What Your Audience Doesn't Know...

As I write this, I have just returned home from performing perhaps my best Halloween show of the season.

It was for a long-time library client, one just 20 minutes from my house.

I normally get this newsletter out earlier, but this early morning show made it impossible.

As I said, my best show of the season despite two props malfunctioning before the show.

Like most magicians reading this, I test all of my props before showtime.

In this case, one prop was a Fire Book purchased ten years ago from David Ginn. Turns out the little flint wheel finally wore out.

The other? My custom-built Flashlight Fun prop. The original is no longer made, so years ago I commissioned builder Nick Wenger to make one for me.

If you’re not familiar with the effect, you show the inside of your flashlight, saying you forgot to put batteries in it. Inexplicably, the ‘flash’ part of the flashlight lights up when you’re not looking.

When you notice the kids reacting, you lift the lightbulb part of the flashlight to look at it. At the same time, you casually lower the main ‘barrel’ part of the flashlight toward the audience, showing the inside of the flashlight is indeed missing batteries…but it still lights up.

So you have this back-and-forth ‘look no see’ type of routine where two parts of the flashlight light up.

Well, today my ‘barrel’ part of the flashlight wouldn’t light up. I’m not sure if it was the batteries or a loose wire, and I didn’t have time to tear the prop apart to troubleshoot it.

Rather than cut the bit, I just used the ‘flash’ part of the flashlight the top part with the bulb in it.

The kids loved it.

Before I get into the actual point of this article, let me also share a story from another Halloween show from this week. This one was for a school.

As is often the case, the teachers took forever getting the kids down to the assembly area. On this particular day, I was performing in the school’s MPR, or Multi-Purpose Room.

Just before I went on, the principal told me I’d need to end right on time – 11:15, so the staff could switch over the room for lunch periods.

“No problem,” I cheerfully told him. Looking at the clock, I noticed we were going to start between five and eight minutes late.

I kept an eye on the time throughout my show. As I neared the end, I realized I’d have to cut a full routine out of the show. Again no problem – I skipped ahead to the right music track using my Audio Ape remote, performed my closer, and ended the show on time.

The kids never knew they missed out on a routine. Both students and teachers told me how much they loved my program.

Same as today’s library show – no one knew they missed out on the fire book. And no one realized I only performed half of the flashlight routine.

That’s today’s lesson. When watching a magic show, people only see what they see. They don’t realize they’ve missed anything…unless you tell them.

Back to the school Halloween show. I performed the new effect “Toon Balloon” as part of the show. I’ve only used it five or six times, but it’s turning into a heck of a crowd-pleaser.

At the end of the routine at the show in question, the balloon inexplicably popped on its own.

I laughed, set the prop aside, and continued the show.

Later, as I was packing up, a few kids approached me. “How did you get the balloon to pop?” one child asked reverently.

I was distracted and missed hearing in his voice how amazed he was at my ability to cause a balloon to pop whenever I wanted it to.

“Huh?” I responded. “Oh, that. I didn’t mean for it to happen. They are old balloons, so it popped on its own.”

Dejected, the boy turned toward his friends and said, “He didn’t mean to pop it. It just happened.” Immediately the other boys all said, “Oh,” in despondent unison.

Well, I thought. I should’ve taken credit for it.

I’ll say it again: audiences don’t know what they miss. They only know what they see in a magic show.

If a prop isn’t working, don’t tell them you had to cut a trick. If time is short and you have to cut a trick, don’t tell your audience they miss out.

And, this may be controversial, I don’t believe in telling kids you gotta cut a trick because they wouldn’t stop talking.

I’ve seen a lot of magicians do this. People I really respect, and many I consider good friends.

If the kids don’t settle down, they warn the kids, “If you don’t be quiet, I’ll have to cut a trick.” And then if the kids act up again, they’ll confirm, “Well, now I have to cut a trick.”

Look, these guys I reference are amazing performers. They are great at what they do. I’d never be so arrogant as to say they’re ‘wrong.’

It’s just not anything I would ever choose to do.

Your audience doesn’t know or care why you have to cut material out from your show. They’ll only know if you tell them.

If you do, they will wonder what they missed and blame you for choosing not to show them.

Allow your audience to enjoy the show you give them. Don’t make them regret it if there is something they don’t get to see.


It’s that simple.

Have a great week!

--Cris

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