Marty and Brenda Hahne are the owners and prime movers behind the wonderful Dazzling Magic. Marty has kindly allowed us to republish some of his columns here on Inside Magic. In Michigan, where we are based, this is actually time for outdoor magic shows; so his advice is timely.
Do yourself a favor and visit Dazzling Magic. See how how two people who truly care about magic, demonstrate their dedication with style and originality.
To Read More, Read On . . .
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The summer season is rapidly approaching, which means it’s time to get ready for the company picnic season. Kid show and family entertainers of all types will soon be performing outdoors at a wide variety of functions.
These outdoor shows can be lots of fun and a big success, or they can extremely taxing and frustrating. I’d like to share a few outdoor show tips that have helped make my life easier.
The biggest factor to deal with at outdoor shows is, not surprisingly, the weather. Rain, wind, bright sunlight and hot temperatures are just a few factors to take into consideration when planning an outdoor show.
When a client calls about an outdoor show, I always inquire about the show performance area. Is there a stage? Does the stage have a canopy? Is there power nearby? If there’s a covered stage, consider yourself lucky!
Many times, the client will want you to work out in a grassy area, or even on a parking lot. This type of setting can really present a lot of problems.
Marty Hahne
If there’s no stage, try to define a performance area. I use a rope line to indicate the stage area. I also try to find an area where I can have several trees or a wall behind me. Having people standing behind you during the show is distracting to both you and the audience. I don’t use my portable backdrop system outside, since the curtains are blown by windy conditions.
In February of 2003, I took a trip with my family to the Wisconsin Dells and we had the wonderful opportunity to meet Suzan and Rick Wilcox. They were kind enough to let me see the inside of The Rick Wilcox Theater. As impressive as it was — and it was — their story was even more impressive. Suzan was kind enough to email to me an article she had assembled telling the story behind the story.
I’m honored to have that story here on Inside Magic. I have rarely met two people so kind and so welcoming. Their story, as I told them, is an inspiration. It looks as if this season will top all the past seasons. This would be a great time to try to reserve seats for their show. Having seen the preparations, I can tell you it will be one-of-a-kind.
This article was originally posted minutes after meeting Rick and Suzan in February 2003.
The great news is that the show is still up and running. Check out their website for information about the show, ticket purchase and access to a very nice magic shop at www.rickwilcox.com. Watch their video when you hit the site. Very Impressive dove work, Rick!
Read On . . .
The Rick Wilcox Theater
Since we purchased our theater in December 1998, we?ve had numerous inquiries from magicians who would like to know “our secret”. “How did you do it?” “Do you have a rich uncle?” “Can you help me open a theater?” “Should I try to build a theater in my town?” Here?s the secret to our success. . .
The beginning. . .
When I first told my family I was dating a magician, they were “curious” to put it politely. But Rick won them over like he does with anyone he meets -with his enthusiasm and joi de vivre. But they did wonder, as most people do, how one decides to become a magician.
Rick hardly remembers a time when he had any other ambition. He was nine when his sister gave him a magic kit, and he fell in love with magic almost immediately. It was a way to make people laugh! He worked his way up the ranks as any young magician must. He did it all ? back yard shows, restaurant magic, trade shows, blue & gold banquets, sales meetings, fund raisers ? large illusion shows and small sleight-of-hand venues. Wherever there was work, he went.
After graduating from UW-Madison, Rick continued performing magic while working in medical equipment sales in Milwaukee, WI. Finally, in 1989, he made the leap into full-time self-employment. When we married in 1996 he was traveling to over 250 corporate events per year. So it was only with a wedding ring on my finger (and mainly for the sunny show locations) that I traded in my… Continue reading The Story Behind the Rick Wilcox Theater
George Robinson is truly a renaissance man. He decided to go against the flow and embrace the past with the aim of making it the future. His insistence on quality and his desire to provide what is needed by the working professional is unique and commendable.
Mr. Robinson has been kind to Inside Magic and his kindness continues and is exemplified by his guest column today. What is a true professional? What are ethics? How should we solicit and accept and provide criticism? Mr. Robinson provides his answer that seems applicable to all of us.
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Let’s talk about criticism. There has been a lot of chatter about this on Ring 2100 as well as in your local clubs, etc. Let’s face it, no one likes to be criticized, but it is a necessary evil to growth. The main objection to criticism is that it hurts ones feelings.
Well, get over it! How do you think you were taught as a child? How do you think you teach your own children? You criticize to some extent (yes, I know, you call it ‘teaching’). You try to correct their bad habits, their bad judgments, etc. and why? To make them better people; to prevent them from hurting themselves or others; for a 1000 reasons. In Magic, it’s to protect the Art and to prevent the performer from making a fool of himself.
We all need CONSTRUCTIVE CRITICISM. Now, there is the key word, CONSTRUCTIVE. This does not mean that we criticize to hurt someone, but to help them.
