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When I was first learning how to perform in front of an audience, I used to do what they call productions of live animals, magically producing a white dove from a handkerchief. You don’t hear many magicians talk about this, but you have to load everything beforehand. I was doing a show for a radio station in Chicago, and they had me in the green room and I was waiting to go on. My heart’s racing and I’m ready to go out there and the guy comes in and says, five more minutes. OK, so I took a deep breath and calmed down. Five minutes later, he comes back in and says another five minutes. A half hour later he says, OK you’re on. So, I go out there on stage. I’m dressed well. I’m speaking well. Everything is going great. I went to produce my dove and he doesn’t flap his wings.
He had passed on.
My immediate reaction was that my best friend had died, because he was. We had practiced and practiced. But then my next thought was, I’m on stage, what do I do? I started flapping his wings with my fingers to make it look like he was still alive, then I pushed him away. The audience never knew.
I flubbed it up. Every time you flub up it teaches you something, but that was the hardest lesson to learn. Always be aware of your time. Time is critical. I also learned that shit is gonna happen, and you have to try to come out with your head on top... Links
Blog with videos 11/07 by Jimmy Talksalot
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