up of many separate “acts” that are presented back-to-back in a disjointed display.
For the most part, the magic pieces or routines are not related or connected to each other in any logical way. The only consis-tent element in our shows is the magician.
While it may be a chaotic way of putting together a show, there are a few cool ways to help smooth the flow from trick to trick and give some continuity. Plus, we will have the added bonus of keeping the audience more interested and involved throughout the show.
R u n n i n g G a g s, B u i l d - u p s, Through-lines, Catch Phrases are
some ways to thread your magic routines together, improve the entertainment value, and possibly make you more memorable.
I think all of these types of bits could probably be considered running gags, but I’ve added the various types to help describe them more clearly. I’m also go-ing to give a bunch of examples and a few ideas to get your own creative juices flowing to come up with your own. I shouldn’t even have to say it, but don’t use other performer’s bits in your show.
Running Gags – These are bits that
are set-up early on in the show and continue to happen throughout. Usu-ally ending with a pay-off or surprise.
Copperfield has long used Webster the Duck as comic relief in his shows.
In recent shows, Webster makes a couple of entrances (with the same musical phrase each time) that even-tually lead into his tried and true Slow-Mo Duck routine.
The old Lota Bowl is one example of a running gag magic effect. It never really made sense to me why this un-usually shaped chamber pot needed to be emptied from time to time. But that doesn’t mean it couldn’t be made to work. What if there was an “imagi-nary” leak in the ceiling (introduced early on by miming getting hit on the head by drops of water or even a sound effect)? Now, it’s logical and magical.
A running gag does not always have to be a comedy bit. It can be a char-acter that makes appearances or interruptions throughout the show that disturb or change the course of a routine or illusion.
Lance Burton’s show had a masked swordsman character that appeared a few times during the show. This intruder was like the Phantom of the Opera who wreaks havoc on the the-ater. The character repelled from the top of the theatre at the beginning of the show, forced the assistants to hang Lance in the Hangman Illusion, and returned in the final scene of the show. In the end, the final sword fight with Lance and the bad guy climaxes with a magical vanish & transposition that reveals the masked character is Lance Burton himself. It was an tre-mendous way to see the good guy/
bad guy incorporated into the show throughout with an excellent magical surprise pay-off for the audience.
Build-ups – A series of situations or things that continually add to something revealed in the end. Like a jigsaw puzzle, the magician give us the corners first, then the sides, then fills in the whole picture by the end of the show.
I’ve seen this used in Darren Brown’s stage shows very successfully. Many of the bits of information given by
au-dience members throughout the show converge into a final reveal at the end. He often repeats the information or asks the spectator to repeat what they said later to help the audience remember and retain the word, place, number, etc.
Outside magic, but also from England is a comedian named Harry Hill. His stand-up routine was filled with a spastic delivery of sputter about five random top-ics. It seemed like a sloppy, un-rehearsed rant. As it went on, he continued to return to each topic, give more information about each, and eventually connect them at the end finally making sense. It kept the audience minds active, built suspense, and rewarded the audience in the end when we
“figured it out”. We can learn a lot from other types of acts that we can apply to our magic.
Through-lines – Keep calling at-tention to something that is going to happen later on. It keeps the
prop, item, or situation in the “back of the mind” through-out the show and the audience looks forward to seeing what happens later.
A hanging prediction chest is an example of this. You point out the box hanging high in the air early in the show and call attention to it a few times before the final reveal.
I’ve seen Doc Eason and J.C. Wagner use a clever bit with the Bill in Lemon routine originated by the brilliantly funny, fellow Vanish columnist, Steve Spill. The lemon is given to someone early on, long before the bill is burned.
Throughout the show, “Who’s got the lemon?” is called out and the person is trained to hold it up, stand, and shout, “I do!”
This tool burns the idea that the box or lemon was there long before anyone was asked to name a predicted item or loan a $100 bill. This strengthens the magic.
Catch Phrases – Like a running gag, a catch phrase is a line repeated many times throughout the show. It’s like a verbal & mental Post-it Note with your message. If done well, it can help make the performer unforgettable. The audience anticipates it and sometimes is saying it with the
performer or even before the performer. Slight variations in the delivery can add comedy and make it even more interesting…and memorable. The audience may even repeat it when leaving the theater.
Larry the Cable Guy is known for his stand-up comedy routine and saying the line, “Get’r Done.” If you say that to someone, chances are they will come back with, “that’s Larry the Cable Guy.” A simple line that’s helped him put millions in the bank.
