The Newest Tops

On Tu Long

It is said that “brevity is the sole of wit”, but a Shaggy Dog story doesn’t get a laugh unless you drag it out to near boredom.   Even in the movie industry, a common criticism is that the film was great but “it went on too long”.  Entertainment seems to have cornered the market on a dichotomy.

There are many timing elements to a successful performance that the audience never knows about.  There’s the pacing of show, the speed of the performance, dramtic pauses for effect, etc..  However, there always seems to be a show element that a magician often neglects to examine; the length of an indiviual trick or routine.

The author, Dariel Fitzkee, states in his book Showmanship for Magicians, and I paraphrase, “go ahead and produce a full rack of billiard balls and a triangle, IF you can make it entertaining”.

Liberace, the great pianist and showman, quips about his excessive jewelry, “Too much of a good thing is wonderful!”. Of course, that IS a joke, however, some of the very best shows from Broadway and Las Vegas can be plagued with the curse of not knowing when to quit.

Some smart comedians have an interesting excercise about comedy.  They say that you start with a funny joke, then keep taking away words until you’re down to the very fewest – while still getting as many laughs – and then you have the best version of the joke.

An exception would be Shecky Green, a classic comedian who still works today.  He’ll tell a joke that most people can tell in 30 seconds.  Shecky will tell that same joke in 12 minutes, however, along the way to the punchline, he inserts countless other jokes, lines and asides to keep the listener rolling in the aisles.  You see, he’s an entertainer.  You laugh with him.  The ending punchline is icing on the cake.

So, what are we to make of all of this? I have a simple theory akin to the comedian’s exercise.  If something does not add to a performance, then it probably distracts.  It doesn’t matter whether your linking ring routine is 3 minutes or 13 minutes.  The question is, is the audience entertained by it.  Take each movement, each line, each joke, each trick and ask yourself, “Is this adding to the entertainment value of my overall show?  Or does it distract?”  Listen to your audience while you are performing.  You can tell.  Are they all eye-rivited to you as you perform? Or are they somehow being distracted or pulled away from focusing on your effect?  Are you talking too much?. . .too little?  Are you moving too fast for the audience to understand exactly what you are doing or perhaps too slow? Remember, we’re not performing to entertian ourselves. .  . it’s all about the audience.  They will let you know whether you’re boring them or entertaining them.  Unfortunatley, most of us are so into the performance that we forget the feelings and emotions of those that watch us.  Even the professionals can fall into the trap of being in love with a particular trick or routine and figure that the audience wants to see the effect as badly as we do.  Nothing could be further from the truth.  However, it is our job as “entertainers” to make them like us and what we are doing.  This is not an easy task as many would assume.

I challenge the reader to re-evaluate your tricks, your patter and jokes, your routines and your show.  Are you leaving the audience with the feeling that they wanted to see more of you?  Or are you going about your show like the famous, ancient magician from Siam . . . On Tu Long?