why hire a magician for your event.....

Let me set the stage for you. You've planned your event, be it a graduation party, engagement party, or even 50th birthday party. Everything is in place, the venue, the food, the decorations and your guest list, and the party begins, music plays and your guests begin to arrive.
What do they do? Have you ever given any thought to what your guests will do as they arrive. They come in, look around, notice your efforts to set the scene and your attention to detail in the decorations or the sign in board or place cards, ah the place cards!
      Have you ever noticed how people stop and spend so much time at the place cards, or even as they stop and note to themselves the seating arrangements. Guests will find their card or scout out a place to sit and then take note of who else is there or invited and if they know them or not. They are looking for a friend or at least acquaintance to find a comfort level. "Oh great there are people I know so there will be someone to sit and talk with" That's what they are thinking and once they realize there is going to be someone they know there is a relief that they are not "alone" at your event. 
     At a wedding or family event this is much easier (or maybe not when dealing with family relationships!) Then the party begins and you may notice that people gather in small groups with those they already know. After all this isn't a self help group where they need to introduce themselves to everyone in the circle.
    As the host you may have the time or inclination to go to every table and make sure that everyone at each table has introduced themselves. "So everyone this is John from work and this is Jane my second cousin I found out you both like Star Wars...." No that's not likely as the host you have other responsibilities. So where does this have anything to do with hiring a magician for your party.
The art and performance of magic is ALL ABOUT INTERACTIONS!!
      Yes its not just card tricks and wow how did he do that? Its much much more. As I walk around performing at a cocktail hour or table to table at a party, my first job is to interact with every guest, weather they know each other or not and engage them in conversation and entertain with my magic. If there are 2 or 3 small groups on the floor just talking I can engage all of them and help them all interact as they all together engage in the enjoyment of the magical effects I perform. I've found that people at a party who don't know each other and would never even make the effort to introduce themselves or make small talk will come together, watch and engage in the magic weather its selecting a card, holding out their hand hold an object, confirm a serial number on a bill, or even just contribute by watching, and of course reacting.
       Have you ever been to a party where people line up just outside the kitchen door waiting for the next tray of  hot passings to come out, or are just leaning up against the bar looking around the room, because there is nothing to do and that's the most exciting thing  going on until they are asked to move onto the next part of the event. Now these same people have moved into the cell phone world and are just standing there checking their emails and social media. But as a magician I look for these guests and help them engage with those around them. That's what magic is all about, its a way to engage and help people interact and enjoy themselves along with other humans in the room.
So I ask you to think about this next time you're at a party or an event. Just look around and check out what your guests are doing.
     I promise you they are clumping in small groups who already know each other from work or family or community and there will be lone stragglers on the fringe just buried in their phones. Lets get them involved and lets engage them and help them enjoy your event with some escape from the mundane and enjoy some magic!
       If you have an event coming up, reach out to me by email "thebrooklynmagician@gmail.com" or call (917) 324-6066 and we can talk about how I can bring magic and amazement to your guests and make your special event even more special and memorable.
Be Well and Keep 'em clean

We have seemed to reach that point in life.....

I was watching one of my favorite movies from one of my favorite franchises, Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of The Crystal Skull, and I heard a line that I had forgotten and when I heard it I thought s was very profound......" It seems we've reach the age where life stops giving us things and starts taking them away" Wow, that's serious stuff. But is there such an age? I mean is there ever a time when life stops giving us things? Should we ever stop giving away to others, giving of ourselves? That's when I focus on my feelings about magic and its performance.  I have always strongly believed that the performance of magic, the creation of mystery and wonder is a gift I give my audience. The former Dean of Mystery School the late Eugene Berger often spoke in class about gift magic and it's importance. I make it a point to "give away" something to my audience with each performance. It could be simple as a signed card, the torn corner of a card from the effect or even a napkin rose- those are easy and wonderfully received.

