So, for the most part, my Halloween party was a success. There were really only two hiccups the entire night. When I got there, I found out there were WAY more kids than I expected. I was told there would be “a couple” when in fact, it was mostly kids. I wasn’t really ready to work for kids, and had to do one of those quick mental inventories of what crap I had in my pockets that wouldn’t fly over their heads. Then I find out that instead of the walkaround I was expecting to do, they were expecting a more formal stand-up show. Crap, time for another inventory.

I ended up opening with a short Fiber Optics routine that was really well recieved. I felt myself rushing through the first two phases, so I made myself slow down and repeat them. It kinda worked out well that way, almost like a “Yes, that just happened. Here, I’ll show you again” thing.

I did a card to mouth that I fucked up by passing the card to the bottom instead of the top and almost Mercury folded a card that wasn’t the selection. Fortunately I realized my mistake and was able to move the card, orient the deck, and fold the card all while pattering to save my life. I think it was one of those things that feels like a lifetime to the magician, but in reality was a non-moment to the audience. Still sucked, and made me be more aware of where I’m passing cards to.

Because it was Halloween, I busted out the old Haunted Key which went over very, very well and actually surprised me. I figured it was going to be more of a throwaway effect, but everyone seemed to enjoy it. A lot. I don’t get it, but I’m not going to argue. I’d like to try this again during a non-Halloween show and see if it has the same impact.

Finally, I used Devin Knight’s Glass Box Prediction to close. I’m going to be writing a more in-depth review for this in the near future, but until then let me just say that this trick is amazing! Everyone was floored, the “move” flew over everyone’s head (including my girlfriend’s, who knew what I was doing and still didn’t catch me!), and it couldn’t have been easier. I’m very, very impressed with this, and will definitely will be using it more in the future.

I was going end with that (I mean, how do you follow up predicting the freakin’ future!) but they wanted more and I just happened to have my mail bag escape in the car, so they got a double finale. I locked a one of the kids inside the bag and let him try to get out, which was a nice way to show there was nothing to hide and the bag was what I said it was. Except for the part where I lost my balance and fell on my head while inside the bag, the escape went off without a hitch.

All in all, the show clocked in at just over an hour. I think I did a good job, because everybody was happy and told me they liked it. I know that I was pretty rough around the edges, but I don’t think that showed to the audience. It’s also something that will go away once I get back into the swing of things, I’m sure. I was more prepared for doing casual walkaround, so the move to a more formal show kinda threw me off. I know it wasn’t my best work because it wasn’t something I was really prepared to do, but I think it turned out well.

Now let’s hope for more work soon.

Andster

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