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Advantage Point

Advantage Point
By Jeff Stone

Yes I know that the phrase is really “Vantage Point.” However, you’ll see the meaning of my title soon. As you know, Pillars of Stone is basically a monthly blog post about anything that I feel should be published that will truly help you as a magician . . . something that maybe doesn’t quite fit into one of the other columns. It’s a catch-all, but it usually seems to be very much up the alley of a Roots and Branches. I find that these articles are sort of like less formal versions of the Roots and Branches column. This month is no exception.

Simply put, I want to remind you to take advantage of your surroundings. This is nothing new. However I thought I’d give a specific example of a case that happened to me. If you have a similar situation, feel free to leave a reply below.

The Story:
Years ago, I was performing a couple of card tricks for some classmates in college. One of the times, a card was selected, but because the person picking the card did not want me to have any clue what the card was, she grabbed it and quickly pulled the card to her chest to cover it from my view. She then peeled the card away from her chest just slightly enough for her (and nobody else) to see. Well it just so happened that there was a pretty good sized window behind the her. As she grabbed the card and pulled it to her chest, I saw the reflection in the window even before she pressed it to her chest. So I knew the card before her.

What I did next was nothing overly amazing, and probably nothing that you haven’t thought of either. I simply handed her the deck with my back turned and told her to shuffle her card into the deck and put the deck in her pocket. Then I proceeded to read her mind. Not Earth-shattering, but think of it from her perspective. In her mind, what I did was impossible. I’m sure we’ve all had these moments. The key is to grab them and go with the flow.

The trick I was going to do was abandoned, so I could seize the moment. Be flexible. Be aware of your vantage point and take advantage of it (I told you). Look for these moments in your performances. The secret to seeing these moments is to be so confident in your technical skill and your people skills that you don’t have to “try” when you perform, but rather, you just do (thank you Yoda).

When you’ve got the performance chops (technical and people) you will be able to take in your environment a bit more and absorb what is around you. Maybe the spectator accidentally crimps the card . . . go with it. Let it be shuffled back into the deck by the spectator. Maybe when you borrow a bill from a spectator, you notice a strange object in his wallet . . . maybe an out of state driver’s license . . . maybe you even happen to glimpse enough information that you could “read his mind” a few effects later.

I don’t want to go on rambling, but rather, I would hope that you remember this very simple yet often overlooked idea and make it your mission to focus on and act on your Advantage Point.

Please “like” this article and leave a comment below:

17 Responses to "Advantage Point"

Grandpa Chet says:

June 2009 at 9:33 pm

Hey, this is perhaps my favorite principle of magic – and theater (which is where my background is). I judge a performer by how they can “wing” it, and improvisation is the highest theater art of all. Well, at least the most nerve-wracking!
Jeff Stone says:

June 2009 at 11:04 pm

This is always fun. It’s one of the main reasons I love to watch Sankey’s DVD, “Front Row Sankey” or even the L&L “Best of” set… because you get to see a master of quick wit in front of an audience. There is a lot to learn from that.
Grandpa Chet says:

June 2009 at 11:24 pm

Or, if I were on a DVD, you’d see a master of half-wit.
magicmind says:

July 2009 at 10:52 am

you have to be comfortable with you magic…before improv. comes in. I would put this article in jazzing. If you are worried about the routine/moves/audience management, improv. is not something that will fly for most specs.
nice story…those moments are golden when they work out!
Jeff Stone says:

July 2009 at 3:56 am

@magicmind – that’s one of the funnest things about performing for me. I love the “jazz” element of it. Most of my effects follow the “Sankey-Structure.” A solid in-line, a couple of key phrase throughout, and a good exit line. Everything else is jazz.
Steven Dickinson says:

July 2009 at 4:46 am

This principle is so important and I use it much during my kid shows. I get tons more material to add in that very show I’m doing. To connect with your audience you need to make a connection and if your not paying attention to your surroundings you’ll never see what to connect to or as in your case found a different way to do the trick you were just about to do.
1. Jeff Stone says:
  
  July 2009 at 12:16 am
  
  @Steven – no doubt about it man. When I perform for my kids just one on one, I never know what the trick will be. It’s just fun to play with the moment and see where things go. I love when I’m about to make something vanish, and they look away for a half second. I quickly ditch the item in my pocket, but I pretend I’m trying to hide it from them in my other hand. Too fun.
PEto says:

July 2009 at 2:06 pm

Another reason to spend more “mirror” time working out the moves of the trick, so that you can be more focused on the audience and not the effect itself. More opportunities to “go with the flow”. Also, it is important to take good stock of reactions in the crowd to know who will be a good victim…I mean participant in audience participation effects!
OldZombie says:

July 2009 at 12:49 am

I think a good jumping off point for ‘jazzing’ is the Ambitious Card routine. I learned it for Daryl’s DVD, and he says exactly that, it is like jazz music you know how it will start and end but whats in the middle is up to you. I don’t think I ever do it the same way twice, depends on the spec, how they are reacting, if they are into it and playing along you can try things that are more bold, if they are the grabby types you can pull back a bit, the possibilities are pretty much endless.
1. Jeff Stone says:
  
  July 2009 at 1:37 am
  
  @OZ – Yep (Imagine my best Hank-Hill-Standing-in-the-alley accent).
OldZombie says:

July 2009 at 5:21 am

Six O’clock in the morning and already that boy ain’t right. (Another is more obscure Hank Hill reference)
1. Jeff Stone says:
  
  July 2009 at 5:26 am
  
  @OZ – I can’t believe you used that quote. That is my all time favorite quote from King Of The Hill. Bobby stripping down to his underwear in the kitchen to put on new warm clothes from the laundry basket. I love it!
OldZombie says:

July 2009 at 5:30 am

One of my favorites too! All the more appropriate that it was about 6 am here when I wrote it.
1. Jeff Stone says:
  
  July 2009 at 12:18 am
  
  Bobby . . . If you weren’t my son, I’d hug you.
Steven says:

July 2009 at 12:25 pm

Ok, I feel left out and it has been ages since I watched King of the Hill so I had to search online and I found this:

That boy ain’t right.

🙂
zdm says:

July 2009 at 9:13 pm

I hope I can meet that situation. I always prepare for that kind of case

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