Walkabout Magic
Magic is not about tricks. Magic is about people.
As a professional magician I encounter all kinds of people in many different situations.
For the purposes of this blog I’m going to focus on a particular kind of situation, ‘Walkabout Magic’. Close up magic that happens at your table, or among a small group at an event. It’s when I mingle among guests and perform for a short period of time then move on. Walkabout magic is a difficult skill for a magician to do well. With walkabout magic I have to approach groups ‘cold.’ Very often these groups won’t even know that a magician is at the event. This is a terrifying prospect for any performer and I know several magicians who avoid walkabout magic because approaching a group is scary…And I don’t blame them for one second. Depending on the situation you can be met with Indignation at best and at worst, horrible verbal abuse.
Magic is about people. So I have to read the room. Read the situation. Essentially I make a judgment about the group based on experience. What kind of people are these? Are they drinking? Are they with family and friends or work colleagues? Are they there to see me or am I just an afterthought during an evening of other ‘main’ entertainment. Understanding the group dynamic of a small audience means I can adapt accordingly. It’s a skill that I have built up over years and now happens unconsciously. I can read a person or people instantaneously, it’s instinctive and it’s a necessary skill in my job.
The body language, facial expressions, group dynamic, who is the leader of this group? Who THINKS they’re the leader? These are some of things i look for. It’s easy to approach groups in a defensive state. Ready to pounce on any obstinate guests. But this simply doesn’t work. Anger, a combative attitude is not conducive to creating good magic. For me, good magic needs everyone (or as many people in the group as possible) to have a positive experience.
I have so many personal experiences and mad tales of incidents at tables while performing walkabout magic. I’ll save them for my autobiography, they’re much too rude and lurid and I want to charge money for that kind of content. So for now, let me give you a couple of the classics: ‘Oi, Can you make my wife disappear?’ ‘Can you play 52 card pick up?’ ‘Here, let me show you a card trick.’ On that last one…Good lord NEVER ask me that. Yes, I do know how you did it, I have to pretend that I think you did it well, you didn’t. You bent the cards and got beer on them. No, you’re not funny. Stop, just stop. (Phew! I finally got that off my chest.)
Magic is perceived in a much different way to other forms of entertainment. As a magician I am on the very fringes of the entertainment world. I used to hate that, but understanding that and understanding my audiences’ view of what a magician is has made me a much more powerful performer. (I resisted the urge to write ‘a much more powerful magician’ because that reads like I dabble in The Dark Arts to achieve what I can achieve and I absolutely don’t, just ask my Ouija board.)
So why would I do it? Well, because I’m good at it. I have experienced basically everything possible at a table, I have paid my dues. But more than that, I have not given up. I take each experience, good and bad, and work on it, learn from it. The end result is that I’m a much better performer. I can read the group instantly, I know exactly who is going to be naughty and who is going to be nice. I’m the Magical Santa who always knows what you’re like. As a professional magician I absolutely have to be flexible and tailor to each group. I’m always as polite as I can be, but fun, and when the group realises I’m not a threat, then my personality comes through and maybe even some great magical moments will happen. If the group are polite but clearly not into magic then I don’t force it. I’ll perform a quick trick or two if they want and then move on.
As I have said in a previous blog, my goal is to create magical moments. And to do that best I have to help the group relax, I have to help them have fun and I have to make sure that they like me. The Magic is that when I walk away, the group will have a brand new shared encounter to ponder over, laugh about, discuss and if I’ve done my job properly they will be left with a positive and magical experience.
The relationship that I aim to create with my audience is where the magic actually lies and the tricks themselves are enhanced by a positive and fun connection between me and the group and a genuine like for each other in the short space of time that we will spend together.
Magic is not about tricks, it’s about people.
Caolan x
Magician northern ireland Caolan McBride performs Close up Magic. Walkabout Magic for events.