(Hank) Moorehouse 1934 – 2011 - The Society of American Magicians

What are your venues?
one oF The things philosophers
do is pay close attention to words
and concepts. We do this because
it is easy for ways of thinking and talking
to lead us astray. And if those misleading
terms become a habit of thought, then we
have a problem on our hands: we end up
missing the true complexities of things,
which often leads to flawed or confused
action.
It is in this spirit that I want to
consider the common way magicians talk
about their venues and styles. If you ask
magicians today what kind of magic they
perform, you are likely to hear, “Oh, I
perform close-up magic,” or “I perform
mostly stand-up magic, but some stage
magic, too.” Indeed, “close-up, stand-up,
and stage” have become the fairly standard
ways magicians describe their venues and
styles.
But is this adequate? One obvious
problem is that it is essentially gibberish to
clients who aren’t magicians; you always
have to add two or three sentences to
explain what “close-up” and “stand-up”
magic are. The bigger problem is that this
classification is so general and abstract it
isn’t even true.
The fact is that there are at least seven
different venue-styles of magic and each
one of them has its own distinct character,
conditions, and challenges. If we don’t see
this clearly, if we don’t understand each
of them precisely, it is easy to select the
wrong material and easy for our performances
to be weak and unsuccessful.
My goal this month is to briefly discuss
what I see as seven main venues for live
magic. The fact is I could write a whole
column about each of them, and there are
certainly more than seven. But I want to
get the conversation going and start to
show how many vitally important details
our current three-tier system ignores.
1. greeting magic. This venue happens
on the fly. You are attending a party or
72 M-U-M Magazine
THEORY & ART OF MAGIC
LARRY HASS
shopping and someone you meet says,
“You are a magician…?” So what are you
going to perform? Remember, it comes up
by surprise and your performance needs to
happen fast and it has to be fast; it is too
slow to take out a pack of cards and start
shuffling. You need something direct and
fun, something that “makes friends” rather
than shows off or “puts off.” I never leave
the house without one or two rock-solid
pieces of greeting magic in my pockets –
with coins or bills, or small objects I can
give away as gifts.
2. Walk-around magic. When you
are engaged to perform walk-around at a
cocktail party or reception, your performance
needs to be more formal: a series
of mini-shows – each one with some kind
of beginning, middle, and end. You need
strategies for “breaking in” to groups and
“bailing out” if one is unruly or unresponsive.
Reset is crucial. Flash is excellent.
Getting people involved, talking, and
laughing is outstanding.
Quick aside: Do you see how different
walk-around is from greeting magic? Do
you see how the general category “closeup”
ignores these crucial differences? Do
you see how having only greeting magic
for a walk-around gig would limit your
success? The needs and goals are different;
you would fall short of what the venue
requires.
3. after-dinner table magic. At a
dinner party or restaurant with non-magicians,
the entrée has been eaten, dessert
has been served, and things are winding
down. So what are you going to do to
bring down the house? What is required
here is a very particular kind of magic.
It has to be incredibly strong, not hack,
lame, or gimmicky. It is probably one
piece, not two. It has to feel informal and
impromptu, even if it is not. It is excellent
to use playing cards or common objects
that are lying around. All night long people
have been thinking about the fact you are
a magician; this is the big moment. Think
Eugene Burger, Juan Tamariz, Eddie
Fields, Johnny Thompson – masters of the
form.
4. formal Close-up. Here you have
some distance, so it is time for servantes,
loads, switches, and lapping. You might
stand up for part of it. You may have some
lighting; you might play music. But the
heart of it is you need a real show, not a
collection of tricks – one that is carefully
composed for flow, texture, build, and
closure. Think the close-up room at the
Magic Castle. Think the maestro René
Lavand or Al Goshman. Time to read
Fitzkee.
5. stand-up. Whether you call it
“stand-up,” “parlor,” or “cabaret,” this
venue requires that you stand and deliver
for up to about eighty people. Visibility
may be an issue, so the magic should
happen vertically and at chest level, not on
a tabletop. Because you are so close and
there is no “moat,” you should break the
fourth wall early and often. Also, audience
members will join you up front and need
to be managed. Some permutations may
feel casual and loose, but unless you are
part of an ensemble, you need a formal
show. Typically, you will need to adapt to
existing light sources and bring your own
music. Think John Carney.
6. Platform magic. Over about eighty
people, stand-up magic becomes platform
magic. That is, you are (or should be) on
an elevated platform and your magic has
to play much larger. (For example, the use
of playing cards is highly limited in this
venue.) Audience interaction becomes
more difficult because of stairs, distance,
and visibility. You may have lights and
sound, but you are unlikely to have an
assistant or wings so the whole show
needs to be set before you start. This is
unquestionably a formal show and needs a
strong opener and killer closer. Think Paul
Potassy and Jay Marshall.
7. stage magic. The whole smear:
lights and sound, wings and assistants,
technology and the staff to run it. I could
go on, but you get the idea and know the
names.
There you go: seven venues of magic,
not three. And I haven’t even gotten into
TV, radio, or street magic. But already
with this more detailed thinking in place,
we can get some good work done. Ask
yourself: in which of these venues do you
have real expertise? For which ones do you
need new material and better presentations?
Is there one or more that you want to
become better at? What specific course of
study and skill development do you need
to take the next steps?
In magic and life more precise thinking
brings better action! �