Hello friends,
We’ll be continuing along with some recent posts about how to take yourself to the next level. The level that makes you a true professional. The one that demands a real salary. This lever demands a lot from you as an entertainer.
But we are going to step away from the magic for now.
Consider who you can learn a few things from. A Hibachi Chef for one. That’s right.
I’ve been to Japanese Steakhouses before and I’ll go again. The food is excellent and is skillfully prepared. If you are lucky enough, you’ll get an entertaining chef who will make your dining experience all the better!
Sure, they all cut, chop and cook in front of you but some of them do it with so much more enthusiasm & precision. This in itself is an art form. Some of these chefs have brought their skills to the next level. Telling jokes, juggling, doing stunts, balancing and being personable with hungry dinners.
Last night my parents took the family to our local Gasho of Japan. There are 3 or 4 of them in New York. If you don’t have a Gasho near you, find a Benihana or other Japanese Hibachi restaurant. You are going to love it.
I observed the other chefs at the tables and as luck would have it, we got the best in the place, Chef Alex. I have a hunch that he does not actually have a Japanese accent and that he represented he did for his character and image. Alex handled his spatula, carving fork & fillet knife and the food on the grill like Gazzo doing Cups & Balls. The grill was his close up mat & the audience (us) was in a trance. His one liners kept us laughing and his singing kept us charmed while the food was cooking.
Once he won us over, he knew he could get away with murder. He told my nephew to open wide and before he could think about anything he was nailed in the face with a shower of hot (but not too hot) rice that sprung off the spatula at lighting fast speed.
Normally a performer acting disrespectful, not only wouldn’t be paid but might get thrown out on the spot. But Alex was not pushing the envelope here but he had that sixth sense that this would be okay to do in this particular situation at that particular moment. He knew it would be the right thing to do (for us). And he was right. We could not stop laughing. We loved it.
Food was flying into his hat & pocket like and ITR makes a dollar float around the room.
Food magically filled the rice bowl just like a magician doing the Rice Bowls. He was so good, the fun lasted till long after Alex left our table.
With magic, as with any performance. It is not what you do. It is how your audience views what you do. You could be a better card mechanic than Jeff Mcbride but if you bore your audience to tears, you have wasted your talent and you will not get repeat jobs. Tom Mullica says it best, if they like you then it doesn’t matter what you do!
You can be a better magician if you stop doing all the technical aspects of our art and open your mind to presentations that are entertaining.
A GOOD stand up comic has nothing but his microphone, facial expressions, tone and material. He uses these tools to manipulate you. He can keep you focused for an hour.
A BAD comic is one who if he can’t manipulate you in the first 30 seconds misses for the entire act. Even if he is capable of catching up. He just can’t win you over.
Stop showing your friends another boring card trick! Kick the habit. There’s more to it than many of you can see. For many of you into this for a long time, its not just about the tricks anymore and you need to progress if you want to make something in the field.
If you feel you are near the lever to go out on your own and perform, consider learning a bit more before you do. Get some of those books I posted about a few days ago. And if you are local to us, take a master class from Ronjo himself! You must have an appointment. Regular Lessons in slight of hand are $30.00 per half hour and Master Classes on building and presenting a show and a character are $100.00 per half hour.
There is a lot for you to learn and you not only get it from reading books & taking lessons. What works and what doesn’t work is all around you. Observe any kind of entertainer. The rock star that pumps his fist and makes thousands scream when he does it. The dancer that seduces you. The piano player that makes you weep. Figure out what is working, why it’s working and use that knowledge to create your own style that works for you!
Thanks for reading.
Pete