Vanish Magic Magazine no. 39

“
DON'T PLASTER
YOUR CONTACT
INFORMATION ALL
OVER YOUR VIDEO ...”
upbeat music. Key graphics such as your
name/logo/title of the show etc. should
be added to the segment. In this way it
becomes something like the opening title
sequence in a movie or TV show.
In many ways, the remaining four minutes
should function in much the same manner.
You will need to cut to the ‘reveals’ in
the magic and feature them as the body of
the video. Chose a few of the funniest and
most original clips of the verbal comedy in
your act and mix them up into an attractive
blend. Three key words Cut, Prune and
Tighten.
While the material on display should be
representative of what you do in your
show, the tricks do NOT have to be in the
same order that they appear in your act.
On a promotional video you are not saving
up for a big finish/finale as you do in
a live show. Your job when you produce/
direct your ‘showreel’ is to hit the viewer
hard and fast. There is often a stack of
videos for a buyer to view and they can
get very jaded after the first couple of
viewings. Hit hard and fast.
Needless to say, in this day and age, your
promotional video needs to be available
on the Internet, as this is where potential
buyers will most likely view it. Booking
agents will probably embed your video
into their own web pages if they are really
interested in selling you. This is an ideal
situation; so let me give you a couple of
hints to increase the efficiency of your
video as a sales tool.
Don’t plaster your contact information all
over your promotional video, as this can be
a huge red flag and deal breaker to agents
and producers. If you are sending out the
DVD to a private booker then it is a different
story. With the unit cost of DVDs as reasonable
as they now are, have two versions
produced---one with contact information
and one without.
In the same vein, it is now standard for
successful performers to have two web
sites: their regular (booking information
supplied) web site, and a ‘ghost site’ that
contains no contact information and is
totally agent/producer friendly. In this way
a producer/agent can happily send his
clients to your website as a direct link from
his own corporate site. Keep your ghost
site short and simple and business like.
Once in a blue moon (especially) for private
engagements, such as house parties, you
may find someone wants a full version of
your show. My technique to cover this was
to have a DVD that contained both the
short ‘showreel’ and the full-length show
mastered as two separate chapters. They
had their choice on the initial menu.
Be aware however; that a 50-minute video
of a really great show can appear as slow as
paint drying when viewed ‘cold.’ People are
used to the razzle-dazzle that is presented
to them on television and you are likely
to look very unexciting with a 50-minute
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