More Reminders of the Simple Things
by Kenton Knepper

This month, let's continue being reminded of things we know; it will do us both good.

Don’t Assume They Know – SHOW Business
Magical and mental performers often fall into this trap. We know our prop or method, how it works and how it does not work. We can then unwisely assume that the audience knows these things as well.

Perhaps you are doing a sucker vanishing rabbit trick. You spin the top and hand it off. You think to yourself that the hard part is finished now. The audience will see the tissue or toilet paper inside the box and think it is the rabbit. You know you have them thinking that way! So you triumphantly surprise the audience by pulling out the paper from the tear apart box. You do so with great flair and showmanship.

But the applause is mediocre, and there are laughs in the audience too. You wonder how this can be. The rabbit is long gone. The hard part is done. What could the audience possibly know? You sheepishly go on to your next trick, since you have a “bad audience.”

What really happened? You forgot to tear apart the tear apart box. You know for a fact that the box is empty, so the big surprise you think is the paper coming out. But the audience assumes the rabbit is under the paper, still in the box. You might think that is ridiculous because the rabbit is not in there. But the audience doesn’t know that – only you do!

Think of it this way: It’s called show business. You must show everything as much as you can. Never assume the audience knows the facts. Assume they never know the facts other than what you let them see. If the box had been taken apart, then the audience would have seen the paper and thought it was a rabbit. This is something that you would have learned after watching yourself in rehearsals, rather than practicing the moves a few times.

Perhaps you put coins into a change bag and then the coins came out as a necklace of coins. The audience applauds mildly and laughs. Later you realize that you forgot to show the bag empty before and after. From the audience point of view, the coins and necklace were always in the bag.

Mentalists do this too of course. They assume people think that a peek or Himber wallet is a normal thing. It’s normal to mentalists, but not so much to most people. We might know that something is really coming out of the prediction envelope or box, but unless we take pains to show this is the case, the audience might assume you palmed it in. We know you cannot see through a metal blindfold, but audiences don’t know what to make of a metal blindfold. It’s not something they can make too many assumptions about until you let them see it. You might think mentalists don’t do sleight of hand, but never assume that audiences believe in such purism! Show what you want them to know.

Your Eyes Are At A Different Angle Than Your Audience
Underneath, above, or to one side or another, you are not looking at the same thing your audience sees. This is why the old admonition was to practice in front of a mirror, or as we say these days, in front of a camera. Set up a camera or two at different angles, one higher and one lower than your eye level. If you do not have a camera, set up a few mirrors if you can find them and put them at various heights and positions in front of you.

Cameras don’t blink, which is helpful, but you can use mirrors as long as you remind yourself not to squint or blink each time you do a move. You might blink or squint unconsciously when you do something you are concerned about, so that when you look in the mirror the move or gimmick looks fine to you. But if you blink or squint you are missing the reason for having such mirrors. Mirrors are set up when you practice (never during performance of course) so that you may try and catch yourself.

You want to try and see how you expose a hidden object, gimmick or move when you rehearse. You want to catch yourself in the mirrors making lots of mistakes. You want to do that, because if you can catch yourself now you can change it before others catch you in performance.

When you practice it might look fine to you as you practice, but you are watching from a view few audience members would ever have as their view. Few spectators stand on the stage with you, right where you are, when you perform. That’s why you need mirrors or cameras when you are rehearsing to catch your mistakes. When you actually rehearse, you might want to have friends or peers over to help spot things that the audience will see and you cannot.

It’s frightening to me how many well-known performers flash gimmicks and look entirely unnatural when they perform. I assume they don’t watch video of themselves or even look in the mirror without blinking. Many issues are so easy to solve if one would only try and catch oneself before getting in front of an audience, rather than during or after a show.

Don’t Start From The Top Each Time You Mess Up In Rehearsal
This is because in real life, you can’t stop and begin again, saying to an audience “Do-overs.” If each time you mess up, you start the trick again from the start, you may never get to the end of the trick. You will learn how to perform the start and will have memorized all the beginning lines perfectly, as these you will repeat many times. But the rest you might seldom get to, if you keep practicing the routine over from the beginning when you mess up.

Instead, practice by trying to keep going, even when you make mistakes. This will get you to practice more than merely the first parts of an effect or routine. It will also teach you in rehearsal to keep moving along, no matter what happens. This will come in handy when you actually perform. You will be in the habit of moving along even when things go wrong, or you miss a move. You will be so used to adjusting and moving right along in rehearsal that when real problems happen on stage, you will have less fear. Instead of stopping and being stuck on stage, you will continue along, like in rehearsals. The audience will be none the wiser as you do not stop and act confused. If they don’t know you made a mistake, you didn’t make a mistake. At least as far as they are concerned.

Kenton