience and keeps it interesting for you as the performer.

You can reference anything as long as it gets approval from the audience.

One caveat: I don’t recommend referencing any local scandals. Or politics. No matter how careful you are, you’ll be stepping into a minefield where your clever references may blow up in your face.

Keep any references light, fun, and non-controversial.

Your homework assignment: Scour your shows and look for places where you can drop in bits of business for local references.

Have a great week!

--Cris

P.S. By the way…whenever you’re ready, here are 4 ways I can help you grow your magic business to book more shows at higher fees:

 
1. Grab my FREE report for professional working magicians.

It’s called “The 2-Word Secret to Eliminate Your Competition & Become Your Area’s Busiest Magician.” This report reveals a strategy that almost NO magicians are using (and the ones who are don’t use it correctly). Get your free copy HERE.

2. Get my website video training for under $10:

 
In this 2-hour video training, I’ll reveal exactly what your website needs if you want to succeed as a professional entertainer in the 21st century. Get all the details HERE.

 
3. Get a complete business-building plan handed to you on a silver platter.

 
Not sure how to move your magic business forward? I’ll analyze your complete magic business (website, market, competition, and more) and give you a complete game plan for getting your performing business to the next level. Find out how HERE.

 
4. Work with me privately.

 
Need help in multiple areas? I can help you with your website, direct mail, email, or other marketing strategies. I also offer consulting services for crafting magic routines or even entire shows. Want to find out more? Shoot me an email at cris@theprofessionalmagicianclubpro.com.

5. Check out my extensive line of magic routines and marketing products

I have several professional routines, marketing courses, books, and other resources to boost your shows and make booking shows easier and more profitable. Check out my line of products HERE.

To find out more how I can help you book more shows at higher fees, click the button below to see my list of services.

© Copyright Cris Johnson, Inc.