Now I don't actually believe that by seeing my magic their lives will improve, or their illnesses will be cured or their mortgages will get paid faster but for the moments of the performance as the audience focuses their attention on my script and my hands I can take them to a magical place.
We work with the same philosophy when we perform at clown rounds and enter a room. We can't effect the illnesses or the seriousness of the condition  but we can effect the people there and in that moment to change the energy in the room, and change their focus. That what magic is and can do. In fact that's what all art should do, is have some effect on the viewer or audience. And after all is said and done, Magic is an art form, a performance art form. Magic isn't just tricks and secrets, or it shouldn't be. It needs to be more.Often times magicians will start their performances with the statement," I'd like to show you something," when what they mean is they want to show you something that you will enjoy watching, or a mystery to get you to think about things differently.
If we as performers can achieve that simple goal of effecting our audiences and giving them the gift of wonder even for a few minutes then we have created great art with our magic. SO go perform an give away some wonder and magic.....then keep doing it!
Just an update I just got some new promotional photos.....here's one

Be Well and Keep 'em clean

How many of those have I read?

Once during a class, the professor took everyone from the lecture hall for a walk to his office and as we all gathered and crowded into his office he said," take a look around what do you see?" His office was densely packed book shelves on three sides. We all replied, lots of books! "how many of them do you think I've read?" We all took our guesses and we were all very surprised at the reply....it wasn't that many and my surprise soon turned to disappointment.....I really thought he had read, or should have read all of them.....
This brings me to the theme of this post. I enjoy books, one of my prides and joys is my magic book collection. And after that day I went home and looked at my magic book collection and asked myself, " how many of these books have I read?"

It was an interesting question, I decided to go over the shelves book by book and see if I've read everything. My feeling was that I had completely read 95% of them.
I thought there were a few different types of books, those you read and re read often, those you buy to read once then keep as collectibles, lastly  those you start and put down after a few pages because it didn't meet your expectations.
So off I went to review each and every book title. I realized that I was almost right, it turns out that I have completely read about 75% of the books. I found a few that I didn't even remember I had,  and rekindled my love for certain titles that I haven't gone through in years.
I did find many book marked and dogeared pages for effects and concepts that I wanted to revisit to improve or enhance my performances. Out of those ideas many of them have actually made it to my act, some of them went in and didn't make the cut.
Reading magic books is often a great way to relax. Last post I wrote about things that inspire you to be creative and often times reading through certain classic magic books helps solve creative problems. For me whenever I come across a magic or routinizing challenge I can't wait to crack the binding on one of my favorite texts.
How do you decide on what books to buy? You really can't just get every book that comes out as they do take up space and they are not all relevant, so where do recommendations come from?
I encourage you to join discussion groups and speak to other magicians about the books you read and undoubtedly they will have recommendations. I have gotten the last few book recommendations from discussions in the McBride Mystery School and some from The Magic Word Podcast, two sources I've mentioned before in my blog posts. My most recent books have been about performance skills, script writing, magic philosophy and history.  I've made it a point to email or post my thanks to those who recommended the titles and that I really enjoyed them, kindness and gratitude are always in order.
So that brings me back to the question, "how many of these books have I read" I've made a neat pile of books that I havn't read and started to add them to my reading list. So far I've found lots of great information that was right there on MY shelves all this time......yup, there was great stuff right in front of me, and I didn't even realize it.
Be Well and Keep 'em clean

What Inspires you?

In my opinion the biggest obstacle to creativity is stress. The stress of daily life and work can often overwhelm even the most creative people and lead to mental blocks and at worst even depression and no one can move forward in that case. So what inspires you?
I've found that as a magician whose job is to bring amazement and wonder to my audiences, I NEED to keep the creativity flowing. So I thought I'd share with you my dear blog reader what I do to keep the new ideas coming and fresh perspective for my magic.
Firstly, I surround myself with things and people who remind me of creativity and previous experiences that fed my creative side. Two examples that come to mind you'd find on my nightstand. My two friends Figment and the Maker Bot

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Figment of course is a Disney character who speaks about the importance of IMAGINATION, and the Maker Bot is one of the logos and representation of the Maker Movement, the ultimate in using creativity, art and science to solve problems and improve the world.

On the dresser there are two small busts of two other inspirational men, Houdini and Ben Franklin. Both were important to their times, and innovative in their fields. There are also a number of my Steampunk items, like the lamp and light switch. I feel the Steampunk genre is one of deep creativity and imagination which is why I've embraced it in my current magical performance persona. Lastly there are the many Star Trek items I keep to remind me of the philosophy behind the stories and themes of that universe, which I find very inspiring.