A catch phrase could be as simple as the way you say,
“Thank you” at the end of a trick. I can still remember the way Doug Henning would say it after nearly every illusion. It was uniquely his own, sincere, and extremely memorable. On Saturday Night Live they did a satire of him using that exact tag-line throughout. Even Criss Angel did a bit dressed as Doug on his A&E show using Doug’s signature “Thank you.”
For the best example of using all of these tools, you need to see Mac King’s show in Las Vegas. He sets up the show early on with many magic and comedic things that return throughout the show and weaves them all together like a perfect quilt. The Fig Newton cookie becomes a magical
running gag that is hard to forget. Mac also has a catch phrase, “Howdy, I’m Mac King.” Once again, hard to forget after watching his show. If you’ve never seen Mac King perform, I highly recommend it. His show is a master class in show structure and writing, testing, and perfecting each and every moment of magic, comedy, and audience reac-tion. Mac’s years on the comedy club circuit really locked in his ability to write and perform comedy magic.
Now, for fun, here are some examples just to get you thinking:
Try coming up with a visual running gag with something you do often. Drinking from a glass, setting the micro-phone stand, wiping with a towel, etc.
Maybe an audio gag with a voiceover of the director, your wife, or your mother-in-law that interrupts the show from time to time or makes comments about what you do.
This one has been done many times before but it always works well. The magician tries to find a card chosen at the beginning of the show. Throughout the show, you try again, but get it wrong. Each time is a new and novel way of revealing the “wrong” card. Eventually you get it right in a surprise reveal. (They are sitting
on it, the old Insurance Policy, tattooed on your back?)
With current technology and the use of wireless sound cue systems, we can add some very clever bits. You can have com-plete control of perfectly timed sound effects, a theme song playing each time something happens, maybe even a voice-over that interrupts you from time to time.
Here’s a Miser’s Dream inspired running gag. Produce a coin and tip a stage tech for bringing something out. Tip the assistant.
Tip an audience member who assists you, they make a mistake, take it back. Later on, you look in your pockets for a coin to tip a person, finding no money in your pockets, you write a check.
“Is it time yet?” I’ve seen variations of this gag done often. Throughout the show, an assistant or stage tech comes out a few times and asks the magician, “Is it time yet?”
The magician says, “not yet.” This happens a couple times. The third time, the other performers can also chime in on “not yet.”
By the fourth time, a simple look at the au-dience will get them to say it for you. For the final pay-off, he comes back and says,
“Is it time yet?” You say, “Yes, it’s time!” Then
deliver an appropriate pay-off.
Maybe he quickly comes onstage with a pin and pops a balloon with the prediction inside. Or, possibly he comes onstage with a cream pie and smashes it in your face.
When the pie tin and the cream fall, the signed chosen card is in your teeth. Perhaps he comes out with the watch of the person you just stole it from and returns it to the spectator. (My personal favorite)
Have some fun with coming up with Running Gags, Build-ups, Through-lines, Catch Phrases for your own shows. It may just help smooth the transitions between routines, make you and your show more memorable, and add more entertainment value to your entire production.
[email protected] www.charlesbach.com
Photos supplied by Lance Burton and Mac King
MAGIC ON TV
Let’s face it – most of us will never get the oppor-tunity to have our own national television special like David Copperfield or David Blaine but many of us will get a chance to be on a local talk show or be interviewed for an upcoming appearance we may be doing. Some of us may even be lucky enough to do a longer program – maybe as part of a variety program or even have our own, local show or special – but that’s a whole other series of articles (or maybe even a book).
Myself, I have had twelve local, self-produced televi-sion shows (30 and 60 minutes) and well over one hundred guest spots on numerous talk shows over the years and I’d like to share with you some ‘tricks’ of the trade so you and your magic will look really great on camera.
Getting Booked
It’s easier than you think. Pretty much any city or town that has a local television station also has a local chat or talk show and in many cases this same city will also have a ‘community access’ television sta-tion. As a matter of fact, here in Canada every local cable company must provide community access on television by law.
You first goal is to find out who the Producer/Director
is of the show you want to be on and contact them.
Yes, it’s that simple. Email is probably the best way as their schedules are very busy and that way they can answer you on their own time. Just call up the main number and ask for the contact info for their daily talk show and send him or her an email explaining who you are, what you have to offer and your availability.
Be patient. TV stations are busy places but they will get back to you. If you haven’t heard back in a week, send them another email.