Domo arigatō Mr. Roboto
Domo arigatō Mr. Roboto
By Jeff Stone
どうもありがとうミスターロボット
By Styx
According to wikipedia, those are the Japanese characters for Domo arigatō Mr. Roboto. That has nothing to do with this article, but I thought you’d get a kick out of it. The reason I chose this name will be clear soon enough. I have a pretty extensive sales background. I’ve done door-to-door sales, in-home presentations, telemarketing, business to business, and more. During those many, many years in sales, one of the greatest tools that I had was my script.
The secret to properly using a script is learning it so well that it’s not memorized, but remembered, or better said: engraved into your “self.” Think about it. If I ask you what your address is, I’m assuming that you can tell me without even thinking. Yet, you don’t have your address memorized; it’s just part of you.
Here’s the catch with a script, however: once you’ve learned it so well that it is part of you, it becomes very easy to deliver it without thinking. I remember one time, as a telemarketer, I delivered the opening line to my script. Then, without thinking, I delivered my opening line again. Needless to say, the customer on the phone thought she was listening to a recording that replayed itself. Well she was. I was a recording that replayed myself.
Roots:
Let’s remember our roots. The root is self-awareness. Be very aware of what you are saying. More importantly, be aware of the fact that you are saying it. We recite our “script” as magicians soooooooo often that it’s very easy to become a robot. Trust me; the audience is quite aware that this is the 798th time you’ve done this trick tonight. It’s in your tone and your voice and attitude.
Over the years I’ve spent time watching magic videos to learn how the pros interact with their audience. I’ve also studied many books and personally with magicians to understand this principle. Of all the advice I’ve been given or read, the thing that stands out the most is something that Jay Sankey said (no surprise there).
He was asked about his “script” technique. Basically, his answer was that he usually has a good “in line” as he calls it, and a good “exit line” or “wrap up line.” Then maybe a few key words, phrases or lines throughout the presentation, but most of the “middle stuff” he “finds” during each different presentation. That was a huge epiphany for me.
It changed the way I look at my magic. Sometimes you can have several effects that use the same “in line” as well. You just don’t do all of them in the same set; pick one.
Branches:
Let’s build our branches. Take a trick that you’ve done hundreds of times and come up with a killer line, statement, or phrase that will segue into the trick and pique the audiences’ interest. For example a trick that I do all the time is Phil Goldstein’s B’Wav. Every time I do it, I start by saying, “Who here has an incredible imagination?” Then I do the most important thing I could ever do . . . I LISTEN.
The key to building this branch based on the root of self-awareness is to stop and pause before moving on to your next line. Give the audience a moment to interact with you. Listen to what they say and play off of that. I’ve had plenty of times where I had to totally deviate from where I was planning to go, but the audience had a great time. I had a great time, and nobody cared that I didn’t finish the rest of my script.
So if you really want to branch out and improve yourself as a performer, then take a moment to be aware of your surroundings. Hear yourself speaking. Hear and Listen to your audience. Notice them. Look at them in the eyes. Care about them. The old adage is true: people don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care.
People don’t care about your magic, how hard you’ve worked on it, how difficult what you do really is. They never will. Your job is to get them to care about you. If they care about you, then by extension they care about your magic, because it’s part of you. So your goal is to get them to care about you. Then and only then can you create the moment of astonishment and connection between you and them.
The only way to get them to care about you is to care about them, not appear to care, but actually care. Be interested in them. Talk to them. Learn about them. Use patter and script lines that people can relate to. Don’t start rambling about Quantum Particles (sorry Mr. Ammar) to explain a packet trick.
This is all about avoiding the robot syndrome. Don’t be stiff and robotic in your presentation. Be fluid and free-flowing and interactive. You are not Killroy. We are creators of astonishment, not magicians. Remember that, and you’ll be remembered as one of the greatest entertainers that your audience has ever seen.
Now go study the classics, and go discover your true magical self.
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