I feel that anyone can offer constructive criticism and you should have the option of accepting it or rejecting it, but you should take it in stride. Consider the source, but at least THINK ABOUT IT. Maybe there is some truth to what you are being told. But here is another key point: you have to be willing to have an open mind. None of us is perfect but we sure seem to think we are. There in lies the rub. Face it, no one is perfect but we should all try to do our best and to help each other as brothers in Magic.
If you are asked for your opinion, give it in a constructive manner and temper it with the person’s good points (assuming he/she has any). And offer your thoughts because you care about the Art of Magic and about your friend or colleague. Don’t do it in a ‘one-upmanship’ type manner to show your superiority, etc. In most cases your not anyway.
On the other side of the coin, if you are being offered constructive criticism, don’t jump all over the ‘messenger’. You may or may not have asked but all input is good input, in one way or the other.
Also, choose the right moment. I remember seeing a good friend’s act a few years ago and for the most part it was pretty good. There were a couple of points I thought I should make (like he exposed two loads during the performance), but this was not the moment. He was riding high because of the applause, venue, etc. and even though he asked me what I thought, he really didn’t want to hear ‘negatives’… Continue reading George Robinson, Jr.: Help From the Critic
Walter “Zaney” Blaney is more than a great magic inventor, great magician and incredible supporter of all things good in magic. He is also a very principled and well-spoken member of our community.
Mr. Blaney has written a column on a subject many of us have noticed but few have mentioned. We are honored to have Mr. Blaney on these pages.
Read On . . .
Dear friends in magic:
I have two very good friends named Gerry and Leonora Frenette in Canada. They have a long established magic business named ”Magic Makers Inc.” Now there is a company in the USA who also uses the name “Magic Makers Inc.,” established and run by Rob Stiff.
Magicians quite naturally confuse the two. I believe it is unfair for someone to come into our magic field and use the same name of an established business which already had a very good reputation for years. It would be the same problem if some new company opened up using the name Abbotts, or Owens Magic Supreme.
I understand that Mr. Stiff said he was unaware of the Magic Makers Inc. in Canada. Yet when he learned of its existence, he refused to change the same name he took up.
The Frenettes established their Magic Makers in 1986 and first advertised in the Linking Ring that year. They soon were placing ads in Magic Magazine (colored ads), Genii, MUM, The Illusionist, as well as continuing their ads in The Linking Ring. So it would be difficult for anyone to claim they were unaware of the Magic Makers company already established in our business.
The Frenettes first heard of the new Magic Makers around or after 1999. In that year the Frenettes had a great deal of good publicity, articles, stories and reviews in most of the magic magazines. They create and build their own proprietary illusions, along with custom design and standard illusions, and they sell direct-only to their many customers.
This is not meant to be an “ad” for my friends the Frenettes. But the confusion caused by the “other Magic Makers Inc.” is hurtful to them in more ways than one. I only wanted to point out to friends who may be unaware of what I deem to be an unfair situation.
On a scale from one to ten, with one being the lowest number and ten being the highest, I so dislike that awkward moment at the end of a lecture when the speaker has to transition from teacher to pitch-man.
It is so inelegant.
Many of the lecturers on the circuit today are such great teachers and such wonderful resources that one (that being the lowest number and also an adjectival pronoun for “me”) wishes they had the confidence to simply end the lecture and walk calmly to the sales table.Nine times out of ten (approximately 90 percent with rounding errors) we would follow the lecturer to the table and buy exactly those things we would have bought with the pitch.
Read On . . .
I saw Duane Laflin’s lecture and reviewed it very favorably here.Now, as we sat in the backroom at the finest shop in these parts, Garden City Magic Shop run by Carlos Blades, we all saw not only the lecture but also the extensive sale table inventory.The items took up two long tables and half of a third.There were bins upon bins filled with great stuff.Silks were flowing, palmo balls were palmo-ing and flags were mis-making before our eyes well-before the end of the show.
But Mr. Laflin, perhaps because of historical precedent or because of genuine insecurity based on real life experience, gave a short sales pitch for the items shown in the lecture.For me and those around me, the sales pitch was actually an impediment to spending our hard-earned credit limits.We were ready to spend.It was ten o’clock and while not all of the magicians surrounding me had to be back for curfew at the half-way house, it was late and any delay seemed interminable.
But, you may fire back, “What if they didn’t do the pitch-man shuffle towards the table?What if they lost one or two customers who expected the transition?For a lecturer, that is losing a significant portion of their income.”
I nod silently, sip my Diet Coke, take another wad of Red Man, scratch my arm to see if I still have a sun burn and nod again.That’s the problem with age-old traditions.For most lecturers ? in fact, all that I know… Continue reading Awkward Moments at Lecture Land
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