Then of course there are my notebooks. I take one of these everywhere with me. I write down ideas and thoughts about magic and routines and even notes about how performances went. The other is more of a dream journal which I learned to keep after learning about it from a Jeff McBride class back in the early 90's.  In the morning after waking if  I had an interesting dream I write notes about it and then write the whole story later. Some of the memories that come out in dreams are really cool and a few times I've remembered something from my childhood which was an absolute thrill.
Once in a while I'll refer back to these notes to help come up with routine ideas.

The other source for ideas are books. I read books about magic, history, science, philosophy, and science fiction. Reading in many areas and exploring other ways of thinking are a very big influence on the creative process.
As time goes by and magic and performance take up more of my professional time, its very easy to get set in my ways and lazy. When a performer does the same thing for long periods of time its easy to get jaded. Sometimes the performances begin to lack enthusiasm and it will really show to your audience..this is when your creativity and need to recharge your creative batteries is really important. So What inspires you?
Feel free to post a comment about this, and please if you find anything I've written enjoyable or thought provoking go ahead and post a comment.
Also please let your friends and followers know about my blog, every post I enjoy seeing more and more readers.
Until the next post.......Keep being inspired,
Be Well and Keep 'em clean

More Buskers Please......

I was looking around the posts in the magic cafe,( https://www.themagiccafe.com/forums/index.php) and someone posted an article about a city in Massachusetts that is looking for MORE BUSKERS!


https://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2018/12/22/cambridge-wants-more-street-performers-they-eliminating-permit-fee/miPukrLQfrvrwQNtAKlcON/story.html

In a nutshell, the city is eliminating the fees and restructuring the permits to encourage an increase in street performers recognizing that much of the character and ambience of a tourist city can be improved by buskers and other colorful cultural enhancements.  Obviously Magical Street Performers will be a part of this.....I hope.

As I've discussed in previous blog posts, I investigate the busking situation everywhere I travel. We take many driving trips during the year. Some for business and some for vacation. Before each trip I spend time online and on the phone with the local chamber of commerce of our destination finding out the rules in that city on street performing. Some places require permits, some don't, some have clear laws against it. If there is a chance to perform we schedule that into our time away. Usually the family goes off shopping or to some other attraction and I look for a pitch. For me....It's heaven.

You see NY has over the years become a very difficult busker market. Often the police or park police will ask you to move along, " you can't do that here", "You need a permit for that".....all of which is untrue, they just don't know the law and like to flex their authority. Silly Police...go to NYC.gov and read your own laws!
 I fell in love with Street performing when I was in College at NYU and lived in the dorm around Washington Square Park. This was 1987-89. The golden age of busking was before this but things were still very active in and around the park on a daily basis. I highly recommend the book, "Drawing a Circle In The Square" by Sally Harrison-Pepper for a perfect accurate description of the busker scene in NY.

I watched performers for hours between classes, and studied technique, crowd management, etc. My favorite performers were a magician named  Chappy Brazil and a Juggler Uni cyclist named Joey-Joey. Over time I got to know Chappy and was honestly in awe of him. His grand finale was stealing a spectator's watch off their wrist while holding their arms during a sponge ball trick. Then as a thank you for helping him he offered them the gift of their watch.
His cigarette and card manipulations were quite impressive.
Just imagine this street act today? Smoking and stealing an audience members watch on the street, they'd have a fit and call the cops! They'd come after you and the video would be online in seconds!
I started performing north of Washington Square Park at Union Square Park at the entrance of the farmers market. I never thought I was qualified to work Washington Square so I stayed away. I performed three days a week for a year and a half on that pitch, and never had any negative interaction with police. I was never asked to move on, or stop the show, in fact they often stayed to enjoy my show!
I followed Chappy's career and watched it grow. I even hired him to perform at a College Club show I produced. We tragically lost Chappy after a fatal motorcycle accident. I was told he was heading towards a taping for a video teaching watch steals. I have always missed watching him work he was a talented innovative magician. Recently in an issue of VANISH magazine someone ran an article remembering Chappy. It was great to see and I wrote a note to the editor thanking them for its publication ensuring we won't forget this young talent lost much too soon.

I would love to see buskers thrive in NY and get the respect we deserve for bringing art and culture to the city and adding to its character not only for the tourists but for the native NYers as well; at the Seaport, in the Parks, all over the City and in all 5 Boroughs.
And when you're walking down the street and you hear live music or see a live performer, thanks them and applaud then drop some money in their hat!
Be Well and Keep 'em clean

Happy New Year Blog Post..what else?

