My Cards Lie Bleeding in My Hands

I’m a huge Bon Jovi Fan. I have just about everything they’ve ever released, including Richie Sambora’s solo stuff as well as Jon Bon Jovi’s solo stuff. Like I said . . . big fan.

My absolute all time favorite song from Bon Jovi is My Guitar Lies Bleeding in My Arms. It might possibly be my all time favorite song from any band ever. It’s definitely in the top five.

Here’s a live performance of it:

Take a moment to listen to the whole song all the way through.

Root:

Let’s remember our roots. This month’s root: Not everyone likes the same stuff.

This particular Bon Jovi tune is not one of their most popular. It never reached the fame of Runaway, You Give Love a Bad Name or Livin’ on a Prayer. But in my opinion, this song blows those out of the water.

Take the Young Guns II soundtrack. It’s 100% Jon Bon Jovi, and it’s incredible. It could be one of the most under appreciated albums of all time . . . certainly the most under appreciated Bon Jovi album.

However, many of my friends do not like My Guitar Lies Bleeding In My Arms or the Young Guns II soundtrack. Yet they’re both in my top ten for sure. My friend and fellow magi Jay Sankey is another perfect example of this. Over the years he’s released over 1300 effects. They range from ok to miracle status, but which ones are ok and which ones are miracles? It depends on who you ask. One of my all time favorites, Ear Plugs, is my friend Dan Paulus’s least favorite effect.

To each his own as they say. My point here isn’t to review Bon Jovi or Jay Sankey. It is however, to point out the fact that when performing for your various audiences, you’ll have a variety of people who like and hate a broad range of your effects, personality facets, performances, etc. How do you cater to them all? In short, you can’t.

Should you perform the effects that are most likely to appeal to the most people? It depends on who you ask. Some say yes. While others say you should have variety and texture in your show. I tend to lean toward the latter. In my close up set, I have a really creepy tarot card effect, but I also have poker-based demonstrations of sleight of hand. I have comedy, drama, silliness, etc.

I certainly can’t take credit for this concept. It was Eugene Burger who first turned me on to this concept. Rather than focus on the lowest common denominator, I say “take a risk.” Try something that’s different. Try stuff that you enjoy doing.

Branch:

Let’s build our branches. Your challenge: Take a leap of faith. Take a look at your repertoire; then take a look at the stuff you that you enjoy. Find an effect that you’ve decided not to do because you think people won’t like it. There’s someone out there who’ll like it. Go find him/her. Take the time to dust off an effect that you’ve abandoned for the above reasons, and try to make it relevant. Gauge your audience. See how they react and try to get feedback from them, particularly if you’re a close up performer. Look for those who like it and learn from it.

You’ll also find those who don’t like it. Find out why. It may be a simple thing that you could tweak to give it a broader appeal. Or you may not want to tweak it. You may want to leave it in just the way it is allowing it to appeal to only those few who appreciate it. The call is yours; my goal here is to simply get you thinking about your magic. That’s it.

Now go study the classics and go discover your true magical self.