It seems some sort of Blogging rule that there's supposed to be a Happy New Year or New Year's resolution post on or about January 1st or 2nd so here we go

Its a New Year, 2019 what should we change, what should we do more of? Well as far as I'm concerned its quite simple. I would like to perform even MORE. Magic is a performance art and therefore it must be performed!!! For people!
I used to have this conversation with a friend of mine about going to magic club meetings and that if you just stay home, you'll end up performing for yourself in a mirror and that can be very lonely.
You must get out and do stuff. That means as magicians we need to get out and perform our art for live people. Some like to make YouTube content as their performance for the public but I personally think that's a poor replacement for the real human interaction...now that's magic. I've written about this before, that's why I'm in love with Busking. Its REAL interaction, not scheduled, or planned in any way, just strangers who aren't expecting to see magic stop to watch your performance.....that's the real magic...the chance to affect someone's day or mood by showing them something unbelievable even if its just a small effect, or simple trick you can really bring your audience to the magical place in their minds.
When my family and I do our Clown rounds, (which we haven't had time to do in a while but would love to get back to - talk about your New Year's Resolutions!) We would work very hard to "change the energy in the room" We'd go in and interact with the patients and the families and even the staff to take them out of the moment and change the emotional energy which improves mood and outlook helping the healing process.
Magic is a wonderful art form and Magic on the street or in parks is one of the best ways to view and enjoy this art form.
SO as we start 2019 I will work hard to keep that magic in my life, Busk more and everywhere I go.
Oh yeah and Loose more weight, exercise more maybe join a gym, eat healthy etc etc......like everyone else..boy those have become cliche resolutions.
Honestly, we have some exciting events coming up this year, lots of volunteering and volunteer shows, lots of travel and performance, and participation in busker festivals and Steampunk Conventions, so keep reading and following me, and PLEASE tell your friends to follow along on all my social media posts, they're all @drmolarmagic.
Be Well, Happy New Year and of course
Keep 'em clean

To Scipt or not to Script......your magic performance

"For my next trick I'd like to show you....." These are (in my opinion) some of the worst words a magician can say during a performance.   I fully embrace the philosophy that I am there to entertain using the art of magic  not just doing magic...Do you see the difference? As a performer you are there with a purpose....to entertain. I try very hard with every show or event to follow this.
When I perform I work from a script. Its not set in stone but it is written. There are stage directions and everything including pauses are written in. Then during performance I work from the script allowing for on the fly impromptu changes and ad libs. None of my scripts begin with the phrase,"for my next trick", or "this is a trick made famous by the great....." or anything of the sort. I prefer stories and background information that introduce my magic. I get to present the scenario and engage the audience as I do.
"Does anyone here believe in time travel, because I do and I've actually traveled back in time with my dog Otto. While we were there I needed a way to earn a little extra money. I set up my table in the park and asked the first person who walked by, would you be interested in witnessing a miracle?"
A very different approach. Another example, my sponge ball routine, " I've always been fascinated by Black holes. Like these. They are small handheld Black Holes, may I borrow your hand to hold one and I'll hold this other one......" etc. etc.
I spent a very long time performing magic without using a script. I knew what I wanted to say but it usually came out noting like what I planned and there were a lot of "uh", "um", between words because I had to think about what I was saying. Once you have a script and rehearse it, you can focus on the magic and use it to entertain and not just show the tricks, while staring at your hands. ( boy did I have this problem for a long time) 
What pushed me into this? I read the book Scripting Magic by Pete Mccabe after a recommendation from a colleague. It really made the point that I should start scripting my magic. I actually recently finished Volume 2 also a great read.

What else helped my performance? Backstory!
I came across a few threads on the Magic Cafe Chat room about the importance of having a definitive backstory for your performance character which will help the things you say and do so they will come out of your character. There was also an interview about this on Scott Wells Magic Word Podcast. Scott does a great job and I look forward to listening to every episode for interviews, recommendations, convention and magic travel reports making me feel like I'm there! I highly recommend it.

Scripts are not hard to write and they don't need to be in any official format, although it helps me. But I do encourage you to try scripting your performances. If you need topics for your scripts and Ideas for stories and themes, I recommend looking at your favorite children's stories, or poems or quotes from your favorite historical figures or mentors. Anyway you get there, start scripting your work and I assure you that your ability to entertain your audiences will increase......that's how you get call backs and repeat clients.
Be Well, Keep 'em clean